shop_a_holic
Joined Jul 2006
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I realize that this show receives a lot of negative criticism, some of it I can agree with. Corey Feldman admitted recently that a portion of the show is scripted, which at times, is painfully obvious. But it isn't all scripted and staged. I have to say that probably the best part of this show is all the little things that Corey Haim does. His stupid yet funny comments always make me laugh. I can easily recognize that Haim is a true character. Yeah, sure, he is doing this in an attempt to kick start his career again, but he isn't fake (as Feldman can sometimes be). It's certainly no emmy winner, but The Two Coreys is worth watching every once in a while.
"Stand by Me" is often regarded as a real classic. It is based on the Stephen King novella "The Body," a story that depicts four close adolescent boys who go on a quest to recover a missing boy's dead body in hopes of becoming town heroes. Even King himself has said numerous times that "Stand by Me" is one of his favorite movie adaptations of a book. Nowadays, it is a very rare thing to come across a movie that has such superb acting, a gripping plot, and such a wonderfully made bittersweet ending as shown in "Stand by Me." Although made more than 20 years ago, this movie is so timeless.
The movie is set in the summer of 1959. Gordie Lachance (Wil Wheaton), Chris Chambers (played beautifully by River Phoenix), Teddy Duchamp (Corey Feldman), and Vern Tessio (Jerry O'Conell) play four very close twelve year old boys who help each other through the hard times and make the best of memories together. Gordie is the sensitive writer. He is unfortunately overlooked by his parents due to his star athlete brother's untimely death four months earlier. Chris may be the most complex yet relatable of the group all at once. He is a tough guy on the outside, who steals the milk money at school, and has a reputation of being the bad seed. Yet underneath it all, he wants nothing more than to succeed in life. Teddy Duchamp is the zany one, who can make everybody laugh without any effort. His dad "stormed the beach at Normandy," a thing Teddy greatly admires even though his dad held his ear to a stove (more is revealed about it in the film). Vern Tessio is the portly kid who everybody picks on but still loves. A little bit slow and always forgetting something, Vern is a character I think everyone eventually feels for. Keifer Sutherland also does a great job playing Ace Merrill, the town bully who the four boys are constantly insulted and teased by. Although it is clear Ace will be stuck in the small town the boys live in for the rest of his life, he still reigns.
The four main boys set out on an adventure together in order to find the dead body of missing 12 year old classmate Ray Brower. At first, the viewer may assume that this adventure is solely about four kids just wanting to see a decomposing body. However, "Stand by Me" is far from that. The adventure is accompanied by coming-of-age revelations, emotional breakdowns, heartache, and the longing for acceptance. This is the time in which their lives will change forever. Their last real time of innocence, as the movie's tagline states.
I must point out River Phoenix's performance as the troubled Chris Chambers. This was his star-making performance, and obviously for a good reason. His acting is wonderful in every aspect. There is never a scene where his acting could have been improved. It is that incredible. Not to say the other boys did not do well, because they definitely did, but Phoenix's performance stood out. Due to his surprising death in real life that came all too soon in 1993, I was left at the end of the movie thinking he could have done so many other great things with his talent. At least the world was able to recognize him as such a talented actor while we had the chance.
The music in this movie is also something to be recognized as phenomenal. It is filled with classics from the '50s that make the movie that even more unforgettable. I do not believe I have heard better-fitting music for a film ever before in my life. Ben E. King's "Stand by Me" is placed just at the end of the movie, and it all makes perfect sense. The song made the ending that much better. It is truly a beautiful part of the movie.
All of themes of friendship are so timeless and relatable no matter what year we are in. The acting is magnificent and is guaranteed to make a lasting impression on you. It will probably bring a tear to your eye, but I think in a good way. And it is really one of those movies you can watch over and over and never fall out of love with.
"Stand by Me" is easily one of the best films ever made.
The movie is set in the summer of 1959. Gordie Lachance (Wil Wheaton), Chris Chambers (played beautifully by River Phoenix), Teddy Duchamp (Corey Feldman), and Vern Tessio (Jerry O'Conell) play four very close twelve year old boys who help each other through the hard times and make the best of memories together. Gordie is the sensitive writer. He is unfortunately overlooked by his parents due to his star athlete brother's untimely death four months earlier. Chris may be the most complex yet relatable of the group all at once. He is a tough guy on the outside, who steals the milk money at school, and has a reputation of being the bad seed. Yet underneath it all, he wants nothing more than to succeed in life. Teddy Duchamp is the zany one, who can make everybody laugh without any effort. His dad "stormed the beach at Normandy," a thing Teddy greatly admires even though his dad held his ear to a stove (more is revealed about it in the film). Vern Tessio is the portly kid who everybody picks on but still loves. A little bit slow and always forgetting something, Vern is a character I think everyone eventually feels for. Keifer Sutherland also does a great job playing Ace Merrill, the town bully who the four boys are constantly insulted and teased by. Although it is clear Ace will be stuck in the small town the boys live in for the rest of his life, he still reigns.
The four main boys set out on an adventure together in order to find the dead body of missing 12 year old classmate Ray Brower. At first, the viewer may assume that this adventure is solely about four kids just wanting to see a decomposing body. However, "Stand by Me" is far from that. The adventure is accompanied by coming-of-age revelations, emotional breakdowns, heartache, and the longing for acceptance. This is the time in which their lives will change forever. Their last real time of innocence, as the movie's tagline states.
I must point out River Phoenix's performance as the troubled Chris Chambers. This was his star-making performance, and obviously for a good reason. His acting is wonderful in every aspect. There is never a scene where his acting could have been improved. It is that incredible. Not to say the other boys did not do well, because they definitely did, but Phoenix's performance stood out. Due to his surprising death in real life that came all too soon in 1993, I was left at the end of the movie thinking he could have done so many other great things with his talent. At least the world was able to recognize him as such a talented actor while we had the chance.
The music in this movie is also something to be recognized as phenomenal. It is filled with classics from the '50s that make the movie that even more unforgettable. I do not believe I have heard better-fitting music for a film ever before in my life. Ben E. King's "Stand by Me" is placed just at the end of the movie, and it all makes perfect sense. The song made the ending that much better. It is truly a beautiful part of the movie.
All of themes of friendship are so timeless and relatable no matter what year we are in. The acting is magnificent and is guaranteed to make a lasting impression on you. It will probably bring a tear to your eye, but I think in a good way. And it is really one of those movies you can watch over and over and never fall out of love with.
"Stand by Me" is easily one of the best films ever made.
Upon leaving the theater after seeing "At World's End," (AWE) I was left with that "kinda-sorta-okay" impression. The first two films in this series are truly excellent, and that is one of the various reasons I was so disappointed. I expected to be wowed and pulled into a fast-paced world of action as I was when viewing "Curse of the Black Pearl" and "Dead Man's Chest," but I was bored.
Before ever seeing AWE, I had heard there was too little action; not enough sword fights, exciting battles with strange creatures of the sea, etc. I had always thought of myself as one who disliked action in movies, and I just thought of it as filler. However, this series absolutely needs action and those famous sword battles on top of moving objects (like the giant wheel shown in the second film) that we have all come to know and love. Without that needed action, the film unfortunately became dull. And the numerous sappy plots of the film, such as Will's (Orlando Bloom) ordeal with his father as well as Elizabeth's (Keira Knightley) situation with her father, were just not enough to keep the viewer entertained.
And that brings me to my next point---all this boring talk about fathers. Nearly every other word out of both Bloom and Knightley's mouth was "father." To speak the truth, the movie was mainly about the character of Will Turner talking about his father, and Elizabeth Swann crying over hers.
I have never been a Johnny Depp fan until seeing the first film in this series. Depp brings character, humor, and entertainment to the screen. A lot of critics are saying this and I must agree---there was not enough Johnny Depp. He made the first two movies such wonderful films, and with the third missing his presence in too much of the picture, it failed. Depp has a tendency in really any movie to spice things up. I looked forward to seeing Depp because I've noticed he makes otherwise boring scenes just fantastically entertaining. The movie missed a lot due to his lack of appearances.
There were also a number of confusing scenes that left many questions unanswered. Instead of focusing on the film, I was stuck trying to determine whether "it was real or just a dream." These weirdly baffling scenes distract the viewer from any real significance they actually had. For instance, the first scene involving Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) was incredibly strange, although I think the writers were going for more of a "creative" feel. It is wildly weird, and never explained. Perhaps if there was some sort of explanation, the importance of the scene would have been shown.
Even after all the flaws AWE had, I did enjoy some aspects of the film. As always, composer Hans Zimmer brings a wonderful set of songs into the movie, including the easily recognizable "He's a Pirate," the "Pirates of the Caribbean" theme song.
The appearance of Keith Richards as Jack Sparrow's father was quite interesting also. Richards had supposedly been asked to appear in the series for quite some time, and I am glad he took a part, in my opinion, the perfect part. I would have liked to see more of Richards though, because his part was rather small.
The special effects were, as usual, great. With the potential for much more action that was never capitalized on, there could have been plenty more special effects though. But, what was included in the film was substantial.
In conclusion, I guess I would say "At World's End" could have been much better, but we have to deal with what we are given.
Before ever seeing AWE, I had heard there was too little action; not enough sword fights, exciting battles with strange creatures of the sea, etc. I had always thought of myself as one who disliked action in movies, and I just thought of it as filler. However, this series absolutely needs action and those famous sword battles on top of moving objects (like the giant wheel shown in the second film) that we have all come to know and love. Without that needed action, the film unfortunately became dull. And the numerous sappy plots of the film, such as Will's (Orlando Bloom) ordeal with his father as well as Elizabeth's (Keira Knightley) situation with her father, were just not enough to keep the viewer entertained.
And that brings me to my next point---all this boring talk about fathers. Nearly every other word out of both Bloom and Knightley's mouth was "father." To speak the truth, the movie was mainly about the character of Will Turner talking about his father, and Elizabeth Swann crying over hers.
I have never been a Johnny Depp fan until seeing the first film in this series. Depp brings character, humor, and entertainment to the screen. A lot of critics are saying this and I must agree---there was not enough Johnny Depp. He made the first two movies such wonderful films, and with the third missing his presence in too much of the picture, it failed. Depp has a tendency in really any movie to spice things up. I looked forward to seeing Depp because I've noticed he makes otherwise boring scenes just fantastically entertaining. The movie missed a lot due to his lack of appearances.
There were also a number of confusing scenes that left many questions unanswered. Instead of focusing on the film, I was stuck trying to determine whether "it was real or just a dream." These weirdly baffling scenes distract the viewer from any real significance they actually had. For instance, the first scene involving Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) was incredibly strange, although I think the writers were going for more of a "creative" feel. It is wildly weird, and never explained. Perhaps if there was some sort of explanation, the importance of the scene would have been shown.
Even after all the flaws AWE had, I did enjoy some aspects of the film. As always, composer Hans Zimmer brings a wonderful set of songs into the movie, including the easily recognizable "He's a Pirate," the "Pirates of the Caribbean" theme song.
The appearance of Keith Richards as Jack Sparrow's father was quite interesting also. Richards had supposedly been asked to appear in the series for quite some time, and I am glad he took a part, in my opinion, the perfect part. I would have liked to see more of Richards though, because his part was rather small.
The special effects were, as usual, great. With the potential for much more action that was never capitalized on, there could have been plenty more special effects though. But, what was included in the film was substantial.
In conclusion, I guess I would say "At World's End" could have been much better, but we have to deal with what we are given.