MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
The world's oldest film festival is underway in Italy. The Venice International Film Festival kicked off with the world premiere of "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice." Maybe not the movie I'd expect to see first, but OK. And a streaming series disclaimer from Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron also premiered to a standing ovation. To learn more about this year's most talked about entries, we called Scott Roxborough. He is the European Bureau chief for The Hollywood Reporter, and he is in Venice right now, and I'll try to contain my rage and envy. But thank you so much for joining us.
SCOTT ROXBOROUGH: Thank you for having me, and I have to say, it is everything you imagine and more - just to stir that jealousy.
MARTIN: I was going to say, rub it in, thanks. Great. So, have you seen "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice," and what did you think of the sequel to this 1988 hit?
ROXBOROUGH: Yes, I did. I was at the world premiere here in Venice. And I have to say, I had very low expectations going in because if I'm honest, Tim Burton in the last 15, maybe 20 years, has, for me, been a bit of a disappointment. I felt his sort of bigger budget, Hollywood films lacked a lot of sort of, I don't know, quirky fun of his earlier movies. But this film really feels like a return to form. It feels really sort of homemade, spontaneous, kind of clumsy and ridiculous and really, really entertaining. And I'm old enough to have seen the original "Beetlejuice" in theaters. So, for me, it was a huge, you know, trip down nostalgia lane. But I think it also works for, you know, younger viewers who maybe haven't seen the original "Beetlejuice" in theaters, and maybe even coming to these characters and this whole world for the first time.
MARTIN: Oh, that's good to hear. And also, I think the five-time Oscar - Alfonso Cuaron - apparently, his streaming series debut "Disclaimer" was very well received, too. Tell me about that.
ROXBOROUGH: Yes. That's actually my favorite thing that I've seen so far here in Venice is a TV show. Apple TV's "Disclaimer." As said, Alfonso Cuaron adapting a novel. It stars Kevin Kline and Cate Blanchett. And I don't want to reveal anything because it's full of spoilers, so I won't touch any of that. But it's a mystery about a woman played by Cate Blanchett who seems perfect in every way - career, professionally, personally - but she has a dark secret that is revealed and then everything sort of starts to unravel. But there are so many twists and turns in the story that it keeps you guessing till the very, very end. I had to sort of binge watch the entire series in order to find out what happened. It's quite, quite phenomenal. They always say with these type of series that, oh, we were just - we weren't making a series, we're making seven movies or whatever. But this series really feels like seven movies. Cuaron - the visual style is incredible. The acting is really top notch, and I can't wait for the rest of the world to really get a chance to see it and talk about it.
MARTIN: OK. So before we let you go, it sounds like you've seen a couple of things that you really felt great about. Were there any things that didn't quite measure up so far?
ROXBOROUGH: Yes. It's still early days, so I'm sure there'll be some stinkers to come. Venice always produces a few. But so far it's been a really impressive lineup. And to come, we have films like "Babygirl," which is a Nicole Kidman erotic thriller that looks really exciting. We've got Daniel Craig playing a gay man in a William S. Burroughs adaptation, "Queer." That looks really exciting. And we've got "Joker: Folie a Deux," the sequel to the 2019 Todd Phillips film "Joker" with Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix. And just from when I seen of that, it also looks really, you know, bombastic. So I'm really, really excited, actually, this year's shows. Usually I'm quite cynical going into these film festivals. I've been doing them for quite a long time. But this time, it really looks like Venice is delivering on all levels.
MARTIN: That is Scott Roxborough. He's with The Hollywood Reporter. And we reached him - as you can hear - having a fabulous time at the Venice Film Festival. Scott, thank you.
ROXBOROUGH: Thank you.
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