I owe many fond childhood movie memories to director Joe Dante, as he’s directed not one, not two, not three, but four of my favourite films from my younger years: Gremlins, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, Explorers, and Innerspace! Dante’s career reads like a dream for a b-movie nerd like me. He got his start working on Roger Corman movies, and was the editor on the Ron Howard box office hit Grand Theft Auto. He quickly made the transition to directing and his first features were Pirahna and The Howling. The Howling attracted the attention of Steven Spielberg, who tapped Dante to direct a segment in The Twilight Zone: The Movie, as well as producing Dante’s films Gremlins, Gremlins 2, and Innerspace. Other films of Dante’s that I think are worth mentioning are Matinee, Small Soldiers, Looney Tunes: Back in Action, and the Masters of Horror episode Homecoming. Dante also does a lot of work with famous character actors whom we frequently celebrate on TBR, such as Dick Miller and Robert Picardo.