Oz the Great and Powerful Review

"Somewhere over the rainbow way up high, there's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby. Somewhere over the rainbow skies are blue, and the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true." So begins the song Dorothy sings in The Wizard of Oz. Released in 1939 it was MGM's most expensive production up to that time. Now, I don't know about anyone else, but when I was a kid, I used to dream of Oz. I've wanted to be a denizen of Oz since I was old enough to cognitively think. It's with that in mind I'm going to to take an objective look at the 2013 "prequel" of one of the best movies of all time (It's my opinion, and my show, so nyah) called 'Oz the Great and Powerful'. It tells the story of how Oscar "Oz" Diggs (Played by James Franco), a con-man working as a small-time magician in a traveling circus in Kansas gets caught in a Tornado, and taken away to the land of Oz.

Now, having grown up with The Wizard of Oz, let's get the bad stuff out of the way first, so I can totally dish on the good stuff. My biggest issue with this move is the continuity. References to plot points from the previous film include: Theodora's (Wicked Witch of the West) tears leave burn marks on her face, foreshadowing her weakness to water. A woman named Annie (played by Michelle Williams) informs Oscar that she has been proposed to by a man whose surname is Gale, presumably hinting at Dorothy Gale's parental lineage. Granted, while some of those things make sense (like for instance Theodora's tears leaving burn marks, and even the cowardly lion make you go 'that's why') while others (such as how are you really supposed to know one of those scarecrows turns into the singing dopey one in the later movie) simply don't.

I do like how they kept the Witches the same in the books, with Glinda (also played by Michelle Williams) being the Witch of the South instead of the North, although the main antagonist of the film is Evanora (Played by Rachel Weisz), assumed to become the Wicked Witch of the East, for control over Oz. In the film, unlike the book, the three Witches are sisters, whose father King Pastoria (King of Oz) was murdered by Evanora order to seize the crown and usurp the throne (In the books, the King is the father of Princess Ozma, who makes an appearance in the 1985 film Return to Oz. There is no mention of her whatsoever in this movie, but I digress).

We meet some other interesting characters along the way that are mentioned in the books as well, such as a little China Doll from China Town, but again, unlike in the book, she is able to leave and go with the Wizard to the Emerald City. You also meet a flying monkey named Finley, whom the Wizard saves earlier in the movie, and vows a life debt to him. You also a the Scarecrow, who is built by the townspeople as a scare tactic (Assumed to be the one from the 1939 film), the Master Tinker who builds iron men (One of which is assumed to be the Tin Man); and a Cowardly Lion, who is frightened away by Oscar (Again, assumed to be the Cowardly Lion).

Okay, let's get right down to the plot. As I've mentioned before, Evanora, (who we're assuming is the Witch of the East) is the main antagonist. Her plan is use Theodora's growing crush on the Wizard against her. While gazing into her crystal ball, Evanora tells Theodora that the Wizard was playing all three of them for fools. Evanora then offers the heartbroken Theodora a magic apple she promises will remove her heartache, which Theodora eats, transforming her into a heartless, green-skinned Wicked Witch. With Theodora on her side, her power grew mighty indeed and they sealed themselves within The Emerald City. The Wizard, using his knowledge of prestidigitation builds a machine that enlarges his head and allows his voice to sound scarier (than usual for James Franco) scares the witches out of the Emerald City, and we all live happily ever after... or do we?

Overall what did I think of this movie? The storyline was great. Having watched The Wizard of Oz as a child, I had always wondered how the Wizard had gotten to Oz. He mentions to Dorothy towards the end of the 1939 movie that he too was from Kansas, and we know that he got there in a Hot Air Balloon, but we're absolutely clueless on how it happened that he came to Oz, and this movie gives us just that; The origins of The Wizard of Oz.

Sailor Moon Review

Hello to all you lovely anime geeks. I'm Oona Otaku, and I love discussing anime. Since this is my first show, I'd like to start off with a well-known anime; Sailor Moon. Yes, Sailor Moon, better known in Japan as Bishōjo Senshi Sailormoon (For those unfamiliar with Japanese phrases it translates too Beautiful Soldier Girl Sailormoon). Some would consider this their introduction into anime (for us girls anyway). Written by Naoko Takeuchi in 1991 and spanning for six years, this was probably the first anime I've ever seen that has an all female protagonist line-up that used their powers to fight the forces of evil, giving a whole new respect for the Magical Girl genre and might have actually single-handedly caused an uprise in female morale. Why you may ask?

On top of being a sentai (a team of five) (actually it turns out to be 14 or so I think. I'll touch on a few of them here, and again in the bad guy portion of this review in next weeks show), they're all girls except for our male lead, but we'll get to him in a moment. The team consists of eight girls representing a specific planet. Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Venus, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto and Saturn. I have no idea why earth is never represented and it's recently been discovered that Pluto isn't a planet but in fact is a moon, but I digress. Each of the women has a specific power relating to an element/feeling (This is starting to sound like a Captain Planet review.) We start with Mercury: Sailor Mercury also known as Mizuno Ami serves as the "brains" of the group. She possesses powers associated with water. Next up is Mars: Sailor Mars also known as Hino Rei is the secondary leader of the Guardian Senshi after Sailor Venus. She possesses powers associated with fire, as well as psychic and spiritual ones. Next up is Jupiter: Sailor Jupiter also known as Kino Makoto serves as the "muscles" of the group.She possesses powers associated with electricity and plants, and physical strength. Last but not least is Venus: Sailor Venus also known as Aino Minako possesses powers associated with love and the Moon (even though there's already a Senshi for the moon. Redundancy much?)

Then you have the "Outer" guardian senshi. Sailor Uranus, Sailor Neptune, Sailor Pluto, and Sailor Saturn. Sailor Uranus fights along her partner and lover Sailor Neptune. She possesses powers associated with the sky, precognitive ones, and sword combat skills. Sailor Neptune fights alongside her partner and lover Sailor Uranus. She possesses powers associated with the sea, precognitive ones, and various others granted by a mirror. Sailor Pluto possesses powers that are associated to time, space, the underworld, and darkness. and lastly Sailor Saturn possesses powers associated with destruction, death, and rebirth; she has the ability to annihilate a planet and even an entire star system. These eight (so far) women are charged with protecting the main heroine of the show, with that said let's get down to our two main characters, Tsukino Usagi, and Chiba Mamoru.

Considered the Romeo and Juliet of the series, we have to stop and look at their origins. Usagi was originally Princess Serenity, Princess of the Moon Kingdom, who had fallen in love with the Crowned Prince of Earth; Endymion (aka Mamoru aka Tuxedo Mask (Kamen in the Japanese version), but alas, their love was forbidden. During an attack on the Moon Kingdom one fateful day, Endymion was mortally wounded, and in her grief, Princess Serenity took her own life (What a waste.. no man is ever worth your life. There's plenty of fish in the sea. By the way, that only happens in the manga. In the anime Queen Metalia kills them both). But behold! Before finally giving over to death Princess Serenity's mother Queen Serenity (Matching names? Seriously? Couldn't think of Princess Harmony or Queen Tranquility? That's about as bad as Mario Mario and Luigi Mario) uses the power of the Silver Crystal to make sure everyone gets incarnated on earth.

That's all for this week! Next week I'll be discussing the bad guys of the show, and how they fit into the storyline. I'm Oona Otaku, and Anime is my thing. Til next week, ja matte ne! Bai bai! <3