Welcome to episode 23. Today, we discuss the 1988 hit, “Beetlejuice”.
Not familiar with the movie? Take a look at IMDB for more information.
Join me, Randy, Brian and Ibbott while we drink the poo water from the river of shame.
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Up next episode? The 80′s classic, Labyrinth.
rocks
btw i saw Eragon last week, it was crap
So shocked at the hate, still love this film now and it wouldn’t be anywhere near as good without Keaton. Do agree that he was rubbish in most other films he was in though.
Think you really underestimated how original this film was and how sadly rare this kind of movie is now when the only fantastical films we see tend to be based on books.
Tim Burton has gone off the rails the last few years and might never get back to his best but Beetlejuice is proof that he was great once.
I desperately hope he doesn’t remake (or reimagine) this. Would be painfully lame.
I think Beetle Juice is still ok.
Oh by the way just wanted to let you know, under the Parents Guide for Labyrinth on IMDB, it mentions that
“The contours of David Bowie’s genitalia are often apparent when his character is onscreen, due to the tights he is wearing.”
Creepy…
I really disliked this film for a variety of reasons but, as usual, I really enjoyed the review and discussion in Film Sack.
Cheers Guys,
Hugh.
Loved the show! Few points: 1) This did not make Michael Keaton a leading man. He was already a leading man after Mr. Mom. He made a string of flicks that didn’t take off and this movie put him back on the map. 2) Aliens 3 is terrible, if for no other reason than they killed off the cool characters that survived Aliens – in the opening credits no less! (I’m referring to Newt and Hicks, naturally) I really hated that (struck me as lazy writing – we don’t know what to do with these new characters so lets off them in the beginning).
Filmsack rocks! Can’t wait until the next episode.
wlg
Been listening to the show for a while now, love it! This is the first time I ever felt compelled to leave a comment though…BeetleJuice is one of my all time favorites. Think it holds up, moves well, and is pretty much brilliant. Can’t believe you actually talked about removing the BeetleJuice character in the movie! Sheesh. Oh well, still love the show!
Nobody noticed that Jack Skellington makes an appearance in the movie?
Thank the Gods of Olympus that Ibbott was there as a voice of reason. To even mention Howard The Duck in the same breath as Beetlejuice… it had its problems, pacing chief among them, but still. Howard the Duck is the worst movie ever made and this is just a run-of-the-mill Tim Burton movie. It isn’t even Tim Burton’s worst movie. The uncountable sight gags and the subtle jokes (Handbook for the Recently Deceased Press) offset by the over-the-top character that is Beetlejuice. It has an Adaptation sort of vibe to it, really. I could go on but everyone has their own taste. You don’t like the movie, that’s fine.
However, to besmirch the good name of Michael Keaton, well, them’s fightin’ words. His performance as this movie’s vaude-villain was pitch perfect. I also think he is one of Hollywood’s most underrated performers. To be able to go from Beetlejuice to Batman (and pull it off) is no small feat and he did it. He even made Multiplicity watchable! C’mon!
Just wanted to chime in about the death off the bridge. It was a throwback to an old movie called “Carnival of Souls” which also inspired sixth sense. It is also a great movie with over the top facial expressions which might have help inspire the zany charactors in Beetlejuice. Also, love the show.
I was really surprised that Scott didn’t like this one. It may not have aged well, but I remember liking it a lot as a teenager– but then I liked Mr. Mom, too, so there might be a distinct difference of opinion about Mr. Keaton there. Catherine O’Hara has been wonderful in everything, and I’m pretty sure Winona Ryder played pretty much the same character as she did in Heathers, only at a different age. Okay, maybe it was the same character as in Reality Bites, come to think of it.
At the risk of being banned from commenting in the future I’ll say it anyways. I don’t think Tim Burton is that great. Don’t get me wrong, he has done amazing work (one of which I note Beetle Juice) but most of his movies have a sameness to them. To some degree one should see a movie and tell a direction style (I think of Spielberg) but for all movies to “feel” the same, despite story, Burton seriously suffers from it. It doesn’t help that he works near exclusively with Helena Bonham-Carter and Johnny Depp. Perhaps it’d be a negative to Beetle Juice if the chronology was different but being it was the first it feels all that followed drew from it.
I loved Gena Davis in this movie. They may have pushed the New Englander stereotype, but Davis had the look. Her beauty, her features, were those of the geography (guess it helps she’s from Massachusetts), I allude more to those than her dress. Alec Baldwin didn’t really have it (though his performance I liked because I don’t remember him looking anything like this in anything else he’s done). I agree, Cavett and Goulet were the icing on the cake.
While I consider it nowhere near a classic, I don’t understand the hate by you guys (Team Ibbott here!). It may not hold up well… but what does?! I don’t favor movies that try to capture what the future will be. Not futuristic movies, but movies that are made in the hope of lasting. Casablanca is timeless. Why, one asks, it’s obviously a 1940s movie with WWII as a backdrop. It captures that moment in time, I say. In the same vein, Beetle Juice is a video capture of the late 80s without being mired down by the trappings of the era: fashion, pop culture references. The only things that readily comes to mind are O’Hara’s character and Otho, the pomp, “mod” look of city dwellers forced into the country. And look at the special touches: the Bellafonte music (no 80s synth bands), the “bio-exorcist” commercial was purposeful parodying of used car salesman advertisements, and, my God, look at the cover of the Handbook for the Recently Deceased! Looks like a handbook straight out of the 1950s.
One thing that bothered me. To get anything done, you have to say something three times (and why does EVERYTHING have to be said three times (Candyman?). To summon Beetle Juice, say name three times; to make it back home off the model, say “home” three times. Why is it when Beetle Juice was trying to look up Barbara’s dress with a stick and she says “Hey, hey, hey” stray and hay didn’t come falling from the heavens?
And, Scott, you do know Betelgeuse is pronounced phonetically as “Beetle Juice,” right? That’s why they kept mispronouncing the name. Oh, and since one of you brought it up: while on the model talking to Beetle Juice, he looks up and says, Hey, look, there’s Saturn! We’ve been to Saturn!” B-man then jumps back and says, “Whoa, sandworms. You hate ‘em, right? I hate ‘em myself!” I always took this to mean that when they stepped out of the house, they were transported to Saturn. Where the sandworms are. Apparently I’m not the only one who thought that?
“Beetlejuice” on the same level as “Howard the Duck”?!?!
I fear this may be Film Sack’s Jump the Shark moment
Of all the crap you’ve watched on this show you pick Beetlejuice to beat up on the most!? Way off base in my opinion fellas. I also can’t stand the position of disliking something because it’s dated. YOU REVIEW OLD MOIVES, OF COURSE THEY’RE DATED. Just watch new films then! I really enjoy the show but I wanted to shut if off almost as much as you wanted to shut off the film. Just don’t agree this time, and by the way Keaton rocks in Night Shift.
Wow. Lot of Beetlejuice fans out there. That’s great!!
Before I watched it for the show I had very fond memories of the movie. I was totally stoked to watch it. There is no doubt it was a huge influence on our generation.
One problem was I went in with such high expectations. I remembered it as a fast paced kooky movie that was groundbreaking. And at the time it was. But when compared to later Burton films it seemed watered down. Like he was being held back.
Why not just watch recent movies if we think things are dated? One of our goals while watching these movies is to see how it holds up and how a person who has never seen the movie might react.
I also find it interesting to explore the idea of the Hollywood formula and how it changes every so often by people like Tim Burton.
In this case, I felt like the movie did not hold up to what I remembered.
Beetlejuice will forever hold a special place in my movie heart. But I doubt I will watch it again anytime in the near future. It has value, that there is no doubt. I think we picked it apart trying to figure out what it was that made us love it so much and it confounded us.
Brian D.
You guys can be funny, so I have listened to several of your podcasts, but some aspects of your analysis are somewhat off-putting. At times, its as if you all wanted to be filmmakers but failed to do so, so you sit around and act like Comic-Book guy and disparage most films you watch. Stop looking for things to hate. Please discuss the films without comparing them to film made 20 years later. Also, next time you attack a productions look, think about the concept of given circumstances. For example, Charlton Heston looks all sweaty because he’s living in a post-apocalyptic world.
On the “how dated a film is” debate I must side with Mr. Dunaway. How well a movie holds up over time is a major consideration. Especially with for the new eyes viewing these films every day. I have to admit that Beetlejuice is a little dated, as much as I love it. I would even say that it is more dated than a movie like The Wizard of Oz. People that lived through the eighties will appreciate Beetlejuice more, I feel. On the flip side, I don’t think you have to have lived through the thirties to fully appreciate The Wizard of Oz. Some movies simply hold up better and it is a sign of good storytelling and good filmmaking.
In the words of Ernie Anastos, keep #$%&ing that chicken, boys.
Just rented it based on the podcast, and am about to watch it. I was a teen in the 80s and this movie was awesome. As to being dated? Tim Burton invented his style with this movie. Everything comes from this. He was allowed to flex his vision a little bit and this is what we get, like a drop of sweat from his brow of creativity (ok, a little overboard there). But then when the studios gave him money to really flush it out, we get his later works of spectacular imagination.
You have to see this as the starting point. You guys say that Ray Harryhousen’s work looks dated now but admit for the time it was probably amazing. Same here. Yeah, movies have come a long way in the visual effects department, but at the time this was revolutionary.
Going to hit play right now. (*hawk, spit!* Gonna save that guy for later.)
I’ll donate a fiver if you guys review “Death Becomes Her.”
After all these years I still feel like I missed something important when I watched that.
And I sussed out Donnie Darko after just one viewing!
I would also accept Explorers, though I don’t think either of these are available on Netflix streaming yet.
Yet…
Cheers,
flashj
I have to say the Skeletor impersonations (in reference to Geena Davis) literally made me laugh. I’ve enjoyed every episode of this show and I’ve seen maybe 2 of the discussed movies, at most. Keep up the great work, gentlemen!
I enjoyed your review of Beetlejuice. I saw this movie in the theater when it was new and loved it, but I have to agree with you that it doesn’t hold up. It’s a lot like the original Star Wars trilogy (please pay attention all you folks who panned the new trilogy): The movie is NOT as good as you remember. I also have to tell a funny story on myself about Beetlejuice. When I first saw it in the theater, when it came to the scene with the ghosts trying to scare Mrs. Maitland while she is drugged out on the bed, and Lydia thinks the sounds she hears are her parents getting it on. She bangs on the wall and shouts “Knock if off, I’m a child for God’s sake!”. I thought she said “Knock it off, I’m with child, for God’s sake!” and thought maybe this was going to turn into a Lifetime Channel movie or something. Didn’t catch my mistake until I saw Beetlejuice again on video. Nice F*ing Model (Honk)!
Have you reviewed Space Cowboys yet? It contains the most gratuitous use of the song “Fly Me To The Moon”.
Scott
Es ist zu einer bekannten Zeitschrift sein, voll von Celebrity Gossip, Style-Tipps, etc. Suggest so viele wie du willst, aber ich würde gerne wissen, was man Ihrer Meinung nach die beste ist. Hilfe bitte!
I am loving the passion on this. I’m glad some of your disagree with our analysis and are vocal about it. Makes me want to go back and watch the movie again. So I went from not wanting to watch it again to wanting to watch it again. That is great in my book.
Geena Davis – Long Kiss Goodnight – her best film imo.
HEY!!!!! NICE F**KIN MODEL!!!
HONK HONK!
Tim Burton has a unique style when making his movie. I love Nightmare Before Christmas and Edward Scissorhands.`;*
Can you guys do a jag on Dune? it’s rife with possibilities, I think you’d enlighten and astound the masses with your insight. I believe that the audience demographic of excalibur has also seen it, and your take on the production would be greatly appreciated. If’n that doesn’t convince you, CHEESEBURGER!
I like this post. I wasnt really looking for your site to tell you the truth but i somehow found it and i gotta say I have no regrets about it. Please keep writing wonderful content such as this blog entry. Thanks.
Tim Burton is an eccentric director in my opinion but he has his own unique style’~”
Tim Burton is just a very talented director and i love all his works;-.
tim burton is just like rober rodriquez, they have those weirdness in their movies“`
tim burton does really have that unique style with regards to his movies-’:
I’ve just discovered Film Sack. I downloaded and listened to six episodes. I feel all of them are dead-on. However, I was shocked at the panning this film was given by the crew. Their review just seems way off base.
I remember walking out of the theater and thinking to myself, “Was that a dream?”. That’s how original and off-beat that movie was.
I feel Michael Keaton made this movie great: He’s the ghost with the most, Babe! His scenes at the end were magical. “Attention K-Mart shoppers”, and “That is why I won’t do two shows a night anymore, I won’t, I won’t do it” are two quotes I use a lot. Great delivery, great stuff!
And lets not forget some of Keaton’s other stuff: also undeservedly panned by the the gang. Night Shift, Mr. Mom, Gung Ho; all favorites of mine.
Bottom line, Beetlejuice still holds up and gets an “A” in my book.
I just discovered this podcast recently as well and they are 99.99% right on with their assessment of all the flicks they cover… but Jeff Smith I wholeheartedly concur with you..
they are straight up and down trippin to pan this film!!! and one of them is clearly experiencing some hate/love (likely stemming from latent sexual attraction he can’t explain – I’m just deciding to assume that cause he gives no other real reason for the disdain) for Michael Keaton because he begins his whole pan with, “this movie is dated” because A) Michael Keaton should never star in a movie because… well, he just shouldn’t, he sucks (and the others defend him with Johnny Dangerously!! really niggas? really?) and B) the movie ‘Beetlejuice’ would have been a better movie w/o him OR his character called BEETLE-goddamn-JUICE!! what the what? what in the hell?! so you wanna watch a movie, called “Beetlejuice” where Alec Baldwin & Geena Davis are the most nauseatingly in love married couple in the history of the world, they die, become ghosts (who are still cloyingly in love, no resentment towards the wife for driving off a goddamn bridge), they haunt their old marital home, and then fumble their way through trying to scare the new owners – in the CORNIEST POSSIBLE FASHION!! no additional stakes (so any real drama would be virtually non-existant) and nothing really for any other character in the entire movie to do except Alec, Geena and Winona and there is no mention of or character called Beetlejuice… okay, if you say so…
I am gonna disregard the other BS they said to pan this flick except their incredulous disbelief that Winona’s character did not represent an accurate portrayal of teenager of that era… are ya goddman kidding me!? see as much as I love these 4 dudes, they clearly grew up in small to mid-size towns in the midwest… I grew up in San Francisco, I was 13 in 1989 and did I dress like her? hell-to-the-no I listened to NWA and Too $hort, drank Zima and lied about my age so I could ride the 5.0 Mustang of the area kingpin, however my home life was the Cosby Show (if Cliff and Claire were divorced) and I went to a mostly-white all girls Catholic school from K – 10th grade and did some of those girls look like Winona’s character hell-muthafuckin-yes, a lot of em out did her…
I am too through! but one mis-step in an otherwise stellar level of quality assesment on movies is A-Okay…
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Was that a scream in the background at 9:45 into the show while Scott is doing the first of many (accurate) portrayals of Geena Davis as Skeletor?
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