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Monday, August 16, 2010

#10. Suburbia (1983)

DVD Synopsis: When family problems and a sense of worthlessness overcome Evan, he finds escape with the orphans of a throwaway society. Calling themselves T.R. ("The Rejected"), these runaways hold on to one another like family, living in abandoned houses away from the society that despises them. Suburbia is THE punk rock movie, depicting with unbridled realism the lives, loves, and misfortunes of a discarded youth.






Yet another Roger Corman B-movie extravaganza, Suburbia boasts a cast of amateurs, and to be sure, the performances seldom rise beyond that amateur level, and yet, despite this, the film continually strikes the right chord. For this, I give full credit to director Penelope Spheeris, who has created with Suburbia a believable reality in which teens, most of whom are runaways or outcasts, have built a home for themselves, and are living life by their rules. 

A teenager’s fantasy, Suburbia was obviously designed to exploit the teen market, and even though I’m years beyond being a member of said audience, the film definitely worked for me.








 
 

3 comments:

  1. Couldn't get into this one, thinking it is because I am completely unfamilar with the 80's Los Angeles Punk rock scene. Thought Chris Pedersen and Jennifer Clay turned in some good performances.

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  2. Jill: Fair enough. I'm not very familiar with the scene myself, actually, and the rough productions values can be a turn-off. But I enjoyed the direction in which the film took its characters, and I agree that, for what it was, some of the performances weren't bad.

    Thanks again for the comment, and I hope you enjoy the next one a bit more!

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  3. This is a movie I'd been meaning to check out for a while but coming across it here jogged my memory. I'm a big fan of the whole gritty 80's punk aesthetic so I'm looking forward to it quite a bit!

    - David

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