24 hours in the lives of the young employees at Empire Records when they all grow up and become young adults thanks to each other and the manager. They all face the store joining a chain store with strict rules.
Director:
Allan Moyle
Stars:
Anthony LaPaglia,
Debi Mazar,
Maxwell Caulfield
When a hypochondriac learns that he is dying, he accepts an offer to throw himself in a volcano at a tropical island, and along the way there, learns to truly live.
NASA must devise a strategy to return Apollo 13 to Earth safely after the spacecraft undergoes massive internal damage putting the lives of the three astronauts on board in jeopardy.
Recounts a fable of a pop rock band formed a year after the Beatles took America by storm in early 1964. Jazz aficionado Guy Patterson, unhappily toiling in the family appliance store, is recruited into the band the Oneders (later renamed the Wonders) after regular drummer Chad breaks his arm. After Guy injects a four/four rock beat into lead singer Jimmy's ballad, the song's undeniable pop power flings the Wonders into a brief whirlwind of success, telling the tale of many American bands who attempted to grab the brass ring of rock and roll in the wake of the British Invasion.Written by
Rick Gregory <rag.apa@email.apa.org>
Parallels with The Beatles: (1) The Wonders' original band name (The Oneders) is a play on words involving music nomenclature. (2) "That Thing You Do" is a sped-up version of a slow ballad ("Please Please Me" for The Beatles). (3) In The Beatles' appearance in The Ed Sullivan Show: Episode #17.19 (1964), a shot of John Lennon is accompanied by the caption "Sorry Girls, He's Married". In this film, Mattingly is shown with the caption "Careful Girls, He's Engaged" during their national TV debut. (4) Both acts first reached fame after replacing their original drummer. (5). Each group loses its original bass player (The Beatles' original bassist Stuart Sutcliffe died and The Wonders' bassist joins the Marines). (6). Last-minute, temporary replacement: The Wonders' bassist had to be replaced after he disappeared; during part of The Beatles' 1964 world tour, drummer Jimmy Nicol had to sit in for Ringo Starr, who was undergoing an emergency tonsillectomy. (7) In the extended cut, it's shown that the group's manager, Mr. White, has a boyfriend. The Beatles' manager, Brian Epstein, was also gay. (8) When The Wonders are running to their cars in Wisconsin to catch a plane to "the coast", Faye (Liv Tyler) gets mistaken for a female fan and stopped by the police from following the band. A similar incident happened when The Beatles were traveling to see Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. While running to board a train, John Lennon's then wife, Cynthia Lennon, was stopped because she was mistaken for a female fan. Unlike the film's version, no one came back to retrieve Cynthia before the train left the station. See more »
Goofs
When leaving the Wisconsin State Fair and learning that their
record has hit #7 on the charts, Lenny asks if they get a gold record. Guy tells him they need to sell 500,000 copies. In 1964, 500,000 copies was the sales plateau for an LP to go Gold, but the sales plateau for singles was 1,000,000 copies. It was not until 1989 that the sales plateau for singles was lowered to 500,000 copies. See more »
Quotes
Faye:
Was she a good kisser?
Guy:
Yeah.
Faye:
Yeah?
Guy:
It would be ungentlemanly of me to elaborate.
Faye:
Gentleman. I'd forgotten what you fellas looked like.
See more »
Crazy Credits
Stories of what the band did after their breakup and a picture of the band after all the credits. See more »
Alternate Versions
The music videos, which can found on the home video versions of the movie, contain extra footage not seen in the film. Some of the music video scenes include extra footage of the band playing games and riding the rides at the carnival. See more »
This is really a great movie, no question. I rarely watch a film that is so skilfully crafted and yet is completely inoffensive to any segment of society. The movie combines comedy (and some parts are definitely funny) with romance in a tender-hearted tale of friendship and growing up. I simply cannot recommend this movie highly enough except to say that this is a film I could watch multiple times. Brilliantly acted by a still maturing cast ensemble, witty dialogue, it's got it all. If you want to see something that with touch you and give you a buzz but you don't want to be assailed by profanity, violence, or sexuality - That Thing You Do! is the movie for you. Another Hanks triumph, not just for his role in the movie but for putting it all together. 8/10
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This is really a great movie, no question. I rarely watch a film that is so skilfully crafted and yet is completely inoffensive to any segment of society. The movie combines comedy (and some parts are definitely funny) with romance in a tender-hearted tale of friendship and growing up. I simply cannot recommend this movie highly enough except to say that this is a film I could watch multiple times. Brilliantly acted by a still maturing cast ensemble, witty dialogue, it's got it all. If you want to see something that with touch you and give you a buzz but you don't want to be assailed by profanity, violence, or sexuality - That Thing You Do! is the movie for you. Another Hanks triumph, not just for his role in the movie but for putting it all together. 8/10