Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024) | REVIEW

Michael Keaton as the titular character in Tim Burton’s BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE — PHOTO: Warner Bros. Pictures (Still image from trailers).

Directed by Tim Burton — Screenplay by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar — Story by Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, and Seth Grahame-Smith

It has been thirty-six years since Tim Burton — from writing by Michael McDowell, Warren Skaaren, and Larry Wilson — wowed audiences with his dark horror-comedy film about the afterlife, Beetlejuice. A lot has happened since then, for instance, Michael Keaton — the actor portraying the film’s zany titular character — became a household name and Batman (and Birdman!) himself, and Burton’s career rose and fell as he navigated the studio system with varying success. Despite having struggled critically over more than the last decade, Tim Burton remains an auteur with a distinct style and, as luck would have it, a new generation has embraced it following his Netflix hit Wednesday starring Jenna Ortega. This welcomed career resurgence has now led to the long-awaited sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, which welcomes back most (but not all) of the principal original cast. And, although the film isn’t quite as good or instantly iconic as the original film, Burton’s long-anticipated sequel has the right energy and sense of style to make it a thoroughly good time, despite how messy it sometimes feels.

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2019 Film Preview: Franchise Films and Blockbusters – Special Features #38

It’s that time of the year again. We are still in awards season, Golden Globe hopefuls are getting their acceptance speeches ready, and we are getting closer and closer to the new year. We are getting closer to the end of December. So, I thought, this is probably a good time to look at what films we’ll fall in love with in 2019. In this, the first of two articles about 2019 films, I present you with select franchise or blockbuster films that I have on my watchlist for the upcoming year. Continue reading “2019 Film Preview: Franchise Films and Blockbusters – Special Features #38”

REVIEW: The Death of “Superman Lives”: What Happened? (2015)

supermanlives
Written and Directed by Jon Schnepp

The following is a review of Jon Schnepp’s The Death of “Superman Lives”: What Happened?

For more reasons than one, this is the perfect time for Jon Schnepp’s documentary to be released. Not only is Ant-Man out in theaters in the summer of 2015 – a film infamous for the Edgar Wright-problems – but Avengers: Age of Ultron suffered from problematic quotes from its director back in April 2015. Meanwhile, Superman has not been this relevant since 1978.

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