Beetlejuice 20th a [Blu-ray]

Say it once, say it twice, third time's the charm!
When this movie first came out about fifteen years ago, my father owned a video store and every Wednesday night was "Beetlejuice" night. I'm older now, obviously, but I still cannot get enough of this movie.

Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis play Adam and Barbara Maitland, two Connecticut yuppies who die prematurely in a car wreck. Within a couple weeks, their home is overrun by an ultra-trendy New York City family, Charles and Delia Deetz, and their Goth daughter, Lydia (played respectively by Jeffrey Jones, Catherine O'Hara, and Winona Ryder). Adam and Barbara want their house back, and attempt to scare the Deetz's out of the house by wearing sheets and even by possessing them over dinner, making them sing and dance to Harry Belafonte's "Day O." Those attempts fail and enter Michael Keaton as Betelguese, "the afterlife's leading freelance bio-exorcist." The movie is dark without being scary and funny without being ridiculous.

In my opinion, one of the real gems in this film is the...

Off-color, Irreverent Hilarity
I love this film. Barbara and Adam Maitland, a young couple madly in love (played by Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin) discover that they are not only dead but trapped in their home as ghosts waiting for the bureaucracy of the afterlife to set them free. When a New York couple (Catherine O'Hara and Jeffrey Jones) and their teenage daughter Lydia (wonderfully macabre Winona Ryder) move into their beloved house, the Maitlands want nothing more than to remove them. The problem is, the Maitlands are too nice to truly scare anyone. They meet a rogue ghost, the ribald, disgusting Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton) who promises to drive the family away, with a few strings attached. Lydia, whose goals aren't that far from the Maitlands and who has a morbid, poignantly sad outlook, discovers the ghosts and tries to help them. But Beetlejuice has his own agenda.

The casting for this movie is perfect, with only Alec Baldwin's performance less than memorable. Michael Keaton is suitably...

Cheesy Reissue
My one-star refers to this so-called "20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition" of this hilarious and eye-popping delight from director Tim Burton.

Since the inception of the DVD format, I have been waiting for a proper DVD of Beetlejuice with commentary and special features.

I am sorry to say that this pathetic disc is NOT what I have been waiting for.

Though they supposedly have spruced up the picture, the ONLY special features are three Beetlejuice cartoons and I think some music track or something.

NO commentary, NO behind-the-scenes, NO nothing.

So -- NO sale.

I'm still waiting...

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