 I hate to be the bearer of upsetting news, but returning to Dorothy Gale’s home away from home wasn’t even remotely fulfilling. Sam Raimi, a director so daringly spectacular when pushing the horror genre well past its maniacal tolerance, exudes neither the passion nor aesthetic boldness required for an endeavor as monumental as helming an Oz film. Although to be completely honest, Raimi’s tepid direction is just one of several faults discovered while watching Walt Disney Studios’ egregiously overpriced Oz the Great and Powerful. In fact, the prequel to the incomparable Wizard of Oz is so visually mismanaged, poorly-acted, clumsily written, messily paced and tonally confusing that I utterly refuse to believe Raimi took down the entire ship himself. This disappointing kickstarter to what should have been a fascinating re-imagining/re-exploration of one of cinema’s most nostalgically comforting worlds, “The Merry Old Land of Oz,” all boils down to this: a lifeless adventure story set in a beloved fictional universe, anchored by exceptional talent performing at the most rudimentary of levels. Did I also forget to mention Oz the Great and Powerful has a character that’s as criminally annoying as The Phantom Menace’s Jar Jar Binks, if not worse? The movie contains a few genuine laughs that are, admittedly, well-earned — and the beginning portions in Kansas hint at a film that should have been much more than the debacle it ends up as — but for the most part, Oz the Great and Powerful ironically lacks the magic of a spellbinding fantasy hit, or even the illusion of one.
Read more on Oz the Great and Powerful (**)…
 18th Annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards
Winners to be announced live on the CW Television Network from the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica on January 10, 2013.
BEST PICTURE
Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Django Unchained
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
The Master
Moonrise Kingdom
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty
Read more on Critics Choice Nominations Announced!…
Categories: Article, Editor, News, Precursors Tags: alexandre desplat, Amy Adams, ang lee, Ann Dowd, Ann Maskrey, Anna Lynch-Robinson, Anna Pinnock, Anne Hathaway, Barker Hangar, Ben Affleck, Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Bob Buck, Bradley Cooper, Channing Tatum, Chris Dickens, Chris Terrio, Christian Bale, Cinema of the United States, Claude-Michel Schönberg, Claudio Miranda, Dan Hennah, Dan Hennah/Production, Daniel Craig, Daniel Day-Lewis, Danny Cohen, David Gropman, David Gropman/Production, david magee, David O. Russell, Denzel Washington, Designer, Director, Dylan Tichenor, elle fanning, Emily Blunt, Emmanuelle Riva, Entertainment, Entertainment/Culture, Eve Stewart, Eve Stewart/Production, Gina Carano, Helen Hunt, Herbert Kretzmer, Hugh Jackman, Jack Black, Jacqueline Durran, Jake Gyllenhaal, Javier Bardem, Jennifer Lawrence, Jessica Chastain, Jim Erickson, Joanna Johnston, Joaquin Phoenix, John Gatins, John Hawkes, John Williams, Jonny Greenwood, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, judi dench, kara hayward, kathryn bigelow, Katie Spencer, Keith Urban, Kym Barrett, Leslie Mann, Lincoln, Logan Lerman, Madagascar, Marion Cotillard, Mark Boal, mark wahlberg, Matthew McConaughey, Melanie Ann Oliver, Memphis, Michael Kahn, Mihai Malaimare Jr., Mila Kunis, Monty Powell, Mumford & Sons, naomi watts, Nationality, Paul Epworth, paul rudd, Paul Thomas Anderson, Paul Williams, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Pierre-Yves Gayraud, Queen, Quentin Tarantino, Ra Vincent, Rebel Wilson, Richard Taylor, Rick Carter, Rick Carter/Production, Robert De Niro, robert downey jr, Roger Deakins, Roman Coppola, Sally Field, Sarah Greenwood, Sarah Greenwood/Production, Set Decorator, Shirley MacLaine, Simon Bright, Stephen Chbosky, Steven Spielberg, Tim Squyres, TOM HOLLAND, Tom Hooper, Tommy Lee Jones, Tony Kushner, Valor Denmark A/S, William Goldenberg, Young Actor/Actress
A new trailer has arrived for Disney’s Oz: The Great and Powerful, and this one has me a bit more optimistic than the last. James Franco stars as the “wizard” who is whisked away to Oz via a tornado, where he meets three witches (Mila Kunis’s Theodora, Rachel Weisz’s Evanora, and Michelle Williams’s Glinda). All of Oz wants him to fulfill a prophecy by destroying the wicked witch (who we might or might not see in the trailer).
Read more on New ‘Oz: The Great and Powerful’ Trailer is Full of Hope and Magic…
On Thursday we brought you the first trailer for Sam Raimi’s Oz The Great and Powerful, which will tell the origin story behind Oscar Diggs, the man they would eventually come to call the Wonderful Wizard of Oz (James Franco). Terence, representing the site at Comic-Con, also delivered an intimate press conference with the director and a few of the co-stars (including Michelle Williams – who will play Glinda the Good Witch – and Mila Kunis) which you can listen to here. Rachel Weisz, Abigail Spencer, and Zach Braff also star in this interesting and daring prequel to the tale most of us grew up on and consider one of the best films ever made. After the jump, there are five more pictures from the film for you to set your eyes on. Oz looks like a shoo-in for a few tech nominees in 2013, including Visual Effects, Art Direction, Costume Design, and Makeup, to name a few. But we’ll have to wait until March 8th, 2013, when the film is released in theatres to find out what else might be in store for us.
Read more on New Images from Sam Raimi’s ‘Oz The Great and Powerful’…
 While Disney held its annual Comic-Con panel today, they gave press members the option of attending a more intimate press conference where we could talk to the talent on hand from the movies they were promoting. Which mean that for about 30 mins a piece we’d have the opportunity to ask the likes of Tim Burton, Atticus Shaffer, Sam Raimi, Mila Kunis and Michelle Williams about the projects they worked on. Having not seen either film or the Oz teaser trailer beforehand, it was a bit difficult to ask about the films, but the press on hand proved more than adept at not making that a big issue. Overall, everyone was very lovely, answering questions about previous films, stop motion animation, green screen acting, and even a Dawson’s Creek reunion. Full audio available after the jump!
Read more on Disney Comic-Con Press Conference: Frankenweenie and Oz: The Great and Powerful…
 One of the most different “bromance” movies in recent memory, ‘Ted’ is the story of the love between a boy and his teddy bear. Of course, the bear is one that’s magically brought to life and they grow up into vulgar stoners. Seth MacFarlane’s first foray into films is more or less ‘Family Guy: The Movie’ in terms of its basic humor and beats in its plot, but this is a surprisingly satisfying comedy. Yes, its done, but the friendship at the core of the flick has a lot of heart. Alongside a game comedic performance by Mark Wahlberg, MacFarlane does a solid job playing the title character (with the help of some really good CGI) and shows he has a future making movies. There are some moments that fall flat here, and it’s unabashedly stupid, but by and large the jokes always bring about a laugh. For me, this is the second funniest film of 2012 so far, lagging only behind ’21 Jump Street’ in that regard. I’d wager a guess that most of you already know if you have any interest in ‘Ted’ or not, but if you’re somehow on the fence, let me push you off of it, and on your way to the theater. This is a comedy that’s well worth your time.
Read more on Ted (***)…
 The Wachowski siblings’ projects have been very successful at not only redefining science fiction narratives, but in the secrecy their films maintain up until opening. Even the dreadful Speed Racer was able to keep all of it’s plot secrets hidden until the movie came out. But given the high profile nature of their next two projects, people have been clamoring for details. Vulture has found out some crazy new details regarding their new film Jupiter Rising, starring Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis. Be warned the following synopsis could be a bit spoilery, but the info after the jump.
Read more on Plot Details about the Wachowski’s ‘Jupiter Rising’ arrive online!…
 With Cannes Film Festival in full force, there’s been a flurry of news coming out so here is your Late Pass with a little bit of a Cannes flair.
Cannes Update
The Cannes Film Festival is well underway. Several films have been met with universal praise like Mystery, Beasts of the Southern Wild, No and Rust & Bone. Of course since this is Cannes there were boos as well.
Production News
The colorist responsible for Avatar‘s vibrant screen quality, Skip Kimball, is joining Technicolor - The Hollywood Reporter
Oscar whisperer Harvey Weinstein traveled to Cannes and has acquired a documentary about the fall of Gaddafi. Will this steal some of the thunder from Zero Dark Thirty this awards season? - The Hollywood Reporter
Read more on Late Pass: Cannes, Casting and Production News…
Categories: News Tags: Beasts of the Southern Wild, book adaptation, Cannes Film Festival, Chris Pine, Harvey Weinstein, James Franco, Juno Temple, Mila Kunis, news, Olivia Wilde, Rust &Bone, The Exorcist, upcoming projects, Weekend
 I like the TV work of Seth McFarlane. It’s hardly mature, but ‘Family Guy’ can always make me laugh, and ‘things like ‘American Dad’ and ‘The Cleveland Show’ are above average entertainment. As such, I’ve been keenly interested in his jump to feature films. Instead of taking the easy route and doing a ‘Family Guy’ film (though that’s still on the horizon at some point in the future), he’s opted to take $70 million and do a story of a boy and his teddy bear, appropriately called ‘Ted’. Of course, the boy is all grown up and played by Mark Wahlberg and the toy bear is even dirtier than what McFarlane usually is up to. We have the Red Band Trailer for you after the jump, and fair warning…it’s definitely not safe for work. I think it looks funny, but you all can be the judge below…
Read more on Red Band Trailer for Seth McFarlane’s ‘Ted’!…
 Joey Magidson’s Review (***)
The second “opposite sex friends who decide to have emotion-less sex and stay just friends until love inevitably gets in the way” film of 2011 (and the third in the last year, if you count Ed Zwick’s underrated Love and Other Drugs, which I do…though that film is much more than that), Friends with Benefits is a very entertaining romantic comedy that aspires to be as much a deconstruction of the genre as it is an embracement of the genre. I found it much more satisfying than No Strings Attached was earlier this year (though I still liked that one enough to give it a recommendation), though not as good as Love and Other Drugs, though I freely admit that few liked that film more than I. With this one, you get a decent script that’s very well directed by filmmaker Will Gluck, who continues to show promise behind the camera. The main selling point here is the great chemistry between leads Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis. Both had breakout years in 2010 with critically acclaimed supporting turns (him with The Social Network and her with Black Swan), and here they establish their leading man/lady credentials. They elevate the flick. The movie isn’t amazing, but it’s probably better than you’re expecting it to be.
Read more on Friends with Benefits (Multiple Reviews)…
|
