Frankenweenie

In this Oscar-nominated animated movie from director Tim Burton, we are introduced to a nerdy young boy named Victor (Charlie Tahan), a fledgling filmmaker who spends his days making monster movies starring his dog, Sparky. When his dog is hit by a car and killed, Victor is so distraught that he comes up with a plan to bring Sparky back to life. Word gsoon gets out of what he’s done and the other kids in the neighborhood decide to use his experiment to resurrect past pets of their own. While it certainly works as a family film – although a really dark family film --- Frankenweenie’s real success is the way Burton uses the story to pay homage to the monster movies he grew up on. His tribute goes beyond just giving his lead character the name of Frankenstein, but is layered into every scene in ways you won’t discover until you’ve seen the movie multiple times.