Oz: The Great and Powerful (2013)

Note: I saw this while ill and on medicine, missing sections, so grain of salt... 

Sam Raimi’s prequel has an impossible task: Stand not after, but before the perfect “Wizard of Oz,” one of the greatest films produced by Hollywood. Dolled up in 3D and the best CGI computers can buy, borrow, and steal, “Oz: the Great and Powerful” has no chance. But it’s not a bad film. There’s a childlike playfulness to it, and stacked beside his very unchildlike “Spring Breakers,” oddly fascinating. James Franco again plays against three women as a con artist who’s been bullshitting himself so long, he believes his own schtick. His Oscar is swept away by a tornado to the land that bears his nickname, and there he meets three sisters and witches (Michelle Williams, Mila Kunis, and Rachel Weisz) who believe him to be some kind of prophet. You know from “Wizard” how it all shakes out, and this echoes the same beats -– traveling companions, munchkins, and witch battle. Franco gives a weird, sly take as with “Breakers.” Maybe too sly. Kunis is great and terrible. But wasn’t Judy Garland? Great and powerful? No. The heart of “Oz” beats far too cynical, whereas the 1939 film roared beautifully and proud. But it entertains. B

Extract (2009)

Mike Judge’s “Office Space” is a classic comedy for anyone who works at a desk and stores paper clips as if they were nuts for winter. “Extract” is another work comedy from the man who also gave us “Beavis and Butthead,” but set in the blue-collar arena. Jason Bateman is Joel Reynolds, owner of a company that makes baking extract. Running a business is the American Dream, right? Not for Joel. His desperate plan to sell out and retire with his wife (Kristin Wiig) is undone thanks to a bizarre factory-floor accident, a goofball bartender pal (Ben Affleck), and the arrival of a hot con artist (Mila Kunis). Judge makes small comedies about real people – oddballs and eccentrics, sure – but people we all know, and love and hate, including the gabby neighbor. His targeting of the privileged is ruthless, while his needling of common folk is rarely mean. Funny? Yes. But “Extract” is scaled as a TV movie, even if the warped marriage comedy thread playfully echoes “American Beauty.” B

Book of Eli (2010)

Stop if you’ve heard this one before: A man walks silently through the remainder of an apocalyptic future landscape. Yes, “The Book of Eli” again goes where many films -- from “Mad Max” to “The Road” -- have gone before, but it jumps from the pack with an interesting – albeit failed – take on the double-edged sword of religion, particularly Christianity. Props for trying, anyway. Eli (Denzel Washington) has wondered like Moses for decades, carrying a book that was given to him by God. (Hint: It ain’t “The DaVinci Code.”) When the despot mayor (Gary Oldman) of a hellish town learns of Eli’s hidden treasure, it’s all out hunt and grab. The man knows religion is a deadlier weapon than all the guns and bombs ever made. The Hughes Brothers directed several great films – “Menace II Society” and “From Hell” – and they tackle big themes here. But they repeatedly break the 8th Commandment, with “Children of Men” being fleeced the most. The overblown video game violence and a miscast Mila Kunis (a great actress, especially in “Black Swan”) as a bad-ass tough companion also nuke the subtle, dark humor and genuine surprises. C+

P.S. The "+" is for a short, LOL riotous spoof of “Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf," starring two of Harry Potter's adult pals.