Memphis Movies This Week: ‘Beetlejuice’ is back, ‘Red Shoes’ are for dancing
This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Michael Keaton in a scene from "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice." (Warner Bros. Pictures/AP)
What do silent-era German expressionism, Borscht Belt comedy and Calypso music have in common?
How about a top 10 box office hit of 1988?
How could something as weird, as creatively handcrafted and as driven by idiosyncratic cultural interests as director Tim Burton’s ghost comedy “Beetlejuice” be a commercial blockbuster?
Maybe it was a miraculous accident, or maybe the fortuitous byproduct of gathering the right people at just the right time: The original “Beetlejuice” featured kooky, creepy Burton at the peak of his powers, running amok in the prop shop; a make-up-covered Michael Keaton dialing his performance all the way to 11, sort of like Rodney Dangerfield playing the Joker; and a goth Winona Ryder and downtown-pretentious Catherine O’Hara, left-of-center screen goddesses both, as a comedically at odds daughter/stepmother duo.
All four of those key principals are back for “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” a 36-years-later sequel that opens early, on Wednesday, this week as perhaps the last big commercial movie of the summer. You’ll be able to find it pretty much everywhere, including on Malco’s IMAX and MXT screens.
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Chris Herrington
Chris Herrington covers the Memphis Grizzlies and writes about Memphis culture, food, and civic life.
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