Perhaps no film more bizarrely showcases the backwards suburban mentality than Tim Burton’s 1990 fairy tale. A young man with scissors for hands -- played with deeply strange aplomb by Johnny Depp -- descends on a gated community to liberate the area women (particularly an oddly blonde Winona Ryder) from their isolated existence.

Edward’s pale skin and forlorn gaze, when set against the bright, Day-Glo suburban backdrop, makes for a provocative contrast: Perhaps that's why the movie will headline an upcoming Burton retrospective at New York’s Museum of Modern Art.



If the 1950s was a period marked by cookie-cutter conformity, the 1970s were an age of scandal and liberation -- even in suburbia.

That revolution is showcased in this 1997 film from award-winning director Ang Lee. Based on Rick Moody’s 1994 novel, The Ice Storm shows how sex, drugs, and existential misery aren't just for suburban teenagers: Neighborhood parents booze it up, get high, and engage in some badly judged spouse-swapping.