Movie review: ‘Oz the Great and Powerful’ worth another trip down the yellow brick road?

By Ashley Bergner
Box Office Buzz

It’s been more than 70 years since Hollywood first took us on a journey down the yellow brick road into the magical land of Oz. In the 1939 musical classic “The Wizard of Oz,” a girl named Dorothy dons a pair of sparkling red slippers and sets off on a quest to end the reign of a wicked witch and find her way back home to Kansas.

“The Wizard of Oz” continues to be one of Hollywood’s most beloved films, and it’s one of my favorite musicals. It’s always risky to try to return to such a well-loved classic, and director Sam Raimi wisely chose to pursue a prequel, rather than a reboot. Yet is his film “Oz the Great and Powerful” (released March 8) worth another trip down the yellow brick road?

“Oz the Great and Powerful” begins at a traveling circus in Kansas, where we meet Oscar Diggs (James Franco), a magician who’s more interested in conning people out of their money than in delighting them with magic tricks. He’s forced to flee the circus when he angers one of the other performers, and he escapes in a hot air balloon. However, this seemingly lucky escape quickly turns into a nightmare as the hot air balloon is sucked into a tornado, and Oscar vows he’ll try to become a better man if he’s spared from death.

Movie review: ‘Prometheus’

By Ashley Bergner, Box Office Buzz

The beginning of Ridley Scott’s sci-fi thriller “Prometheus” is deceptively calm. Scott takes time to set up the premise, carefully building the level of suspense as we watch a crew of scientists and their corporate sponsors set off for a faraway planet on board the spaceship Prometheus, searching for clues that could reveal how life originated on Earth. Yet anyone who has seen “Alien” knows better than to relax, and we know this quiet beginning is just lulling us into a false sense of security. Because while the crew of the Prometheus has no idea what horrors wait for them on the alien planet, we do, and what follows is a harrowing struggle to escape from the nightmare into which the mission quickly descends.

The film begins with two scientists, Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green), who have discovered an ancient cave painting in Scotland depicting a giant being pointing to the stars. Shaw and Holloway interpret this as an invitation from alien beings to come and visit their world. Weyland Corp. agrees to sponsor a voyage to this mysterious planet and outfits a vessel called the Prometheus for a voyage across the stars.