Gadgets Blog: Unusual Gift Ideas

Let It Snow!

Well lo and behold I wake up this morning to another fresh blanket of snow everywhere! Thankfully it isn’t too bad here so the journey to Gadgets Towers wasn’t too hazardous. Mandy is off today getting some last minute essentials before she jets off skiing next week, though you have to ask if, had she known what the conditions here were going to be like, if she would have decided to go to Scotland or the Lake District instead?

As I alluded to in my previous post I managed to get to the cinema to see Avatar, in 3D of course, before Christmas. James Cameron’s first film since Titanic, the expectation and hype was huge before its release, not only because of the immense budget, but also as it is the first film purposely made for the new 3D projectors in cinemas. If you haven’t been to see a 3D film for a while then I can answer the first question you want to ask which is undoubtedly that, yes, you do still need to wear 3D glasses, as without them the experience is somewhat like going to the cinema after a heavy Friday night out. Except in this instance the blurriness can’t be alleviated by closing one eye and squinting. Thankfully the glasses are no longer the incredibly cheap and nasty looking cardboard things, with one red and one green lens. Instead they now look like fairly cheap plastic sunglasses, but then since they are only to be used for watching movies in a darkened room, that isn’t so bad now is it?

The 3D effect is strange, I found when watching the film that I didn’t really notice it at the time, but when seeing 2D clips afterwards there was a distinct lack of depth to the pictures, and a great deal of the grandeur was lost in translation. I think in a way that’s a good thing, it’s not the old tacky approach where you see things coming “out of the screen” at you, and the obligatory people waving their hands around trying to swat things, it merely tries to immerse you more in the story unfolding without you actually noticing too much. Of course if you are unlucky enough not to be sat within the optimum viewing area, ie right at the front or the back, then at best you’ll find the effects of the experience less immersive, and at worst you might suffer with headaches or motion sickness (although the motion sickness is my reasoning behind hearing so many stories of people being ill during these films as opposed to normal 2D showings).

What did I think of the film overall? It was good. Far better than the over inflated rubbish (in my opinion) that was Titanic. Solid story, not overly clichéd and some good performances from the actual actors alongside the vast array of CGI talent on show, and I would certainly recommend it worth a watch!