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Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
October 15, 2020     Shelton Mason County Journal
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October 15, 2020
 
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IN DARK REVIEWS Skyline has double does of scary stuff he Skyline Drive-In I Theater this weekend is giving kids a double helping of Halloween treats from 1993 with “Hocus Po- cus” and “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” I’ve long since lost count of how many times I’ve seen Tim Burton’s stop-motion animated musical cult clas- sic, which makes perhaps his most effective use of tune- smith Danny Elfman, to celebrate the holidays of both Halloween and Christmas in an endearingly subver- sive fashion. ’ ’ And yet, despite it being released the same year as “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” I’d never seen “Hocus Pocus,” so especially consid- ering the esteem it seems to have earned in recent years, I decided to give it a shot. It’s strange in retrospect that “Ho- cus Pocus” was neither critically nor commercially successful during its original theatrical release. Looking back now, it clearly anticipated the aesthetic of the entire modern era of Disney Channel sitcoms, which sell seriocomic teen drama to preteen au— diences in a funhouse color palette. Granted, when they were build- ing the California sound stages that were meant to pass for Salem, Massachusetts, I’m not sure they consul-ted any photos of the actual :i.,v‘gfiw;,,'_v;r\,.‘14~<¢;q¢;na“ . a. , , \ x a. ~ , . 1% l By KIRK ~ BOXLEITNER that cast itself comes armed Salem, but this film’s visuals possess an undeniable candy store charm nonetheless, with costumes, sets, props and prosthetic makeup that are all vividly realized and a delight to behold. Likewise, the film’s script calls upon its cast to emote in swaths of primary colors, but with actors talented and en- thusiastic enough to sell even .some off-key clunkers of dialogue, to the point that it’s clear Bette Midler wasn’t lying when she told one inter— viewer that making “Hocus Pocus” was “the most fun I’d had in my ca- reer'up to that point.” From 1991-92, actor Omri Katz had starred in a network sitcom called “Eerie, Indiana,” about'a hip New Jersey kid who had just moved to a weird Midwestern town, so it made sense that 1993’s “Hocus Po- cus” would cast Katz as Max, a hip California kid who had just moved to Salem, which the film depicts as a well-established den of similar weirdness to the fictional town of Eerie. Katz is good-looking and charis- matic enough to evoke the audience’s sympathies when Max endures some genre-standard moments of adoles- cent embarrassment — getting shot down by his classmate‘crush Allison (Vinessa Shaw) and having his ex- Iméti '- Shelton (360)426-1000 www.5heltoncinemas.com IIIIIIIII 111mm “III”- ‘Week of 10/16 22 UNHINGED (R) FIRST ADMISSION NIGHTLY @ 6:30 PM. Week of 10/16 - 22 on screen-2 FIRST RUN ADMISSION THE LAST SHIFT (R) NIGHTLY 6:00 P.M. ammuth "Transfer Hear all the plays that Plays are freebut res Space is limited. so ma Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020 Shelton-Mason County Journal - Page A—25 Kathy Najimy, Bette Midler and Sarah Jessica Parker star in “Hocus Pocus.” Courtesy photo pensive shoes stolen by bullies — as he gets ropedinto taking his little sister Dani (future “Ghost World” costar Thora Birch, cute enough here that diabetics should exercise cau— tion) out for trick-or-treating. It’s during a second bid to impress Allison, during that same Halloween night, that Max accidentally resur- rects the Sanderson sisters - bossy Winifred (Midler), buffoonish,Mary (Kathy Najimy) and bubbly blonde Sarah (Sarah Jessica Parker, five years before the premiere of “Sex and the City”) who were hanged as witches exactly 300 years ago, and now seek to drain the lives of Salem’s children so their coven can live forever. Given that the Sanderson sisters are essentially gender-reversed ver- sions of the Three Stooges, it’s im- pressive that Midler has no shame about playing up her rep as an ar— rogant diva in the role of Winifred, the Moe Howard of the bunch, while Parker likewise throws herself into her character’s airheadedness with an abandon seldom seen in her per- formances since. . There’s no shortage of folks who are adults today for whom “Hocus Pocus” was as much a formative part of their childhoods as any number of cartoon/toy franchises from the 1980s were for me. I don’t doubt those folks will still N 5'" DRIVE-I H ATE get a nostalgic kick out of seeing it again, more than a quarter-century later, but even for relatively older fo- geys like me, it was amusing to spot performers I’d grown up with among the film’s cast, from the intimidating Kathleen Freeman (the ruler-wield— ing nun in “The Blues Brothers”) to the smarmy Charles Rocket (who dropped an F—bomb on “Saturday Night Live” in 1981). As the time—displaced trio of witches elicit some chuckles by seek- ing to navigate the “modern day” of the early 1990s, we’re even treated to appearances by film director and “Laverne & Shirley” costar Penny Marshall, and her brother, veteran TV producer Garry Marshall, as an unhappily married couple whom the witches (not unreasonably) mistake for Satan and Medusa. If you enjoyed Guillermo del Toro’s “The Shape of Water,” you can even look for Doug Jones, who played that film’s humanoid amphib- ian creature, cast in “Hocus Pocus” as William Butcherson, the zombie ex-boyfriend of both Winifred and :. . Sarah, forced to do their bidding. “The Nightmare Before Christ- mas” remains my favorite family- friendly Halloween film, but as long as they’re willing to go with the film’s flow, skeptical parents and Burton fans shouldn’t be afraid to give “Hocus Pocus” a chance. Tee Times Required Call the Pro-Shop (360) 426-6290 GollproolakellmickooanwWLaKeLimerickGolLOom 811 E Salm Andlews Drive > Shelton WA. 98584 Offer good from 09/28 to 10/31/2020 Monday Fnddv mm Pruneal and 6011mm MW Servingthe Publlc and our HOA community 182 Brewer Road 0 Shelton 360-426-4707 www.5kyLineDrive-ln.com Gates Open 6:00 pm. Show at dusk, aprox. 7:00pm Week of 10/16 18 FRIDAY SATURDAY 10/16&17 HOCUS POCUS (PG) followed by THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS (PG) SUNDAY 10/18 THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS (PG) followed by HOCUS POCUS (PG) —— MONDAY THRU‘WEDNESDAY CLOSED — THURSDAY 10/22 POLTERGEIST (PG) fol/owed by ADDAMS FAMILY (PG-13)