Stand By Me...Always have, Always "WIL"

I find myself thinking about Rob Reiner's Stand By Me on a rather frequent basis. I've always known that it's one of my favorite movies, but for some reason I always seem to forget to add it to my list. That said, I have just added it to my profile and thought it would be rather appropriate to discuss this movie. The first time I remember seeing it was at my aunt Rose's house. I was probably about 9 years old at the time. She had recorded it on VHS when it came on TV one night; so, it had all the commercials in it and of course they had replaced all the curse words with more PG-style language as opposed to the movie's original R rating. For example, in the junkyard scene, the original line is "Chopper, sic balls!" but what I heard on Aunt Rose's version was "Chopper, sic kid!" I don't think I rented the actual movie (not the TV version) until I was about twelve at which time I was fully initiated into the "Joys of Cursing" that is Stand By Me. I remember being in 7th grade and thinking how great it would be to be like these guys. They were so cool - going on an adventure without their parents and smoking and cursing like there wasn't no tomorrow...rebels without a cause of some sort. Each of the boys has his own special characteristics that you can't help but love; however I would have to say my favorite character is Chris Chambers played by River Phoenix. Wil Wheaton as Gordie Lachance is a CLOSE second. I always wished that River Phoenix was my real-life boyfriend. Needless to say, I was devastated when he died of a drug overdose on October 31, 1993. His character Chris Chambers is a natural leader. The other boys look up to him and respect what he has to say. He takes somewhat of a fatherly role by comforting and giving advice, especially to Gordie.

Chris: You gonna meet a lot of new guys. Smart guys.
Gordie: Meet a lot of pussies is what you mean.
Chris: No man. Don't say that, don't even think that.
Gordie: Not going to meet a lot of pussies, forget it!
Chris: Well then you're an asshole!
Gordie: What's asshole about wanting to be with your friends?
Chris: It's asshole if your friends drag you down! You hang with us, you'll be just another wise guy with shit for brains.
Chris: You could be a real writer someday Gordie
Gordie: Fuck writing, I don't want to be a writer. It's stupid, it's a stupid waste of time.

Chris: That's your dad talking.

Gordie: Bullshit.

Chris: Bull true.

So this is where I get the expression "Bull true". I always say that. After becoming obsessed with this movie in 7th grade, I read the novella from which it came: The Body by none other than Stephen King. I need to reread this as I think I may be getting part of the storyline mixed up with some of the other short stories included in this Stephen King work.

Things that me and my two sisters always say from the movie:

• "You Die Chambers!"
• "A Pile of Shit has a Thousand Eyes"
• "I don't shutup, I grow up, when I look at you I throw up..."
• "Biggest one in four counties"

I highly recommend the movie's soundtrack as well. During my obsessive phase, I bought the CD and me and my sisters and cousins did homemade music videos to the songs. I can still see my little Noosie Noose (youngest sister) singing and dancing to "Mr. Lee" with my cousin King. And of course we did Lollipop...along with the "routine" that Vern and Teddy did to the song in the movie. Perhaps one of the greatest lines and truisms from the movie is "I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anybody?" I think this is self-explanatory. I think another thing that makes me think of this movie quite often is the performance by Kiefer Sutherland as Ace. I have recently become addicted to the TV series 24 (of which Sutherland is the main character), so everytime I watch Jack Bauer I think of how much he still looks like Ace from time to time. Sutherland has definitely aged very well.

Now to explain this post's title...I referenced Wil Wheaton's name as he is yet another reason why I've thought of Stand By Me recently. I have recently come across his website (which he maintains himself), and I highly recommend checking it out. He has also written a couple of books: Just a Geek and Dancing Barefoot. After I finish A Million Little Pieces, I will begin reading Just a Geek. Anyone want to join me and discuss via Lights, Camera, Books?

Comment Guidance: Which Stand By Me character do you relate to the most and why?

Flashback to 1985

"Hey Hey Hey Hey.....Oooooohooooooooohoooo....Dont, Don't, Don't Don't...Don't you, Forget About Me!"

Anyone, anyone? Welcome to the first light-hearted post since this blog's inception...I dedicate this to my friends of The Breakfast Club! I doubt there are many people on this planet who haven't seen this movie and if there are, I feel sorry for them. This is just an all-around great tribute to the 80's. My favorite character is John Bender who is played by Judd Nelson. He had the most memorable quotes from the film...Nelson definitely played the sarcastic "bad boy" well. It's hard to pick just one favorite quote, but if I had to I would have to say it's as follows:

Bender: What are we having?

Brian: Just your normal everyday lunch.

Bender: Milk?

Brian: Soup...apple juice

Bender: I can read. PB&J with the crusts cut off. Well Brian, this is a very

nutricious lunch. All the food groups are represented. Did your mom marry Mr.

Rogers?

Brian: No, Mr. Johnson

For more quotes from the movie, click here. I was amazed at all the websites out there devoted to The Breakfast Club. I also found one that is strictly a soundboard of John Bender. The IMDb trivia list for this movie is GREAT! One interesting thing it mentions is that Anthony Michael Hall's character, Brian, is dropped off at detention by his real-life mother and younger sister. The funniest bit of info that was included on the trivia site was that the license plate on Brian's father's car is EMC 2. That just cracks me up in general, but it makes it that much funnier since my boyfriend has a shirt that says EMC2. What a nerd...my boyfriend is in the same category as Brian Johnson, the nerd from The Breakfast Club. Gotta love your nerds though...they need love too. For all that haven't seen this movie, I encourage you to rent it today...for those that are die-hard fans such as myself, my boyfriend, and my two sisters...WATCH IT AGAIN TONIGHT! Comment guidance: Who is your favoriate character? What is your favorite quote/part of the movie?

Torture at Annapolis

I guess I completely missed the point of the trailer. I saw the previews for Annapolis a couple of times before going to see it this past weekend, and both times I thought it was strictly a military movie about someone trying to succeed in the Naval Academy. I thought there would be alot of action and "hell week" type activities. I do not remember seeing anything about boxing in the previews. Did I just miss that or what? If I had known that the focus of the movie was going to be about boxing, I would've never gone to see it. Boxing aside, this was an all-around boring movie...except for James Franco of course. The boxing scenes were not even filmed with the greatest quality. They seemed "jumpy" and ineffective.

Besides James Franco, a couple of other prominent actors appeared in this movie such as Tyrese Gibson and Donnie Wahlberg. Although his character in this movie was very one-dimensional, I feel that Vicellous Reon Shannon is definitely an actor to watch. He seems like he has potential for the big screen although much of his work to this point has been on television.

As IMDb states, this movie was made without the support of the U.S. Department of the Navy nor the Department of Defense. Good thing they didn't lend their name to this mediocrity.

Filmography links and data courtesy of
The Internet Movie
Database.