Friday May 16, 2008 (midnight)
Saturday May 17, 2008 (midnight)
Return to Oz (1985) is the highly stylized semi-sequel to 1939's mega-classic. It picks up with Dorothy a few months after her first trip over the rainbow; she's back in Kansas and in a mental hospital. Another storm-induced blackout sends her back to Oz, where the murderous Princess Mombi has taken over Emerald City. Her old pals are either missing or turned to stone, so with the help of Tik-Tok (a metal soldier) and Jack Pumpkinhead (self-explanatory), Dorothy searches for the Scarecrow. While the original was Technicolor family fun, Return to Oz is a dark and stormy head-trip — closer to the tone of the original books and more Hunter S. Thompson than Walt Disney.
– Courtney Nash