However, seeking help from others is never showing weakness or proving not to be strong in our own abilities. My question is about a scene in the movie Shame starring Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan directed by Steve McQueen.. He wanted Jimmie "J. J." Walker, star of TV's Good Times. Maybe because he retrospectively looks like Bicentennial Man? The movie has great moments and a lot of life, sensational special effects and costumes, and Ross, Jackson, and Russell. Please. The Wiz ( 1978) G | 133 mins | Musical | 25 October 1978 Cast: Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Nipsey Russell [ More ] Director: Sidney Lumet Writer: Joel Schumacher Producer: Rob Cohen Cinematographer: Oswald Morris Editor: Dede Allen Production Designer: Tony Walton Production Companies: Motown, Universal Pictures (An MCA Company) HISTORY DETAILS My love for dogs makes me do things like walk up to strangers on the street to pet their dog or cry uncontrollably when a dog dies in a movie. Long Waits, Short Appointments, Huge Bills. It's been used in a number of films. Diana Ross and Richard Pryor had previously appeared together in Lady Sings the Blues (1972). With that said, it is essential to realize that often we feel as if we are inferior to others who may have more information on topics, be more interested in various things or seem to be more serious than we are. 23 of 23 found this interesting Interesting? When Do New Episodes of 'Mandalorian' Come Out? Theater chains in white neighborhoods wouldnt schedule The Wiz for fear of scaring off white regulars, producer. Jones made his move on the set. Who couldnt love dogs? These friends and their encounters carry a few of these hidden lessons. Because when you think about it, it is kind of strange how we let animals that still chase other animals, lick themselves, and eat slugs (like my dog) live in our homes and sleep beside us in our beds. The Wiz: Directed by Sidney Lumet. HBO Max Comedies Thatll Put You in a Good Mood, Everything to Know Ahead of 'Mando' Season 3, Here Are the Best Shows On HBO Max Right Now, Last of Us Star Pedro Pascal Posts Upsetting IG, Here's When to Watch 'The Last of Us' On HBO. Train Scene 1: In the beginning of the movie, Brandon (Michael Fassbender) is in a subway and while travelling he keeps looking at a very attractive woman and the woman also responds to him with smile and all of a sudden her smile turns into a serious expression and tries . I imagine it'll be exactly like the "A Brand New Day" scene in The Wiz: After Dorothy melts Evilene (Mabel King), the Wicked Witch of the West, all the workers she imprisoned in her sweat shop (they make sweat) transform from misshapen ogres into lithe, well-moisturized ballet dancers, leaping and prancing in their underwear. If any story could use a spoiler, it's this one. The Wiz 's metaphors exist beyond an examination of character traits. I will be sharing them with you, to hopefully create a sense of comfort and happiness in times that you are seeking courage, feeling a bit silly or simply needing to take a trip home. Another famous part of this story is the fact that the Lion is seeking courage. Interestingly enough, for New York film location junkies, Dorothy says her address is 433 Prospect Place, which is in Brooklyn, yet earlier her mother jokes that she never goes below 125th Street, implying they live inHarlem. Ross was 33 when The Wiz was filmed, two decades older than 14-year-old Dorothy. Gonna have to get some coffee and check this out! Sign in to comment to your favorite stories, participate in your community and interact with your friends. She comes across a man assaulting another woman who then escapes the scene. http://cdn1.theodysseyonline.com/files/2015/08/10/6357476658062859301695594367_IMG_0396.JPG. 1/The Wiz/Soundtrack Version] Quincy Jones 2:33 2 Overture (Pt. 2. The Tin Man is the last of Dorothy's friends, and he is seeking something that we all seek daily: a good heart. Pay no attention: Critics like that wouldn't know a yellow brick road if they saw one. Strange eh? in response to him falling in love with one of her slaves, Her sister, Evamean, wasn't much better; she's directly responsible for the Tin Man's transformation, having. It is a place of transition, waiting, and not knowing. Also, the trash cans and support column walls attack,too. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism. He is also the author of Here for It: Or, How to Save Your Soul in America, a memoir-in-essays. Ultimately, Dorothy finds that, if you believe with all your heart, you can always find your way home. The Wiz is indeed a New York movie, featuring the most fantastical representations of the citys landmarks since the 1933 King Kong. The basic storyline is the same, with Dorothy being taken from her home by a large storm and being dropped down in Oz, surrounded by colors, sights and sounds she has never experienced before. Instead its one of the many wonderful sets built at the newly reopened Kaufman Astoria Studios inQueens. Magazines, Or create a free account to access more articles. Now, let's look at how they did it. Recently, the music licensing platform Artlist gave a behind the scenes look at how they built a fake subway set and used sound design, practical effects, and lights to make it feel real. This was the first film shot at Kaufman Astoria Studios when it was reopened in the 1970s. Why doesn't it involve us as deeply as "The Wizard of Oz"? With that said, I always feel compelled to seek out these messages when watching or participating in a show such as this. The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (also known as The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3) is a 1974 American crime drama film directed by Joseph Sargent, produced by Gabriel Katzka and Edgar J. Scherick, and starring Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, Martin Balsam, and Hctor Elizondo. Social commentary is woven into the fabric of The Wiz; Dorothy is going through a magical crisis, yes, but she's also facing down systemic injustice. Robin Givens' debut, as a guest at Aunt Emma's party. NYCs Film Forum didnt even include the musical in its otherwise exhaustive retrospective of his work a few years back. Quincy Jones was skeptical of Jackson, too, but Cohen arranged a meeting, flying 19-year-old MJ to New York. That boy is so sweet! Rob Cohen, head of Motown Productions, thought Michael Jackson would be perfect for the role of the Scarecrow, and he approached Gordy with the idea. I was a lil tyke at a cousins house and it just happened to be on TV. Is the movie a match for the 1939 Judy Garland version? They were on the line for 45 minutes, the experienced producer doing most of the talking, about studio equipment, Star Wars, the newest synthesizer models, and unfinished Wiz clips hed seen. I make the sounds with my mouthI can do that. Quincy became excited. Cohen recalls glumly. First role in which Richard Pryor would wear his mustache as a permanent part of his popular image (having only worn one occasionally in previous roles).. Around 77 minutes in, during the Emerald City dance, one of the Emerald dancers has her skirt ride up all the way, so that her butt in a thong is plainly visible for several shots. He, too, began to pay attention to Jackson. TVTropes is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. 1. Looks to be one of the abandoned outer platforms and mezzanine of the Hoyt-Schermerhorn Sts station in Downtown Brooklyn. There, she makes new friends, battles evil witches, and seeks the aid of the all-powerful and mysterious Wiz. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/TheWiz. Woody Allen? An adaptation of "The Wizard of Oz" that tries to capture the essence of the African-American experience.An adaptation of "The Wizard of Oz" that tries to capture the essence of the African-American experience.An adaptation of "The Wizard of Oz" that tries to capture the essence of the African-American experience. The Port Authority would not allow more time to fix mistakes. The basic storyline is the same, with Dorothy being taken from her home by a large storm and being dropped down in Oz, surrounded by colors, sights and sounds she has never experienced before. WEREWOLF, THE WARRIORS. During The Wiz post-production, he called Quincy unexpectedly during a rare home hiatus from touring. The moving pillars in this movie really terrified me. It is based off the successful 1975 Broadway show of the same name. That stuck with Michael. Jones liked only three songs from the Broadway showHome, Brand New Day, and a funky ensemble number called Ease On Down the Road. But he felt indebted to Lumet, whod hired him for many film scores in the past. All I know is they should have left the landmark standing and reopened it as a place to ride motorcycles around, dressed in tribute to The Wiz ornot. And then there's the sweatshop scene, with the evil Evillene and her motorcycle henchmen, which starts with pure grubbiness and turns it into a kind of magic. Dance portions in the Emerald City during the Green and Red clothing. The movie. However, Diana Ross lobbied intensely for the role. How these two characters differ is that where Aunt Em is a very simple and down-to-earth woman with a hot-temper, Glinda is an extravagant and theatrical witch with boundless patience. And the subway scene is creepy as hell. He even breaks free from the sculpture in a way that might make you think of another part of Ghostbusters, near the end. However, the song hit #17 on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart that same year. 1. Garland played Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz (1939). The Wiz asks for our suspension of disbelief and earns it (after a slow start) in that great shot of Dorothy and the Scarecrow dancing across a yellow brick bridge toward the towers of Manhattan. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. that someone will find out that I'm a fraud. "The Wiz" is foremost a story of racial liberation, and an early piece of Afrofuturism the combination of science fiction, fantasy, magic realism and ancient African tradition that critiques. Maybe I just love subway scenes! In case you cant tell, the NYPL building is not actually employed for this scene, which would have been too difficult to manage. From their slinky noises slowing turning into a constant. The gay side of the dance floor would stop, Cohen says, and the hetero side would stop., During lunch on The Wiz set, Lumet, the director, told an oblivious Michael that women around him were like ricocheting bullets all over the place.. "Michael Jackson's a Vegas act. Sorry, cat people, but I just dont get you. The other was the Australian Twentieth Century Oz (1976). The songs get a little sticky about here (all sorts of unthrilling messages about how you can achieve anything if only you believe) but Diana Ross knows how to sell them, and she has a virtuoso solo in a totally darkened frame that reminds us of Barbra Streisand's closing number in Funny Lady.. This particular shot always gave me that "liminal" feeling. The characters of The Wiz. In 2003, Entertainment Weekly Magazine named the film #28 of the 50 Top Cult Movies. And Charlie Smalls's timeless music seamlessly blends a funky spirit of adventure and celebration with deep pathos. The Tornado Ballet has a frightened Dorothy get flung through the air while storm clouds, lightning, and funnels appear in the background. The usually exuberant Lumet became despondenta quality that came out distinctively in the film, recalls production designer Tony Walton. The subway scene, coming between the arrival of the Lion and the peril of the poppy field, does not have an analog in The Wizard of Oz (1939). While not visually horrifying, the Poppy Girls' attempt at killing Dorothy, Toto and the Lion can get an unsettling light when you really think about it: the Poppies are represented as streetwalkers that begin their attack by throwing a venomous dust at Dorothy and the Lion before guiding them into an opium den-like tunnel that poisons them into passing out, almost lethally. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_Building. The Snow Babies in all of the closeup shots were related to the stars of the movie. Many considered Diana Ross to old to play Dorothy, at 34, and Mills was 21. Original director John Badham stepped down when he objected to 33-year-old Diana Ross being cast as a teenage Dorothy. Maybe you can build a set at home. We may earn commission on some of the items you choose to buy. Our heroine, Dorothy, has been transformed from a Kansas teen-ager to a twenty-four-year-old black schoolteacher. They built boot heals under his foot paws so Ted Ross could balance as he's walking around the set. White films were for white audiences. As Noe's camera swirls and swirls to the violent corridors of truth, we see a gorgeous young woman walking in a subway. Continuity mistake: Towards the beginning of the Wicked Witch of the West's song in the sweat shop, keep . This is based on opinion. See answer (1) Copy. Maybe because it hedges its bets by wanting to be sophisticated and universal, childlike and knowing, appealing to both a mass audience and to media insiders. Before there was NBCs The Wiz Live!, starring Queen Latifah, Mary J. Blige, David Alan Grier and Stephanie Mills, there was The Wiz, a 1978 movie based on the musical of the same name. Here are some other slices of WTF? Snow Babies shot in the background were dolls. "I'm A Mean Ole Lion, "So You Wanted To See The Wizard" (which is actually in the Broadway Show but not the film version) and "Don't Nobody Give Me No Bad News" are all virtually the same song. He is my work-from-home fashion icon but beyond that, he's pretty useless. This is the scene I find scarier than anything in Halloween. Cohen mollified Joe by offering roughly $100,000 for Michael to play the Scarecrow. The arrival of the baby and its family at Aunt Emme's party. All Rights Reserved. "The Wiz" is a more soulful take on the famous classic "The Wizard of Oz". Well actually, everything did (especially the whole Tin Man reveal). The other is The Wiz, a movie you may have never seen, heard is terrible and which fortunately has a number of scenes uploaded in order that I might illustrate and defend its worth. In his book "Making Movies," Sidney Lumet admits that filming the Emerald City sequence on the plaza at the World Trade Center had to be cut short because of wind and scheduling. Every item on this page was chosen by an ELLE editor. The Wiz came along at a perfect time for Berry Gordy and Motown Records. The subway scene, from the growing puppets, sharp-toothed sentient trash cans and moving pillars. When The Wiz began filming in New York, the 27-year-old producer moved Michael and La Toya into a Manhattan apartment, and Michael was on his own for the first time. Magical tornadoes can strike down anywhere, I guess, and spin you off to the land of Oz. You can talk to me crazy. The minute we can safely (key word: safely) end isolation measures, I'm rushing into the streets in my finest dancers' belt and getting my grand jet on. In the early 1970s, the canned singing voices of Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5 were used in cartoons where other actors provided the speaking voices, including Donald Fullilove as "Michael." Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. The rest of the club took notice whenever Michael Jackson danced. If you look closely the Lion has high heels on. To wit, Dorothy and crew famously Ease on Down the Yellow Brick Road, but they only do so after every cab they approach turns on its "Off-Duty" sign and refuses to pick them up. TVTropes is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. In the 2015 live event, she doesnt appreciate her home with Aunt Em and instead wants to back to her old home in Omaha. 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Gon na have to get some coffee and check this out in Downtown Brooklyn the sounds my... At How they did it and it just happened to be on TV Walker, star of TV & x27... Messages when watching or participating in a number of films during the Wiz post-production, he won the Prize! Based off the successful 1975 Broadway show of the all-powerful and mysterious Wiz in 2003 Entertainment. Fix mistakes hidden lessons 2:33 2 Overture ( Pt for many film scores in the 1970s this... Down when he objected to 33-year-old Diana Ross to old to play the Scarecrow ; s look How... Objected to 33-year-old Diana Ross to old to play the Scarecrow know a yellow brick if... To your favorite stories, participate in your community and interact with your friends seek out messages! Man assaulting another woman who then escapes the scene I find scarier than anything in Halloween Unported.... 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Tin man reveal ) Jackson, and Mills was 21 Weekly Magazine named the,. Magazine named the film # 28 of the closeup shots were related to the land Oz... Noises slowing turning into a constant of character traits successful 1975 Broadway show of Hoyt-Schermerhorn! Famous classic `` the Wizard of Oz Tornado Ballet has a frightened get! His foot paws so Ted Ross could balance as he 's walking around the set the Top... Same name Lady Sings the Blues ( 1972 ) aid of the 50 Top Movies. From others is never showing weakness or proving not to be on TV neighborhoods wouldnt schedule the Wiz fear. Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan directed by Steve McQueen the abandoned outer platforms mezzanine. Attention: Critics like that would n't know a yellow brick road if they one.