WizardOfOz Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Making The (Up) Grade: The Wizard Of Oz
Filed under: DVD Reviews », Family Films », Home Entertainment »
If Hollywood's vast abundance of remakes, spinoffs and sequels weren't enough to kill your appetite for spending money on "new" entertainment, it seems like almost every one of these releases finds its way onto home video in multiple forms. Sometimes the studios issue different iterations of a film all at the same time, in a thankful moment of honesty that at least allows consumers the option of which version they want. More often, though, the studios will re-release, expand and double-dip their top earners time and time again in order to wring out a few more dollars from the less dull entries in their back catalogue. And especially now, during the still-early days of Blu-ray, there's even more new and different editions being released in stores, some of which are honest-to-Jah improvements on the presentation and packaging, while others are merely the next generation of mediocrity.
As such, we're launching the first installment of "Making The (Up) Grade," a comparison of some of the more high-profile (or maybe just personally-preferred) Blu-ray releases. And with Warner Brothers' deluxe reissue of The Wizard of Oz arriving in stores this week, it seemed like a good place to start to let readers (and eventually, consumers) determine with a little more specificity what you will be buying (or not buying) if you trade in an older edition for a newer one. To wit:
Would You Watch a NEW 'Wizard of Oz' Sequel?
Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy », RumorMonger », Remakes and Sequels »
By: Peter HallWarner Brothers wants to make a sequel to the 1939 Victor Fleming adaptation of Frank L. Baum's The Wizard of Oz. On the surface that seems all well and good, but the original news source, an article from the UK's Daily Express, shares a few surprising details that make this a contender for an award I just made up: Most Unexpected Film News I've Read in a While.
It's no surprise that the WB would want to send Dakota Fanning over the rainbow, but it is kind of shocking to learn they've no intention of a remake. The fifteen year old Fanning would play a grand daughter of Dorothy who, for an unknown reason, ends up in the land of the Tin Man. But before that gives you visions of Robin Williams heading back to Neverland in Hook, take a gander at this quote from one of the film's producers: "You've still got Dorothy trapped in an odd place, but she's much closer to the Ripley character from Alien [Sigourney Weaver] than a helpless singing girl."
Read the rest over at SciFi Squad
Is it time for a Wizard of Oz sequel, or is this one property that shouldn't be touched?
Concept Art for Boorman's 'Wizard of Oz'
Filed under: Animation », RumorMonger », Images »
Well, I'm obviously all over this. The more I've thought about John Boorman's plans for a non-musical, CGI-animated Wizard of Oz -- The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, to be more precise -- the more intriguing it has seemed. After all, it's a pretty damn good story, right? The 1939 musical is fine and all, but there's room in the world for a rendition of this story that does not involve anyone singing "Over the Rainbow" -- one that we can take a bit more seriously. Maybe one that's a little bit scary. In that respect, this update from Ain't It Cool News is heartening. Apparently, according to their tipster, Boorman really does have a vision that's serious and that sticks to the novel -- down to the little-known fact that Tin Man is diminutive in stature. They also have some fantastic-looking concept art, with a scarecrow that looks like a scarecrow and a witch's castle that's just a wonderful, timeless image.
So now this is making a bit more sense to me: The Wizard of Oz as straightforward, classic fairy tale. I've put a couple of the images below the fold here, but you're going to have to visit Ain't It Cool News for the rest.
John Boorman Directing Animated 'Wizard of Oz'... Wait, What?
Filed under: Animation », Classics », New Releases », Family Films », Newsstand »
This was an is-it-April Fool's-Day moment for me this afternoon. First of all, I thought -- foolishly, I realize -- that we were safe from another straight-up adaptation of The Wizard of Oz. (I was open to the possibility of parodies, modernizations, rock musicals, etc.) This is a story that much of the industrialized world literally knows by heart. Can you really tell it these days to anyone but the littlest kids without some sort of wink or angle?So needless to say I wasn't expecting the announcement that we'd be getting a full-on computer-animated Wizard of Oz in the summer of 2010. And I certainly wasn't expecting the man responsible to be John Boorman, who hasn't made a Hollywood film since the 80s. But, uh... It's coming, pitched not as a remake of the famous film, but as another adaptation of the original novel by L. Frank Baum. It won't be a musical, which might be tough to imagine for people raised on the 1939 movie, but which isn't too surprising: a musical remake would probably be painting itself into a corner.
Boorman, for the uninitiated, is the legendary director of Deliverance and Excalibur. More recently, The Tailor of Panama was excellent. He's never made an animated film, and I think he must have some sort of specific vision for this one. Otherwise it's a very strange late career move.
Buy This: Graham Rawle's 'Wizard of Oz'
Filed under: Fandom », Home Entertainment »
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What appears to be a weird and wild little journey, artist Graham Rawle has illustrated a new version of The Wizard of Oz which brings to life a whole bunch of scenes and characters not featured in the 1939 movie starring Judy Garland, but included in L. Frank Baum's book. Over on his website, Rawle explains: "Though many episodes are reassuringly familiar I was surprised to find L. Frank Baum's Oz richly populated with bizarre and wonderful characters not featured in the film: the Dainty China people, ornament-sized folk made from porcelain who are prone to breakages, and the Hammer Heads, armies of armless fighters with extendable necks and hard, flat heads. There are extra scenes, as well as back story, that reveal the origin of the Winged Monkeys, how the Tin Woodman came to be made of tin, and how the Emerald City only appears green because its inhabitants are made to wear green tinted spectacles."
It took Rawle two years to put together this new book, and what he did was craft miniature sets, characters, costumes -- all of it made from scratch, then altered in photoshop. I've never read the original Wizard of Oz, so hearing about these characters and seeing Rawle's freakingly cool images definitely has me wanting more. You can watch an animated trailer for the book after the jump, and check out some of Rawle's sweet imagery below. Oh, and buy the book over here or prints over here. Trippy stuff.
Perfect Spoofing: The Canadian Filmmakers Festival Posters
Filed under: Fandom », Exhibition », Posters »
I don't know how I never saw these, but some old Canadian Filmmakers Festival posters are sailing through the web, and they show what spoofing should be like. Think Jaws -vs- a fisherman, the little Poltergeist girl swayed by hockey, Superman ready for winter, and Dorothy in a pair of sensible boots rather than slippers. But my favorite is above, because it would make one hell of an awesome comedic remake of The Birds. Canadian geese -- they're the real birdly foe. They take over outdoor spaces, attack you to mark their territory, and they're scarier than Hitchcock's mean feathered fiends. If only these were the sort of spoofs hitting the big screen these days.
Check them out in the gallery below, and read more about the festival over here.
[via Slashfilm]
Premiere Gets Brave: Knocks 20 Classics as "Overrated"
Filed under: Classics », Fandom », Newsstand », Lists »
I haven't picked up an issue of Premiere Magazine in quite some time, but a friend of mine recently recommended I visit the publication's newly refurbished website. So I did. Pretty solid content across the board, I'm happy to opine -- but one particular article caught my eye, tickled my fancy, and squatted in my brain long enough to recommend it here.Basically, a bunch of the Premiere writers were asked to come up with their picks for Most Overrated Film of All Time -- and while most of the sacred cows slaughtered here are pretty darn obvious ones, the opinions and explanations as to why each film was chosen, well, I thought they were fairly compelling. Frankly, I'm thrilled to see someone call Field of Dreams "just too on the nose," because it absolutely is.
Fully prepared for the onslaught of How Dare YE!! hate mail, the Premiere posse has wisely decided to add an equally pithy rebuttal in defense of each movie. So when someone has the audacity to impugn The Wizard of Oz, we sane people have a defender who'll say Dude, Please. I've placed the 20 titles under the jump, just to help spark discussion, but do not let that stop you from reading through the whole article. It might make you think a little differently about some of those Unquestioned Classics that everyone's afraid to admit they don't really dig. (Yep, 2001: A Space Odyssey is overrated; I said it and I'm proud.)
Epic eBay Auction Coming in Two Weeks
Filed under: Classics », Fandom »
It used to be that movie collectibles only came to anxious audiences in special memorabilia stores. However, with the internet came eBay, and with eBay came a warehouse of collectible goodies at our fingertips. It's hard not to fall for the low-price lure that evilly reels you in and gives you a false sense of hope before ripping the dream away as people sail in with more buying power. But that's small potatoes. eBay is gearing up for a sale where I'm sure a thousand bucks will seem dirt cheap. The collection of items, which is valued at $3.1 million, contains some of the most memorable props and objects you can possibly think of. It looks more like a list of items from Planet Hollywood than a public auction.
Some of the stuff is a little newer. If you're a Star Wars fan, what would interest you? Perhaps the heads of R2D2 and C3P0? Not only are they two of the most recognizable pieces you could grab, but C3P0 would make one hell of a bookend. If you're looking for some older film pieces, you could put a bid in for the Wizard of Oz Cowardly Lion costume, or my personal favorite, James Dean's switchblade from Rebel Without a Cause. For something off-screen but just as noteworthy -- there will be the chance to bid on Elvis' wedding ring from his marriage to Priscilla.
The event will run on eBay from December 14 to 15, so you might want to start saving your pennies, or better yet, your gold pieces.
Wizard of DVD
Filed under: Music & Musicals », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Warner Brothers », New on DVD », Family Films »
The Wizard of Oz
is going to be getting a special edition DVD treatment. The film was
originally released on DVD in October 1999 as a single disc, but will
now be available in both a two and three-disc sets. Both versions will
include a new digital transfer of the original movie using Warner's
proprietary "Ultra-Resolution" technology. The soundtrack has also been
remastered. Special features include a new commentary from historian
John Fricke; four documentaries, outtakes and deleted scenes, home
movies made on the Oz set by composer Harold Arlen, and an "Oz Jukebox"
of recording session materials, radio shows and promo spots. The
three-disc edition will feature a new documentary about Oz author L.
Frank Baum, five pre-1939 "Oz" movies, the earliest of which dates to
1910; and reproductions of the invitation and program for the film's
premiere at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. The sets will has
MSRP's of $26.99 and $39.92 and hit store shelves on October 25th 2005.
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