Welcome

Welcome to my ever-evolving blog. It started out as a blog on Beachbody workouts and products, mainly when I was a Beachbody coach. I no longer coach, not because I don't believe in Beachbody's programs (I subscribe to Beachbody on Demand and use their workouts every day), I am just not a salesperson and hated that aspect of it. I am more than willing to answer questions about my experiences with their products and the various workouts, and I feel freer to do so without the appearance of giving a biased review of something.

I have also started adding reviews for various things I have purchased like movies, books, CDs, and other products. This was brought about by a fight with Amazon in which all of my reviews were removed over a completely bullshit allegation that I posted a review that violated their terms of service. After going back and forth with the morons in the community-reviews department (even after they admitted that my posts did not violate their guidelines) they restored my account (which took them six months to do), but I have been posting my reviews on my blog to have them preserved in case something like that happens again. And here, I will post uncensored reviews so I will swear from time to time and post reviews that may be longer than Amazon's character limit. Everything I post here on any topic or product is my personal opinion, and I take no compensation for any product reviews I post. I am a member of Amazon's vine program and because I get those products for free, I keep those reviews on Amazon only, but everything I have purchased with my own money, whether from Amazon or some other store/website/outlet, I will post here.  

I also plan to do some longer blog posts on various topics, such as how to learn physics, how to get through calculus, and longer reviews of workout programs as I do them. Basically, whatever strikes me as interesting at the time.  As you can see if you navigate around the blog, I had many years in between postings. During that time I was going back to school to get an engineering degree, and learning material that I avoided my first time through college was a different experience and one that gave me a lot of insight into how to do well in those classes, which I will try to impart here for those who are looking to get a science or engineering degree. 

Showing posts with label Tim Burton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tim Burton. Show all posts

Sunday, February 25, 2024

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Beetlejuice

 


Beetlejuice is a 1988 comedy/horror movie directed by Tim Burton, starring Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Geena Davis, Alec Baldwin, Catherine O'Hara, and Jeffrey Jones. The movie's premise is that a family (Ryder, O'Hara, and Jones) moves into the home of a recently deceased couple, Adam and Barbara Maitland (Davis and Baldwin). Unbeknownst to them, the Maitland's spirits are still in the house and cannot leave. The Maitlands hire a "bio-exorcist" named Beetlejuice (Keaton) to scare the new homeowners away only to regret the decision as they befriend Ryder's character, Lydia (who is the only one who can see them).

The blu-ray set is very bare bones. It just contains the movies without any extras aside from a couple of cartoons and the theatrical trailers. Hopefully, since a sequel is set to be released in September of 2024, this will get a 4k release and have some bonus features included. Given that everyone involved in the movie is still alive it should not have been that hard to get at least some of them together to give some substance to the extras. The A/V transfer of the blu-ray is okay but could be better. Given the lack of bonus content, if you own the DVD, I would wait to upgrade until a 4k version is released (as it most assuredly will be). 

Ultimately, the movie is very good. The movie was made at what was arguably the height of Michael Keaton's acting career. During the same time frame, he did Clean and Sober, Beetlejuice, and the first two Batman movies. It is not really a scary horror movie. It is best described as a comedy with some jump-scare moments. Keaton is not in the movie as much as I remember when I saw it in the theater years ago, but he steals every scene he is in. Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin do a great job in their roles as the dead couple trying to spook the buyers out of their house, and Winona Ryder is very good as the awkward teen who can see the ghosts. It very much has the look and feel of Tim Burton's other movies. It was made before the modern-day special effects era, so some of the effects are cheesy and fake-looking, but they do not distract from or reduce the quality of the movie. It is absolutely worth the time to watch.