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Girl, 15, set on fire in assault at Saskatoon high school: police
A 15-year-old girl was set on fire in an assault at Saskatoon's Evan Hardy Collegiate Thursday afternoon, police say.
Betelgeuse, the bio-exorcist made famous by Michael Keaton in the 1988 film of (almost) the same name, thinks of himself as “nightmare material.”
But for fans of the much-loved original movie, his reunion with director Tim Burton is a dream.
This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Jenna Ortega, left, and Winona Ryder in a scene from 'Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.' (Parisa Taghizadeh/Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)
The new film, “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” returns to Winter River, along with three generations of the Deetz family. They are: wacky artist Delia (Catherine O’Hara), mother of goth TV personality Lydia (Winona Ryder)—"The Living. The Dead. Can they coexist? That's what we're here to find out,” she says— and grandmother of the rebellious Astrid (Jenna Ortega), who thinks her mother’s clairvoyance is a sham.
Brought together by the passing of Deetz family patriarch Charles (originally played by Jeffrey Jones), the trio becomes a quartet when Astrid opens a portal to the afterlife, releasing the ghostly presence of Betelgeuse (Keaton). “The juice is loose!”
Lydia, now engaged to greasy television producer Rory (Justin Theroux), must reckon with her past betrothal to Betelgeuse.
“When I was a teenager, a trickster demon terrorized our entire family and tried to force me to marry him,” says Lydia, while the rambunctious spirit has marital troubles of his own. His ex-wife, the soul-sucking Delores (Monica Belucci), has pulled herself together—when we first see her, she’s reassembling her dismembered body—and is looking for revenge.
This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Monica Bellucci in a scene from 'Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.' (Parisa Taghizadeh/Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)
Flip flopping between past and present, our world and the otherworld, “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” explores Astrid’s crush on emo local boy Jeremy (Arthur Conti), the adventures of B-movie-action-star-turned-ghost-detective Wolf Jackson (Willem Dafoe), and the power of the “Handbook for the Recently Deceased.”
A sequel to a movie released when Ronald Reagan was the president of the United States, “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” is in some ways a back-to-basics Tim Burton movie.
A return to the pop pastiche style that made his name, it’s an eye-popping collection of influences. From the German Expressionism of “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” and classic 50s kitsch to exaggerated dreamscapes and the gothic “Gashlycrumb Tinies," his energized visuals will make your eyeballs dance. It’s a welcome return to the marvellously macabre window dressing that defined the original and made it so much fun.
But sequel culture, being what it is, means that the follow-up to a beloved hit must be bigger than what came before. So, “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” is longer, louder and unrulier than the original. In its attempt to recreate the magic of the first film, it tries too hard, stuffing the story with side-stories, new characters and callbacks to 1988. It’s a new “Day-O” for Betelgeuse, and the effort is evident, but the extra stuff doesn’t do much in terms of freshening up Mr. Juice’s mouldy corpse.
Still, although bigger is not better, it brims with humour and heart, courtesy of a handpicked cast of Burton regulars. Keaton has an expanded role—he only appears for 17.5 minutes in the original—and goes for it. The character isn’t exactly subtle, but both Burton and Keaton use restraint, so the wild-and-wacky "ghost with the most" doesn’t overstay his welcome.
Catherine O'Hara, left, a cast member in 'Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,' discusses the film alongside fellow actors Justin Theroux and Monica Belluci during the Warner Bros. Pictures presentation at CinemaCon 2024, April 9, 2024, in Las Vegas (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
The Deetz family dynamic, the film’s beating heart, is well represented in the relationship between Ryder, O’Hara and Ortega. Canadian national treasure O’Hara is reliably hilarious, stealing every scene she’s in, while Ryder and Ortega do the dramatic heavy lifting.
You may not have the time of your afterlife at “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” but it’s far from a dead end for Burton and company. It doesn’t have the charm of the first film, but does deliver enough laughs, fan service and new ideas to cast its spell.
A 15-year-old girl was set on fire in an assault at Saskatoon's Evan Hardy Collegiate Thursday afternoon, police say.
Ontario child-care centres that aren't participating in the national $10-a-day program will soon lose provincial funding to offer fee subsidies to lower-income families and their staff could see a pay cut of $2 an hour.
The 14-year-old accused of fatally shooting four people at his high school in Georgia was expected to make his first court appearance Friday, a day after his father was also arrested for allowing his son to have a weapon.
You never know what you might find in your doorbell camera footage...
Russia has long sought to inject disinformation into U.S. political discourse. Now, it's got a new angle: paying Americans to do the work.
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Former Hedley frontman Jacob Hoggard is seeking leave to appeal his sexual assault conviction to the Supreme Court of Canada.
The New Democrats used a stock image from Russia in a recent video, weeks after the party criticized the Conservatives for doing the same.
Embattled Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his governing Liberals have taken another hit with Jeremy Broadhurst quitting his job as national campaign director for the party.
Brenda Tremblay has been an avid gardener for the last 40 years, but this year’s harvest in Colpitts Settlement, N.B., is a tough nut to crack.
A group of seniors in Ontario is offering their time and experience as parents struggle to find reliable child care spaces.
Saskatchewan man Clyde Hall has been collecting and restoring antique farm equipment for five decades. He's now ready to part with his collection.
An Ottawa man has won the $3.8 million prize in the 'Catch the Ace' draw in Maniwaki, Que. Local radio station CHGA 97.3 has been playing their version of 'Catch the Ace' for nearly a year without a winner.
Herds of salamanders are crossing the road in western Manitoba by the dozens.
A black bear cub survived a 10-hour drive to Windsor while being fed Taco Bell after being found in the middle of a road near Cochrane, Ont.
A British Columbia woman who unsuccessfully sued her downstairs neighbour last fall for making too much noise has now failed in a bid to sue her upstairs neighbour for being too loud.
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A humpback whale calf that was struck by a BC Ferries vessel off of northern Vancouver Island last Thursday is expected to recover, a local marine research society says.