Posts Tagged ‘3-D’

So Friday night we decided to try dropping our little wild child off at this gymnastics studio that has a “kids night out” thing. You drop them off at 6 for gymnastics, pizza and a movie, and then come get them at 10:30. We walked in, signed her life away on a waiver, marveled at the lack of supervision but dammit, we needed some grown up time and where else were we going to find a babysitter for this price with pizza and activities?

So off we went to see Alice in Wonderland in 3-D. I ran ahead to get the tickets. First thing I noticed was the theater was being picketed. I HATE crossing picket lines. People don’t leave their jobs and stand out in the elements over unimportant issues, and I do not like supporting any business that can’t do right by their employees. But I also don’t like disappointing my wife on one of our all-too-rare dates, so I apologized to the picketers, bought tickets, and then went back to the parking lot for a new and exciting opportunity to disappoint my wife. She was circling the lot and I saw one open, so I did what any man would do, I stepped into it to hold it for her. But some woman in some urban assault vehicle decided that I was not allowed to do that and appeared ready to ram me with her gas guzzling tank to prove her point. I shared some choice words with her as I left the space and got into the car.

After driving around fighting about what an asshole I am for saying such mean things to a lady who was willing to kill me for a parking space (though for what it’s worth I probably would not have exploded on a stranger had I not already been a bit stressed and cranky), we finally calmed down, scored an even better parking space, and walked into the theater. But at that point, any decent seat had been taken and we were smack dab in the middle of the second row.

I thought perhaps that since it was a 3-D movie that it would be like we were in the middle of everything, but it was just like being in the second row at a regular movie. You have to crane your neck and the whole frame is bigger than your field of view.

The movie itself was great. The visuals were amazing, and incredibly detailed. Every tree in this Wonderland (or “Underland” as it’s known in this telling) has unearthly twisted and textured branches, and the card suits are hidden everywhere, even making up the chain of the Bandersnatch’s  collar. The acting was your standard Tim Burton over-the-top quirky with his usual players. Crispin Glover definitely fits in well with Depp and Bonham Carter’s oddball styles. The computer generated characters were equally fun to watch, particularly the even-madder-than-the-Hatter March Hare.

The 3-D was pretty cool too, though I think that after this and Avatar, the novelty is starting to wear off with me. The one funny thing I noticed though was how in medium and farther away shots, Anne Hathaway was a gorgeous White Queen. But close up, she looked like a linebacker. I’m not sure if it was a quirk of the 3-D, or just that our eyeballs were inches from the screen, or that I’m just a wackjob, but it was like that episode of Seinfeld with the man-hands. Oh no, she’s cracking open the lobster tail!

Afterwords we went to pick up our little gymnast. There did not appear to be any kind of checking out procedure and the staff did not seem ready to talk to the parents about anything. We felt kind of weird about leaving her someplace with such minimal attention given to the parents who would like to just basically know how it went and who these people are who are looking after our kids. But she did come home in one piece without any new bad habits, so this could be a good way for mommy and daddy to get out on a Friday night every now and then!