Big Fish (2003)

With Big Fish, the former boy genius director Tim Burton works from two new angles. He embraces the art of storytelling for the first time and gives us his first glimpse of "realism." It may make Burton sound like a no-talent hack for never trying these basic things before. Very simply, Burton has up to now only been interested in characters and places. He has conjured up bizarre, damaged heroes and villains, placed them within the context of some lopsided world, and set them loose. read more...

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• Love Story ▶ Yes please
• Sympathetic ▶ I want to know or care about the characters
• Moralistic ▶ Yes please
• Rules ▶ Escapable or can be transformed
• Production Level ▶ Polished

Purple Rain (1984)

Landmark Cinema's summer 2004 slate of midnight movies included a sing-a-long version of Purple Rain. It was so popular that the fans demanded a second screening before the first one even happened. read more...

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• Love Story ▶ Yes please

That Thing You Do! (1996)

Tom Hanks's feature directing debut wouldn't have worked if its title tune hadn't been as satisfyingly sweet as it is. (It was written by Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne.) We hear it many times, and it never fails to get the heads bobbing and the toes tapping. Otherwise, That Thing You Do! is an amiable, good-natured take on the rock 'n' roll, rags-to-riches-to-rags formula. It's 1964, and Guy Patterson (Tom Everett Scott) wants to be a jazz drummer but works in his father's appliance store. Some pals in a pop band, Jimmy (Johnathon Schaech) and Lenny (Steve Zahn), ask him to sit in on a gig after their drummer is injured. He winds up speeding up their song, giving it the punch it needs to be a hit. One of the best jokes has to do with the band's name, the "One-ders," which is continually mispronounced as "the oh-NEED-ers." Hanks comes on board as A&R man Mr. White, fast-talking and with a dose of reality, but still a good guy. Liv Tyler is dewy-eyed and lovely, and shakes things up, as Faye, who is attached to Jimmy but turns Guy's head. Charlize Theron made her official acting debut here, but as a small-minded "pretty girl," unwilling to put up with her man being on the road; thankfully she earned better roles later on. Chris Isaak appears as "Uncle Bob," who first records the band. Hanks wrote the screenplay, and Jonathan Demme co-produced, bringing along his regular cinematographer, Tak Fujimoto, for the film's bright, innocent look. read more...

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• Love Story ▶ Yes please

Upside Down (2013)

The award-winning Argentinean short film director Juan Solanas makes his English-language feature debut with this astounding failure, a movie that will surely wow audiences with its awesome visuals, but will floor them with its unbelievably awful storytelling. The movie begins with our hero (Jim Sturgess) explaining the rules of the universe to us, and then spends the next 98 minutes trying to avoid or ignore those rules. It can make a viewer's head spin trying to ask questions about how and why anything works. read more...

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• Love Story ▶ Yes please
• Romantic Love ▶ Happily ever after
• Moralistic ▶ Yes please
• Production Level ▶ Polished

Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)

Star Trek fans know the secret code: even-numbered movies are good and odd-numbered movies are bad. Some fans will argue that Star Trek: The Motion Picture holds up extremely well as a surprisingly thoughtful and imaginative film, or that Star Trek III: The Search for Spock is inseparable from the beloved Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. But overall, the code holds true. Indeed, the new film and number 10 in the series, Star Trek: Nemesis, far surpasses its predecessor, the incredibly stupid Star Trek: Insurrection. On the other hand, the new film also bucks the code with its oddly unengaging presentation. read more...

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• Love Story ▶ Yes please