Oz the Great and Powerful (2013)

Absolutely Fantastic

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Can you guess what my favorite movie is? STAR WARS! Well no that's my favorite saga. My favorite stand-alone movie is "The Wizard of Oz". I have a bit of a movie memorabilia collection in my studio. Don't you judge me! Needless to say I was very excited as well as very skeptical about this so called unofficial prequel. Especially in this troubled CGI world of ours and most of all when I saw "Trailer no.1". at the point where "and the producer of Alice in Wonderland" came up on the screen I cringed and had nightmares of crazy moving cameras and fancy creatures with sparkly heads and fluid faces and 3D headaches. And then the river fairies come into the shot and those weird piranha plants and I knew! Deep down I knew! They would ruin my OZ with CGI!But those where little nothings in the scheme of the grand canvas that is "OZ the Great and Powerful"Jack "The Film Lover" says... I loved this movie. I sat back and watched it with one eye closed expecting to see something bad! You know, kind of like waiting for toast to pop out. But nothing really bad happened. It had a good story and good points, and it was fun! I loved all the nods to "The Wizard of OZ", and loved that we are introduced to things that you will see in the next movie. You get some questions answered and even though we all know the rules you still get a couple of surprises. "Only bad witches are ugly" and boy are they ugly!There are so many layers to the OZ films that once can go crazy psycho analyzing them! That actually would be a fun night. Even though we now have a backstory to why the witch hates pretty girls, why there is a feud between her and OZ why is the wizard a man behind the curtain? There are still so many unanswered questions… Is OZ a real place? If Dorothy went there, saw Oscar the Wizard who IS still there, and came back then it must be a real place Are the ruby slippers the only way out? Their power is the power to leave OZ? The witch's plan was to leave and come here to the real world? If so would they be going to Kansas? Why two different people almost 50 years apart both got sucked into the OZ Vortex in the same state? Is Kansas a wormhole to a parallel universe where your farmhands are animals and creatures? Or is it children's limbo! Where the dead go to wait to be judged? But it wasn't Dorothy's time yet so they sent her back? In a parallel land that still has North, South, East and West? Blow your mind!Jack "The Filmmaker" says… I had problems with some things… I had a problem with the lion, don't ask, just watch it and get back to me. I had a problem with the CGI! Not the characters themselves, the monkeys where done right. I mean the landscapes and moving parts and extravagant camera movements that are so far-fetched the people themselves must be CGI to be in them! When the Director of photography says the phrase… "Camera cranes can't go that high!" and the Director says "Who needs a camera ANIMATE IT!" we have a problem! I feel weird about James Franco! I like him, I hear he will be in a movie and I say "WHY?" then I watch it and can't picture anyone else in it and he does a good job. He was wholesome in this with a big dash of con man and it worked. The witches where amazing, Mila Kunis was acting like something else we have never seen and she didn't sound like Meg! (Family Guy) Which is a plus! WITCH is a plus, which old Witch? The Wicked Witch! (…and now that song is stuck in your head)Jack "The Parent" says… DUH Take the kids… Well take MY kids because they all loved it! They are 4, 9 and 10 years old. We saw it in 3D so be careful of the jump at your face elements, there are some jolts that make you sit back like the monkeys and the witch at some points. And there is a bit of some tear-jerking moments at the end but aside from that it's a good story for them to follow.In a magical world not everything is what it seems, not everyone is telling the truth and you should not try to be someone you are not for the sake of a loved one. Be yourself and do your best with what talents you have. You don't have to have magic powers to save the day! You can be anyone's hero if you believe in yourself!

The prequel detailing the life of Oscar Diggs before he became the great and terrible Oz. Not a bad film as it was painted by critics. James Franco have a rousing performance and was quite charming. The tributes were easy to spot and set up the next film quite nicely. Though the relationship between the two main leads needed a little work to make it believable.The effects were cgi and could be used a few touch ups in key scenes. Music and costumes are splendid.No Oz film will ever reach the success as the Judy Garland version had, but I go into these movies to see new fresh takes and how the writers will reinvent the story. It created a family friendly movie you can watch without insulting the intelligence and be entertained. In my book it deserved an Oscar for attempting such a grand master piece.

The Wizard's Journey to Oz.Starring James Franco, Michelle Williams, Mila Kunis and Rachel Weisz.Written by Mitchell Kapner, David Lindsay-Abaire, based on the original stories by L.Frank Baum.Directed by Sam Raimi.If you want to watch a fun, family film at Christmas you can't really do better than this.It has all the ingredients to keep you glued to the screen. It's funny, imaginative, well acted and will make you feel warm and fuzzy in all the right places, It tells the story of what happened immediately before Dorothy and Toto arrived on Oz and it is faithful to the original movie.I also liked how they included the the land of china from the original book by L. Frank Baum. That was a nice touch. This is fun with a capital F. Perfect for Christmas.9/10

I thought this film shouldn't be ever made since it really does destroy a bit of 'Wizard of Oz'. The Wizard was not meant to be a young dude, he was meant to be an old guy that is lovable and very jolly. James Franco was a bad choice to play as the wizard, he just doesn't have that in him. He's a good actor but like his other movie 'The Interview' and on this, these are the worst movies he has ever done in his film career. I meant it! It was also a really bad choice for Mila Kunis to play the Wicked Witch because she really acts too good to be a villain. The makeup wasn't even great on her, it made her look like she was having botox or allergic to it. For a beautiful talent actress like herself, don't put on too makeup or else it'll be a disaster! I didn't even like the fact she became green just because she ate a green apple. That never happen, the witch was born green, she wasn't even pale, could they not concentrate more on the 1939 film? I guess they didn't which is stupid! I would not show this to my future kids to this because it's just a terribly bad made movie!