Regular readers of this blog know that I'm a big proponent of 3-D cinema. Well, Daniel Engber at Slate has written an article criticizing even recent advances of the technology that for the first time has given me pause.

He starts by arguing that even though 3-D technology has improved and there are far fewer complaints of eye soreness than its earlier iterations, there is an inherent issue with viewing 3-D on a flat screen:

Something different happens when you're viewing three-dimensional motion projected onto a flat surface. When a helicopter flies off the screen in Monsters vs. Aliens, our eyeballs rotate inward to follow it, as they would in the real world. Reflexively, our eyes want to make a corresponding change in shape, to shift their plane of focus. If that happened, though, we'd be focusing our eyes somewhere in front of the screen, and the movie itself (which is, after all, projected on the screen) would go a little blurry. So we end up making one eye movement but not the other; the illusion forces our eyes to converge without accommodating.

That movement sustained through an entire feature, he argues, causes eyestrain.

He also makes a point about people who have depth perception disabilities, which I first thought about seriously when I asked a small group of people to see Coraline 3D with me and two of them admitted not being able to fully process 3-D effects.

Five percent to 8 percent of the population is stereoblind and can't convert binocular disparity into depth information. That means they can't appreciate any of the 3-D effects in a RealD or Imax movie. An additional 20 to 30 percent of the population suffers from a lesser form of the deficit, which could diminish the experience of 3-D effects or make them especially uncomfortable to watch.

Certainly it was an issue for the colorblind when color film came about, but they could still watch the movie. But those incapable of viewing 3-D film experience unpleasant effects such as double vision.

And then there's the issue of permanent consequences if we start watching more and more things in 3-D:

[A]udience-members may experience very mild, short-term vision impairment after a movie ends. I won't pretend there's any hard evidence that these transient effects could develop into permanent problems. But if 3-D becomes as widespread as some in the industry claim—every movie in three dimensions, for example, and television programs, too—we'll no doubt have plenty of data...

All good points, although I have to admit that I haven't experienced much unpleasantness myself when seeing movies projected in RealD.

Maybe we'll never get to the point where everything is in 3-D, although I wonder if there are eye issues with holographs. Yet, I still consider myself a 3-D optimist, and I suspect that once the marketing hype of James Cameron's Avater picks up, which should begin fairly soon once a trailer comes out, we're going to see a lot more journalism about the viability of 3-D as a ubiquitous cinematic technology.

I haven't been posting much recently for various reasons, and I can't honestly say whether that will change or not. But one thing I haven't done here recently is mention a few things I've read/seen/heard in 2009 that are worth recommending/commenting on. So here goes:

2666 by Roberto Bolaño

I read this earlier this year and was alternately floored and bored by it (mostly the former) -- which is not all that surprising for a 900-page novel split into five tonally unrelated parts. It's such a brutal book to read at times, especially the fourth part which describes in clinical detail the murder of hundreds of women in a Juárez-like city in northern Mexico. But it's been a long time since I've read a book that immediately after I've finished compelled to me to skim through the entire book again right there, even at that late hour. And I had to go on an Internet quest after finishing it as well, enjoying especially this Nation article which delves into Bolaño's real life obsession with the Juárez murders.

Generation Kill

I missed this seven-episode miniseries when it aired on HBO last summer, partially unmotivated by its military subject matter. But I should have never underestimated David Simon and Ed Burns -- the team that brought us The Wire. The same keen dramatic eye they brought to the city of Baltimore is played out here in the more narrowly-focused world of military command, and with the sheer power of realism they have created some of the tensest war scenes I've seen. I probably don't have to add that there's some subtle and not-so-subtle political commentary as well.

Big Love

The first season of this HBO series suffered from several flaws, including a half-hearted attempt to be a Mormon polygamist version of Desperate Housewives. It's still a flawed show, often teetering on the edge of contrivance (sort of like Six Feet Under), but the current season has gotten a lot darker, and more willing to explore the lesser known aspects of Mormon culture.

Real Time with Bill Maher

Sometimes this show has the best political commentary on TV (like the first episode this season with Chrystia Freeland, Tina Brown, and Rep. Maxine Waters on the panel) and sometimes it's painful to watch (like Friday's episode with Michael Eric Dyson and Andrew Breitbart). But on average, it makes even the best of cable news embarrassing to watch.

Battlestar Galactica

This is probably the least consistent show I've ever watched to completion. I can't wait to see the season finale this Friday so I never have to watch this show again.

Lost

On the other hand, Lost is really good! It faltered during seasons 2 and 3, but they've found their voice during the past two. This is the only solid sci-fi entertainment I can find right now. (Please, help!)

Coraline 3D

Those of you who have read my thoughts on Beowulf 3D know that I'm a big promoter of 3D cinema, and Coraline 3D just took it to another level. Since it was filmed with stop-motion animation, watching it felt like I was miniaturized and placed into its fascinating world. And the story and art design are very good, surpassing The Nightmare Before Christmas, I think.

Watchmen

I enjoyed many parts of this movie, but overall the experience was ruined for me by Zack Snyder's ham-handed directorial style, especially the musical selections and over-heightened sense of violence. Surprisingly, I thought the acting was solid, and the story was handled somewhat well. I'm afraid this is the type of movie which makes viewers less likely to read the source material, which is unfortunate as Alan Moore's comic book is a subtler read.

The Hazards of Love (The Decemberists)

I've heard some good music this year, but I want to comment only on this new album from The Decemberists for now. I absolutely loved The Crane Wife, partly for its operatic rock feel. I was disappointed with my first listen to The Hazards of Love, partially because I found the subject matter fairly uninteresting for a pseudo-rock opera, but it's really grown on me with several listens, particularly the parts with Shara Worden from My Brightest Diamond singing the role of The Queen.

Let me be up front: Beowulf 3D is a fantasy cartoon that looks like a video game cut scene when viewed in two dimensions. Yet, somehow, when I went to see it this past weekend in digital 3D, I was both entertained by it and thrilled by the possibilities it implicitly promises.

That's not to say it is a flawless movie -- the plot moves in spurts, shallow characters fill the screen, and some of the animation tumbles into the uncanny valley. But I appreciated the Neil Gaiman/Roger Avary screenplay, which was enjoyably tongue-in-cheek (Beowulf battles Grendel entirely nude) and managed to turn a meandering poem into a somewhat coherent fantasy.

Still, it wasn't the traditional filmic elements that motivated me to write this post. In that regard, Beowulf is an average Hollywood movie and I wouldn't recommend viewing it in non-2D 35mm. But as the only fantasy movie I've ever seen entirely in 3D, Beowulf is the first to capture what I enjoyed about reading fantasy as a teenager -- and yes, that includes Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Let me be clear: I love Tolkien's fantasy work, and I still remember very clearly re-reading the end of the mortality-themed LOTR -- for the first time as an adult -- on a 14-hour plane flight two months after 9/11. While I enjoyed much of Jackson's trilogy and found it to be a sincere adaptation, I don't think he capture the heart of the LOTR trilogy -- i.e., Tolkien's themes about mortality and industrialization. Ultimately, I appreciated Jackson's trilogy as a well-made series of action films that only occasionally captured the feel of Tolkien. (I will admit, however, that it was almost completely successful in capturing the look.) Nevertheless, I found something inherently silly in watching respectable actors in fantasy costumes and speaking fantasy dialog. (Salon clearly disagrees with me re: Beowulf vs. LOTR.)

Zemeckis had a much easier job with Beowulf -- while I fondly remember reading the epic poem in high school, my memories are more about the subject matter (monsters, mead, etc.) and wonderful names (Grendel, Hrothgar, Hrunting) rather than the plot/theme specifics. I remember hearing my English teacher play a recording of an Old English reading as well, and I was pleased to hear a bit of that language in the film. So what I'm saying is that when watching Beowulf, I didn't have the same baggage and expectations as I did watching the LOTR trilogy.

Now I can meander to my main point: I was able to enjoy Beowulf as schlocky fantasy -- similar to the Dragonlance books I read in my childhood -- because of the cartoonish look and 3D presentation. The cartoonish look distanced me from any thought about the conflict between fantasy and reality, and the 3D presentation allowed me to view the film as I had imagined fantasy books in the past. After the film ended, I realized that I probably would have enjoyed the LOTR trilogy more if it had been made similarly -- not because it would've looked cooler, but because I would have had an easier time suspending my disbelief. And more, I hope the success of Beowulf leads to other famous fantasy books being adapted to 3D film. The medium simply suits the material.