Oct 5, 2026 · 1 hr 24 min · 11 segments
This week we are deep diving into Joe Dante's wildly underrated The 'Burbs. We lovingly approach this episode similar to a book club discussion where we go into deeper meanings, personal impacts, and…
Now that we know which of us would immediately become the neighborhood's clopeck family, let's talk about the verbs.
One of the things that immediately stood out to me is that this movie wastes absolutely no time getting into the curiosity of the neighborhood.
Before we really know anything about the Klopeks, everyone is already watching them.
They're the weird house.
They're the family nobody really knows.
And because nobody knows what they're doing, everyone desperately wants to know what they're doing.
And, you know, personally, obviously, I love music, so I just...
The use of Mr. Rogers' neighborhood in the middle of the movie, right? I mean, won't you be my neighbor? I might have sang along a little bit.
Into a movie where the neighbors have become completely obsessed with spying on each other, to me, was a hilarious contrast.
But that's the whole dynamic that got me thinking about what happens when a neighborhood stops just being the place where you live and starts becoming your entertainment.
So, that brings me to the first thing that I want to talk to y'all about today.
When the neighborhood becomes a playground.
So watching this, I kept thinking about the stories that kittens invent about people in their neighborhoods, right? There's always that one house.
Maybe the old woman who lives alone is secretly a witch.
Maybe there's a scary guy who never comes outside.
Uh-oh, Brian.
Maybe they're the yard where you absolutely cannot lose your ball, right? So in a little way, it reminded me a bit of The Sandlot.
The kids have built this entire mythology around the Beast and the scary man who lives next door.
Then you actually meet them, and it's a nice old man and a really lovable dog who just wants to give you kisses, which, I mean, you're going to have to shower afterwards, but still.
The Burbs is essentially that phenomenon, in my mind, but with grown adults.
Ray, Art, and Rumsfeld are acting like bored kids on summer vacation who have decided there has to be something sinister happening in the creepy house down the street.
And Ray is basically on summer vacation, right? He's taken time off from work, but decided to stay home And so there's also something interesting to me about the level of comfort required to become this board, though, right? This is a cul-de-sac full of very different people, but they're all living relatively comfortable lives.
These people own houses.
Ray can take a vacation and apparently spend it doing absolutely nothing.
Consider me personally jealous.
Now that we know which of us would immediately become the neighborhood's clopeck family, let's talk about the verbs.
One of the things that immediately stood out to me is that this movie wastes absolutely no time getting into the curiosity of the neighborhood.
Before we really know anything about the Klopeks, everyone is already watching them.
They're the weird house.
They're the family nobody really knows.
And because nobody knows what they're doing, everyone desperately wants to know what they're doing.
And, you know, personally, obviously, I love music, so I just...
The use of Mr. Rogers' neighborhood in the middle of the movie, right? I mean, won't you be my neighbor? I might have sang along a little bit.
Into a movie where the neighbors have become completely obsessed with spying on each other, to me, was a hilarious contrast.
But that's the whole dynamic that got me thinking about what happens when a neighborhood stops just being the place where you live and starts becoming your entertainment.
So, that brings me to the first thing that I want to talk to y'all about today.
When the neighborhood becomes a playground.
So watching this, I kept thinking about the stories that kittens invent about people in their neighborhoods, right? There's always that one house.
Maybe the old woman who lives alone is secretly a witch.
Maybe there's a scary guy who never comes outside.
Uh-oh, Brian.
Maybe they're the yard where you absolutely cannot lose your ball, right? So in a little way, it reminded me a bit of The Sandlot.
The kids have built this entire mythology around the Beast and the scary man who lives next door.
Then you actually meet them, and it's a nice old man and a really lovable dog who just wants to give you kisses, which, I mean, you're going to have to shower afterwards, but still.
The Burbs is essentially that phenomenon, in my mind, but with grown adults.
Ray, Art, and Rumsfeld are acting like bored kids on summer vacation who have decided there has to be something sinister happening in the creepy house down the street.
And Ray is basically on summer vacation, right? He's taken time off from work, but decided to stay home And so there's also something interesting to me about the level of comfort required to become this board, though, right? This is a cul-de-sac full of very different people, but they're all living relatively comfortable lives.
These people own houses.
Ray can take a vacation and apparently spend it doing absolutely nothing.
Consider me personally jealous.
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