BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE” RATED PG-13

Arriving 36 years later, the “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” sequel serves to allow Michael Keaton, originally named Betelgeuse, to be as demented and mischievous as he was originally in haunting the Deetz family.

In 1988’S “Beetlejuice,” the young married Maitland couple (Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis) end up being killed in a car crash and awaken to become aware that they are ghosts in their own home.

Taking possession of the Maitland house was Charles Deetz (Jeffrey Jones), his wife Delia (Catherine O’Hara), and teenage daughter Lydia (Winona Ryder), and the ethereal Maitlands were unsuccessfully determined to scare away the Deetzes.

For the sake of continuity, Keaton’s demonic ghoul is reunited with Catherine O’Hara’s Delia and Winona Ryder’s now middle-aged Lydia, the latter the mother to her own teenage daughter, Astrid (Jenna Ortega).

The death of Charles Deetz brings Lydia back to Winter River. Lydia is now the host of her own paranormal reality TV series, which her estranged daughter Astrid thinks is a lame attempt to communicate with her deceased father, Richard (Santiago Cabrera).

Delia, Lydia and Astrid represent three generations of Deetzes, and their return to the Connecticut town where they previously resided is for the funeral of Charles, who turns up in the afterlife as a headless body.

Meanwhile, Lydia is apparently looking at tying the knot with her unctuous boyfriend Rory (Justin Theroux), the producer of her “Ghost House” TV show who uses grief counseling as the occasion to plant the idea of marriage.

Filling the void of missing characters from the original film are several types of weird and interesting persons one would expect to emerge from the vivid and bizarre imagination of Tim Burton.

Most peculiar, Monica Bellucci’s Delores turns up as Beetlejuice’s estranged wife, who pulls herself together by using a staple gun to reassemble her severed body parts so that she can proceed as a soul-sucking stalker.

While out riding a bicycle, Astrid stumbles upon the Maitland house after crashing into the backyard’s tree house, where she meets Jeremy (Arthur Conti), a teen for whom she develops a crush.

Jeremy is not exactly the innocent boy-next-door that he appears to be, as he literally has a closet in the attic that opens the portal to another world that puts Astrid in the kind of danger that Lydia fears.

“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” allows Tim Burton to unleash his playful sense of the macabre and madcap anarchy that is sure to delight his die-hard fans, who should enjoy how Michael Keaton still rocks with a bad wig and the pasty ghoulish complexion of a well-preserved vampire.

THE TELEVISION NOMINEE LOUNGE EXPERIENCE

Swag is a big deal in the entertainment world. Gifting suites connected with industry award shows provide opportunities for companies to shower guests with products ranging from cosmetics and accessories to clothing and the latest gadgets.

An invite landed in our inbox from Secret Room Events to attend a gifting suite party on the rooftop of the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. Having never been asked before, how could this experience be resisted?

Celebrities and media were invited, and my guess is that a lot of visitors were influencers and bloggers, as well as talent that was likely TV actors.

Interestingly, the products on display were not familiar. That’s not surprising, because the purpose of what was billed as the “Television Nominee Lounge” is the introduction of new brands.

A product being promoted doesn’t necessarily have to derive from a large corporate entity. Local artist Rachel Tribble displayed her dreamlike paintings suitable for hanging on walls, and handed out greeting cards with her artwork.

In the gadget department, Scosche was the standout. Their catalog highlights gear for off-roaders, race car drivers, sports fishermen, rodeo riders, and rock crawlers. For the rest of us, a useful gadget is a cell phone power bank that also functions as a flashlight and jumper cables.

Tea Voila is a unique concept in that the product is packaged in a box with 6 biodegradable cups with built-in tea leave infusers that eliminate tea bags. Each cup may be used three times, and the cup may be disposed with no worry that it harms the environment.

Watching a subpar film or TV show may induce pain in the cranium, and MiGuard comes along to provide samples of its eponymous product for migraine and headache relief with an organic, vegan, and non-GMO over-the-counter supplement containing vitamins, minerals, and herbal compounds.

After feeling better, you could try Andersen’s Crazy Candy which transforms classic sweets into crunchy, freeze-dried candy that is touted as turning “favorite treats into a party in your mouth.”

Poppin’ Love, an online only gourmet popcorn shop, redefines the staple of a movie theater concession with a range of incredible flavors, from a caramel favorite and cheddar jalapeno to garlic parmesan and cookies & cream.

I passed on samples of skin products and lip balm, but it was interesting to see a company coming from Australia to promote their SenQuil line of moisturizers and face cleansers.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Lake County Theater Co. kicks off the season with Neil Simon's charming play "California Suite."

One set and four scenes makes for a fun two-act night at the theater.

The company will bring to life four different vignettes in the same suite: From a married couple grappling with the fallout of a failed vacation to a mismatched group of friends
and family experiencing the ups and downs of, Simon's play blends humor with heartfelt moments.

“California Suite” will play at the Weaver Auditorium, on the second floor of the Lower Lake School House Museum, in Lower Lake. Shows are Friday, Oct. 18, and Saturday, Oct. 19, at 7 p.m.

On Sunday, at 2 p.m., the show closes its run in Lower Lake.

Then, the play travels north for its second weekend. “California Suite” will open at Soper Reese Theater in Lakeport on Friday, Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. with a Saturday show on Oct. 26 at 7 p.m. The show will close after a final show on Sunday, Oct. 27, at 2 p.m.

Keep an eye on our website, https://laketheatre.org/ for ticket information coming soon.

The Lake County Theater Co is looking to partner with local businesses. If you are a business owner and would like to advertise in any or all of their programs for the season, please visit https://laketheatre.org/ and reach out.

Want to be part of the fun? Check out their website for up-do-date information about auditions and other ways to get involved.

‘REAGAN’ — RATED PG-13

Whatever one’s opinion of President Ronald Reagan, he is a consequential figure in America’s history. The Gipper is the hero for the Republicans in the same manner that Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy are his counterparts for the Democrats.

There are many fascinating things about the man who started his career in radio announcing Chicago Cubs games in Iowa before signing a studio contract in Hollywood to become an actor and later a labor leader as the head of the Screen Actors Guild.

The movie “Reagan,” framed in large part through the voice of a former KGB agent (Jon Voight) when the Soviets first noticed his anti-Communist activity in Hollywood, touches on many aspects of his life, including his small-town Illinois roots and family life.

Dennis Quaid, starring as the adult titular character, shines as the Reagan who evolves as a candidate for California governor primarily on the strength of a nationwide televised speech on behalf of the losing presidential campaign of Senator Barry Goldwater.

More than just a political journey, “Reagan” is very much a love story, one that blossoms when the actor first meets future wife Nancy Davis (Penelope Ann Miller), who seeks his help to dispel a mistaken identity of being a Communist sympathizer.

The film opens with the assassination attempt on the President’s life outside a hotel in Washington, D.C. As Reagan ends up in the hospital, he tells Nancy that he “forgot to duck” and asks the doctors who are about to operate on him if they are Republicans.

One problem for the film is that there is too much history to cram into a running time of two hours plus. As one fascinated by campaigns, I would have liked to have seen more coverage of his insurgent race for GOP nomination in 1976, and greater context on the match with Jimmy Carter in 1980.

However, with the KGB agent calling Reagan “The Crusader” because of his goal to beat Communism without firing a shot, we get to see some serious interactions with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev (Olek Krupa) leading up to the fall of the Soviet Union.

A standout scene is President Reagan’s speech in West Berlin in 1987, when he famously said, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall,” a phrase that been opposed by the State Department and the National Security Council. The Berlin Wall came down in 1990 and a year later the Soviet Union fell.

Forty years ago, President Reagan won re-election in a landslide of epic proportions, carrying 49 states with the largest share ever of electoral votes. Only one other president managed a sweep of the same number of states.

In today’s divided world, it’s hard to imagine anyone attaining that kind of victory. Speaking of our political divide, it’s interesting that according to Rotten Tomatoes, the audience approval is nearly universal while the disparity of the low-rating by critics surveyed is startling.

“Reagan” is an interesting portrait of a popular commander in chief, and those old enough to have experienced the Reagan era are perfectly capable of formulating their own independent opinions.

‘THE SUMMIT’ ON CBS

Picture this: you are trekking through the vast and unforgiving landscape of the New Zealand Alps, subjected to terrifying obstacles and cutthroat interactions at every turn. Can you picture it? You only need to watch the new CBS competition series coming soon.

Sixteen contestants embark on a journey through the alps in an attempt to reach the peak of a towering mountain in just 14 days in order to keep their share of the $1 million prize they are each carrying in their backpacks.

But not everyone will make it, as these strangers must work together to tackle the dangerous terrain, unforgiving Antarctic winds, heart-pounding challenges and gut-wrenching eliminations on their way to the peak.

Tracking them along this journey is the “Mountain’s Keeper” who will surprise the trekkers with brutal twists and force decisions that complicate an already grueling ascent.

Morals and relationships will be tested when they must decide what to do if sometime falls behind, because if the group fails to reach the summit in time, all the prize money will be lost.

In the premiere episode, a medical emergency occurs just hours into the trek and the climbers face a perilous obstacle crossing a ravine, resulting in fears to rise as the “Mountain’s Keeper,” who is tracking them along the way, forces the group to make their first brutal moral decision.

Things don’t get much better in the second episode. After an unexpected twist reverberates throughout the group, game plans shift as the contestants begin to tackle harder terrain.

While the trekkers are challenged with crossing an extremely rickety bridge, emotions surge as the “Mountain’s Keeper” arrives with a shocking choice for the trekkers to make, leaving one person’s fate hanging by a thread.

As you may imagine, challenges emerge with bad weather and the difficulty of a group adhering to the rules of “The Summit” which result in consequences.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.

The FOX Network proves ambitious in the competitive TV world by adding new dramas, new comedies, and new unscripted series to its fall lineup, and it has favorites returning, most notably with “The Simpsons” entering Season 36.

The Italian influence arrives with the new medical drama “Doc,” which is based on the globally acclaimed Italian series “DOC – Nelle tue mani,” with a storyline of a doctor surviving being shot in the head and losing his memory of the last twelve years of life.

The American version, with an abbreviated titled of only “Doc,” stars Molly Parker as the hard-charging, brilliant Dr. Amy Larsen, Chief of Internal and Family Medicine at Westside Hospital in Minneapolis.

After a brain injury erases the last eight years of her life, Amy must navigate an unfamiliar world where she has no recollection of patients she has treated, colleagues she’s crossed, the soulmate she divorced, the man she now loves and the tragedy that caused her to push everyone away.

She can only rely on her estranged 17-year-old daughter, whom she remembers as a 9-year-old, and a handful of devoted friends, as she struggles to continue practicing medicine, despite having lost nearly a decade of experience and knowledge.

Denis Leary stars in the new comedy “Going Dutch” which centers on an arrogant, loudmouth U.S. Army Colonel, who after an epically unfiltered rant is reassigned to the Netherlands, where he is punished with a command position at an unimportant base.

After serving with distinction in every war zone of the last three decades, the colonel is now in charge of a base with no guns, no weapons, and no tactical purpose. Instead, it has a Michelin-star level commissary, top-notch bowling alley, and the best (and only) fromagerie in the Army.

Surrounded by a diverse group of underdogs, the colonel tries to reinstall military discipline and professionalism with the help of the base’s previous interim leader, who just happens to be his estranged daughter.

The animated comedy “Universal Basic Guys” centers on two brothers, Mark and Hank Hoagies, who lose their jobs to automation and are given $3,000 a month on a new basic income program.

Now they’re using their free time and free money to find purpose in a world where they’re no longer needed. Maybe they will learn how to code, but I am not sure that’s part of the program.

Any surfer with a taste for big waves or anyone who has ever been to the North Shore on the Hawaiian island of Oahu may appreciate more than most the new pulse-pounding lifeguard drama “Rescue: HI-Surf.”

The series follows the personal and professional lives of the heavy-water lifeguards who patrol and protect the North Shore – the most famous and dangerous stretch of coastline in the world.

Each episode will feature these dedicated, heroic, and adrenaline-seeking first responders saving lives in the difficult and often life-threatening conditions of Hawaii’s Seven Mile Miracle.

Based on the Edgar Award-winning, nine-book “Karl Alberg” series by acclaimed novelist L.R. Wright, “Murder in a Small Town” follows Karl Alberge (Rossif Sutherland), who moves to a quiet coastal town to soothe a psyche that has been battered by big-city police work.

But this gentle paradise has more than its share of secrets, and Karl will need to call upon all the skills that made him a world-class detective in solving the murders that, even in this seemingly idyllic setting, continue to wash up on his shore.

Kristin Kreuk (“Smallville”) stars as Cassandra, a local librarian who becomes Alberg’s muse, foil, and romantic interest. Special guest stars James Cromwell, Stana Katic, and Paula Patton, are featured.

New unscripted programming includes “Extracted,” a groundbreaking new survival competition, in which, for the first time ever, the contestants are not in charge of their destiny. That’s all we know at this point, but we need to know more about why it is considered a novel concept.

Inspired by the beloved, award-winning 1997 film, “The Real Full Monty” is an all-new two-hour special in which a daring group of male celebrity volunteers bare all to raise awareness for prostate and testicular cancer testing and research.

The event features Anthony Anderson, Taye Diggs, the NFL’s Chris Jones, Tyler Posey, Bruno Tonioli and James Van Der Beek. This special is based on the international unscripted format with hit versions in the U.K., France, and The Netherlands.

During the special, the celebrity talent will train and rehearse for the most revealing performance of their careers, culminating with a big strip-tease dance, choreographed by Emmy Award-winner Mandy Moore, in front of a live audience.

Leading up to the final disrobing, the men will push their limits of comfortability, modesty, and brotherhood with a series of experiences, both private and public, designed to build confidence and remove them far from their comfort zone and strengthen their bond as a group.

Along the way, each of the celebrities will share their personal stories of how cancer has impacted their lives.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.

ABC network lays claim to the longest-running medical drama ever with “Grey’s Anatomy,” which will mark its 21st season this fall and maintains its hold on Thursday nights, except it will be shifting back to the 10 p.m. time slot on the West coast.

This move makes room for the new medical drama on the block, Ryan Murphy’s “Doctor Odyssey,” which stars Joshua Jackson as a doctor on board a luxury cruise ship where the staff works hard and plays harder.

Jackson’s Max and his small but mighty medical team navigate unique medical crises and each other, miles from shore in what ABC bills as a “high-octane procedural.”

The series, also starring Don Johnson, will air Thursdays an hour earlier than “Grey’s Anatomy,” right after the first responder hit “9-1-1,” which was also co-created by Ryan Murphy.

ABC’s other new scripted drama this fall is “High Potential,” a crime drama starring “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s” Kaitlin Olson as she teams up with a by-the-books detective to crack cases.

Based on a popular French series, “High Potential” follows Morgan (Olson), a single mom with three kids and an exceptional mind, who helps solve an unsolvable crime when she rearranges some evidence during her shift as a cleaner for the police department.

When the police discover she has a knack for putting things in order because of her high intellectual potential, she is brought on as a consultant to work with seasoned detective Karadec (Daniel Sunjata), and together they form an unusual and unstoppable team.

On the unscripted front, the network is handing out a rose (and hopefully some comfortable shoes) to “The Golden Bachelorette,” which, like “The Golden Bachelor” before it, will follow contestants in their golden years as they search for a second chance at love.

Fan-favorite Joan Vassos will be the new Golden Bachelorette, and the network is extending the episodes by 30 minutes compared to “The Golden Bachelor’s” hourlong episodes.

In between the new shows, “Abbott Elementary” is holding down the fort for ABC’s comedies as the only sitcom on the fall schedule.

The unscripted staple “America’s Funniest Home Videos” returns in the fall to celebrate its monumental 35th season, along with “Shark Tank” as well as popular films under “The Wonderful World of Disney” umbrella.

“The Conners” will return at midseason for its farewell outing. Dramas “The Rookie” and “Will Trent” are also being held for midseason, along with reality favorites like “American Idol” and “The Bachelor.”



‘KILLER LIES: CHASING A TRUE CRIME CON MAN’ ON NAT GEO

National Geographic expects its summer marquee true-crime series “Killer Lies: Chasing a True Crime Con Man,” premiering on August 28th on Nat Geo and streaming the next day on Hulu, to heat up their storytelling.

Based on Lauren Collins’ 2002 “New Yorker” reveal of a scandal in “Murder, He Wrote,” the Nat Geo special expands on Collins’ investigation into the rise and fall of a provocative French serial killer expert, Stephane Bourgoin, who became famous for jailhouse interviews with serial killers.

Bourgoin’s extraordinary resume of these interviews with killers, as well as his personality quirks, resulted in morbid encounters. Bourgoin cited the violent and horrifying 1975 slaying of his wife by a serial killer as motivation for his relentless interest in the minds of murderers.

After 40 years and 40 books, Bourgoin becomes the target of online sleuths, known as 4eme Oeil Corporation (4th Eye), who try to untangle his web of lies and unearth the truth.

The three-part series, directed by Emmy-nominated filmmaker Ben Selkow, fully reveals the online group’s dogged investigation and the shocking extent of Bourgoin’s deception.

The series features exclusive access to 4th Eye members speaking for the first time on camera in a documentary, along with material from Bourgoin’s own films and past television appearances and forensically reexamined archival footage.

Viewers will hear from those closest to Bourgoin for an intimate peak inside a pathological liar’s mind as well as hear from Bourgoin himself in his most comprehensive sit-down interview discussing his motives for fabricating such grandiose falsehoods.

The premiere episode, “Murder He Wrote,” delves into the lucrative true-crime industry, but the 4th Eye, a collective of vigilante online sleuths, discover Bourgoin’s career was based on a series of dark lies.

“The Eye is Always Watching” episode’s hunt for the truth reveals something far darker lies beneath the surface of Bourgoin’s fame, while “The Reckoning” episode continues investigating many alarming unanswered questions.

In the end, we hear from the victims in this story and delve into the larger themes and questions raised about our insatiable appetite for true crime and the strange compulsions of the human psyche.

“Killer Lies” is an exploration of human nature and cultural psychology and a commentary on the global true-crime industry. Nat Geo contends this is a true-crime story within a true-crime story.

Ultimately, it was avid true-crime fans who brought down Bourgoin, launching their own investigation of the master who had taught them not to underestimate humanity’s capacity for deceit and evil.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.

‘DESPICABLE ME 4’ RATED PG

As summer slips away, there seems to have been too few movies that are geared to a family-friendly audience.

“Inside Out 2” expertly filled the bill, and maybe there was another Disney release I don’t remember. Whatever the case, not much out there for kids.

It’s time to take a look at “Despicable Me 4,” the newest installment in a franchise that delights youngsters not only with the erstwhile criminal Gru (voiced by Steve Carell) but also the adorably mischievous yellow Minions, babbling their usual incomprehensible gibberish.

Somewhere, Gru has turned the corner from supervillain to a family man married to Lily (Kristen Wiig) with a trio of adopted daughters, Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), Edith (Dana Gaier), and Agnes (Madison Polan).

While Gru’s relationship with his wife and the girls has never been stronger, the arrival of the newest member of the family with Gru Jr. has proved to be challenging, as the baby is determined to torment his father.

The family dynamic is upended not just with the arrival of a new baby, but Gru is now a dedicated Anti-Villain League (AVL) agent working undercover in an organization run by Silas Ramsbottom (Steve Coogan).

Work takes Gru on an assignment to a high school reunion for the purpose of arresting his former classmate and old rival Maxime Le Mal (Will Ferrell), who has turned himself into a hybrid creature like Jeff Goldblum’s in “The Fly.”

Vowing revenge for his arrest and getting locked up, his subsequent prison escape that is aided and abetted by his femme fatale girlfriend Valentina (Sofia Vergara) and a platoon of cockroaches poses peril for the AVL agent.

The palpable threat to Gru results in having his entire family being put into witness protection in an upscale suburban community where Gru feels out of place and unable to connect with snooty neighbor Perry (Stephen Colbert).

Going incognito, Gru assumes the identity of Chet Cunningham, a solar panel salesman. He’s turned into a boring, somewhat nerd to keep his family safe. Maybe Gru is not so despicable anymore, losing a part of his personality that carried him in previous chapters.

With his new identity not working out that well for him, Gru finds himself blackmailed by his aloof neighbor’s teenage daughter Poppy (Joey King), who insists on his guidance to pull off a heist worthy of entrée into the ranks of supervillains.

Humor is predictable but for the most part enjoyable. Amusingly, Gru grumbles about many different types of milk like “almond milk, soy milk, oat milk, goat milk, chocolate milk, half and half, powdered, and milk of magnesia.”

Lucy asks, “What about regular milk?” to which Gru replies, “They don’t make it anymore.” He may have left out other plant-based products like coconut or rice milk, but the absurdity of all these varieties induces at least a chuckle maybe lost on the younger viewers.

For comic relief, the small, yellow pill-shaped creatures known as the Minions are dependable for some laughs even if their schtick has become overly familiar. But kids still love them, and at a family cinematic outing that’s really all that matters.

‘WE WILL DANCE AGAIN’ ON PARAMOUNT+

Paramount+ announced the award-winning film “We Will Dance Again,” a shocking documentary about the October 7th Hamas terror attack on the international Nova Music Festival, will have a two-day theatrical run nationwide before running on its streaming platform.

The Nova Music Festival was supposed to be a celebration of life, love and music for thousands of young people but became one of the first targets when Hamas launched the deadliest terror attack in Israel’s history.

In “We Will Dance Again” more than a dozen young festival-goers tell gripping stories of how each of them managed to survive from one minute to the next. The eyewitness accounts are weaved together with footage they filmed themselves and footage recovered from cameras worn by Hamas.

The film will open in Los Angeles for a week-long Oscar qualifying run beginning on August 23rd, ahead of the advanced event screenings on Friday, August 29th and Sunday, September 1st in select theaters across the country.

The president of the studio releasing the film notes that the “human cost of the Hamas attack in Israel and the war that followed in Gaza has been catastrophic for both Israelis and Palestinians,” and it is a “painful story of unfathomable tragedy, but also of bravery, sacrifice, and heroism.”

Aside from the documentary, the traveling “Nova Exhibition” is coming to Los Angeles, after first a 10-week run in Tel Aviv, followed by two months on display in New York City.

The exhibit features items salvaged from the festival grounds, including scorched cars, bullet-riddled bathroom stalls, and personal belongings such as tents and lawn chairs left behind.

Visitors will be invited to join a plea for the safe return of the hostages who are still held in captivity by Hamas terrorists. Nova survivors of the brutal attack will be attending as witnesses to the tragedy they experienced on that day.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.