Jupiter Ascending

Review by Matt Finley

It’s hard to imagine a bigger success than the Wachowskis' over-indulgent, ridiculous, confounding and gorgeous JUPITER ASCENDING, though I doubt the film’s ultimate financial take, review aggregator scores or pop cultural legacy will agree. As a movie, this latest sci-fi confection from THE MATRIX siblings Andy and Lana is maybe not so good. As a wild, drippy, impassioned love-letter to the classic space opera, though, it's outstanding.

Oz the Great and Powerful

Review by Bob Ignizio

Womanizing carnival magician Oscar (James Franco) escapes from the vengeful boyfriend of a recent conquest via hot air balloon, but soon finds himself swept away to a magical land via tornado in OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL. Grateful to have survived, Oscar swears to change his ways. When Oscar finds himself caught in the middle of a fight between three witches – Theodora (Mila Kunis), Glinda (Michelle Williams) and Evanora (Rachael Weisz) for control of the Emerald City, however, his old cad instincts kick in again as he tries to play the angles in the way that will benefit him the most. With the whole kingdom counting on him, can Oscar finally turn over a new leaf and become the great wizard everyone says he is?

Unless you somehow have absolutely no knowledge of Frank L. Baum's The Wizard of Oz and its 1939 film adaptation, it's not much of a mystery. We know where the Wizard winds up; we just didn't know how he got there. Well, thanks to OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL, now we do. We also get a couple of new magical characters to take the place of the Cowardly Lion (seen briefly, or at least I think it was supposed to be him), Tin Man, and Scarecrow: Finley (voiced by Zach Braff) is a flying monkey who finds himself stuck helping Oscar with his deceptions, and a little girl made out of China (Joey King) who may be fragile, but certainly isn't weak.

Ted

Review by Matt Finley

TED was Seth MacFarlane’s last chance to win me over. I won’t say I don’t respect the man – he’s a hard worker who has managed to build himself a cozy primetime empire out of nothing but some college animations and a handful of low-hanging pop culture references – but I’ve never been partial to his work. Still, whether or not I enjoy Family Guy or its even less palatable sister programs, I was hoping MacFarlane  would avail himself of the silver screen’s expansive diameter and muster something of broader topical scope – perhaps even richer artistic depth – than the Griffins’ interminable, chaotic  rabble of celebrity pot shots, insipid film homages and quotidian obscenities.

It was his last chance, and he failed. With soaring, stratosphere-breaching colors.

The trailer pretty much says it all: John Bennett, an awkward 8-year-old loner magically wishes his plush bear, Teddy, to life. 25 years later, the two inseparable friends remain locked in a state of adolescent immaturity, spending their days drinking, smoking weed and watching the films of their shared childhood, as John’s (Mark Wahlberg) increasingly impatient girlfriend Lori (Mila Kunis) begs him to ditch Ted (voiced by Macfarlane) and move on with his life.