Oz The Great and Powerful

In this prequel to The Wizard of Oz, circus magician Oscar Diggs is magically transported to the Land of Oz, where he deals with three witches and uses his illusionist skills and resourcefulness to become the wizard the residents have been expecting through prophecy.

Matt
Rating: 8 out of 10

This movie doesn’t hold the same innocent charm of the original film, but it doesn’t want to be. And that’s what makes it so successful. .

Oz is the story of a sheister, a talented but troubled carnival magician who womanizes, lies, disrespects and hussles his way through life. That is, until that famous hot air balloon sweeps him away to a magical world.

And this is where the story really takes off. Oz goes on a wonderful journey, both internally and externally, as he grows into a reluctant hero and leads a group of unlikely characters – not so different from the original. But the greatest similarity to the original masterpiece is what the lion was granted – heart. I really found myself swept away alongside Oz, played well by James Franco and supported with an outstanding cast – most notably Michelle Williams as Glinda. I was really pleasantly surprised by Oz The Great And Powerful. Sam Raimi drove a film rich in stunning visuals, wonderful comedy, sharp performances and – GASP – no music!

Camille

Forced to marry Camille (Sienna Miller), the sheriff’s niece, parolee Silas (James Franco) takes his bride on a Niagara Falls honeymoon, where he plans to escape to Canada. Certain the trip will rehabilitate Silas, Camille remains enthusiastic — even after she dies in a crash. Now, Silas must deal with Camille’s denial about her death and her slow decomposition. David Carradine co-stars in this quirky romantic comedy.

Matt
Rating: 5 out of 10

This movie started very promising. We’re set up with a stick-sweet, innocent country gal who marries the totally wrong man. She’s so goodhearted that no matter how rotten he is, we feel for her. But then something happens on their doomed honeymoon — she dies. However, she doesn’t know she’s dead, or at least hasn’t come to terms with it, and her body still continues to live. It seems strange and a huge leap, but this movie made it work for the most part.

From here, we’re catapulted into a fairy tale stylized story that moves nicely. There is genuine conflict within and between our two main characters, played well by Miller and Franco. They have little adventures and moments where they grow closer and even begin to love each other. But they’re constantly dealing with her death. She begins to decompose, her skin color fades to a pale white, and her hair begins to fall out. But they remain endearing characters that we care about.

Where this movie goes wrong is in its last act, where it gets completely cheesy and takes some really easy outs. SPOILER ALERT: They literally leap into a rainbow, riding a unicorn to end the movie, if that clues you in on how corny it got.

Brian’s Review – “Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes”

James Franco headlines the reboot of the immensely popular Planet of the Apes franchise, a prequel which boasts cutting-edge CGI effects and a gripping story set in modern-day San Francisco, where scientists are conducting genetic research on apes. The evolved primates, including Caesar (Andy Serkis), develop advanced intelligence and revolt against being used as lab rats, unleashing a war for dominion over Earth.

Brian- 8 out of 10

I’m really shocked I liked this film as much as I did. If you scour through the history of the Planet of the Apes films (I already did the work for you), you’ll find that there has been an original film, 4 sequels, and a remake. So, you’ll excuse me if I was less than excited for a 7^th film. Not only a 7^th film, but following the “Star Wars trend” and making a prequel. Well, my reservations were put to rest quickly when I found this to be by far the best film since the original.

The main element that worked was the human-animal relationship between James Franco and a near flawlessly executed CGI ape named Caesar, motion capture by Andy Serkis (King Kong). I noticed I became invested emotionally in what happened to the primate as he progressed through the story and actually became worried for his safety. By far, the best elements of this movie take place in the first half. We are introduced to not only the main 2 characters I mentioned above but also James Franco’s father, played typically spot on by John Lithgow, and realize there are real motivations behind the main characters’ scientific pursuits. It all culminates in an ending that seems somewhat detached from the emotional anchor the rest of the film provides. It’s dazzling stuff but doesn’t carry the film the way the character interaction did and keeps it in the very good but not spectacular category.

Heidi the Crosseyed Opposum

A couple of us here at The Movie Brothers were beaten in our Oscar picks by a cross-eyed marsupial. (I’m won’t name names, Victor and Kyle)

Reuters is reporting a quirky story from Germany, where an opossum named Heidi guessed all but one of the Oscars, incorrectly picking “127 Hours” to win best picture, which instead went to “The King’s Speech.”

The 2-1/2-year-old opossum correctly predicted Natalie Portman (“Black Swan“) to win best actress and Colin Firth (“The King’s Speech.) as best actor during a series of appearances on the “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” show on U.S. broadcaster ABC last week.

Heidi, who lives at the Leipzig Zoo in eastern Germany, attempted to duplicate the success of Germany’s oracle Octopus Paul, who correctly tipped each of Germany’s matches in last year’s soccer World Cup, as well as the final between Spain and Netherlands, according to the report.

Better luck next year Kyle and Victor! 😉

Our Oscar Picks

And the Oscar pick winner is….

We posted our Oscar picks last week to see who would get the most correct out of the major categories, and we have a three way tie between Brian, Lauren, and Matt.

The Oscar pick winners are:
Matt
Best Picture: The King’s Speech
Best Director: Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech
Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, The Fighter
Best Actress: Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Best Animated Feature Film: Toy Story 3

Lauren
Best Picture: The King’s Speech
Best Director: Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech
Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, The Fighter
Best Actress: Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Best Animated Feature Film: Toy Story 3

Brian
Best Picture: The King’s Speech
Best Director: Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech
Best Actor: Colin Firth, The King’s Speech
Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, The Fighter
Animated feature: Toy Story 3

And the Oscar loser is….

We had a two-way tie. With three correct, Victor and Kyle are our Oscar Losers. Better luck next year, guys!

Oscar night is here

Oscar night is here! This is the pinnacle of film awards, and we are aways excited to see who wins.

We’ve made our picks (click here) and can’t wait to see how they unfold. For a complete list of the nominees, click here.

And the winners are…

Achievement in Art Direction: Alice in Wonderand
Achievement in Cinematography: Inception
Best Supporting Actress: Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Best Animated Feature: Toy Story 3
Best Animated Short: The Lost Thing
Best Original Screenplay: The King’s Speech
Best Adapted Screenplay: The Social Network
Best Foriegn Film: In a Better World
Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, The Fighter
Best Original Score: The Social Network
Best Sound Mixing:  Inception
Best Sound Editing: Inception
Best makeup: The Wolfman
Best Costume Design: Alice in Wonderand
Life Action Short Film: God of Love
Feature-length Documentary: Inside Job
Short Subject Documentary: Strangers No More
Achievment in Visual Effects: Inception
Best Original Song: We Belong Together, from the film Tangled
Best Director: Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech
Best Actress: Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Best Actor: Colin Firth, The King’s Speech
Best Picture: The King’s Speech 

Our Oscar Picks

Who will be the Oscar winners…
and the Oscar losers?

Oscar night is upon us, at long last! Here are the picks from our regular contributors. Our writers are all making their selections, and we’ll see who the most prolific prognosticator is… and who isn’t. Click here to see the full nominee list. We’re only picking the main categories. I mean, who really gives a crap about art direction awards? Well, we do, but we won’t bore you with that. The Oscars are Sunday at 8 p.m. east coast time on ABC. The majority are picking “The King’s Speech” for best picture, but after that, it’s a jumble.

Matt

Best Picture: The King’s Speech
Best Director: Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech
Best Actor: Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, The Fighter
Best Actress: Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Best Supporting Actress: Helena Bonham Carter, The King’s Speech
Best Animated Feature Film: Toy Story 3

Brian

Best Picture: The King’s Speech
Best Director: Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech
Best Actor: Colin Firth, The King’s Speech
Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, The Fighter
Best Actress: Annette Benning, The Kids Are All Right
Supporting Actress: Hailee Stenfield, True Grit
Animated feature: Toy Story 3

Kyle

Best Picture: Black Swan
Best Director: Darren Aronofsky, The Black Swan
Best Actor: James Franco, 127 Hours
Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, The Fighter
Best Actress: Natalie Portman, The Black Swan
Best Supporting Actress: Helena Bonham Carter, The King’s Speech
Best Animated Feature Film: Toy Story 3

Lauren

Best Picture: The King’s Speech
Best Director: David Fincher, The Social Network
Best Actor: Colin Firth, The King’s Speech
Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, The Fighter
Best Actress: Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Best Supporting Actress: Amy Adams, The Fighter
Animated Feature Film: Toy Story 3

Victor

Best Picture: The King’s Speech
Best Director: Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
Best Actor: Jeff Bridges, True Grit
Best Supporting Actor: Geoffery Rush, The King’s Speech
Best Actress: Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Best Supporting Actress: Amy Adams, The Fighter
Animated Feature Film: Toy Story 3

127 Hours

From director Danny Boyle comes this harrowing tale of real-life mountain climber Aron Ralston (James Franco), who literally cuts himself loose from danger — and lives to tell about it when sliding rock pins his forearm under a boulder during a climb in Utah. To stay alive, Ralston resorts to his basest survival instincts. The film scored Academy Award nominations in the Best Picture and Best Actor (Franco) categories.

Lauren
Rating: 8 out of 10

“127 Hours” is hard to watch and completely worth it. It made me cringe watching the opening scenes as Aron Ralston (James Franco) greedily chugs water, ignores phone calls from his family, and leaves his apartment without his Swiss Army Knife to go hiking in Utah. I knew he was going to go, not tell anyone where, fall, and that a boulder would trap the hand he’d lose on the trip. But a part of me still hoped for a different outcome.

It didn’t happen. About a half hour into the movie he fell, the boulder crushed his hand, and he was trapped. The real-life hiker filmed himself during his 127 hours in the canyon, and Franco and director Danny Boyle are among the few people who have seen these tapes. I’m sure the video helped Franco to pull off the amazing performance he gave expressing the frustration, fear, anger, desperation, and sadness Aron felt.

There’s a scene when he’s standing there, hand caught, nothing to drink, nothing to eat, where his mind rushes back to the bottle of Gatorade laying in the back seat of his car. Oh, what he’d do for that Gatorade. There’s nothing funny about this story, obviously, but the way Boyle tells the story I can’t help but laugh. Even though there were lighthearted moments I was just waiting. I knew what was coming. The hand had to go. And he had to be the one to slice it off.

From the time I heard about Aron when he had his accident in 2003 I always said there’s no way I could do it. I’d just die there in that canyon. I don’t think I would have had the strength to survive what he did (not that I’ve been there to begin with). But watching him, how he had given up and knew he was dead, I understand how he did it. Not the physical how, but the emotional how. The physical how, well, that’s another story. Watching him snap his bones and hack away at his half dead arm, blood gushing out, just to get to the nerves, which he plucked like guitar strings as he screamed in pain. It is graphic and slow but I felt the relief with him and could breathe again.

The movie ended with a little about Aron and his life since 2003, but I still want to know more. I wonder if he will ever show the real videos? Probably not. “127 Hours” is probably intense enough anyway.

Eat Pray Love

The Movie Brothers are proud to have Lauren Romano as a new contributor to The Movie Brothers. Lauren is a former journalist of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, a copywriter, and movie blogger. You should check out her site, mylifeatthemovies.com, in which she plans to see every movie released this year. Here’s her first review for us.

Julia Roberts stars in this adaptation of Elizabeth Gilbert’s best-selling memoir about coping with a depressing divorce. After deciding to reshape her life, Liz (Roberts) travels the world in search of direction. She heads to Italy, India and Bali, indulging in delicious cuisine while seeking the true meaning of self-love, family, friendship and forgiveness. Along the way, she meets a bevy of characters and, possibly, her true love.

Lauren
Rating: 3 out of 10

I tried to read “Eat Pray Love: The Book” twice and couldn’t even get through Italy, the author’s first stop on her spiritual journey. Looking into the depressed mind of a woman who, to me, has the most glamorous job ever – a travel writer – is hard to swallow. It’s full of self-indulgent, self-pity bullshit, and has a sweeping phoniness about it. 

But, for some reason, I still wanted to see the movie. I couldn’t resist Julia Roberts eating her way through Italy and falling in love with Javier Bardem. I thought the Hollywood treatment, which has ruined so many books, could make this one enjoyable.

I was wrong. It was more than 2 hours of whiny self-indulgent, self-pity bullshit.

The story is split into three countries, but really it’s four because the first quarter takes place in New York, where this glamorous travel writer lives. And, that first quarter drags on and on and on. I think Elizabeth Gilbert went into so much detail about how sad and pathetic (ha) her life was as a way of justifying her journey. But who needs justification for wanting to travel the world? Not me. 

Too long. Too much introspective. Too much thought. I really believe no one actually cares what’s in someone else’s journal. We all feel alone. We’re all afraid. We’re all disappointed. We’ve all been hurt. So why is Liz’s story so interesting? It’s not. She just got a book deal and was able to take a year off and travel the world in search of her balance. Most of us have to settle, finding our balance between our 7 a.m. Starbucks and our 11 p.m. sleeping pill.

Do I sound bitter? I am.