@deanduncan63Saw #OztheGreatandPowerful. Cool credit sequence. Looks great. Thin surface, but something’s swirling in the depths down there …
… like that the overrated, simpleminded ‘39 MGM original never quite acknowledged Frank Baum’s shocking semi-assertion, however subconscious …
… or accidental it might have been. God is dead! Books 1 & 2 were the #AmberSpyglass of their time! This free adaptation goes on to hint …
… that in addition to religion, escapist blockbusting is just as empty & bankrupt. It’s a lie, but if you pay, we’ll genuflect anyway!
#OztheGreat… actually quite strikingly resembles a very prevalent film school fantasy, encountered most often in scripts written …
… by ardent & frustrated male film students. In this scenario, exemplary womanhood inexplicably descends to recoup inert, worthless masculinity …
… That’s about it! What’s in it for the ladies? Never thought of that! Well, better get back to watching SportsCenter …
Saw #OztheGreat… Kinda subversive, & self-critical. The B&W, 1.33:1 world as construct, all carny contrivance, fobbed off upon the rubes …
… who deserve it. Colourful Oz seems, is actually presented as a consolation & a comfort. But is it? Closer scrutiny starts to suggest …
…a Baudrillardian nightmare: rampant idolatry, hegemony, nonsense. In the 70’s everyone was remaking John Ford’s The Searchers …
… (Taxi Driver , Close Encounters, Alice in the Cities or Paris, Texas). Now, every film is The Matrix!
Last #OztheGreat … Not great, but such echoes! Heard the conclusion to C. Jung, ’38, & Preston Sturges, ’41/2. Reminded of The Exorcist III …
… the last episode of Twin Peaks, Ingmar Bergman’s Cries & Whispers, Robertson Davies’ World of Wonders, even The Life of Brian; …
… it’s culture, & our collective brains, as one big Cloud!