Beetlejuice Beetlejuice & The Substance

At The Movies

It's daunting to realize that Tim Burton's "Beetlejuice" was released as long ago as 1988, but he now returns to that ghostly material in the aptly titled "Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice."
In this podcast episode, HCC film professors Marie Westhaver and Mike Giuliano agree that it's nice to have actors including Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder back again, as well as the visual cleverness one expects from this director. Although Mike is not exactly a fan of such creative recycling and also complains about the film often seeming aimless and desperately busy, he did enjoy this Halloween-appropriate experience. Marie and Mike also talk about "The Substance," in which Demi Moore plays an aging actress who takes a mysterious substance that produces a younger version of herself. Our critics really disagree about this film, because Mike thinks that an intriguing premise is squandered by a lack of logical development while Marie thinks the aging metaphor is well-developed here. Well, as Mike would be likely to point out, audiences have a 140-minute running time and plenty of gross out moments in which to contemplate that premise.