Oz, Neither Great nor Powerful

Oz The Great and Powerful is a 2013 Disney prequel to the 1939 MGM film, directed by Spider-Man director Sam Rami. The film stars James Franco as Oscar Diggs, a small town traveling magician from Kansas, who is whisked away in a tornado to a magical land called Oz, where ha encounters three witches: Mila Kunis plays Theodora, Michelle Williams plays Glinda, the good witch of the south and Rachel Weisz plays evanora, the wicked witch of the east. The film uses a spectacularly large amount of CGI, and a large part of the film was made on a digital backlot.

The film is set many years before the events of The Wizard of Oz, and describes the wizard's arrival in Oz. Oscar Diggs is swept away to a magical land by a hot air balloon while he is attempting to escape from the wrath of his investors. Diggs discovers a world in turmoil, where three witches fight for power. The problem with this film is that it has no message, the film says nothing about power or magic, and the character of Oz is totally miscast, with James Franco lacking the slick charm of the magician, and seeming like merely a slimeball. The films only message seems to be that cheating pays, and nothing is said about what truly makes a great man great, a missed opportunity rather.  The film is only a semi-prequel to The Wizard of Oz, and the film makes little reference to the 1939 film, neither visually nor stylistically. The narrative of the film somewhat follows the MGM film, with Oscar meeting Dorothy's mother in kansas, and Diggs being sucked into Oz in the same way that Dorothy was. Stylistically the film shares very little with The Wizard of Oz. The only real similarity is that the film opens in black and white and transforms into color when Diggs enters Oz. The film also begins in the old fashioned 'academy' ratio, and gradually expands into widescreen.

The film looks very little like the original film, the MGM film used largely low-fi practical effects. For instance the door opening to color was achieved with some very careful painting of the door, a sepia tinted outfit and a slight tint on the whole first segment led to a very convincing effect. The whole of the 1939 film was filmed in a studio, whereas this film was mostly made on a digital backlot, sacrificing reality for fakery, and grounded imagery for fancy graphics, and The film for the most part looks terrible. Generally this film can be split into three segments, the first black and white segment, the second segment set on and around the yellow brick road, and the final segment, which portrays the battle for Oz. The second segment looks the worse, and is the one which looks the least grounded in reality. This segment was mainly shot on a digital background, and depicts a world in which everything looks larger than life, and giant. The problem with this is that rather than looking awe inspiring, James Franco just looks ridiculously small, and looks out of place, the real problem is that there is no point of reference, and the actors are simply pasted onto these backgrounds with no interaction between the characters and their surroundings.

The character of Finley is also a problem, the character looks fake and rubbery, and fails to leap the uncanny valley. However the character of China Girl is unbelievably cute. The final sequence of the film looks fantastic, and the filmmakers use an art deco style for the emerald city, and although the city differs from the in the MGM film, it looks fantastic. The film overall has a rather good script and a fun story and the overall conclusion of the story is really rather clever. The wicked witches costume annoyed me a little, as she has a strap round her neck, which makes her look really small and a little fat. The film also suffers from the fact that many of the iconic properties invented for the MGM film were not allowed for this film, due to the rights being held by Warner Bros. The ruby slippers are an example as well as the swirl design in munchkinland and the mole on the wicked witch of the west's chin and the exact color of her skin, this leads to the witch being presented as a small fa woman with an unappetizing skin color, as opposed to the real iconic monster in the 1939 film.

Overall many of the failures of this film are due to it being too tied in to the film world of the MGM film, yet legal issues hamper it from becoming a true prequel, and from having the classic iconic feel of the original. Overall the film looks withering and lacks any real grounding, the characters seem superimposed and photoshopped onto their environments. The story is rather clever, however it has no meaning and says nothing about power or greatness. this film pails in comparison to Return to Oz which looks better and has more substance. 50% prequel, 50% spinoff; 100% pointless Rating: C+

Theodora: Aren't you the great man we've been waiting for?

Frozen - Trailer Review

First of all i recently did an interview with Louisa, an old friend from Eurofash blog. Her blog is really really great and candid, and can be found here

Disney recently released the first trailer for their upcoming 3D animated fantasy adventure film, 'Frozen'. Capitalizing on the success of Tangled, Frozen retells the story of The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Anderson, in 3D computer animation, in a style similar to that of Tangled. A trailer for the movie was attached to Monsters University, and fans were less than impressed, the teaser is overly comedic, cartoonish and silly, and given the closeness of the conception of this film to Tangled, fans were left pondering the absence of the lush,hand painted Raphael style look of Tangled, and the use of cartoonish characters. The trailer was in short a dud, and lacked the intelligence or the beauty of Tangled.

One of the really fantastic things about Tangled was the look of the film, the movie updated the films of the Disney Renaissance for modern audiences, and used 3D in an innovative new way, creating scenes which looked fantastic, if not being entirely accurate from a depth perspective. The film also finally managed to use computer animation in a way which didn't look Dreamworks generic, and which had the lush beautiful style of hand drawn animation. The new trailer seems to do a similar thing, excluding the magic snowman, who to be frank looks ridiculous, and seems completely at odds with the rest of the film, and the otherwise beautiful aesthetic of the landscapes of the trailer.

The good news is that we now have a second trailer, the bad news is that its in Japanese, but oh well. The new trailer is very interesting, and has everything one would expect, the main character of Anna is a little generic, and looks a little like Rapunzel, however the trailer looks to be exciting, and is certainly esthetically intriguing. The film looks a lot like Tangled, except with completely different color tones, and with a more rugged, and sharp look, differing from the smooth lush look of Tangled. The trailer, despite the presence of the awful snowman, seems to be a classic Disney movie, and looks to be a continuation of the modernization that started with Tangled. Plus who doesn't want to see gay icon Idina Menzel as the Evil Queen, I guess if the shoe fits?
Old Trailer Rating: D New Trailer Rating: B+

Diana

The trailer is here for Diana, a film which stars Naomi Watts as the princess of whales, and which seems to cover the period up until her death, however this is not shown in the trailer. The trailer is just an early sneak peek, and thus contains no dialogue, and can only give us an idea of what the film will be like, however i must say that it looks really rather good!

The film attempts to show us behind the facade that was Princess Diana, and attempts to show us the woman who hid behind this facade. The film shows us the good with tha bad, and i like this, the film shows us not only all the good that Diana did, but the bad as well, we are shown the work that she did with land mines and for children with aids, and we are shown the affairs and her many run in's with the paparazzi. The film doesn't show the royal family at all, and seems to show the period after her divorce from Charles. The film stars Naomi Watts as the princess, and she looks to be fantastic in the title role, and her eyes show us the pain of the woman, and the life she led.Her performance seems so good that despite the lack of sound, we empathize with her hugely.

Overall this looks to be a hugely exciting film, and there is rightly already Oscar buzz for Watt's and rightly so, she looks to be fantastic and the film looks already to be hugely exciting, and looks as if it will not be a dry biopic such as some others i could mention! The film looks heartbreaking, and will surely be a must watch even for those not fans of the late princess. Trailer Rating: A

The Desolation of Smaug - Trailer Review

Well the trailer for the second installment of the Hobbit trilogy is finally here, and it looks like its set to be a fun and exciting adventure. The trailer seems to tell us that the film will take us through the mirkwood forests with the defeat of Smaug being the films conclusion. This tells us that Stephen Fry should appear in this installment.

This film seems to be more action packed than its predecessor. One of my criticisms of this films predecessor was that too much time was spent with gags and getting to know and differentiate the different dwarves, however this film seems action packed, and there looks to be a lot of action. One of the scenes which appears in this film and which is particularly celebrated is the escape from Lake Town in the barrels, which will appear in this film.

This film signifies the return of Legolas to the big screen, with the addition of Tauriel played by Evangeline Lily as mirkwood elves, giving the film a much needed female character, who is not present in the book. The film adds a subplot involving the mirkwood elves, who help in defeating the orcs attempting to capture the dwarves. The film also continues the subplot involving Gandalf and Radagast, exploring the castle in which lies the necromancer, who will ultimately rise to power. My only qualm with this trailer is that Smaug should not have been shown in the trailer, but revealed in the movie, seeing as his appearance was deliberately teased in the first film.

Overall the film looks very good, and looks to solve many of the issues of its predecessor, being more action packed. The bulk of this story takes place in mirkwood, and the elves seem to have a huge presence in  this film, yet it remains to be seen if we will again meet the White Council. Overall this is a fun trailer for what looks to be a hugely exciting film. Trailer Rating: A

 

Blue Jasmine - Trailer Review

Well, finally less than two months until the release of Woody Allen's new picture a trailer has been released. The film is called Blue Jasmine and stars Cate Blanchett in the title role, as a society housewife. Alec Baldwin also stars as her husband, It is the first time Blanchett is working with Allen, and Baldwin's second collaboration with his after last years To Rome With Love. The film is set an was filmed in New York and San Francisco, and can be seen as a homecoming for Allen, who has spent the last few years in Europe.

The film stars Cate Blanchett as a fashionable New York housewife, a woman who is going through the acute stages of a midlife crisis, and who goes to live with her sister. Blanchett seems good in the role, and manages to be heartwarmingly funny and heartbreakingly sad in the same moment, and manages to successfully portray a woman who is wry and sarcastic, but who doesn't seem to be arrogant. Baldwin is oddly absent from the trailer, more peculiar still given that his is given second billing in this film.

The trailer overall is entertaining yet deceptively cryptic about the events of this film, showing us nothing that we don't already know from the official release, yet overall this looks to be a solid Woody Allen flick, and one that will no doubt be illuminating and entertaining.  As always the trailer contains that certain joy that Allen seems able to conjure on demand these days, with what looks to be a solid performance from it's leading lady. Trailer Rating:B+

Yet More Sleeping Pills

Well I suppose some of you have sluthed the fact that our new art deco background is clearly inspired by The Great Gatsby, (we have the same on twitter and facebook by the way) I recently posted my thoughts on the first Gatsby trailer, and will now do the same for the third, and comment on the marketing as a whole, the third trailer takes a significantly different tone to the previous two, he trailer has a much softer and slightly more melancholic feeling to the previous two trailers.

It seems to me that in creating these three trailers, the filmmakers attempted to showcase a different part of each story with each of the three trailers. The first trailer, which i recently reviewed, (catch my review here) deals with the hedonistic excesses of the roaring twenties, the extravagance of the era and the color and opulence of the times. The second deals with Gatsby as a character, with the mystery that surrounds him, with the things we do not know about him and questioning what we think that we do know about him.

The third trailer is very different in tone, whereas the other trailers are fast paced, and attempt to show us the speed of life in the twenties, this trailer has a slower pace, and deals with the romantic relationships in the story, and the intense obsessive love between Daisy and Gatsby, and the relationship between Daisy and her husband, here the colors are much softer, and the atmosphere is less frenetic than in the previous installments, and Nick Carraway takes a much lesser role, really only being present in the voice over, which is consistent with his role in the novel as a narrator and observer.

The music in this trailer is also much more apparent than in previous trailers, we now know that the films soundtrack will be produced by Jay-Z, and will feature  artists such as Beyoncé, André 3000, Lana Del Rey and Florence + The Machine. Such a calibre of artists provide a soundtrack that is modern and timeless, yet which is tied into a score that is modern and timeless yet somehow also evocative of the twenties and the music of the era, with the more modern hip-hop inspired music being linked to the time with a timeless jazz inspired score. 

The trailer is  seemingly filled with the unforgettable and haunting sounds of Lana Del Rey's pipes in Young and beautiful, which captures the tragic love story portrayed in the picture, and which manages to on one hand seem timelessly linked with the story shown in the Great Gatsby, and which also manages to stand on its own as a great pop record, and which is incidentally being released as the soundtrack's first single. The trailer also features Beyoncés cover of Back To Black, I get that she is married to Jay-Z, and i loved her in Dreamgirls, but they should have used the original version, this cover is too whining and slow for my taste, and Beyoncé doesn't have nearly the voice that Amy did.

Overall this trailer is flawless, the music is superb and the voice over is a haunting echo of the passionate love story and intense obsession portrayed in Fitzgerald's stunningly powerful original novel. The imagery in the film is beautiful, and each frame seems like a painting, i can hardly wait the 20 days till this films release, and you can be assured, i will be the first in line. A stunning job and an amazing tribute to the roaring twenties and to Fitzgerald's timeless classic novels, one of the greatest of all time. Rating: A+

Jay Gatsby: “Can’t repeat the past?…Why of course you can!”

Temptation? - what a load of drivel

I have been told that my reviews were too polite, so here i am going to write Popcorn@Movies first truly damning review.

Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor, is due to be released on march 29th, this story is about a married marriage counselor who falls in love with one of her clients. I have no problem with the basic premise of this story, though it is a little insipid, however the problem arises when we look at the casting, the trailer gives us Vanessa Williams with i ridiculous german? accent. Kim Kardashian who basically just plays herself, someone should have reminded her that this was not one of her reality show, but I guess we should just be thankful that she didn't try to put on a weird accent too.

Errm now we come to the two main characters, the marriage counselor and her rich investor. Lets overlook the absolute lack of chemistry between these characters, rmemebreing that this is supposed to be the better of the two relationships in this womans life, and we come to her husband, a man who seems to be completley devoid of personality, no wonder she got bored. I'm surprised she didn't leave sooner.

 The trailer also shows a series of one liners which are cringe worthy and unintentionally hilarious at the same time, such as what do you dream of? You... Seriously? Are you kidding me Tyler Perry? So overall this trailer is a bit/lot of a train wreck, lets just hope that they chose the worst moments of the movie for the trailer, because if the final film is as bad as this... yet  even longer, then god help us. Any opinions? Comments below.

Trailer Review: C- Film prediction: D- Current Rotten Tomatoes score: 6%
 

The Lone Ranger - Trailer Review

Before we get started a word on reviews, i will now be rating all films and trailers on an A+ to D- scale (so Movie 34 would be a D- and The Lord of the Rings an A+!)

Here i am going to analyze the trailer for Disney's upcoming western epic The Lone Ranger, starring Johnny Depp and Arnie Hammer

I must confess that i have never seen the original tv series however i do quite like westerns, ie Zorro and Django Unchained. However before i talk about the content of the trailer, i feel i simply must talk about money, doesnt disney ever learn? John Carter was a failure of epic proportions, i mean really epic, yet the next two live action films Disney produces are Oz, the Great and Powerful, and The Lone Ranger, both of which have budgets well over 200 million. Thankfully Oz was a success during a period of disastrous box office recipts, however i don't see the same success for The Lone Ranger, as Oz was based of a film that was still beloved and popular, whereas The Lone Ranger? Less so...

The trailer looks quite good, and seems action packed and amusing, and shows what seems to be a good yet predictable performance from Depp, the trailer looks epic, and shows many 'wow' moments, whether these are the only big scenes in the movie or whether there are others remains to be seen (it is very annoying to see a comedy where the only funny bits are in the trailer).

 

Let me now talk about casting, I already said that Depps performance seems to be very predictable, yet time will tell if this is simply the same performance as in Pirates. Arnie Hammer, whom most will know from the Social Network is an interesting choice, yet again time will tell if his performance shows any nuance. The casting which really excites me is that of Helena Bonham-Carter, as Red Harrington.

 

The trailer is a visual delight, like the last three of Disney's live action offerings, yet time will tell if critics will have the same lackluster response to the story and character development. Trailer Rating B

Is anyone excited for The Lone Ranger? Leave your comments in the box below.

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The Great Gatsby and sleeping pills

This will come as no surprise to those who know me. 2013 will bring us finally the long awaited film adaptation of  F Scott Fitzgerald's classic 1920's novel. This will be the first true film adaptation sine the flawed yet much loved 1974 version starring Redford and Farrow. The 1974 film despite being much beloved doesn't give one the flavor of the 1920's in the way which the novel does, and despite strong performances from it's leads, fails to create the emotional attachment that we feel in the novel.

My excitement for the upcoming film is mainly due to its director; Australian Baz Luhrmann, director of Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge, Luhrmann is a ludicrously stylistic director, who is known for using contemporary music in period films; this is apparent even in the trailer for the film, in which the Jack White cover of U2's love is blindness is used, perfect for describing the twisted love story between the two main characters. Another hallmark of a Baz Luhrmann movie is color; this is especially apparent in 2001's Moulin Rouge, this perhaps also explains why i expect this adaptation to succeed the original, is that i feel it will give audiences a real flavor of an era, and the trailer certainly shows a dizzying sumptuous romanticism, infusing the film with color and life.

Another contentious point of the film is the casting; the actors in the 1974 version are much loved, however here again i feel that the casting of this version is more appropriate; Leo Dicaprio plays the lead role of Jay Gatsby, and will hopefully finally win an Oscar, and Carey Mulligan as Daisy. The two trailers which have been released are very exciting, and i await this coming may with anticipation, hopefully the film will exceed all expectations, and will become a classic film in the already impressive Baz Luhrmann canon.

Trailer Rating: A+