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Last week's Movie Quiz winners

"Hey, hey, hey. Who the heck ordered the blood shake? Hey, Ray, it's not Skip. It's Art. I'm just pretending to be Skip. Say, you didn't happen to see an ice pick around here, did you?"

"I recall seeing this in the theater. I thought since it had Tom Hanks, it would be a decent movie. I was wrong."

Heh heh heh. I have to admit, like the above emails, I really enjoyed the other reactions of last week's quiz winners to the movie in question, the 1989 Tom Hanks comedy The 'burbs, directed by horror expert Joe Dante. One thing about this strange little look at sinister goings-on in suburbia became clear from the responses-- the film inspires strong reaction, one way or the other. "I love this movie!" "What a terrible movie." "One of my all-time favs!" "This film is atrocious."

Then there were the assessments of Tom's acting and career arc: "A classic! It was all downhill for Hanks after The 'burbs, The Money Pit, and Bachelor Party." "Someone in the future doing some Tom Hanks AFI special or Oscar presentation is really going to have a lot of fun reading off the early movies in his career." "Might be Tom Hanks' best." I'm not sure I don't agree with the last assessment, more's the pity.

And I agree, too, with Bill Kelly's comment-- "Great score by Jerry Goldsmith"-- and Trevor Jackson's final verdict: "Bruce Dern steals the show."

And considering the size and variety of the rest of the cast, that's saying something. One of the treats of all of Dante's films is the eclectic group of character actors and iconic non-actors he puts together, and this one has a typical mix, including stars of the day like Hanks, Carrie Fisher and the dread Corey Feldman, as well as old standbys like Gale Gordon and Henry Gibson. He also featured the great Brother Theodore in what became his last movie.

As for the question I was asked most-- "You don't like this, do you?"-- the answer is, yes, because I enjoy the way Dante makes his movies. For me, there's more fun in even the 'burb bits that don't work than in all of last week's movie, Celebrity. And any movie that not only features the always lovely Wendy Schaal but allows Bruce Dern to deliver the line, "It smells like they're cookin' a goddamned cat!" is my kind of movie.

Again with the record-breaking turnout for winners this time. So congratulations and a sardine snack to the following folks: Wayne Palmer, Stacy Sarette, Amanda Kowalsky, Paul.W.Swartos, Bill Kelly, Diane Lake, Maggie Ripsin, Mark Gisleson, Donald Greene, Ned Krahl, Joe M., Robert Redwing, Gus Mastrapa, Jack Sparks, Shannon Thompson, Matthew Fitzthum, Michael Mattson, Spike & Theresa, Paul Morita, Anthony Zadra, Matt Melton, Maren Sonstegard, Bill Hearne, Dack Anderson, Elizabeth Schwalbe, Chris McMullen, Kaylee Mund, Vince Tuss, Trevor Jackson, and Nick Caster. And special congrats to Kent Hofmeister, who wins this week's grand prize, Gram Parsons: Fallen Angel!

Posted by Steve Monaco at May 28, 2007 12:25 AM

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