Leviathan_ Reviews

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1987 Video)

One of the better adaptations

[28 June 2003]

I was 6 when I first saw this version of The Wizard of Oz (the full TV series - it has since been split up for video with this one being the 1st part), and I hadn't seen any of the other versions nor even knew it was actually based on a book. Only afterward did I get to find out it was based on a novel (which I still haven't read) and see the Judy Garland version plus the 'Return to Oz' movie released in the 80s.

Needless to say my memory is a bit sketchy, however I can remember enjoying this one immensely (my local TV station ran it twice - restating it as soon as its first run finished). One thing 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz' has over some of the other versions is its length - it was able to be spread out over many episodes and not have to be crammed into a 2hr movie or something similar.

From what I can recall the story was split into 3 parts (though a search on IMDB seems to indicate there are 4 parts - see below*). The first part concerned to most memorable part of the Oz saga - Dorothy getting sucked up by the tornado only to land in Oz, where she meets up with Scarecrow, Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion. They all join together in a variety of adventures as she attempts to get to the Emerald City to meet the famous Wizard who supposedly has the power to return her home. The Wizard instead sends them off to kill the Wicked Witch of the West (which they do) but upon returning it is discovered the Wizard is in fact just a normal man who arrived in Oz via a balloon. When Dorothy misses out on returning home with the Wizard she and her friends end up going to meet Glinda the Good Witch of the South (interestingly every other version has Glinda as being from the North) where Dorothy learns that she only needs to click her magic slippers to return home.

The second part involved characters such as the witch Mombi, the usurper-of-the-throne Queen Ginger (the throne had previously been held by Scarecrow after the leaving of the Wizard) as well as the memorable Jack Pumpkinhead and his master/guardian Tip (who later turned out to be Princess Ozma disguised by magic as a boy by Mombi). This part ended with Ozma being revealed and taking her place on the throne of Oz. I have to admit I'm a little hazy on what happened during this part with the exception of Ginger making herself Queen after Dorothy and co escape on a wooden horse (brought to life by Tip with the same magic powder that created Jack Pumpkinhead) as well as the end where Ozma is revealed and crowned.

The third part struck me as the strangest (and somewhat boring) part involving Dorothy visiting the land of Ed(?) and meeting characters such as Tick Tock and the Gnome King. This part ended with Dorothy ending up back in Oz and the Gnome King launching an (unsuccessful) invasion of the Emerald City. One of the most memorable parts from this one was the ornament room where the correct ornament had to be chosen lest the person themselves be turned into an ornament ('Return to Oz' used this part too). As I mentioned earlier this part of the story struck me as the weirdest as I never really understood how Ed existed alongside Oz (early on we see Scarecrow, Tin Man, Lion and Ozma walking to Ed (how far is it?) and towards the end we see the Gnome King and his army tunnelling to Oz - I don't know, maybe the book explains this). I was also bored by it a bit as most of the storyline took place in Ed (which is more or less a desert). Fortunately the later sequences in Oz were more enjoyable, especially with the constant girl-fighting between Dorothy and Ozma (who had turned into a bit of a spoiled brat between this part and the last part when Ozma was Tip).

All up it was an enjoyable series for me and I have plenty of fond memories of it - I'm actually surprised it's been 16 years since I've seen it as I can still clearly remember many parts of it. I don't know how close it resembles the original novel (which I haven't read as mentioned before) but compared to some of the other attempts at bringing the Oz story to the screen (big and small) this one is good for taking the time to develop a nice, long story with characters who flesh out and grow as the series moves along. Definitely recommended.

* On IMDB I have found what appear to be 4 parts of the Oz story which are as follows - 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz', 'The Marvelous Land of Oz', 'Ozma of Oz', and 'The Emerald City of Oz'.

All of these were listed as being made in 1987 and appear to have the same crews and cast (voices) for them so I presume these were all the parts that made up the story I remember seeing. I'm not 100% sure of the order however 'Marvelous' has Jack Pumpkinhead on the poster which would suggest its the 2nd part. 'Ozma' and 'Emerald' I'm not too sure about their order but I daresay they made up the later parts.

Teaching Mrs. Tingle (1999)

Starts off ok, starts going downhill and then falls off a cliff

[25 August 2002]

I saw the film expecting the worst film ever made after reading some of the comments here, but I was pleasantly surprised (at first). In the beginning the film starts off ok and I was starting to enjoy it until the kidnapping of Mrs Tingle takes place. From then on things start to go downhill until the end which is totally stupid.

To get the most out of this film I think you'd have to be a fan of Katie Holmes's 'Joey' character off 'Dawson's Creek', since it's pretty clear that Holmes's 'Leigh Ann' is a direct rip-off of the aforementioned character (not really surprising since Kevin Williamson who wrote/directed this movie also created 'Dawson's Creek') - right down to the kind, friendly student who is smart but lacks the money to get out on her own and thus really needs those A's to get a scholarship for college. Joey is my favourite character off 'Dawson's Creek' so I didn't mind this, but those who don't will probably be automatically annoyed throughout this film since the story makes such a big thing about this.

The Plot - the film follows the story of Leigh Ann, a smart student who badly needs to get high marks to earn a scholarship which represents her only ticket out of town. Only problem is that her last assessment item due is for her History class, taught by Mrs Tingle who is regarded as the Devil Incarnate by all (including the principal) and who also has it in for poor Leigh Ann and makes a mockery of her assignment she's submitted. To make matters worse later on Mrs Tingle catches Leign Ann and her 2 friends in the gym with a stolen exam paper (which had been stolen by Leigh Ann's 2 friends) and she's determined to get them expelled. However the principal is unavailable until the next day and Leigh Ann and her friends have to try and find some way to 'reason' with Mrs Tingle before then.

I won't post spoilers for those who have yet to see it but I will say that from the time Mrs Tingle is 'detained' the plot loses itself and by the end has descended into utter stupidity. The biggest mistake IMHO was that the writers made Mrs Tingle such a nasty person without any redeemable features - she's a cruel person just because she feels like it and we're not given any real reasons to help us understand why she is the way she is (there are some hints given here and there but the film never attempts to follow these through) and as a result we're left feeling pretty unsympathetic with whatever happens to her. In addition Leigh Ann and her friends continually make the stupidest of mistakes (like constantly leaving Mrs Tingle ungagged despite telling themselves repeatedly not to let her talk) and we're left with feeling a bit unconcerned on how things may turn out for them since all these actions are being obviously thrown in to create predictable problems later on. There's also the running parallel of the films detainment of Mrs Tingle with 'The Exorcist' but these scenes seem totally unneccessary and seem to only function as filler to keep the running time at an acceptable length.

All in all, it had potential but unfortunately it fails to add up to where it can deliver. If the comments below concerning how a lot was cut out of the film are correct then I wouldn't mind seeing a version with some of those cuts put back in which would hopefully expand on some areas, but as it stands I would only recommend it to people who are fans of the main characters (especially Katie Holmes).

Totally Full Frontal (1998–1999)

Failed attempt to resurrect an already dead program

[28 May 2002]

Why did the producers attempt this show? It's predecessor 'Full Frontal' had already been canned in 1997 due to falling ratings and the fact the show just wasn't funny anymore. Maybe the fact that it won a Logie the previous year for Best Comedy Program as well as good ratings for old 'Fast Forward' re-runs convinced them that there was still some life left in the old horse.

Well they were wrong. The biggest mistake by far was that nothing new was even attempted - they just continued straight on from where it's predecessor left off. Occasionally something fresh, original and maybe even funny would turn up but on the whole it was just the same old retreads again and again.

Conclusion - a flop. They should have let it end with the cancellation of the original 'Full Frontal'.

Full Frontal (1993–1997)

Great comedy show, but went a year or 2 past its use-by date

[28 May 2002]

Initially starting off as an extension of the program 'Fast Forward' with the title 'Fast Forward's Full Frontal', within a year the show had totally replaced it's great but slowly aging predecessor to become one of the great comedy shows on Australian television. With the simplified title 'Full Frontal', every Thursday night was a guranteed blast.

It made a great start back in 1993 but the show really began to hit its stride around 1995. By this time the cast had settled down into well-developed roles and skits such as Australian National Nightly Network News, A Current Affair (featuring Eric Bana as Ray Martin), David McGahon's World and skits involving a former boxer named Milo Kerrigan (both played by Shaun Micallef) amongst others, whilst at the same time keeping ideas fresh and original.

Unfortunately nothing lasts forever and during the 1996 season things started to go downhill. Some of the skits were beginning to show their age and this was beginning to be a bit of a drag on the laughs. The producers seemed to be aware of this as well judging by the alterations they made, most notably with Shaun Micallef in the phasing out of his Milo Kerrigan character in favour of Nobby Doldrums, as well as finding alternate uses for his David McGahon character (such as the Roger Explosion series). Despite this however the alterations didn't really push far enough.

By 1997 'Full Frontal' was really starting to nosedive. Not only were the skits really starting to scrape for laughs, but the disappearance of some key cast members certainly didn't help matters. The new cast members that were recruited honestly weren't that good and further hurt the show. Despite continued attempts to keep the show fresh the ratings were falling and at the end of 1997 the show was cancelled.

All in all, a great show but judging from the way it ended up it was probably pushed for a year or 2 too long.

Cast Away (2000)

Great film. Pity about the ending though ...

[23 January 2001]

... I can't help but feel impressed that a film that spends most of its time just watching a man do things on an island can be so enjoyable. Without a doubt this can be attributed to Tom Hanks himself, who has the power to draw attention to himself and appear interesting even without the aid of dialogue, and director Robert Zemeckis, who's excellent direction really pays off.

Alas this is not the perfect film. Zemeckis should have trusted Hanks' abilities and have made his time on the island the primary focus of the movie, rather than simply make it the 2nd act of a 3 act play.

*Spoilers*

The beginning is pretty much standard but I guess we have to start somewhere. The plane crash is quite a well-done piece of film making and of course the time on the island is superb. Unfortunately just as Hanks seems to be getting the grasp of surving on the island we fast-forward 4 years to see him preparing an escape. Ok, I can accept that. but then after being rescued instead of the film ending like we would all expect it to we're treated to yet another 30 mins or so of 'finishing up' stuff from the beginning.

Really what irks me the most is not really that they continued on after he was rescued, but rather that they did it in such a boring and obvious way. We hardly get a glimpse of seeing Hanks re-adapting to life in civilisation again (he was marooned for 4 years afterall) and of course the whole relationship thing with Helen Hunt is given as much time as the film makers can wring out of it.

However, even the bad bits don't come close to putting a dampener on the overall majesty of the film. I'd strongly recommend it, but if you're not to fussed about seeing a film right through then it might pay to walk out just as Hanks gets rescued.

4 out of 5 stars

The Simpsons (1989– )

Great show, but the earlier seasons were better

[5 January 2001]

I'm basically repeating what has already been said countless times, but oh well. :)

The show is without a date one of the greatest things to happen to television in recent history, but as of late the series has been on a sort of downhill slide. You just can't beat the earlier seasons - there was an air of reality mixed in with the comedy. As an early user review pointed out the characters and plots were more complex and fulfilling in that regard.

Fast-forward to today and what you've got is a series that is still good but has descended into slapstick and caricatures. Take for instance Homer - he has always been a dimwit but he always cared about his family and did his best. Nowadays though the producers just focus on his stupidity for the quick joke and don't really try to go beyond.

I'm probably making the show sound worse than it is - it's still a great show, even today, but you can't beat the early seasons. If there are still people out there who haven't seen it yet, I strongly advise seeing the earlier episodes first, to gain a better appreciation of how great this show is.

Hey Dad..! (1987–1994)

Good at first but began to go downhill as the series progressed

[4 January 2001]

As my title says, it started off quite well, but constant character changes and a general lack of material to work with effectively killed the show.

Personally the show started going awkward for me when Paul Smith was replaced as 'Simon' - Christopher Mayer was ok but he never quite made it for me. And this was right in the early seasons.

Anyway, aside from that, the show was pretty good until in the space of 1 season or so Debbie, Simon and Nudge (practically half the main cast) just disappeared and were replaced. The biggest problem here was not that they were replaced but rather their replacements were almost IDENTICAL to the earlier characters. Ben was Simon with a bit of Nudge thrown in. Arthur was also a bit of Nudge. Samantha was Debbie.

Needless to say that after this the show started going downhill quite rapidly. Even the replacement of Martin Kelly was for naught because Greg Russell was (surprise surprise) yet another identical replacement. If you're going to replace characters, please make them DIFFERENT. Making them practically identical to the originals only serves to remind us of how good the original cast was compared to the current one.

The only character that stayed with the show throughout was Betty (Jenny doesn't count because she was played by 2 different actresses, who both played her differently), which was pretty sad. Betty may have been funny at first but in the end all she did was mess up everything again and again and again. Was funny at first, but after a couple of years you want something else for a change.

In all, the series was enjoyable, but it's best years were 1986-1991 when the original cast (well at least most of it) was in.