The World's Fair

My whole life, i grew up hearing my dad talk about the World's Fair and the things that blew him away or stunned his child's mind. Whenever he talks about it, his eyes light up and he looks up a little like he's suddenly shorter again, a kid.

i grew up in a world that not only has all those amazing technologies and wonders, but has programmed me to expect new ones every day with less than awe and wonder. Very little impresses me or fills me with awe. So when something does...

When i was in high school, i went to the movies. It was the Delta 6 movie theater on Harris Blvd in Charlotte with a couple of friends from church. i don't remember what movie it was, but the preview was drilled in my head forever.

It was a preview for the firs Final Fantasy movie. It was the first movie to tackle the CGI world and focus on people characters that looked like people and not cartoons. Toy Story had already produced a full length CGI movie with "people," but they looked like robots or toys. This was different. It was close to realistic as i had ever seen. It didn't look like computer game, but a real-life movie. The characters were so life-like. They zoomed in on one man and the wrinkles surrounding his eyes and the skin blemishes were so real, i couldn't tell if it was or not.

i remember thinking, "this will change movies forever." And it did.

i saw a preview before the Dark Knight last week and it was the first time since then that i saw something equally mind blowing. The first Matrix movie came close when i saw it for the first time, and its preview was pretty mind-warping. However, the preview for Watchmen, a movie that will release next March, stopped me dead in my tracks. The kind of cinematography and art blended with science fiction super hero laid over an industrial track of Billy Corgan was, well... riveting. Check it out.