Fantastic Week At The Advanced Imaging Society and VR Society Lumiere Awards!

Dignitaries on the red carpet, including Jim Chabin, Ed Bedley Jr., Ivan Reitman, Jon Favreau and Roy Taylor

The Advanced Imaging Society and VR Society held their 8th annual Lumiere awards last week and year after year they always seem to one up the previous! This year was no exception at the completely filled venue at the Stephen J. Ross Theater on the Warner Bros. Studios' backlot.

I was blown away by the VR (virtual reality) demonstrations that were set up for attendees to try. Simply amazing content and we've only just begun in the space! Trust me, if you haven't seen some of these cinematic VR experiences - do it. And the Google Tilt Brush was the icing on the cake. Again - you have to experience VR to appreciate it. No amount of hype or traditional media will probably prepare you for it. You just have to try it!

Native 3D Wizards Ben Gervais and Demetri Portelli

On the Advanced Imaging Side of things, I have to make special mention of Ang Lee's BILLY LYNN'S LONG HALFTIME WALK. The native 3D team of Demetri Portelli and Ben Gervais continues to lead the world by example with their superlative work in native 3D (shot optically - not converted in post). It is a technological first for cinema with its first ever use of combined 3D, 4K, 120fps framerate, but more importantly - it works. Another masterpiece for Ang Lee. A Lumiere well earned for Demetri and Ben!

Further, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the stellar 3D conversion and visual effects in Marvel's DOCTOR STRANGE. You know what I mean don't you? That astral plane projection scene - or the folding city scenes? Jaw dropping! Congratulations to Marvel Studios on your Lumiere.

I'm proud to be a recipient of Lumiere for last year's 40 BELOW AND FALLING (with an amazing crew and team) and honored to vote for this year's group of hopefuls. Let's take a look at the category nominees and winners:

3D Feature – Live Action
Assassin’s Creed – 20th Century Fox
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – Warner Bros.
WINNER: Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk – Sony Pictures Entertainment
Captain America: Civil War – Marvel Studios
Doctor Strange – Marvel Studios
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – Warner Bros.
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children – 20th Century Fox
Rogue One – Walt Disney Studios
Star Trek Beyond – Paramount Pictures
Suicide Squad – Warner Bros.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows – Paramount Pictures
The BFG – Walt Disney Studios
The Legend of Tarzan – Warner Bros.

Stereography – Live Action
Assassin’s Creed – 20th Century Fox
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – Warner Bros.
Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk – Sony Pictures Entertainment
Captain America: Civil War – Marvel Studios
WINNER: Doctor Strange – Marvel Studios
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – Warner Bros.
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children – 20th Century Fox
Rogue One – Walt Disney Studios
Star Trek Beyond – Paramount Pictures
Suicide Squad – Warner Bros.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows – Paramount Pictures
The BFG – Walt Disney Studios
The Legend of Tarzan – Warner Bros.

Packed house at the 2017 Lumieres - Jon Favreau seated at left; Ed Begley Jr. seated at right (Photo credit unknown)

3D Feature – Animated
Finding Dory – Pixar
Ice Age: Collision Course – 20th Century Fox
Kubo and the Two Strings – Focus Features
Kung Fu Panda 3 – DreamWorks Animation
Moana – Walt Disney Studios
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter – Sony Pictures
Sing – Universal Pictures
Storks – Warner Bros.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows – Paramount
The Angry Birds Movie – Sony Pictures
The Great Wall – Universal Pictures
The Legend of Tarzan – Warner Bros.
The Secret Life of Pets – Universal Pictures
Trolls – DreamWorks Animation
WINNER: Zootopia – Walt Disney Studios

Stereography – Animated
Finding Dory – Pixar
Ice Age: Collision Course – 20th Century Fox
WINNER: Kubo and the Two Strings – Focus Features
Kung Fu Panda 3 – DreamWorks Animation
Moana – Walt Disney Studios
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter – Sony Pictures
Sing – Universal Pictures
Storks – Warner Bros.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows – Paramount Pictures
The Angry Birds Movie – Sony Pictures
The Great Wall – Universal Pictures
The Legend of Tarzan – Warner Bros.
The Secret Life of Pets – Universal Pictures
Trolls – DreamWorks Animation
Zootopia – Walt Disney Studios

Outstanding Use of 2D to 3D Conversion
Assassin’s Creed – 20th Century Fox
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – Warner Bros.
Captain America: Civil War – Marvel Studios
Doctor Strange – Marvel Studios
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – Warner Bros.
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children – 20th Century Fox
WINNER: Rogue One – Walt Disney Studios
Star Trek Beyond – Paramount Pictures
Suicide Squad – Warner Bros.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows – Paramount Pictures
The BFG – Walt Disney Studios
The Legend of Tarzan – Warner Bros.

3D Short
Panda Paws – DreamWorks Animation
Piper – Pixar
The Early Hatchling Gets the Worm – Rovio Entertainment
WINNER: Inner Workings – Walt Disney Animation Studios

High Dynamic Range – Live Action
10 Cloverfield Lane – Paramount Pictures
13 Hours – The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi – Paramount Pictures
Alice in Wonderland: Through the Looking Glass – Walt Disney Pictures
Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice – Warner Bros.
Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk – Sony Pictures Entertainment
Captain America: Civil War – Marvel Studios & Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Deadpool – 20th Century Fox
Deepwater Horizon – Lionsgate
Doctor Strange – Walt Disney Studios
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – Warner Bros.
For A Few Bullets – Wanda Pictures
Force 2 – Viacom 18
Hardcore Henry – STX
Independence Day: Resurgence – 20th Century Fox
Inferno – Sony Pictures Entertainment
Jack Reacher: Never Go Back – Paramount
L.O.R.D (Legend of Ravaging Dynasties) – LeVision
La La Land – Lionsgate
WINNER: Live By Night – Warner Bros.
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children – 20th Century Fox
Now You see Me 2 – Lionsgate
Pete’s Dragon – Walt Disney Studios
Star Trek 3: Beyond – Paramount
Suicide Squad – Warner Bros.
The BFG – Walt Disney Studios
The Divergent Series: Allegiant PT.1 – Lionsgate
The Jungle Book – Walt Disney Pictures
The Legend of Tarzan – Warner Bros.
Warcraft – Legendary Pictures & Universal Pictures
X-Men Apocalypse – 20th Century Fox

High Dynamic Range – Animated
WINNER: Finding Dory – Walt Disney Studios
Ice Age Collision Course – 20th Century Fox
Kubo and the Two Strings – Universal Studios
Moana – Walt Disney Studios
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of The Shadows – Paramount
Zootopia – Walt Disney Studios

Virtual Reality Categories

VR – Gaming
A Chair in the Room: Greenwater – Wolf & Wood
Accounting – Squanchtendo with Crows Crows Crows
Batman: Arkham VR – Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Battlezone – Rebellion Developments
Chronos – Gunfire Games
Eve: Valkyrie – CCP Games
WINNER: Job Simulator – Owlchemy Labs
Raw Data – Survios
Space Pirate Trainer – I-Illusions
Star Wars Battlefront Rogue One X-Wing VR Mission – DICE & Criterion Games
The Gallery – Episode 1 Call of the Starseed – Cloudhead Games
The Lab – Valve Corporation

VR – Film Experience
Fantastic Beasts – Warner Bros., Google, Framestore VR Studio
WINNER: Ghostbusters VR Experience – Sony Pictures Entertainment, The Void
Star Wars: Trial on Tatooine – ILMxLAB
Suicide Squad: Special Ops VR – Warner Bros., Mob Scene & Atlas Entertainment, MPC VR & Legend 3D
The Jungle Book – Through Mowgli’s Eyes Part 1: Trust in Me – Walt Disney Studios & Tangerine Apps
The Martian VR Experience – 20th Century Fox, Fox Innovation Lab, RSA Films, The Virtual Reality Company

VR – Animation & CGI
Allumette – Penrose Studios
Apollo 11 VR Experience – Immersive VR Education
WINNER: Dear Angelica – Oculus Story Studio
Gnomes and Goblins – Jon Favreau, Wevr, Reality One
Grace – MacInnes Scott
Home: A VR Spacewalk – BBC & REWIND
Pearl – Google Spotlight Series
The Night Cafe: A VR Tribute to Vincent Van Gogh – Borrowed Light Studios
The Starry Night – Shanghai Media Group
theBlu – Wevr
Volt: Chain City – Vive Studios
Wide Awake President Trump VR Experience – MacInnes Scott

VR – Live Action
A Challenge – Brigantine Films
Cirque du Soleil, KÀ – Felix & Paul Studios
Knives – Adam Cosco
My Brother’s Keeper – PBS Digital Studios
WINNER: Nomads: Sea Gypsies – Felix & Paul Studios
Perspective Ch. 2: The Misdemeanor – Specular Theory & Rose Troche
The Harvest – Chapman University & AMD
The Mule – Dark Corner Studios
Through the Ages: President Obama Celebrates Americas National Parks – Felix & Paul Studios
VR Noir: A Day Before the Night – StartVR

VR – Episodic Content
Gone – Wevr & Skybound
Halcyon – Syfy (produced by Secret Location)
WINNER: Invisible – Doug Liman, 30 Ninjas, Condé Nast Entertainment (CNÉ), Jaunt VR, Samsung

Winner, VR - Documentary: THE CLICK EFFECT

VR – Documentary
A History of Cuban Dance – Lucy Walker
David Attenborough’s Great Barrier Reef – Atlantic Productions & Alchemy VR
Defying the Nazis VR – LIFE VR
Rhinos on the Move – Discovery VR
WINNER: The Click Effect – Annapurna Pictures & Here Be Dragons
The Edge of Space – KonceptVR

VR – Journalism
Calais: The Jungle – Sky News
Chernobyl 30 Years Later – ABC News VR
Defying the Beast – World Vision & Koncept VR
Great Performers: L.A. Noir – New York Times VR
Out of Exile: Daniel’s Story – Nonny de la Peńa & Emblematic Group
Remembering Pearl Harbor – LIFE VR
Struggle for Survival in the Devastated City of Aleppo – CNN
WINNER: Take Flight – New York Times 
“Toxic Tour” 360 – Oil Exploitation in the Ecuadorian Amazon – Huffington Post RYOT
Valen’s Reef – Vice

VR – Sports
360 Rio 2016 Olympics VR – BBC Sport
Closer (featuring David Beckham) – Sky VR & Sky Sports
Experience the Rio Olympics in Virtual Reality – NBC Olympics & Samsung
WINNER: Follow My Lead: The Story of the 2016 NBA Finals – Oculus & m ss ng p eces
NFL Immersed – Episode 1: Eagles Defensive Line – NFL Immersed & Two Bit Circus
NFL Immersed – Episode 4: Melvin Gordon & the Chargers Game Day Prep – NFL Immersed & Two Bit Circus

VR – Music
WINNER: Joshua Bell VR Experience – Sony PlayStation
Kygo: “Carry Me – The VR Experience” – Sony Music
OneRepublic: “Kids” – MPC Creative
Pentatonix: “Up on the Housetop” – Sony Music
TheWave – TheWaveVR
Waves – Wevr (with Reggie Watts)

VR – Branded
WINNER: 360 VR Tour of the Shinola Factory with Luke Wilson – Reel FX
Absolut Deadmau5 – Absolut
Audi’s VR Car Showroom Experience – Zero Light
Formula E “Leap of Faith” – REWIND
Jack Daniel’s 360 VR Distillery Experience – Jack Daniel’s & The Mill
Jaguar: I-PACE – REWIND (for Imagination & Jaguar Land Rover)
Reimagine, VR Film by Etihad Airways with Nicole Kidman – The Barbarian Group
Stan Lee’s Cosmic Crusaders – The Hollywood Reporter, GBI, POW, Legend VR
The Field Trip to Mars – McCann (for Lockheed Martin) & Framestore
The Nature Conservancy: This is Our Future – MPC Creative

Yours Truly and the amazing Jon Favreau

The 2017 recipient of the annual Harold Lloyd Award for Filmmaking goes to Jon Favreau! And deservedly so. His artful storytelling married to eye opening filmmaking technology has thrilled audiences time and time again. My favorite Favreau film (FavFavFilm?) is definitely CHEF although the original IRON MAN comes very, very close. It was wonderful chatting with him for the first time at the Lumieres!

I want to deeply thank Jim Chabin and his AIS team for their tireless work in pulling off these shows every year. It is an absolute pleasure to attend and cover them! Thank you Jim!!

Looking forward to what 2017 has in store for us in Advanced Imaging and VR! Stay tuned. As MarketSaw enters our 11th year of life, we're going to be making some awesome changes!

I'll leave you now with some poster shots of the cinematic VR content we were able to experience!

Director Jon Favreau To Receive Harold Lloyd Award For Filmmaking From Advanced Imaging Society

ADVANCED IMAGING SOCIETY AND THE VR SOCIETY ANNOUNCES 2017 HONOREES

DIRECTOR JON FAVREAU TO RECEIVE HAROLD LLOYD AWARD

HTC CEO AND CHAIRWOMAN CHER WANG AND “HTC VIVE” RECOGNIZED WITH SIR CHARLES WHEATSTONE AWARD

GOOGLE EARTH VR HONORED WITH CENTURY AWARD VR

CATEGORIES EXPANDED

HOLLYWOOD—The Advanced Imaging Society and The VR Society will continue to influence the 2017 awards season when it presents the 8th Annual Lumiere™ Awards this year honoring creative work in movies, TV and expanded Virtual Reality categories at Warner Bros. Studios, February 13, 2017, in Hollywood. The black-tie gathering will begin at 6:30PM with a sit down dinner, followed by the awards ceremony at the Steven J. Ross Theater.

Director, writer and producer Jon Favreau, director of Disney’s blockbuster “The Jungle Book” movie and creator of the “Gnomes and Goblins” VR experience with Wevr and Reality One, will be presented with the Society’s 2017 Harold Lloyd Award for Filmmaking. Favreau directed Marvel’s “Iron Man” and “Iron Man 2” movies, and he also directed “Chef”, “Cowboys and Aliens” and “Elf”. His films have grossed over 2.5 billion dollars at the worldwide box office. Previous honorees have included Martin Scorsese, Ang Lee, Jean-Pierre Juenet, Victoria Alonso and Jeffrey Katzenberg.

“Harold Lloyd was a passionate advocate for using new technology to thrill audiences,” said Suzanne Lloyd, Chairman of Harold Lloyd Entertainment. “He would be delighted that we are honoring Jon for exciting so many movie and VR fans worldwide,” Lloyd added.

The Society’s annually recognizes “Distinguished Creative Achievement” for the use of advanced imaging technologies including 3D, HDR and VR. Awards will be presented for distinguished achievement in storytelling for 3D and HDR Live Action and Animated Movie categories, among others. The Virtual Reality categories have expanded this year to include Best VR Experience, Best VR Film Experience, Best VR Animation and CGI, Best Episodic Content (360-degree), Best Live Action (360-degree), Best VR Documentary, Best VR Journalism, Best VR Sports, Best VR Music, Best VR Advertising/Branded Content, and Best VR Gaming, The Awards Ceremony and dinner is presented by AMD. A complete list of nominees can be seen here:

http://www.advancedimagingsociety.com/awards/2017-nominees/.

Also new this year is an opportunity for the media to visit curated and the award nominated VR content in all categories. The Advanced Imaging Society and The VR Society will offer a VIP media preview from 10AM-12PM on February 13 at the Steven J. Ross Theater at Warner Bros.

Cher Wang, Chairwoman and CEO of HTC Corp., creator of the HTC VIVE virtual reality system, will be presented with the organization’s Sir Charles Wheatstone Award. Society Awards Chair Buzz Hays stated “With the HTC VIVE, Cher Wang and her team have created a groundbreaking room- scale VR platform that has enabled the production of a dazzling number of immersive VR experiences which have pushed the boundaries of entertainment. The result has surprised and delighted the industry and consumers,” Hays added. Previous Wheatstone winners include John Lasseter and Pixar, Sky TV, The BBC, and Sir David Attenborough.

The Society1s Century Award will be presented to Google Earth VR. This application allows you to travel the world, fly over cities, stand at the highest mountain peaks, and even soar upwards into space using the HTC Vive. “The Google VR Experience empowers every citizen of the world to explore and learn about our world with VR,” said Society President Jim Chabin. “This achievement will enrich countless lives and expand our understanding of our planet in the coming years, and we are thrilled to honor Google's virtual reality team,” Chabin added. The Century Award is presented rarely and is reserved for people and achievements the Society deems to have “created a milestone” technology or piece of content. Director James Cameron was previously honored with the Century Award for “Avatar.”

In addition to the honorees, confirmed special guests to attend include Doug Liman and Ivan Reitman.

The Society’s Gold Lumiere™ statuettes are made by the R.S. Owens Company of Chicago, who also manufactures the Oscars for the Academy Awards. They depict the Roman Goddess of Dawn, “Aurora”.

About The Advanced Imaging Society and The VR Society

The Advanced Imaging Society and The VR Society were founded as a non-profit organization by major Hollywood studios and top technology companies to advance the arts and technologies of 3D, HDR, VR, AR and 360-degree content for professionals active in entertainment, media and marketing. Members include AMD, Barco, Canon Street, Cause Play/360 Ad Sports, Cosgrove Media, Create Advertising Group, Deluxe Entertainment, Discovery Communications, Dolby Laboratories, DreamWorks Animation, DTS, Facebook (Oculus), Fathom Events, Fraunhofer, HTC Vive, Intel, KDX, Ketchum, Koncept VR, Legend, LIFE VR, LOOT Interactive, Lucid Dreams Productions, Marvel Studios, Nokia Technologies, Pixar, Prime Focus World, Sony Entertainment, Sony Music, Starbreeze Studios, Stereo D, StoryTech, StreamTV, Technicolor, 3doo, True Image Company, Universal Pictures, V-Nova, Verve, Virtual Reality Company, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, and Warner Bros.

In addition, the Advanced Imaging Society and the VR Society has international chapters in the U.K., Belgium, China (Beijing and Hong Kong), Japan, New Zealand, and Canada.

For more information please visit:

www.AdvancedImagingSociety.com
TheVRSociety.com

Really looking forward to this gala event! I'll have more updates soon.

When Push Comes To Shove: Warners Moves WONDER WOMAN And JUNGLE BOOK Launches

Some pulling up going on too. WONDER WOMAN is being pulled up to a slated release date 3 weeks earlier to June 2, 2017. Showing us some confidence? I hope so. I really enjoyed Gal Gadot's performance in the role in BATMAN v SUPERMAN - one of the few aspects of that movie that I didn't have any issues.

Meanwhile, Andy Serkis' JUNGLE BOOK: ORIGINS has been pushed out a full year from October 6, 2017 to October 19, 2018. I also view this as a positive with not only giving Serkis more time to deliver on his performance capture promises but also allowing audiences some breathing room from Jon Favreau's THE JUNGLE BOOK offering (which looks amazing) opening next week on April 15. It will feature the voices of Benedict Cumberbatch, Christian Bale and Cate Blanchett among others.

Said Serkis: "I’ve got to say that personally I’m absolutely thrilled that Warner Brothers have changed the delivery date of our movie. The ambition for this project is huge. What we are attempting is an unprecedented level of psychological and emotional nuance in morphing the phenomenal performances of our cast into the facial expressions of our animals."

Further to Warner Bros announcement of these changes, they added dates for a couple of untitled DC Comics launches: October 5, 2018 and November 1, 2019.
 

Check The Latest Poster And TV Spot For Favreau's THE JUNGLE BOOK

I am so looking forward to seeing director Jon Favreau's THE JUNGLE BOOK! It's natively shot in 3D and with High Dynamic Range HDR imagery. The visuals are looking so darn good. And as I said it's a Favreau movie which I've been salivating for recently. I loved CHEF.

Favreau hits all the right notes with his comments relating to the massive audience for the movie: "You are serving many masters... you are trying to honor the memory, preconceived memory of people who grew up with it, but you are also trying to make a movie that appeals to the full audience -- that is ethically what we set out to do. We are trying to pay tribute, and we can also see that with the visual effects, we are pushing the technology. We are mixing the old story with cutting edge technology".

Here is the movie's storyline:
Directed by Jon Favreau (Iron Man), based on Rudyard Kipling’s timeless stories and inspired by Disney’s classic animated film, THE JUNGLE BOOK is an all-new live-action epic adventure about Mowgli (newcomer Neel Sethi), a man-cub who’s been raised by a family of wolves. But Mowgli finds he is no longer welcome in the jungle when fearsome tiger Shere Khan (voice of Idris Elba), who bears the scars of Man, promises to eliminate what he sees as a threat. Urged to abandon the only home he’s ever known, Mowgli embarks on a captivating journey of self-discovery, guided by panther-turned-stern mentor Bagheera (voice of Ben Kingsley), and the free-spirited bear Baloo (voice of Bill Murray). Along the way, Mowgli encounters jungle creatures who don’t exactly have his best interests at heart, including Kaa (voice of Scarlett Johansson), a python whose seductive voice and gaze hypnotizes the man-cub, and the smooth-talking King Louie (voice of Christopher Walken), who tries to coerce Mowgli into giving up the secret to the elusive and deadly red flower: fire. The all-star cast also includes Lupita Nyong'o as the voice of the fiercely protective mother wolf Raksha, and Giancarlo Esposito as the voice of wolf pack’s alpha male Akela. THE JUNGLE BOOK seamlessly blends live-action with photorealistic CGI animals and environments, using up-to-the-minute technology and storytelling techniques to immerse audiences in an enchanting and lush world.

Disney's THE JUNGLE BOOK opens on April 15. Here's the official website.

Movie Review: IRON MAN 3 - 7.7 Stars, Spoiler Alert!!

I've started using a single decimal point in my movie ratings because, and I must emphasize this, IRON MAN 3 is not an 8 star movie. Will you go and have a fun time? Yes. Is IRON MAN finally in 3D? Yes. Should Marvel be proud of this effort? Not really, in my opinion.

WARNING: THERE ARE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW. Couldn't help it.

The worldwide success that IRON MAN 3 is enjoying is predominantly from the goodwill from THE AVENGERS, the 3D surcharge and the remarkable marketing jobs that Disney can pull off. To date, IM3 has raked in $700M - a stunning figure in that it was just released in North America this weekend. But in the end, IM3 will lower expectations from Marvel Studios and hurt future box office returns, including that of THE AVENGERS 2. What I am NOT saying here is that THE AVENGERS 2 will bomb - far from it; but I am saying that it will be hurt in some degree by this let down.

So why am I disheartened by the movie? Multiple reasons. Some of them I am quite passionate about - others more of feeling than anything else. Keep in mind that 7.7 stars is far from panning a movie - it's just that Marvel is capable of so much more.

Here's the storyline for the movie:
Marvel's "Iron Man 3" pits brash-but-brilliant industrialist Tony Stark/Iron Man against an enemy whose reach knows no bounds. When Stark finds his personal world destroyed at his enemy's hands, he embarks on a harrowing quest to find those responsible. This journey, at every turn, will test his mettle. With his back against the wall, Stark is left to survive by his own devices, relying on his ingenuity and instincts to protect those closest to him. As he fights his way back, Stark discovers the answer to the question that has secretly haunted him: does the man make the suit or does the suit make the man?

Let's go over the categories one at a time and break this thing down into chew-able pieces:

ONCE AGAIN - SPOILERS FOLLOW!!!

Story - 68%. Not a great story. In fact IRON MAN 2 and 3 are fairly close in my mind. The original IRON MAN was an amazing movie. Look, I'm going to have to give some spoilers here to justify my comments and so, the problem is this: Marvel promised something and didn't deliver. In many ways. There's a fine line between expectations and surprises and this movie failed to manage both. I love the angle of Tony being anxiety ridden and the strange symptoms that can bring (who wouldn't after New York?), but the delivery of it was horrible. J.A.R.V.I.S. diagnosing anxiety within seconds of reviewing basic bodily function stats? A kid making a psych evaluation and solving his problem? Why in Asgard is Stark seeking treatment for anxiety from Bruce Banner? I can think of better Avengers tie-ins than that!

But I digress (it's easy to when you love a character like Stark). Broken promises. The Mandarin. Where do I even begin? My expectations were toasted up, buttered and slapped with saliva inducing marketing marmalade for months upon months. Finally a deep, psychological nemesis for Stark to deal with - intellectual parity battling for supremacy. Nope. A been there, done that character device - he's just an actor. You know, the ol' Star Trek TOS device in "The Corbomite Maneuver" where the evil villain is really just a front for a child-like man. I felt the same let down in THE DARK KNIGHT RISES and the metaphorical castration of Bane. Dang it, I just want original material! Marvel has an amazing menagerie of villains - why on earth would you intentionally lobotomize him? His rings alone would warrant a movie.

Broken promises. Tony goes back to the cave (paraphrasing). What cave exactly? A suburban garage with a young kid in it? No, no, no, no, NO. I wanted solitude. A fortress of solitude if you will. But a place where Stark could be his creative self. Seriously - what did you think he could build there? He built exactly what he could in such a place - a pop tart heating oven mitt. What was that?? That's a fair cry from building a miniature arc reactor in a middle eastern cave. I wanted him to TOP THAT. I wanted him to walk into this amazingly secret location he had built with every conceivable toy he could dream of using to build something worthy of the Stark name. And that kid! Great for some comedic relief, but come on - not in the fortress of solitude. Let me write the script here: Have him battle his anxiety on his own, while trying to build something useful to battle the real Mandarin and throw in either his growing dependency on alcohol (due to New York and character flaw) or some other drug for anxiety to complicate things. I'm going to stop here - but I could go on and on and on about this topic, believe me.

Heck, seeing that Hulkbuster looking armor barreling through walls had me sit forward in my seat - what's going to happen? Is Stark going to use that armor personally to win the battle? Ah no. It was used as a throwaway. Inanimate. A waste of my attention and not required in the movie's story AT ALL. *Sigh*.

Acting - 85%. Obviously strong with this cast in place. No real weak link. Robert Downey Jr. did the best with what he had I felt, but it could have been so much more. The real waste was of course Ben Kingsley - his awesome performance as a villain was cut very short.

Character Development - 77%. An attempt was made to finally show some weakness in the ego armor of Stark. But in the end, I had a bad taste in my mouth from the way he treated the child (it's not his child and even if it was, does he want to repeat what his father did to him?), his almost laughable creations in the boy's garage and ultimately his full surrender to 'serenity now'. It all doesn't sit right with me.

Now Pepper Potts on the other hand was brilliantly wrought. Finally she is a formidable adversary both physically and mentally. Her quick and decidedly very aggressive actions have her and Stark meeting themselves going in different directions: Potts becoming more warlike and Stark un-arming himself. I applaud whats happened to her in IM3 and as a device, I like having the two characters slowing migrating to polar opposites once again.

The Mandarin was a sham. Completely put off by the premise as a slap in the face of everything I thought Marvel stood for. Marvel has to work so hard at suspension of disbelief with superhero movies, to just up and rip this one to shreds points to too much ego in the ranks. Someone is getting too big for their britches. It stinks. Yeah, I'm upset.

Suspension of disbelief - 75%. I'm going to touch on this later in the effects review, but for now suffice to say that there were many times I was thinking about the effects and not what was going on in the scenes. That's bad. The acting held together, the effects suffered. When my expectation of the Mandarin was shattered, so was my disbelief. Marvel invited me to believe the character and like a lemming I did, only to be slapped with their notion of a plot twist later. Thanks. At least the camera work and score held things together outside of that.

Directing - 71%. I never thought I'd say this, but I want Favreau back. He was a student of the character and I believe he's the only one I can think of right now that can bring more life back into the character. Favreau's biggest drawback to me is his lack of 3D experience. Shane Black's IRON MAN 3 is disjointed. Several times he lost me. Maybe I should have picked something up earlier, I don't know but there were a few scene shifts that completely lost me. Understand that I am a hard person to lose in a movie too. Sure I liked the nods to the original IRON MAN like the inclusion of Stark's assistant from the Middle Eastern cave. His comedic touches were somewhat nice too. Loved Stark's "Westworld" comment for example.

Sound / Score - 88%. Nicely done. Especially the folly and sound effects. The Iron Man franchise has always been strong in that department. Hat's off.

Cinematography - 87%. The other reason to see this movie. It's a spectacle. Awesome camera angles and motion! Inventive scenes and a very nicely lit and shot movie. Between this, the sound and the acting - these are the reasons to see IM3.

John Toll (BRAVEHEART, CLOUD ATLAS) was the Director of Photography.

Visual Effects - 81%. Nope. Not as good as ILM and it will be sometime before anyone can catch (if ever) ILM in what I call "hard line engineering". ILM did the first two IRON MAN movies and boy can you tell the difference. At least I can. And it was DISTRACTING. Look, I am a HUGE Weta Digital fan. And Digital Domain fan too. But Weta is a much more of an organic, photo realistic shop for tight closeups of creatures and humans that want to cross the uncanny valley. In other words, they have their place right now and that is working their magic in Middle-earth and on Pandora, rather than the armor of Tony Stark. ILM owns this space. Nobody is better than they are with robots (TRANSFORMERS - which was converted mostly by Legend 3D), building destruction, ships, cars, etc. It's just their heritage. They've built their engines from a pedigree influenced by their previous works. Same goes for Weta. It's no disrespect here. ILM is better with hard lines and Weta is better with soft line engineering (organic). The best result if both types of effects are needed are for these tow companies to work together. Producer Kevin Feige actually compared the final battle scene in IM3 to THE AVENGERS final battle scenes and said IM3 was better (paraphrasing)! No, it's not. Far from not better. One scene with Stark walking down stairs in his armor had me shaking my head. It was so easy to tell it was effects, and kinda shoddy at that! I want to be guessing if this was someone really in a suit walking or effects. There was an overall softness to the effects and I wanted nice hard lines. In other words, Disney - spend the money to get ILM. Don't contract this stuff out to the lowest bidder if that's what happened. And to be clear, I'm sure Weta did the best job they could with what they have.

Stereoscopic 3D - 76%. Oh man does Marvel need to embrace native 3D if they are going to continue down the path of IRON MAN 3. The 3D in IRON MAN 3 was passable and good in most scenes, but in other cases was bad. Stereo D did the conversion and while they are Marvel's go-to conversion shop, this effort is merely ok. Compared to THE AVENGERS, the 3D in IM3 pales. One scene had a lazily converted backdrop that had me shuddering.

I was able to tour Stereo D's facilities while I was in LA in February and they were working on IM3 when we were walking through. They're good people there. I just think Marvel had better shape up in the effects and 3D department - spend the money where you need to. Go native 3D if you can't get the conversions you want. And go back to ILM for hard lines! The digital renderings in 3D seemed much better in THE AVENGERS than in IM3 and my guess is because they had both ILM and Weta involved. Assuming ILM did the building devastation and Iron Man suits, while Weta did the Hulk and alien invasion forces. It's perfectly logical to assume that better 3D will arrive from these shops when they are working within their own specialties.

CONCLUSION: Marvel needs to learn from this movie and unfortunately they are going to be happy with the monetary gain this thing is going to enjoy. Will they actually take the time to learn, or just continue on? Heck J.A.R.V.I.S. was practically omnipotent! How in the world is J.A.R.V.I.S. not sentient yet? For me IRON MAN 3 was a step backward for Marvel and for stereoscopic 3D conversions. Weta did the best it could with the customized engines they have. I don't blame them AT ALL. I don't want to see Shane Black back in the Marvel fold - I think the writing was a mess too (Shane Black and Drew Pearce) as I've already said with the story. I want to have Favreau back. In native 3D. All in baby. Iron Man deserves it.

Thank you to Empire Theaters for the screening! The IMAX presentation was well lit and sounded remarkable!!

Must Watch: Trailer For The Trailer Of IRON MAN 3!

Click to enlarge

Yes, it's another trailer for a trailer, but this one is quite well done and does precisely what it is intended to do: Make you watch the full trailer that's going to drop on Tuesday (October 23)!

Here's the movie's storyline:
Marvel Studios’ Iron Man 3 pits brash-but-brilliant industrialist Tony Stark/Iron Man against an enemy whose reach knows no bounds. When Stark finds his personal world destroyed at his enemy’s hands, he embarks on a harrowing quest to find those responsible. This journey, at every turn, will test his mettle. With his back against the wall, Stark is left to survive by his own devices, relying on his ingenuity and instincts to protect those closest to him. As he fights his way back, Stark discovers the answer to the question that has secretly haunted him: does the man make the suit or does the suit make the man?

The movie headlines Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark / Iron Man, Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts, Don Cheadle as James Rhodes, Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan and Ben Kingsley as The Mandarin. Also starring are Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, James Badge Dale and William Sadler.

IRON MAN 3 opens on May 3, 2013. Looking great so far!


Check out the trailer for the trailer:

Must See: Amazing Aerial Images From The IRON MAN 3 Set!!

Click to enlarge

I have to admit my jaw dropped on these shots from the set of IRON MAN 3. It looks like some kind of intricate combination practical / visual effects shot that Shane Black has had up his sleeve. Perhaps a slo-mo shot? Would they dare drop all those stunt people at the same time in that close of a proximity to each other?

It looks to me as though Tony Stark is in mid-transition to becoming Iron Man in what seems to be an entirely new suit. What kind of suit? Does Extremis have something to do with this? Good question.

The stuntwork sounds amazing on this production and reminds me of the work done on MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: GHOST PROTOCOL.

Note that the cameras they are using do not seem to be in stereoscopic configuration and so it's fairly clear IRON MAN 3 will be post converted to 3D just like CAP, THOR and THE AVENGERS.

Here's some official info about the movie:
Following in the footsteps of the record-breaking Marvel Studios’ release “Marvel’s The Avengers,” production on the highly anticipated film “Iron Man 3,” directed by Shane Black, has production locations in North Carolina, Raleigh/Durham, Miami, Florida and China.

Based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series, first published in 1963, “Iron Man 3” returns Robert Downey Jr. (“Iron Man,” “Marvel’s The Avengers”) as the iconic Super Hero character Tony Stark/Iron Man along with Gwyneth Paltrow (“Iron Man,” “Iron Man 2,”) as Pepper Potts, Don Cheadle (“Iron Man 2”) as James “Rhodey” Rhodes and Jon Favreau (“Iron Man,” “Iron Man 2”) as Happy Hogan. Set for release in the U.S. on May 3, 2013, Marvel’s “Iron Man 3” marks the second feature to be fully owned, marketed and distributed by Disney, which acquired Marvel in 2009.

“Iron Man 3” continues the epic, big-screen adventures of the world’s favorite billionaire inventor/Super Hero, Tony Stark aka “Iron Man.” Marvel Studios’ President Kevin Feige is producing the film. Executive producers on the project include Jon Favreau, Louis D’Esposito, Alan Fine, Stan Lee, Charles Newirth, Victoria Alonso, Stephen Broussard and Dan Mintz.

The creative production team on the film includes two-time Oscar®-winning director of photography John Toll, ASC (“Braveheart,” “Legends of the Fall”), production designer Bill Brzeski (“The Hangover,” “Due Date”), editors Jeffrey Ford, A.C.E. (“Marvel’s The Avengers,” “Captain America: The First Avenger”) and Peter S. Elliot (“Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer”), and costume designer Louise Frogley (“Quantum of Solace,” “Contagion”).

Oh and you have GOT to watch Robert Downey Jr.'s entrance to Comic-Con this year! Hilarious!! Check it out:

IRON MAN 3 opens on May 3, 2013.

Photo source: Marvel's Facebook

COWBOYS AND ALIENS Feeling Blue This Weekend? THE SMURFS Are Neck And Neck!

Well THE SMURFS is a 3D movie so obviously COWBOYS AND ALIENS are a bit handcuffed for winning the box office weekend, but still it is a closer race than I thought would happen.

Both movies are clocking in at $36.2 million, this despite pre-estimates that the western sci-fi mashup would easily win the duel (some pegged them making $45-50m!). They thought that THE SMURFS (estimated at $20m) would be great counter programming. In the end it seems THE SMURFS can be vicious and carnivorous.

THE SMURFS actually smurfed everyone and came out on top for Friday with and estimated $13.4m to COWBOYS AND ALIENS $13m. Kinda stunning.

Personally I thought the marketing for COWBOYS AND ALIENS sucked badly. Folks didn't really know what to expect and that my friends is dangerous. Even Harrison Ford's "Give him to me now, or I'll take him" lacked punch in the trailer. Perhaps Favreau was too intimidated by Ford to push him. Yeah I know, I would be intimidated too when you have to direct Hans Solo, Indiana Jones and the President all rolled into one. I have yet to see it (going VERY soon) but I have my reservations. Plus the fact it SHOULD have been a 3D movie. Favreau just doesn't get that yet. Maybe that's another reason why he backed out of IRON MAN 3 and had no interest in directing THE AVENGERS (though he is Executive Producing).

Now THE SMURFS have hit everything bang on, right from it's cookie cutter, sure-fire family marketing, to an excellent voice cast, to enlisting the talents of Rob Engle (3D Visual Effects Supervisor) and his team at Sony. I'm trying to tee up a conversation with Rob very soon - it's been hard as we just moved yesterday and our lives may be in a new house, but still very much in boxes. Posting this from Starbucks!

So really, why SHOULD I be surprised with this round of box office? Or any of us? :-)

Box office stats courtesy of Box Office Mojo

Why Isn't Jon Favreau Pulling The 3D Trigger For COWBOYS AND ALIENS Right Now?

I am really shocked to hear that at this point the COWBOYS AND ALIENS production shoot will be in 2D! According to Deadline, Favreau is planning on a June 2D start in New Mexico for a July 29, 2011 release. So does this mean he is avoiding 3D altogether, aiming for conversion or just plain chickening out for this project? :-)

We know Jon is interested in 3D. He has said so many, many times and he was impressed with James Cameron's AVATAR. So what is with the delay? The aliens will clearly be a SciFi element to this western and 3D is a match in heaven for that genre. It would look gorgeous and make the scenes all the more believable. We all have to suspend disbelief and quite frankly to have cowboys have any chance against technically superior aliens is a stretch. In my mind, 3D is a REQUIREMENT here.

In more related news, Paul Dano and Clancy Brown are also joining the COWBOYS AND ALIENS cast as cowboys and Keith Carradine is saddling up to play the town sheriff.

In the end though, I think Favreau knows what he is doing. IRON MAN 2 was awesome. Would have been better in 3D, but still awesome. I feel the same for C&A. I am really hoping that the project goes 3D and native 3D at that. Pull the trigger Jon!

Sam Rockwell Joins COWBOYS AND ALIENS!!

Jim here. Sam Rockwell has signed on to play a bar owner in the Platinum Comics, Universal championed project COWBOYS AND ALIENS. Rockwell joins current cast members Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Noah Ringer and Olivia Wilde.

Jon Favreau will start lensing this July for a July 29, 2011 release date. It has not been confirmed to be a 3D movie just yet, but all signs are pointing to it so we are watching this property closely. Favreau seems to be a workaholic as he will be ramping up C&A immediately after IRON MAN 2.

Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman (TRANSFORMERS, STAR TREK) and Damon Lindelof (LOST) are the writers.

Settlers and Native Americans wage a bloody battle for control of the land. But when the Earth is threatened by alien conquerors, these sworn enemies must work together to save all humanity. The film is set in Arizona during the 1800s.

Here's hoping it goes 3D. The addition of Sam Rockwell is a brilliant move! He is one of my favorite actors of late and always brings something to the table that you just didn't expect. I see many more collaborations between Favreau and Rockwell on the horizon.

Jon Favreau Talks AVATAR

Jim here. Well a certain retro website, to remain nameless (if you want to click through to them via FirstShowing.net *an excellent blog btw*, then go ahead by all means) had the opportunity granted to them by Jon Favreau to discuss numerous things from IRON MAN 2 to AVATAR. It is always great to hear new stuff on Cameron's work, even if it is from an old school site - too bad they never get any photos over there. *AHEM*, we do (here, here, here, here, here and here, etc, etc) - exclusives of course!

But enough about that (as fun as it is!) - let's hear from Jon:
Favreau on Cameron:

"He's sort of tireless in how much he invests into it as far as his time and effort. You know, he doesn't make a lot of movies, so a lot of thought and effort goes into each one. And I think that he's trying to present this format in a way where it is a game-changer and in seeing it I think it's the future. I don't think it's a flash in the pan. I think it's going to open up a whole new door and I think more so than the glasses it becomes about how many screens could actually present it in its pristine form."

"The amount of screens is just growing at a very, very fast rate in the States and I think in Europe as well and I think Avatar is going to be the kind of movie that's an event that you have to go see and you want to see again just to understand what you're looking at. And then you still have his very effective storytelling. He really creates an adventure and draws you into it in the hero's journey sense of storytelling, the Joseph Campbell sense of storytelling."

It is so good to hear Favreau talk about how Cameron is changing the game and that he is going to borrow what he has learned from him to help with IRON MAN 2. Does that mean stereographic 3D? God, I hope so. Don't let us down Jon! We all know you like it - sure IMAX might be a little too much, but 3D is right up your alley dude.

Let me put it this way: What would Tony Stark do?
You're damn right. Fire it up baby!

'Marvel'ous Updates: Iron Man 2 Set For May 7th, 2010: Still No Word On 3D

Jim here guys. On the day that IRON MAN is being released on disc, Marvel has come forward with a far amount of info for all super hero fans:

1. IRON MAN 2 is pegged for May 7th, 2010 - Top stars return as well as Jon Favreau to helm.
2. IRON MAN 3 is planned.
3. THOR is slated for July 16th, 2010 - Kenneth Branagh confirmed to direct.
4. THE FIRST AVENGER: CAPTAIN AMERICA is to bow on May 6th, 2011
5. THE AVENGERS will pack the theaters on July 15th, 2011

Between IRON MAN and THE INCREDIBLE HULK, Marvel stands to make $140 million in profit from a box office take of $824 million worldwide. No wonder this slate is somewhat aggressive - and they just inked a new distribution deal with Paramount that place them on equal footing with such franchises as Indiana Jones and Dreamworks Animations.

Again, no word on whether any of these films will be shot in 3D despite rumors from Jon Favreau himself.

I don't know about you, but this lineup that Marvel has well, lined up, is stunning. I see nothing but success for these guys - they have earned it. THE AVENGERS will be nothing short of spectacular if they have the story to match the heroes.

Source: Variety

3D Screens Set To Explode Across Country: Studios To Ante Up $1B

Who wants to see this man in 3D? Well if Favreau and Marvel come on board, it looks like the screens will be in place to make it happen!

Jim here. The Digital Cinema Implementation Partners (DCIP) including AMC, Regal and Cinemark theater chains will be rolling out 15,000 digital upgrades for their screens over the next 3 years. And now, it will soon be official that the studios (Disney, Paramount, Universal and Fox - with Sony and Warner Bros soon to be involved) will be paying a virtual print fee (VPF) to the chains for several years to make this happen.

From THR: "The deal means studios will pay a majority of the roughly $100,000 per system in hardware and installation costs to install d-cinema equipment in theaters operated by the biggest theater chains. That will facilitate not only digital projection in the converted auditoriums but potentially also 3-D exhibition, if the theater owners decide to take on the extra, more modest expense for 3-D installations on their own. "

For those who don't know, a print fee was the amount that a studio would have had to pay to print copies of their films for traditional movie screens. Now that so many movies are in digital format, there is no need to print thousands of copies and distribute those heavy canisters - they are simply downloaded to computer hard drive for the projectors.

To me, the digital experience is so much more cleaner and brighter it is a no-brainer. Not to mention that it is much more environmentally friendly to distribute digitally.

Moreover, this allows for the rapid deployment of modern 3D projection equipment which depends on these digital screens being in place. If you will remember, there are existing deals with Regal, Cinemark and the NATO Cinema Buying Group with Real D to get this done as soon as the digital infrastructure is in place.

Well the time is now! With $1 billion coming from the studios (backed by JP Morgan) we will see a rapid expansion of digital AND 3D implementations very soon. The first areas to see the change will be the mid and large markets for pragmatic reasons, but other smaller areas are that much closer to getting 3D screens because of this rather large group hug that the studios and chains are giving each other. 3000 screens are expected to be upgraded to digital in the next year.

Awesome! If there was any doubt that 2009 will be the YEAR OF 3D, they will soon be obilterated. It is looking pretty darn good that AVATAR will have the screens it needs in December 2009 now and maybe, we will see RDJ in that 3D red and gold suit of his - lets get those screens converted!! :-)

Image courtesy of Marvel

Tony Stark in 3D? Jon Favreau Talking Iron Man 2 in Three Dimenions!

Awesome! Now THIS is a plan. Whether it was the first time I saw IRON MAN in the theaters or the fifth I was thinking the same thing: DAMN - this would look so cool in 3D. Well my wish may come true as Jon Favreau recently mused about the possibility with Collider. Yesterday they spoke with Jon after a press conference where he and Stan Lee (the man!) were promoting the upcoming DVD/Blu-ray:

"...it’s all about the cost, but if they can make it (3D) happen he’d like to do it. He talked about getting to see the armor in 3D and how cool it would be."

Favreau also spoke about loving THE DARK KNIGHT in IMAX and would consider shooting part of IRONMAN 2 in that format as well.

Let's make sure that you understand my exact position on Iron Man in 3D. Hell Yes.