Livin' The Party Life

Spring Breakers- What more does a college student look forward to to get away from all the stress of drinking and partying every weekend than going on spring break? A perpetual party where all problems are made and then solved because what happens on spring break stays on spring break, right?? Harmony Korine (a male, not female) directs the perfectly timed flick for this time of the year about two extreme worlds and how they can clash in the midst of a good time. Take the biggest party-going, rebellious, anti-studious, take-life-as-it-comes bimbo and multiply it by 10, then add 2 more of them and the result is the three desperate, fun-loving girls that gives this movie its namesake. Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson, and Rachel Korine live the life that produces a good time no matter how much it costs because they have their own ways of cracking the system that eventually gets them locked in a cell. Along with them is the loyal, church-going friend, Faith (Selena Gomez) that doesn't necessarily condone her friends' criminal partying but, then again, who in college says No to the time of their life with all the consequences that follow? Lucky enough a local rapper and real life gangsta, Alien (James Franco), comes to the rescue and sweeps these damsels in distress off their feet and out of jail. Alien is decked out in charming tattoos and tasteful cornrow braids accented by a silver grill across his smile that would make any girl weak at the knees. Now that he is flanked by four pretty girls perfect for the plans he has in store and this package deal includes these co-eds being given the party they came searching for.
         James Franco seems to lose himself in a role we really have not seen him take on before and his Kevin Federline-esque tactics steal the show and make you forget this was the same guy who once hosted the Academy Awards. The drama that comes with this indy-feeling is dark (despite the constant neon lighting) and truly adds to it's appalling, explicit nature Harmony Korine has been known for. This movie may not seem for the weak of the mind or heart but could serve as a good wake-up call to those scholars looking to party on. Grade: 6.9/10

The (almost) Great and Powerful

Oz: The Great and Powerful: 74 years after one of the most iconic films to ever hit the silver screen, a prequel is released with 74 years of more advanced graphics and special effects. Sam Raimi (Spider-Man) directs the first part of the yellow brick road that nobody knew or really cared about until now when news got out that James Franco is the reason for all this magic. The story begins with our star, Oz, working as a sideshow magician at a carnival in turn-of-the-century Kansas. He is a man of skewed morals with the good looks that can bring even munchkins down to another level. Without giving away too much, there is a chain of events that leads him into Oz the same way Dorothy got there and he meets up with a witch named Theodora (Mila Kunis) and along with a furry companion they head to the Emerald City accompanied with computer generated effects Judy Garland could not even dream of, let alone, want.
      The cool thing about prequels is that everybody watches them for are the "ohh, okay" moments that tie together details and open ends from the movie that took place in its future. The Wizard of Oz was one of those movies that was nearly perfect to begin with and did not really have the untied ends that needed closure. This film was packed with references left and right, sure, but one should expect a little bit more out of feature that links itself to a movie with memorabilia in the Smithsonian and pretty much declared a national institution. There were some comedic one-liners that were charming and then there were others that stretched a bit much for a punchline. Theodora's sister, Evanora (Rachel Weisz, The Constant Gardner) was seductive and vile which, one could say, stole the show. James Franco and Michelle Williams (My Week With Marilyn), Glinda, were stopped short of their true potential to unleash the acting we've seen in previous films of theirs. Thank you for the references that you did add though, Mr. Raimi--Next time--go a little further on the details and less on the green screen. To Oz? To Oz!  6.4/10

Dark Something

Dark Skies- The first real supernatural flick of the year is...a dud. If you take some time to show your work while adding some movies up you will find Signs + Close Encounters of the Third Kind - Insidious = Dark Skies. From the producers who brought you Insidious and Paranormal Activity, this movie should be somewhat similar, you would think right? Not this time (in the sense of being a quality horror film-but-carbon copy of the plot? exactly). Okay might as well just start from the beginning. Ready? A suburban family finds strange things happening in their home at night and the security alarm goes off and then the youngest son starts acting weird and then crop circles show up on the older son and then the aliens from Signs show up in the younger boy's bedroom and then the parents seek professional help from the newspaper editor in Spider-Man (J.K. Simmons) and then the movie repeats itself and then the spaceship from Close Encounters flashes its lights yada yada yada. There, now you don't have to see it. If I were M. Night. Shyamalan I would sue for the copyright infringement of Signs and make Josh Hamilton (J. Edgar) apologize to the almighty Mel Gibson for his portrayal of an alien-distressed father. Okay... a short break from the negativity to say that there was one incident that caught me off guard that included the mom (Keri Russell, Felicity) turning a corner to find an unexpected visitor in her son's bedroom. See the previews for it and you've predicted all 97 minutes. 5.8/10