The Interview

The Interview - 112Min - R
I threw myself on this bad movie for Web Wombat. You don’t need to see James Franco and Seth Rogen’s Asshattery. The only part that got a chuckle out of me was delivered by Lizzy Caplan.

This journey into bad taste can be skipped. Or do you think I am wrong.

Oz: The Great and Powerful Movie

It is dangerous to use classic stories in telling new stories. The Wizard of OZ is a film standard revolutionalizing film and bring color to its own on-screen.  The children stories are beloved by many.  Knowing this you need to bring your A-game to pass fandom muster.  This film checks all the boxes and has the right touches of CGI, and each character does a good job of playing their parts.  I wish the story was just as magical.

As a family-friendly move, younger ones may be scared as there are some intense battle scenes, it's an adequate film. However, the main character, Oscar Diggs (James Franco), is not good.  I mean that he is flawed and in ways that are not charming or engaging.  He is a charlatan and a scoundrel.  He only improves himself because he is trapped in OZ and now needs to defeat the two evil witch sisters.  His change of heart is only because he wants to survive. 

Theodora (Mila Kunis) has the potential to become a strong character, but she is a shallow set dressing who falls for Oz quickly and because of her heartbreak (with the help of a magic apple) turns evil.  Evanora (Rachel Weisz)  is a villain of the highest order as she manipulates events and turns her sister, Theodora, in the green-skinned witch we know. Both roles are played perfectly but written flatly.

Michell Williams has a dual role as Annie, Oscar's love interest in Kansas and also Glinda, the good witch.  This detail seems too convenient I am sure they are calling back to the original in that Dorthy's real acquaintances become characters. She plays it well but again is written with a one note instead of having more depth.

Maybe my problem is that all of the females are there to move Oscar on his journey of "discovery."

The writer Micthell Kapner has had a string of films that met a mixture of reviews, my favorite is The Whole 9 yards, but this one seems to be one of the flat ones. The characters are not very engaging, plus it seems to rush from element to element.  It will get good box office return because of the family film aspects, but It may not rate a sequel.

What makes it troubling is that it does nothing to expand the original story, but it also doesn't do enough to stand out as a new product.  This product is just a yellow light kind of film.  Not good enough to be outstanding but not bad enough to be a bad movie.  The writing rises to the level of fan fiction.

Sam Raimi has a stunning eye for fantastical and mythic characters, and he has to have Bruce Campbell in every film.  His cameo is as a guard this round according to the credits.  He needs to be a square on the Sam Raimi bingo card. A game played by writing down some of the tropes and signature shots of a director on several cards and you play bingo.

My take away from this film is that it is eye cotton candy, looks good on the screen but once consumed it melts away leaving a sweet taste that is quickly forgotten. You should just go watch Wicked you'll have a better time.

Your Highness

Your Highness – 102 min –R

I thought the AC was on in the theater because I felt a breeze. As it turns out the breeze was coming from all of the sucking from the screen. There is not enough red in the world to express how bad this movie was. I am a fan of at least two of the performers, so I thought if nothing else, I could see past all of the poor aspects of this film and focus on them. No, I couldn’t. I ended up feeling sorry for them and wondering what tragic series of events resulted in them performing in this movie. Perhaps they lost a bet. I typically try and say something good about a movie even if I did not like it. So, let me think. Hum. Oh, I have one; I never have to see this movie again.

The story takes place in a fantasy world where there are two princes: Fabious (James Franco), the classic hero-type and Thadeous (Danny McBride), his lazy, stoner brother are forced to quest together when Fabious’s bride, Belladonna (Zooey Deschanel), is kidnapped by the evil wizard Leezar (Justin Theroux). On their journey they get some help from a fellow hero named Isabel (Natalie Portman). They stumble and bumble from one profane joke to the next without really doing anything. This film is one long string of vulgar jokes that focus on drugs, sex and other sophomoric hijinks.

This movie fails because of a poor concept. It all starts with the script, or stopped in this case. The ones to blame are Danny McBride and Ben Best. When writing crude humor it needs two parts, not just vulgarity but also cleverness. Giggling at your own fart jokes is not entertainment. The Director, David Gordon Green, has done some good stuff in All the Real Girls and George Washington. He has even worked with the stoner genre in Pineapple Express so it’s not like he is unfamiliar with this kind of subject matter, the only thing I can think of is that it’s the script. You can see from a production stand point where the cast and crew were really trying to make this work. The cast is giving it their all, but it’s hard to offset the complete lack of substance in the script.

I can see how this project got funding, if you add up the elements separately you might have a good product here. Some real named talent for the cast, a great crew in Tim Orr cinematographer, Craig Alpert for editing and Gary Freeman for art direction. So far so good we have a good crew and cast and having Gordon at the helm, looking good. Um, did anyone stop and read the script before setting off with the prize winning ensemble? I am guessing no.

I was only brought to this movie for Portman and Deschanel. I have liked their work in the past and looked forward to seeing what they do with this challenge. I ended up feeling bad for them. It was like watching someone tell a really bad joke and they are completely oblivious as to the depth of the embarrassment at its failure. They really had nothing to do in the film, each of them were nothing more than decoration for all they were given to do. What a shame. It’s like having a high performance sports car and never driving it, just park it and look at it.

I wonder sometimes as people are making movies do they see the train wreck they are on or are departments so compartmentalized that they don’t see the work adding up to failure? Or is it something that they can see but have no way of turning away from the enviable crash, so with no other option, they sell it for all they are worth. If you are going to Suck, SUCK BIG!!

This reviews question is around what your thoughts are on why this film failed? OR did you really like it? My apologies if you were unfortunate enough to have watched it. After we have talked about it let’s turn our back on this bad experience and never speak of it again.