Beetlejuice Beetlejuice – Movie Review

TL;DR – While it does not hit nearly as hard 40-years later, it was still a fun ride from start to finish, if you can get through all the mess.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit sequence.

Disclosure – I was invited to a screening of this film.

Beetlejuice appears from the mist.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Review

While you should never say Beetlejuice’s name three times, today we are in luck because we are looking at the sequel which is just Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. However, delving back into the past and trying to find a sequel after 40-odd years since the first outing is a potentially fraught endeavour. Can you capture what made the first Beetlejuice a hit all those years ago? Well, that is what we will look at today.

So, to set the scene, in the many years since Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder) helped the Maitland ghost’s out she has become a mother, and a host of a very popular ghost show called Ghost House with Lydia Deetz. However, every now and again, out of the corner of her eye she sees a man with green hair and striped suit. Lydia was in the middle of taping one of her shows with her producer Rory (Justin Theroux) when she gets an urgent call from her stepmother Delia (Catherine O’Hara). Her father has been killed and the whole family is going back to Winter River for the funeral, including Lydia’s mostly estranged daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega), who does not believe that her mother can commune with the dead. Mourning for the dead can be a difficult process, but when mysterious woman called Delores (Monica Bellucci) appears in the afterlife killing souls and sending Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton) into hiding. Well, a fortunate timed funeral could be just what he needs to connect with his almost wife from all those years ago.

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Space Jam (1996) – Exploring the Past

TL;DR – A blast from the past that has unfortunately lost a bit of its sheen. 

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is an End Credit scene

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix subscription that viewed this film.

Space Jam. Image Credit: Warner Brothers.

Space Jam Review

When Space Jam first came out in cinemas, I was in primary school, and I can remember that it was a film that teachers would put on when they needed a break from us but not that much more. It has been over a decade since I have seen the film, and besides the occasional look at the old website, I hadn’t thought about it much. However, then they went and made a sequel. I felt I had to give it another watch for due diligence to see just what it was that captured people all those years ago.

So to set the scene, in 1973, a young Michal Jordan (Brandon Hammond) is practising at his home well after midnight. When talking to his dad, the one thing he wants to be is a champion and play on a championship team. One montage of Jordan’s career later, and a now champion Michael Jordan (Michael Jordan) is retiring from basketball to join baseball. But on a planet in deep space, a theme park boss is Swackhammer (Danny DeVito), is trying to find a new attraction, and he decides to steal all the Looney Tunes. But instead of being captured, Bugs Bunny (Billy West) cons them into playing a basketball game for their freedom.   

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