Favorite Joe Dante film

[Pbateman]

From here on out for Director polls, if they have have a big enough filmography to go past 10 voting slots, I'm going to do just one poll with nine of their most notable films, with the tenth option being "other" for the rest of their films. Reason for this is for say Martin Scorsese, I'd have to do three seperate threads, which is a lot of work and can be confusing as well.


This time I'm focusing on Joe Dante, who made a name for himself as a horror/fantasy specialist in the late 70's and 80's. He even had Spielberg's backing as producer on a couple of films, not too hard to see why, he has a similar talent for juggling darkness with more light hearted material.


Dante has mostly worked in television since 1993, with only three feature films made since then. The third, The Hole, has yet to be released in North America. It sounds like what Dante does best: kid oriented horror/fantasy. Good to have you back Joe.


Here's the rest of his filmography:

Hollywood Boulevard (1976) - Co-directed with Allan Arkush
Explorers (1985)
Amazon Women on the Moon (1987) - segments "Hairlooming", "Bull**** or Not", "Critic's Corner", "Roast Your Loved One" and "Reckless Youth"
Runaway Daughters (1994) - Made for TV
The Second Civil War (1997) - Made for TV
Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003)
Trapped Ashes (2006) - "Wraparound" segment


I went with The Howling, with Gremlins a close second. What say you?


(Also check out Dante's website, Trailers From Hell, it's wicked.)

[topperharley]

I went with the Twilight Zone movie segment, as it's the only thing on the list that I've seen. But I don't even remember what that segment was. To be honest, when I saw this thread, my first thought was, "Who the **** is Joe Dante?"

[Pbateman]

I went with the Twilight Zone movie segment, as it's the only thing on the list that I've seen. But I don't even remember what that segment was. To be honest, when I saw this thread, my first thought was, "Who the **** is Joe Dante?"

It was the segment with the kid who could make anything happen with his mind, and was holding his "family" hostage.

You've never seen Gremlins?

[Rockox]

My vote goes to Gremlins without question, though the sequel was damn, damn good.

Pbateman, I'm surprised you included his segment from The Twilight Zone, especially when you excluded Four Rooms from your Tarantino poll.

[topperharley]

I've never seen Gremlins. And I'm just fine with that.

[Pbateman]

Pbateman, I'm surprised you included his segment from The Twilight Zone, especially when you excluded Four Rooms from your Tarantino poll.

I decided to mix it up a little, so maybe I'll start including the anthologies.

I've never seen Gremlins. And I'm just fine with that.

Are you not into Horror at all? You seem much more of a crime buff. I think Gremlins is second only to The Monster Squad as the best kiddie horror film ever.

[topperharley]

No, I'm not really into horror movies at all. There are very rare exceptions, such as Silence of the Lambs, which technically isn't a horror movie, but certainly has elements of the genre.

[Der_Lex]

I can't pick between the two Gremlinsmovies. They're both so chock-full of fantastic black humor that I love them both equally. Although 2 does have both Christopher Lee and John Glover in its favor.

[bermuddy]

the burbs. that movie cracks me up.

[FujiSkunk]

Gremlins, easily.

I also have a soft spot for Explorers, even though I consider it a big miss. I was the same age as the main characters when it came out, and I would have loved for the same chance to escape the school pecking order and other drudgeries of early teen geek life. But after watching the movie again more recently, I discovered it doesn't really have a point. The only real moral you can take away from it is the famous George Bernard Shaw quote: "There are two great disappointments in life: not getting what you want, and getting it." That's kind of depressing coming from a movie that's supposed to help you escape life for a while.