The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
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The Wizard of Oz
Adventure · Fantasy · Family · 1939
Young Dorothy finds herself in a magical world where she makes friends with a lion, a scarecrow and a tin man as they make their way along the yellow brick road to talk with the Wizard and ask for the things they miss most in their lives. The Wicked Witch of the West is the only thing that could stop them.
Movie details
The Wizard of Oz
“We're off to see the Wizard, the wonderful Wizard of Oz!”
1939 Adventure · Fantasy · Family 1h 42m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
7.6 / 10
Community rating
Young Dorothy finds herself in a magical world where she makes friends with a lion, a scarecrow and a tin man as they make their way along the yellow brick road to talk with the Wizard and ask for the things they miss most in their lives. The Wicked Witch of the West is the only thing that could stop them.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over The Wizard of Oz?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
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The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
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Harry, Ron and Hermione walk away from their last year at Hogwarts to find and destroy the remaining Horcruxes, putting an end to Voldemort's bid for immortality. But with Harry's beloved Dumbledore dead and Voldemort's unscrupulous Death Eaters on the loose, the world is more dangerous than ever.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
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Cars fly, trees fight back, and a mysterious house-elf comes to warn Harry Potter at the start of his second year at Hogwarts. Adventure and danger await when bloody writing on a wall announces: The Chamber Of Secrets Has Been Opened. To save Hogwarts will require all of Harry, Ron and Hermione's magical abilities and courage.
The Black Cauldron
Animation · 1985
Taran is an assistant pigkeeper with boyish dreams of becoming a great warrior. However, he has to put the daydreaming aside when his charge, an oracular pig named Hen Wen, is kidnapped by an evil lord known as the Horned King. The villain hopes Hen will show him the way to The Black Cauldron, which has the power to create a giant army of unstoppable soldiers.
Chupa
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While visiting family in Mexico, a lonely boy befriends a mythical creature hiding on his grandfather's ranch and embarks on the adventure of a lifetime.
Wolfwalkers
Animation · 2020
In a time of superstition and magic, when wolves are seen as demonic and nature an evil to be tamed, a young apprentice hunter comes to Ireland with her father to wipe out the last pack. But when she saves a wild native girl, their friendship leads her to discover the world of the Wolfwalkers and transform her into the very thing her father is tasked to destroy.
Inkheart
Adventure · 2008
The adventures of a father and his young daughter, in their search for a long lost book that will help reunite a missing, close relative.
The Magic Faraway Tree
Adventure · 2026
A modern family relocates to the countryside where the children discover a magical tree with eccentric residents. They're transported to fantastical lands, rekindling their family bond through adventures.
Where it lives
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Victor Fleming
Written by
Noel Langley · Florence Ryerson · Edgar Allan Woolf
Judy Garland
Dorothy Gale
Ray Bolger
"Hunk" / Scarecrow
Jack Haley
"Hickory" / Tin Man
Bert Lahr
"Zeke" / Cowardly Lion
Frank Morgan
Professor Marvel / The Wizard of Oz
Margaret Hamilton
Miss Gulch / Wicked Witch of the West
Billie Burke
Glinda
Court is in session
Put The Wizard of Oz on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.