That Thing You Do! 1996

A sucker for a drummer and the beauty that is Liv, I fell in love with this film and still enjoy every viewing.

A ride through the music-making machine with a wholesome, mid-sixties one-hit-wonder group. For years I thought I'd hate it, based on trailers and tone alone, but was pleasantly surprised. The film's got some issues, no doubt - especially the horribly tacked-on, telegraphed romantic ending - but it's got a lot of soul and I actually started to like the little tribe of stereotypes as we spent more time together. The theme song is appropriately catchy, too, without being grating like a lot of the era's pop records. Which is important, because it plays no less than once every ten minutes.

There's good stuff here, with a nice leading performance from (who?) Tom Everett Scott as the band's hip, friendly drummer, but it's also clearly a learning project for writer / director / supporting actor Tom Hanks. Would've been much better with a bit of a trim and a wilder fire burning behind the lens.

Love this movie!

So keep that in mind when I'm introducing this ridiculous fan theory: Lamarr (the concierge) played the same role as David Thewlis' character did in the director's cut of Kingdom of Heaven: unsubtly guiding the main character to his destiny.

A light and nostalgic look back at the rise and fall of a boy band from the 50s. It's a feel-good film that's wholesome enough for the whole family. It's a fun enough film that it's strange Tom Hanks wouldn't have decided to continue with directing.

I thought I was going to enjoy this but turns out I got bored halfway through, felt like nothing was happening, which was a shame.

I get goosebumps EVERY TIME the song plays on the radio for the first time and they all meet up at Patterson's.

Another Tom Hanks classic. So many good actors and a great performance by Liv Tyler. I could watch this movie a million times and I always sing along.