"Let's turn on the juice and see what shakes loose"

Review: Beetlejuice

An Augustus Rating of 7/10

Just the perfect movie for a fun, October night. Today's review is on the 1988 horror comedy, Beetlejuice, directed by the one and only, Tim Burton. By horror, I mean you see dead people and a few pussing but friendly ghosts. This movie stars Michael Keaton (Batman!) as the infamous Betelgeuse. 

The movie starts off with a recently deceased  young couple, the Maitlands, who are confined as ghosts in their vacation house on the top of a hill in Winterville. Unable to come to terms with their deaths, they are summoned to the underworld where they meet their "death counselor", Juno. In the meantime, an obnoxious family from New York, the Deetzes, move into the house. 

 Mr. Deetze is a former real estate developer and Mrs. Deetze is his second wife who is also a modern sculptor. Lydia is Mr. Deetze's goth daughter from his first marriage. She is very depressed and hates her life. The family begins to renovate the house into a more contemporary and stylish home. The Maitlands are furious of what has become of their loving house.

Juno tells the couple that they have to scare off the Deetzes in order to regain their house. While planning to scare the Deetzes, the couple meet Lydia, the only person that can see them, and befriend her. After numerous unsuccessful scare attempts, the Maitlands decide they need help.

The Maitlands are informed of a "bio-exorcist" ghost, Betelgeuse, who specializes in scaring the living. They are warned that he is only trouble and after experiencing his morbid and inappropriate nature, the Maitlands think twice about hiring him. Unfortunately, they are tricked into saying the magic words which bring Betelgeuse into the game. 

Tim Burton wanted his childhood favourite star, Sammy Davis Jr. to
play Betelgeuse, but the studio executives didn't like the idea at all!
(Too bad!)

 Beetlejuice was a great success in 1988. It became the 10th highest grossing film of the year. It reclaimed its $15 million budget, bringing home over $73 million in North America. At the 61st Academy Awards, Beetlejuice won the award for The Best Makeup. During The Saturn Awards, it won Best Makeup and Best Horror Film.

Overall, this movie was pretty great. Never thought I'd see Batman as a crazy ghost with white hair and a rotting complexion. So next time you feel the need to laugh at someone as nutty as him, watch Beetlejuice. 

... Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice.

- Augustus

 

"Tell me Miss Trench, do you play any other games?"

"The name's Bond, James Bond"

Review: 007 in Dr. No

An Augustus Review of 8/10

Today we go back to the 1960s, where Ian Fleming's British secret agent novels first hit the big screen. Dr. No is the first of the worldwide popular James Bond series. In this movie, we meet the handsome 30 year old Sean Connery as 007. 

 In Dr. No, we are first introduced to the iconic aspects of the James Bond series: view of the character through a gun barrel and a catchy opening title sequence. The movie starts with the death of a British secret agent, John Strangways, in Jamaica by a group of assassins, "Three Blind Mice." Here we see secret agent 007 summoned to the case. 

Upon arriving to Kingston airport, Bond has his photo taken by a mysterious woman and is followed by two shadowy men. He is chauffeured by a strange character who Bond believes to be the enemy. After a short brawl, the chauffeur kills himself with a poisoned cigarette filter.

Bond’s investigation at Strangway’s house leads him to a boatman who refuses to be interrogated. Bond realizes that the boatman was the driver who was following him. Soon, the second man arrives and they fight Bond. They realize that Bond is a part of the British Secret Service and they too reveal they are the CIA. Together, they decide to find the mystifying Dr. No, who is tapping into USA space missile radios.

Bond’s exploration leads him to Crab Key, an island off the coast where he meets his Bond Girl, Honey Ryder.  Together, they find the infamous Dr. No who has nothing but trouble in store.

Although Sean Connery played an incredible Bond, Ian Fleming

actually wanted a younger actor for the role. (Pfft, rude!)

This movie does a phenomenal job at introducing the character of James Bond. He is a slick, sexy, a little naïve but very baddass spy. His character is portrayed as quite the lady’s man. (He rolls around in the sack with three different women in this movie!) Although he is sometimes very youthful in the situations he gets himself into, he always seems to know how to save himself.

The music in this movie really screams 1960s. The Bond theme is played numerous times as well as very overdramatic music. But hey, the scene where Bond almost soils himself when interacting with a tarantula wouldn’t have nearly been as exciting without the terrifying background music.

Dr. No opened up a whole new franchise of movies. Introducing the British spy that would be popular for years to come.

- Augustus

"It doesn't matter if you win or lose, it's what you do with your dancin' shoes."

Review: Grease

An Augustus Rating of 8/10

For today's review, we step back into the 1950s, where love, friendship and singing dominate Rydell High School. 

Grease was an American musical directed in 1978 by Randal Kleiser. The film surrounds two teenagers, Sandy and Danny, who are lovers in their Californian high school. It stars John Travolta as Danny Zuko, Olivia Newton-John as Sandy Olsen, Stockard Channing as Betty Rizzo and Jeff Conaway as Kenickie.

 Sandy and Danny meet over the summer before their senior year. Sandy is originally from Australia and came to visit relatives in America. The two fall passionately in love; unfortunately, their love had to end as the summer passed and reality had returned. They separate, believing to never see one another again.

Danny Zuko goes to Rydell High, and belongs to a group of greasers by the name of the T-Birds. They're the "badasses" of the movie and play by their own rules. They wear leather jackets, smoke a pack a day and always have their hair slicked back with a gallon of hair gel. When he is with his friends, Danny acts tough and confident. Only when he is with Sandy does his true, loving personality come out.

Sandy's family has decided to stay in California and enroll her in one of the local high schools, Rydell High. Sandy, being new, is very shy and doesn't know anyone. She meets a girl, Frenchy, who is instantly friendly and warmhearted. Frenchy is a part of a girl's group, The Pink Ladies.

Danny and Sandy are oblivious to each other until the two groups meet up. At first, they are ecstatic to see one another, until Danny realizes his friends are boggled by his sudden behaviour. He immediately puts on a "macho" man persona and hurts Sandy's feelings.

Grease theme song by the Bee Gees

The movie circulates around Sandy and Danny's relationship. Throughout the story, they let their love blossom. A sub plot between Rizzo (leader of The Pink Ladies) and Kenickie (T-birds) identifies the hardships of love, sex and friendship teenagers face within their own relationship.

This story is illustrated mostly in song (hence, musical!) with 26 hits. About nine songs did not appear in the movie although were credited in the soundtrack. This movie grossed over $8 million in its opening weekend, ranking #2 at the box office. It is ranked the #1 highest-grossing musical in the United States.

So kick back, slick your hair and pop in this movie. With its catchy songs, memorable characters and stylish pants, Grease will make a musical lover out of anyone!

- Augustus

      SOURCES: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x18pVYUHJwA, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grease_(film)

"I'm funny how? I mean funny like I'm a clown?"

"Never rat on your friends, and always keep your mouth shut."

Review: GoodFellas

An Augustus rating of 9/10

Today's review is on the 1990's classic, GoodFellas. A gangster movie surrounding deception, greed and a whole lot of whacking.

This flick was directed by Martin Scorsese in the 1990s based on Nicholas Pileggi's non-fiction book, Wiseguys. The main actors in this movie are Robert Di Niro (Jimmy), Ray Liotta (Henry), Joe Pesci (Tommy) and Paul Sorvino (Paulie).

The movie was set in the United States from 1955 to the late 1980s. It surrounds a family of Italian-American mobsters including the main characters of Jimmy, Henry, Tommy and Paulie. Basically, they have decided that living the life of a schnook, is not the life they were meant to live.

The movie's narrator is Henry, one of the main characters. He tells the story of how he was brought into the life of crime and fortune. As a child, Henry despised working for his father or doing anything that required hard labour. In his teens, Henry began to work for the head boss, Paulie, who immediately took him under his wing. Henry decided that he did not want to work for a living and soon, was adopted into the mafia.

Jimmy is one of the most important characters in the story. He plays the part of one of the vital mobsters. Everyone knows Jimmy, but nobody wants to get on his bad side. Throughout the movie, Jimmy's character drastically changes and his inner demon is revealed.

Tommy is the reckless and infamous loud mouth who has a very short temper. He is constantly swearing and letting his anger get the best of him. He is very close to Jimmy who acts as his sober second thought. He, Henry and Jimmy begin to run the streets and no one dares get in their way.

The F-bomb is dropped over 296 times throughout the movie!

Half of which are by Pesci's character Tommy.

The story illustrates the rise and fall of these mobsters. It begins with Henry, Jimmy and Tommy accumulating enormous wealth through an airplane robbery. As the men are getting richer, their greed becomes the best of them. Tommy murders anyone who insults him and runs into danger after killing an important boss. Jimmy manipulates his fellow gangsters to gain more power. Henry acts as the "counselor" in the group, trying to keep relative peace among his partners.

The climax of the movie is when the trio becomes involved in the drug trade. Although they are thoroughly warned by Paulie not to get involved, they set to perform their largest heist. Unfortunately for them, nothing good can come from the massive amount of money they’ve stolen. As paranoia, deception and arrogance become the main themes in the story, the members of the mob face total destruction.

This movie does an excellent job at developing characters. Throughout the story, each main mobster is looked at in deep description. It focuses on the transition of the character's persona from slick, calm and smart to irrational, paranoid and untrustworthy. The movie does a phenomenal job at creating suspense and flow of plot. 

The movie, Goodfellas, received over $45 million in the box office. It was nominated for six academy awards and won five awards from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and was considered to be one of the “greatest films ever.”

So, all in all, a pretty good film. If you like a story with a great rise and fall structure and thorough development of characters, this is the movie to watch. But, if you have a weak stomach and the sight of guns and violence scares you, switch the channel and proceed to cry. 

- Augustus

Goodfellas Dictionary:

whack: (verb) to kill someone.

schnook: (noun) regular folk with regular jobs living a regular life. 

made: (verb) to become a boss, where nobody can touch you.

wiseguy: (noun) someone who has been made and is of a higher boss status.

SOURCE: http://www.shortlist.com/entertainment/50-useless-but-genius-facts-about-goodfellas