The film opens as one would expect with a drab grayscale landscape of Kansas framed in the old 4X3 format. Then with the help of a tornado, you guessed it, Oscar Diggs (James Franco) is hurled out of Kansas and to the fantastical and colorful land of Oz in a full cinemascope format.

Diggs is a small time circus magician with questionable ethics at the beginning of the film and is forced through strange experiences to consider that the only thing better than being a great man is being a good man. His journey gives him ample opportunities to display goodness or continue being self-centered.

Not only is this film about how the great and powerful Oz came into being, but it is also the birth of three witches: Glinda the good witch; and, the wicked witches of the East and West. Glinda was played by Michelle Williams who says, “This incarnation of who Glinda was captivated me,” referring to the fact that Glinda wasn’t old fashion as some might suppose.

Williams and Rachel Weisz, who played Evanora, had to learn how to fly on wires, which wasn’t always easy. Williams says, “Flying on wires is fun, but falling is never fun, even if you’re attached to a wire.” The actors had to interact with other types of effects including a “puppet-cam”.

Zach Braff played a new character, Finley, the flying monkey. During the shoot, Braff was placed in a recording booth outside of the soundstage to act live via a monitor with the actors. The normal process requires a green tennis ball, representing the CG character’s eyes, to be placed on a stick so actors know where to look when they interact on set. The stick and ball are then replaced digitally with the CG character. But, using a puppet-cam changed the normal process. Braff’s face was videotaped and put on a small monitor on the stick, which allowed the actors to play off of his wisecracking expressions.

Director Sam Raimi, took additional steps to help the actors interact more realistically with their Oz environment. Rather than creating the entire location in the world of CG, like in Alice in Wonderland, Raimi worked with production Designer Robert Stromberg to push a 50/50 split between physical sets and digital composites. China Town, where China Girl (another new character) is first met, was fully built including the giant broken teapots.

The scale of this films production was incredible and included over 2,000 costumes and 1,500 hats. The film was shot in 3D on multiple soundstages in Detroit and included a wide array of colors and styles culminating in the right look for the island, Emerald City, and the black & white Kansas segment set around 1890 – 1920. The one memento that the cast and crew received at the end of this huge production was a piece of the yellow brick road.

The humor worked well and the story was simple enough for young family members to follow. However, there were several slower moments that kept the film from being released during the big box office window of May through July. But for a spring release, it’s well worth watching, if for nothing else than to see how the story was crafted as a prequel to The Wizard of Oz.

The latest installment in the VeggieTales series includes two fun stories The Little House that Stood and The Good Egg of Gooseville, separated by a new Silly Song: Happy Tooth Day. The program is about 45 minutes long and is ideal for young children and older VeggieTales fans.

The first story is about three little pigs that stroll into town looking for building contractors. One contractor has a plan and the other two are clueless. Similar to the Three Little Pigs nursery rhyme, there are three different houses built. Larry builds with hay, Mr. Lunt with bricks, and Bob follows plans from the Master Builder’s Handbook.

The story explores biblical references to building a house on the rock instead of sand. Bob starts building his house with a firm foundation according the Master Builder’s Handbook. The other two just throw their buildings together in a very precarious manner. While adults will know the outcome several minutes in advance, the humorous gags and animation will keep younger kids engaged.

The DVD has chapter stops so the two programs can be viewed one at a time, or the viewer can jump back to the Silly Song as often as they would like. There is also a free study guide available for small groups or families to share with their children. It is simple to use and includes several Bible verses for review and discussion. Coloring sheets are also available for free downloading.

Over all, the entertainment value is high and the Biblical principles ideal for families. In addition, the creative approach and artistic style makes the programs enjoyable for all ages. The DVD releases Tuesday, March 5, 2013 to numerous outlets with bargain prices at WalMart and Christianbook.com.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in hopes that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Bruce Willis’ character, John McClane, in the first few Die Hard movies was charming, ingenious, funny, and heroic. However, in this latest franchise installment, Willis focuses more on trying to hand the franchise off to Jai Courtney who plays John’s son John, although he goes by Jack until they reconcile their differences by shooting all the bad guys and blowing lots of stuff up – Your typical heroic father/son bonding experience.

If you go to the movie to see a lot of action, this film is just for you. However, if you go to see the famous John McClane stumble upon something fishy, explore it, uncover a sinister plot that requires him to get help from locals that he befriends, and some how single handedly takes down the uber bad guy, while saving America, it sadly doesn’t quiet play out like the other successful Die Hard films. But again, if you’re going for the action, the film won’t disappoint.

The original McClane seemed to be developed by Willis from his hit TV series character in Moonlighting, but with a cynical edge and element of brilliant gut reflexes when things hit the fan. The writer in this latest release some how lost track of the things that made McClane unique to watch, instead he created a character set in his ways and stodgy.

This is where you have to suspend disbelief. Picture a stodgy guy in his 50s jumping through windows and falling numerous stories, breaking through roofs, scaffolding, and glass ceilings, then landing hard on the floor, followed by getting up and realizing his young muscular son couldn’t hack the fall and has a piece of steel sticking out of his gut. And I didn’t even mention the ride through a plastic debris chute, while being shot apart by military helicopter machine guns.

The bottom line is that the film is a great action ride for anyone in the mood, while being a huge disappointment for McClane fans. It was almost as if the writer, in attempting to stay true to the franchise, picked a good 80s (When Die Hard first released) story and modernized it, but forgot the importance of character development.

Of course, it might not be the writer’s fault. It might be, although I doubt it, that Willis is just tired of the character and gives a detached or disinterested performance of the great McClane character because he’d prefer to play a more contemporary character like Frank Moses from Red – Especially since he owns that franchise and its sequel. Red 2: The Best Never Rest is due out August 2, 2013 staring a great cast including Bruce Willis, Anthony Hopkins and Catherine-Zeta Jones to name a few.