Wizard of Oz




Return to Oz

December 6, 2006
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Return to Oz
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Return to Oz (1985)

Fans of the original books beware: Disney Studios and Jim Henson’s Muppet factory go to great detail to lovingly recreate the art nouveau illustrations, but disreguard L Frank Baum’s books! Gone is clever rascal Tip, Princess Ozma’s pre-fem identity and wayward servantboy of Witch Mombi. Some of his children are here, including Jack Pumpkinhead and the amazing Gump made from a hunting-trophy head, a sofa, and and other drawing room furniture. The wooden sawhorse makes a cameo as a playroom rocking horse, and other beloved characters appear without speaking. Ozma herself is practically expunged, appearing only at the end of this overlong film. Don’t even get me started with the Mombi-Langwidere hibrid. Why have they mangled the Oz legacy into this boring snoz.
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The Wiz

December 5, 2006
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The Wiz
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The Wiz (1978)

Quincy Jones updates the Wizard of Oz with an uplifting disco-soul soundtrack, but director Sidney Lumet bungles the innercity finding-yourself musical set against racial themes and New York City landmarks. Diana Ross, Micheal Jackson, Richard Pryor, Lena Horn…, the film showcases a legendary cast and one of the greatest musical talents of our age (Jones appears briefly in a nod to Cab Calloway as a piano player in the Emerald City), but Lumet robs the film of all empathy or excitement by shooting scenes wide and long from across the parking lot. It’s almost as if he is afraid to get too close to his Black performers. What would otherwise be a sparkling Motown musical as great as MGM’s original Wizard becomes a tinsel race-card curiosity.



Wizard of Oz

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Wizard of Oz
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The Wizard of Oz (1939)

A bumpkin farmgirl becomes a national hero when she accidently murders two ruthless dictators, and exposes a corrupt and powerless central government. Basically, it’s the template for US foreign policy in the 20th century. Forget critical analysis, forget Citizen Kane, forget high art cinema. The Wizard of Oz is the best known of THE three films that define American culture. Wizard (along with It Happened One Night and The Ten Commandments) is etched into our psyche from annual television showings that become family events. Oz shaped our childhoods and changed our speech. There’s not a single person who can’t reference “…And your little dog too!” We know every lyric, we’ve all admired SOME piece of Oz memorabelia, and in our dark moments we’ve delighted in schadenfreude to rumors of letcherous circus midgets and poisonous lead make-up — and of course a talented child star who became a pill-popping icon…. Every paradise has snakes, that’s only added to the legend, but do you REALLY know what this beloved musical is about?
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