Movie Review - Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

Director: Tim Burton
Genre: Comedy/ Fantasy/ Horror
Runtime: 105 minutes
Year: 2024
Starring: Michael Keaton, Catherine O’Hara, Winona Ryder, Jenna Ortega, Monica Belucci, Willem Dafoe, Justin Theroux, Danny DeVito
 
Description: After a family tragedy, three generations of the Deetz family return home to Winter River. Still haunted by Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton), Lydia’s (Winona Ryder) life is turned upside down when her teenage daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega), accidentally opens the portal to the Afterlife.

Review: “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” is the long-awaited sequel to “Beetlejuice” from 1988. Lydia Deetz has grown from melancholy goth-teenager to mother with her own television show in which she is a spiritual medium. The she receives word of her father’s death. Together with her stepmother Delia and daughter Astrid, she returns to her haunted house where she grew up. And Beetlejuice is fully aware of it.

Most sequels, that happen so long after the original, make the same mistake. The same story told a just a bit different. When there are some things that you might recognize from the first film, “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” is completely different from its predecessor.

Some characters we already knew from the previous film. Besides Beetlejuice and his trusty assistant Bob, we see Lydia and Delia Deetz again. But new characters are being introduced as well. Astrid, Lydia’s daughter, portrayed by Jenna Ortega. Ortega fits into Tim Burton’s universe like she was always meant to be apart of it. Her character might be a bit stereotypical, grumpy, rebellious teenager. But she is a nice addition, still. Justin Theroux, as Lydia’s new boyfriend, is also a welcome new character. Kind of a disgusting new-age attention seeker, but really funny. Monica Bellucci’s character Delores doesn’t really add anything. When she is introduced, in a dark but fun scene, she seems like a very important character. But at one point, when she enters a scene again, you realize you had almost forgotten she was also apart of the story. She is supposed to be a huge treat, but she doesn’t feel that way in the end. Willem Dafoe’s character is kinda fun though, an actor/ detective called Wolf Jackson. But his role is fairly small as well. Jeffrey Jones, who played Charles Deetz in the original, doesn’t return due to a scandal, but his character does return in a different form. And I thought Burton was quite clever with this. Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder and Catherine O’Hara are all really good, as they were in the first film.

“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” did not disappoint. The cast, the jokes, the beautiful images and the physical special effects (including a bit of stop-motion) makes it an entertaining and fun film. But only if you have seen and loved “Beetlejuice” as well. Praise to Tim Burton to not recycling a plot, but actually giving us an original plot. With the characters we’ve came to love so long ago, giving them a new, crazy, creepy and funny adventure.

Rating: 4/ 5

TV Show Review - Stranger Things (Season 4)

Season: 4

Genre: Thriller/ Drama/ Fantasy/ Horror

Number of episodes: 8

Year: 2019

Starring: Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Noah Schnapp, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Joe Keery, Sadie Sink, Dacre Montgomery, Priah Ferguson, Joseph Quinn, Eduardo Franco

Description: It’s eight months after the events in the Starcourt Mall. Max is having a tough time dealing, distancing herself from Lucas who has found a place in the basketball team. Dustin befriended Eddie, the leader of the Hellfire Club: a D&D group. Mike visits Eleven, Will and Jonathan and Joyce still believes Hopper is alive. When people start dying in Hawkins and Eddie is the main suspect, the young gang decides to help him and find who is behind these deaths, while Eleven goes back to doctor Brenner to regain her powers and Joycesets to find Hopper.

Review: After nearly three years, “Stranger Things” fans (ME!) can finally see how things continue for their heroes from Hawkins, Indiana. Will that long wait be rewarded?

WARNING! THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!

Netflix decided not to drop the entire season at once. The first seven episode dropped and later the final two we available as well. And the season had a very long runtime, especially the last two episodes. And I didn’t mind that at all.

The previous season came to a climax battle, where Eleven and her friends defeated the monster from the Upside Down at the Starcourt mall, while Joyce and Hopper went deep underground to thwart the Russians’ plan. The victory came at a high price: Billy was killed, El lost her powers and Hopper disappeared. The rushing army quickly laid the entire Starcour to ashes, and in cover-up, all traces of Russians, monsters, and gateways to other dimensions were carefully hidden away. Joyce moved to California with her sons Will and Jonathan and their friend El.

The big question at the beginning of season 4 is whether the whole gang will ever get back together. El writes letters to Mike from California in which she pretends that she is doing very well, but in reality she is deeply unhappy without her friends and she is being bullied. Home in Hawkins is no paradise either. Since the horrific death of her brother Billy, Max has been seeing the school psychologist regularly, but other students are also suffering from trauma. In the Upside Down, a new monstrous creature sees in this a way to manifest itself again in Hawkins.

Of course, with each new season of “Stranger Things”, fans are especially looking forward to seeing their familiar heroes again, but the creators are always introducing new characters as well. This season is no different. A big addition is Eddie Munson, a high school student with a love for heavy metal, drugs and Dungeons & Dragons. And Eddie wins all of our hearts from the first scene we meet him. Which makes the final episode extra difficult to watch.

Season 3 had a small bonus scene, where there was a hint Hopper had survived the explosion. And of course it turns out that he has. Joyce’s attempt to reunite with Hopper take up a good portion of the episodes, and with that the new season deviates considerably from all the previous ones. For the story no longer plays out only in Hawkins, but also in California, Alaska and Siberia.

The tone of the series is also markedly different this season. Previously, “Stranger Things” breathed the atmosphere of the Spielberg films and Stephen King movies of the 1980s, but now the emphasis is firmly on horror. Characters are killed off in some pretty shocking ways, which may make this season’s 16-and-over predicate justifiable. Again many references to popculture, like “A Nightmare on Elm Street” ( with a cameo from Robert Englund), “Halloween” and “Carrie”.

Max has a bigger role in this season, which I really loved, since she is one of my favorites. And she is, together with newbie Eddie, one of the highlights of season 4. Can they please give Sadie Sink an award for her performance, because it was incredible. And with that the characters of Max and Eddie both had an epic scene, which eventually became the most memorable moments of season 4 (Max escaping Vecna for the first time and Eddie’s guitar solo in the Upside Down).

All the familiar and new characters, references to previous season and well-known genre films, music from the eighties and he now familiar formula of the Duffer Brothers ensure that you step into a warm bath with season 4. Is more always better? In the case of “Stranger Things”: absolutely! Now we wait for season 5, which will be the final season. Time to rewatch season 1 to 4 now.

Best Moments of "Stranger Things" (Season 3)

We've waited for a year, only to enjoy it for three days. Season 3 of "Stranger Things" was again great. It brought us a lot of amazing, heartfelt, funny, heroic and epic moments. I will count down my eleven favorites (eleven, since it is "Stranger Things").

11. Operation Child Endangerment
Remember when “Stranger Things” season 2 premiered and it took us 0,02 seconds to fall in love with Erica? I was so happy to see that she had a big part in season 3. In this season, Erica is all about hanging out at Starcourt mall with her friends. Having a good time with her friends and ignoring her nerdy brother and his friends. Because Robin, Dustin and Steve need someone small enough to crawl to the vents, Erica is the perfect person for this. Erica call is “operation child endangerment”. The task is difficult and the danger great, but Erica manages to pull it off.

10. Steve and Dustin reunite
Season 2 brought us an unlikely friendship: Steve and Dustin. And it’s a great bromance. What started in season 2 is no a full-on friendship. There are two moments between the two that I really loved. The first is when Steve and Dustin reunite after spending the summer apart and it’s the most adorable thing. And the second moment is when Dustin tells Steve he won’t leave him behind, when they are cornered by the Russians. In fact, he says: Ïf you die, I die”. If that isn’t friendship!

9. The mayor’s unexpected meeting
If you live in a small town and your mayor is a moron who will ruin your summer, you better hope that your Chief of Police has the guts to stand up to him, like Hopper did with Larry Kline. Mayor Kline was helping the Russians with their secret plans. The beating Hopper gave him, while Joyce prevented the secretary from stopping it, was one of the most satisfying moments of the season

8. Robin cracks the code
Robin is a great new character in season 3. She is funny, smart and a welcome addition to the stellar cast. Not only does she stand out on her own, her friendship with Steve made the season even better. Robin doesn’t only bring more humor to the series, but her intelligence plays a big role in figuring out the season’s big mystery. After Dustin intercepts Russian transmission on Cerebro and Steve realized the transmission is actually coming from Hawkins, it’s Robin who figures out what everything means. She translates the Russian transmission and has an epiphany about it as she darts around Starcourt mall.

7. Nancy cracks the case of the Mindflayer
Nancy has a jo at The Hawkins Post and her coworkers aren’t treating her well. But that stop her from doing her thing. Against the wishes of her supervisors, Nancy looks into the case of the rabid rats all over Hawkins. She knows something is up and gets Jonathan to help her. And I’m glad she did. Because apart from Robin, she’s the only reason why anyone managed to survive through season 3. The women really dominated this season. Thanks to Nancy’s detective work, everyone found out that the creepy collection of rats at the start of the season were combining together to form the Mindflayer. But that’s not all. This revelation also taught everyone that it wasn’t just rats being used in this manner; humans were also a part of it.

6. Murray calls out Hopper and Joyce
Paranoid underground investigator Murray Bauman helped Jonathan and Nancy get over the relationship hump in season 2, and he tried to work his Cupid magic again this year. Only, he didn’t mince (his very loud) words when it came to calling out Hopper and Joyce obvious sexual tension, during one of the most hilarious scenes of the season. It only got better when Alexi asked what all the yelling was about.

5. Billy’s sacrifice
Billy was introduced in season 2. Not one of the most liked characters and that sure isn’t going to change at the start of season 3. His character arc took off in a big way in this season. After being taken over by the Mindflayer, Billy goes through a drastic transformation that takes him from agressice asshole to murderous killer. And although he was crossing all kinds of lines, we also got to see a tender side of him. When trying to find him, Eleven sees a young Billy at the beach with his mother. A very sweet moment we never expected. Billy was the Mindflayer’s tool, but he also got a connection with Eleven. And in the final moment, Billy sacrificed himself to save her life. And finally he did something nice.

4. Robin comes out to Steve
Robin and Steve were probably one of the best duos of the season. Their best moment was also their most tender moment, even if it did happen on a public bathroom floor. When Robin came out to Steve is was powerful and moving. This moment showed the strength and vulnerabilities of the characters as the two solidified their friendship in the middle of chaos.

3. Neverending Story
Dustin went away to camp for the summer and he has a girlfriend: Suzie. But no one believes him. We get to see her at the end of the series, when Joyce and Hooper need Planck’s constant to open the Russian safe. Dustin thinks Suzie might know and tries to connect with her through Cerebro. And there she is. She does, but she won’t tell him before coaxing Dustin into singing the theme of “The Neverending Story”. I’m not much for a random musical number usually, but this is the cutest thing ever!!!

2. Joyce and Hopper’s final moment
It’s been three seasons, but Jim and Joyce finally get their moment in season 3. Sort of. Joyce asks Hopper out to sinner, tells him he can pick her up and it’s adorable. Not knowing yet what will happen next. The attraction between the two has build up over the course of the season rather than being forced. And while we didn’t get any declarations of love or even a kiss, their final moments together are enough to satisfy our ‘Jopper’ – loving hearts.

1. Hopper’s note to Eleven
To be honest, I’m still not over this. It’s a beautiful heartfelt moment and I balled my eyes out. At the end of season 2, Mike and Eleven became a couple and when season 3 starts, they can’t seem to get their hands off each other. Hopper isn’t too pleased with all this behind closed doors and insists they keep the door open at least three inches. Hopper isn’t that great with emotions, so he can’t tell Eleven how he really feels. Joyce advices him to write it down. Hopper never gives the speech, but Eleven gets to read it after Hopper dies. And there I go again, tears. Lots of tears! Oh, and I refuse to believe he’s actually dead.

TV Show Reviews - Stranger Things (Season 3)

Season: 3
Genre: Thriller/ Drama/ Fantasy/ Horror
Number of episodes: 8
Year: 2019
Starring: Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Noah Schnapp, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Joe Keery, Sadie Dink, Dacre Montgomery, Priah Ferguson

Description: In the summer of 1985 in Hawkins, the new Starcourt Mall has become the focal point of the town, driving other stores out of business. Sherriff Jim Hopper is conflicted over Eleven and Mike’s budding relationship, while Joyce considers moving out of Hawkins for better prospects, leaving the state of the children’s friendships and her own relationship with Hopper in the air. However, strange power fluctuations trigger Will’s awareness of something otherworldly, and Eleven and Max sense something is off about the town’s residents. And despite having closed the portal to the Upside Down, fears that they are all in danger from it still.

Review: For a series with nostalgia as its biggest drive, we are looking back with nostalgia to the first season in 2016. When we didn’t know the Duffer brothers and all the young actors of “Stranger Things”. It was such a pleasant surprise. A strong horror show, with 80s galore and pop culture references, fun characters and a great story. A series that could have easily been created by Steven Spielberg, John Carpenter or Stephen King.
The second season, although still very good, never lived up to the first season. But there was enough hope for season 3.
Season 3 premiered on July 4th: Independence Day in America, the start of the summer season. And besides the fact that the young cast grew older and are caught up in teen love, the most stylistic change is the fact that its set in the summer.
The series is set for a large point in and around the new large Starcourt Mall. Which looks amazing. The 80s atmosphere is brought back to life so well. And again a ton of references to films, series and music from that period. Love it! Especially a scene between Max and Eleven, in that Starcourt Mall, with ‘Material Girl’ by Madonna playing, is the 80s summed up perfectly.
Like I stated before, the young kids are now teenagers with teen problems and it starts to have a certain effect on their friendship. Mike and Eleven are in love, Max and Lucas are in love, even Dustin has a girlfriend. Although nobody believes she is real. And Will is looking from the sideline, still wanting to play Dungeons and Dragons in the basement and read comic books. Hopper is really not that happy about Will and Eleven, but he himself is having certain feelings. For Joyce.
At the end of season 2, the gate to the Upside Down was closed. But the darkness isn’t over. In the beginning of season 3, it’s mostly drama, love, relationships and such things. It takes its time to start. And horror is very far away. But each episode it becomes clear that something is still brewing in Hawkins. The gate might have been closed, but something from that underworld has settled down in Hawkins. And it’s looking for back-up.
A monster in Hawkins, it sounds like the same thing. Something mysterious happens, various groups investigate and eventually they will all come together. But does this bother me? Not at all! Because we’ve come to love all the characters so much and we love the tension, it’s still a lot of fun to watch. Each episode a little more of the horror is revealed.
The creators showed more ‘guts’ by making bold choices. Like the role of Erica in this season. She has a very important role in this season and for a young actress like Priah Ferguson, it could’ve easily gone wrong. But it didn’t. And the introduction of Robin, and what her character is all about. Also very bold. Billy also got a more important role, one of the most important ones actually. And I don’t think any people really liked his character, until the end of this season.
With the third season of “Stranger Things”, Netflix hits another bullseye. Even though it takes a little while to really get interesting, each episode is still worth watching. And that last episode made me cry so hard! Let season 4 come!

10s Movie Review - Destination Wedding

Director: Victor Levin
Genre: Comedy/ Drama/ Romance
Runtime: 90 minutes
Year: 2018
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder

Description: The story of two miserable and unpleasant wedding guests, Lindsay (Winona Ryder) and Frank (Keanu Reeves), who develop a mutual affection despite themselves.

Review: There is a spark when Frank and Lindsay first meet, but mostly because they are both spitting fire. In the line at the airport, the two meet and already start bickering. The two of them are seated next to each other on the plane and they also happen to be traveling to the same wedding.
Frank feels obligated to go, because the groom is his half-brother. And Lindsay is only going because her ex wanted her to come. Maybe she can finally move on. And although the two completely despise each other, they are each other;s perfect company at a wedding they are dreading to go to.
It’s basically Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder talking their way through the wedding activities. Not only do they hate the wedding, but people, mankind and life in general. The dialogues are funny, they reminded me of a Woody Allen film.
It’s that Reeves and Ryder work so well together, else it would be a pretty boring movie.

Rating: 3/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2017 - # 13: Heathers

Director: Michael Lehmann
Genre: Comedy
Runtime: 105 minutes
Year: 1988
Starring: Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Shannon Doherty

Description: In order to get out of the snobby clique that is destroying her good-girl reputation, an intelligent teen (Winona Ryder) teams up with a dark sociopath (Christian Slater) in a plot to kill the cool kids.

Review: “Heathers” is an 80s comedy, that shocks. Not because of its plot twists or mystery, but because of the pure in-your-face moments. It’s satirical, provocative, hilarious and wild. “Heathers” is not you standard high-school comedy. “Heathers” is surprisingly dark. Every characters in this film is exaggerated. The kids are either sadistic or secretly psychotic. Or both. The adults are clueless. This way, things get pretty crazy. “Heathers” takes us behind the scene of the most popular clique in school: The three founding members, all named Heather. The get a new member, Veronica, who actually hates her friends. The film takes an abrupt, dark turn. The film has a comical take on murder. But “Heathers” also presents a clear moral statement: all people should be treated with decency.

Rating: 3,5/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2016 - # 96: Frankenweenie

Director: Tim Burton
Genre: Comedy/ Animation/ Horror
Runtime: 88 minutes
Year: 2012
Starring: Martin Landau, Christopher Lee, Martin Short, Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara, Atticus Shaffer

Description: Young Victor conducts a science experiment to bring his beloved dog Sparky back to life, only to face unintended, sometimes monstrous, consequences.

Review: Making a stop-motion animation asks a lot of a person: decication, time and patience. If I would make a film myself, I would love to try stop-motion, it always amazes me. And Tim Burton is a fan too.
“Frankenweenie” is a story about a boy and his dog Sparky. This is also secretly an ode to classic horror films. Victor is a nice boy who only has one real friend: his dog Sparky. Victor lives in the suburbs. He makes his own horror films, staaring Sparky, but also has a passion for science. When his beloved pet is hit by a car and dies, he just simply doesn’t like life anymore. When a new science teacher tells him about the power of electricity, Victor tries to bring Sparky back to life. And it works. But Victor has to keep it a secret from everyone.
“Frankenweenie” is typical Burton. All the characters look like they came from a horror film and are all weird. They aren’t just macabre, but also have an endearing feel to it. Especially Victor and Sparky.
For film fans it’s great to see all the classic horror movie references. The film is in black an white and this adds to the atmosphere and the ode to the classic horror films. The film looks fantastic and I think it’s one of Tim Burton’s better films.

Rating: 3,5/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 164: Homefront

Director: Gary Fleder

Genre: Action/ Crime/ Thriller

Runtime: 100 minutes

Year: 2013

Starring: Jason Statham, James Franco, Winona Ryder, Kate Bosworth, Frank Grillo, Clancy Brown

Description: A former DEA agent (Jason Statham) moves his family to a quiet town, where he soon tangles with a local meth druglord

Review: In the opening scene of “Homefront” we see how Phil Broker infiltrates a drugs lab. One of the gang members has to watch his son being killed. The bad guys is going to jail and Broker starts a new life with his daughter Maddy. He does this in a town nearby and it’s hard for Broker to stay low. He draws the attention of the wrong people after his daughter gets into a fight with a classmate.

When Broker humiliates the aggressive father on the parking lot of his daughter’s school. Mother Cassie asks her brother Gator for help. When Gator breaks into Broker’s house, he finds evidence of him being an undercover agent.

Although this really sounds dumb, the movie isn’t half bad. Jason Statham is pretty good in this film and so are James Franco and Winona Ryder as the bad guys. “Homefront” isn’t anything special, but it’s better than you’d expect it to be.

It’s simple entertainment, a perfect no-brainer.

Rating: 3/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 65: The Iceman

Director: Ariel Vromen

Genre: Drama/ Thriller/ Crime

Runtime: 103 minutes

Year: 2013

Starring: Michael Shannon, Winona Ryder, Chris Evans, Ray Liotta, David Schwimmer, Stephen Dorff, James Franco, Robert Davi, Danny A. Abeckaser, John Ventimiglia, Ryan O’Nan, McKaly Miller, Megan Sherrill, Hecktor Hank, Zoran Radanovich, Shira Vilensky, Kelly Lind, John P. Fertitta, Erin Cummings

Description: The true story of Richard Kuklinski (Michael Shannon), the notorious contract killer and family man. When finally arrested in 1986, neither his wife (Winona Ryder) nor daughters have any clue about his real profession.

Review: Hundreds of people lost their lives to relentless hitman Richard Kuklinksi aka The Iceman. In the adaptation of this story director Ariel Vromen choose Michael Shannon to portray Kuklinski. And with also Ray Liotta, Chris Evans, Winona Ryder and a small role from James Franco, this looks like a promising film. It’s the acting that makes this movie interesting, not the plot.

Working for various criminal originations Kuklinski kills almost 250 people (according to himself). This is combined with the confrontations about honor, trust and loyalty within the criminal world. Besides this dark life he is living, Kuklinski has a loving wife and two daughters, who know nothing about his job. This gets the audience in the situation where we see him as a cold blooded killer and as a loving husband and father.

Michael Shannon is a perfect choice for this role. His appearance makes it very believable and he is genuinely scary is a hitman. Like I said before, the acting in this movie is very strong. It’s better than the movie itself. Which doesn’t mean that it’s bad, because it’s a very enjoyable film. But not a movie that you will remember for a long time.

Rating: 3/ 5