For a movie that looks gorgeous, evokes memories of a cinematic classic and boasts a bundle of star power, “Oz the Great and Powerful” is oddly flat. It’s not that the film is terrible; it’s just not as good as it could or should have been. Based on the “Oz” novels of L. Frank Baum, the story is set decades before events portrayed in the 1939 film “The Wizard of Oz.”  That makes the project a prequel of sorts, and director Sam Raimi knew audiences would compare his work to the classic preceding it.

“The Descendants” was a major player at the 2012 Oscars, as it was nominated in five categories, and won the award for best adapted screenplay. Co-written and directed by Alexander Payne (“Sideways,” “About Schmidt”), “The Descendants” is a profound and moving portrait of a family in crisis.