OZ the Great & Powerful

I wouldn’t have it any other way….between my husband and two teen-aged boys, I am out-numbered by men in my home. Even our pug Gizmo is a boy.

I lovingly joke that (at least for now!) I am the only one who doesn’t get 5 o’clock shadow. You never know what menopause will bring for me.

Besides the occasional popular TV series, my family’s choices in quality viewing entertainment couldn’t be more different. That’s why it was nothing short of a miracle when the Oz previews started to appear on TV and everyone in my house agreed that they wanted to see it.

My reasons of course, Oz is a family Disney movie, it’s rated PG – and (BONUS!) it was playing opening night at the AMC Dine-In Theater Downtown Disney. I followed my heart down the yellow brick road – and in a twitch of Glinda’s wand – I pulled up Fandango on my computer and bought my family’s tickets. I am not one to spend money a movie, especially in a theater. I justified it as being a tax-deductible cost of doing business. Research – for the blog.

My next thought? I wonder if we could use this as a reason to meetup with some Disneyways readers? There are so many that I would really love to meet in person! With that, the facebook and blog invitations went out, and I did my very best to make sure everyone, near and far, knew they were welcome.

Disneyways blogged about Oz fashion. We welcomed our spectacular new guest blogger Jay – who did a fabulous job reviewing the Oz makeup palettes, both the Theodora and Glinda versions. I posted photos of the Oz garden in Epcot – all in anticipation of the movie release.

Just in case we had some folks turn out for the meetup, I prepared some goody bags as a thank you gift. The bags included bubbles, in honor of Glinda the good witch of Oz, and her preferred method of transportation. Before we knew it – March 8th arrived – and it was a GORGEOUS cool Florida evening. The kind of weather I dream of having all year long. Our small yet mighty group of 10 arrived, introductions were made, necks were hugged, and we all settled in to watch this highly anticipated movie. We enjoyed Ghiradelli’s and some shopping afterwards.

I am not a movie critic – so I don’t want to try and act like I understand things like cinematography, visual graphics, or surround sound. I have provided a link below to Commonsensemedia.org if you were looking for that sort of thing. But I know what I like, and I just want to share without giving too much away, that in my opinion, this movie was more than great – it was absolutely fantastic.

Oz the Great and Powerful has something for everyone. Children will enjoy the wonder and magic (although there were a couple of startling/scary parts that made ME jump a little in my seat), teenagers will enjoy seeing some of their favorite modern day actors in such different roles, adults will enjoy the beautiful imagery, romance and fun. Those adults who are more “seasoned” will enjoy looking for the quiet subtleties and connections that are reminiscent of the original Wizard of Oz film from 1939.This is all speculation on my part of course – but if you see the movie I think you will recognize all the things I am mentioning here.

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In closing – I highly recommend spending the extra money to go see this film in theaters. If you are reading this a year or 10 years from 2013 – check out the DVD – upload it to your flying car – whatever you have to do. I believe it was worth the effort and expense. In fact, you may just want to take it a step further and come see the beautiful gardens that celebrate Oz in this year’s Epcot Flower and Garden Festival.

In my humble opinion, I think you will be glad you did that too.

Have you seen Oz yet? What did you think of it?

Mariah Carey Goes Black And White For ‘Oz’ Video (947thewave.cbslocal.com)
Commonsensemedia.org review of Oz

Welcome back, Oz and beauty fans! On my last guest post, I brought you a pretty yet strong look created using Urban Decay’s Glinda palette. However, Glinda isn’t the only witch in Oz: The Great and Powerful! Theodora is a young witch, beautiful and naive. In early Oz movies, the Witch of the West is a dark force; in Oz, Theodora wants peace in the land(according to trailers…hmmm…guess we’ll have to head to the movies to find out for sure!).

Urban Decay describes her as “fiery, strong-willed, and spellbindingly beautiful.” The palette they created for her certainly fits the bill! This palette contains six dark, sultry eyeshadows, a black eyeliner, and a fiery red high-gloss lip pencil.

As a brunette with brown eyes, I find that warm, brown shades suit my coloration the best. Red is my favorite color, although I usually wear the shade in clothing rather than on my lips. All in all, the combination of colors in this product are what led me to snap this palette up, even before I bought the Glinda one. Urban Decay makes stellar beauty products and I knew that this would be a palette I’d reach for again and again. This palette is great for everyday looks, but I decided to create a more dramatic look to possibly wear to the Oz premiere on March 8th. Below I’ll take you through the look, step by step; see captions for directions.

Prime the entire lid; then apply Broken (bone white) to the brow bone and inner corner

Pat the gold half of Spell onto the inner half of the lid; do the same with Beware (light fawn brown) on the outer half

Pat the gold half of Spell onto the inner half of the lid; do the same with Beware (light caramel brown) on the outer half. Line inner half of lower lash line with the gold as well.

Apply Bewitch (warm chocolate brown) to the crease and bottom lash line, winging it out past the brow

How your wing should look with your eyes open

Apply West (deep reddish brown) to the outer v, blending where it meets other shades

Line with Zero and apply mascara. I also put on some falsies for a little extra flair.

I finished my look by adding a shimmering highlighter to my cheekbones and applying the Theodora lip pencil (a warm-leaning cherry red) on my entire lip. Below are before and after shots – I used the before shot from the Glinda post because…well…I generally look the same without makeup, regardless of the clothing I have on. Click to enlarge:

Before

After

So what look do you think is best for the premiere – a warm, strong “dark” look, or a delicate, spellbinding “good” look? Which witch is more your style overall – Theodora or Glinda? Let us know in the comments!