Great Suburban Films

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Hi there,

What are some good examples of what a lot of people calll suburban movies, ie: The Ice Storm, Lawn Dogs, Your Friends & Neighbors, Happiness, etc...?

Thx

― CL, Tuesday, 14 September 2004 21:49 (nineteen years ago) link

E.T. and Blue Velvet both have utilize the American 1980s suburban landscape in a kind of dreamy, magical manner. E.T. being the light half and Blue Velvet being the dark half.
At its best Donnie Darko is a smarty pants fusion of Speilberg and Lynch's 1980s suburbs.

― herbert hebert (herbert hebert), Tuesday, 14 September 2004 22:50 (nineteen years ago) link

American Beauty fits the bill, although that doesn't mean I'm exactly recommending it. Also, The Big Chill, perhaps?

― Anthony (Anthony F), Wednesday, 15 September 2004 01:45 (nineteen years ago) link

Your Friends and Neighbors was a suburb movie?

― Eric H. (Eric H.), Wednesday, 15 September 2004 05:05 (nineteen years ago) link

'The Suburbanators', dir. Gary Burns, 1995. It's in Calgary, all on location, really random and lovely. Not half as polished as his much more well known 'Waydowntown', but perhaps better for it.

― derrick (derrick), Wednesday, 15 September 2004 05:59 (nineteen years ago) link

"Over the Edge," dir. Jonathan Kaplan, 1979, accurately captured how I felt growing up in the suburbs. So did "River's Edge" from 1986, which I think was directed by the writer of Over the Edge.

Maybe that explains the recurring "edge" in the titles. Anyway, both great films.

― Dr Benway (dr benway), Wednesday, 15 September 2004 07:56 (nineteen years ago) link

It's a bit obvious, but Linklater's "Suburbia".

It's not the 'burbs by any means, but Spike Lee's "Do The Right Thing" and "Crooklyn" could fit into this catergory. "Boyz in the Hood" as well. On the other end of the spectrum, many of Woody Allen's films ("Manhattan", "Annie Hall", "Husbands and Wives") could be included. These are all films that incorporate a neighborhood as a character of, or character in, the film.

― jay blanchard (jay blanchard), Wednesday, 15 September 2004 11:12 (nineteen years ago) link

American Beauty, obvs.

― Vermont Girl (Vermont Girl), Wednesday, 15 September 2004 15:15 (nineteen years ago) link

Hey Anthony, why wouldn't you recommend ti?

― Vermont Girl (Vermont Girl), Wednesday, 15 September 2004 15:16 (nineteen years ago) link

ELECTION.

and Corman's Suburbia, which is vastly superior to Linklater's Suburbia.

― n/a (Nick A.), Wednesday, 15 September 2004 15:20 (nineteen years ago) link

"Your Friends and Neighbors was a suburb movie? "

Sorry,I guess I was loosely associating it. More or less I'm not looking for suburb movies as I am for movies that are the similiar of the works of writers like John Updike, Richard Yates, David Gates etc.. You know, the whole next door neighboor, adultery, acoholism themed kind of stuff they seem to specialize in if that makes any sense.

― CL, Wednesday, 15 September 2004 19:29 (nineteen years ago) link

Far From Heaven, forgot that one

― Anthony (Anthony F), Thursday, 16 September 2004 02:56 (nineteen years ago) link

>movies that are the similiar of the works of writers like John Updike, Richard Yates, David Gates etc.<

I've never read the Cheever story, but Frank Perry's "The Swimmer" with Burt Lancaster is a good one in this vein.

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 16 September 2004 14:11 (nineteen years ago) link

We Don't Live Here Anymore and In the Bedroom are both adaptations of Andre Dubus short stories, and I think they're roughly what you're after.

― jaymc (jaymc), Thursday, 16 September 2004 15:19 (nineteen years ago) link

(I have a soft spot for this genre myself.)

― jaymc (jaymc), Thursday, 16 September 2004 15:19 (nineteen years ago) link

I am surprised that nobody has yet said THE BURBS!!

― jaymc (jaymc), Thursday, 16 September 2004 15:19 (nineteen years ago) link

The Lost Boys

― RMac, Friday, 17 September 2004 17:34 (nineteen years ago) link

Safe
Short Cuts

― gygax! (gygax!), Tuesday, 21 September 2004 22:28 (nineteen years ago) link

Can't believe I'm gonna mention this, but "The Whole Nine Yards"

― nycfilmguy (nycfilmguy), Wednesday, 22 September 2004 01:47 (nineteen years ago) link

Edward Scissorhands
maybe Halloween?

― cuspidorian (cuspidorian), Monday, 27 September 2004 11:50 (nineteen years ago) link

Halloween counts!!!

Anything by John Hughes. Suburban movies often tend to be teen movies.

― PVC (peeveecee), Thursday, 30 September 2004 21:02 (nineteen years ago) link

Has anyone mentioned Wayne's World yet? "I live in Aurora, Illinois."

― jocelyn (Jocelyn), Friday, 1 October 2004 17:11 (nineteen years ago) link

waynes world. aurora is the town next to mine! and i went to high school in aurora!

― todd swiss (eliti), Sunday, 3 October 2004 00:29 (nineteen years ago) link

Mystic Pizza

― kephm (kephm), Monday, 4 October 2004 18:43 (nineteen years ago) link

wow, can't believe no one has mentioned "Slacker".

― jay blanchard (jay blanchard), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 21:35 (nineteen years ago) link

Much of Slacker takes place in (pardon this) Austin City Limits.

― gygax! (gygax!), Saturday, 9 October 2004 18:54 (nineteen years ago) link

Spanking the Monkey

― mayo apetrain (mayoape), Monday, 11 October 2004 11:53 (nineteen years ago) link

I thought that pulp fiction had some burb moments.....and GOONIES!!!!

― knit, Tuesday, 19 October 2004 05:14 (nineteen years ago) link

trust.

― j.m. lockery (j.m. lockery), Thursday, 21 October 2004 00:16 (nineteen years ago) link

dazed and confused.

― scout, Sunday, 24 October 2004 21:14 (nineteen years ago) link

Leave It To Beaver season 2 episode 4

― PVC (peeveecee), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 21:30 (nineteen years ago) link

Ken Park

― PVC (peeveecee), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 21:31 (nineteen years ago) link

surely many of the films mentioned above are small-town films rather than suburban films, viz. Blue Velvet, River's Edge, Election?

― DV (dirtyvicar), Wednesday, 27 October 2004 10:57 (nineteen years ago) link

OTM about Ken Park. I didn't care for that film much. I think Harmony Korine is a much better director than a writer.

How narrow are we getting in our definition of "suburb"? I think the concept of a suburb has changed quite a bit in the last 15 years or so, and there may be a big difference between a suburb near a large city and that in a smaller area. Or should we just define this as "neighborhood" films?

― jay blanchard (jay blanchard), Wednesday, 27 October 2004 12:06 (nineteen years ago) link

The Virgin Suicides.

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 27 October 2004 14:32 (nineteen years ago) link

ten years pass...

has anyone seen Martin Ritt's No Down Payment? Scope, b&W, 1957, Joanne Woodward, Jeffrey Hunter, screenplay by uncredited blacklistee Ben Maddow. Tony Randall as a used-car salesman "looking for a good time," married to Sheree North!

http://www.bam.org/film/2015/no-down-payment

― touch of a love-starved cobra (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 5 March 2015 03:34 (nine years ago) link

watched it last night, it's on youtube. takes a little bit of patience but definitely has more than a few details & nuances I wasn't expecting, with some fairly intense meltdowns. I know the whole point is that everyone's home is identical, but my guess is they used the exact same set for every interior shot, slightly redecorated, so the sense of claustrophobia keeps building as the scenes transition from house to house. the TV is in the same spot in every home.

― Milton Parker, Friday, 13 March 2015 19:58 (nine years ago) link

The best burb film is clearly 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her, right?

― Frederik B, Friday, 13 March 2015 20:02 (nine years ago) link

Maybe some of the claustrophobia comes from the YT version being 'square' when it's a 'Scope film? xp

― touch of a love-starved cobra (Dr Morbius), Friday, 13 March 2015 20:04 (nine years ago) link

Such a sadness to think you've seen a film on youtube

― Milton Parker, Sunday, 15 March 2015 10:31 (nine years ago) link

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