Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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It Left Me Cold Oz the Great and Powerful (Rated PG) by HEATHER GRIFFITHS Oz the Great and Powerful (130 minutes) was never going to be a great film. As much as I hoped Sam Raimi���s direction would wrest greatness from a story that has been told and re-told in a number of different formats, the best he could ever hope for was a brilliantly bizarre cult film. Unfortunately, he didn���t even manage to get that. When I go to see a Raimi movie I expect high energy with moments of perfectly timed camp to ornament more serious scenes. He���s got Spiderman under his belt so we know he can do fantasy action, and he���s got Evil Dead and Drag Me to Hell so he is clearly capable of mixing horror and comedy to good effect. With all due respect, he fell short of his potential here. Don���t get me wrong. I���m sure there���s a lot to like in Oz. There are engaging actors, pretty visuals and several nods to the original. But it���s not my Oz. I���ll even go so far as to say that I liked Return to Oz better than this one, because at least Return to Oz didn���t soften up the scares to please the ratings gods. And what���s this I hear about how one of the writers was motivated by a lack of strong male leads in fairy tales? Seriously? There are no words to correct that kind of foolishness. I���ll just open up the fairy-tale dictionary and direct the writer to review A for Aladdin, P for Pinocchio and every other letter of the alphabet, because, come on. Maybe his lack of appreciation for strong female protagonists is what led to the watering down of the witches played by Mila Kunis and Michelle Williams. Neither character appeared effectual, even against a somewhat mild James Franco, whose unlikeability is never redeemed. Basically, in the film���s opener Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkel Emmannuel Ambroise Diggs (O.Z.) (Franco) is a callow, womanizing liar who throws over the possibility of true love for the possibility of some undefined greatness, takes advantage of the people around him and salivates at the thought of unearned gold. He enters Oz accidently while fleeing the male partner of one of his conquests and survives amidst promises to an undefined deity to be a better person. Of course, as soon as he is safely on the ground he immediately ignores his promises and begins the seduction of a surprisingly sedate Theodora (Mila Kunis). Props to costumes for getting her into skintight black leather riding pants! She persuades him that his destiny is to defeat an evil witch and rule the Land of Oz, and they head off to the Emerald City together. On the way they run into a flying chimpanzee named Finley (Zach Braff) and save him from a rather cowardly lion. Once in the Emerald City, Oz meets Evanora (Rachel Weisz) playing her witch just as half-heartedly as Kunis plays Theodora. At least Evanora has a clear motivation for her character, even if her means of manipulating the people around her is so transparent she might as well have the words Wicked Witch tattooed on her forehead. By the end of the movie, Oz is still basically the same unremarkably flawed human being he was at the start. In possibly the least sensible plot development of the entire movie, Oz carries on a fa��ade of selfishness even after deciding to do the right thing. He secretly (and unnecessarily) creates a plan within a plan for no apparent reason other than to sow doubt in the minds of his fellow freedom fighters, then saves the day at the last minute (was there ever any doubt?). Overall, if you���re looking for some revisionist Oz history, spend your money on a bootleg copy of Wicked. The musical, based on the first book in the Maguire series, is at least as interesting and certainly has more musical numbers. Now showing at Wynnsong HEATHER GRIFFITHS, Contributing 7, Carmike 12 and Carmike Writer. COMMENTS? Editor@upandMarket Fair 15. comingweekly.com. Fayetteville Technical Community College (FTCC) Foundation, Inc. Supporting scholarships, book funds, and education programs at FTCC announces the 2013 Hutchens, Senter, Kellam & Pettit Golf Invitational & Gala Auction supporting FTCC GALA Auction & Dinner April 23, 2013, 6:30 p.m. Tony Rand Student Center ��� 2201 Hull Rd. ��� Fayetteville, NC Entry Ticket $100 Includes dinner for two and a chance to win $5000 Cash in a Reverse Raf���e Golf Invitational April 24, 2013 ��� 10:30 a.m. Check-In for 12 Noon Tee Time Gates Four Golf & Country Club Fee is $90 per person ($100 after April 10 - Teams of 4 may also register) Thank you to event sponsors: New Century Bank, CenturyLINK, Gates Four Golf & Country Club, Canteen Vending and Fayetteville Observer. For more information, contact FTCC Foundation Of���ce at 910.678.8441 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM APRIL 3-9, 2013 UCW 25