After thirty six years, it was a surprise to read that Tim Burton had decided to revisit Beetlejuice. That movie sticks in my memory as a quirky dark comedy with a particularly weird rendition of the song, ‘Day- O’.
Although I had forgotten some of the finer details, I did remember that in order for Beetlejuice to appear, a character must say his name three times.
A 2024 sequel sounded intriguing and was made more exciting because Winona Ryder had agreed to return alongside Michael Keaton. Let’s face it – nobody else could play Beetlejuice as well as him.
In Brief
Catherine O’Hara returned too, as Delia, the step mother of Winona’s character, Lydia. Lydia herself now has a daughter, played by ‘Wednesday’ star, Jenna Ortega.
What a great cast!
Mix in the weirdness that only Tim Burton can splurge on the screen and this production is epic.
His use of colour, animatronics (a throwback to the eighties no doubt) and great tunes is a tribute to his cleverness.
Without spoiling it, Lydia’s father died and they are clearing his home (the original Beetlejuice house) ready for sale.
A reawakening of Beetlejuice starts a series of chaotic events which will have you laughing and snorting.
When one character tries to enter the underworld to find and return a dead person, madness accelerates. This crazy, rapidly unfolding story is entertaining, hysterical and visually stunning.
In A Nutshell
I loved the original Beetlejuice and thought it may be hard to follow. This sequel seemed to come far too late to make sense.
Boy, I was wrong! It was brilliant.
I don’t want to give out spoilers but hope to convey my enthusiasm for this incredible movie.
Make sure you check out ‘Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice’ as you will be laughing all the way home.
It is finally Autumn and rusty leaves are beginning to fall gently from the orange and yellow trees. This morning I realised that I forgot to produce a ‘Read, Watch and Listen’ post in September so perhaps I will do a double whammy in October.
This is the monthly article where I share something great that I am reading, a brilliant TV show or movie and a fascinating podcast.
Let’s not waste time and get straight into it. Let me know if you have found any of my suggestions relevant or interesting.
Read ‘Endgame’ by Omid Scobie
Now I may have mentioned being given this book by my Mum for Christmas but I kind of started it and left it for a while as work annoyingly took over my life.
Having restarted reading it recently, it is well worth sharing how relevant this book is. Covering the Covid period, end of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign and tumultuous relationship between the Windsors and Sussexes, this book is interesting and insightful.
Omid used to be a royal reporter working from the palaces and touring with several of them. I was worried that he might be one-sided but, in fact, he is a combination of supportive and cutting. His book seems to look at controversial issues from both sides. He definitely doesn’t hold back any punches.
Watch‘The Rings of Power’ on Amazon Prime
As the second series comes to an end, it is worth reflecting on this megalith of a TV programme which unpacks the early years of characters such as Gandalf and Galadriel.
In my opinion, when the first season came out the pace was weird and the story seemed clunky. As it reached the last few episodes, the writers seemed to get their stuff together and the narrative started to flow nicely.
The second series is far better. The writers’ room have drank some coffee and woken up to what we (the Tolkien lovers) want to see.
With Adar gathering Orcs and threatening the Eleven kingdom, Galadriel taking lots of risks and dwarf kings succumbing to the magic of one of the great rings, this season is spectacular and more rewarding for viewers.
With the growing threat of dark powers harnessed by Sauron and Gandalf wondering through the desert with two halflings, there is plenty going down.
I totally recommend giving The Rings Of Power a watch but you need to be invested as season one is harder to get your head around than the latest series, which is much much better.
Listen to ‘Scene Stealers’ Podcast
Recently I followed Tobias Turley after seeing him in Mamma Mia on the West End. I noticed he loved movies and was beginning a podcast with his TikTok mate Henry Calvert.
I thought it might be worth a listen because they both love film history and musical theatre. Each episode of Scene Stealers discusses movie, TV and theatre news. Last week they had interviews with the cast of the latest Marvel series, Agatha Again, for example.
Although it is in its early days, this podcast is blossoming and definitely one worth checking out. The two guys are humorous and knowledgeable, with great contacts in the business we call Show.
I suggest giving them a listen, especially if you like to know the latest entertainment news.
And Finally…
I really appreciate you reading about some of my latest TV, book and podcast recommendations. Perhaps you have a brilliant show that you would like to suggest in the comments.
Hopefully something on my list catches your attention and if not, then perhaps it would be worth looking at my previous lists:
Welcome to this month’s Climate Change Collective lead article. Our collective is made up of a keen group of bloggers who care a lot about the environment and want to spread awareness of problems such as pollution, extinctions and rising global temperatures.
The group stemmed from a response that Michelle (Boomer Eco Crusader) gave to an article that I wrote about climate change. Since then, a wonderful group has gathered to take turns writing articles and sharing them, with each member posting their own responses each month, supportively.
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As a teacher and geographer, I am concerned that Climate Change is not being covered properly in compulsory education. That is why I decided to write about that particular issue for my lead article representing The Climate Change Collective this month.
Ever since I was a teenager, I have been fascinated and concerned by global warming. I remember a children’s news programme discussing it around 1991 and being instantly intrigued.
In secondary school I established an Eco-council of fellow pupils to see if we could improve sustainability in and around our buildings.
Later on, I studied Geography at A-Level and in University, switching from a BA(Hons) to a BSc(Hons) in order to learn more about Environmental Change In The Biosphere and Environmental Transport Management.
Now I want to explore just how much coverage there is of environmental issues in school curriculums.
Science in UK Schools
In the Year 4 Science curriculum there is a vague point which states:
Pupils should be taught to: recognise that environments can change and that this can sometimes pose dangers to living things.
In the Canadian curriculum I found these elements in the primary framework:
– assess the impacts on society and the environment of various processes and materials used in the manufacture of common products, and ways to mitigate negative impacts
– assess the importance of biodiversity, and describe ways of protecting biodiversity
There were also these mentions in the secondary school framework:
– assess the social and environmental impacts of various systems, and evaluate improvements to the systems or alternative ways of meeting the same needs
– assess the impact of human activities and technologies on the sustainability of water resources
I have to say that I felt there was more consideration of renewable resources and striving for sustainable practices in the Canadian Science curriculum but climate change wasn’t strongly signposted in either country.
Geography in UK Schools
Looking at the UK Geography framework for primary schools (Key Stages 1 and 2), there is an overarching statement which may include environmental awareness:
Describe and understand key aspects of: human geography, including:
…the distribution of natural resources including energy, food, minerals and water.
Teachers can interpret that as they wish and may choose to steer away from renewables. When I was at school we spent a lot of time exploring how coal was mined, for example. In my own teaching I try to force in environmental elements but they are by no means compulsory.
As learners move into secondary school, Geography remains a compulsory subject and planning fluffs around the following:
Understand how human and physical processes interact to influence and change landscapes, environments and the climate; and how human activity relies on the effective functioning of natural systems.
This does tend to lead to teachers covering flooding, desertification and urban sprawl but, once again, it is down to interpretation and each school will approach this differently, partly depending on staff strengths and resource availability.
Let’s face it, a well used textbook might influence what gets taught, especially if there is no budget to replace it.
Science in Canadian Schools
In Canada’s Geography curriculum I found the following reference to sustainability in the Year 8 programme of study:
– use the geographic inquiry process to investigate issues related to the interrelationship between human settlement and sustainability from a geographic perspective
– analyse aspects of the extraction/harvesting and use of natural resources in different regions of the world, and assess ways of preserving these resources
It seems to me that there are certain hints of environmental education sprinkled across the UK and Canadian school curriculums. I am encouraged to see this but feel that climate change education could be made more explicit.
Where subject matter is left to individual schools’ and teachers’ interpretation, there is much room for improvement. We need to be driving home the key messages about global warming, sustainability and pollution a lot harder than schools currently do.
My suggestion would be to create a lesson called ‘Environmental Studies’ and allocate one teaching session a week to it. We are happy to dedicate hours to RE, Music and Art, so why not this vital subject?
Hopefully, my overview has provided some insight into the ways schools currently handle environmental learning. Personally, I feel as though the topic needs to be given more attention. It needs to be a core subject and given quality time in class.
I would be intrigued to know how the US curriculum incorporates climate change into its programmes of study. Please comment your own awareness of environmental education and how it is covered where you come from.
