In theaters: Shalom, Oz!

Yossi (Strand): If you don't know the work of gay, Israeli filmmaker Eytan Fox, then you owe it to yourself to become acquainted. Not one to shy away from LGBT subject matter, Fox's breakthrough occurred with his third full-length feature. The festival favorite Yossi & Jagger, about the romantic relationship between gay Israeli soldiers Yossi and Lior (aka Jagger) broke all sorts of new ground in the early part of the 21st century. The taut, queer thriller Walk on Water, followed in 2004 and his masterwork, The Bubble came after that in 2006.

Fox's latest, the marvelous Yossi, is a sequel, picking up a few years after Yossi & Jagger ended. Now a paunchy, thirtysomething heart specialist at a hospital in Tel Aviv, closeted Yossi (reprised by Ohad Knoller) continues to mourn the death of Jagger aka Lior), who was killed in Lebanon when they were still in the army. A workaholic loner and social outcast of his own making, Yossi rebuffs the sexual advances of nurse Nina, as well as the persistent invitations of fellow heart doc and ladies man Moti (Lior Ashkenazi). Yossi prefers to watch porn on the Internet. A sex-site hook-up also doesn't go well at all.

But when Yossi recognizes Lior's mother Varda (Orly Silbersatz), at the hospital for a test, he sets the first of a series of events in motion that will forever change him. At first pretending not to know who she is, he later inserts himself into her life, even going so far as to show up at her home, where she lives with Lior's father. It's obvious that they've never recovered from the loss of their son either. When Yossi pours out his heart to them about him and Lior, in one of the film's many heartbreaking scenes, they each react differently. Lior's mother wants him out, but the father invites Yossi to see Lior's old bedroom.

The turning point occurs when Yossi runs into four young soldiers who missed their bus at a fast food joint. He offers them a ride and on the drive they bring a jolt of energy into his doughy and grey world. One soldier in particular, Tom (Oz Zehavi) forges a connection with Yossi. Enjoying their company more than he had expected, Yossi changes his plans and checks into the hotel where they are staying on their leave.

Although it has been leading up to this point from the beginning, it is here that Yossi comes close to evolving into an Israeli version of Tom Ford's A Single Man. Some similarities existed all along, for example, the fact that the lead characters in both films are widowers who never overcame the loss of their great loves. But it's in the erotically charged scenes with Yossi and Tom, particularly the ones involving the beach skinny dip and what follows, that play like a heartfelt homage to Ford's adaptation of the Christopher Isherwood novel. The heart-stopping performances by Zehavi and Silbersatz, and most especially Knoller (who was also brilliant in The Bubble) are more than reason enough to see Yossi. (Yossi opens at the Landmark Century Cinema on March 8.)

Oz The Great and Powerful (Disney): Oz The Great and Powerful opens with, well, great promise. The mood is set by a dazzling title credits sequence (in black and white, no less), that will make you want to strap on those uncomfortable 3D glasses. Kansas (poor Kansas) is once again presented in all of its black and white (but mostly grey) glory. Storm clouds gather over a traveling circus where magician and ladies' man Oz (James Franco looking more out of place than he did when co-hosting the Oscars) is bent on practicing his most successful trick – making his tongue disappear into the mouth of his young female assistant.

Oz is having a particularly gloomy day. Occasional girlfriend Annie (Michelle Williams) comes to tell him that she plans to marry a "feller" by the name of Gale (read: foreshadowing). Then, following an especially unsuccessful performance, where he's unable to honor the request of a little girl (Joey King) in a wheelchair to make her walk (more unsubtle foreshadowing at work), Oz must make a hasty exit when the strongman discovers that he's been messing with his girl. In other words, like Dorothy Gale (before or) after him, Oz must get out of Kansas or die. Good thing his assistant Frank (Zach Braff) notices that there's a hot air balloon nearby.

Setting sail just as one of those dang Kansas twisters arrives, Oz is whisked off to the vividly colored Land of Oz (hey, that's his name, too!), where his arrival has been anticipated. Greeted by Theodora (Mila Kunis, really?) who fills Oz in on the details – wicked witch, evil minions, citizens living in fear and despair (you know the drill). The good people of Oz are counting on his magic to restore peace to the kingdom. Only then can he take his rightful place on the throne as king, with Theodora by his side as queen, and lay claim to all the riches. His first act must be the destruction of the Wicked Witch and her dreaded wand.

But which witch is it? Is it Annie lookalike Glinda (Williams) who claims to be good? Is it Theordora's sister, the slinky Evanora (Rachel Weisz)? Or could it be the short-fused Theodora herself? While Oz tries to figure that out, he amasses a Dorothy-style team, including winged monkey Finley (Braff), whom he rescues from what turns out to be a cowardly lion, and China Girl (King), a living porcelain doll Oz repairs. As it turns out, it's Finley and China Girl who end up with the best lines in the whole movie.

Anyone, parents included, who was terrified by the winged monkeys in The Wizard of Oz should be warned that the Wicked Witch's computer-generated winged baboons are far more ominous and terrifying (just ask the girl in the 12th row who spent every scene in which they appeared with her head in her mother's armpit). The 3D effects are put to good use here, although they do come close to being abused. The best effect is the use of foreshadowing, one of the few things screenwriters Mitchell Kapner and David Lindsay-Abaire got right. Oz's obsession with Thomas Edison, for instance, plays an important role in the wizard's future use of projection.

Even with one thankfully abbreviated musical number, the movie is at least 30 minutes too long. Why is it necessary to drag out scenes of physical violence? In a lot of ways, Oz The Great and Powerful feels like what Disney did to The Muppets. Stuck its fist deep inside (are you following?) and came out empty handed. No one involved, including director/horror-master Sam Raimi, was up to the task. As unnecessary prequels go, Oz is near the top of the list. Someone please hurry up and make the Wicked movie. (Oz The Great and Powerful opens in theaters on March 8.)