I’m not a huge fan of 3D. I’ve seen it used effectively on occasion, Coraline is one recent example that quickly comes to mind, but when it comes to modern films I am not in any rush to see the 3D version over the standard version, and I don’t think I’m alone in that feeling, no matter how many directors claim they will only film in 3D from now on. It seems more and more likely that the hopes of the medium ride on Avatar, though with two major theatre chains converting entirely to digital by 2012, it may mean a long slow death for 3D, as studios desperately attempt to jam the format down audience’s collective throats.

But while I’m not going to cheer for modern 3D, and don’t even get me started on those red and blue anaglyph abominations of the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, I am a huge fan of the original style of presenting 3D. That being two prints being projected simultaneously on an aluminized screen (Quick note: originally they were projected on a silver screen, hence the term silver screen) with the audience wearing polarized glasses.

Now modern theatres setup for 3D boast of having “aluminized” screens, but let me assure you they are nothing like they used to be. The old school screens looked like giant sheets of polished silver (while modern screens look like polished aluminum) and you will find nothing like that in today’s multiplexes. You might be wondering just why that matters. Well, let me tell you.

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No, not that Inferno. THIS Inferno. In which a millionaire injures his leg while traveling through the American Southwest, and his wife and her lover leave him to die in the wilds of the Mojave Desert. Considered the greatest 3-D movie ever made, I have no idea if that is because the 3-D effects are great, or because it is truly a great film. But since the film is supposed to be a relatively gritty film noir, I’m leaning towards the film aspect being the reason it is so heavily praised. But I do know it’s use of wide open spaces was supposedly a revolutionary stylistic ue of 3-D. Hmm … I guess I’ll find out soon enough.

I’ve never really given much thought about what I would consider the perfect crime. I’m not exactly ambitious so it probably wouldn’t extend much further then trying to purchase comics for my collection without Anna’s knowledge. She watches the movies and the Wii games like a hawk after all, so if I want to buy something perfectly crappy without having to listen to her grumble to me about it comics are really my only legitimate avenue of deception. Hey, I already feel guilty about buying Spider-Man comics, I don’t need her adding to my own self-imposed lecture.

Now sure, I found the whole Brand New Day storyline interesting at first, as writing out Mary Jane was the kind of huge shakeup that might recover the comic from the truly terrible Civil War storylines I had previously suffered through. But the whole concept has quickly stagnated, resulting in what now appears as nothing more then a blatant attempt at erasing everything J Michael Straczynski had written over the length of his tenure.

Now I know JMS wasn’t exactly popular with the Marvel fanboys. I mean really, attempting to add more depth to a character that was over 40 years old was simply unacceptable. Marvel and its fans simply would rather have numerous Spider-Man books that follow a basic plot by numbers arc rather then suffer through something that might actually result in a new experience for both the character and the reader.

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It has been a few months since I have reviewed a film for this site that was not made earlier then 1970 and I figured it was time to change that. At least for this next week anyways. So I decided it was time to go old school. But not just old school, but old school cool. Which means film noir, French New Wave and Miles Davis. Next week I review Elevator to the Gallows.

After last week’s hijacking of the column in favor of hanging out with some old friends I knew this week I could have no excuse for not writing a review on Vampyr. Sure the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Film Festival opened this week but that wouldn’t get in my way. Yes, the multiplexes actually had a small handful of potentially decent movies for me to watch but that couldn’t possibly get in my way. And sure, I had a screening of the uncut version of The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly that I simply had to go to and Manda Bala burning up my Netflix queue but those were mere distractions while I prepared myself for Vampyr. Awesome distractions to be sure but they shouldn’t do anything more then slow me down. Then Ben Folds had to go and muck up my whole plans.

You see my girlfriend bought tickets to go see Ben Folds in concert this past Saturday night but somewhere along the way both of us, along with a friend of ours, somehow mistook the concert venue of St. Peter, Minnesota for St. Paul, Minnesota. We didn’t really think much of it at first, but once we MapQuested it we saw the error of our ways. See St. Peter, Minnesota was over an hour south of the Twin Cities. Needless to say this had a rather large effect on our plans.

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