tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post9214889117026116033..comments2024-03-28T14:49:36.133-04:00Comments on John Kenneth Muir's Reflections on Cult Movies and Classic TV: How Come a Cute Little Guy like This Can Turn into a Thousand Ugly Monsters? The Many Interpretations of Joe Dante’s Gremlins (1984)John Kenneth Muirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15629979615332893780noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-91208589015256366132015-03-18T23:17:03.466-04:002015-03-18T23:17:03.466-04:00Outstanding analysis as always! It is amazing how ...Outstanding analysis as always! It is amazing how many ways this film can be read and as you say, every approach is workable. For me, the environmental reading (humans will find a way to ruin everything pure natural) works best. As someone who wanted to pursue writing and film at the time but was pressured into being "practical" , I really get the 80s greed/everything is a commodity and creativity endeavors are scoffed at subtext. It at is exactly where America was at the time. The critique of consumerism and the dark underbelly of suburbia/small town (and white) America is reminiscent of "Poltergeist.<br /><br />Robert Bloch did an excellent analysis of the adolescence gone mad angle in the November 1984 issue of Starlog Magazine.<br /><br />I saw "Gremlins" at an advanced sneak preview several weeks before the release date and had no idea where it was going and was just blown away by it, especially visual framing and Jerry Goldsmith's incredible score. I also loved the crazy (and not so popular) sequel. The best Mad Magazine movie ever.James J. Caterinohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01457868136494514710noreply@blogger.com