Joe Dante Movies
Born and raised in New Jersey, Joe Dante was a garrulous, semi-obsessed "movie nut." As a teenager, Dante wrote articles and criticism for "#Castle of Frankenstein," a popular "fanzine" for horror-film aficionados. While attending the Philadelphia College of Art, Dante and his friend Jon Davidson put together The Movie Orgy (1968), a 7-hour compilation of kitschy film clips that was screened on the college-campus circuit under the sponsorship of Schlitz beer. Dante went on to write for The Film Bulletin, then joined Roger Corman's New World Pictures, starting out editing trailers. When Dante made noises about becoming a director, Corman challenged him to whip up a picture for $50,000; the result was Hollywood Boulevard, an elongated (and frequently sidesplitting) inside joke about low-budget moviemaking. With Piranha (1978) and The Howling (1980), Dante began attracting critical attention as a director to keep an eye on. For producer Steven Spielberg, Dante directed his most profitable film, Gremlins (1984), a funny and frightening compendium of filmic "quotes" from past movie classics, full of cameo appearances by such pop-culture icons as Chuck Jones, Dick Miller, and Robby the Robot. For television, Dante has directed episodes of Police Squad, Amazing Stories, Twilight Zone and Tales from the Crypt. While Dante is best known for his stylish "scare" pictures, one of the director's finest and most personal projects was Matinee (1993), a nostalgic (and very movie-savvy) glance back at what it was like to grow up as a film buff in the early 1960s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 2010
Director Joe Dante returns to his horror roots for this Parallel Zide/VooDoo production centering on a red-eye flight that's hijacked while transporting frightful contents. Writing duo Drew McWeeny and Scott Swan provide the script. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- 2009
- PG13
Joe Dante (Gremlins) directs this 3-D extravaganza concerning two brothers who discover a hole in their basement that acts like a portal to a dark world. Vacancy's Mark Smith provides the screenplay for the Bold Films production. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chris Massoglia, Haley Bennett, (more)
The traditional horror anthology makes a triumphant comeback in this collection of four frightfully horrific tales from directors Monte Hellman, Ken Russell, Sean S. Cunningham, John Gaeta, and Joe Dante. When seven strangers accept a mysterious invitation to tour a Hollywood studio lot, they become trapped in a room and discover that their only hope for escape is to reveal the most terrifying tale they know. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Henry Gibson, Jayce Bartok, (more)
- 2006
They're called trailers, because originally they trailed the feature presentation. But before long, movie marketers learned there was a better chance of grabbing the audience's attention before the film. Trailers have since gone on to become one of the quintessential elements of movie-going, as illustrated in this documentary from Michael J. Shapiro and Jeff Werner. Featuring interviews with Joe Dante, Leonard Maltin, voice-over artist Don LaFontaine and several others, Coming Attractions: The History of the Movie Trailer traces a century of movie previews. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Osborne, Joe Dante, (more)
- 2006
- Add Masters of Horror: The Screwfly Solution to QueueAdd Masters of Horror: The Screwfly Solution to top of Queue
The battle of the sexes turns to all-out war in director Joe Dante's season-two episode of Showtime's Masters of Horror series. Based on a story by author Raccoona Sheldon and adapted for the screen by Sam Hamm, The Screwfly Solution tracks the progression of a vicious virus that transforms average men into murderous maniacs who impulsively attack every woman who crosses their path. When a suburban housewife and her teenage daughter set out in search of sanctuary, it doesn't take long for them to realize just how difficult it will be to escape an entire gender of homicidal psychopaths. Jason Priestley and Elliott Gould star as devoted scientists racing to find a cure for the virus before it's too late. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jason Priestley, Elliott Gould, (more)
Director Joe Dante stirred up a great deal of interest in Showtime's Masters of Horror series with his bluntly anti-Operation Iraqi Freedom political satire, Homecoming, scripted by Sam Hamm. An unnamed president is running for reelection during a divisive war, and one of his speechwriters, David Murch (Jon Tenney), goes on TV to speak with talk show host Marty Clark (Terry David Mulligan) and strident right-wing sexpot Jane Cleaver (Thea Gill of Queer as Folk). Another guest is Janet Hofstader (Beverly Breuer), the Cindy Sheehan-like mother of a fallen soldier, who demands to know what her son died for. Murch gets a bit teary-eyed and explains that he lost his older brother in Vietnam. "Believe me," he tells the grieving mom, "if I had one wish, I would wish for your son to come back, because I know he would tell us how important this struggle is." Cleaver is so impressed with Murch's handling of the situation that she takes him out for a drink later, picks his brain, and eventually seduces him. The Karl Rove-like Kurt Rand (Robert Picardo) interrupts their tryst, calling to let Murch know that the president plans to make his line part of his stump speech. Well, as they say, be careful what you wish for. Soon, the soldiers killed in the war do start returning from the dead, and it doesn't go the way Murch predicted. They're not back to feast on the living, but unhappily for the president and his supporters, they just want a chance to vote in the upcoming election. "We'll vote for anyone who ends this war," one explains. The spin machine goes into overdrive, but the dead are determined to make their voice heard. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jon Tenney
- 2004
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The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Editing teaches the viewer how editors compile strips of film in order to create memorable moviegoing experiences. In addition to interviews with a variety of respected and award-winning editors, the movie offers clips form some of the most memorable films in the history of the artform. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kathy Bates
- 2004
Edgar G. Ulmer was one of the most fascinating figures of Hollywood's Golden Age. While Ulmer directed the occasional big-budget major studio film (most notably The Black Cat starring Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi and The Strange Woman with Hedy Lamarr), Ulmer was a maverick who valued his creative freedom and he most often worked for"Poverty Row studios, most notably PRC, where he was allowed to make films as he pleased as long as they were done fast and cheap. Ulmer made a handful of small masterpieces for the minor league studios, most notably Detour, The Naked Dawn, Bluebeard, and Ruthless, and he also directed several important Yiddish-language films as well as an early all African-American cast musical. However, Ulmer's own version of his life was often dotted with creative embellishment and stories that no one could verify (particularly pertaining to his early career in Germany), and despite his very real degree of ability and influence, much of Ulmer's story remains shrouded in uncertainty. Documentary filmmaker Michael Palm explores both the art and the illusion of this singular artist in Edgar G. Ulmer: The Man Off-Screen, which features interviews with some of Ulmer's more noted admirers (Peter Bogdanovich, Wim Wenders, Joe Dante), actors who worked with him (John Saxon, Ann Savage), and members of his family (Arianné Ulmer Cipes). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
In a land where cartoon characters and flesh-and-blood people work side by side, one little black duck lands in a big pot of trouble in this comedy, which brings the beloved Looney Tunes characters into the real world. Daffy Duck (voice of Joe Alaskey) has grown tired of his status as Warner Bros.' leading avian second fiddle and demands that if he can't be given equal billing with his rival Bugs Bunny (also voiced by Alaskey), he wants to be released from his contract. Kate Houghton (Jenna Elfman), Warners' vice president in charge of comedy, is way ahead of Daffy and orders studio stuntman D.J. Drake (Brendan Fraser) to kick the duck off the studio lot. D.J. soon discovers getting rid of Daffy is no easy task, and the duck is in tow when Drake makes a startling discovery -- his father Damien Drake (Timothy Dalton), a movie star best know for playing ultra-suave secret agents, really is a secret agent, and he's been kidnapped by Mr. Chairman (Steve Martin), the evil leader of the monolithic Acme Corporation. Damien knows the secret hiding place of the priceless Blue Monkey Diamond and Mr. Chairman will stop at nothing to get it, so D.J. and Daffy set out to rescue Damien and save the diamond, one step behind Acme's musclemen and one step ahead of Kate and Bugs, who now realize how important Daffy is to the Looney Tunes franchise. Looney Tunes: Back in Action also stars Heather Locklear as a lounge singer working for Yosemite Sam (voice of Steve Babiar), Joan Cusack, John Cleese, Stan Freberg, and Roger Corman. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brendan Fraser, Jenna Elfman, (more)
- 2002
The Showtime cable series Jeremiah was set in a bleak, post-apocalyptic future, 15 years after a mysterious virus had killed off everyone past puberty. The only survivors of the holocaust were teenagers and twentysomethings, with the eponymous Jeremiah (Luke Perry) falling into the latter category. Following fragmentary clues left by his father, Jeremiah navigated the dismal, ravaged countryside in search of the "Valhalla Sector," an idyllic locale which may or may not have held the key to a brighter future. He was joined in his quest by the glib, supremely untrustowrthy Kurdy (Malcolm-Jamal Warner), and, on occasion, by other youthful remnants of the human race, both friendly and antagonistic. Co-executive produced by horror film specialist Joe Dante and Babylon 5 maven J. Michael Straczynski, the weekly, 60-minute Jeremiah was launched with a 100-minute pilot episode on March 30, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Joe Dante directed this satirical action-comedy about talking tech toys accidentally juiced-up with military microchips. After the defense industry firm Globotech takes over a small toy company, Heartland Play Systems' CEO Gil Mars (Denis Leary) gives the green light to develop a new line of action figures, requesting an upgrade to more realistic figures from Heartland toy designers Larry Benson (Jay Mohr) and fumbling Irwin Wayfair (David Cross). Mars wants toys that act like the ones in TV commercials. The results are fierce fighting figures, the Commando Elite, programmed to seek out and destroy the kindly alien-like Gorgonites. In an effort to make the toys as natural as possible, Benson inserts Globotech's most powerful military computer chips. Meanwhile, in quiet Winslow Corners, Ohio, toy-store owner Stuart Abernathy (Kevin Dunn) and his 15-year-old son Alan (Gregory Smith) are stuck in a failing business, so when Heartland truckdriver Joe (Dick Miller) stops by with the Commando and Gorgonite toys, Alan is convinced they will be hot sellers, commenting, "Maybe this store will finally make a little money." With blistering blows to their blister packs, the Commandos burst out, receive orders from their leader Chip Hazard (voice of Tommy Lee Jones) and ready for an all-out assault on the Gorgonites. When the Gorgonite leader Archer (voice of Frank Langella) begins communicating with Alan, it causes the Commandos to perceive humans as another enemy, simply by their association with the "Gorgonite scum," so an attack on the Abernathy house begins. Unfortunately, the Gorgonites can offer only limited assistance, since they have been programmed to lose. The film combines animatronics, puppetry, and computer animation. The Commando Elite voices include surviving actors from Robert Aldrich's The Dirty Dozen (1967), while the Gorgonite voices reunited several This Is Spinal Tap (1983) cast members. A dedication to Phil Hartman (the voice of Phil Fimple) after the closing credits features a brief Hartman outtake. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kirsten Dunst, Gregory Smith, (more)
This made-for-cable black-comedy stars Beau Bridges as a governor in a future United States, with an unusual plan for his state. Bridges stars as Jim Farley, the Governor of Idaho, who decides that the only way to keep the new immigrants out of his state is to close down the borders. Defying the President (Phil Hartman), he gets some help implementing his plan from some zealots in militias. Bridges won the Emmy for his performance. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Beau Bridges, James Coburn, (more)
The first superhero ever, created by Lee Falk in 1936, gets another shot at movie stardom 60 years after achieving fame in comics and serials. Billy Zane stars as Kit Walker, who discovers that he's the 21st in a line of purple-clad African superheroes known as "The Phantom" or, to superstitious Bengalla Island natives, "the Ghost Who Walks." When he's not fighting the evil Singh Brotherhood with his faithful wolf Devil and white horse Hero, the Phantom lives in the hidden Skull Cave. Kit discovers that Xander Drax (Treat Williams), a slimy industrialist, is plotting to take over the world by uniting the three long lost magical Skulls of Touganda. So he travels to New York, where he finds allies in crusading newspaper publisher Dave (Bill Smitrovich) and his niece, Diana (Kristy Swanson), who's also Kit's ex-girlfriend. Kit and Diana tackle Drax's forces, including the conflicted Sala (Catherine Zeta-Jones), in a quest for the Skulls that brings both sides back to Bengalla for a showdown. The Phantom's mixture of elaborate stunts with liberal doses of tongue-in-cheek humor was characteristic of screenwriter Jeffrey Boam, whose previous films included Innerspace (1987) and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Billy Zane, Kristy Swanson, (more)
- 1994
- R
In the tradition of Mel Brooks, this Italian comedy offers an episodic parody of classic thrillers and horror movies. Film includes cameos from several stars including Mel Brooks, John Astin, Larry Storch, Phyllis Diller, John Carpenter, and John Landis. The story begins as director Ezio Greggio is being stabbed ala Psycho in his shower. Before he dies he recaps the events leading to his death. The scene was L.A. and FBI rookie Jo Dee Fostar has been assigned to interview psycho inmate Dr. Animal Cannibal Pizza. Meanwhile Fostar's girlfriend swipes $400,000 bucks from her boss and ends up hiding in the Cemetery Hotel, run by Antonio Motel. Inspector Balsam investigates cases of dead hotel victims. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dom DeLuise, Ezio Greggio, (more)
Some teen girls take to the road in this made-for-cable remake of the 1956 original. Set in 1957, three guy-crazy friends take to the road in a stolen car, trying to track down one of their ex-lovers before he goes off into the Navy. The film is part of Showtime's "Rebel Highways" series of remakes. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Rudd, Julie Bowen, (more)
- 1994
In the television miniseries Picture Windows, a number of acclaimed Hollywood directors and top stars team up for short stories about love. In "Soir Bleu," directed by Norman Jewison, Tully (Alan Arkin) is a clown who has fallen in love with a married woman. To make matters more complex, her husband is the manager of the circus Tully works for. He also beats her, and Tully is desperate to do something to free her from her awful predicament. Peter Bogdanovich directs "Song of Songs," in which George Segal plays Ted, who runs a bakery and has both a wife (Sally Kirkland) and a mistress (Brooke Adams). Soon Ted learns the hard way about the difference between love and lust. And in "Language of the Heart," directed by Jonathan Kaplan, an aging orchestra conductor (Michael Lerner) uses the wisdom of his years to help bring together a poor but gifted busker and a lovely young dancer. Picture Windows was originally produced for the Showtime premium cable network. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
The third entry in the popular Beverly Hills Cop series finds Detroit cop Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy) returning yet again to Southern California, this time on the trail of two car thieves turned murderers. As he teams up again with L.A. cop Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold), Foley's investigation leads him to Wonder World, a theme park that is also the front for a major counterfeiting ring. More action and less wit are the trademarks of this film, which features Murphy dishing out his usual wisecracks, but with less flair and freshness than in the original film. Alan Young plays the old man who runs the amusement park, an interesting setting that still adds little to the tired premise. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eddie Murphy, Judge Reinhold, (more)
- 1992
- PG
John Goodman's full-throttle performance as a William Castle-inspired schlockmeister propels Joe Dante's delightful and charming comedy Matinee. The film takes place during the fall 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, a time when America's innocence began to crumble. Goodman plays film producer Lawrence Woolsey, who is in Key West to premiere his latest horror epic, "Mant," the story of a man who turns into a giant insect ("Half Man! ... Half Ant! ... All Terror!"). He's busy rigging the local movie theater with all manner of gimmicks, such as Atomo-Vision and Rumble-Rama, and stationing a buxom nurse -- played by Woolsey's girlfriend and leading lady Ruth (Cathy Moriarty) -- in the lobby to assist potential heart attack victims. Amidst all the hubbub, a quartet of local teenagers gear up for the big premiere: Gene (Simon Fenton), a Navy brat whose father is on alert for the duration of the crisis; Stan (Omri Katz), Gene's friend who has a furious crush on Sherry (Kellie Martin); and Sandra (Lisa Jakub), the daughter of two beatnik free-thinkers. As the premiere of "Mant" gets closer and Soviet-U.S. tensions increase, the four teenagers' problems and desires also mount to the boiling point. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Goodman, Cathy Moriarty, (more)
Stephen King wrote his first original screenplay for this horror gore fest that features cameos by directors Clive Barker, Joe Dante, Tobe Hooper, John Landis, and King himself (playing a cemetery attendant). The story concerns a twilight people named "sleepwalkers" --creatures similar to vampires and werewolves whose faces turn animalistic whenever they are frightened or angry and who require the lifeforce of a virgin to survive. A single-parent sleepwalker family, consisting of Mary Brady (Alice Krige) and her son Charles (Brian Krause), have taken up residence in a small Indiana town. Charles has expressed a romantic interest in the attractive Tanya Robertson (Madchen Amick), a girl in his high school literature class. Mary wants Charles to lure Tanya home so that she can suck out her life force, but it appears that Charles has fallen in love with her --that is, until their first date, at a picnic at the cemetery. There Charles changes from a shy romantic suitor into a brutal and violent force, slapping Tanya around and attempting to rape her. But Tanya wards off his advances by plunging a corkscrew into his torso. Charles staggers back home to mother, where she nurses him back to health. Then Charles and his mother seek vengeance upon the Robertson family. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brian Krause, Mädchen Amick, (more)
- 1992
- PG
This colorful, fast-paced documentary pays tribute to animator Chuck Jones on his eightieth birthday. Amidst many clips from his most famous cartoons, major stars and Hollywood figures ranging from Steven Spielburg to Ron Howard to composer Danny Elfman to film historian/critic Leonard Maltin to Whoopi Goldberg pay their respects. Highlights include clips from such cartoon classics as Bug's Bunny's The Rabbit of Seville, Daffy Duck's Duck Amuck, Jones' "Road Runner" shorts, and the classic TV holiday show How the Grinch Stole Christmas. All of these came from his Warner Brothers eras, but also shown are examples of his more experimental work done at MGM including his Oscar-winning The Dot and the Line. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steven Spielberg, Whoopi Goldberg, (more)
Sylvester Stallone gives comedy another try in this farce set in the 1930s. Angelo "Snaps" Provelone (Stallone) is the wealthy and powerful head of the Chicago mob, but his ailing father (Kirk Douglas) doesn't approve of his life in crime, and on his deathbed, Dad makes Snaps promise to go straight. Determined to honor his late father's wishes, Snaps decides to go into banking -- just as his life has fallen into chaos. Anthony Russano (Vincent Spano) informs Snaps that he's hijacked $50,000 of his money and wants to marry his daughter. Snaps discovers that his daughter Lisa (Marisa Tomei) is actually involved with the chauffeur, Oscar (Jim Mulholland), but Anthony's girlfriend Theresa (Elizabeth Barondes) has convinced her beau that Snaps is her father. Snaps hopes to use this misunderstanding as a way of getting his money back, but in the meantime, he has to deal with a wary banking board, rival mob boss Vendetti (Richard Romanus), prissy elocution coach Thornton (Tim Curry), and Snaps' one-time girlfriend Roxanne (Linda Gray). Oscar's stellar supporting cast includes Don Ameche, Chazz Palminteri, Harry Shearer, Eddie Bracken, Yvonne DeCarlo, and Bruce Davison. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sylvester Stallone, Ornella Muti, (more)
Where the original Gremlins was a horror film spiked with comedy, Gremlins 2: The New Batch is essentially a black comedy, with a couple of horrifying touches. As the film starts, the fantastical trinket shop in Chinatown, which sold the Mogwai in the first film, is demolished by a crazed multi-media businessman called Daniel Clamp (John Glover). The heroes from the first movie, Billy (Zach Galligan) and Kate (Phoebe Cates), happen to work for Clamp in his huge high-rise. They find the Mogwai within Clamp's building, but not before he has accidentally spawned legions of mischievous, lizard-like Gremlins. Soon, the Gremlins are wreaking havoc throughout the building. In the original film, their misdeeds were violent, but here they're also goofy and satirical. Director Joe Dante has filled the film with quick verbal and visual jokes, which, for many, makes Gremlins 2: The New Batch a satire and inversion of the typical horror film. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, (more)
