Two Reviews: MIB3 and Blue Man Group

Boy, has 3D come a long way! We saw MIB3 in 3D this week with glasses that looked like the ones the MIB agents wear. No more paper glasses with one red side and one green side (blue?). The technology is just amazing. One special thing I noticed is that some of the previews were also in 3D. We saw the new version of "Gatzby" in 3D. Now that effect is pretty amazing: watching a normal movie with no special effects in 3D. The characters really pop from the screen. I must try this next. I usually reserve 3D viewing for animation or Harry Potter-esque type films. I've been introduced to a new way of  viewing. I think it is so cool! I did hear that 3D television viewing has not really been perfected yet, though. I don't have one, so I can't offer a first-hand opinion. Can anyone else? For now, I'll stick to the big screen.

MIB3 is as good as the previous two. It is an emotional story and very touching. The "time jump" idea was just like that older movie when I first saw Hugh Jackman with Meg Ryan: Kate and Leopold. Go to a really high place and take a leap of faith. With Hugh Jackman it was an invisible time portal he jumped into. In MIB3, it was with a time-jump device in hand. Both ways to jump into the past were really cool.

I love Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones. They have such great chemistry together. Josh Brolin does a great job playing a young "K". He really gets Tommy's Lee's character's mannerism and sayings down pat: "Slick" for one. Great portrayal and really fun to watch. The story as usual has great aliens, and the prime nemesis is particularly evil and awesome: Boris the Animal "Don't call me that! It's just Boris!", he growls each time he's called that name. Very funny. The relationahip between "J" and "K" is more developed and reveals some new information. "Don't ask questions you don't want the answer for", is said time and time again. The biggest question does get answered, though, and we just loved it.

Go see it. It's a good time.

Last night we saw Blue Man Group at the Koger Center for the Arts in Columbia, SC. I've seen this event at the Charles Playhouse in Boston, MA three times and loved every show. I was very curious to see how the show had changed, if at all, and what a larger venue would be like. A YouTube video of setting up for the show at the Center intrigued me.

The show was just as entertaining as the one in Boston, with less "Pipes" music, which is my favorite. My friend, Judy, doesn't prefer techno performances, and this truly was one. It had the same marshmallow and paintball-catching picture-creating tricks, and taking a young man and woman out of the audience to use in skits. These skits were still entertaining. But this performance also had much more commentary about our "connectedness" through technology. Two lighted drawn characters are texting one another while standing side-by-side about their opinion of 2D life versus 3D living and having an actual conversation with a live person. It was funny.

And, instead of the much anticipated sing-a-long I longed for, there was a dance-a-long instead. I was very ready for this as the seats began to cut into the backs of my thighs and I was a little uncomfortable. So, being able to stand and shake my bootie was perfectly timed. Also, instead of the toilet paper rolls being unleashed into the crowd at the end, this performance had giant inflatable, lightup, balls that people popped up to one another with strings and inflatable tubes and other matter shot into the audience from the blue men on stage. The effect was just as good, and it was a fun show. I was just a little disappointed, and thought the Boston performance was better in general.

For those who have never seen a Blue Man Group show, they are all a must-see event. I still highly recommend this Columbia performance for my friends in the South. It is kid friendly, and they will love it. The shows are always a fun time, and still difficult to explain. They must just be experienced.