Saw 3D: Comin' At You

I was struck by something as I watched the trailer for the final Saw movie:



It isn't the fact that the gratuitous mayhem is finally going to be coming to an end (unless the movie makes heaps o' money then I guarantee we'll be seeing Jigsaw again). It's that they're kind of beating us over the head with the 3D, don't you think?

There have been approximately 375* 3D movies released in the year since Avatar was released so I would wager that most movie-going audiences have seen a 3D movie. Yet a quarter of the trailer shows things coming off screen in a movie theater while an audience sits with the telltale Ray Bans strapped to their faces. At this point, is it really necessary to work so hard to explain the concept of 3D in a trailer? By definition doesn't 3D mean that things will, in fact, pop off of the screen?

It all seems to be a distraction to hide the fact that Saw 3D probably doesn't have much else going for it.  I mean, I don't think people will flock to the multiplex because Cary Elwes is reprising his role from the original.

So just in case anyone out there is wondering what the "3D" means when you see it attached to a movie, it means that you have probably paid too much for your movie ticket.

*It took a team of mathematicians almost a quarter of an hour to make up this fact.

And The Oscar For Best Picture Goes To...

High five!

[source]

Piranha 3D

I know we normally bash remakes in our Reboot, Remake, Regurgitate column, but from the looks of its trailer, Piranha 3D could be the greatest flick E-V-E-R.

What's it got going for it? Witness:

• Piranhas (hence the title)
• An overacting Christopher Lloyd
• Half-naked young men and women frolicking in the water
• Elizabeth Shue, which can only lead to a Back To The Future II/III reference/pun/parody between her and Lloyd
• Richard Dreyfuss, who is no doubt on board for a Jaws reference/pun/parody
• Piranhas, people!
• Ving. No last name necessary

Seriously? What more do you need? But don't take my word for it. Have a look at the trailer:

Glasses Or No Glasses, That Is The Question

Like Babe Ruth did once upon a time, director James Cameron pointed to the back of the movie theater and called his shot when he said he was going to revolutionize movies with his blockbuster Avatar. The flick ended up making a gazillion dollars and taught Hollywood a very important lesson: audiences will gladly pay more money for an extra dimension.

The success of Avatar left studios scrambling to capitalize on the 3D craze that filmmakers like Cameron and Jeffrey Katzenberg predicted. The staggering success of Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland only served to reinforce the decision to pump out more and more 3D movies. Theater owners are now scrambling to add more 3D projection systems in your local multiplex and movies are fighting each other for the precious few screens that are able to show 3D, as wave after wave of new product rolls out week after week.

But consumer beware, because not all 3D movies are equal.