A few weeks ago I went to see Oz the Great and Powerful. It is a prequel to the amazing Wizard of Oz and tells the story of how Oz came to the world of Oz and became the wizard. I thought the film was very imaginative and appealed to all types of people. It was a movie that anyone can appreciate at any age. One of the coolest things that I liked in the film was how they began with a 4:3 aspect ration and in black and white rather than widescreen and in color. I thought it was very clever how they did that like in the original Wizard of Oz, although it probably wasn't as shocking as seeing a film in color for the first time.
Another thing that I really enjoyed about Oz the Great and Powerful was the animation and special effects. The animators and special effects team did a fantastic job creating the world of Oz. The animated landscapes were incredibly beautiful and I also thought that the flying monkeys were very cool looking. Another place in the film where the special effects team excelled was turing Mila Kunis into the Witch. It was very interesting seeing someone like Mila Kunis play the ugly Wicked Witch of the West.
Overall I thought that Oz the Great and Powerful was a good film but did not live up to and certainly was not better than the original Wizard of Oz.
"Oz The Great And The Powerful" is a prequel film to "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz". The star of the film James Franco is a magician who ends up in the this mystical land, complicating the
lives of several witches, Evanora, Glinda, and Theodora, played
by Rachel Weisz, Michelle Williams and Mila Kunis.
As the troubled magician tries to cope with his struggles with the women, he soon finds himself heading down a path
that exposes him to his prominent destiny.
Director, Sam Raimi seems to have created a colorful and vibrant style of
the land of Oz for all types of audiences to experience with a great sense of familiarity
and new astonishment. The colors are so beautiful and practically pop out of the big screen. Disney used this similar approach of bright colors and outstanding effects for their fantastic film, "Alice In Wonderland". I think anyone could be excited about the release of this film.
For me, the most outstanding part of the HD trailer is the clearly the opening. We (the audience) are brought back to a Kansas in a dilapidated state, in all black and white footage. Those
scenes immediately bring back direct memories of the original Oz movie, which was created by King Vidor. With the drastic difference between
the black and white scenes and then the magnificent rainbow, and then the vibrant colors of the main plot, creates even more
drastic contrast.When it comes to the for three leading female actresses, Weisz is certainly not the most evil of witches we’ve ever seen but has the potential, and Mila Kunis seems to be a little out of place. But, Michelle Williams seems to have effortlessly slipped into her role as Glinda the “good” witch who would go on to, as we all know, give a girl named Dorothy some very important ruby slippers.
I really think everyone should go out and see this film. I doubt Raimi is going to upset anyone.
Have you ever been online and were completely bored? My guess: Absolutely. Whenever I get caught in this situation, I tend to decide to go to the gym, or do homework, or do something reasonable with my life, but finals are fast approaching and my ambition is slowly declining. So, I spent some time on youtube, and watched some trailers for several films that will be released over the next few months.
I never really considered the importance of a good trailer before, yet it is the very foundation for building an audience. When we go to the movie theater as a family, my dad always makes us go about ten minutes late so that we don't have to sit through the previews. When I go by myself, or with friends, I try to get there early because I secretly love the previews. Not all previews, but the ones that are the most intriguing. It's like opening presents at Christmas. I love the feeling of finding the next great movie to go see.
What makes a great trailer? The music, the cuts, and the parts of the general plot that is chosen to be shown, all come together to entice people to go see the film. Most of all, the trailers that really strike me are the ones that leave me asking, "Wait! What's going to happen next?" or ones that leave me spinning through a "new world" or ones that have me sitting on the edge of my seat, tied down with suspense. Trailers that are not so successful are ones that make me say, "What's happening?" or are completely too realistic. Of course, it is a preference that varies between audiences and people, but overall a good trailer leaves people wanting to know more.
There is nothing worse than seeing an amazing trailer, going to the movie, and walking out completely disappointed. Most of the time I find that the trailer drew me in because they used their best scenes in the trailer. This has happened to me too many times to count. The biggest disappointment that I had was last year when I saw the new adaptation of The Three Musketeers. Talk about being disappointed. This has always been one of my favorite stories, and this ruined it. The acting wasn't the best and the plot just left a lot to be desired. Another film that disappointed me was Snow White and the Huntsman. It was alright up to a point, but again I wasn't really impressed with the plot or the acting as much as I was with the graphics and animation. With the exception of the Queen (whose character was played brilliantly by), I had been expecting so much more. The winner in disappointments was definitely the movie Eragon that came out a few years ago. The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini is a great one, and this movie did not do it justice. Nothing really matched up character, setting, or plot wise, and left me feeling like I had entered a completely different world than the one I expected.
I'm hopeful that the trailers for these next films are in-line with what the actual movies will present. Here are some of the trailers (they are good ones!) for movies I'm really looking forward to:
The Hobbit
City of Bones
So, youtube is not letting me upload the others, but you should definitely check out The Host, Oz the Great and Powerful, and Les Miserables. ~Amber Capogrossi
Walt Disney Pictures recently announced that they will be coming out with a new film called "Oz the Great and Powerful" a prequel to the classic 1939 film "The Wizard of Oz." The story is that of a man named Oscar Diggs a struggling magician for Kansas who is transported to Land of Oz. Once there Oscar, played by James Franco, is told he has been prophesied to take down the evil witch and must use his powers of illusion and "magic" to defeat her.
This new film pay homage to the original and directly incorporates aspects and even characters in order to give a fuller understanding of how the Land of Oz from "The Wizard of Oz" came to be. I personally think that this film has a very interesting storyline and will cleverly tie together the story of "the man behind the curtain" aka Oz, a character who was super important in the original but was very mysterious and never fully developed. The potential for a solid plot combined with Disney's excellence in special effects and most recently 3D advances are all aspects that could make this movie very good in its own right. However there is another aspect of this to consider. Even if this movie is terrible, and I mean awful, I will still make a substantial amount of money primarily because it is tied to the original.
I think that this movie in all likelihood will be pretty good and enjoyable, although I'm not entirely sure how I like the idea of trying to add to a great and well known film that has stood alone for over 60 years. Regardless of how I feel about this, I will go and see it to check on how it matches up in comparison…something I think almost anyone who has seen the original "Wizard of Oz" will do. So although I do not know for sure if this movie will actually be good or not I am certain that it will be a box office hit.
