How to Tell If 3D is Worth the $

Posted on June 17, 2011 at 8:05 am

Cinema Blend has the best discussions I’ve seen about when you should pay the extra for the 3D glasses. The factors they consider include whether the movie was filmed in 3D or had the effects added in post-production, whether it minimizes the inevitable dimming, whether it provides a sense of depth, and the “glasses off test.” The Green Lantern 3D analysis is an excellent example. Whether you do or don’t like 3D, you’ll appreciate it much more if you check out Cinema Blend’s take before deciding whether to put on the 3D glasses.

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3D Understanding Media and Pop Culture

Thelma Adams Asks, ‘Where’s Momma?’

Posted on June 7, 2011 at 3:52 pm

US Magazine critic Thelma Adams has a blog post about one of the most common questions I get asked: where are the parents in movies about kids? She quotes my comments:

Nell Minow, the Movie Mom, told me “This is the second-most frequent question I get asked by parents (first is: I am so careful with my kids, but what do I do when they go over to someone else’s house?)”

The answer, Minow continued, referencing Tom and Huck, Pippi Longstocking, and David Copperfield, et. al., is that “if the parents are there, the child can’t have an adventure. They’d be saying, ‘You can’t go on the yellow brick road today — you have homework, and you need a sweater!’ The satisfying fantasy of the story is that the child is able to do what the child in the audience would like to feel he can do — to master the scary adult world.”

She still doesn’t like it though, and wonders how many more parts there would be for mature actresses if the movies allowed more of their young characters to have moms. And privately, we agreed that even though we loved “Finding Nemo,” the beginning is wrenching.

Best Actor in the Worst Movie and More From Rotten Tomatoes — From Slate

Posted on June 6, 2011 at 3:29 pm

Slate has taken data from Rotten Tomatoes to compute the career trajectories of actors and directors. The results are unexpected — would anyone guess that the actor with the best reviews is….Daniel Autueil? And the worst actress…Jennifer Love Hewitt? I’m a fan of both.

To be fair, on Rotten Tomatoes actors do not get individual scores, though that’s a fun idea. How would you like to read a review that gave individual report cards to each of the people in or behind the film? Autueil is a brilliant French actor who is equally adept at drama and comedy. If he has made bad films, they have not made it to the United States. Jennifer Love Hewitt is a fine actress who has appeared in some lousy (but financially successful) movies. But the statistics are fascinating nevertheless, and Slate has included its own interactive chart, so you can put in the name of any actor or director to see how his or her career has risen and fallen over the years and even compare them to each other. Try John Travolta, Jim Carrey, and Brad Pitt.

Roger Ebert on What’s Wrong With Projectors

Posted on May 30, 2011 at 8:00 am

Studios spend tens of millions of dollars to get the best equipment to photograph and record the most beautiful performers wearing the most gorgeous clothes in the most spectacular settings. And then we go to see them in a movie theater with the wrong lens on the projector, badly focused, and an inadequate bulb.

Roger Ebert writes:

Do you remember what a movie should look like? Do you notice when one doesn’t look right? Do you feel the vague sense that something is missing? I do. I know in my bones how a movie should look. I have been trained by the best projection in the world, at film festivals and in expert screening rooms. When I see a film that looks wrong, I want to get up and complain to the manager and ask that the projectionist be informed. But these days the projectionist is tending a dozen digital projectors, and I will be told, “That’s how it’s supposed to look. It came that way from the studio.”

He explains that some theaters are showing 2D movies through a 3D lens, which dims the image as much as 50 percent, even up to 85 percent in some cases.

If you are concerned about this, write to the National Association of Theater Owners: nato@natodc.com

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Understanding Media and Pop Culture

Do You Remember a Movie About a Witch Who Makes Blueberry Pancakes?

Posted on May 18, 2011 at 8:00 am

If you remember seeing a movie in school about a witch who made magical blueberry pancakes, then you must be in your late 30’s or early 40’s. The New York Times has a great piece by Jennifer Mendelsohn about how that film, Winter of the Witch, continues to enthrall some of the children who saw it in 1969-the 70’s. It is a simple, short film made on a very low budget, but it features the distinguished actress Hermione Gingold as the witch and Anna Strasburg (wife of the great acting teacher) as a single mother who moves with her son into a house with a witch who cooks magical pancakes that make people happy.

By all rights the quirky little production should have faded away, just like the quaintly dated turtlenecks and headscarves it features. But something about “Winter of the Witch” burrowed its way into the consciousness of a subset of children who saw it, and it never left, leading many to search for it well into adulthood. “Those colored dots must have burned themselves into some peoples’ brains,” wrote Gerald Herman, who directed the low-budget film for $500 while a student at New York University, in an e-mail.

It has inspired a blog, The Cult of the Happy Pancake Witch, where you can watch the whole film.