Hello everyone! 🙂

Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!

It’s that time again to share my thoughts on some movies I saw on Disney+ lately, except this time it’s not two or three films I’m sharing my thoughts on, but four. Yes, I’ve seen about four movies in October 2023. A couple of them have spooky elements to them. Are they any good? Let’s find out. 🙂

The first movie I saw in October was ‘The Ghosts of Buxley Hall’. This was released in 1980 as a TV movie, although it was originally broadcast as a two-part episode of Disney’s Wonderful World on the 21st and 28th of December 1980. So, not exactly a Halloween movie as more a Christmas movie.

I enjoyed ‘The Ghosts of Buxley Hall’ on Disney+. Arguably, it’s quite tame as a ghost story compared to other ghost stories. Mainly, that’s because it’s a fantasy-comedy film instead of a horror film. I enjoyed the approach the film takes as a fantasy-comedy, as the antics of the ghosts are very funny.

The film’s story is about the 100-year-old Buxley Military Academy, which has fallen on hard financial times. The academy is forced to merge with a school for girls – something that three resident ghosts are aggrieved about when aroused from their sleep, and they set out to seek justice in this matter. 😐

The three resident ghosts at the academy include Dick O’Neill as General Eulace C. Buxley, Louise Latham as Bettina Buxley and Victor French as Sgt Major Chester B. Sweet. There’s Monte Markham as Colonel Joe Buxley, who’s in charge of the academy, and there’s Rula Lee as Ernestine Di Gonzini.

A lot of clashes occur between the old traditional way of doing things compared to the modern world filled with equal rights for women and rock ‘n’ roll, as well as the dishonest designs that a wealthy matron has for the school. It was a pretty enjoyable scenario to see when watching the film.

The second film I saw in October was 2023’s ‘Haunted Mansion’. Earlier this year, I saw the 2003 film version of ‘The Haunted Mansion’ with Eddie Murphy. 2023’s ‘Haunted Mansion’ was released at cinemas this year, but I decided to forego seeing it on the big screen and saw it on Disney+ instead. 🙂

I will say this, 2023’s ‘Haunted Mansion’ is a lot better than the 2003 film. The story is good, and the characters are well-handled compared to the 2003 film. The 2023 film is also scarier than the 2003 film. I believe the 2023 film puts in a lot of effort when basing it on the Disney theme park attraction.

The film’s cast is very good. There’s LaKeith Stanfield as Ben Matthias, Tiffany Haddish as Harriet, Owen Wilson as Father Kent, Danny De Vito as Bruce Davis, Rosario Dawson as Gabbie, Chase W. Dillon as Travis, Dan Levy as Vic, Jamie Lee Curtis as Madame Leota and Jared Leto as Alistair Crump.

In terms of the story, Gabbie and her son Travis enlist the aid of Ben Matthias to help exorcise the ghosts around them in the mansion they’ve purchased. Soon, Ben, Gabbie and Travis are joined by Harriet, Father Kent and Bruce Davis to help them out also and uncover the mystery of the mansion.

As well as being scary with touches of comedy thrown in, the film explores the themes of loss and grief, especially when Ben’s past is touched upon since he lost his wife years ago. Quite often, the film cuts to flashbacks of Ben being with Charity Jordan as his wife Alyssa, which were nice to watch.

The third film I saw in October was the 2022 film ‘See How They Run’. Funnily enough, I did see this film on Disney+ in November last year before I went to the ‘London Comic Con Winter’ in that month. I didn’t get to review it then, but I can now share my thoughts on the film in this blog post. 🙂

‘See How They Run’ is a comedy mystery film, starring Sam Rockwell as Inspector Stoppard and Saoirse Ronan as Constable Stalker. The film resolves around the London stage play ‘The Mousetrap’ by Agatha Christie (played by Shirley Henderson). Incidentally, I saw ‘The Mousetrap’ once during one weekend in London in 2010.

The film also features Adrien Brody (who I’ve seen in Peter Jackson’s 2005 ‘King Kong’ film) as Leo Kopernick, a film director who’s about to adapt ‘The Mousetrap’ into a movie. Unfortunately, he’s killed early on in ‘See How They Run’ and Inspector Stoppard and Constable Stalker have to solve his murder.

As well as Sam Rockwell, Saoirse Ronan and Adrien Brody, there’s Ruth Wilson as Petula Spencer, the producer of ‘The Mousetrap’ play in London. There’s Reece Shearsmith as John Woolf, the producer of ‘The Mousetrap’s film adaptation; and Harris Dickinson as Richard Attenborough. Yes! 😀

Apparently, Richard Attenborough did perform in ‘The Mousetrap’ in its first run at London’s West End in 1952. 🙂 There’s also David Oyelowo as Mervyn Cocker-Norris, a playwright and screenwriter of ‘The Mousetrap’s film adaptation. Revisiting ‘See How They Run’, I forgot who the murderer was.

The last Disney+ film I saw in October was the 2013 film ‘The Lone Ranger’. This film was directed by Gore Verbinski, who directed ‘Mouse Hunt’ in 1997 and the first three ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ films. It was also produced by Jeremy Bruckheimer, producer of the ‘Pirates of the Caribbeans’ films.

And you can tell it’s Gore Verbinski directing the film and Jeremy Bruckheimer producing it, because Johnny Deep is in the film too. 😀 ‘The Lone Ranger’ is based on a fictional masked former Texas Ranger who fought outlaws in the American Old West with his Native American friends called Tonto.

Armie Hammer plays John Reid a.k.a. the Lone Ranger and Johnny Depp plays Tonto. The story is told through Tonto’s memories of the duo’s earliest efforts to subdue local villainy and bring justice to the American Old West. There are steam trains involved and a war between whites and Indians. 😐

The cast also includes William Fichtner as Butch Cavendish, Barry Pepper as Captain Jay Fuller, Ruth Wilson as Rebecca Reid, James Badge Dale as Dan Reid, Tom Wilkinson as Latham Cole and Helena Bonham Carter as Red Harrington. I recognised Mason Cook from the fourth ‘Spy Kids’ film in this. 🙂

Matt O’Leary from two ‘Spy Kids’ films is also in this film. 😀 I enjoyed it when Han Zimmer’s version of the William Tell Overture was played in the film’s musical score. Apparently, the William Tell Overture by Gioachino Rossini has been the theme music for ‘The Lone Ranger’ in radio, TV and film. Interesting.

I’ve enjoyed these four films on Disney+ lately. ‘The Ghosts of Buxley Hall’ is very entertaining as a quaint fantasy-comedy with ghosts. 2023’s ‘Haunted Mansion’ is certainly better than the 2003 film. It was good to see ‘See How They Run’ again and 2013’s ‘The Lone Ranger’ is a fun and energetic ride. 🙂

Stay tuned for another Disney+ Roundup on ‘Bradley’s Basement’ soon. 🙂

Thanks for reading!

Bye for now!

Tim 🙂