On Tuesday, I was happy/relieved to see that Wim Wenders' film Pina was nominated for 2012's Best Documentary Oscar -- even if it didn't make the cut for Best Foreign Film, though that was always a long shot. Pina is a tribute to Pina Rausch, a German choreographer who pioneered a new form of modern dance known as "dance theater" -- a more emotional, visceral type of dance and movement that involves elements of acting and performance art. Pina also has the distinction of being one of only two truly great 3D movies I've ever seen (the other being James Cameron's Avatar). While I feel that 3D most often detracts from the viewing experience (as well as your wallet), Wenders gets 3D right by using it to capture an emerging art form that uses movement, distance, contact, and wordless acting to convey emotion and story in a way that is vibrant, refreshingly new, and provides the feeling of a revelation -- both for dance theater and 3D. (Read my review of Pina here.)
Before seeing Pina, I had agreed with the conventional wisdom that 3D was best suited for action and animated films, though the vast majority of 3D movies I'd seen so far had left me feeling like it shouldn't be used at all. But Pina changed that, so I was excited to have the opportunity to talk with Wim Wenders about Pina and what he sees as the future of 3D, and it left me feeling that the medium I had often maligned actually had more potential and a brighter future in the world of documentaries than mega-budget fantasies. Watch my ReThink Interview with Wim Wenders below.