New Photos: Oz - The Great and Powerful

USA Today has some great photos from Disney's upcoming Oz: The Great and Powerful featuring some first looks at the cast in some pretty iconic roles and the world of Emerald City. The film, directed by Sam Raimi, releases next March; take a look.

Michelle Williams as Glinda the Good Witch

A closer look at Glinda in action.

A flying monkey!

Evanora played by Rachel Weisz faces off against Theodora played by Mila Kunis.

The yellow brick road and the Emerald City are in our sights.

The hot air balloon that brings Oscar Diggs played by James Franco to the Emerald City.

Oscar speaks to the China Girl (voice talent of Joey King)

Hot air balloon crash landing site.

And they're off!

These visually stunning photographs promise a great deal of new imagining in this prequel of The Wizard of Oz.  The official synopsis says:

Disney’s fantastical adventure “Oz The Great and Powerful,” directed by Sam Raimi, imagines the origins of L. Frank Baum’s beloved character, the Wizard of Oz. When Oscar Diggs (James Franco), a small-time circus magician with dubious ethics, is hurled away from dusty Kansas to the vibrant Land of Oz, he thinks he’s hit the jackpot–fame and fortune are his for the taking–that is until he meets three witches, Theodora (Mila Kunis), Evanora (Rachel Weisz) and Glinda (Michelle Williams), who are not convinced he is the great wizard everyone’s been expecting. Reluctantly drawn into the epic problems facing the Land of Oz and its inhabitants, Oscar must find out who is good and who is evil before it is too late. Putting his magical arts to use through illusion, ingenuity–and even a bit of wizardry–Oscar transforms himself not only into the great and powerful Wizard of Oz but into a better man as well.

 I'm looking forward to see what this great cast and director Sam Raimi will bring forward in Oz: The Great and Powerful.

Around the World in Posters: Anna Karenina, Oz: The Great and Powerful, The Hobbit and more!

(Poster: Glamour Magazine)

A epic poster for Joe Wright's Anna Karenina featuring Keira Knightley, Aaron Johnson and Jude Law.  Time for a re-read!

(Poster: Entertainment Weekly)

First poster from Sam Raimi's Oz: The Great and Powerful.  I'm really liking the look of the world of Oz. 

(Posters: Mondo)

 These limited editions posters by Mondo of ParaNorman are so creative and unique.  

(Poster: Mondo)

 There are so many official posters of The Dark Knight out there but I gotta say this one made by Jock is by far my favorite.  I would love to have this framed on my wall.  

 Will Ferrell and Zach G face off against each other for The Campaign in these posters from Yahoo Movies.

(Poster: Empire)

 I don't know how good the film will be but I'm liking the creepy/eerie look of the poster in the dinosaur profile.

(Poster: Peter Jackson Facebook)

 First poster for the lucky fans over at Comic Con to grab via Peter Jackson who unveiled it on his Facebook page.  

(Poster: Collider)

 This one is super adorable.  Who doesn't like Paddington Bear? 

(Poster: Yahoo)

 Total Recall with Kate Beckinsale, Jessica Alba and Colin Farrell all of whom I didn't know were still acting.  

(Poster: Imp Awards)

Seriously, does the world really need another Smurfs movie?  I'm only plugging this poster since it features my birthday.  

(Poster: IMP Awards)

The French poster of Fernando Meirelles' 360 with Jude Law, Anthony Hopkins and Rachel Weisz. Very circular.

Countdown to Oscars: Your Oscar Hosts!

Yeah, this is totally happening!  

(Pics: Thanks to Just Jared)

They want to distract us with eye candy so we won't notice the snubs.  Is it working?  Maybe if we saw a few more.  

One thing is for sure, this will be the prettiest Oscars ever!

Countdown to Oscars - Hosts Announced!

Color me surprised!  The AMPAS have announced their hosts for Hollywood's biggest night, Oscar Sunday, and it is...drumroll, please...James Franco and Anne Hathaway!

Ok, I bet most people were taken aback when they heard this news.  The Academy is not quite known to be hip and cool and yet they're taking steps in the right direction.  Remember when Hustle & Flow won Best Song for its rap song, "It's Hard Out There for a Pimp"?  No?  And let's not forget them trying to weed out all the boring dances and stuff from the telecast.  But...I somehow liked the good ole days of when the Oscar host was someone like Billy Crystal or Steve Martin.   I'm a bit of a traditionalist, I guess.  I grew up watching the Oscar show this way and while Franco and Hathaway are, no doubt, going to do a good job, it's sort of feels very SNL or sketch comedy to me.  Both Franco and Hathaway are also going to be up for Oscar nominations themselves unless something goes awry.  Franco should be nominated for his performance as Aron Ralston in 127 Hours and Hathaway for Love and Other Drugs.  Will this work against them somehow or will this help solidify those nods?  Well, we'll find out come February 27th, 2011 and let's wait and see what else is changing.