Live in this World
After spending August discussing Paul Morrissey’s Udo Kier-starring Blood for Dracula (listen), Julia Ducournau’s Raw follow-up Titane (listen), and Stephen Herek’s comfort classic Critters (listen), we wrapped up the month with a look at Tim Burton‘s 1988 classic, Beetlejuice!
In the film, Adam (Alec Baldwin) and Barbara (Geena Davis) are perfectly content married nerds who enjoy staying at home and working on their house. When they die unceremoniously, they’re thrust into an afterlife with rules they don’t understand and horrible humans like Delia (Catherine O’Hara) and Charles Deetz (Jeffrey Jones) who take over their house.
When a bio-exorcist named Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton) offers his services to scare the living out of the house, Barbara and Adam take him up on his offer. Unfortunately, they quickly find the rambunctious spirit is completely out of control. With Betelgeuse determined to marry the Deetz’s daughter, Lydia (Winona Ryder), Barbara and Adam need to step up to save the day and their new unconventional family.
Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get a new episode every Wednesday. You can subscribe on iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, iHeartRadio, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Amazon Music, and RSS.
Episode 298 – Beetlejuice (1988)
To tie into Tim Burton’s new sequel, we’re revisiting the 1988 classic Beetlejuice.
Trace has a funny backstory with the film, while Joe barely has a connection to it. We both agree, however, that the film is a creative triumph, with amazing characters and boundless background details that flesh out the world.
Plus: multiple queer elements, the film’s obsession with suicide, the animated cartoon and the musical adaptation, and why Delia is *the* best character.
Cross out Beetlejuice!
Coming up on Wednesday: we’re crossing the pond to revisit 2016’s The Girl With All The Gifts, the “don’t say zombies” apocalypse film!
P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for over 331 hours of Patreon content including this month’s new episodes on Hannibal S01E09, Blink Twice, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the American remake of Speak No Evil and, finally, our brand new audio commentary on Beck & Woods’ Haunt for its 5th anniversary.
