staff-577-378882

Was Sam Raimi able to pave the road to Oz in gold or were there one too many pitfalls along the road for this prequel. Oz The Great and Powerful tells the story of Oscar Diggs, better known by his stage name Oz, a small time circus magician whose quick hands and quicker tongue often get him into trouble. When Oz's lies and womanizing ways finally catch up to him, Oz makes his grand escape on a hot air balloon. Oz's grand escape plan takes a turn for the worse when his hot air balloon gets sucked into a tornado and finds himself in the magical Land of Oz.

The film is both a prequel and Raimi's homage to the classic film The Wizard of Oz. From the very beginning Raimi captures the feeling of the classic by opening the movie in black and white with black bars on the side to replicate an old square television set. This nice homage give way for one of the most visual striking scenes in the file, when Oz first looks onto the Land of Oz and the film slowly and gradually widening the screen and adding color to the world. The effect managed to add a nice touch to the Land of Oz that gives it that special magical feeling the world needed.

The special effects in the movie are a two way street that are both amazing and damning. The world of Oz is colorful and magical. The backdrops and landscapes of Oz are amazing and manage to give life to the world. The CG animation in the movie is smooth and detailed that one would expect from a summer blockbuster film. The one problem I had with the CG, which is found in many movies that rely on CG too much to create entire backgrounds, is that there are often times when the actors and the CG just don't blend right and it really stands out in some scenes. While this isn't a major problem, it does at times take you out of the film.

For those moments it takes a good cast to bring the view back around, and luckily for this film the cast couldn't have been better. James Franco pulls in another great performance as the lovable yet womanizing, lying, and selfish Oz. Yet even with the stunning Franco who easily carries this film has the entire movie stolen from him by the three witches Michelle Williams as Gilda, Rachel Weisz as Evanora, and Mila Kunis as Theodora. The three ladies do a fantastic job and you can tell they are absolutely enjoying their roles. I especially enjoyed Kunis for her commanding and chilling performance as Theodora. If it wasn't for her performance, Theodora would have been such a terrible and wasted character. Theodora comes off throughout the film as such utterly stupid that its almost ridiculous how blind and naive the character is suppose to be. Kunis, however, manages to make something memorable here that will make any Wizard of Oz fan proud.

While the movie isn't perfect my any means, Oz is entertaining and fun for the whole family. Raimi brings you back to the Land of Oz with the same old heart and soul that made you believe long ago.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close Movie Review

Directed by Steven Daldry Written by Eric Roth (screenplay), Jonathan Safran Foer (novel)

Haley Joel Osment. Dakota Fanning. Macaulay Culkin. I'm not a big fan of child actors. They tend to overact. Their big doting eyes emoting what the directors have told them to do. It's hard to relate with them, or empathize with their conflict. I wish I could tell you Thomas Horn in "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" was any different. The kid has talent, that's for sure. But for a movie that means to milk emotional responses from the audience, it is hard to find any connection from an eleven year old in pjs.

Horn plays Oskar Schell, a snappy, quirky, and inquisitive pre-puberty preteen who's oddities verges on elements of Aspergers. Oskar's father Thomas is a fun loving, inquisitive, jewelry maker, played deftly by Tom Hanks, who dies in the World Trade Center attacks.

About one year after 9/11, Oskar accidentally finds a key in his father's closet that he becomes convinced will unlock answers that only he was intended to find. Oskar's life becomes a race against time to try and hold on to the good memories of his father, and the reality of life moving on with his humdrum mother (Sandra Bullock). Through a detective process that's part Sherlock Holmes, part Pippi Longstocking, Oskar goes on an adventure around the five boroughs questioning New York's inhabitants for clues.

Despite his choir boy voice, and over-enunciating voice overs, Oskar becomes the annoying character in the piece. Instead of feeling sorry for the kid, we end up empathizing with his mom, who has to try to find a way to connect to her estranged child. The best character comes from Max von Sydow's tenant, who plays a mute renter of his grandmother's apartment. The renter's silent frustration of Oskar's mission, and agreeing to accompany him on his quest, mimics the viewer's own plight as we are forced to chaperone this kid on what we already know is a false errand. The movie is not about what the key unlocks, nor about September 11th. Rather, its about how we grieve with a loss, and despite failures and flaws, ultimately learn how we learn to forgive and keep going. At least, that's what it intends to be. What "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" becomes is a tightly crafted, beautifully filmed, but searingly hollow tearjerker. It makes you feel sorry for the people that are around the kid that we're supposed to feel sorry for, which is the saddest thing about the film.

Red Tails Movie Review - Set against the backdrop of the skies above 1944 Italy at the height of WWII, Red Tails opens up on four squad fighters in pursuit of a low-profile target. Nicknamed 'Easy' (Nate Parker), 'Lightning' (David Oyelowo), 'Joker' (Elijah Kelley) and 'Junior' (Tristan Wilds), these four fly outdated P-40 fighter planes for the first African American aerial combat unit known as the Tuskegee Airmen. However, these dedicated flyers are only assigned to eliminate ground-based targets because it is widely assumed within the military that men of color lack the intelligence or skill to handle situations such as dog fighting. Based on actual events, this film tells the story of these highly-accomplished heroes who had to fight fascism in the air... and prejudice on the ground.

The sharp-tongued squad fighters take on every mission assigned to them, no matter how seemingly unimportant. Eventually, they're assigned to defend a beach landing, throwing them into their first dog fight... the results of which catch the attention of the higher military ranks. When it becomes clear to military leaders at the Pentagon that protecting American bombers en route to German targets requires a rather unorthodox approach, Colonel Bullard (Terrence Howard) demands that the Tuskegee Airmen, under the watchful eye of Major Stance (Cuba Gooding Jr) are given the chance to prove themselves... with the help of some new P-51 fighter planes, of course. To make the squad more distinctive and recognizable, the tails of these planes are painted red - hence the nickname 'Red Tails'.

In the midst of the war around them, these men deal with their own challenges. Drowning his pain with liquor, 'Easy' bares the mental wounds of the expectations placed onto him by his father; always the tough guy who's ready to strike at anything in his way, 'Lightning' must explore a more patient side when pursuing a relationship with Sofia (Daniela Ruah); 'Junior' simply wants to be considered something more than just a kid; and Colonel Bullard must continually stand up against those who don't respect him for the opportunity his men deserve. These ventures on the ground see the men through various struggles which are always overcome through a true sense of camaraderie and bravery.

***

Understanding that Red Tails based on actual events, it's to be expected that some dramatization will exist for the sake of artistic expression - though the general look and feel of the of the film was authentic. With most battles taking place in the air, there isn't much exposure to the horrors that one experiences on the ground during a war... which leads to an apparent lack of that 'gritty' feel in most action movies.

As there's a wide range of talent in the cast, the film is carried largely on the backs of the more seasoned actors; but well enough that everything flows nicely. With most dialogue being short and to the point, there are no lengthy conversations or speeches drawn out by the occasional 'pause for reflection' - this allows for the story to play out at a consistent pace. However, with a runtime of about two hours, the film may have benefited from another twenty minutes of dialogue and interaction with the sub-plots occurring on the ground, allowing for a deeper exploration into character development, backstory, range of emotion and explanation of plot details. There were simply too many stories to be told and locations to be shown within two hours, leaving the viewer desiring just a little more.

The photography, costuming and art direction of Red Tails is quite beautiful, and perhaps somewhat stylized and exaggerated. Every shot was composed and choreographed so delicately that it progresses visually like something from a comic book. This look is in stark contrast to the color-bleached and hand-held photography of Saving Private Ryan; but more like the perfectly-lit and wide-angle photography of Michael Bay's Pearl Harbor. George Lucas has always been a fan of dog fighting (present in a number of his StarWars films) but he also leans toward ensuring that every shot of his more recent films are as clean as possible, leading to an often 'airbrushed' look - something made possible with computer technology in post-production.

The aerial combat and dog fighting scenes are fast, action-packed and just fun to watch. One can't help but hate the rather two-dimensional German fighter pilot our heroes nickname 'Pretty Boy' as he appears time and time again in these combat scenes. Thankfully, the use of explosions is kept to a minimal as planes are instead ripped to shreds by the hailstorm of bullets coming at them. Though the CG fighter plane effects were very well done, some artistic license was taken in their formations and tight flight patterns for the sake of cinematographic drama. But hey, it's an action movie.

This is one of those 'well-wrapped' films that utilizes something of a formulaic approach to telling the story because it's safe. It's a war film without much of the blood one might expect; a story about racial prejudice without much of the true ugliness that entails. Somewhat predictable, there's a level of comfort with the lack of extremely emotional 'cliffhanger' moments. As a whole, the film moves at a great pace and has just right amount of well-times surprises and light-hearted humor juxtaposed against military politics and violence to make it a truly enjoyable experience. Red Tails is a great film for anyone - there's a little something for everyone here.