beetlejuice

The journey to make a 'Beetlejuice' sequel wasn’t just long - it almost led to Hawaii.

Who said 'Beetlejuice' three times?

The current Broadway listings read like a video store restock list: Aladdin, The Color Purple, Finding Neverland, Holiday Inn, Kinky Boots, The Lion King, Matilda, School of Rock, and more. Movies are big business on Broadway, and there are more adaptations coming all the time; upcoming movie-based shows include A Bronx Tale, Amelie, Anastasia, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. That last one is technically based on the book by Roald Dahl, which has already been adapted twice for film; once by Mel Stuart and once by Tim Burton. This, as it turns out, is not the only Burton movie that could soon be playing on the Great White Way.

I’m a sucker for themed food and drinks, especially when it comes to movies. I once cooked a Louisiana-style feast with a friend around ‘Beasts of the Southern Wild,’ served hamburgers and Sunny-D for a group screening of ‘Juno,’ and crepes for one of ‘Midnight in Paris.’ So it only made sense that I jumped at the opportunity to check out the new Tim Burton-themed restaurant with a group of fellow film writers on Monday night.

Most of the time, the SNL opening monologue is a formality and a tradition, a road bump on the way to the actual good parts of an episode. It feels like something the guest host does because he has to, not because anyone on the writing staff actually had a good idea. And that’s why last night’s monologue was such a joyous surprise: it was not only the best monologue of the season, but the best sketch of the whole night.