tabuno

This English Punk Sci Fi movie distributed by A24 of Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022) and Heretic (2024) fame requires some acceptance of gross out and rather repulsive teen behavior at the beginning in order to get to the more acceptable mainstream but definitely not mainstream delightfully creepy, eerie and wonderfully low-budget but effective anti-culture otherworldliness. Further, Alex Sharp as Enn from the hit sci fi series 3 Body Problem (2024) and another sci fi mystery thriller UFO (2018), headlines this simple but intriguing and captivating film that captures the hard punk rebelliousness, the clashing or merging of totally distinctively different cultures, and an emotional heartfeft storyline even to the unexpected poignant ending. Elle Fanning, an accomplished youthful actress, and surprisingly uncharacteristic character of the always stunning Nicole Kidman provide a great layered entertaining brilliant shine to this movie. Definitely worth seeing after the first eleven minutes if one is a strictly obedient and somewhat civilized older adult, otherwise just the novel portrayal of different living human-like entities is spectacularly captivating and weirdly embracing.

This sequel to Beetlejuice (1988) thirty-six years later brings back the young Winona Ryder as Lydia having to confront now as a mother her skeptical daughter Astrid played by Jenna Ortega and of course Michael Keaton's Beetlejuice once again. There is plenty of homage to the original movie as well as a script that builds on and adds a new layer of entertaining surprises. The soul train scene is delightful but doesn't seem to capture the richness of the authenticity of the Soul Train (1971-2006) television series in set and costume design while the wedding scene using the splendid song of Donna Summer's MacArther's Park is a rather intricate and intriguing choice that actually works with over the top scene blending with the original Beetlejuice Day O séance. The ending scenes are well problematic and perhaps unnecessary. It's hard to decide if the originality of the first Beetlejuice can be replicated with the less specular novelty of its sequel, but the entertainment value remains the same. The balance between realism and camp in the depiction in this movie is possibly an impossible one, but overall Beetlejuice Beetlejuice has its own place as a standalone in the family movie genre.

This occult horror movie has a good set up with its young female protagonist having to cope with an unsettling mother as a child. The concept of a female exorcist is new and challenging. The mood, the pacing, few jump scares, and the authenticity breath fascination into the first two-thirds of the movie. However, there is a sudden and somewhat implausible moment towards the latter part of the movie that almost crushes the young initiate and the climactic scene that do not quite have what the director and scriptwriter intended to completely create satisfactory dénouement as well as the final scene they are unable to offer the movie a great cinematic outcome. Anthony Hopkin's occult thriller The Rite (2011) has a more subdued but more penetrating immersive exhilaration of the horror and temptation of exorcism.