Mike Schulz, Dave Levora, and Darren Pitra spend some time on the back-half talking about the cinematic iterations of Batman (meaning, Burton and Nolan) and the coming Joker: Folie à Deux, which, if Todd Phillips feels he must continue genuflecting to Martin Scorsese in his sequel, he will have to somehow incorporate his love of New York, New York (1977, starr Liza Minelli and Robert De Niro) as well.

Hmmmm. . .

These, here, now, the films:

• 
  
• Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (dir Tim Burton, starr Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara, Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci, Jenna Ortega, and Willem Dafoe). Schulz says it’s great to watch films like this, because it means movie critics like him get to spend however many words exploring any particular crevice — for example, Michael Keaton’s acting turn — though they are expected to sum up the experience entirely. Half of Burton’s sequel to his 36-year-old breakthrough has an emotional gravity that wasn’t really present the first time around, but the other half — the gonzo comedic spooky-horror half — more than makes up for it.
  
• The Front Room (dir Max and Sam Eggers, starr Brandy, Kathryn Hunter, Andrew Burnap, and Neal Huff). Hunter’s performance is the best thing about this awful film — but, oh, what a performance! As with Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, one wants to see it out of curiosity alone.
  

As for previews:

• 
  
• Speak No Evil (dir James Watkins, starr James McAvoy, Mackenzie Davis, Aisling Franciosi, Alix West Lefler, Dan Hough, and Scoot McNairy). This is a remake of that beloved Danish classic Speak No Evil, released in those halcyon days of 2022 (dir Christian Tafdrup, starr Morten Burian, Sidsel Siem Koch, Fedja van Huêt, Karina Smulders, Liva Forsberg, Marius Damslev, and Hichem Yacoubi). Hollywood seems to be running out of ideas, isn’t it?
  
• The Killer’s Game (dir J J Perry, starr Dave Bautista, Sofia Boutella, Terry Crews, Scott Adkins, Marko Zaror with Pom Klementieff, and Ben Kingsley). The preview isn’t exciting, but the premise — an assassin who believes he’s dying puts out a hit on himself, only to have to, um, rethink his decision — sounds compelling.
  

“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” and “The Front Room”