The Big Picture · Review · Discussion · Top Five

‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ and Top Five Tim Burton Movies

September 6, 2024/ 86 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins · Van Lathan

Sean, Amanda, and guest Van Lathan review Tim Burton's 36-years-later sequel, trace his career from an unbroken early run to the years it cracked, then each rank their five favorite Burton films.

33 films across 5 segments.

AI-generated This episode was transcribed and analyzed with AI models. The matches aren't perfect — expect the occasional misheard title or a link to the wrong film.

‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice 2024

A mixed bag they mostly enjoyed: a 5-or-6-out-of-10 that flirts with sucking, then flips into a fun time. Keaton slides back in as if no time passed and Catherine O'Hara feels of the original world; everyone else plays broad, near-cosplay. Overstuffed with parallel plots (Jenna Ortega and Arthur Conti's dead-boy romance, Justin Theroux's reality-TV producer, Monica Bellucci's soul-sucking ex, Willem Dafoe's afterlife cop). Bellucci is the cut everyone would make; the closing musical number lands.

Tim Burton, from Burbankthe legacy argument

Beetlejuice 1988

The 1988 original as the measuring stick: sparing use of Keaton, a bureaucratic afterlife, the Deetzes played sincere-odd rather than as send-ups.

Pee-wee's Big Adventure 1985

Burton's debut; Sean argues a stand-up persona has almost never survived the jump to film this well.

Batman 1989

The hysteria and the lines around the block; proof a superhero movie could be artful and sinister.

Edward Scissorhands 1990

The most autobiographical: the Burbank outcast, in daylight and pastel, made to feel seen.

Batman Returns 1992

Called overhated; Warner Bros. balked at how dark and grotty Burton took it, but Keaton and Michelle Pfeiffer carry it.

Ed Wood 1994

The Touchstone/Disney pickup; Van's note that Martin Landau's Oscar came at Samuel L. Jackson's expense.

Mars Attacks! 1996

A big swing with an insane cast; Sean rates it a success, others read it as the crack where going bigger starts to hurt him.

Sleepy Hollow 1999

Where Sean's 'first great run' ends; the first Burton he finds only half-successful.

Planet of the Apes 2001

Named as maybe his worst movie, a big embarrassment at the time.

Big Fish 2003

The intimate correction after Apes; solid.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory poster

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory 2005

The line where the latter era starts: the post-Pirates Depp reunion and the turn to a commercial machine.

Corpse Bride 2005

Amanda's last real connection to his catalog; a Laika co-production in the Nightmare Before Christmas tradition.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street poster

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street 2007

An okay Sondheim adaptation; landed for people, not for the hosts. A Depp acting nomination.

Alice in Wonderland 2010

The look swallowing the story.

Dumbo 2019

Van's big disappointment; a stacked cast (Colin Farrell, Keaton, DeVito, Eva Green, Alan Arkin) and it stinks.

Big Eyes 2014

Amanda considered it for her list and cut it, blaming Amy Adams.

The Nightmare Before Christmas 1993

The one people wrongly credit to Burton; he produced, Henry Selick directed. Debated for top-five eligibility.

Van Lathan's Top Five Tim Burton MoviesNo. 1 first

No. 1

Batman 1989

No. 1: the peak of Burton's powers and, to Van, still the best take on the character.

No. 2

Pee-wee's Big Adventure 1985

No. 2: the Burton movie he's seen most, the one his whole family loved.

No. 3

Edward Scissorhands 1990

No. 3: a deep connection; one of the first movies that made him emote.

No. 4

Beetlejuice 1988

No. 4.

No. 5

Ed Wood 1994

No. 5: great, but the one he's least intimately connected to.

Amanda Dobbins's Top Five Tim Burton MoviesNo. 1 first

No. 1

Beetlejuice 1988

No. 1: pretty core, even if Edward Scissorhands is her personal favorite.

No. 2

Edward Scissorhands 1990

No. 2: her favorite; the fantastical version of his real life, so much of it in daylight.

No. 3

Batman Returns 1992

No. 3: ranked above Batman purely for Keaton and Michelle Pfeiffer.

No. 4

Batman 1989

No. 4.

No. 5

Pee-wee's Big Adventure 1985

No. 5.

Sean Fennessey's Top Five Tim Burton MoviesNo. 1 first

No. 1

Pee-wee's Big Adventure 1985

No. 1: a perfect five-star movie; there's never been anything like it.

No. 2

Beetlejuice 1988

No. 2: a perfect five-star movie.

No. 3

Ed Wood 1994

No. 3.

No. 4

Batman 1989

No. 4.

No. 5

Mars Attacks! 1996

No. 5: a big swing he likes more than Edward Scissorhands, which he left off entirely.

Also mentioned raised along the way

The Keaton run and legacy sequels Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)Spotlight Spider-Man: Homecoming Top Gun: Maverick Blade Runner 2049 Saturday Night Superman

The Burton-adjacent that never happened Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter Dark Shadows Pee-wee's Big Holiday

Homages and worldbuilding The Wizard of Oz The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari Dune Dune: Part Two The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Sleeping Beauty Coraline ParaNorman The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou The Grand Budapest Hotel

The horror tangent Terrifier Terrifier 2 Terrifier 3 It It Chapter Two Killer Klowns from Outer Space The Ring Scream Possession

The actors detour Heathers Little Women Reality Bites Girl, Interrupted The Age of Innocence Mr. Deeds Jeanne du Barry The Departed Best in Show American Pie

In passing Anora John Wick Eastern Promises Pretty Woman Rebel Ridge

Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads

TV The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of PowerWednesdayHouse of the DragonThe SimpsonsStranger ThingsOuter BanksLaguna BeachThe HillsBeverly Hills, 90210Melrose PlaceThe Summer I Turned PrettyThe Criterion ClosetBET Uncut120 MinutesTRL

Ads Mint MobileBreak Stuff: The Story of Woodstock '99 (podcast)