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Cannes 2013: Surprises & Notable Absence ...

The obsessives' guide to contemporary cinema via film discussion, news, reviews, features, nostalgia, movie music, soundtracks, DVDs and more.

Interviews

Simon Pegg & Joe Dante Teaming Up For Ghost Story 'Casting The Runes'

By Ken Guidry
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May 9, 2013 6:29 PM
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1 Comment

News

When people think of the name Joe Dante, most likely, they think of his work in the ‘80s. Whether it’s “Gremlins”, “Explorers,” “The ‘Burbs,” or maybe even one of his later ‘90s works, like “Small Soldiers.” His career has never really been the same since his heyday in the ‘80s; his most recent work mostly being in television. His last film, “The Hole,” was actually shot in 3D, but more-or-less went straight to DVD. So what’s the deal?

By Gabe Toro
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September 29, 2012 12:05 PM
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1 Comment

Reviews

Some directors are simply in the right place at the right time. This is why Tim Burton has spent the last decade recycling the same ideas, visuals and motifs to ever-diminishing returns with ever-escalating budgets. Surely Burton would not be where he was had the ever-underestimated Joe Dante not turned down directing “Batman” in the late '80s, citing the self-awareness that has eluded Burton his entire career: Dante famously refused the job on the grounds of being a Joker fan more than a Batman one. Sadly, it’s that sort of vision that allows Burton to keep lighting studios’ money on fire while Dante is reduced to low-fi time-wasters like “The Hole."

By Benjamin Wright
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September 28, 2012 3:59 PM
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1 Comment

News

It’s been awhile since we’ve seen a feature film by director Joe Dante, but he certainly hasn't been forgotten. The cult around his films from "Gremlins" to “Explorers” or even 1993’s criminally marginalized “Matinee” (featuring one of John Goodman’s best performances to date), continues to loom large, and that certainly helps make way for a welcome return with his latest feature “The Hole,” a flick that chronicles the darkness looming inside an abandoned hole in the middle of a basement, and the three suburban kids who stumble upon it.

By Benjamin Wright
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September 28, 2012 11:59 AM
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2 Comments

Features

Time has most certainly been kind to filmmaker Joe Dante, best known for his “Gremlins” films (the first of which celebrated its 28th anniversary in June), as the filmmaker’s work from his early days with gonzo producer Roger Corman to later fare like the 1998 action blockbuster “Small Soldiers" continue to be watched and beloved years after the fact. While he’s remained busy working on acclaimed episodes of genre favorite “Masters of Horrors,” or dipping his feet into network fare with CBS’ “Hawaii Five-0,” it’s his first feature since 2003’s “Looney Tunes: Back In Action” that has folks talking about Dante and the movies once again.

By Oliver Lyttelton
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June 8, 2012 3:02 PM
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1 Comment

Features

June 8th, 1984 was a great day for movie nerds, particularly those with an affection for special effects, scares and belly laughs. Not only did they get "Ghostbusters" in theaters that day (as we've already looked at, but they also got "Gremlins," the subversive PG-rated horror-comedy from the A-list trio of writer Chris Columbus, director Joe Dante and producer Steven Spielberg.

By Drew Taylor
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July 5, 2011 1:57 AM
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3 Comments

Much has been written about the film revolution that took place during the 1970’s – when the studio system crumbled in inconceivable ways and a brood of bold young filmmakers, most of them wily, many of them bearded, forever changed the landscape of the film industry. But far less has been written about the seismic shift in genre films during the same period. Thankfully, Jason Zinoman, a crack film writer for the New York Times (he did last weekend’s great John Carpenter profile), has come forward to present a compelling and well researched look at those films in “Shock Value: How a Few Eccentric Outsiders Gave Us Nightmares, Conquered Hollywood, and Invented Modern Horror.”

By Kevin Jagernauth
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October 28, 2010 6:46 AM
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2 Comments

Well here's a sort of clever idea that will probably still end up being terrible. A bevy of horror directors, including Joe Dante ("Germlins"), Paco Plaza ("[REC]") Vincenzo Natali ("Splice"), Xavier Gens ("Hitman"), Ryuhei Kitamura ("The Midnight Meat Train"), Brit director Christopher Smith ("Creep"), French duo Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo ("A L'Interieur") and German music video director Joern Heitmann have all signed on for "Paris, I'll Kill You."