Tag Archives: 3d

Puss in Boots IMAX 3D Review

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I have to be honest, I may be going into this review with a slight bias because I love Puss in Boots. Especially when he does that thing with his eyes.

I wouldn’t normal go to the cinema to see a cartoon, but I also saw Tintin in 3D earlier this year and that was brilliant, so off to Kingston I went.

This film is the prequel to the Shrek franchise. It is Puss in Boots story up until he meets Shrek. The film is good, the storyline is great. Fantastic for kids but grown up enough to keep the adults happy too. Antonio Banderas is good as Puss and Salma Hayek is perfect as Kitty SoftPaws. The story has a lot of fairytale characters in it so you feel like you already know the characters in the film. It’s a good cast and Zach Galifianakis is wonderful as Humpty Dumpty and has one of the best lines in the film: “Do you know what happens to eggs in jail? Well … it ain’t over easy!

Seeing the film at the IMAX and in 3D makes it more of an experience than just going to see a film. Things jump out at you and the visuals and sound are amazing.

I recommend this film no matter what your age. My only complaint is that, as I wear glasses to the cinema, wearing two pairs when you count the 3D pair hurt my nose!

TinTin Review

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TinTin is a must-see film. Although the Guardian gave it a poor review, for which they have rightly now been castigated, I cannot find anyone else who agrees with them. TinTin is already famous, so it was brave of Steven Spielberg to make a film on a childhood classic. He does not disappoint.

Although 3D is not a new thing, it has become the gimmick of the moment. While waiting for the film to start, it seemed that every film made in the last 10 years had a trailer announcing they would be in the cinema soon in ‘full 3D’. This is not a complaint, only an observation. I saw TinTin in 3D and definitely think it was worth donning the specs. Not every film needs to be in 3D, but some of the scenes, without giving anything away, really worked.

Spielberg is a master storyteller. He makes the kind of films the cinema experience was made for and TinTin is no exception of his talents. A rip-roaring, entertaining film. Spectacular animation, some of the best you have ever seen, and technically incredible. The voice acting was amazing and the characters were brought to life wonderfully. Though what do you expect from a film which is not only directed by Steven Spielberg, but also has Peter Jackson on the second unit?

My only complaint is the film is a PG, so you might be in the cinema with some badly behaved children whose parents won’t tell them to be quiet.

Five stars. Loved it.

Green Lantern – Movie Review

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The light  burns,  but nowhere near as bright as it could have.

You can tell it is the summer blockbuster season can’t you? We have had one superhero movie a month so far and still got a couple more to go. None of this is a problem for me. I love a good superhero movie as much as the next child. When I took my Godchildren to see this film, one could almost say I was more excited than they were. I bounced into the cinema with excitement, flung on my 3D glasses with almost wild abandon and had the biggest bag of popcorn the girl behind the counter could create firmly in my lap.

The film started and it wasn’t like I was disappointed, just more like I expected more. You see, when so many films come out with people having special powers, a film needs to be unique to stand above what you have seen before. Otherwise, like quite a lot of the Michael Bay films, everything turns into something you have seen before.

To be fair, it is arguable that the Green Lantern is perhaps the lesser known superhero from the DC World and Martin Campbell, the director behind Casino Royale, does a good job with the opening sequence bringing those new to the Green Lantern world up to date.

Basically, throughout the universe exists a galactic police force known as the Green Lantern Corps. Created by the Guardians, each member has a power ring, which grants the bearer the ability to create anything their mind imagines. When the guardian’s ancient enemy – a huge all consuming yellow cloud known as Parallax – is released and begins to feed on fear, Green Lantern Abin Sur (played by Temuera Morrison), takes on the threat and in the ensuing battle is gravely wounded. He pilots his ship to the nearest habitable planet so he can send the ring off to choose a worthy replacement.

Enter Hal Jordan (played by Ryan Reynolds), a test pilot whose brash and arrogant attitude lands him in all sorts of trouble and whose recent failures almost cause his employers to go bankrupt. In short, he is one step away from being a bum. It is after a bar brawl with some of his ex-colleagues that incredibly, the ring finds him and zap, the real story begins. I say the real story because it takes a whopping 40 minutes to get this far and before this, although there are special effects, things are far from interesting.

Once the film does get going, it does so with gusto and we see some interesting dynamics played out. While the ring chose Hal, Abin Sur’s other pupil, Sinestro (played by Mark Strong), sees only weakness in Jordan. And with Parallax threatening the universe and the existence of the Green Lanterns, Jordan has to overcome his fear and desire to run away from responsibility and commit to being a hero.

Ryan Reynolds does a good job as Green Lantern. He certainly looks the part and I think if anything, the script lets him down. Some of the arguments and some of the things that his character does just doesn’t make sense, whether he is on the road to being a bum or not, and it is these barriers which stop you from empathising with him or feeling anything at all for what is going on.

Blake Lively plays the lovely Carol Ferris, Hal’s co-pilot, co-worker and budding love interest. She is very charismatic on screen, yet strong-willed and feisty. In many ways you believe she is the one to bring Hal round to taking on the responsibly he has been given. I don’t mind saying I could just look at her all day and not say a word, but that would be rather stalker-ish of me.

From the start, there is a great deal of respect for the source material. DC, the producers, and the director stay close to the mythos of the comic book. This is a good and a bad thing. The characters, names, and places are pretty much all there, the effects, whilst not Avatar quality, are fairly decent and it is good to see the realisation of characters such as Kilowog, and Abin Sur looking and sounding every inch their comic counterpart.

The film does suffer from over use of CGI in places. For example, the homeworld Oa just looks like a giant screensaver. Only Parallax looks genuinely scary. As for the flight sequences – well actually, you get no feeling of flight whatsoever and most of the battles just seem average.

3D has its place in the movie and truly comes into its own when Jordan uses his ring and the power of his will is created on screen. Other than that, 3D effects are sparse and to be fair, the special effects are good enough without it. The problem is, that despite all the special effects, I was never truly left in awe by the Green Lantern’s power, I never truly believed in Hal Jordan’s cause and never truly felt like he was up against the odds or that he couldn’t win. If anything, I only felt annoyed by the length of time it took the filmmakers to get to the point where they could create a scenario big enough for him to believe in himself.

I know my Godchildren enjoyed the film tremendously, but compared to the other summer releases I would say that Green Lantern is a lot less involving than Thor and nowhere near as good as X-Men: First Class. Having said that, it might not be the worst superhero movie of the summer, after all Transformers and Captain America are both just round the corner.

My Final Verdict
Go watch it, but only if you really have to.

7 / 10

Tron: Legacy {Film Review}

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It has been nearly 30 years since Tron hit the screens, which turned out to be a box-office flop (along with The Thing and Blade Runner that year) but then has become a cult-classic and has been cherished by its fans. Now we have a mega budget sequel, having to please the fans of the first film but also intriguing new fans. It is, unfortunately, not a masterpiece or anything more than just your average sci-fi/adventure movie.

The good points to this film are the visual effects. The Grid feels familiar but up-to-date with our current technology (unfortunately, Tron feels incredibly dated with its visual effects). The suits and light-cycles have been given a 2.0 upgrade, and all look relatively cool and flashy. The action sequences are well done, wide enough to see and intense without being chaotic (again, Michael Bay should take notes). The music by Daft Punk is undeniably awesome. It is atmospheric and makes the film a lot better for it. It feels retro, but being contemporary. The 3D in this movie is very well done, not poorly rendered (Clash of the Titans) or hard to watch (Alice in Wonderland) but it’s more atmospheric 3D (Avatar) and works incredibly to its advantage. The 3D only happens as soon Sam enters The Grid, with the scenes in the real world are filmed in traditional 2D format. Yet all that is far and between to what I have to bring up the bad points.

I don’t want to go into detail about the story, but it is predictable and stupid basically. There’s the Disney cliché’s of Sam growing up to be a rebel, even one night hacks into Encom and escapes by parachuting off from the roof (errrr why? wouldn’t it been better if you gone out the same way you came and not attract yourself even more?). The first film had a simple and easy to follow structure to know what was the purpose of Clu, Tron etc. In this film, however, they mention things but they don’t give enough detail exactly how or what happened (like how did the new ISOs actually exist?). If Clu and Tron are given tasks to do, then what tasks the programs in the crowd do? Olivia Wilde plays the token hot girl, given nothing to do but deliver exposition. Garrett Hedlund is not a particularly interesting protagonist, he’s just a one-dimensional character and not very developed. Michael Sheen as Castor is really wasted in this film, he absolutely chews the scenery and acts like a gay David Bowie/Billy Idol and his character is pointless (same problem I asked earlier; if he’s a program, what is his function?). The only good performance is Jeff Bridges, though he plays him like The Dude in The Big Lebowski. The CGI effects for the young Jeff Bridges/Clu is really off-putting. It’s the definition of uncanny valley; it looks rubbery or plastic and I just couldn’t suspend my disbelief. I won’t say much, but the story is full of plot-holes.

Overall; a hugely disappointing film. Whilst partially entertaining at times, and an amazing score by Daft Punk; I couldn’t help but say to myself “is this the best they could come up with after 30 years?”. It feels more suitable than as a theme park ride than a movie.

3 stars!

By Owun Birkett

Toy Story 3 Review by Catherine Balavage {Film}

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Amazingly, Toy Story has been going since 1995. This means I was just a pup when the first one came out. Fifteen years later, Pixar’s brillance is still very much in evidence. The plot is good, the graphics are amazing and Toy story now comes in 3D.

When the film first came out Twitter and Facebook seemed full of grown men admitting they cried during the film. I didn’t cry but if you don’t feel something then you are not human. The story is one that will touch everyone. About growing up and moving on. Andy is all grown up and going to college. What will he do with his toys?

All the characters are as amazing as every. Tom Hanks is wonderful as Woody, who rescues the other toys. Toy Story 3 is clever, heart warming and heart rendering. An enthralling perfect animated film that I cannot praise enough. It may even be Pixar’s best movie.

Go. Take tissues.

Five stars.

Panasonic bring 3D to the Olympics By Jodie {Sport}

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It’s less than two years until the Olympics comes to London and to mark the occasion Panasonic commandeered Trafalgar Square and brought their own entertainment in the form of 3d booths, Flawless and Olympians Tim Brabants and Keri-Anne Payne.

We sent fearless Jodie Burch to interview the Olympians, here’s what she found out;

Tim BrabantsTim Brabants, who is a sprint racer, found his passion as the age of 10 in 1987. Inspired by people within his Kayaking club who went to the Seoul Olympics in 1988, Tim won gold at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Naming this as his biggest achievement to date, he is eager to repeat this at London 2010.

When asked what it means to him to compete in London, he can barely contain his excitement. His face comes alive as the thought and you instantly know that his whole life has been working towards this moment. Describing it as a unique opportunity, Tim is eager to live up to the British expectations and uses this as his motivation.

With training happening 2-3 times a day and only 1 day off every two weeks, you can see the determination in his face. A long road of training, preparation and international competition stretches out in front of him before 2012.

With everything crossed that he qualifies for the team, we can but sit and wait until that decision is made.

Keri-Anne Payne, a 10k swimmer, began swimming at the tender age of 4 so sees competing in the Olympics as a natural progression and her passion is obvious. After winning the World Championships and bringing home a silver medal in Beijing, she longs for that gold in 2012.

Being in Beijing was a phenomenal experience for her and one she hopes is replicated when the Olympics comes to Britain, her home country.

Not taking the chance of a lifetime to complete for Britain on British soil lightly she doesn’t lie, she’s nervous. But also excited and describes it as the best feeling in the world and a once in a lifetime opportunity.

When asked how she has been preparing for 2010, she instantly says the last 12 years of her life have been working towards this moment. Hoping to avoid the ducks in Hyde Park’s Serpentine, she is all too aware of the fact that she still needs to qualify for the 2012 team.

Tim and Keri-Ann weren’t the only well known faces to grace the event, Capital’s Johnny Vaughan also dropped by…

Here’s the video of Jodie interviewing Keri-Ann and Tim in noisy Trafalgar Square, it’s a bit noisy, just be thankful there arnt any pigeons any longer.

Keri-Anne Payne and Tim Brabants were speaking at Panasonic’s Two Years to Go to London 2012 event in Trafalgar Square held on Tuesday 27 July. For more information on Panasonic’s Olympic sponsorship please visit www.panasonic.co.uk

Printed Clothing {Style}

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Film’s going three dimention happy at the moment so it’s no excuse for fashion not to follow suit. The uses of 3d printing are still being explored and designer-researchers are producing 3d printed textiles and clothing.

The emerging technology, which uses ultraviolet beams to fuse layers of powdered, recyclable thermoplastic into shape, leaves behind virtually no waste. Its localized production and one-size-fits-all approach also racks up fewer travel miles, requires less labor, and compresses fabrication time to a matter of hours, rather than weeks or months.

Designer Jiri Evenhuis, in collaboration with Janne Kyttanen of Freedom of Creation, were among the first to toy with the idea of using 3D printers to create textiles. “Instead of producing textiles by the meter, then cutting and sewing them into final products, this concept has the ability to make needle and thread obsolete,” Evenhuis has said.

3D printing has the “ability to make needle and thread obsolete,” says designer Jiri Evenhuis. 

A decade later, designer-researchers like Freedom of Creation in Amsterdam and Philip Delamore at the London College of Fashion are cranking out seamless, flexible textile structures using software that converts three-dimensional body data into skin-conforming fabric structures. The potential for bespoke clothing, tailored to the specific individual, are as abundant as the patterns that can be created, from interlocking Mobius motifs to tightly woven meshes.

Freedom of Creation’s 3D textiles are currently display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

3D Printing Process: ‘The FOC Punch Bag’ from Freedom Of Creation on Vimeo.

[via ecouterre]