Michael Bay and I Agree On Something
Who would have thought Mr. Action Man and I would find common ground here?
I joke around about Michael Bay and his massive ego often, but truth be told I actually enjoy some of his movies. It's just the fact Transformers really let me down and my expectations for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen have been severely adjusted as a result. However, Bay has found a way to make me smile as he accepted the Vanguard Award for Excellence at this year's ShoWest in Las Vegas.
As I noted in a round-up of stories out of the convention, much of the emphasis this year was placed on 3-D and how great it is and how great it will be. That is why it is such a joy to see the quotes from Bay's acceptance speech as brought to us by Peter Sciretta at SlashFilm:
"3D? I don't know… I might be old school. I think it might be a gimmick," said Bay, later adding: "I don't know, we'll see. I'm looking forward to [James] Cameron's picture."
"The way I shoot is too aggressive for 3D cameras. It's a time consuming thing," said Bay. "Who knows… It might be a fad. I'm kinda old school. I'm old school because I like to shoot on film. I like anamorphic lenses, and that is old school."
Strangely enough, 3-D is old school too, but Bay is right, 3-D is a gimmick. Despite what studios and overzealous film critics will tell you, nothing has changed with 3-D outside of the fact it just looks a little better now. Just because you don't have to tilt your head just right to make the film look good and you don't have to be sitting directly in the middle of the theater for the best experience doesn't mean 3-D has advanced as a storytelling tool. You don't see novelists adapting to the pop-up book just to give readers a more immersive experience while reading novels.
However, like Bay, I will leave the door open for James Cameron's Avatar. Cameron has been talking a big game with this film and he may have something that will have me changing my tune. We will just have to wait until December 18 to find out.
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