Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!  Oh, but in Oz the Great and Powerful, he’s brought in for his close-up, and it’s an interesting look at how a con man from Kansas became the most powerful wizard in all of Oz.  Though this movie may not be “great and powerful”, it’s a lovely romp for fans of the original film, and a fun escape for children of all ages.  Well, except for perhaps the very young’uns, who may get scared of the flying gorillas.  What?  They creeped me out.  Don’t judge me.

Franco is cast well as a steampunk wizard prototype, a young con-man named Oz — his full name being Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkel Emmannuel Ambroise Diggs — who accidentally lands in the Land of Oz after a run-in during his stint as a circus magician.  When I say “run-in”, I mean “running away from”.  And when I say “running away from”, I mean “running away from a jealous strongman whose girlfriend Oz was macking on”.  Because this Oz is a pimp.  A weasely mess of a magician whose dreams of becoming a great inventor are always sidetracked by his inability to do more than dream and pick up chicks.  If those of you that were non-plussed by Franco’s turn at the Oscars — and I’ve gotta say I figured he was riding the Pineapple Express the entire ceremony — doubt that he can pull off this character, let’s just say that Franco has an interesting combination of fecklessness and candor that works well here.

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Jeff Chang turned 21 today.  Mazel Tov!  His two best friends from high school decide to pop in and surprise him with a bar-crawl blowout…but Jeff’s got “the” medical school interview at 8am tomorrow morning.  Oh you know this isn’t gonna end well.

21 And Over is made by the folks that gave us The Hangover, and luckily it’s more of the feel-good craziness of the first Hangover and not just warmed-over ideas packed into a college setting.  And the three leads do a fantastic job of taking moviegoers along for the ride.  Justin Chon (one of Bella’s non-sparkle pals in the Twilight series) plays Jeff Chang, a guy ground down to nothing by his overbearing father (François Chau, Lost).  Poor Jeff Chang — his friends call him by both first and last names, sounding like Jeffchang — is so beaten down that he doesn’t even want to celebrate this milestone in his life.  But party guy Miller (Miles Teller) decides to take charge, with their super-achieving friend Casey (Skylar Astin) deciding that one beer couldn’t hurt.  But with Miller’s promise that “I’m gonna fuck you with alcohol!”, it’s not gonna be a one-beer night.

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With Warm Bodies, director Jonathan Levine (50/50) takes on the novel by  Isaac Marion, a zombie-genre favorite (Marion’s prequel novella, The New Hunger, was just released as an e-book).  Warm Bodies the film gives just enough of a spin on current zombie mythology to keep things fresh, but keeps enough “zombie-ness” to please genre fans.  This mashup of love story, zombie movie and Shakespeare send-up could find a wide audience.  It’s a quirky, fun film that doesn’t take itself too seriously and yet still delivers a few Deep Thoughts about life, and how we live it.  Not too shabby for a film relegated to the dreaded February dumping ground.

Zombie “R” (it’s the only part of his name he still remembers) does the same thing every day; eat, shamble, stare vacantly at his surroundings.  He also likes to pick up random items that spark something in him; sunglasses, books, a snowglobe.  His “house”, an abandoned airplane, is littered with things he’s collected.  But one day as he’s searching for food (read: living humans), he meets living girl Julie.  He’s drawn to her and wants to keep her safe.  But is that him, or the brains of Julie’s boyfriend (that R just ate) talking?  And R isn’t the only one changing….

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Okay, it’s Christmastime.  Everyone’s running amok in the malls, or avoiding their embarassingly drunk family members (I know that’s not just me.)  You’re trying to figure out what to see at the multiplex for two or more hours of blessed silence.  So I’ll be brief; Parental Guidance should be your last choice.  All in all, it’s a sweet little film that tries hard to rise above it’s desperate slapstick and rehashed jokes, but fails in the attempt.  Sure, it cleans itself off during the last third of the film, but by then the damage has been done.

I really wanted to like this movie: Bette Midler!  Billy “I Own The Oscar Show” Crystal!  Marisa Tomei, who is under-appreciated comic gold in my humble opinion.  And yes, these stars do wonderful work here.  But it’s like gilding a dandelion; why bother adding to something you don’t want around anyway?

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Many have said that the bestseller Life of Pi would be impossible to film.  In addition to the story itself, it deals with the three things directors loathe to work with; children, animals and water.  But Ang Lee pick up the gauntlet and the result is a movie of awe-inspiring beauty that may not touch on everything the book has to say, but is instead a beautifully shot tale of one boy’s struggle to survive and keep his sanity and personal faith intact.

Pi Patel is a man from India that moved to Canada as a youth.  But getting to Canada was an ordeal, and when a writer (Rafe Spall, Prometheus) comes to hear Pi’s story in the hope of religious awakening, Pi tells a story of shipwreck, savagery and survival.  And a tiger that shares the lifeboat with him.  Yeah, a tiger.

What’s really breathtaking is that the bulk of Life of Pi rests on the shoulders of Suraj Sharma, a young man who makes his acting debut in this movie.  As most of the film is a two-man show — with one man being a very large Bengal tiger — that’s a ballsy move on Lee’s part, but Sharma carries the day, delivering a performance that is heartbreaking, uplifting and completely believable.

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