JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH

GENRE:  Animation/ Adventure/ Family
MADE:  1996
CAST:  Paul Terry, Joanna Lumley, Pete Postlethwaite
DIRECTOR:  Henry Selick
WRITER:  Roald Dahl, Karey Kirkpatrick, Jonathan Roberts, Steve Bloom

PLOT:  Little orphan James escapes his evil sinister aunts by riding away in a giant peach and befriends insects and bugs that help him to fly the giant peach to New York City.

PARALLEL UNIVERSE:  Alice In Wonderland, Coraline, The Nightmare Before Christmas

SCORE:

ROMEO + JULIET

GENRE:  Remake/ Drama/ Romance
MADE:  1996
CAST:  Leonardo DiCaprio, Claire Danes, John Leguizamo, Pete Postlethwaite, Paul Sorvino
DIRECTOR:  Baz Luhrmann
WRITER:  William Shakespeare, Craig Pearce, Baz Luhrmann

PLOT:  A modern day version of "Romeo And Juliet" with original script.

PARALLEL UNIVERSE:  Shakespeare In Love, Titus, Gladiator

ACTING:

NOTES:  Remember how in high-school they would make you read Shakespeare's "Romeo And Juliet" and you were, quite frankly, a little bored?  Baz Lurhmann's modern day take on this play jazzes things up with gun fights instead of sword fights, he opts to keep the original script word for word but an urban setting with hot young actors and a bangin' soundtrack makes a big difference.