Oz the Great and Powerful

Oz the Great and Powerful (2013)
Starring: James Franco, Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz, Michelle Williams, Zach Braff
Director: Sam Raimi

The 1939 version of The Wizard of Oz has long been a favourite of mine. When I was very young, I remember going down to my Grandmothers retirement village flat and watching it on television with my Mum as the boys were watching football or something on our tv. The colour, the singing, the munchkins, the costumes, how can you not have fallen in love with it? It was, forever after, an all time favourite movie. When my daughter was very little, we watched it together and she fell in love with it as well. I ended up having to buy a second copy of it as she wore the first one out from watching it so much.

When I first heard about this pre-quel by Sam Raimi, I was pretty excited. The trailer was full of colour, fantasy, magic and just enough promise to keep us salivating. Then I heard that Danny Elfman was doing the music and it just topped it off for me.

Well, today the wait was over. We took our daughter to see it as an end of softball season treat.

I didn't love it.

As soon as the music starts over the top of the opening sequence, I was in Danny Elfman heaven. I don't know what it is about Elfman, but he has this bizarre way of transporting you to another world with a minute of music.

However, as soon as the story began, I felt flattened and cheated. James Franco plays the Great and Powerful Oz, the title character. In my opinion, the title character should be strong and engaging, and he just fell short. He is meant to be a con man, a swindler and a cheat, and while he does make you dislike the character, he just doesn't play it strong enough.

There is a small scene at the beginning where he is visited in Kansas at the travelling circus by Annie, played by Michelle Williams. In this scene, Annie tells Oscar that she will marry a man called Tony Gale. Now for those of us who know the Judy Garland movie, I put two and two together and figured she was meant to be Dorothy's mother. They never elude to anymore than this and it was a bit disappointing.

When Oscar gets blown into the land of Oz by one of those pesky twisters that seem to hang around Kansas a lot, he is met by the beautiful Theodora, played by Mila Kunis, who tells him where he has landed and to get out of the water before the water faeries attack. These things were so cute, just with sharp teeth and very cheeky!



 

Theodora believes Oscar to be the great and powerful Wizard of prophecy and immediately takes him to the Emerald City to meet her sister Evanora, played by Rachel Weisz.

Along the way, Oz meets a smart mouthed winged monkey, played by Zack Braff and a little China Doll who has had her whole village destroyed by the wicked witch. Evanora and Theodora send Oz out to kill the wicked witch, who he believes to be Glinda at this stage.

He soon finds out that the sisters in Emerald City have led him astray and Glinda, Michelle Williams again, tells him what has really happened to the land of Oz.

We end up being introduced to three different races that are under Glindas care, the Tinkers, the farmers and the Munchkins who decide to work together to defeat the evil sisters who have overthrown the Emerald City.

The film was visually stunning, apart from the sweeping shots of the Emerald City which were just too fast and ended up being blurry in some places. The colour of the flowers in the field of sunflowers was gorgeous, but I it did look a bit like some of it was borrowed from Tim Burtons Alice in Wonderland.

Mila Kunis for me, was the strongest character in this, and I really ended up loving her even though I'm not a fan of Mila Kunis. The costumes and make up were great, but it was hard to admire some things with so much green screen in use.

I really wanted to love this, but ended up just 'liking' it. I wish there had been more explanation of why things were the way they were in the Wizard of Oz and a bit less focus on Oz being a womanising, slimey, con man.

I won't give some parts of the story away as someone gave it away for me a few months ago and spoilt it for me. '

It's colourful, it's cute and some great scenes, but all in all, not as wonderful as I wanted it to be.

 

Argo

Argo (2012)
Starring: Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin, John Goodman

Director: Ben Affleck

 

This years nominees for Best Picture for the Academy Awards were an odd bunch. I must admit that I had only seen one of them and knew very little about the others.

This one, while I thought I'd get around to it one day, didn't really peak my interest, until it won for Best Picture.

Based on the true story of Tony Mendez, an expert in exfiltration working with the CIA is called in to rescue 6 Americans who managed to escape the take over of the American Embassy in Iran in 1979.

From the very beginning, this is a gripping movie. I thought I would be a bit bored in parts, but the opening sequence, showing the past history of the leaders or Iran and how they rose and fell really sets up what you're in for with this movie.

Tony (played by a very hairy Ben Affleck) enlists the help of some friends in the movie industry, specifically a make up artist who has close contacts in the industry. They devise a plan to promote a movie called Argo, an intergalactic love story, that doesn't actually exist. They use the movie to build up fake identities for the six Americans who are stranded in the house of the Canadian Ambassador in Iran after having escaped when the embassy was overthrown. Tony decides that they are a film crew scouting locations for the new film and spends weeks building up a movie that will never be made, all in order to get the six home safely.

Fantastic acting, especially from Ben Affleck, who also directed the movie, and Alan Arkin.

This was a well deserved win for Ben and the crew and I hope he makes more of this calibre.

The Dark Knight Rises

The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
Starring: Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, Tom Hardy, Morgan Freeman, Marion Cotillard
Director: Christopher Nolan

 

 

When Christopher Nolan began his re-invention of the Batman franchise in 2005, the whispers among the DC nerds of the internet universe were deafening. Could this guy resurrect what was left of the caped crusader after Joel Schumacher had left our nocturnal hero in rubber nippled tatters?

 

 

The answer was a resounding and just as deafening...............HELL YES!

 

 

The first movie took us on a fantastic journey through the scaffolding and building blocks of the early adolescent years of Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale), the spoilt rich boy who had lost his parents at an early age and squandered the families money and reputation. But while every hero has a tragedy in their past, not every hero has a faithful butler in the form of Alfred (Michael Caine). Alfred is Bruces voice of reason in an otherwise chaotic world and the man responsible for kicking him in the butt and telling him to pull his finger out and do something good with his life to honor his parents memory.

 

So, with an almost unlimited budget, a seasoned police officer, a tech nerd and a few of his funky toys, our batty boy defeats the first big bad in the form of Ra's Al Ghul, played by Liam Neeson.

The Batman was re-born without a rubber nipple in sight and the cheers among the fan boys went up around the globe. Nolan had done it, and we waited impatiently for the next instalment.

 

Three years later, in 2008, he gave us The Dark Knight.

Once again, Bruce battles with his rich boy ego and the love of his life Rachel, (Maggie Gyllenhaal replacing Katie Holmes from the first movie) while trying to save Gotham City from it's less than desirable citizens. The ultimate bad arse for this movie was of course, The Joker. The tragedy of this film, however, was that Heath Ledger, who played the Joker, passed away before the film was released. His performance was chilling to say the least. It brought back way too many memories of when Brandon Lee was killed while filming The Crow. Another actor, gone before his time. Many called this Heaths performance of a lifetime, but he never saw the endless accolades. Heath gives the Joker a presence that not even Jack Nicolson could pull off in the earlier franchises. He is dark, psychotic and more than a few sandwiches short of a picnic, and this makes his performance so worth the watch.
Another new character is brought forth in the form of Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart). For those that know the background of Batman, Harvey becomes another villain called 'Two Face', and it is this character that causes utter chaos in Bruce Waynes life at the end of the film.

 

Nolan had done it again, taking us on a dark and exciting ride through the streets of Gotham and into the minds of pyschopaths.

It was announced two years later, that the next instalment, would be the last, so in 2012, he wrapped it up with The Dark Knight Rises.

Gotham City has changed much in the last 8 years, with the death of Harvey Dent and the reclusive behaviour of it's most wealthy citizen, Bruce Wayne. Batman has been blamed for Dents demise, and is a hunted figure. Commissioner Gordon sings the praises of Harvey Dent, knowing the truth behind his death but keeping up the premise of him being a hero.
In the first few minutes of the film, we are introduced to the sleek, gorgeous and crafty Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway), who is caught stealing a string of pearls that once belonged to Bruce Waynes mother. Bruce catches her but is in no shape to pursue the alluring thief in the night and so she escapes with the pearls around her neck. Bruce is intrigued by the stranger and starts investigating.
Newcomer John Blake (Joseph Gordon Levitt), is a police officer with a heart who has questioned the disappearance of Batman ever since he left, but his world is turned upside down when a new threat comes to Gotham. Enter Bane.
Bane thinks that the citizens of Gotham should rise up against their oppressors and take back the city that once belonged to them and so he takes over the tunnels beneath the city and begins his plan.

I will not go any further in detail with this movie as I believe it needs to be seen. It really is a fantastic piece of cinema that does the Batman franchise proud.

The entire cast make this movie what it is, brilliant. Fantastic cameos from villains of the past, and wonderful performances from regulars like Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman and Gary Oldman.

I'm not sure how I feel about how this ended. In some ways I loved it, but in other ways it made me a little sad.

If you weren't one of the millions that saw it when it was out at the movies and haven't watched it yet, I recommend you see it.

Looper

Looper (2012)
Starring: Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Emily Blunt, Jeff Daniels
Director: Rian Johnson

Around Christmas time, I purchased 3 or 4 Blurays that I had not seen before, Dark Knight Rises, Resident Evil: Retribution, Bourne Legacy and this, Looper.
The trailer had always intrigued me, the storyline seemed interesting and original and my hopes were high being a Bruce Willis movie.
Set in the year 2044, Joe (Joseph Gordon Levitt), is an assassin, but he's an assassin with a difference. Joes boss gives him a time to be at a location specific to him and a person with a bag over their head and their hands tied behind their back 'appears' before him and he shoots them within seconds. He then retrieves silver ingots strapped to the victims back, disposes of the body and collects his money for a job well done.
Fast forward to the year 2074 where the mob has trouble killing people and disposing of their bodies because of tracking devices. They end up using time travel as a convenient way to send their victims back 30 years to be killed by assassins like Joe, called Loopers.
Now every now and then a Looper shoots a victim and finds gold strapped to their backs instead of silver. This is basically their retrenchment letter as the victim is their future self. This is called 'closing the loop'.
So what do you do when your future self doesn't want to be killed?

There is a huge story to this that at first did my head in, a little bit like Inception, but simpler.
Joseph Gordon Levitt is pretty good as a younger Bruce Willis, but his face freaked me out. Wearing prosthetics through out the movie changed his face completely and I couldn't help but think how weird he looked.
I can't get too much into the storyline as it will give the ending away and the ending was pretty good. I was a bit disappointed as it wasn't wrapped up as neatly as it should have been and there were a few holes in the storyline that could have been patched up pretty easily.
All in all, a pretty decent movie.

Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters

Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters (2012)
Starring: Jeremy Renner, Gemma Arterton, Famke Janssen, Peter Stormare
Director: Tommy Wirkola

 

Please don't go and see this is you take movies too seriously. This is nothing but good, kick arse, twisted fairy tale fun. If you have a tendency to analyse a movie to death, don't bother, it's not going to win any awards and I guarantee you, the director probably doesn't care what you think.

 

Did I like it?

Hell yes!!!

Hansel and Gretel, as the title suggests, is about the German brother and sister invented by the Grimm Brothers in the 1800's.

The film opens with the story we all know about the siblings being left in the woods by their father and finding themselves in the cottage of a rather frightening looking witch.

Against all odds, the plucky Gretel, manages to use her brains and they make the first of many career kills.

 

Much older now, and with a fair few kills under their belts, the pair hire themselves out to whoever needs their unique skills. But this time, they come up against something they do not expect in the form of a Grand Witch, played by the stunning Famke Janssen, who is leading a larger band of witches in stealing children from a nearby village.

 

Along the way they pick up a couple of stragglers in the form of a love interest for Hansel, a love sick teenager who follows Gretel around like a puppy dog and an unusually large companion who comes in handy at the end of the film.

It had a similar feel to Van Helsing and The League of Extraordinary Gentleman, but I found it a bit more exciting.

 

The CG is pretty good, rather gorey and very bloody. I loved the weapons that they had and the various ways in which many witches......pardon the pun.......meet their demise.

This was good fun, nothing more.

Please don't think it's suitable for kids because if you take them to see it, then you deserve to have them wake up screaming in the middle of the night. This is one bed time story that is NOT for kids.

 

Major bonus seeing Jeremy Renner without a shirt on. Hansel works out apparently!!


 

 

Coming Soon

Warm Bodies

Released: Approximately April 2013

Another recommendation from a good friend of mine. I read the book in less than a week and absolutely loved it. It was funny, warm, romantic and a bit gorey as well, in short....it's a zombie love story.
I think I've watched the trailer about 5 times now and I just love it every single time.

So what are my expectations of this? I'm really hoping that they stick to the book as there isn't anything in there that needs to be cut out or modified. It's a pretty simple story, but told from the zombies point of view which really shouldn't be too difficult.

Definitely looking forward to this one.

Man of Steel

Released: Approximately June 2013

 

Only just saw the trailer for this on Boxing Day when we saw The Hobbit and I was super impressed. I really hated the Brandon Routh version of the Superman franchise and I hope that this is a success for Zack Snyder. It certainly looks a lot more gritty and less cheesey.

I'm pretty happy with the choice of Henry Cavill as Superman as well. He looks amazing in the suit and completely buff!

I'm hoping there's no cheese factor and that this does for Superman what Christopher Nolan did for Batman.

Fingers crossed.

Other movies to look out for

Oblivion - Tom Cruise
 Looks a bit like a real life version of Wall E.

World War Z - Brad Pitt
Another in a spate of zombie movies perhaps? Looks interesting but not getting good press from those that have read the book.

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones - Jonathan Rhys Myers
Another book to movie adaptation. I hope they don't 'Twilight' this one. It's a great set of books and they seem to have picked a decent cast. Box office results should be interesting.

The Lone Ranger - Johnny Depp
It's Depp, but the initial trailers aren't doing it for me.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)
Starring: Ian McKellan, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage,
Director: Peter Jackson

 

 

 

Finally, the wait is over.

 

For 3 years in a row, it was a tradition for myself, my husband and a best mate to go and see the Lord of the Rings movies on Boxing Day. When "Return of the King" was released, we were devastated. As we walked out of the cinema we asked ourselves, what the heck do we do next Boxing Day?

 

Luckily, we had a couple of Harry Potter movies to fill in the time and some others, but when we heard that Peter Jackson had taken over the direction of "The Hobbit", the excitement began to build again.

 

Originally, another brilliant director, Guilermo Del Toro, (Hellboy and Pans Labyrinth), was meant to direct, but pulled out for some reason. So instead of letting the idea sink all together, Peter Jackson renigged on an earlier promise and took up the reins.

 

Slowly, the cast was built, press releases made and Peter began to release his video blogs on facebook. We all watched and waited with baited breath until the first trailer came out and then we all cheered.

 

After re-reading the book, I wondered how he would do some things and if he would deviate or stay as true to Tolkien as possible. As with any book to movie adaptation, some changes are necessary and with this, I think he's done a fantastic job, well with the first instalment anyway. The rest remains to be seen.

 

As soon as the music started, my friend turned to me and said ''oh shit, I'm crying already".

 

The introduction to the movie, in my opinion, is well done. Although some deemed it unnecessary, I felt it was a nice tie in for those of us who are fans of the movies. Bilbo (Ian Holm) and Frodo (Elijah Wood) introduce us to this new tale about young Bilbos adventures with a company of dwarves.

 

We see Bilbos first meeting with the legendary Gandalf and are soon after introduced to 13 dwarves who almost eat poor Bilbo out of house and hole.

 

Most of the dwarves are unknown, but there are a few who some may recognise. The mighty Thorin Oakenshield, played by the dashing Richard Armitage, and one of my favourite characters throughout the first movie, was amazing. He drew attention as soon as he was on screen and rightly so.

 

Young Kili, is played by Mr Aidan Turner. Those UK Being Human fans out there may recognise him as Mitchell. Him and Fili are the ''One Directioners" int he company, the young, good looking dwarves.

 

The rest of the company are made up of Bombur, Bifur, Bofur, Dwalin, Balin, Oin, Gloin, Nori, Dori and Ori. I had trouble telling most of them apart, but it didn't make it any less entertaining.

 

Wonderful cameos from Lord Elrond, (Hugo Weaving), Lady Galadriel, (Cate Blanchett), and two that made the geek in me squeal, Brett Mackenzie from Flight of the Conchords and Lee Pace who was recently in Breaking Dawn Part 2. Lee looked magnificent as the elf Thranduil astride a gorgeous elk.

 

Another cameo that will make the nerds out there happy was the wonderful Sylvester McCoy, who plays the wizard, Radagast the Brown. Sylvester is better known to some as the 7th Doctor in the Doctor Who series. He was great, I really enjoyed seeing this character and hope he's in more of the movies.

 

What else can I say about The Hobbit? Visually beautiful once again. Stunning New Zealand locations and fantastic sets, costumes and make up.

 

As I am not a fan of 3D movies, I saw this in 2D and thoroughly enjoyed it. I truly cannot wait until Boxing Day next year.