Theater Review: Oz the Great and Powerful

This was definitely a risk.

No matter how great this film could be, it was never going to live up to its predecessor. And that film came out in 1939. But, it risks are meant to be taken - and after many years it finally hit the big screen.

Oz the Great and Powerful is the prequel to the classic 1939-film The Wizard of Oz. As Wizard told the story of a young Dorothy Gale being transported to the wonderful land of Oz, here we see how Oscar 'Oz' Diggs (James Franco) finds himself transported the Emerald City.

Now, with any prequel, you already know how things are going to end - but it is interesting to see how exactly we get to the start of The Wizard of Oz.

Oscar Diggs is a circus performer and just so happens to be visiting Kansas for a performance. Diggs is a player, in more ways than one. He tricks women into falling for him - he's the type of guy to have a woman or more in each stop - and he uses tricks in his magic act as well.

After a young girl from the audience asks Diggs to allow her to walk again, and the audience quickly turns on him when he refuses to do it - Diggs and his partner rush out only to get cornered by the strong man, whose wife Diggs had recently been flirting with. So, Diggs jumps in a hot air balloon, only to get sucked up into a twister - a twister.

Here he lands in Oz and meets Theodora (Mila Kunis), a witch who believes that Diggs is the wizard that they have all been waiting for to rescue them from the Wicked Witch. She takes him to meet her sister, Evanora (Rachel Weisz), yet another witch.

Evanora, who doesn't believe that Diggs is the wizard that can rescue them, shows him a room full of money that he can have if he defeats the Wicked Witch by destroying her broom.

Along the way, Diggs meets up with Finley (Zach Braff), a small flying monkey that owes him a life debt after Diggs saves him from a lion. The two of them also meet up with China Girl (Joey King) a small china doll whose entire village and townsfolk were destroyed by the Wicked Witch's flying monkey.

That is where I will leave it - in essence it is up to Oscar Diggs to save the people of Oz from the Wicked Witch. And, despite even him not believing he is the wizard that everyone is looking for, but he will do his best to pretend he is.

My wife is probably the biggest Wizard of Oz fan that I have ever met. So, as soon as this was announced she was already in the theater. In fact, she went and saw it the day before without me - and then went again with me the next day.

It's tough to meet those type of expectations, but she loved it. I had the same issues in a similar way with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory  - which I found horrible and can never watch again.

In my opinion, Oz was pretty darn great. I thought to even come close to the original would be an accomplishment. It is odd, however, that the low point of the film may in fact be James Franco. Although he did a good job as Oz, the rest of the cast was so great that he looked to be lagging behind.

The best two, however, were the CGI characters. Finley and China Girl were both amazing characters. They had heart and humor - which tended to be lacking in a lot of the rest of the cast.

Also, I saw this in 3D. And, this was the absolute best use of 3D that I have ever seen in the theater (though I never saw Avatar in the theater - which I am told was amazing).

Finally, the bridge between the two films was done very well. We see things that build towards Wizard of Oz throughout the film, and I am sure there were even more that I missed. But, those were very cool to see and fun to pick out.

Overall, I really enjoyed the film. Does it reach the original? No, probably not. But, they took the risk and honestly I thought they succeeded.

Grade:

21/50x2: 127 Hours

I guess I should rethink my original thought that I would not like a movie where one character is the one and only focal point throughout. Granted the amount of those films I have seen is sparse, but out of those films I have seen I have enjoyed each of them.

The first, of course, being Cast Away and my love for Tom Hanks could have easily allowed me to overlook that he was the only one on the screen for a good portion of the film. But, after watching Buried it is possible that I may actually enjoy this type of films.

Finally, I watched 127 Hours and although I think James Franco is a fine actor and certainly growing with each role, I never thought that a film consisting mainly of him would hold my interest. But, it did and again I was proven wrong.

Franco stars as Aron Ralston. who is really an outdoorsman and loves hitting the mountains and canyons just for a hike. On this day, Ralston is heading to Utah's Canyonlands National Park. While hiking, he comes across two young ladies, Kristi (Kate Mara) and Megan (Amber Tamblyn) who appear to be lost. Ralston presents himself as an expert and the two follow him and manage to find a small little oasis underneath the rocks where they all go swimming.

About to say their goodbyes, Kristi and Megan invite Ralston to a party they are having the next night. Of course, they don't expect him to attend.

They part ways and Ralston heads back to the hike and heads to Blue John Canyon. While trying to get through a narrow passage a boulder comes loose and Ralston falls into the canyon. To make matters worse, the boulder falls right behind him and it appears he will be crushed by it. But, the boulder becomes wedged between the two walls and Ralston is spared - except for the fact that his arm is now pinned between the wall and the boulder.

Unable to free himself, Ralston is now trapped inside this canyon where absolutely no one knows where he is except the two girls he met on his hike - who never expect to see him again.

The rest of the film shows Ralston trying to keep himself alive using only the items he has in his backpack for his hike. It also shows how the mind works when you are alone, dehydrated and scared for your life.

Again, I was surprised by my enjoyment of this film and how well Franco was able to hold my interest alone for such a long period of time. Granted the movie itself is only about 97 minutes long, but we are alone with him for most of it - and we remain interested and concerned for his well being.

This was based off a true story, so going in I knew the outcome - yet still I was interested in seeing how things were pulled off. And, even despite me knowing the outcome, they still pranked me during one scene - I admit I was confused, but I understood once the movie rolled one.

Grade:

Pineapple Express

Have you ever witness a murder? Have you ever witness a murder on weed, man?

Pineapple Express is a pretty hilarious journey of a pair of stoners, one of which happens to witness a murder which sends the pair on this journey.

Seth Rogen stars as Dale Denton, a process server who likes to smoke a little weed and is also dating an 18-year old high school student, Angie (Amber Heard).

Denton has started buying his weed from Saul Silver (James Franco), a guy who lives alone and appears to be just a bit lonely. Anyway, Silver sells Denton a new crop of weed called Pineapple Express, which is very rare - so rare in fact that he is literally the only dealer selling it.

As Denton is staking out his next person to serve, Ted Jones (Gary Cole), he witnesses Jones and a female cop (Rosie Perez) murder someone. He immediately freaks out, tosses his joint out the window, and high tails it to Silver's apartment.

Bad news is, Jones is the supplier that Silver gets his weed from - so he recognizes the Pinepple Express and know immediately who to go after.

The remainder of the film is Silver and Denton trying horribly to escape from a pair of Jones' hitman, Budlofsky (Kevin Corrigan) and Matheson (Craig Robinson).

This all finishes with an all-out war between Jones' crew, the Asians and Silver, Denton and Red (Danny McBride).

This film is another Apatow produced movie, which was written by Rogen himself. Rogen actually wrote the part of Saul Silver for himself, but felt that Franco would do a much better job - and it was a great call because Franco nailed this part.

I wouldn't rank this film too high on the Apatow movie scale - it is most likely behind 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up and Forgetting Sarah Marshall. But, this was a pretty enjoyable film as well.

I felt that Franco literally made the movie - as well as the small parts played by Corrigan and Robinson. The movie had some great laugh out loud moments - and also a pretty cool battle scene at the conclusion.

Grade:

Freaks & Geeks

With the huge explosion of all things Judd Apatow nowadays, I felt it was only right for me to try and check out his original television show, Freaks & Geeks.
The show was on NBC during the 1999-2000 television schedule, but unfortunately due to low viewership was canceled after only 12 episodes had aired. The show, however, did complete filming 18 episodes which are now available on DVD.

I have only watched three episodes so far, but I am pretty entertained.

The show is more of a dramedy, which is hard to believe coming from a guy like Apatow - but then again if you think 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up all had underlying messages, despite the outrageous comedy factor.

Anyway, Freaks & Geeks is about Lindsay Weir (Linda Cardellini) and her brother Sam (John Francis Daley).

From the pilot, we learn that Lindsay is starting to rebel after the death of her grandmother, whom she was really close. She was formally a mathlete, straight-A student, and best friends with Millie Kentner (Sarah Hagan), a very relgious girl.

She sort of veers from that path of life into trying to fit in with the "Freaks". These are the kids who would rather skip class, smoke and could care less about high school. The main "Freak" is Dan Desario (James Franco), whom it is obvious Lindsay has a bit of a thing for. He is followed by his two friends, Nick Andopolis (Jason Segel) and Ken Miller (Seth Rogen). A fourth "Freak", Kim Kelly (Busy Phillips), is Dan's on-and-off girlfriend, and gives Lindsay a bit of a hard time.

On the other side of things, Sam is a freshman in high school who is considered a "Geek". He hangs around with his two best friends, Neal Schweiber (Samm Levine) and Bill Haverchuck (Martin Starr). They are in between trying to figure out what is cool and not - and also trying to not get beaten up by Alan White (Chauncey Leopardi).

It's sort of amazing to see the amount of people getting their start in this show. Linda Cardellini now plays Sam Taggart on ER. James Franco has shot up the A-list movie star, especially with the role as Harry Osborne in Spiderman. Jason Segel, despite being part of the new Apatow Universe, is now a star on How I Met Your Mother. Seth Rogen is the king of the Apatow Universe now, and is bringing Martin Starr along with him in smaller roles. John Francis Daley now plays Dr. Lance Sweets on Bones. Samm Levine, however, is due to star in the new Quentin Tarantino movie.

Though I am only three episodes in, I am upset I didn't watch this show from the start. It's just another show that never truly got a chance in this day and age of neilson ratings. A lot of great shows have been canceled due to bad ratings, which usually comes from bad marketing.

Give this show a look if you happen to like the Apatow movies or any of the above people.

I am hoping to check out Apatow's second television try in Undeclared when I am finished. Another show that probably didn't get it's fair shake.