It's hotter than Hell in Linköping today, so after spending some time in the sun and realizing it wasn't healthy, I had a People's beer and watched Walter Murch's Return to Oz (which I got as a birthday present from my co-blogger). It's a dark and depressing film, far from the uplifting and colorful Wizard of Oz (though, in content, it's actually pretty faithful to the books).
It starts with Dorothy, played by a prepubescent Fairuza Balk, being sent to a hospital to receive electric shock treatment for her delusions. And it gets worse after that. I can easily imagine this movie scaring the shit out of small children. I guess it was a commercial failure too, considering Murch hasn't directed anything since. (He's done a lot of other things, though, including helping restore Touch of Evil to Orson Welles' original vision.)
But it's pretty cool and the effects are surprisingly neat. With the caveat that adults probably shouldn't watch it entirely sober, I'll give it four Michael Keatons out of five.
Saturday, July 09, 2005
Return to Oz
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
What the...?
More movie reviews at SB!!
I saw this movie in the hospital after I had my car accident when I was a tot, and it blew my mind. Somehow it was entirely appropriate, and I've scoured blocbusters looking for it.
Yeah, it's that kind of movie. I last saw it on a Midsummer's Day, very hung over. That's when I realized I had to own it.
Discshop has it for 99 SEK (around $13 US), but they only ship within the EU.
Post a Comment