I feel like all the movies I've seen lately are just weird. Like they're made for people on drugs weird. And coincidentally or not, James Franco played a major role in each.
The first movie I saw fitting this trend was "Oz the Great and Powerful," the prequel to the "Wizard of Oz." This movie focuses on a carnival magician who ultimately ends up becoming the Wizard of Oz. Conveniently enough, his name is Oz. Oz is played by James Franco, who embodied the conceit and swarminess of the character. He was pretty unlikable in the role, which his character was supposed to be. However, at some point the audience is supposed to connect with him and for me that never happened. We meet Glinda, the Good Witch, played by Michelle Williams. Her innocence, optimism and naiveness works in this film. Mila Kunis plays Thoedora who (spoiler alert) tuns into the Wicked Witch from the West. When her character gets green skin and warts, they don't change her voice for some reason so the Witch almost has a sing-songy quality to it. Rachel Weisz plays Evanora, Theodora's evil sister. Her character is actually quite intriguing but they don't finish the story on her, so we have no idea why she's not in the "Wizard of Oz." On this note, there a quite a few things that don't really tie back to the originally movie so fans of the oldie may be disappointed. The only thing is really explains is why the wizard stays behind a curtain and uses a projector. However, the CGI effects for Oz are out of control, so it might be interesting to see in 3D. Or on drugs*. On a tangent, has anyone seen the sequel "Return to Oz"? I remember watching it when I was little and being totally freaked out by the wheelers and hallway of heads. It was recently brought to my attention that the girl playing Dorothy in this version grows up to be the creepy head witch in "The Craft." Anyway, this 1985 sequel is worth checking out, as it brings up valid follow up (i.e. of course they're going to put Dorothy in a mental institute once she starts telling everyone about Oz).
The other movie I saw was "Spring Breakers." When I first saw the preview for this movie my initial reaction was yuck, that looks like a tacky movie meant for teenage boys that's all about boobs and getting hammered. Then I read an article in Rolling Stone (which I was hoping to link to but isn't available online unless you subscribe), along with some review highlights, that made it seems like it was one of those hilarious, voice-of-a-generation type films that shouldn't be missed. They made it sound like director Harmony Korine was making "Trainspotting" for the new generation. It's not. It's not even close. My original assumption was right. There's nothing deeper to this movie that getting wasted and naked girls. And oh, by the way, these slutty college students are also complete psychopaths. Because why just have girls in bikinis when you could have girls in bikinis wielding KA-47s. The only good part of this movie, and only things that elicited laughs from the audience, is James Franco's role, a drug dealer named Alien. With corn rows and a grill, Franco has been completely transformed. There's a scene where he plays a haunting rendition of a Britney Spears song on a white grand piano while his harem of deranged spring break girls dance around him in pink ski masks waving guns. There's also nothing more haunting than his sing-songy chat, Spring break, spring break forever. The females leads are ex-ABC Family/Mickey Mouse Club/Disney stars Vanessa Hudgens, Selena Gomez and Ashley Benson, looking to break out of their PG mold. The 4th girl in the movie is Korine's wife and is also one of the most scandalous in the movie. But apparently he's proud of her for it, so to each their own. It's kind of hilarious that Selena Gomez gets second highest billing when she's barely in the movie. She plays the more conservative, religious girl in the group who bails back to college as soon as things start getting dicey. The only good thing about this movie outside of James Franco is the soundtrack. Dubstep DJ Skrillex teamed up with Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Clliff Martinex for 5 quite epic tracks. Other artists on the soundtrack include Ellie Goulding, Meek Mill and Gucci Mane.
*This blog does not advocate the use of drugs. It advocates suggestions on how to enjoy an otherwise awful movie.
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