Every week, Kristopher Pollard from Milwaukee Film and Radio Milwaukee’s Dori Zori talk about movies — because that’s what you do when you’re Cinebuds.
That which is dead doesn’t stay buried. It’s true in a few different contexts, but perhaps none more than Hollywood. A success from the past will usually find new life sooner or later — or, in the case of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, about 36 years.
The resurrectory metaphor does double work for this episode considering the film at its center. Back in 1988, the original Beetlejuice took a very Tim Burton-y look at the afterlife as the now-celebrated director took the helm of just his second major motion picture. Considering its beloved reputation, the movie taking almost four decades to get a sequel is borderline dumbfounding — something Burton credited to the simple fact that “nothing clicked.”
There’s clicking all over the place in this episode, though. As Dori and Kpolly explain off the top (potentially shattering illusions in the process), our buds don’t actually see movies together all that often. And they pretty much never jump into the recording booth right after. The planets aligned for this one, however, and you get their feelings fresh out of the oven. Or the Oriental Theatre in this case.
The big wrestling match for movies like this always involves nostalgia. We love the original so much that it colors our viewpoint, one way or the other. Perhaps we’re predisposed to hate it because “the first one was better.” It’s also possible we’re ready to draw swords and defend it to the death because we’re merely layering what we liked about the first one on top of the newbie.
Dori and Kpolly take very little time to start tangling with that push-pull of the past, setting the scene to try and assess Beetlejuice Beetlejuice on its own merits. Do they successfully separate? Is that even possible? Is the shrunken-head guy back? Listen to the episode for answers to these questions and oh so much more.
