Spring Breakers (2012) - Harmony Korine

The "lad" in me wants to give this a five star rating. The more dominant side of me will analyse it properly, and being honest, there was too much nudity. This wasn't a porno; it was a trifle unnecessary, the sheer volume of breasts: who needs it. It might be because I'm newly single, but one pair is enough for me.
That out of the way, the film itself was OK. There was an interesting storyline, told in an interesting way. Interesting, yes. That doesn't mean to say I enjoyed the way it was told. The chant, "Spring Break forever," will stay with me forever I've heard it that often. When James Franco turned up properly, the storyline became a lot more interesting. He acted and was brilliant, as apposed to the girls themselves, who were very two dimensional, with exception to perhaps Selena Gomez, but she was too needy and too annoying to ever be likeable. I found myself waiting for the end, but this film could set a trend in new filmmaking, and it's style is possibly a little ahead (or behind) its time.

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

PS My favourite Britney Spears song, Everytime, has possibly been ruined forever by this movie. I'm not saying it wasn't used well, but now I know I won't be able to help thinking of Spring Break Forever everytime (pun) I hear this song.

Oz the Great and Powerful (2013) - Sam Raimi

One expects something from Sam Raimi, and no, I'm not talking about a Bruce Campbell cameo, (which this has, by the way).We do get what we want. We do get a good film. The only problem is it's not The Wizard of Oz (1939) - Victor Fleming, nor is it another Evil Dead (1981) - Raimi. Raimi seems to have become over reliant on CGI in recent years, and whether that's the studio (probably Disney doing the same thing they did to Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland [2010]) or himself, it just seems a little lazy.
James Franco wasn't quirky or fun enough to pull off a film set in a magical land, and it made me think how much better the film could have been, if it had been Zach Braff in the lead role. He was way underused, as a flying monkey, but did his best to show off his signature JD-ness, that he does so well.

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆