JURASSIC PARK 3D... Hell Yeah!

I saw JURASSIC PARK in 3D at the Dome...
and I have to say:  HELL YEAH!

 


That is what summer blockbusters are all about. The f/x are Flawless even 20 years later. It still fills with wonder and terror. 

The 3D looked great. I'm glad they did such a good job on it. I would choose to see it in IMAX if I were to do it again, as the dome's curved screen and choice of 3d systems adds some weird ghosting at times. But still, it was really cool. The raptors and the t-rex were so real!

The sound was also great. Though as good as the sound was, it wasn't like the Northpark in Dallas, TX in 1993. When the T-Rex walked, the seats actually vibrated. You felt the air rush past your head. Man I miss that place.

It made me so happy to see it, to take that journey again. To believe in the power of movies, and the wonder of the world...

...and it also makes me a little sad to think how many of the great people that created it are no longer with us (the great Stan Winston and Michael Crichton), or have fallen so far in their accomplishments (Spielberg) (I'm sure some will debate this, but for me he hasn't made a great movie in so long. And there used to be nothing more exciting than the words "A Steven Spielberg film" on a poster.)

It's sort of like Richard Attenborough's character. I felt so sorry for him. His dream was so big and he wanted to give joy so much, but in the end nature (and life) has other plans. Even so, for 2 hours Dinosaurs lived in 1993. And for 2 hours they lived again tonight.

Awesome.

The Joy of Cinerama

So in the past 6 days I have seen 5 Cinerama movies at the Cinerama Dome at Arclight Hollywood:

HOW THE WEST WAS WON, THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF THE BROTHERS GRIMM, and THIS IS CINERAMA in full, 3 strip Cinerama prints.  CINERAMA HOLIDAY in a digital remaster of a 3 strip print.  And IT'S A MAD MAD MAD MAD WORLD in 70mm...

Yes, the titles are as long as the movies are.  They all have overtures and intermissions.  They all are 2 - 3 hours long.  And they all are AWESOME.

I learned all about the camera (It's 150 pounds with 3 interconnecting lenses, 3 film mags and a single shutter.  It captures 146 degrees of vision.)
I found out why the giant COOPER theater in Denver, where I grew up and watch Ghostbusters, Firefox and Return of the Jedi and other movies, existed.  (The screen was 110 feet across!) 

Or why the RIVER HILLS / RIVIERA in Des Moines (Cadry Nelson, remember that!) had that crazy curved screen.  All these theaters are gone.  Turned into Barnes n Nobles, TGI Fridays or Parking Lots.  In fact, only 3 theaters remain IN THE WORLD that can show 3 strip Cinerama.  How lucky that one of them is 10 minutes from my house?

It has been an absolute joy to journey through this once world famous, box office breaking, mindblowing -- yet now almost forgotten -- period of enormous widescreen cinema.  This is the reason we have widescreen cinema and Surround sound.  It all started here.

And to go back in time, 50-60 years, and see these movies larger than life itself, is a true treat.  It has been so inspiring, and has shown me a pure wonder and joy of cinema that I haven't seen regularly in a long time.  I only wish I could have shared the experience with friends or family.  So they could also have a giant childlike smile on their faces right now. :)

There's a few more movies tomorrow (Thursday) including How The West Was Won.  Treat yourself.  Go back in time.  See, hear and feel the power of movies.  It truly earns the word AWESOME.

And the next time you  watch something on a computer, or iPad or iPhone or iAnything, shot with a shakey, blurry, low res HD camera, you'll know what you're missing.

Bigger is better when it comes to movies.
Big film makes digital look like a toy.
And Cinerama was as big as it's ever been.