U.W. at the Movies: Oz The Great and Powerful

If you’re going to do a movie called Oz The Great and Powerful, you’re inviting comparisons to “the” movie about Oz, which has stood up for 74 years. This movie compares well in many ways, but in the end I’d say it takes itself a tad too seriously.

It’s new on DVD, and having missed it on the big screen, I find James Franco is a better wizard than I’d been led to believe in the various reviews I’ve encountered. He doesn’t have the flamboyance of Frank Morgan or the over-the-top showmanship of W.C. Fields, for whom the original movie character was written. What he does present is a scoundrel who somewhat regrets he’s a scoundrel and wishes to do better, and at that Franco does a nice job.

Oz The Great and Powerful borrows some of the familiar tropes from “the” film, including starting out in black and white and converting to color when the story flows from Kansas into Oz – with the added treat of filling out the widescreen frame. That was nicely done, and done better than the film manages other links to the original.

As in “the” film, characters from Kansas find themselves in Oz but in different form. Here’s the girl he couldn’t help, here’s the good friend he doesn’t appreciate, and here’s the good woman in his life. But at the end of “the” movie, we’re presented a logical explanation of the similarities. Here those similarities are apparently little more than a remarkable coincidence.

Don’t get me wrong, as a fan of “the” movie – it’s on my short list of all-time favorites – I really enjoyed Oz The Great and Powerful, much more than Disney’s previous attempt to reboot the franchise, Return to Oz back in 1985. But I’m also one of the precious few who kind of liked Return to Oz (which actually did a better job of integrating the “real” L. Frank Baum story into the film, or at least the immortal W.W. Denslow and John R. Neill imagery, than even “the” Oz movie).

It’s all effective fantasy and a smashing good story. It just doesn’t have the whimsy of “the” film. They just don’t seem to be having as much fun as the group seemed to be having back in 1939. Here, when Oz meets the munchkins, there’s much ado and the little people begin to dance and cheer and sing. The reluctant wizard makes them stop and chill. It’s a cute scene, but it exemplifies the difference: This Land of Oz needs a little more warmth, a little more whimsy, a little more joy.

W.B. at the movies: Star Trek Into Darkness

The first Star Trek movie in the new series established that the early death of James T. Kirk’s father (who in Shatner-Trek lived to see his son become a Starfleet officer) sent the proverbial time-space continuum off in a different direction – essentially restarting the story with Kirk in need of a father figure and Spock’s eternal struggle between Vulcan logic and human emotion complicated by his rage over a madman destroying his home planet and killing his mother along the way.

The second Star Trek movie further explores the possibilities of this alternate universe, replaying familiar scenes with roles reversed (or not) from the first go-round. For someone fortunate enough to have been sitting in front of a television set the night of Sept. 8, 1966, when “Man Trap” launched this 47-year mission to seek out strange new life, there are plenty of fun little nods to what went before as the new crew makes its own way.

Infuriatingly (although I am NOT a Trek geek) I found myself struggling to accept the very first sequence of events, which finds the starship Enterprise parked in a place where starships were just not designed to park. It says right here on Page 171 of my treasured first printing of The Making of Star Trek that I bought for 95 cents in 1968: “The Enterprise is not designed to enter the atmosphere of a planet and never lands on a planet surface.” When you learn how much care went into the design of these mythical space vessels, it’s kind of dumb to violate the principles behind that design. (I am NOT a Trek geek!) But once that opening sequence was over (with a hint we may revisit this planet someday), we were in for a satisfying ride.

Having encountered the “spoiler” behind the actual identity of the mysterious villain named John Harrison (I put “spoiler” in quotes because rumors this villain would appear in the second movie began flying shortly after the end of the closing credits of Pine-Trek I), I was able to watch for and enjoy the various similarities and divergences from the original Trek canon.

The torch has been passed to a new generation: The actors have done a wonderful job of inhabiting iconic characters while making their own identifiable contribution to the legend. The filmmakers have accomplished something the old crew was not able to do – created two consecutive very good Star Trek movies.

I did not walk out of Star Trek (2009) or Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) with the same OMG-that-was-great feeling that I had when I walked out of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, but I do find myself hoping it won’t be another four years before we revisit this story. And now that we’ve really established the new cast and laid down how the new Trek is different from the old, I hope next time they really do go where no one has gone before.

1. It's a Wonderful Life

I did this one already, in the blog post that started me thinking about my favorite movies in 25 words or less:
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On the brink of suicide, a man is introduced to the reality that every individual has immeasurable value and a purpose.
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Bert! What do you know about that? Merry Christmas!

2. Serenity

Nine disparate characters make a life and a family together against all odds. With Firefly, simply the best science fiction saga of our time.

3. The Wizard of Oz

A children's story for all ages; unforgettable songs, iconic images and joyous performances. (Only needed 13 words that time!)
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Anyone who knows me has heard me quote from this film numerous times, most likely "Shucks folks, I'm speechless."

When I finally saw this film on a big screen (was it for the 60th anniversary in 1999?), my biggest surprise was noticing at last that Scarecrow is packing heat in the Haunted Forest. One could argue this is proof he really does have a brain!

4. Casablanca

Everyone needs to believe in something bigger than themselves - even if it means making painful choices. No film illustrates this truth better than this one.
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(I had the pleasure of seeing this movie in a crowded college lecture hall in the early 1970s, before films were readily available, so most of us had never seen it before. The audience reaction to the line following "Major Strasser has been shot" is the best moment I've ever had in a movie theater. Delirium.)

5. E.T. the Extraterrestrial

The most glorious symphonic score ever composed for a film (Yay, John Williams!), accompanying a timeless odyssey that touches the heart.

6. To Kill a Mockingbird

Perhaps the best child performances ever; a heroic father figure; riveting courtroom drama and the tragedy of justice unserved; compelling mystery; what's not to love?

7. A Christmas Story

Jean Shepherd's greatest tales portrayed nearly perfectly, capturing a time and place that is both vintage and universal. A complete delight any time of year.

8. Field of Dreams

The full range of emotions and a fantastic mystery, followed by one of the great payoffs: "Hey - Dad? You wanna have a catch?" 'Nuff said.

9. Up

A sweet and heartbreaking opening love story, followed by a wondrous mix of fantastic adventure, growing friendships and occasional uncontrollable laughter. Simply a pure delight.

10. Raiders of the Lost Ark

In keeping with my post the other day, here (slowly but surely) come my favorite 10 movies, with the "why" in 25 words or less.

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#10 - Raiders of the Lost Ark. A game-changing thrill ride - quests, daring feats, heroic acts, a feisty beautiful heroine (Karen Allen!), mystery and intrigue, and Nazis - I hate these guys.
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I find that, although these are remarkable bits of film-making, the list is more about my emotional or intellectual reaction to the movies, and mostly the former. Give me a thrill and a lump in the throat, and you're one of my favorite films.

So, Citizen Kane and Gone With the Wind and other  admittedly great films don't make this list, but - well, you'll see.

Greatest movie - 25 words or less

A friend of mine started a Facebook thread talking about the worst big-budget movie of all time. He said The Patriot. I said Titanic. Others made their case for Pearl Harbor and Waterworld. Others chimed in with their own moments when they walked out of the movie theater feeling cheated out of two or three hours of their lives.

Along the way he brought up why he'd mentioned the subject:

For admission essays Columbia University is now asking prospective students to state in 25 words of less the greatest movie of all time. Naturally, I turned the question on end and wondered what's the worst.

It's fun to think about movies that failed to deliver, but I also like the original premise: An elevator speech about what you think is the greatest movie of all time, and why. You have just 25 words to state your case – depending on the size of your words, that's essentially a Tweet.

It's A Wonderful Life: On the brink of suicide, a man is introduced to the reality that every individual has immeasurable value and a purpose.

There's 21 words, and if you make me include the title I still kept it to 25. Hey! This is fun. I think I'll do this with my whole top 10.

How about you? What's the greatest movie of all time, and why? You have 25 words. Go! (For fans of films like Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, the 25 words doesn't have to include the title.)

W.B. At The Movies: Iron Man 2

Who's better, um, suited to achieve world peace — the private sector or the U.S. Senate? That's among the questions raised by the amazing new film Iron Man 2, now playing at your friendly neighborhood movie theater.

When we rejoin Tony Stark, last seen admitting that he is the man inside the Iron Man armor, he is fending off an unctuous senator (played with astonishing realism by Gary Shandling) who believes those high-tech secrets would be safest in the hands of the public sector. Stark has the temerity to assert that his property belongs to him, setting up one of the film's central conflicts.

After the first Iron Man unexpectedly was one of the best comic-book movies ever made, I had my expectations lowered sufficiently by several reviews that concluded the first sequel wasn't up to the standards of the 2008 original. By the time Captain America's shield makes an unexpected appearance, I was totally immersed and well on my way to concluding the relatively downer reviews were hooey.

Robert Downey Jr. continues to be a dream bit of casting as Tony Stark. Mickey Rourke is wonderful as the villanous Ivan Vanko (Whiplash), and Sam Rockwell's Justin Hammer is the actor's most entertaining performance since he nearly stole Galaxy Quest as Guy Fleegman. Gwyneth Paltrow is appealing again as Pepper Potts, although she isn't given as much to do as in the first flick.

Scarlet Johansson is marvelous as the mysterious new lady from Legal, and the scene near the climax where we get the full reveal of her capabilities is right up there with Yoda's light-saber battle in the annals of action-flick treasures. Don Cheadle as Rhodey/War Machine is fine, although I still don't know why it was necessary to replace Terrence Howard, who handled the role in the first installment.

After two hours that flew by in a flash, director Jon Favreau (born to direct Iron Man and to play Happy Hogan) has answered my opening question definitively — What has government ever done better than the private sector, after all? — and pretty much cleared the enormously high bar he raised in chapter one.

The main reason Iron Man 2 is not quite the special ride that Iron Man was is simply that it doesn't have the element of surprise: Few people really thought that a film based on one of Marvel Comics' second-tier heroes would be that great. The second film proves it wasn't a fluke.

And the now-routine teaser scene after the closing credits is one of Marvel's best yet. Is it 2011 yet? Please?!