Dec. 22, 2002 - 8:43 pm
i started thinking about this film last week for some reason. i thought i remembered it as being fairly exciting and weird from when i was a kid. i also remembered very little of what actually went on in the film, so i thought it was time that i see it again. it's a really unfortunate film though. i guess at least my curiosity is satisfied now. that's about all that i can say in the way of positive things.
this is basically the Motown version of The Wizard of Oz story. if you don't know that story, then you're most likely not reading this right now because you're a slobbering film moron who has never seen The Wizard of Oz (1939).
but the characters and story is changed quite a bit. it's also set to funky Motown 70s music which for the most part drastically sucks. Dorothy, played by Diana Ross, is a Harlem kindergarden teacher who runs after her dog Toto, when he runs out into the street towards an oncoming blizzard. she's then swept away to Oz and you know the rest of the story from there. basically they take the original story, make everyone black, throw in Motown music, assemble lots of sets made out of trash, and throw in some often bad special effects.
really the only reason to watch this is to see Michael Jackson in a film. Michael Jackson is insane, but awesome. it's simply undeniable. his singing is like no one else's, as is his dancing. as far as an actor, well he's almost as cry-y as Diana Ross is. these people are always either crying onscreen or looking like they're about to cry. maybe that's why Michael and Diana always got along so well together back in the 70s. it's weird, and really uncalled-for...all of the crying.
when my mom and i were sitting in the den watching this film, i said to her "the cinematographer of this film was a moron." such boring shots at the beginning of the film. the camera hardly ever moves, and when it does, it does it badly. yet this film was nominated for Best Cinematography.
and oh my gosh the disgusting tackiness of the costumes and set design. again...two Oscar nominations. the only thing that could make the movie worse would be if there were some screeching harmonicas and incessant funk bass lines being rattled off for the soundtrack. oh yeah, i forgot. 1979 nomination for Best Music. terrible. the Academy seemed to do nothing but wrong in 1979. i have no explanation. my suggestion is that no one else subject themselves to this film unless they have to see Michael Jackson.