Movie Details
| Title: | The Burbs | |
| Director: | Joe Dante | |
| Year: | 1989 | |
| Genre: | Comedy | |
| Times Seen: | 1 | |
| Last Seen: | 03.25.07 |
Other Movies Seen By This Director (5)
- Gremlins
- The Howling
- Innerspace
- Piranha
- Small Soldiers
| Date Viewed | Venue | Note |
| 03.25.07 | DVD | For the Dante event the Alamo played trailers for just about every one of his movies, including The Burbs. Seeing the trailer made me want to watch it again, especially after someone asked about it and Dante gave a little insight in the multiple endings and general cult fandom that's sprung up for it. I know it's always been my default Dante fave because I love the idea and so much of the movie is firmly implanted into my memory ever since I saw it for the first time as a kid, but Innerspace holds up so well (I think) and Gremlins (and Gremlines 2) is so great and just looking over his whole filmography made me wonder if this was REALLY still my favorite of his. Well, there are definitely a few moments that make me wince. Most involve Corey Feldman. The "pizza dude" references and his final line are really pretty rough... and the whole ending actually feels a tad weak. I can never remember exactly how it ends and for a movie I pretty much have memorized that's kind of a giveaway. BUT, there are still so many moments that I absolutely love... pretty much every second Bruce Dern is on-screen he's hilarious, especially when he's in the background. And Hanks has some of his early comedic looks as well, like the sardine scene still makes me crack up and he's not really doing anything. And his weird sneeze, like his Money Pit laugh, remind me of how he became a star in the first place. Plus the idea's just so great. Dante has some real fun with the score, playing up Spaghetti western moments and traditional horror moments and military moments all in the music. Yeah, I still really like this movie a lot. Now that I know I'm not the only one who likes it, I'm tempted to change my fave to Innerspace but... I think I still like this just a tad more even with the handful of missteps and 80s shrapnel thrown in. |
