Saturday, May 7, 2011

Movies: Left behind by the 3D movie craze...

I'm not normally this crabby, so please bear with me and I ask forgiveness in advance, but...

If you don't regularly go to movie theaters, please don't comment. I really don't give a *bleep* that you haven't been to a theater in x number of years because [insert incident] *bleep*ed you off back when [insert US President] was in office and [insert dinosaur name] ruled the earth. To be honest, I just don't care right now. So, you don't like movie theaters. Then don't go.

Now, don't go thinking that I don't have sympathy for you. I hate going to "normal" movie theaters, too. There are almost too damn many kids running around unsupervised or filled with idiots who mess with their cell phones or talk too loud. And I don't care for their high-fat popcorn, either.

However, I do enjoy going to a nice "movie pub" theater (Movie Tavern, Alamo Draft House and Studio Movie Grill). The big screen, good food, maybe a beer if I'm in the mood for one. I was planning to go today. My work load was light, I've got the time, the money, and THOR opened today. I've really been looking forward to this movie. All in all, a perfect situation to have a nice trip to the movies and kick off the weekend...

Except that, each and every movie pub within 30 miles (and there are SIX of 'em ) are only showing THOR in 3D.

There's just one problem: I can't see 3D.

My left eye has been legally blind since I was 5 years old.

I can see some light and color and it registers movement (so it does help with peripheral vision), but I cannot see 3D the way you do. I can't use a View Master, a Stereopticon, or any sort of 3D movie. I tried on the glasses once (over my real glasses) and looked at a screen. All I saw was a fuzzy picture through my double-stacked glasses.

So, what are my options? Go to a theater I don't like? Wait until it comes out on DVD? Ignore the movie forever? I did send an email to Movie Tavern about this (no reply, yet)... in the meantime, I sit here, working on a Friday night, listening to and old "Counting Crows" CD.  Yes... a CD (although I like MP3s, sometimes I still rock it "old school").

So here I sit... not watching a movie I was really looking forward to seeing. And now I'm also dreading the release of other movies that I had been anticipating: Captain America, Green Lantern, and the final Harry Potter movie. Will I be able to go to them? Or, as everyone embraces this new wave of technology, do I just sit here and let it pass me by?