"If you think Scripture is telling you what you want to hear, take a long, hard second look."
- The Ancient Mariner
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
The Wizard of Oz turned 70 the other day. Something about that movie has always freaked me out. I seriously can't stand it. It's just plain creepy. As far as I'm concerned The Wizard of Oz and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory can both die a slow, painful death.
I'm actually happy that none of my kids will ever see The Wizard of Oz this side of their 18th birthday. If you feel the grace to watch that film, be blessed. I'll watch Star Wars Episode II again before I walk down the yellow brick road one more time.
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Comments on "Notice I Didn't File This Under "Just Goofin' Off" ":
3. Bill
- 09/24/2009 8:12 am CDT
I seriously can't stand it.
That's because you are an evil, evil man, Bird.
Wizard of Oz is awesome!
DR - yes, Charlie was good, but Johnny Depp is no Gene Wilder.
4. Jared
- 09/24/2009 8:18 am CDT
"Wizard of Oz" is great. But it did scare me when I was little.
I'm pretty ambivalent about both Charlie film adaptations. I guess I prefer the first one b/c the songs were better and in the Depp one I thought the backstory into his childhood ruined the Wonka mystique.
5. Bob Sacamento
- 09/24/2009 9:59 am CDT
I can take or leave Oz. My only real complaint is that it's really longish for the amount of actual story it carries. But Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is great, dude! The creepiness is part of its charm!
And, DR, sorry, but Bill is right and you are horribly misguided. Tim Burton's remake suffered horribly from his apparent desire to leave his mark on everything he touches. It was OK. In a few short episodes, it was brilliant. But the original with Gene Wilder remains the unequalled and unchallenged classic. Sorry.
6. Daniel Ross
- 09/24/2009 10:40 am CDT
I stand by my statement. :-)
My kids love the new version and the old version (they are 6 and 4-year-old girls). They also love The Wizard of Oz. So, Bird, you are more creeped out than a couple of little girls. How's that make you feel?
;-)
8. nhe
- 09/24/2009 11:57 am CDT
I'm with Bird 100% on this. I think all of the above are creepy. I never quite understood the great mystique of NBC (I think) showing Wizard of Oz once a year when I was a kid.
Their decision to show "Its a Wonderful Life" annually is much better - its become an annual tradition in our family.
But Wizard and Willy Wonka (any version) are weird, odd and bizarre - not a fan. Never saw the Johnny Depp version (by choice)......only Tim Burton film I've seen that I've really liked is "Big Fish."
In fact when I think of Oz or Wonka, I just generally think of Tim Burton style creepiness - not my thing.
13. Scott
- 09/24/2009 3:50 pm CDT
I enjoy Oz. I love the Wilder version of Wonka and really like the Burton version. Wilder softens Wonka a bit, perhaps more than was called for. Still love, love, love.
14. Happy
- 09/24/2009 4:53 pm CDT
in spite of the fact that the best part about Star Wars: Episode II was seeing it in the theatre at the midnight showing and hearing this guy at the back of the theatre cry out halfway thru the movie (in desperation at Anikin's angsty-ness): "We want Luke!" - I think I too would rather see that again. :)
15. Manders
- 09/24/2009 5:46 pm CDT
Somehow, in my 24 years, I have never seen The Wizard of Oz. I have read the book, however, and it's fantastic in that quaint early twentieth century way.
However, when it comes to Willy Wonka, Gene Wilder wins, hands down. (I might be influenced, though, by the fact that I watched the Johnny Depp version on an airplane on about four hours of sleep.)
16. Bill
- 09/24/2009 8:12 pm CDT
Oh, I almost forgot.
The only thing that reeked worse than Star Wars Ep II was Star Wars Ep III, which stunk on ice.
18. Karl
- 09/25/2009 10:46 am CDT
I thought Star Wars Ep I reeked worse than III and at least as bad as II. But they all reeked and IMO it's really splitting hairs to say which was worse and almost a laugh to say that one of them was "better" than the other two. The fact that I even watched Ep's II and III after the being tortured by EpI, is a testament to how much I loved the original trilogy (especially IV and V). What a huge letdown that prequel trilogy was after so many years of anticipation. Sitting there in the theater after Ep I and realizing how bad it was, just hurt.
19. Tom
- 09/25/2009 2:06 pm CDT
My family has always loved The Wizard of Oz. Watched it again and again, watched all the "making of" and behind the scenes footage, etc. I cannot stand either "chocolate factory" movie, though. My girls love both of them. I fell asleep in both.
I think Episode III was the best of the sequels, though that's not saying much.
20. Mr. T
- 09/26/2009 7:44 am CDT
Oz is one of the great leadership examples of all times. Dorothy, the leader,(a) leads her team well without ever claiming to have all the answers (b) fully integrated the goals of her followers into her own goals (c) showed us that courage and fear are not mutually exclusive and (d) based her effort on genuine affection and love without losing sight of the goals she persued. How can you not like that? We need more such leaders.
21. Spike
- 09/26/2009 10:58 am CDT
My folks packed all of us kids into the car to go over to grandpa's when the Wizard came out, because he was the only one we knew that had a color TV. Most people still had B/W. We all about cried when the "color" part started. Classic it is. And my how far we've come.
22. Ken
- 09/27/2009 8:05 pm CDT
Episode II did have some good stuff in it--the arena scene homage to Harryhausen and the lightsaber duel between Yoda and Dooku. Christopher Lee classes up just about any production he's in. Anakin's attempted rescue of his mother is a favorite because of the reprise of "Duel of the Fates," which is one of the best parts of Episode I--for my money, Lucas should have canned Jar-Jar and spent a lot more camera time on Darth Maul, one of the baddest dudes in the entire saga.
Episode III works well because of most of the payoff scenes, the essential elements of the plot that get us to the original trilogy. But the set-up, I agree, was not handled as it should have been.
Oh, and "The Wizard of Oz" is one of the great classic movies. Anyone not appreciating it needs help. You're allowed to be creeped out by the flying monkeys, however.
23. Michele
- 09/27/2009 10:13 pm CDT
Spike, I have the exact same memory! I always tell my kids, "We suffered, we had to wait to watch Wizard of Oz, once a year, and heaven help us if it landed on a night that we had to be out! We had no VCRs, we were at the mercy of the television stations. And, then, when we got to Grandma's to watch it, she always invited her neighbor as well, young Heather McClarty who always wiggled the whole time and had the worst gas. Oh, we suffered."
Leave a Comment:
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is awesome. It is better than the Gene Wilder version. I know this statement will enrage many of my generation, but it is true.