How shall I end the sultry month of August Five to Try? Let me count the ways. I know… how about trying an activity that I’ve never done in 41 years and something that has become particularly popular in the past year or two? Hmm…
Okay, I would not be completely honest if I said that I’ve never experienced 3D. After all, I’ve been to theme parks and sat in special attractions which involved 3D movie technology. But up until this creative experiment, I have never gone to a theater and experienced 3D as a full-length feature. Being the “gleek” that I am, the live concert film of one of my favorite TV shows seemed like the perfect opportunity for a Five to Try. It also didn’t hurt that I have an odd and somewhat disturbing fascination with all things Warbler (okay, I’ve got a bit of a schoolgirl crush on Blaine- there I said it…are you happy now?)
So I set out to see Glee: The 3D Concert Movie, the live action musical explosion which transports the perky show onstage before a live audience. There was only one problem: by the time I finally got out to the theaters, the film was playing at only three movieplexes in the entire Tampa Bay area. Yikes. This called for a trek to Citrus Park.
Initially, I was afraid that 3D and my vision wouldn’t get along so well. After all, I am notorious for carsickness and have experienced progressively worse vision from year to year as my eyes wear down from overuse at the PC. But I’m all for any excuse to don Blues Brothers glasses.
And surprise! I actually liked it. And best of all, no nausea, dizziness or weeble-wobble sensations. (Hurrah!) Well, only when I heard the amount of the ticket for a matinee 3D film ($11.50? Are you kidding?!)
I’m not exactly sure that the Glee cast concert was the most necessary use of 3D for a picture. I really don’t need to see Brittany busting out of her barely there bikini top in her Brittney Spears homage or Arte busting a “Safety Dance” move with legs and arms flying in all directions towards me. I would guess that a film like Titanic or Avatar would be incredible to watch in that format. But a concert film? It sounded goofy to me when I heard Justin Bieber was popping off the stage, and it was just as goofy for it to be Rachel and Finn, too. But at least they didn’t make my ears bleed like the aforementioned moptop boy wonder. I will admit that 3D is definitely fun to watch – some serious eye candy but for some serious cash.
This is definitely not a new hobby I can afford to adopt.
While I was watching the film, I occasionally slipped off the glasses to watch the documentary portions which did not incorporate 3D technology, as the filmmakers introduced real-life gleeks who shared life-changing experiences that they attributed to the impact of the show (yeah, they hit us over the head a little bit with that one but it was sweet). I was really surprised how much of the film featured 3D. I think I was envisioning the 3D films of way back when which used 3D effects scattered throughout the picture but not as something running continuously throughout the movie.
I have been an avid poo-pooer of the entertainment takeover that 3D technology holds over today’s feature films but perhaps I overreacted. In the right context and the right setting, it’s pretty mesmerizing stuff. And that’s coming from the squinty, half-blind chick in awe sitting way up in the back of the theater with her contraband bottled water and snack baggy.
But if I have any plans at all to see another 3D movie in the near future, I’d better start saving my pennies now…
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