Thanks Chris
Showing posts with label Stand By Me. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stand By Me. Show all posts
Which King Film Actually Scares?
 |
| art credit: Glenn Chadbourne |
So what King films does Hardie think are worth mentioning? Well, Carrie, of course, and The Shining.
Hardie's note on Stand By Me is interesting. He writes, "This movie would deserve a mention just for featuring probably the best example of future star casting ever to grace one movie - Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Gerry O'Connell and Corey Feldman (pictured) are the four heroes, Kiefer Sutherland their nemesis and John Cusack the dead brother in this tale of four boys' journey to see a dead body."
Oddly enough, Hardie then cites The Running Man. Huh? Seriously? I think this movie is getting more attention these days because of the Hunger Games, which Hardie cites.
Pet Sematary and Misery make Hardie's list, as does -- drum roll -- The Lawnmower Man. In fact, it makes Hardie's list just because it's so bad!
This film is, to be fair, schlockingly awful in many ways. For a brief moment in the early '90s virtual reality was going to take over the world, and this film gave us Jobe, a man who cuts the lawn who has an unspecified learning disability. Through the magic of virtual reality, Jobe is transformed into a genius, then an evil telekinetic, and then a megalomaniac computer virus. It gets a spot here because it is so amusingly awful and also because King won multiple lawsuits to have his name removed from the title, which was the only thing that the film and his short story had in common.Hardie rounds out his list with The Shawshank Redemption, Apt Pupil and The Green Mile before giving special mention to a Stephen King mini-seires -- IT! Hardie writes, "Tim Curry's Pennywise the Clown is arguably King's most terrifying screen-based character, yet as a mini-series It doesn't qualify for this list." I would agree with that thought.
The article leads me to a question -- what Stephen King films do you actually find scary?
My list:
1. Pet Sematary.
2. The Shining.
3. The Mist.
4. Christine.
5. Bag of Bones had moments.
Batman #400: BATMAN or SUPERMAN
REPOST: IN HONOR OF BATMAN, DARK KNIGHT RISING COMING OUT TODAY
Batman #400 was issued October, 1986. It features a special introduction by Stephen King. King's topic of choice. . . Batman or Superman.
This special introduction its on inside front and inside back covers.
QUESTIONS THAT MATTER:
King writes: "When I was a kid there were certain questions which came up and had to be answered. . . or at least aired, if finding a conclusive answer proved impossible.
He then offers us a quick list of questions that had to be answered:
- Whether or not Don Larsen's World series no-hitter was skill, fate, or just dumb luck.
- What was at the center of golf balls.
- Why all the Disney characters wore gloves.
- Was there such a thing as a complete set of green Davy Crockett trading cards. King writes, "The red ones were easy, but the green ones were weirdly scarce."
- Here's one I've given some time to: Would you come out in China upside down i it was really possible to dig all the way through the earth to the other side. (And, may I add. . . at what point are you upside down?)
"These were questions asked and answered after you were too tired to swim out to the raft anymore and had to crash out on the beach, or when you were walking home from the baseball field in summer's sweet dusk with your feet burning inside your sneakers, or before you fell asleep on camp-outs."
Of course, this is exactly what we are treated to in the movie Stand By Me. Questions kids ponder. And. . . if Mickey is a mouse, Pluto is a dog. . . what's Goofy?
And then there was this question: Who do you like better, Superman or Batman?
Before I tell you King's preference -- I took an unofficial poll. I discovered a little generation gap. Teens and adults pretty quickly choose Batman. Children were divided, but Superman was still pretty popular with the kiddos. We, it turns out, are a house divided! The nine year old was offended anyone would think Batman was better than Superman. She had not considered that anyone might hold a varying opinion.
King's vote: Batman. (Come on, no surprise there, right? He's writing the intro in the Batman comic. I guess he would have had to do some more soul searching if D.C. had asked him to write an introduction!)
He assures us that he still "digs" Superman, because he's the "good" guy. However, King explains that Superman is a little removed from the rest of us. He can't be beat! There's Kryptonite, even red and yellow Kryptonite, but "Batman was just a guy. A rich guy, yes. A strong guy, granted. a smart guy, you bet. But. . . he couldn't fly. I think that formed my preference more than anything else."
FLIGHT:
King discusses the first Superman movie, and the tagline, "You'll Believe A Man can Fly." He didn't! He didn't believe it in the movie or the comic books. "Ironically, the closest I ever came to believing it was in the TV series." Interesting! I love that old TV series. And so do my kids. We've watched them all, over and over. "DON'T CALL ME CHIEF!"
King says the Batman TV show was "unpleasantly campy." I must agree! I saw it recently, and it pained me. But, the actors were awesome. They were trying to make it feel like a comic book; but in that vein, the Dick Tracy movie leads the pack, I think.
"But when Batman swung down into the Joker's hideout on a rope or stopped The Penguin from dropping Robin into a bucket of boiling hog-fat with a well-thrown Batarang, I believed. These were not likely things, I freely grand you that, but they were possible things. I could believe in a Caped Crusader who swung on ropes, threw boomerangs with deadly accuracy, and drove like Richard Petty getting a pregnant woman to the hospital."
(He also says he had trouble believing in Super-breath.)
SHERLOCK HOLMES
Batman, King explains, really was a detective.
"He had to be a detective. He couldn't rely on super-breath to return Gotham city to its proper place after the crime had happened; he had to catch The Riddler or whomever the villain might be before he could jump start those nuclear jets. Like Sherlock Holmes, Batman looked at the tracks the crooks left; he took finger prints; he picked up hairs from the scene of the crime and took testimony. He kept files -- also a la Homes -- on the modus operandi of various criminals. He searched for patterns, knowing -- as all the great detectives have -- that if a pattern can be found, you can be there waiting for the criminal at his next stop."
THE DARK SIDE
So what's really up, Mr. King? What's the bottom line?
"Maybe the real reason that Batman appealed to me more than the other guy: There was something sinister about him. That's right. you heard me. Sinister."
And this is where the article gets real sweet, my friends. Because, remember, I love old radio, right? And King now compares Batman to The Shadow. I loved the shadow!
Batman, King says, is like a vampire -- because he is a creature of the night. All the more a comparison, as we now know that Superman gets his power from our sun. Thus, making Superman all the more a day creature, and Batman a night creature!
"Oh, yeah, you saw him fighting crime in the day once in a while, but mostly he was a shape in the shadows or a grim-faced man-thing crashing through a window at some small hour of the morning, his cape floating around him like a great shadow. In those Batman-busts-in-panels, you almost always saw a horrid species of fear on the faces of the hoods he was about to flush down the toilet, and I always flet a strong sense of identity with those expressions. yeah, I thought (and still do think), sitting under a tree in our backyard, or maybe in the tub, or on the john (or, as a kid, under the covers with a flashlight). Yeah, that's right, they should look scared, I'd sure be scared if something like that busted in one me. I'd be scared even if I wasn't doing something wrong."
As if to give great credibility to this line of argument, the last page of the comic -- the page facing this exposition of Batman, is a series of night scenes,w tih Batman's cape wavering around him. The Bat signal flashes in the sky. . .
"The night was his time; the shadows were his place; like the bat from which he took his name, he saw with his hands and feet and ears. as Bruce Wayne, he was cheerful poshy, full of savoir faire and bonhomie, a fellow easily imagined in front of the fire in his book-line library with a balloon glass of brandy and a bowl of Cheez Doodles near at hand. But when the Bat-Signal floated against one of Gotham's skyscrapers (or perhaps the underside of a handy passing cloud) a grim and unsmiling creature emerged from the Bat-Cave. You could shoot him and he would bleed. . . you could crank him a good one on the head and he would fold up (at least for a while ). . . but you could never, never stop him."
STEPHEN KING CONGRATULATES BATMAN
King closes by noting that Batman was on the rise (1986) and he writes:
"I'd like to congratulate the Caped Crusader on his long and valiant history, thank him for the hours of pleasure he has given me, and wish him many more years of heroic crime-busting.
Go get'em, Big Guy. May your Bat-Signal never fall, your Batmobile never run out of the nuclear pellets it runs on your utility belt never come up fatally under-stocked at the wrong moment.
And please, never come busting through my skylight int he middle of the night. You'd probably scare me into a brain hemorrhage. . . and besides, Big Guy, i'm on your side.
I always was.
--Stephen King"
That's nice, it's really really nice. Even sweet.
I'll weigh in on my opinion -- Batman or Superman -- in the comments section, and invite you to do the same.
Question is: WHO DO YOU PREFER, BATMAN OR SUPERMAN?
Portland Outdoor Flicks: Stand By Me
This is from http://blogtown.portlandmercury.com/BlogtownPDX/archives/2011/08/19/its-happening-tonight
BLUEBERRY PIE—Tonight marks the last installment of the outdoor Flicks on the Bricks movie series, featuring the classic, Stephen King-penned Stand by Me. Featuring youthful performances from River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Kiefer Sutherland, and—oh, hey—that guy from Leverage! MS
w/Jacob Merlin; Pioneer Courthouse Square, 701 SW 6th, dusk, FREE, all ages
Does Stand By Me = Super 8
Jeff Jensen has one whale of a math equation!
Stand By Me
+ Dazed and Confused
+ (Day For Night x Ed Wood)
+ (Jaws x ET)
x .5 Bambi
+ Cloverland
______________________
= Super 8
Fuzzy math, you say? Maybe, but it's more fun than I ever had in math class. Check out the article and try to follow that math equation -- there might be at test.
The answer -- does the equation work -- is "no". Reason: the equation is incomplete. And, it has extra numbers -- Cloverland, come on!
IT was a fantastic mini-series, minus the stupid adults! And Super 8's club is nothing short of a "losers club." Also, the formula does not need Cloverland. That belongs on another chalkboard as a separate equation.
Here's the correct equation:
Stand By MeOkay, go check out the math. It is fun reading. . .
+ Dazed and Confused
+ (Day For Night x Ed Wood)
+ (Jaws x ET)
x.5 Bambi
+ (IT - minus the adult actors and Pennywise)
______________________
= Super 8
Summer Flicks We Won't Forget
MSN has a fun article titled "Pass the popcorn." They discuss some of the really great Summer movies of the 1970's and '80's. You know: Superman (the real Superman), Star Wars (the real Star Wars!), Jaws -- HEY! No remake of Jaws? -- Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Raiders Of The Lost Ark (remember, don't look in the ark!), ET, Poltergeist, Ghost Busters, Back To The Future, The Goonies, Aliens, Rodger Rabbit.
Of course, the article is typical MSN -- so biased they can't even write about Summer movies without finding fault with Ronald Reagan! Seriously, MSN? However, who can really fault an article that has the insight to give Star Wars and the Empire Strikes Back their own spots.
The article includes Stand By Me. Here's the entry:
'Stand by Me' (1986)
Like "The Goonies," "Stand by Me" is a coming-of-age film that does not really have any sci-fi or horror elements in it. So what is it doing on this list? Well, it's based on a novella by Stephen King, and it features several sequences (the pond full of leeches, the discovery of the dead boy) that drift queasily toward more macabre territory. But it's the association with King that has made it a fan favorite after all these years, and deservedly so. "Stand by Me" is a wonderful, poetic and bittersweet rumination on friendship, loss of innocence, memory and mortality, and its four young leads all shine as the four boys who are all a little older when their journey is over.
Iconic scene: Gordie (Wil Wheaton), who wants to be a writer, tells his friends his story "The Revenge of Lard-Ass Hogan," about a pie-eating contest gone horribly wrong.
http://movies.msn.com/movie-guide-summer/pass-the-popcorn/photos/?GT1=28177&photoidx=13
Updating Chris, Teddy, Vern, and Gordie
picture: http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2011/03/20/dvd_report_this_weeks_new_releases_march_20/
.
boston.com has a review of the 25th anniversary Blu-ray reissue of “Stand by Me." In particular, the review focuses on the video commentary, which includes Rob Reiner, Wil Wheaton and Corey Feldman. Here's some interesting lines:
- Wheaton, now 38, notes how strangely his castmates’ paths have mirrored their characters’ fates. River Phoenix, like misunderstood tough kid Chris, died tragically young. Feldman, like wacky, turmoil-filled Teddy, endured tough, legally dicey personal times. And just like pudgy Vern finding a lucky penny at the end of the movie, Jerry O’Connell has made out all right.
- Reiner: “I still can’t get over the fact that that little fat kid is married to Rebecca Romijn!’’ Feldman: “She can’t either!’’
- About River Phoenix: The laughs and anecdotes flow freely enough that there’s no hard talk about Phoenix until the 35-minute mark, over a scene of Chris offering reassurance to Wheaton’s introspectively burdened Gordie. Feldman remembers calling Phoenix some time before his fatal overdose, offering to get together to talk addiction struggles. “That’s always been a big regret in my life, that I wasn’t able to do more,’’ he says.
- Reiner: “That’s the thing that’s so upsetting. I don’t know what it is that you can do.’’
http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2011/03/20/dvd_report_this_weeks_new_releases_march_20/
Stand By Me Cast Reunites
.
msnbc has an article titled "25 years later, 'Stand By Me' cast reunites : Jerry O'Connell, Corey Feldman, Wil Wheaton turn out for anniversary interview."
.
Three of the old gang showed up Thursday at Toluca Lake, California for a 25th Stand By me reunion. Jerry O'Connell, Corey Feldman and Wil Wheaton — the three remaining principal stars of "Stand by Me" — reunited at the Falcon Theater in Toluca Lake, Calif.
.
Of course, River Phoenix died at the young age of 23 of a drug overdose. The article gives this update on the other stars: "As for Phoenix's costars? O'Connell (who was a pudgy pre-teen in the flick) is now married with twins to Rebecca Romjin and stars in the TV series "The Defenders." Wheaton went on to become a regular on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and other sci-fi TV shows and films, and has a popular blog, Wil Wheaton Dot Net. He's also married with two stepsons. Feldman has had his own struggles with drugs and alcohol, and in 2010 mourned the loss of his pal and fellow child star Corey Haim. He is now a lead singer for the band The Truth Movement."
.
Will Wheaton also appears from time to time on Big Bang Theory -- as Sheldon's arch nemesis.
.
Is The Sandlot "Stand By Me Light"?
I'm watching The Sandlot. And it reminds me of a Stand By Me rip-off. Before you say I'm dead wrong, check this out:
.
1. Middle age man narrates the greatest summer of his life. Of course, the narration (you know, old dude remembering) was also offered up on a weekly bases on The Wonder Years.
.2. Of course, there's a clubhouse.
.3. It's set in the 1950's. Though I'm not really buying that it's the 50's! The movie doesn't have that "feel." Sure, you can play some 50's music in the background, but check out those houses in the background. Doesn't look 50's to me!
.4. Fights between the losers and the cool-kids.
.5. A story in the middle of the movie told by one of the kids. Getting familiar yet?
.
6. Total Barfo-Rama. In the Sandlot it's when they attend the carnival. Of course, that's totally different from the state fair where Lard-Ass where he creates total barfo-rama.
.
7. A dog everyone is afraid of. Chomper v. The Beast. Of course, Cujo would have them both for dinner.
.
What is missing here is King's natural story-telling .
.
There is one laugh out loud scene in The Sandlot. When the kid jumps in the pool so the pretty lifeguard will save him, and give him mouth-to-mouth... classic! Nice.
Stand By Me Headed To Blue Ray
As Stand By Me heads to Blue-Ray, Jessica Grabert writes, "The film was initially released in 1986 and features the late River Phoenix alongside Corey Feldman, Jerry O’Connell, Kiefer Sutherland, and Wil "Don't Call Me Wesley" Wheaton. Since no one back in the '80s was anticipating DVDs and recording special features, we’ll have to make do with a bunch of thrown-together “remember when” sequences." That's the bad news. I like her comment -- Will don't call me Wesley... haha! I love his role on Big Bang Theory.
.
Grabert then shares the good news: "The features will include a picture-in-picture chat with director Rob Reiner, audio commentary, a featurette entitled “Walking the Tracks,” and the video for the epic song “Stand by Me.”
.
Flipped and Stand By Me
Carla Meyer (sunnews.com) takes the time to make some great comparisons between Rob Reiners new movie Flipped and his classic Stand By Me. Toward the end of the article, Meyer also talks about Reiners involvement in First 5 and California politics.
.Here's the portion that made direct connections to Stand By Me:
."Flipped," a coming-of-age film opening Friday in Sacramento, leaves no doubt about who directed it. From its period setting to its saturated-sunlight visuals, "Flipped" evokes "Stand By Me."
.
That's intentional, Reiner, 63, said during an interview at Sacramento's Citizen Hotel. Of all his films, "Stand By Me," the 1986 movie that was based on a Stephen King novella and starred a young River Phoenix and Corey Feldman, most closely reflects his personal sensibility, the director said.
.
.
Based on a kids novel by Wendelin Van Draanen, "Flipped" follows a somewhat eccentric girl (Madeline Carroll) with a mad crush on her straight-arrow neighbor (Callan McAuliffe). The film touches on the kids' family dynamics while always keeping the slow-building, surprisingly compelling relationship between boy and girl at the forefront.
.
.
"The book was a modern-day book, but it felt very timeless when I read it - it seemed like something more innocent than what we see now," said Reiner, who first read the book when his now-16-year-old son was assigned it in class a few years ago.
.
.
Reiner moved the story to the late 1950s and early '60s, roughly the same time period of "Stand By Me" and his own adolescence.
.
.
The film "explores what it really means for a boy and a girl to wrestle with those early feelings that are so powerful, of falling in love, in a real, honest way, in the way 'Stand By Me' explored friendships," Reiner said.
.
.
The cast of "Flipped," however, came into the shoot more polished than the fledgling actors in "Stand By Me," Reiner said. Carroll, a charismatic 14-year-old who starred opposite Kevin Costner in 2008's "Swing Vote," "has the chops of a 40- or 50-year-old actress," he said.
.
Reiner At Egyptian
A double showing -- Stand by Me and Princess Bride! Plus Rob Reiner himself! Wow. Admission is only $11. Titled, "Rob Reiner In Person at Egyptian With Princess Bride and Stand By Me!", Mali Elfman shares:
. The Egyptian Theater is having a VERY special event this Thursday, August 5th. Not only will they be showing a double feature of The Princess Bride and Stand By Me at 7:30, but Rob Reiner will also be appearing in person to talk about his career, revisit his earlier films and talk about his upcoming film Flipped. As they always do, there will most likely open up to a Q&A with the audience so that you can get some of your questions answered. It appears as if they’ll be starting with his earlier work Stand By Me and then finishing off with one of the best movies of all time, The Princess Bride. Reiner will be appearing between the two screenings to discuss.
. The Egyptian Theater is having a VERY special event this Thursday, August 5th. Not only will they be showing a double feature of The Princess Bride and Stand By Me at 7:30, but Rob Reiner will also be appearing in person to talk about his career, revisit his earlier films and talk about his upcoming film Flipped. As they always do, there will most likely open up to a Q&A with the audience so that you can get some of your questions answered. It appears as if they’ll be starting with his earlier work Stand By Me and then finishing off with one of the best movies of all time, The Princess Bride. Reiner will be appearing between the two screenings to discuss.
Brownsville throws Stand By Me a happy 25th
Remember 1985? That was the year Brownsville Oregon became Castle Rock. Brownsville Oregon celebrated the 25th anniversary of Stand By Me. Hard to believe it was that long ago! It feels like a really long time ago since the 80's were to me what the 50's were to Stephen King and my parents generation.
.
In an article titled, "Movie shot in Brownsville still 'Stands' 25 years later" Justin Much says, "The event also hosted an obligatory blueberry pie eating contests, consistent with one of the movie’s memorable scenes. Gordie Lachance played Lardass, the boy who consumed castor oil before gorging on blueberry pies and spewing revenge on those who had tortured and bullied him mercilessly over the years."
.
For details of the celebration, and some pretty cool movie notes, check out: http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20100724/UPDATE/100724020
Friends like when you were 12
I enjoyed this reflective article by Jim Topper. Moving from the movie Stand By Me, Topper thinks about his perfect Summer -- 1959. He writes, "At the end of the movie Stand By Me, from a short story by Stephen King, narrator Richard Dreyfuss says something like, You will never again have friends like the ones you had when you were 12."
.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
