REVIEW: You've got to have courage to take on a film that's as beloved as "The Wizard of Oz," but a heart and a brain help, too. Prequel "Oz the Great and Powerful" could use a little more of both.

Walt Disney

James Franco plays the young Wizard of Oz in the prequel to the classic film.

That's not to say it's terrible. If you're off to see the Wizard, you won't feel that the 1939 original has been dissed here. And some of the new creations, especially China Town, a marvelous town made of china dishes and dolls, are as memorable as the poppy fields of old.

The story poses an intriguing question: How did the cranky braying Wizard get to be the faker behind the curtain? James Franco plays Oscar "Oz" Diggs, a dashing young Kansas carnival magician who breaks hearts and fakes out audiences with his illusions. The early scenes are played in black-and-white just as Dorothy's Kansas scenes were, and the people Oz mixes with will return once he gets to the Land of Oz, just as her farmhands do. That's a nice throwback, and there are others.

But once Oz gets to Oz and the world turns into sparkling color, things get too complicated and go on for way too long. The three witches (Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz and Michelle Williams) don't really stand out, except to note that costuming Kunis in skintight leather pants, trotting around Oz's wilderness in spike-heeled boots was a decision made for much crasser reasoning than Oz tradition or logic.

Walt Disney

In "Oz the Great and Powerful," at least one flying monkey is friendly.

Instead of the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion, the future Wizard pals up with Finley a flying monkey, sweet little China Girl, and to a lesser extent, two forgettable characters dubbed the Master Tinker and Knuck. Finley is a cute idea -- take those flying monkeys that traumatized us as kids and make them likable -- especially since the majority of the flying monkeys in this film have been given a horror-movie twist and are creepy baboons. But to play off another throwback to a Kansas friend, he's voiced by Zach Braff, whose whiny tone never fits cuddly looking Finley's role.

Say this about the original "Oz," the plot was simple. Follow the Yellow Brick Road to ask the Wizard for home, a brain, a heart, and courage. This one's all over the place, with the witches conniving against each other, China Girl's hometown destroyed and never avenged, and extraordinarily complicated battle-prep scenes. The movie is a groaningly long two hours plus, and one youngster in my screening fell asleep.

The film's in 3-D, apparently so things can fly at the screen randomly, but it rarely lives up to the jacked-up ticket price. Kids under 7 are going to face some scary scenes, including the more-terrifying monkeys, a weirdly frightening googly-eyed flower, and a creepy scene where the good witch Glinda is tortured.

In the original film, the Wizard was a big faker, hiding behind a grander image because he knew he wasn't what he pretended to be. "Oz the Great and Powerful" can't live up to a grander image either, but there's enough magic to make it enjoyable for what it is.

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Mila Kunis may be off the market -- but she's still the "Sexiest Woman Alive." In the new issue of Esquire magazine, Kunis poses topless in black leather pants to prove she deserves the "Sexiest Woman Alive" crown. But the 29-year-old "Friends With Benefits" actress doesn't want to let the praise go to her head. 

Esquire

Mila Kunis was named Esquire's sexiest woman alive.

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"What I do and who I am are two different things. And they always will be," she told magazine. "What happens with people is they lose sight of who they are, and they become either who they want to be or who they are perceived to be. But whatever it is, it is no longer who they are. So much of who you are in this industry is based on what that critic says, what that director says, what that actor says. People start believing all that, and they become what everybody else wants them to be."

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"And I think that I've consciously separated my two lives. I love what I do. I couldn't imagine doing anything else. But when I'm done with work, I'm done with work," Kunis explained. "I think that if I bought into the hype, I would lose all sight of who I am, and so much of who I am is what my parents went through and instilled in me. And I never want to lose that. Ever. Because I would be so disappointed if I didn't make them proud."

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The "Ted" star also wouldn't call herself funny.

"I think I stumbled upon doing funny things, but I'm not funny. I just know how to deliver a joke," she said. "There are people who naturally exude humor and are constantly saying funny things, and there are the people who know how to deliver a joke. It's a learned skill. Through twenty years of doing this, I practice it. I think that the second you think that you're funny is when you stop being funny."

Kunis has been dating her former "That '70s Show" costar Ashton Kutcher for the past five months. "He always had a thing for her," a source told Us Weekly of Kutcher, 34. "It's a real infatuation."

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Universal Pictures

Mark Wahlberg stars opposite teddy bear Ted, voiced by Seth MacFarlane.

The merrily rude humor of "Family Guy" slides right into feature films with nary a burp nor a fart in "Ted," a raucously funny goof about a boozing, pot-smoking, foul-mouthed teddy bear who would be instant new best friends with "The Hangover" guys. Not too many films serve up laughs that just keep on rolling with regularity from beginning to end, but Seth MacFarlane's directorial debut does so and without any feeling of strain. There's admittedly something a bit weird about the premise that might keep away some viewers who would otherwise belly up for a good gross comedy, but the comedy quotient is more than high enough to prompt upbeat word-of-mouth and solid summer business.

MacFarlane's wise-ass, ecumenically offensive joke-making is recognizable from the first scene, in which a bunch of suburban Christian kids celebrate Christmas by beating up the neighborhood Jewish kid, who in the middle of things warns the unpopular kid not to help him out. Poor little John Bennett has no friends at all until his parents offer him his dreamed-of present: a stuffed bear who fulfills the boy's wish of coming alive.

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Naturally, this one-of-a-kind walking and talking creature becomes a national celebrity in 1985 and a wonderful "Zelig"-like scene has Ted, a totally credible CGI creation voiced in a thick Boston accent by MacFarlane, appearing with Johnny Carson on "The Tonight Show." But even a talking bear becomes old hat after a while and, a quarter-century later, Ted suffers the fate of many other child stars, indulging in major substance abuse while living in the past and mooching off others.

Ted's main enabler is his lifelong “thunder buddy” John (Mark Wahlberg), who, at 35, still spends way too much time getting wasted with his fuzzy friend, whose coat, truth be told, is beginning to wear as thin as his act in spots. John's dreamy girlfriend Lori (Mila Kunis) is more tolerant of the best friend than John deserves, but their fourth anniversary of togetherness cues certain expectations in her that John is not yet ready to offer.

Like "Family Guy," the film serves up cutaway digressions that are hilarious partly for being so unexpected; a flashback to John's first meeting Lori is cast in the form of homage to the "Saturday Night Fever" disco dance lampoon in "Airplane!" The fact that some of the jokes sound as if they really belong in the mouth of cartoon characters might have something to do with the fact that "Ted" was originally conceived as an animated series, but the script by MacFarlane and longtime "Family Guy" writers Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild acknowledges and adheres to traditional structural rules concerning emotional expectations and payoffs; it might even take one step too many in that direction at the close.

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The film finds its true nostalgic self in the '80s, or least in a wildly unanticipated mining of its drugged-out ethos personified by Sam Jones, the long-forgotten star of the much-maligned 1980 film "Flash Gordon." Just when John has finally chosen Lori over Ted and forced the bear to find his own apartment, Ted calls to insist that John join him at a bash with their all-time favorite actor, the self-same Jones. The latter parties like it's 1980, all right, starting by downing shots and moving on quickly to mounds of coke in a wildly frenetic and pretty outrageous sequence topped by an irate Asian neighbor's duck pecking the crap out of the obscene Ted. Jones, who remains in excellent shape as he approaches 60, is very game and should get a nice little career boost by virtue of his genially gonzo turn.

Singer Norah Jones also contributes a nifty cameo as herself, freely admitting that she had a thing with Ted some years back and that he was pretty good for a guy without the usual equipment. An uncredited appearance, and one so sexually unexpected as to provoke a double and even triple take to make sure it's who you think it is, is put in by Ryan Reynolds.

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MacFarlane has a great knack for getting all his performers to be loose and self-deprecating. The banter between John and Ted has a natural working-class, shooting-the-breeze style just like the men in "Family Guy," while the relationship between John and Lori feels genuine and strong enough to make you root for it to work out, with Wahlberg relaxed and very appealing as a guy who's postponed growing up as long as he can and Kunis absolutely adorable as his loyal and patient squeeze. Giovanni Ribisi and Aedin Mincks play a creepy father and son who plot to kidnap the stuffed former kid celebrity, while Jessica Barth goes the extra mile with limited lines to grab laughs as a vulgar tart who's game for a wild fling with Ted.

As did Ben Affleck's Beantown-set "The Town," "Ted" sets its unlikely action climax at Fenway Park.

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Mila Kunis

Mila Kunis' gym rat better get used to that cage he's in, because it looks like he'll be there awhile.

Stuart Lynn Dunn, the man accused of harassing the "Black Swan" star, pleaded not guilty today in a Los Angeles court to two felony charges of stalking, E! News confirms.

The 27-year-old was taken into custody on May 4 after he attempted to contact the 28-year-old Kunis in the parking lot of a Los Angeles gym where he had hung out for three consecutive days in hopes of meeting her.

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In doing so, Dunn allegedly violated a three-year restraining order issued against him back in February after he was arrested the month before for breaking into a vacant West Hollywood condo the actress owned and then squatting there.

In the latter case, the dude subsequently pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor count of unauthorized entry of a dwelling and was ordered to keep away from the thespian.

Wearing a blue jumpsuit and sporting a blond goatee, Dunn sat quietly, his face buried in his hands, as Superior Court Judge Shelly Baron Torrealba gave her orders and called his actions "a violent and serious crime."

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Bail was set at $150,000, and a protective order was issued where Dunn will be unable to harass or stalk Kunis. Unless he bonds out, Dunn will remain in lockup until the next hearing scheduled for May 31. At that point, the judge will determine whether there's enough evidence for him to stand trial on the two counts filed by the district attorney yesterday — stalking in violation of a restraining order and stalking.

If convicted of the charges, Dunn faces a maximum of four years in state prison.

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Mila Kunis

Mila Kunis became one of the latest celebrities to come to someone's rescue recently. TMZ is reporting that the actress rushed to the aid of a worker in her home who went into a seizure and began vomiting and coughing up blood.

Kunis reportedly turned the man's head so he wouldn't choke while instructing a friend to call 911. She also volunteered to ride in the ambulance to the hospital where the man was taken.

It's not known what kind of work the man was doing at the time of the incident.

The collapse happened Saturday, a day after a homeless man was arrested for stalking Kunis.

Kunis isn't alone in her recent good deed. Recently, Dustin Hoffman helped a stricken jogger in a London park, and "Grey's Anatomy" star Patrick Dempsey rushed to the aid of a teen who flipped his Mustang right outside the actor's Malibu home.

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Getty Images, AP file

Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher.

So much for Jackie and Michael getting back together again. Rumors of longtime friends Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis being an item started swirling last week, but as much as it would have been cute to see a "That 70's Show" relationship come to reality, it's not happening.

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Kunis shoots down the idea, telling Extra, "It's absurd! A friend is a friend."

Yes, and as friends, they do things like taking a trip to Santa Barbara, having a sushi dinner and enjoying a rumored night in at Kutcher's pad.

A source close to Demi Moore's ex tells People, "They're both single, having fun. There's nothing serious going on--just friends having fun." Another source tells the mag that Ashton was, "so in love with [Mila] for a while when they worked together...It never happened, but I'm not surprised by this--at all."

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But they're just friends, you guys, so stop getting your hopes up.

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