Long live the Wizard!

Rating: 10/10 (5 January 2000)

What a pleasure it was to finally see The Wizard of Oz for the first time on the big screen when it was re-released in 1998. This was one of the first films I watched as a child and it became a annual ritual to watch it while I was growing up. Nevertheless, I was surprised by how well I responded to it when I watched it on the big screen some 15 years or so after I thought I had outgrown it. The energy and wonder of the film still hold up and I was reminded of so many movies I have seen in the last twenty years that borrowed things from this movie. The performances by Judy Garland and Margaret Hamilton are still my all time favorite female lead and supporting performances. I've seen this movie maybe 15 times by now but I'll probably see it again before long.