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10 Films Worth Tracking Down In Theaters In March

  • By Oliver Lyttelton
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  • March 1, 2013 2:54 PM
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  • 7 Comments
Features
It's been a long, dark couple of months at the start of 2013, with not all that much that's been worth seeing, bar a few bright spots like "Side Effects" and "No." But as the days start to get sunnier and warmer (we hope so, at least, or we're going to jump off something tall fairly soon), the prospects at movie theaters are improving a bit too.
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More: Features, Stoker, Spring Breakers, Oz The Great And Powerful, Jack The Giant Slayer, Dead Man Down, Room 237, Welcome To The Punch, Beyond The Hills, Ginger & Rosa, The Place Beyond The Pines

Review: 'Oz The Great And Powerful' Dresses Up Dull Prequel Story With Special Effects Wizardry

  • By Kevin Jagernauth
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  • March 1, 2013 9:00 AM
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  • 15 Comments
Reviews
We’re coming up on 75 years since MGM’s Technicolor wonder “The Wizard Of Oz” first enchanted audiences on screen, and at the time it was already the fourth movie based on the works of L. Frank Baum. Of course, it has become not only the best known version, but an American cinema classic and icon, and so the prospect of a prequel is always one that was greeted with some wariness. There’s not only the pressure of living up to a film that has been beloved by generations of filmgoers, but there's also the often undiscussed issue of whether or not adding backstory and additional mythology is simply answering a question no one asked. As studios continue to mine fables, fairy tales and comics for franchises, it’s a query they will continue to grapple with, but as for the results cooked up in Disney and director Sam Raimi’s “Oz The Great And Powerful,” it’s a lot of smoke and light, without much behind it.
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More: Oz The Great And Powerful, Rachel Weisz, Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams, James Franco, Sam Raimi, Review

Watch: Bubbles & Fireballs In 2 New Clips From 'Oz The Great And Powerful'

  • By Kevin Jagernauth
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  • February 21, 2013 4:19 PM
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  • 0 Comments
News
Are you ready to go back down the yellow brick road? Sam Raimi's prequel "Oz The Great And Powerful" is on the way, but it's a brand-new story from the magical land, with a new cast of characters having some adventures and trying to ensure that everyone has a happy ending. It's an ambitious project, and two more clips have arrived to tease what you'll encounter in merry old Oz.
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More: Oz The Great And Powerful, Mila Kunis, James Franco, Michelle Williams, Rachel Weisz

Listen To Mariah Carey's Theme To 'Oz The Great & Powerful,' Plus Clips, A Featurette And Spoiler-y Images From The Film

  • By Oliver Lyttelton
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  • February 19, 2013 1:08 PM
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  • 2 Comments
News
After the quietish few months of the year, we're only a few weeks out from the first would-be major blockbuster of the year (if you exclude the underperforming "A Good Day To Die Hard," and the noticeably buzz-free "Jack The Giant Slayer"); Sam Raimi's "Oz The Great & Powerful," the first theatrical film to go back to L. Frank Baum's magical land, featured in the beloved "The Wizard Of Oz," since "Return To Oz" in the 1980s.
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More: Oz The Great And Powerful, Mariah Carey, James Franco, Sam Raimi, Michelle Williams, Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz

Flying Monkeys & Mariah Carey? 'Oz The Great And Powerful' Just Got Real

  • By Kevin Jagernauth
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  • February 6, 2013 12:18 PM
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  • 2 Comments
News
There seems to be two kinds of weird going on at Disney. There's the "good weird" which results in the still somewhat shocking $1 billion dollar haul for Tim Burton's "Alice In Wonderland." And then there's the "bad weird," Andrew Stanton's dull, yet oddball, "John Carter." And now, their latest "good weird" hope, "Oz The Great And Powerful," is on the horizon, and if you thought flying monkeys were more than enough, how about a song by Mariah Carey?
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More: Mariah Carey, Oz The Great And Powerful

Watch: Super Bowl Spot For 'Oz The Great & Powerful' Waves A Magic Wand

  • By Kevin Jagernauth
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  • February 3, 2013 7:19 PM
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  • 3 Comments
News
Does anyone know what's going on in the actual Super Bowl? Because we don't. Continuing tonight's logjam of movie marketing, yet another gameday spot has dropped, this time for "Oz The Great And Powerful," Disney's great spring blockbuster hope.
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More: Oz The Great And Powerful, Sam Raimi, James Franco, Michelle Williams, Rachel Weisz, Film Trailers

Watch: New TV Spot For ‘Oz The Great And Powerful’ Plus Super Bowl Teaser & Behind-The-Scenes Pics

  • By Tess Hofmann
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  • January 29, 2013 1:25 PM
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  • 0 Comments
News
Much of the mystery surrounding Sam Raimi’s upcoming “Oz The Great and Powerful” seems to have dissipated. With two trailers that pretty clearly delineated the story and provided a generous glimpse at the film’s look, all that’s left is to see the darn thing! But, with over a month to go until the theatrical release, marketing still needs to drum up some more interest, and has apparently resorted to labeling a recycled, condensed trailer as a new “first look.” The new TV spot aired during the SAG Awards, and unless we’re mistaken, there’s nothing here that we didn’t see in the second trailer.
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More: Oz The Great And Powerful, Sam Raimi, James Franco, Mila Kunis

What Did They Do To Mila Kunis? 4 Character Posters For 'Oz The Great And Powerful'

  • By Kevin Jagernauth
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  • January 25, 2013 2:18 PM
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  • 6 Comments
News
So, in just over a month "Oz The Great And Powerful" will wave a magic wand and drop into theaters, and mostly, Disney is hoping this doesn't "John Carter" on them. But they have a few things that will likely prevent that from happening. First, it's riffing on a beloved movie that everyone has heard of. Next, it features a cast that people know, including James Franco, Rachel Weisz, Michelle Williams and Mila Kunis. Okay, great. But then why on Earth did they airbrush the hell out of the one cast member who has been named the Sexiest Woman Alive?
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More: Oz The Great And Powerful, James Franco, Rachel Weisz, Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams

Watch: New TV Spot For Sam Raimi's 'Oz The Great & Powerful' With James Franco & Mila Kunis

  • By Oliver Lyttelton
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  • January 14, 2013 11:20 AM
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  • 3 Comments
News
Adapting a beloved TV series to the big screen is always a risky prospect, particularly when you start departing from the source material. Be it giving a post-modern meta spin on classics like "Bewitched" or "Starsky & Hutch," or chucking big-budget effects at lo-fi favorites like 'The A-Team" or "Lost In Space," the results are rarely positive, pleasing neither fans or neophytes. We thought we might be on safer ground when we discovered that Sam Raimi was directing a film called "Oz." Surely the brutal prison drama that preempted the golden age of HBO and shows like "The Sopranos" and "The Wire" would make it to the big-screen unscathed, especially in the hands of the director of "The Evil Dead" and "A Simple Plan."
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More: Oz The Great And Powerful, Sam Raimi, James Franco, Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams, Rachel Weisz

Seven New Images From Sam Raimi's 'Oz The Great & Powerful'

  • By Joe Cunningham
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  • January 8, 2013 1:01 PM
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  • 1 Comment
News
When the trailer for Sam Raimi’s next film, the prequel to “The Wizard of Oz,” “Oz: The Great and Powerful” hit last year the reaction was decidedly mixed. It all looked a little too much like Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” from a visual standpoint, and the casting jarred a little too. James Franco will be taking on the title role of the man who would be The Wizard of Oz, while Michelle Williams, Mila Kunis and Rachel Weisz are playing the magical land’s three witches.
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More: Oz The Great And Powerful, James Franco, Mila Kunis

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