Back to the ’80s
In this week’s Criticize This! we take a look at a sequel we’re no longer excited to watch, a fun Canadian headbanger, and a great coming-of-age story that’s now on digital.
THE BIG ONE
Warner Bros. doesn’t like us, so we weren’t invited to the advance screening of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (and we didn’t have time to see it during the Thursday previews as the Toronto International Film Festival started). Since we can’t ignore one of the biggest releases of the year, we’re writing this based solely on other reviews.
The good news is that the reviews are mostly favourable, and as of this writing it has a 77% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes with an 87% audience rating. The bad news is that even the good reviews call Tim Burton’s sequel “messy” and “uneven”.
“This weirder and at times scarier follow-up is messy but has enough of the original magic to entertain audiences thanks to its tremendous comedic performances,” Kyle Wilson wrote about the movie on The Lamplight Review.
WATCH: Trailer for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Over on Nerdspin, Zofia Wijaszka said that “while the film may be a bit uneven, the stellar cast—including Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Catherine O’Hara, and Jenna Ortega—brings hysterical and engaging performances.”
In his positive 3 1/2 out of 5 star review, Richard Crouse wrote that the movie is “longer, louder and unrulier than the original,” adding that it “tries too hard, stuffing the story with side-stories, new characters and callbacks to 1988.”
The bad reviews aren’t so kind.
“Sometimes, the dead should just stay buried,” Richard Whittaker slammed the movie in his Austin Chronicle review.
Jim Slotek said he’s “attended funnier funerals” in his review on Original-Cin, adding that all the movie did was “make me want to see the singular version again.”
And lastly, Frank Swietek wrote on One Guy’s Opinion that the movie “oozes the second-rate quality that has marked most of Burton’s later efforts, rather than the madcap brilliance of his earlier ones.” Ouch.
Our take: We feel this is one we need to see for ourselves, but we’re no longer in a rush to get out to watch it.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is now in theatres.
IN THEATRES
Deaner ’89
You need to know that Deaner ’89 is not connected to the Fubar movies or TV show. While Paul Spence played Dean in that franchise, this is its own standalone origin story set in the ’80s.
With that out of the way, we found the movie to be quite hilarious at times, especially during scenes between Spence and Will Sasso, who plays his adoptive dad. If you’ve watched the show Loudermilk (it’s on Netflix), you’ll know that Sasso can make anything funny, and in this, he just kills it. There’s also a lot of heart to Deaner ’89 and even some Indigenous history we weren’t expecting.
There’s currently no critics score on Rotten Tomatoes or rating on the IMDb for the movie, but Thom Ernst summed it up best in his review by saying “the comedy here doesn’t pull punches — big gags, big cameos, big laughs.”
The Front Room
The Front Room is hands down one of the most annoying movies we’ve ever seen. We will even go as far as saying we hate this movie!
There’s not one nice thing to say about it. It looks like crap, the characters suck, the acting is horrible (especially Kathryn Hunter’s over-the-top performance, which will make you want to walk out of the theatre), and it’s not even close to being a horror movie as the marketing is trying to make it out to be. How a solid studio like A24 is releasing this horrendous waste of time is beyond us.
As of this writing the movie has a 50% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, and that’s way too high! This should fall below Borderlands, which still has a 10% critics score.
TOP BOX OFFICE
STREAMING
Dìdi (VOD)
With a 96% critics score and a 92% audience rating, Dìdi is one of the best reviewed movies of the year so far (it also has a 7.7 out of 10 on the IMDb).
A coming-of-age story set in 2008, the movie is more dramatic and real than goofy teen comedy, and is best compared to something like Jonah Hill’s Mid90s instead of a movie like Superbad, which they actually watch in Dìdi.
From the writing and acting to little details like seeing MySpace and the original design of Facebook, the movie just works on all levels and is a memorable watch.
Skincare
In our theatrical review of Skincare a few weeks ago, we suggested waiting to see it until it was streaming. Well, it’s now available to rent or buy on digital, and Elizabeth Banks’ performance is still worth watching it for.
Also streaming this week: Rebel Ridge is on Netflix, Mothers’ Instinct, starring Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain, is on Prime Video, and Whiplash is on Crave.
COMING SOON
Apartment 7A is a prequel to Rosemary’s Baby starring Julia Garner (Ruth in Ozark) as a dancer who ends up living next to those pesky neighbours Minnie and Roman (played by Dianne Wiest and Kevin McNally in this).
We’re digging the vibe of the trailer, and we have high hopes it will work just as well as the original movie does. Thankfully, we won’t have to wait long to see if it’s any good, as it premieres on Paramount+ on September 27.
Check out the trailer for Apartment 7A on our YouTube channel and let us know if you’re excited for this one or not?
ON DISC
If you’re a fan of the stop-motion animated movie Coraline, you’ll know that it’s been back in theatres the last few weeks to celebrate its 15th anniversary (and it’s doing better than a lot of new movies, like The Crow, which is not even in the Top 10 anymore). While seeing it in theatres again is great, watching it at home on 4K Blu-ray is the next best thing.
Based on the Neil Gaiman novella and directed by Henry Selick (The Nightmare Before Christmas), Coraline tells the story of a young girl who ends up in an alternate version of her world where everything is more fun, but looks extremely creepy (the buttons for eyes in that world haunts us). Dakota Fanning voices the title character, while Teri Hatcher and John Hodgman voice her parents.
Coraline got rave reviews upon release and holds a solid 91% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes. It also has a 7.8 out of 10 on the IMDb based off of over 271,000 reviews!
The animation style in Coraline is brilliant, and the movie looks stunning on 4K Blu-ray. The Dolby Atmos 7.1 sound mix is also amazing, and it’s an overall great disc to show off your home theatre with.
Special features on the 4K Blu-ray release include commentary with director Henry Selick and composer Bruno Coulais, multiple making-of featurettes, deleted scenes, the trailer for the movie, and more.
You can currently buy the Coraline 4K Blu-ray Limited Edition Steelbook on Amazon.ca for $31.99.
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