September 4, 2024 • 7 mins
It’s been a very long time coming but the sequel to Beetlejuice called Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, is finally here and our movie guy Ben O’Shea tells Clairsy & Lisa if it’s been worth the wait.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Great the flick with Ben Oshe.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Hello, good morning guys. Much now, it's always a challenging
thing to do a sequel many many years after the original.
In this case, we're talking about Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice, the sequel
to Beetlejuice. I've said it three times. It came out
back in nineteen eighty eight. Someone else can do the maths.
But it's a long time ago. And we saw this
(00:25):
thing happen recently with Maverick and Top Gun Maverick, which
turned out pretty good. Twisters and Twister, long awaited sequel
turned out okay as well. Usually they don't work out okay,
too much water has gone under the bridge.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
And usually what.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Happens is the director and the writers go well, everybody
wants a return to the original. It becomes about, you know,
sort of a fan service and legacy and how can
we just basically recycle all the same jokes and all
the same characters, And it probably doesn't really offer very
much new. But with Tim Burton directing the sequel as
he did the original, you hope for more, right, because
(01:02):
he is a guy with a very clear aesthetic, a
clear vision for how he makes his films. To be honest,
in recent years, those films haven't been very good. Like
I think you probably go back fifteen years to find
the last Tim Burton movie that you would actually say
that's a good movie.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Tim Burton classic, Tim Burton classic.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
He kind of became, you know, a caricature of himself
and just became too tim burton ish in recent years.
And you know, obviously had did a lot of films
a Johnny Depp along the way, which were you know,
probably didn't help him very much. But now he's reunited
with the great Michael Keaton, who's reprising the character of Beetlejuice.
And for people who don't remember, he's the ghost with
(01:40):
the most He's a ghost in the afterlife who's a
bio exorcist. You can summon him by saying his name
three times and he'll come and deal with whatever ghosts
you have haunting your house. And in the original film,
you know, you had a young Wanona rider Yea and
her parents Catherine O'Hara, the Great Catherine O'Hara and Jeffrey
jo the principal from Ferris Buela were her parents, and
(02:04):
they were haunted by Gina Davis and Alec Baldwin, two
recently deceased couple who didn't want these newbies in their house.
Beatlejuice comes along, but you summon him, you get more trouble,
and you know what it's worth because he was a
very politically incorrect ghost who wanted nothing more but to
marry the teenage win ownA Rider, which I.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
Watched it again recently.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
That aspect has an aged particularly well, I will say,
but it's it's a classic, like it is a wild,
wild film. Like you look back at it, you go,
what was Tim Burton smoking when he made this? But
it was it's a cracker. And in the new film,
Winona Rider's character, Lydia Deeks has because she can see ghosts.
(02:47):
She's gone on to become a celebrity spirit medium and
so she's got her own TV show called ghost House
and she has people on talking about ghosts. But when
her dad dies, so Richard Deeks was played by Jeffrey Jones,
who is not in this film because he got into
some unsavory child exploitation material charges and so Tim Burton
(03:09):
in the first scene basically depicts him in claymation getting
bitten in half by a Shark.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Took care of that.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Took care of that, and so that death prompts Lydia
and her mum, Delia to go back to the original
house from the first movie where they're going to have
the funeral, and of course, you know, they're going back
into into their own memories, into Lydia's childhood, and of
course Beetlejuice was a big part of that, so that's
(03:38):
how he kind of ends up back on the scene.
But this time there is a new teen daughter who's
got a bit of an attitude played by Jenna or
Taga from Wednesday, who is a writer's daughter, Lydia's daughter,
and she brings a really great fresh vibe.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
To the film.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
I think she's a really fantastic young actor. And of course,
you know, Beetlejuice get it's involved, and then it kind
of goes off the rails as you would expect. It
does honor the original movie really really nicely without going
too far into only being about that, so it does
offer a new plot. They've tried hard not to just
(04:17):
lean into CG effects and have done that kind of
like you know, sort of handmade claymation, old school vibe
with the special effects, which is really nice, but this
is really about Michael Keaton. He is just so fantastic.
Some great and new additions to the cast as well.
Monica Balucci plays Michael Keaton's ex wife from the Afterlife
(04:38):
who wants revenge on Feetle Juice, which is pretty funny
as a soul sucking witch. And you've got Willem Dafoe
who's also a ghost in the afterlife. He's a sort
of a ghost police detective because he was a B
movie actor in real life who died doing.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
His own stunts.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
He's playing a character called Jack Hardballer I don't know,
So there's stuff like that which is really really fun.
And justin throw is Winona Ryder's sort of boyfriend in
the film, who's just this, you know, sort of you know,
sort of new age hippie, dippy producer of her TV show,
but maybe he's got a bit of a nefarious intent
(05:19):
behind the scenes. So there's a bit going on in
this film. I would say overall, it probably doesn't have
that same classic feel that the original did. Like you
watch that and you go, do you know what people
are going to be talking about Beetlejuice for the next
thirty years you see someone wearing a black and white
striped jacket, you go.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
Who you're supposed to be? Beetle Juice.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
I don't think they're going to be talking about the
sequel in the same way in thirty years time. In
some ways it improves, but overall you'd have to say
it's probably a slight step down from the original, but
that's extremely high bar. I think overall, Tim Burton's done
a pretty good job.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
All right, Well, how many beetle Juices are you hearing?
Speaker 1 (05:55):
I'm going to give it three and a half? Okay,
very solid. Go watch it. It's an easy thing to
do nearly forty years later.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Absolutely your thoughts on please on film festival standing ovations
talking about this new movie got seventeen minutes yesterday.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
It's out of control.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
You even imagine standing there clapping, yes, seventeen minutes.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
It sounds crazy, right, But the way they do it
is they have the stars coming on one at a time. Okay,
so they're going on, here comes in this case, till
the Swinter, till the Swinton comes out, and she's walking
from one side of the stage to the other show.
So it would feel like you're clapping different things. You're
not just one clapping, but it is getting out of control.
(06:38):
And then people said that particular movie maybe wasn't that
good anyway. So there you go and the Joker. The
Joker got eleven got eleven minutes, and us in the media,
we're judging it. We're going on eleven minutes.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Considerably less than the old motible if.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
You need to get four minutes, So the movie companies
will be planting really good clapperes exactly clap us. You'd
need to stunt clap with your hands and be nearly
falling off. You couldn't just be an amateur going on
to be a professional. Thank you guys, good to say
you
Great the flick with Ben Oshe.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Hello, good morning guys. Much now, it's always a challenging
thing to do a sequel many many years after the original.
In this case, we're talking about Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice, the sequel
to Beetlejuice. I've said it three times. It came out
back in nineteen eighty eight. Someone else can do the maths.
But it's a long time ago. And we saw this
(00:25):
thing happen recently with Maverick and Top Gun Maverick, which
turned out pretty good. Twisters and Twister, long awaited sequel
turned out okay as well. Usually they don't work out okay,
too much water has gone under the bridge.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
And usually what.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Happens is the director and the writers go well, everybody
wants a return to the original. It becomes about, you know,
sort of a fan service and legacy and how can
we just basically recycle all the same jokes and all
the same characters, And it probably doesn't really offer very
much new. But with Tim Burton directing the sequel as
he did the original, you hope for more, right, because
(01:02):
he is a guy with a very clear aesthetic, a
clear vision for how he makes his films. To be honest,
in recent years, those films haven't been very good. Like
I think you probably go back fifteen years to find
the last Tim Burton movie that you would actually say
that's a good movie.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Tim Burton classic, Tim Burton classic.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
He kind of became, you know, a caricature of himself
and just became too tim burton ish in recent years.
And you know, obviously had did a lot of films
a Johnny Depp along the way, which were you know,
probably didn't help him very much. But now he's reunited
with the great Michael Keaton, who's reprising the character of Beetlejuice.
And for people who don't remember, he's the ghost with
(01:40):
the most He's a ghost in the afterlife who's a
bio exorcist. You can summon him by saying his name
three times and he'll come and deal with whatever ghosts
you have haunting your house. And in the original film,
you know, you had a young Wanona rider Yea and
her parents Catherine O'Hara, the Great Catherine O'Hara and Jeffrey
jo the principal from Ferris Buela were her parents, and
(02:04):
they were haunted by Gina Davis and Alec Baldwin, two
recently deceased couple who didn't want these newbies in their house.
Beatlejuice comes along, but you summon him, you get more trouble,
and you know what it's worth because he was a
very politically incorrect ghost who wanted nothing more but to
marry the teenage win ownA Rider, which I.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
Watched it again recently.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
That aspect has an aged particularly well, I will say,
but it's it's a classic, like it is a wild,
wild film. Like you look back at it, you go,
what was Tim Burton smoking when he made this? But
it was it's a cracker. And in the new film,
Winona Rider's character, Lydia Deeks has because she can see ghosts.
(02:47):
She's gone on to become a celebrity spirit medium and
so she's got her own TV show called ghost House
and she has people on talking about ghosts. But when
her dad dies, so Richard Deeks was played by Jeffrey Jones,
who is not in this film because he got into
some unsavory child exploitation material charges and so Tim Burton
(03:09):
in the first scene basically depicts him in claymation getting
bitten in half by a Shark.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Took care of that.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Took care of that, and so that death prompts Lydia
and her mum, Delia to go back to the original
house from the first movie where they're going to have
the funeral, and of course, you know, they're going back
into into their own memories, into Lydia's childhood, and of
course Beetlejuice was a big part of that, so that's
(03:38):
how he kind of ends up back on the scene.
But this time there is a new teen daughter who's
got a bit of an attitude played by Jenna or
Taga from Wednesday, who is a writer's daughter, Lydia's daughter,
and she brings a really great fresh vibe.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
To the film.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
I think she's a really fantastic young actor. And of course,
you know, Beetlejuice get it's involved, and then it kind
of goes off the rails as you would expect. It
does honor the original movie really really nicely without going
too far into only being about that, so it does
offer a new plot. They've tried hard not to just
(04:17):
lean into CG effects and have done that kind of
like you know, sort of handmade claymation, old school vibe
with the special effects, which is really nice, but this
is really about Michael Keaton. He is just so fantastic.
Some great and new additions to the cast as well.
Monica Balucci plays Michael Keaton's ex wife from the Afterlife
(04:38):
who wants revenge on Feetle Juice, which is pretty funny
as a soul sucking witch. And you've got Willem Dafoe
who's also a ghost in the afterlife. He's a sort
of a ghost police detective because he was a B
movie actor in real life who died doing.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
His own stunts.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
He's playing a character called Jack Hardballer I don't know,
So there's stuff like that which is really really fun.
And justin throw is Winona Ryder's sort of boyfriend in
the film, who's just this, you know, sort of you know,
sort of new age hippie, dippy producer of her TV show,
but maybe he's got a bit of a nefarious intent
(05:19):
behind the scenes. So there's a bit going on in
this film. I would say overall, it probably doesn't have
that same classic feel that the original did. Like you
watch that and you go, do you know what people
are going to be talking about Beetlejuice for the next
thirty years you see someone wearing a black and white
striped jacket, you go.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
Who you're supposed to be? Beetle Juice.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
I don't think they're going to be talking about the
sequel in the same way in thirty years time. In
some ways it improves, but overall you'd have to say
it's probably a slight step down from the original, but
that's extremely high bar. I think overall, Tim Burton's done
a pretty good job.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
All right, Well, how many beetle Juices are you hearing?
Speaker 1 (05:55):
I'm going to give it three and a half? Okay,
very solid. Go watch it. It's an easy thing to
do nearly forty years later.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Absolutely your thoughts on please on film festival standing ovations
talking about this new movie got seventeen minutes yesterday.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
It's out of control.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
You even imagine standing there clapping, yes, seventeen minutes.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
It sounds crazy, right, But the way they do it
is they have the stars coming on one at a time. Okay,
so they're going on, here comes in this case, till
the Swinter, till the Swinton comes out, and she's walking
from one side of the stage to the other show.
So it would feel like you're clapping different things. You're
not just one clapping, but it is getting out of control.
(06:38):
And then people said that particular movie maybe wasn't that
good anyway. So there you go and the Joker. The
Joker got eleven got eleven minutes, and us in the media,
we're judging it. We're going on eleven minutes.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Considerably less than the old motible if.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
You need to get four minutes, So the movie companies
will be planting really good clapperes exactly clap us. You'd
need to stunt clap with your hands and be nearly
falling off. You couldn't just be an amateur going on
to be a professional. Thank you guys, good to say
you
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