4K UHD Review: The Wiz (Criterion Collection)
The 1975 Broadway debut of The Wiz—an African American retelling of the classic children’s novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum—was a huge hit. Starring seventeen-year-old Stephanie Mills as Dorothy, who was a tiny teenager with a big voice. The play went on to win seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Given […]
Stormy Weather (Blu-ray)
In the 1930’s and ‘40s, when the South was segregated and racism was an accepted practice, most black entertainers were pigeonholed into small, cartoonish roles in comedies and musicals. All black films were a rarity, but two musicals—MGM’s Cabin in the Sky and 20th Century-Fox’s Stormy Weather-–released seven months apart in 1943, finally gave some […]