Cinema: Some Sideshows of Summer

Dorothy and Clint fizzle, but St. Elmo may catch fire

RETURN TO OZ

"If this is Oz, Dorothy," says Billina, the talking chicken, "I'd rather take my chances back in Kansas." A wise bird. Any movie in which a Midwestern prairie actually looks more attractive and more interesting than the enchanted land over the rainbow is in big trouble.

The Emerald City as Dorothy (Fairuza Balk) rediscovers it is about as wondrous as East Berlin in a brownout. Seems that the Nome King, who is a talking rock (stonily played by Nicol Williamson), has trashed the place and turned its inhabitants into boulders for good measure. Presiding over the ruins is,...

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