Gatsby and The Hobbit at CinemaCon

What happens in Vegas isn't gonna stay in Vegas this time! CinemaCon has seen a host of movie big wigs and big guns this week, with directors airing 3D footage from highly anticipated flicks.
Among them, a couple of our favorite book to screen adaptations.
Here's what the folks from The Wrap thought about the footage screened at CinemaCon ...
Sharon Waxman waxed pretty poetically about The Great Gatsby saying Lurhmann was
"taking viewers for a sumptuous ride into the past.  ...  In Luhrmann's creative hands, "Gatsby" feels       like something new. The camera swoops and swoons with the mad, gaiety of flappers dancing at Jay Gatsby’s soiree. Maguire practically steps out of the proscenium frame to walk you through Gatsby’s  mansion.                                                                                                                                   
Luhrmann ("Moulin Rouge") presented the clips via a taped message from New Zealand, where he is completing the film.                                                                                                                                  
And while the audience of movie exhibitors only saw a selection of scenes, this feels like something      special, something that eluded the beautiful-but-distant “Hugo” and that can’t be touched by a 3D     “Cowboys and Aliens.”                                                                                                                           
It feels like Luhrmann has found a way to tell a character-driven, dramatic story using 3D as a true    storytelling tool, rather than as a gimmick for visual hype.                                                                   
There is a tinge of “Titanic’s” opulence, and echoes of DiCaprio as a teen in Luhrmann's “Romeo and Juliet.” The movie has Luhrmann's distinctive stamp all over it, and it's safe to predict that teenage    girls will be lining up to see it.  "                                                                                                            

Teenage girls??? What about me? I can't wait!

Reports re Peter Jacksons The Hobbit weren't as glowing. Brent Lang, calling the debut 'disappointing' wrote that,
Jackson, who is in New Zealand editing the prequel, said that raising the rate at which film is projected from 24 to 48 frames per second will enhance the 3D experience. To do that, theater owners will have to purchase a software upgrade for digital projectors.                                      

“The movement feels more real, it feels smoother,” Jackson said.                                              
He also argued that by speeding things up, the 3D would be “more gentle on the eyes.”                  

Based on the buzz that accompanied the exit from the Caesar's Palace theater, at least some theater owners and film bloggers were unimpressed. It should be said that much of the footage Jackson screened still needed effects work -- some of it had green screens in the background -- but the impact was more Spanish telenovela than“Avatar.”                                                                                           

There will be plenty for fans to savor. However, the richness of Jackson’s imagery, while beautiful, was marred because the 48 frames made each scene too crisp, if that's possible. It looked more real, in fact -- too real. Instead of an immersive cinematic experience, Middle Earth looked like it was captured as part of a filmed stage play.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
One blogger was overheard saying that it reminded him of “I, Claudius,” a PBS series from the 1970s that is not renowned for its visual                                                                                            aesthetic.                                                                                                                                              
Perhaps what is currently unpleasant to the eye will be smoothed out in post-production when it is color corrected, or maybe, like rock music or Twitter, it is a cultural shift lost on old fogies.               
As for the footage itself, Jackson screened shots of epic battles, confrontations with trolls and a            chilling sequence with Gollum that showed that he still has a knack for finding the narrative heart in J.R.R. Tolkein’s dense mythological landscape.                                                                                     
If only it looked a little more like a movie."                                                                                           
My brother in law will be seriously miffed if they screw this one up. Beware the wrath of Jeff!