The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Dorothy lands in a full-color paradise with a talking scarecrow and singing Munchkins, and spends the entire trip begging to go back to the sepia part. Kansas did not earn that kind of loyalty. That’s not the only issue. The flying monkeys have been wrecking kids’ sleep since 1939, the Lion’s big solo number drags, and the middle sags once the gang reaches the Emerald City and gets handed a second quest. But then Judy Garland sings Over the Rainbow like she means every word, and none of that matters. Margaret Hamilton set the template for every movie witch after her, green face, cackle and all. Ray Bolger moves like his joints are actually stuffed with straw. The jump from sepia to color is still one of the great door openings in film, all on a reported $2.8 million budget and done in 102 minutes. A 9.4 because it’s the movie that showed everybody else what a fantasy could look like. $3,949 says you click your heels together at least once this week when nobody’s looking.

What works: Judy Garland’s sincerity, the sepia-to-color switch, Margaret Hamilton’s iconic witch, and songs everybody already knows.

What doesn’t: The flying monkeys are pure nightmare fuel for little kids, and the middle stretch drags once the gang has to go fetch the broom.

Who it’s for: Families with kids old enough to handle a scary witch, and anyone who wants to see where half of movie fantasy started.