Hollywood using bigger screens to tell sophisticated stories

Los Angeles

IN the literal sense, it is going to be a spectacular film season.

Though top Oscars have gone lately to tightly spun dramas such as Birdman and 12 Years a Slave, Hollywood's major studios are preparing to flood festival screens and commercial theatres with an unusual, year-end wave of grown-up movie spectacles - shown in the 3-D or large-screen format that is usually reserved for action blockbusters with younger audiences.