Stubs - An American Tragedy

An American Tragedy (1931) Starring: Phillips Holmes, Sylvia Sidney, Frances Dee Directed by Josef von Sternberg Screenplay by Samuel Hoffenstein Based on the novel An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser (New York, 1925). Produced by Josef von Sternberg Runtime: 96 minutes. USA Black and White Melodrama, Romance, Pre-Code.

On July 11, 1906, Chester E. Gillette drowned Grace Brown in a lake in Herkimer County, New York. That murder was the basis of Theodore Dreiser’s 880-page novel, An American Tragedy, published in 1925. When Paramount bought the rights, the film was originally planned as the American debut of Sergei Eisenstein, the renowned Soviet film director; Battleship Potemkin (1926).

Apparently, Eisenstein was so interested in the project that he wrote, what the Associate Producer David O. Selznick called “the most moving script I have ever read." However, B.P. Schulberg, the head of Paramount, wasn’t so impressed and replaced Eisenstein with Josef von Sternberg. Eisenstein never did make a Hollywood film and returned to the Soviet Union.

The change in director didn’t change the Hays Office’s objections to the film and the aspect of the story that dealt with an abortion. Colonel Jason S. Joy, the Director of the Studio Relations Office, wrote to Schulberg on April 25, 1931, "If the references to abortion remain in "American Tragedy"...it will surely tend to eventually open the way for a more serious development of this subject in pictures." However, Schulberg wasn’t willing to eliminate Roberta's attempts to secure an abortion from the film because of an earlier approval given by Father Daniel J. Lord, a clergyman who collaborated on the draft of the Hays Code. But on July 15, 1931, Jesse Lasky wrote to Hays agreeing to eliminate the following dialogue, which refers to abortion: "You went to the druggist who testified here." "Yes sire." "Anyone else?" "Yes sire, to seven others before I could get anything at all." "But what you got didn't help, did it? "No sir."

Stubs - Mystery House

 

Mystery House (1938) Starring Dick Purcell, Ann Sheridan, Anne Nagel, William Hopper Directed by Noel Smith. Screenplay by Sherman L. Lowe, Robertson White Based on the novel Mystery of Hunting's End by Mignon G. Eberhart (New York, 1930). Produced by Jack L. Warner (Executive Producer), Hal B. Wallis (Executive Producer) Run time: 56 minutes USA Black and White Mystery

In 1935, Warner Bros. began marketing a series of films as Cine Club, aimed at increasing audiences attending WB mystery movies. The series was tied to Black Mask, a pulp magazine, and consisted of 12 films, the first The White Cockatoo (1935) and the last Mystery House. Filmed in only a couple of weeks in November 1937, the film wouldn’t be released until May 21, 1938.

Stubs - A Complete Unknown

A Complete Unknown (2024) starring Timothée Chalamet, Edward Norton, Elle Fanning, Monica Barbaro, Boyd Holbrook, Dan Fogler, Norbert Leo Butz, Scoot McNairy Directed by James Mangold. Screenplay by James Mangold, Jay Cocks Based on Dylan Goes Electric! by Elijah Wald. Produced by Fred Berger, James Mangold, Alex Heineman, Bob Bookman, Peter Jaysen, Alan Gasmer, Jeff Rosen, Timothée Chalamet Run time: 141 minutes. Color. USA. Biographical, Musical, Drama

Hollywood has been on a roll making film biographies of musicians of late. The current subject is Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown. This is the second Dylan fictional biography; he was also the subject of I’m Not There (2007), an experimental biopic, which included Cate Blanchett representing one aspect of Dylan’s life.

2024 - The Highlights (lionsroar)

2024 - Highlights

Films watched, but not necessarily released, in 2024. In no particular order:

Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color

This version, Minus Color, was released in 2024. This is one of, if not the best, Godzilla/monster film ever made. Not only is Godzilla a real threat but this film has heart to it, something so often lacking in these kinds of films. The black and white only seems to add to the feeling of watching a classic.

The Holdovers

A holdover from 2023. The story of three people who are forced to spend the Christmas break together. Some very strong acting from Paul Giamatti, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, and Dominic Sessa.

American Fiction

Another 2023 leftover. I wasn’t sure what to expect but it was a treat with a compelling story and strong performances for a cast that included Jeffrey Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, Issa Rae, Sterling K. Brown, John Ortiz, Erika Alexander, and Leslie Uggams.

Robot Dreams

The first of several animated films with robots on this list. I would call this a little film but it was highly effective. We’ve all been in relationships that for whatever reason didn’t work out they way we wanted but we all have to move on.

Transformers One

Not sure what happened here. The film was much better than the advertising and marketing, what little there was, would have led audiences to believe. A lot of celebrity voices but it still works, and was fun.

The Wild Robot

The best of the three animated films with robots, and perhaps the best animated film of the year. Shows there is still hope for DreamWorks. Lupita Nyong'o leads a voice cast which includes Pedro Pascal, Mark Hamill, and Catherine O’Hara.

Inside Out 2

Pixar has been known to make sequels with diminishing returns, so I was a little apprehensive about seeing Inside Out 2. I’m happy to report that the film exceeded my expectations and is a good companion to the original.

Deadpool & Wolverine

The third in the franchise and the infusion of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine was exactly what it needed. The film also pays homage to the Marvel films from 20^th Century Fox before Disney swallowed it whole.

Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl

While not perhaps as good as The Wrong Trousers, the sequel shows that there is still life in this series. Ben Whitehead is a good replacement for the late Peter Sallis as Wallace.

Sonic The Hedgehog 3

You don’t need to be a gamer to appreciate the series of Sonic films. This one has everyone back, including Jim Carrey, who plays two roles, but also introduces Shadow, voiced by Keanu Reeves. The fourth in the series has already been announced and judging by the reaction of the audience I saw it with, it will no doubt be a hit as well.

The Night Before Christmas in Wonderland

As much of a misstep that Red One was (see below), this animated film manages to successfully blend Christmas with the Wonderland from Alice fame and become something that can be watched year after year.

2024 - Disappointments

Again, films seen in 2024, in no particular order:

The Boy and the Heron

This was far from the best animated film released in 2023 but still won the Academy Award on the reputation of its creator, Hayao Miyazaki. I’m not sure if the Academy doesn't take the category seriously or they wanted to honor Miyazaki for his past works. This is a little like John Wayne winning for True Grit; not his best work.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

I had to admit I wasn’t really looking to seeing this film and so I shouldn’t be surprised it wasn’t near as good as the original. Sometimes it’s best to leave well enough alone. Here’s hoping there’s not a Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Beetlejuice in anyone’s future.

Red One

Not sure who this film was aimed at but whoever it was, it seems to have missed the mark.

Kung Fu Panda 4

One sequel too far in the franchise from DreamWorks. It seems to indicate they didn’t know what they had created and when to stop.

Beatles ‘64

It hurts me to put this on the list but this could have been so much better. Basically, it’s the Mayles Brothers documentary The Beatles - The First U.S. Visit (1964) with added stuff that doesn’t always seem to fit. Love Smokey Robinson, but why his 1968 appearance on Ed Sullivan singing “Yesterday” in this documentary? And the “grownup” analysis doesn’t really add much either; the reaction at the time was visceral not cerebral. More Beatles performing would have made this better.

Stubs - Sin Takes a Holiday

Sin Takes a Holiday (1930) Starring: Constance Bennett, Kenneth MacKenna, Basil Rathbone. Directed by Paul L. Stein. Screenplay by Horace Jackson. Produced by E. B. Derr. Runtime: 75 minutes Black and White. USA. Drama.

Constance Bennett was a star in Hollywood best known for her fashionable wardrobe and her ability to wear it stylishly. Apparently, Depression-era audiences would flock to see her wearing fashions and living in a world that only existed on the screen. Viewers of Sin Takes a Holiday would not be disappointed.

Stubs - Red One

Red One (2024) starring Dwayne Johnson, Chris Evans, Lucy Liu, J. K. Simmons. Directed by Jake Kasdan. Screenplay by Chris Morgan. Produced by Hiram Garcia, Dwayne Johnson, Dany Garcia, Chris Morgan, Jake Kasdan, Melvin Mar. Run time: 123 minutes. Color. USA Christmas, Action, Mystery, Comedy, Adventure

Have you ever watched a movie and wondered who the intended target audience was? That was my reaction while watching Red One, an attempt at making Dwayne Johnson into a holiday tradition, when I watched it recently on Amazon Prime. Good thing it was free to watch.

Stubs - Beatles ' 64

Beatles ’64 (2024) starring John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr. Directed by David Tedeschi, Produced by Martin Scorsese, Margaret Bodde Run time: 106 minutes. Black and White. U.S./United Kingdom. Documentary.

Every Beatles anniversary gets some sort of celebration, whether it’s the 50^th anniversary of Sgt. Pepper getting a box set and a remix, or as with 2024, the 60^th anniversary of The Beatles arrival in the U.S. To celebrate this occasion, there have been several releases during the year, including a Mega block set that re-enacted their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, two separate Record Store Day releases, including 3-inch singles of all the songs they sang on that first show, a collection of vinyl mono releases from 1964, and now Beatles ’64, a “new” documentary that premiered on November 29, 2024 on the Disney+ streaming platform.

Stubs - 3 Godfathers

3 Godfathers (1948) Starring John Wayne, Pedro Armendáriz, Harry Carey, Jr., Ward Bond Directed by John Ford. Screenplay by Laurence Stallings, Frank S. Nugent Based on the novel The Three Godfathers by Peter B. Kyne (New York, 1913). Produced by John Ford, Merrian C. Cooper. Run time: 107 min. Color. USA Western, Christmas.

Sometimes directors get a second chance at a story. Alfred Hitchcock had that with The Man Who Knew Too Much, making it twice in 1934 and in 1956. John Ford got the same chance with adapting Peter B. Kyne’s novel The Three Godfathers. Marked Men (1919), directed by Ford starred Harry Carey, Joe Harris and Ted Brooks, made by Universal, is now considered lost. When Ford decided to remake the story, Harry Carey was no longer available, having died in 1947.

While another long-time collaborator, John Wayne, would have the lead role, Ford did bring in Harry Carey, Jr. Even though this was not his first film, he is given an “Introducing” sort of credit. To round out the three, Ford hired Pedro Armendáriz, a Mexican-American actor who was appearing in only his third film, having appeared in only two other films, both directed by John Ford, The Fugitive (1947) and Fort Apache (1948).

Ford wanted to make the film in Mexico, however, it was shot on location in Death Valley, CA, with some additional shooting in Lone Pine, CA. Ford made the film through his own production company that he co-owned with Merrian C. Cooper, Argosy Pictures. Since the story rights were owned by MGM, Argosy negotiated a one-picture releasing contract with MGM. This also marked the first time that MGM accepted a distribution deal without a financial investment or creative input in the production.

Stubs - Three Godfathers (1936)

Three Godfathers (1936) starring Chester Morris, Lewis Stone, Walter Brennan. Directed by Richard Boleslawski. Screenplay by Edward E. Paramore Jr. and Manuel Seff. Based on the novel The Three Godfathers by Peter B. Kyne (New York, 1913). Produced by Joseph L. Mankiewicz Run time: 85 minutes. Black and White. USA. Western, Christmas.

The Three Godfathers by Peter B. Kyne a 1913 novel, was a very popular source for films in early Hollywood, being made into several productions, including The Sheriff's Baby, a 1913 Biograph film directed by D.W. Griffith and starring Harry Carey, Lionel Barrymore, and Henry B. Walthall; a 1916 Bluebird film directed by Edward J. Le Saint and starring Harry Carey and Stella Razeto; a 1919 Universal picture called Marked Men directed by John Ford that also starred Carey; a 1930 Universal picture called Hell's Heroes, directed by William Wyler and starring Charles Bickford; and a 1948 MGM picture called 3 Godfathers, again directed by Ford, and starring John Wayne, Pedro Armendariz and Harry Carey, Jr. A television movie version entitled The Godchild appeared on the ABC network in 1974, directed by John Badham and starring Jack Palance.

In this case, we’re looking at the 1936 MGM version Three Godfathers directed by Richard Boleslawski. Filming took place between November 27, 1935 and January 4, 1936 was partially shot on location in Mojave, California. The film was released on March 6, 1936. It would be retitled Miracle in the Sand when it was shown on television.

Stubs - Hell's Heroes

Hell’s Heroes (1929) Starring Charles Bickford, Raymond Hatton, Fred Kohler Directed by William Wyler Screenplay by Tom Reed and C. Gardner Sullivan. Based on the novel The Three Godfathers by Peter B. Kyne (New York, 1913). Produced by Carl Laemmle. Run Time: 78 min USA. Black and White Western, Christmas

You might not think of a film with the theme of redemption at Christmas to be called Hell’s Heroes, but the first sound film based on Peter B. Kyne’s novel The Three Godfathers is called just that. While this might be the first sound film, it is not the first or the last to be based on the novel. Even before there was a novel, there was a short story "Broncho Billy and the Baby," by Kyne published in The Saturday Evening Post in 1910. This served as the basis of an Essanay short film of the same name in 1915.

The novel, first published in The Saturday Evening Post in 1912, was bought by Bluebird Photoplay and made into the film The Three Godfathers (1916) co-starring Harry Carey. The story was remade as Marked Men (1919), directed by John Ford and again co-starring Harry Carey.

Hell’s Heroes was shot on location in the Mojave Desert, in and around the town of Bodie, California, and  utilized much of the town's main street and included both exterior and interior footage of the Bodie Bank, which burned in 1932, and Methodist Church. The film opened in New York on the week of December 27, 1929 and went into wide release on January 5, 1930. The film print for Hell's Heroes was fully restored by The Film Foundation; an organization founded in 1990 by director Martin Scorsese.

Stubs - A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving

 

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973) voices by Bill Melendez, Todd Barbee, Stephen Shea, Hilary Momberger, Robin Kohn, Christopher DeFaria, Jimmy Ahrens, Robin Reed. Directed by Bill Melendez, Phil Roman. Teleplay by Charles M. Schulz. Based on Peanuts Created by Charles M. Schulz Run time: 25 minutes. Color, USA. Animated. Holiday, TV Special 

There are some TV specials that are perennials. For many people, the holiday specials based on Charles M. Schulz’s Peanuts comic strip are something to watch annually. The tradition started with A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965), followed by It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966). Seven years later, Schulz tackled Thanksgiving with A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. The special first aired on CBS on November 20, 1973, two days before the holiday.

Stubs - Bombshell

Bombshell (1933) Starring Jean Harlow, Lee Tracy, Frank Morgan, Franchot Tone, Pat O'Brien. Directed by Victor Fleming. Produced by Hunt Stromberg. Screenplay by John Lee Mahin, Jules Furthman. Based on the unproduced play Bombshell by Caroline Francke and Mack Crane. Run time: 98 minutes Black & White. USA Pre-Code, Romantic Comedy

It’s rare that an actor will play a character that so closely seems to mirror their own lives. While not a biography, much of Bombshell seems to be based, at least in part, on the life of its star, Jean Harlow.

However, the film is really based on an unproduced play, Bombshell, by Caroline Francke and Mack Crane. It was in a story conference at MGM that the idea to make the play into a comedy was born.  Screenwriter John Lee Mahin had the inspiration to turn the tale into a comedy, ­ an idea seized by Fleming when he realized Bow's story was ripe for satire. "She used to be my girl," Fleming explained. "You'd go to her house, and there'd be a beautiful Oriental rug with coffee stains...and her father would come in drunk, and her secretary was stealing from her."

Stubs - The Man with Two Faces

The Man with Two Faces (1934) Starring: Edward G. Robinson, Mary Astor, Ricardo Cortez, Mae Clarke, Louis Calhern. Directed by Archie Mayo. Screenplay by Tom Reed and Niven Busch. Based on the play The Dark Tower by George S. Kaufman and Alexander Woollcott, produced by Sam H. Harris Theatrical Enterprises, Inc. (New York, 25 Nov 1933). USA Black and White. Run time: 72 minutes. Drama.

Films based on plays are nothing new. The Dark Tower is a mystery drama by George S. Kaufman and Alexander Woollcott, first produced in 1933. The play ran at the Morosco Theatre in New York from November 25, 1933 until January 1934.

The film version, entitled at various times: The Strange Case of Mr. Chautard, Dark Victory and The Dark Tower, was in production from March 5 until April 4, 1934.

Stubs - Island of Lost Souls

Island of Lost Souls (1932) starring: Charles Laughton, Richard Arlen, Leila Hyams, Bela Lugosi; Directed by Erle C. Kenton; Screenplay by Waldemar Young, Philip Wylie. Based on the novel The Island of Dr. Moreau by H. G. Wells (London, 1896). Producer: None Credited. Run time: 70 minutes. Black and White. Drama, Science fiction, Horror

While Universal gets credit for the early 30s craze for horror film with Dracula in 1931, they were not the only studio to make that genre of films. Paramount Pictures had released Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) and wanted to make a follow-up with more horrific and sexual themes. On June 1, 1931, Paramount paid $15,000 (equivalent to $300,500 in 2023) for the rights to H. G. Wells' novel The Island of Dr. Moreau, first published in 1896. Along with the novel, the studio also had access to an unproduced play by Frank Vreeland that was based on Wells' story and titled His Creatures.

The Paramount version of the story differed from the H.G. Wells novel The Island of Dr. Moreau, on which it is based. One of the differences was the addition of a character called The Panther Woman. This was used in pre-production as publicity with a talent search for the actress to play the role. Paramount publicist Arthur Mayer developed a contest that involved giving the winner a trip to Hollywood, $200 (equivalent to $4,470 in 2023) a week for five weeks, a home at the Ambassador Hotel, and a role in the film.

A copy of the form women could fill out to be considered for the role.

Contestants were required to be between the ages of 17 and 30 years old, to be in good health, between 5 feet 4 inches and 5 feet 8 inches tall, and not have worked, or be related to anyone who had worked, at Paramount. In his memoir, Merely Colossal, published in 1951, Mayer claimed that the contest attracted 60,000 contestants. There were four finalists; Lona Andre, Gail Patrick, Kathleen Burke, and Verna Hillie and the judges were Cecil B. DeMille, Rouben Mamoulian, Ernst Lubitsch, Norman Taurog, Stuart Walker, and Erle C. Kenton, who took over directing the film from Taurog.

On September 29, 1932, Kathleen Burke was summoned to the casting office and told she had won the contest. Two days later, the film went into production. There was location shooting on Catalina Island for a week, and on the SS Catalina, which encountered real fog as called for in the script. Shooting lasted until early November, with retakes of the scene of Ruth with Ouran on December 8. Bela Lugosi was added to the cast in October, replacing George Barbier as the Sayer of the Law. The film was first released in Chicago on December 23, 1932.

Stubs - Murders in the Rue Morgue

Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932) starring Bela Lugosi, Sidney Fox, Leon Waycoff (Ames). Directed by Robert Florey. Screenplay by Tom Reed, Dale Van Every. Based on the short story "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" by Edgar Allan Poe in Graham's Magazine (Apr 1841). Produced by Carl Laemmle Jr. Run time: 62 minutes. USA. Black and White. Pre-Code, Horror.

How does one follow up on a landmark performance? This is what faced Universal Pictures and Bela Lugosi after he made Dracula (1931). The original thought was to star him in Frankenstein, which is what director Robert Florey intended, with Carl Laemmle, Jr. wanting Lugosi to play the monster. According to TCM, “Accounts vary, but Lugosi was to say that he turned down the monster role because it was not a speaking part; others claim that at the time he threw himself into the preparations. What is known is that Florey, working with Garrett Fort, completed a draft of a screenplay for Frankenstein, and shot a make-up test with Lugosi (as the monster), Edward Van Sloan, and Dwight Frye. This footage, shot over two days, June 16 and 17, 1931, is long-gone and much-discussed among horror fans.”

Stubs - The Vampire Bat

The Vampire Bat (1933) starring Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, Melvyn Douglas. Directed by Frank Stayer. Screenplay by Edward T. Lowe. Produced by Phil Goldstone Run time: 63 minutes. Black and White. USA. Pre-code. Horror.

While most of Hollywood history revolves around the releases from the majors (MGM, Universal, Paramount, Warner Bros, Fox, Columbia, RKO), there were several smaller studios known as poverty row studio. One of those was Majestic Pictures, which was in business in the early 1930’s. Studios like Majestic were always on the look for what they hoped would be a break out film. And with The Vampire Bat they thought they had one.

To give a little background, Lionel Atwill and Fay Wray had been paired together in Warner Bros’ Dr. X (1932), a horror film directed by Michael Curtiz, and had completed work on The Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933), a follow up horror film, also directed by Curtiz. The latter was a large-scale release and would have a lengthy post-production process before it was released.

Stubs - The Little Shop of Horrors

The Little Shop of Horrors (1960) Starring: Jonathan Haze, Jackie Joseph, Mel Welles. Directed by Roger Corman. Screenplay by Charles B. Griffith. Produced by Roger Corman. Run time: 70 minutes. Black and White. USA. Horror, Comedy.

Roger Corman was known for a lot of things as an independent film producer. Not only did he make countless feature films including X: The Man with the X-ray Eyes (1963), The Wild Angels (1966), The Trip (1967) and House of Usher (1960), he also handled the distribution in the US for such directors as Federico Fellini (Italy), Ingmar Bergman (Sweden), François Truffaut (France) and Akira Kurosawa (Japan). He mentored such directors as Francis Ford Coppola, Ron Howard, Martin Scorsese, Jonathan Demme, Peter Bogdanovich, Joe Dante, John Sayles, and James Cameron. He also helped to launch the careers of actors like Peter Fonda, Jack Nicholson, Dennis Hopper, Bruce Dern, Diane Ladd, and William Shatner.

But the one title that comes up every time his name is mentioned is The Little Shop of Horrors (1960), a self-described comedy/horror film.

Corman shot the film quickly in order to beat changing industry rules that would have prevented producers from "buying out" an actor's performance in perpetuity. On January 1, 1960, new rules were to go into effect requiring producers to pay all actors residuals for all future releases of their work. This meant that Corman's B-movie business model would be permanently changed and he would not be able to produce low-budget films in the same way. Before these rules went into effect, Corman decided to shoot one last film and scheduled it for the last week in December 1959.

Stubs - We're in the Money

 

We’re in the Money (1935) starring Joan Blondell, Glenda Farrell, Hugh Herbert, Ross Alexander. Directed by Ray Enright Screenplay by F. Hugh Herbert, Brown Holmes Producer Not Credited. Run time 61 minutes. USA Black and White. Comedy.

Warner Bros. had two young blonde comedic stars that they decided to pair together in a series of comedies. Together, Joan Blondell and Glenda Farrell, billed as the blonde bombshell comedy duo, appeared in five films, including Havana Widows (1933), Kansas City Princess (1934), Traveling Saleslady (1935), Miss Pacific Fleet (1935) and We’re in the Money (1935). If the last one sounds familiar, it is named after the song "We're in the Money," music and lyrics by Al Dubin and Harry Warren, which first appeared in The Golddiggers of 1933.

The film was shot in a little over a month, between May 8 to June 12, 1935, the film was released on August 17, 1935.

Stubs - The First Auto

The First Auto (1927) starring Barney Oldfield, Patsy Ruth Miller, Charles Emmett Mack, Russell Simpson. Directed by Roy Del Ruth. Screenplay by Anthony Coldeway, Jack Jarmuth. Produced by Darryl F. Zanuck. Run time: 75 minutes. Black and White. USA. Silent with sound, Drama.

Made at a time when Hollywood, specifically in this case, Warner Bros., was experimenting with synchronized sound, the beginning of the end of the silent era, the studio was making a film about the end of the horse as the main mode of transportation, The First Auto. The synchronized sound, captured on a disc synchronized with the film, included music, sound effects and a few spoken words.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice - Is the Sequel as Good as the Original?

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024) starring Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Catherine O'Hara, Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci, Jenna Ortega, Willem Dafoe. Directed by Tim Burton, Screenplay by Alfred Gough. Miles Millar. Based on Characters by Michael McDowell, Larry Wilson. Produced by Marc Toberoff, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Tommy Harper, Tim Burton Run time: 104 minutes, Color, USA Comedy, Horror

Note: This review contains spoilers for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

Sequels seem to be taking longer and longer to get made. The original King Kong's sequel, Son of Kong, came out the same year, but the turnaround has only gotten longer since. Two years ago, Top Gun: Maverick came out 36 years after its predecessor, Top Gun, and this year, Beetlejuice follows suit with its sequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. While Maverick was an improvement over the original, can the same be said for Beetlejuice x 2?