Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024)

[Silver Nemesis]

[The Joker]

Fun trailer! Going off the latest trailer, this does very much appear to be taking the "Ghostbusters 2" route, in that the sequel is apparently taking a lot of inspiration from the Beetlejuice animated series from the early '90's. Which isn't entirely a bad thing, but I would gage that making Beetlejuice something of a comedic anti-hero is going to bring a new dichotomy for a whole lot of people, who only are familiar with the 1988 film. Where Beetlejuice was decidedly a villain, and only briefly in the movie itself (12-15 minutes? Something like that).

But yeah, it's cool to see Burton return to something that he had such a personal stamp of influence on from his younger days, and Keaton returning to yet another signature role is always a treat. Keats excels at comedy. Always has.

Character posters.





Remember the scene where Beetlejuice pulls out a wedding ring in order to marry Lydia ("I'm telling you, she meant nothing to me! Nothing at all!"), and it has a finger attached to it?



Oh, and did anyone catch the brief appearance from Danny Devito?

[The Dark Knight]

This excites me a lot, particularly how the CGI is limited with a focus on practical effects. That makes it feel like a true sequel to the original and it's a brave and fun choice for a modern movie. I'm digging the character of Beetlejuice a lot too with the resurgence of the franchise. Keaton and Burton were doing The Mask routine well before Jim Carrey came on to the scene.

[Silver Nemesis]

Fun trailer! Going off the latest trailer, this does very much appear to be taking the "Ghostbusters 2" route, in that the sequel is apparently taking a lot of inspiration from the Beetlejuice animated series from the early '90's. Which isn't entirely a bad thing, but I would gage that making Beetlejuice something of a comedic anti-hero is going to bring a new dichotomy for a whole lot of people, who only are familiar with the 1988 film. Where Beetlejuice was decidedly a villain, and only briefly in the movie itself (12-15 minutes? Something like that).

I liked the Beetlejuice cartoon when I was a kid. Back then I used to collect the action figures and colouring-in books. When I finally saw the movie I was disappointed by how different it was to the cartoon, and in particular how different Beetlejuice himself was. I think that's why I've never loved Beetlejuice as much as Burton's other early films.

I like the energy Keaton brings to his performance, but I've never liked the sleazier characterisation of the live action Beetlejuice when compared to his animated counterpart. The cartoon built on the film's mythology and improved it, making Beetlejuice funnier and more likeable while still retaining his mad anarchic creepiness from the source movie. So I hope the sequel does take some cues from the TV show. That would only be a good thing in my book.

[thecolorsblend]

A lot of my opinions about the first Beetlejuice film are colored by the circumstances under which I saw it in theaters. And it would be fair to say that they were less than ideal.

Without turning this post into a blog, I'll say that I saw it with a friend, his brother and his mom. His mom absolutely hated my guts and only took me along to the movie reluctantly. In retrospect, I'm not 100% sure she didn't abuse me or her sons.

Actually seeing the movie was fine on its own merits. I enjoyed the production design and gothy Winona Ryder. But I always believed the first Ghostbusters film provided a far superior mix of authentic horror and genuine comedy than Beetlejuice. The characters never made a huge impression on me and I don't recall watching much of the animated series precisely because of the fact that I wasn't overly taken by the film.

I liked the mythology of the film. The rules the ghosts had to live by, the Handbook For The Recently Deceased and those things. But the movie didn't explore that stuff to the degree that I might've preferred.

All in all, I'll probably check out the sequel. Burton seems to be getting his old groove back, I don't know how many more films Keaton realistically has in him, Winona Ryder is back to her goth ways and I've always admired Gough & Millar's ability to drill down to the core truth of their characters.

But I don't seem to be experiencing the same level of anticipation that others are. And not for the first time, I've been wondering what those people see in the first film that I'm simply missing.

[The Dark Knight]

The way Keatonjuice behaves in a sleazy manner completes the idea of the character rather than smoothing it off. He's a dead hobo/used car salesman who talks how he looks, while he's smoking, spitting in his jacket and eating bugs. He can help out but you only want it as a last resort. In my opinion the character should be fun to the audience but have an edge that makes characters standoffish.

[The Joker]

A lot of my opinions about the first Beetlejuice film are colored by the circumstances under which I saw it in theaters. And it would be fair to say that they were less than ideal.

There's something to that. The theater experience does play a factor in how someone thinks of, or remembers a movie. Simply due to their own personal experience with seeing the film in a theater for the very first time. I mean, there are movies that I don't believe are particularly great movies, but did have a good theater experience with, and as a consequence, have since had some partiality towards ever since.

"The Haunting" from 1999 is one of these. Not something I've honestly had any interest in rewatching over the years, but I did have a very good theater experience with. Truth be told, the entire night after seeing the movie was fun as well, but the night got kicked off by that movie. So, subsequently, whenever I've seen something about that film pop up, I can't help but think about that night/theater experience. Definitely influencing my opinion about the movie for sure. I definitely can't deny that.

Without turning this post into a blog, I'll say that I saw it with a friend, his brother and his mom. His mom absolutely hated my guts and only took me along to the movie reluctantly. In retrospect, I'm not 100% sure she didn't abuse me or her sons.

I figure you and I are roughly the same age, and yeah, I wouldn't call that experience a fond memory to have by any means. Mine was just the opposite. The day started out with my uncle getting married (I believe I was ring bearer at the wedding). Following the wedding, and reception, my folks and I were back at home by that evening, and soon after my mom asked me if I felt like going to the movies? Going to the movies was a treat, so that was obvious. I seem to remember us sorta rushing to get to the next showing, and I had literally no idea what Beetlejuice was to be perfectly honest. but I distinctly remember it being me, my mom, her friend/work colleague, and her friend's two blonde teenage daughters. Being that it was essentially always just me and my mom going to the movies together (my dad wasn't a theater guy), I do remember having the thought that going to the movies with a group was atypical but cool. So, yeah, it was a fun experience, and of course I loved the movie itself as well. I *think* by that Christmas the same year, a couple of Christmas presents was the VHS tapes of "Back to the Future", and "Beetlejuice". Both of them got watched quite a bit over the next year whenever I wasn't watching cartoons or TMNT, and then of course "Batman" got released on VHS in late 1989.

Actually seeing the movie was fine on its own merits. I enjoyed the production design and gothy Winona Ryder. But I always believed the first Ghostbusters film provided a far superior mix of authentic horror and genuine comedy than Beetlejuice. The characters never made a huge impression on me and I don't recall watching much of the animated series precisely because of the fact that I wasn't overly taken by the film.

I remember watching the animated series quite a bit, but always leaned more into the film than I did the cartoon. I do remember thinking it was 'different' with Beetlejuice and Lydia being friendly with one another, but it was easy to roll with as well. It wasn't like the 1990 "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" movie was a spitting image of the Fred Wolf '87 TMNT cartoon, but like Beetlejuice, I liked both. Course you might like one just a little more than the other, but each had their appeal. With the "Ghostbusters" comparison, I just believe there was more to sink one's teeth into with GB over Beetlejuice (Ghostbusters was an instant cultural phenomenon, where Beetlejuice was successful, but not a smash hit like GB, though continued to age like fine wine). I recall the Beetlejuice toy line, and though it was fine, I wasn't any where near as interested in that as I was the Kenner Ghostbusters toy line from years before. From a kids perspective, perhaps the GB concept/ideas come across as much more grand, where Beetlejuice comes across as a bit more low key by comparison? I don't know.

[thecolorsblend]

There's something to that. The theater experience does play a factor in how someone thinks of, or remembers a movie. Simply due to their own personal experience with seeing the film in a theater for the very first time. I mean, there are movies that I don't believe are particularly great movies, but did have a good theater experience with, and as a consequence, have since had some partiality towards ever since.

"The Haunting" from 1999 is one of these. Not something I've honestly had any interest in rewatching over the years, but I did have a very good theater experience with. Truth be told, the entire night after seeing the movie was fun as well, but the night got kicked off by that movie. So, subsequently, whenever I've seen something about that film pop up, I can't help but think about that night/theater experience. Definitely influencing my opinion about the movie for sure. I definitely can't deny that.

This part stood out for me. It makes me wonder if we should kick off a Fun Moviegoing Thread.

Not necessarily movie theater experiences. But positive experiences had while watching a film for the first time, whether it was in a theater or at home (or wherever).

One question I've always grappled with is to what degree is my affection for a given movie about the film itself and how much is it to do with the circumstances under which I saw the movie.

There's a lot to say, frankly. But before starting a Fun Moviegoing Experiences thread, I thought I'd at least float a trial balloon and see if anyone has any kind of interest in that.

To be clear, the criteria would be:

1- First time seeing a movie (theater or not)
2- What a positive experience that was
3- Is the movie objectively good? Or do you like it because seeing it that first time was such a vivid experience?

It could be that this is only interesting to me. But even so, I thought I'd ask.

[Kamdan]

There's something to that. The theater experience does play a factor in how someone thinks of, or remembers a movie. Simply due to their own personal experience with seeing the film in a theater for the very first time. I mean, there are movies that I don't believe are particularly great movies, but did have a good theater experience with, and as a consequence, have since had some partiality towards ever since.

"The Haunting" from 1999 is one of these. Not something I've honestly had any interest in rewatching over the years, but I did have a very good theater experience with. Truth be told, the entire night after seeing the movie was fun as well, but the night got kicked off by that movie. So, subsequently, whenever I've seen something about that film pop up, I can't help but think about that night/theater experience. Definitely influencing my opinion about the movie for sure. I definitely can't deny that.

This part stood out for me. It makes me wonder if we should kick off a Fun Moviegoing Thread.

Not necessarily movie theater experiences. But positive experiences had while watching a film for the first time, whether it was in a theater or at home (or wherever).

One question I've always grappled with is to what degree is my affection for a given movie about the film itself and how much is it to do with the circumstances under which I saw the movie.

There's a lot to say, frankly. But before starting a Fun Moviegoing Experiences thread, I thought I'd at least float a trial balloon and see if anyone has any kind of interest in that.

To be clear, the criteria would be:

1- First time seeing a movie (theater or not)
2- What a positive experience that was
3- Is the movie objectively good? Or do you like it because seeing it that first time was such a vivid experience?

It could be that this is only interesting to me. But even so, I thought I'd ask.

That's a terrific idea! During COVID, I got bored one day and decided to make a complete list of every movie I ever saw at the theater by going through year by year on Wikipedia and compiling every movie ticket I've kept since I turned 20. Would be fun to reflect on them and hear from others.

[Silver Nemesis]

Actually seeing the movie was fine on its own merits. I enjoyed the production design and gothy Winona Ryder. But I always believed the first Ghostbusters film provided a far superior mix of authentic horror and genuine comedy than Beetlejuice. The characters never made a huge impression on me and I don't recall watching much of the animated series precisely because of the fact that I wasn't overly taken by the film.

I liked the mythology of the film. The rules the ghosts had to live by, the Handbook For The Recently Deceased and those things. But the movie didn't explore that stuff to the degree that I might've preferred.

This is more or less how I feel about it. I like how the premise of the original film inverts a typical haunted house narrative by showing the story from the ghosts' perspective, with the ghosts being the sympathetic protagonists who are trying to evict the obnoxious humans from their home. I like the visual style, Elfman's score and the retro stop-motion effects. The cast is good and the whole mythology of the afterlife as a bureaucratic netherworld is inventive. All the pieces are there. But for some reason... I don't know, it just never quite clicked with me on a personal level. Again, it probably stems from that initial disappointment I felt as a kid that it wasn't like the cartoon show. Maybe if I'd seen the film before the animated series I'd have felt differently.

It is a good movie, and if were comparing it to other eighties ghost comedies I'd certainly rank it above Scrooged or High Spirits (both of which came out the same year as Beetlejuice). But I'd rank it below the original Ghostbusters, which is obviously the king of eighties ghost comedies, and I'd also rank it as the weakest of Burton's eighties films. Vincent and Pee-wee's Big Adventures are just as creative as Beetlejuice, but I think they hold up better as comedies. They're funnier. And Batman is clearly Burton's best picture from that decade.

The fact I don't love the original Beetlejuice as much as I'd like to is the reason I'm open to the idea of the sequel. They were obviously never going to top Ghostbusters '84, but I reckon they could surpass or at least match the quality of the original Beetlejuice. It's not an impossible benchmark to reach. This is one of the few eighties movie reboots that stands a decent chance of satisfying its target audience. If nothing else, I'm looking forward to seeing Keaton reprise the title role. He's always said in interviews that it was the character he'd most like to revisit, and judging from the trailer he looks exactly like he did in the original. The first film won an Oscar for its make-up effects. I wouldn't be surprised if the sequel gets nominated in the same category.