Casper the Friendly Ghost

How about some ghostly fun for movie night.

Let's start out with the Casper movies. The first movie is was Casper and after that came the sequel/prequel Casper a Spirited Beginning. Then came Casper meets Wendy.

If you watch the movies in order and want to make since of them, don't, they will give you a headache. They really don't follow the same timeline but if you watch them as separate movies you will love them all.

Casper, A Spirited Beginning is a cute movie. I was never a Casper fan but the first one was cute so I figured this would be cute too. And who doesn't like a movie with Steven Guttenberg, Richard Moll, Michael McKean and Rodney Dangerfield. Jim Ward, Bill Farmer, Jess Harnell as the Trio was great fun. Jeremy Foley as Casper was delightful. Pauly Shore and James Earl Jones just added the final touch. In this movie the theme was about friendship and bullies and how to over come it. They also had to race against the clock to save the mansion.

Now, Casper was my favorite of all three of them as it stared Bill Pullman and Christina Ricci. They were great with Casper and the Trio. Malachi Pearson was Casper and Joe Nipote, Joe Alaskey, and Brad Garrett were the Trio. Cathy Moriarty and Eric Idle rounds out the cast in this delightful move. This was the first film and it had all the elements that you want in a movie. Drama, comedy, tragedy and a little bromance and it leaves you being happy and sad at the same time. The Trio gives a energetic performance that leaves you wanting more. I really enjoy watching it and I am glad that my niece forced me to watch it.

My Mother's favorite was Casper meets Wendy. In this movie The Trio and Casper goes on holiday. Wendy and her Aunts are hiding out from a powerful wizard that wants to destroy Wendy as  she will become the most powerful witch by befriending a ghost. The Trio like the witches before they know they are witches. They betray them but in the end they help the witches save Wendy from the wizard. Again the movie has a wonderful cast. Hilary Duff is cute as Wendy and she is joined with Terri Garr, Shelley Duvall, Cathy Moriarty, George Hamilton, and Richard Moll. I agree that it is a comedy and it will keep you laughing. Jim Ward, Bill Farmer, Jess Harnell as the Trio are great fun. Jeremy Foley again as Casper is delightful.

Over all they are all cute movies and are great fun for the family. Take some time to sit back with the kids and enjoy.

Practical Magic

This is one of my favorite movies and the movie was based on the book Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman. It is a story about the magic of love. The movie starts off with Maria Owens as a witch 200 years ago, who had affairs with married men. The town tried to hang her but the rope broke, so the towns people banished her to an island. Maria was pregnant and was waiting for her lover to come but he did not come. In a moment of anger and despair she cast a spell never to fall in love again, but it turned into a curse on the Owen family. The curse was death for a man who dared to love an Owen woman.

Sally and Gillian moves in with their Aunts when there parents die. The Aunts, Frances and Jet, raise the girls. Sally longs to be normal and Gillian just wants to have fun. When they get older Gillian leaves the town but makes a pack with Sally that they would grow old together. The Aunts do a spell on Sally and Michael and soon they are married and have 2 girls, Kylie and Antonia. Michael dies because of the curse and Sally moves back in with the Aunts

 Gillian and her current relationship Jimmy has taken for the worse. Jimmy hits Gillian and she wants to leave him. The Aunts and the girls go to a Wiccan festival while Sally gets Gillian. Sally gets there but Jimmy kidnaps both of them and Sally accidently kills him. They decide to bring him back to life with a spell. Things get worse and Sally once again kills Jimmy right after they bring him back. So with Jimmy dead for the second time, they decide to bury him in the back yard.

 The Aunts and girls return and everything is fine. The Aunts, Sally and Gillian get drunk and the Aunts know something is wrong and confronts them. They lie to the Aunts, so the Aunts leave them. Jimmy is haunting Gillian and then an Arizona investigator, Gary Hallet, comes looking for Jimmy. They lie to him but he sticks around to ask questions. The finds out about the Owen curse and he falls for Sally. Sally too is falling for him and confesses to killing Jimmy. Gillian is now possesed by Jimmy. Gary and Sally thinks they are killed Jimmy's spirit and Gary leaves. When Sally was young she did not want to fall in love so she does a spell of the perfect man but he does not exists so she can't die of a broken heart. She realizes that Gary is the man from the spell so she can't rely on their feelings.

Sally discovers that they did not banish Jimmy's spirit and he has full control over Gillian. The Aunts arrive just in time to help Sally banish Jimmy. Sally calls the other mothers from school and tells them that she is coming out of the closet and admits she is a witch. She needs their help to banish Jimmy for good. They try but they are unsuccessful but Sally realizes that they are doing it wrong. It is all about love and she uses the same spell they did as kids before Gillian moved away. Sally's blood, Gillian's blood and Maria's blood. The love of the Owen family defeats Jimmy and saves Gillian.

Gary covers for Sally and Gillian, he reports that Jimmy was killed and burned beyond recognition. Sally decides that love cannot wait so she magically sends for Gary to return. The end scene is with the Aunts, Sally, Gillian, Kylie and Antonia jumping off the roof down to the towns people.

I really enjoyed the movie as it gave a positive and more of real take on witchcraft. Not all of it is true but parts of it are true about the craft. The movie is quirky, scary and romantic with a splash horror. The movie is fabulously cast and Dianne Wiest and Stockard Channing as the Aunts were great. I am a Sandra Bullock fan but must say that the Aunts made the show. I really don't do soundtracks to movies, but I must admit that I enjoy the music in the show. It is the only non musical show that I want to by the soundtrack to. So over all I enjoy watching it every October in my countdown to Halloween. I also will take it out to watch when I need a pick me up or when I am really stressed out. It always gives that fuzzy feeling that gives me strength to go on.

So I will leave you with the last line of the movie. "Can love really travel back in time and heal a broken heart? Was it our joined hands that finally lifted Maria's curse? I'd like to think so. But there are some things I know for certain: always throw spilt salt over your left shoulder, keep rosemary by your garden gate, plant lavender for luck, and fall in love whenever you can."

Beetlejuice

Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beet…. Stop and think if you want to really summon, ..you know who. The story starts off with the death of Barbara and Adam Maitland. They are stuck in their house that they built to their design only to have it sold to a New York couple. Charles Deetz just wants to get away from the big city and relax. Delia on the other hand is an artist and want to turn the house into a strange house of horrors. I must say the art is truly in the eye of the beholder. Lydia on the other hand is strange and unusual so she can see Barbara and Adam. 

Barbara and Adam try to scare off the Deetz but they don't and just make things worse. Enter you know who and but the Maitlands decied not to use him because he is too much of a loose cannon. The Deetz friend Otho is conducting an exorcism on them and Lydia has no choice but to ask for help. Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice… It's show time.

Beetlejuice has a plan to save the Maitlands but marry Lydia to bring him back from exile. Things do not go to plan for him as he tricks the Maitlands, they trick him and send him back to the underworld. Afterword the Maitlands and the Deetz agree to live together in peace.
Now you got to admit that Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder stole the show but I loved the entire cast. Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis were just as cute as Jeffery Jones and Catherine O'Hara. This is one of top countdown to Halloween movies. I always look forward to seeing it. Now this show is not for the little ones with the dark and death theme in it but the teens will enjoy it. It is hilarious movie and director Tim Burton did a great job with the one-liners and the dark quirkiness. I give the move five skulls.

The other thing that you should look for is the cartoon on Beetlejuice. In the cartoon version Lydia and Beetlejuice are best friends and they share adventures together. Lydia goes into Beetlejuice's world and makes lots of new friends. The other tidbit that I saw on the internet is that they are in the plans of making a sequel to Beetlejuice. I look forward in finding out if they do make a second one.


          











      
       __.___.___.___.___.___.__.___.___.___.___.__.___.___.___.___.____.___.

Adam: What are your qualifications?

Beetlejuice: Ah. Well... I attended Juilliard... I'm a graduate of the Harvard business school. I travel quite extensively. I lived through the Black Plague and had a pretty good time during that. I've seen the EXORCIST ABOUT A HUNDRED AND SIXTY-SEVEN TIMES, AND IT KEEPS GETTING FUNNIER EVERY SINGLE TIME I SEE IT... NOT TO MENTION THE FACT THAT YOU'RE TALKING TO A DEAD GUY... NOW WHAT DO YOU THINK? You think I'm qualified?
        ___.___.___.___.___.___.__.___.___.___.___.__.___.___.___.___.____.___.

Juno: What's wrong?
Barbara: We're very unhappy.
Juno: What did you expect? You're dead.
         ___.___.___.___.___.___.__.___.___.___.___.__.___.___.___.___.____.___.

Delia: Charles, I will not stop living and breathing art just because you need to relax.

Charles: Ha.

Delia: I'm here with you. I will live with you in this hellhole, but I must express myself. If you don't let me gut out this house and make it my own, I will go insane, and I will take you with me!

Charles: [after a long pause] Yeah, well you know, maybe the house could use a little remodeling. Uh... But, why don't you just leave this room alone, okay?

Delia: [smiles] Okay.
         ___.___.___.___.___.___.__.___.___.___.___.__.___.___.___.___.____.___.

Lydia: They don't wanna come down.

Delia: Charles...

Otho: Why not?

Lydia: I think the reason is, is that they were trying to scare you away, and you didn't get scared.

Delia: Please, they're dead. It's a little late to be neurotic.

Movie and TV review: Charmed

 

I just got done with watching Charmed from start to finished. It was a good series about witches. It starts out with 3 sisters finding out they are witches. They are not just witches but the Charmed Ones, the most powerful witches. Working together they are the Power of 3 and they fight demons and vanquish them all for the greater good. After the 3rd season one of the sisters die and breaks the Power of 3. They find out that they have another sister that they did not know about and she comes into her powers and the Power of 3 is reunited. Being the Charmed Ones is not an easy job as they try to have a normal life and relations while kicking demon butt.

 

The series started off with a Wiccan touch but kind of lost it after a while. In the middle of the series they added Magic School, which let's face it was a rip off of Harry Potter. Needless to say the also added lots of members of the magic community with fairies, leprechauns and even a unicorn.

 I really like some humor in my dramas, it makes them enjoyable. The girls were always getting into trouble and some of the costumes were hilarious. The girls were once turned into comic book heroes in full costume. They became Valkeries and even Goddess and each girl has had their own transformations. One of the have been turned into a mermaid, a genie, a vampire, a windego, a mummy, and many more. They have traveled through time several time. Now like many shows it has its ups and downs and after a while it starts to get dark. The later seasons were darker then it started out but it did finish the series on a good note. Some series ruin the endings but I must say that they really did a good job. In all it was a good series to watch and I enjoyed it. The girls tried to find love that would last and they had loss but in the end they all found the man of their dreams and got the children they wanted.

I was kind of let down going from a strong Wiccan show to a make believe show but it did continued with the Wiccan theme so it was not that bad. I liked that they did not tarnish the Wiccan religion like other shows. The only thing that bothers me are the skimpy outfits so you need to parent the kids. Some of the story lines are on the dark side and there are lots of sexual content so you should watch it before you let the kids watch it. 

Over all I would say it is worth watching. It keeps the Wiccan touch that is positive and in the end good is victorious over evil. They only had to vanquish the source of all evil a couple of times but finally worked, maybe. Then their was the Triad and they only killed them a couple of times. Who knows what is to come in the comic books and the books. So in print they are still kicking demon butt and I know that they will in the end be victorious.


Coriander Bats 2014

Halloweentown Movies

Every October I look forward for Halloween movies. The Halloweentown series is on my list. You can’t go wrong with Debbie Reynolds, she is the best. Agatha “Aggie” Cromwell is a great witch from Halloweentown and she has come to the mortal world to train her granddaughter Marnie on how to be a witch. Marnies mother, Gwen, does not like that idea. Years ago Gwen gave up Halloweentown to marry a mortal and she is happy with her mortal life. Marnie has her own opinion and decides to disobey her mother and follow her grandmother to Holloweentown. Marnie’s Brother Dylan and little sister Sophie follows her and their grandmother. Once there Aggie suspects that something is wrong with her town and they set out to fix it. Gwen finally realizes that her children are gone and she goes to Halloweentown to find them. Unfortantly Aggie and Gwen get caught and they are put under a spell with other creatures from Halloweentown. It is up to the kids to help save them and Halloweentown. They found a spell that would work but they need find interesting ways into gathering the ingredients. Luke pretends to be their friend and betrays them only to help them to save Halloweentown. After freeing Aggie, Gwen and other people from the spell, they need to defeat the evil force. It turns out to be the Mayor Kalabar and he wants to invade the mortal world in fear. In the end it takes all the Cromwell to use their powers to stop the Kalabar and bring the town back to its glory. Aggie decides to go back to the mortal world and live with her daughter and grandchildren and help with Manie’s training.

In Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge brings Marnie and Aggie back to Halloweentown. Aggie's magical bag stops working so she suspects something is wrong in Halloweentown. Aggie and Marnie travels to Halloweentown to discover someone has used the “Grey Spell” and turned almost everyone in Halloweentown "grey."  The spell was in Aggie's spell book which they find out has been stolen. It turns out to be Marnie's new friend Kal who happens to be Kalabar’s son. Aggie has another copy of her spell book but it is missing. Aggie and Marnie meet up with Luke and Aggie suggest that they visit Gort's house.  When you lose something it always ends up at Gort’s house. Aggie, Marnie and Luke search for the book in Halloweentown while Kal creates a Golem to distract Gwen. It is up to Dylan and Sophie to save their mother so they can help Halloweentown. Kal's plan is to have everyone in the mortal world dress up as monsters and then put a spell to make them monsters. He also seals the doorway between Halloweentown and the mortal world. Marnie finaly finds a way to stop the Grey spell and with the help of Aggie they free Halloweentown but they are too late and the doorway is closed. Aggie and Marnie are able to communicate with Dylan and Sophie and together they use their power to open the doorway permanently. Together they are able to defeat Kal and turn everyone back to normal. 






In Halloweentown High Marnie starts her new school year and she brings some new friends. She asked the Witches’ Council to let her take some Halloweentown students to her high school in the mortal world. The Council agrees but Marnie mistakenly bets all her families magic that they students will be safe. The students consist of a witch, a warlock, a werecat, a werewolf, an ogre, a pink troll, a fairy, a zombie and a gremlin. They magically alter their appearance and are introduced as exchange group from Canada. Aggie comes to the school as a new teacher. There is a threat to the school and the students from the Knights of the Iron Dagger. They find out that a member of the Council is behind the Knight of the Iron Dagger. Edgar Dalloway's plan was to make the mortal world afraid of the students so he could take the Cromwell power. To bring the students together they start joining clubs and making new friends. They also decide to join the Halloween carnival by making their own haunted house. The Knight of the Iron Dagger strikes and takes some of the students. This time it is Gwen who comes to the rescue to save the missing students. During the carnival, mortals don't like the haunted house depicting nice tea parties and picnics. Dalloway uses his power to incite a mob against Marnie and the students. As the students got mobbed, Marnie lost her deal and Dalloway takes the Cromwell power. Dalloway's son Ethan decides to change sides and denounces his father. Flanagan, who is the last Knight of the Iron Dagger decides to denounce his heritage and joins the students. The students take off their disguises and the mortals stop and thinks and ends up accepting their new friends as they really are. As the mortals accept their new friends, the Cromwells take back their powers. The Council finds Dalloway guilty and they imprison him. People from Halloweentown come to the mortal world and joins the carnival.

In the 4th movie Return to Halloweentown, Marnie who was played by Kimberly J Brown is now played by Sara Paxton. This time Marnie gets accepted to Witch University. Gwen agrees to allow Marnie to go under the condition that her brother Dylan goes to. It is discovered that Dylan who looks down at magic, only use it to study and graduated early. They find out that it is a set up. Marnie was sent to find “the Gift.” During the early times of Halloweentown Queen, Splendora was going to use the Gift to control everyone. Marnie goes back in time to stop the Dominion taking control. Splendora is revealed to be Aggie. The Dominion kidnaps Dylan in order to force Marnie to use the Gift for them. Instead Marnie destroys the Gift and stops the Dominion. The Dominion is arrested and taken away. Everyone thinks that the Gift was destroyed but instead she gave it to Dylan to protect it. As he is not interested in power, she knows he can be trusted with its power.
 
Each movie deals with prejudice and the fear of unfamiliar customs. Mortals are just afraid of the residence of Halloweentown as Halloweentown is afraid of them. In the beginning the creatures lived in the mortal world but were shoved out by humans. So the creatures and magic left the mortal world and Halloweentown was created. For more than a thousand years both worlds have lived apart from each other. Now the bad guys wanted power over both worlds and/ or revenge. Kalabar was tired of hiding and felt that Halloweentown deserved to take over the world that they once inhabited. Kal agreed with his father and wanted humans to pay for mocking them and well the Dominion just wanted absolute power. So the bad guys used fear and force to get what they wanted. The fear of the unknown is so powerful that it has destroyed so much in real life. Hate crimes are rising because people just can't accept people for who they are.

We all could learn a lesson from this series as it proves that the good guys always win when you work together. It also teaches you that we are all the same underneath. We all have the same fears, wants and need for acceptance. I hope people can watch these movies and see that the more we are different, the more we are the same. So I hope you enjoy these movies as much as I have. I am looking forward in enjoying them when my granddaughter gets bigger.

Debbie Reynolds as Agatha “Aggie” Cromwell
Kimberly J Brown as Marnie Piper (1,2,3)
Sara Paxton as Marnie Piper/Young Splendora Agatha Cromwell (Return to Halloweentown)
Judith Hoag as Gwen Piper
Joey Zimmerman as Dylan Piper
Emily Roeske as Sophie Piper

Short Halloween movie list

I love October as it starts the countdown to Halloween. I wish we could have more Halloween movies and specials, but I will take what I get. I just love good Halloween movies. Here are some of my favorite Halloween Movies.

Any and all Scooby-Doo series and movies
Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971)
The Good Witch (2008)
The Good Witch’s Garden (2009)
The Good Witch’s Gift (2010)

 The Good Witch's Family (2011)
Hocus Pocus (1993)
Young Frankenstein (1974)
The Worst Witch (1986)
Once Bitten (1985)
Practical Magic (1998)
Transylvania 6-5000 (1985)
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951)
Abbott and Costello Meets the Mummy (1955)
The Mummy (1999)
The Mummy Returns (2001)
The Frighteners (1996)
Casper (1995)
It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966)
Halloweentown (1998)
Halloweentown II – Kalabar’s Revenge (2001)
Halloweentown High (2004)
Return to Halloweentown (2006)
The Black Cauldron (1985)
Corpse Bride (2005)
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror (series)
The Addams Family (series)
Halloween with the New Addams Family (1977)
The Addams Family(1991)
The Addams Family Values  (1993)
Ghost Busters (1984)
The Fat Albert Halloween Special (1977)
The Halloween Tree (1993)
Double, Double, Toil and Trouble (1993)
When Good Ghouls Go Bad (2001)
Monsters Inc. (2001)
The Goonies (1985) – mom favorite
Beetle Juice (1988)
The Witches (1990)
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2002)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2003)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2006)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1 (2011)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 (2011)
Goosebumps (series)
Escape to Witch Mountain (1975)
Return to Witch Mountain (1978)
Beyond Witch Mountain (1982)
Race to Witch Mountain (2009)
The Hunted Mansion (2003)
Munsters (series)
The Halloween that almost wasn’t (1979)
The Little Vampire (2000) – Mom’s Favorite
Under Wraps (1997)
Teen Witch (2011)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Series)
Charmed (Series)
The Trouble with Miss Switch (1980)
Miss Switch to the Rescue (1982)
Bunnicula, the Vampire Rabbit (1982)
The Haunted Mansion Mystery (1983)
Henry Hamilton Graduate Ghost (1985)
The Adventures of a Two-Minute Werewolf (1985)
Bewitched (series)
Gargoyles (series)
Angel (series)
The Dark Crystal (1982)
Enchanted (2007)
The Midnight Hour (1985)
Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (series)
Invisible Man (series)
The Craft (1996)
Count Duckula (series)
Twitches (2005)
Twitches Too (2007)
Casper Meets Wendy (1998)
The Sixth Sense (1999)
Mostly Ghostly (2008)
Fright Night (1985)
Love at first bite (1979)
Frankenstein (1931)
Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
Son of Frankenstein (1939)
Ghost of Frankenstein (1942)
House of Frankenstein (1944)
The Mummy (1932)
The Blob (1958)
Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
Dracula (1931)
Dracula’s Daughter (1936)
The Thing (1982)
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943)
The Mummy’s Hand (1940)
The Invisible Man (1933)
The Invisible Man Returns (1940)
The Mummy’s Tomb (1942)
The Mummy’s Curse (1944)
The Mummy’s Ghost (1944)
The Lost Boys (1987)
Evil Dead (1981)
Evil Dead II (1987)
Evil Dead III (1993)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
Nosferatu (1922)
Werewolf in London
The Wolf man (1941)
The Fog (1980)
Nosferatu the Vampre’ (1979)
Van Helsing (2004)
Dracula (1979)
Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)
It (1990)