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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.

This also appeals to my headcanon, wherein Keaton's Batman defeated Mr. Freeze.

I saw this piece on X, and couldn't help but think of your comment.

That's a great poster. The coloured lighting evokes a visual midpoint between Burton and Schumacher. The only missing elements are Robin and Bane, but perhaps their inclusion would've made it too crowded. If we're counting The Flash as part of the canon then Nam-Ek should really be on there too, since he was the last comic book villain this Batman faced off against.

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.

I always wondered about Cain's longer hair in those early episodes, and whether it was the show reflecting the comics or vice versa. For most of L&C's run Clark sported a shorter neatly-cropped haircut, but in the earlier episodes he clearly sports a longer more casual hairstyle.

Was the decision to shorten his hair intended to make Clark look more nerdy/square? Perhaps. But shorter hair also has the effect of making a man's head appear smaller, which in turn makes his body look bigger. Bodybuilders and wrestlers often shave their heads for that reason. Tom Hardy did so when he played Bane in TDKR.

Cain's physique is noticeably different in season 1 than in the other seasons. He's in great shape throughout the series, but in s1 he has a leaner more athletic body shape, whereas in s2-4 he has a more powerfully-built jacked look that's closer to Cavill's physique. Maybe the shorter haircut, like the bulkier physique and altered costume, was a deliberate change to make him appear less boyish and more masculine like the comic book Superman. If so, I'd say it worked.

As for Superman's longer hair in the comics, I thought it looked good with the black suit during the Reign of the Supermen arc, but once he got back in the classic blue and red outfit it looked out of place.

It's time to return to Genesis. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock is getting a 40th anniversary theatrical rerelease on June 14th. A new poster has been created by artist Matt Ferguson.

Here's the quad poster for UK cinemas.

I'm definitely going to catch a screening. I've always liked The Search for Spock, ever since I first saw it on TV back in the early nineties. Hopefully this rerelease will encourage more sci-fi enthusiasts and cinephiles to give it another chance. It's badly underrated IMO.

I wonder if this means we'll be getting a theatrical rerelease of The Voyage Home in 2026.

I'd have liked Batman Returns to have been more of a direct sequel to the first film like in Hamm's original script. And as part of that, I would have liked to have seen Knox return.

Twelve years later, and I no longer hold this view. I love Batman Returns' individuality and the older I get the fewer things I'd want to change about it. Maybe tone down some of the sexual innuendo and pervy Penguin moments, but other than that I'd leave it as it is.

Anyway, I saw this video praising Batman Returns on YouTube. The most interesting part of it is a Robert Wuhl cameo at the 17:00 mark. He briefly chimes in to discuss his feelings about not being in Batman Returns and also shares his opinion on the declining quality of the Burton-Schumacher series as a whole.

It's good to see he still has such affection for the role.

Here's the first teaser trailer for the Dune: Prophecy prequel series.

The special effects, cinematography and production design all look great, but I'm not sold on the premise. I gather this is drawing from the prequel books by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, which never captivated me the way the original novel did. Even Frank Herbert's sequel novels, all of which I've read, fall short of the first book. They're going to be adapting inferior source material from here on out, but you never know – the screen versions might surpass the books.

The first nine episodes of Born Again will premiere in March 2025. A new logo has been revealed.

A teaser trailer was shown at the Disney upfront event in New York. The footage hasn't been released to the public yet, but there are descriptions online. D'Onofrio and Cox were there to promote the series.

Here's a fair take on Kingdom from the Critical Drinker.