2009 - October 10th: Stand By Me

Movie: Stand By Me
Year: 1986
Directed by: Rob Reiner
Writing credits: Stephen King, Raynold Gideon
Cast: Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Jerry O'Connell, Kiefer Sutherland.

I picked this movie because everytime this would come on TV, me and my father would watch it together.
I don't know if its an underrated classic or not, but i just really like this movie.

I'll try and watch this tonight, because i have a family reunion today.

this is probably my second favourite Stephen King movie, with Shawshank Redemtion being the first.
I used to collect Stephen King movies back in the glorious VHS days ^^, tho i have never read any of the books.
Been a while since i saw it last time, and i was baffled that Wesley Crusher was the main lead ^^

Now, for the movie, its prolly a bit "typical" Stephen King in some places, you have the writer, the outcast gang
of childhood friends, the monster and of course the place it all usualy happens, Castlerock. Now there isn't really
a monster in this movie tho, but the gang and especialy Keifer Sutherland is atleast something they fear and need
to stand up too. The long journey and the discovery of the body is also a joruney into themselves, they and we
who watches the movie descover more of who they are. Im not a big fan of symolism and metafores, because in
most cases you can easily find more that what the makers of said art inteded But the Pie eating contest i think
has some, maybe how Gordie feels that everyone is favouring his brother, especialy his parents and he has become
this heavy burden and he just wants to scream out and let everyone know that he matters too and is tired of
being overshadowed by his brothers death.
What do you think about the pie eating contest?

The movie holds up incredibly well, everything from cars, clothes and haircuts makes this movie unable to look aged
(exept from the computer at the end) , its pretty close to perfect in my book and it always makes me smile.
And there is alot of fun Trivia for it over at imdb.

This has to be one of my favorite movies, i think its the 4th time ive seen it, and it doesn't really get old.
I like the story alot, maybe because it seems simple, the gang goes on a journey, knowing what they are going to find, but not what they are going to do when they find it. (of course, they were planning on taking it home to become heroes, but that did not go as planned).

the Pie eating contest i think
has some, maybe how Gordie feels that everyone is favouring his brother

I was pretty much thinking the same thing when i watched it.
But overall it's a great movie, a classic.

(and what the hell is Goofy? )

yeah if Pluto is a dog.. ^^

STAND BY ME

Sorry, late to the party again. I first saw this movie in a theater when it was released. I remember being not very impressed. Since then, I've caught parts of it on TV, but there was nothing that grabbed me and made me want to watch the whole thing again. But, thanks to this movie club, I actually watched the entire movie on DVD, and this time came away more impressed.

The entire slow, lazy atmosphere of the movie, which turned me off the first time, worked for me this time...maybe because as I get older it reminds me a little too much of how I remember summers as a kid of that age. The gang of friends, that seemed to be a little too stereotypical the first time, I was now matching with faces of my own buddies. Even the pie eating contest worked for me this time. Thanks to anotherzen's comments, I paid more attention to Gordie's reactions instead of just the humor of the entire scene, like when I first saw it.

What struck me most, though, was the trading of places between Gordie and Chris during the confrontation with Kiefer Sutherland's gang. How Gordie is the one who comes to the rescue, saving Chris, who has always been the "rescuer".

And very interesting to see such a group of young actors at the beginning of their careers, and where they've gone since. It would have been very interesting to see where River Phoenix might be today if he hadn't died so young.

So, although I still don't consider it one of my favorite Stephen King stories, or Rob Reiner films, I do come away with a better appreciation for it, and may even give it an even closer look when visiting family during the holidays.

Good pick.