I enjoy the movie for two main reasons.

1) The story telling devices that were used. There was a very good transition and melding of fantasy and reality. Not groundbreaking in terms of premise but effective.

2) The wonderful surrealist feel and immaculate art direction. It was really beautifully made. Part of the seduction of the film is that it is pure eye candy all the way through.

I remember watching this film when I was about thirteen years old and I instantly fell in love with it. I own the DVD and whenever I watch it with people, they either love it or hate it, so I almost always prefer to watch it alone. Those that belong in the latter category claim that it's unreasonably long, depressing from start to finish, and not having a lot of action scenes (this bit really bothers me). I love this movie because it is a total stylistic hybrid of two of my favourite directors, Steven Spielberg (who provides light and hope) and Stanley Kubrick (who provides edge and darkness). If I were to divide the film into three parts, I would say the first and the third part were Spielberg's forte. The middle part is Kubrick to the core... but it is not fully realized because he did not get to helm it. Hence, I think that's the weakness of this minor masterpiece. Still, there are a lot to recommend: the visual effects, the moral conundrum regarding the relationship between humans and machines, and the overall message when it comes to the capacity to chase after one's dreams. I actually prefer my science fiction films as insightful ("2001: A Space Odyssey") instead of adrenaline-fueled ("The Core") but a bit of both is refreshing ("Children of Men"). I believe that this is Haley Joel Osment's best performance because of the way he changed from having a robotic personality to having a completely human-like drive and heart. There are many undertones that can be found in this film with repeated viewings as well. I think this is one of Spielberg's best work because he is able to craft a story with a great balance of imagination, intelligence, and heart.

About a Boy
[ 4 stars out of 4 ]

Every time I watch this movie, it makes me want to give Hugh Grant a big hug because his character needs some serious lovin'! I love that this film is a bit off-beat but not to the point where it feels too indie or trying too hard. Therefore, Grant was able to play his usual self but with a bit of an edge (which was surprisingly interesting). The fact that Grant does not play a prince charming, like in most of his films, is a big plus because he reminded me that can act outside of his comfort zone. The cinematography is crisp and the setting actually feels like they're in England. There were several inside jokes, one of them was "The Sixth Sense" bit about the main kid, played by Nicholas Hoult, being able to take care of his mom if he were Haley Joel Osment. Small scenes like that made the whole picture more enjoyable because it shows that even though some of the material here are serious, it's not afraid to be silly. It's a great flick to see if it's raining outside and you don't feel like going out.

Alpha Dog
[ 4 stars out of 4 ]

Emile Hirsch is pimp in this movie! As embarrassed I am to say that, I believed him to be the leader of the pack. Even though he was short, he overpowers everyone because his character has the money and his limits extended more than anyone (arguably). Critics loved Justin Timberlake in this movie and I must agree with them. He gave heart to this movie and in the end he ends up to be the one audiences got to know most. But I must say I also loved Anton Yelchin's performance. His character's innocence was demolished during the last thirty minutes of the film and the way he did it took my breath away because he was so convincing. Even though the dialogue is kind of "ghetto," I advise you to not let that hinder your decision to watch this amazing sleeper film. I can't recommend this film enough.

LAYANGAN: There's hope to be good again...

Talking about life; why should it be different to be near or far? (at least by what I lately have in mind.) It seems like it's gray, dull and quiet when it is separated. But when it's near, everything will only be loaded with smiles. Isn't it fair? Aren't they supposed to do similar things whenever near or far? Shouldn't they do things that would keep their hearts beat as one (ahem) so they won't feel like separating? Only God knows the decreasing level of needs to meet for the 'interconnection' part of them may have been died long ago, you know, blurring with solitude or something.

Hahahah, ga fokus ah. Kenapa sih serius banget? Biasa aja, biasa...

What would you do for your fifteen minutes of fame?

Back at you with a bit of a review soon.

What is OTW? Basically, it’s a non-profit group of fan fiction writers and fandom academics who have joined forces to promote and protect fan-created work---an umbrella that includes fan films. OTW is primarily focused on fanfic, which makes sense since that’s the community it sprang from, but the fan film world is gently on its radar as something to deal with---and include---down the line.

OTW’s mission, generally speaking, is to record the history of fannish works, provide legal assistance for fans whose work is threatened by copyright holders and others, and promote the academic study of fandom as a whole. A number of projects were initiated over the last few months and now the first ones are starting to come to light.

• Fanlore.org, OTW’s fandom wiki which debuted last week, is devoted to chronicling the fan creation communities. It’s not really designed or intended for promoting individual work, so don’t go in there all gung-ho to promote your "Akira meets Teletubbies" fan movie. Instead, it’s a somber, fairly dry---and decidedly female-centric---take on aspects of the creative side of fandom.

• To me, more interesting is the first issue of OTW’s academic fan journal, Transformative Works and Cultures. The issue debuted in mid-September and is available for free online, offering a view of fan works that’s very different from the typical navel-gazing found in online fan forums. For a preview, try the journal’s press release that announced the first issue:

First issue of fan studies journal Transformative Works and Cultures Released

The first issue of Transformative Works and Cultures will be released on September 15, 2008. This open- access online multimedia fan studies journal publishes scholarly essays, personal essays, and book reviews. TWC is published under the umbrella of the nonprofit fan advocacy group Organization for Transformative Works, and although its audience will primarily be acafans (academic fans), its scope ranges widely with the aim of providing a forum for fannish voices, academic or not.

"One important aspect of the journal is its open-access nature," Karen Hellekson, coeditor of TWC, commented. "It will be available for anyone to read, without any subscription restrictions. Plus it's online, so the articles can use hotlinks and embed videos. It's really time to move beyond the print model, so it's exciting that we're able to do that." She points to Francesca Coppa's essay, "Women, Star Trek, and the Early Development of Fannish Vidding," as an example of an essay that uses embedded media. "It's got screen caps from fan vids, plus embedded links to video, all to support her argument. It really explores the range of what multimedia has to offer." The issue also contains an audio feature, presented by Bob Rehak, with two downloadable recordings of a discussion held at the 2008 Console-ing Passions academic conference.

The first issue ranges widely to showcase TWC's interdisciplinary scope. For example, the political realm is dealt with by Abigail Tycho De Kosnik in "Participatory Democracy and Hillary Clinton's Marginalized Fandom," which applies fan theoretical models to contemporary Democratic political behavior. "This is a great example of fan studies being used to inform the political," Kristina Busse, TWC coeditor, pointed out. "The field ranges so widely, and I don't think people realize how applicable the scholarship is in other arenas." For example, pedagogy and writing is handled by Bram Stoker award-winning horror writer Michael A. Arnzen, whose essay, "The Unlearning: Horror and Transformative Theory," uses a classroom writing exercise revolving around horror texts to emphasize the central importance of transformation in writing, and Madeline Ashby's "Ownership, Authority, and the Body: Does Antifanfic Sentiment Reflect Posthuman Anxiety?" uses specific anime films as metaphor for the role of women's writing online.

Several interviews also appear in the issue. The TWC editors interviewed Henry Jenkins, whose groundbreaking work in fan studies is required reading by all fan studies scholars, and the three members of the Audre Lorde of the Rings, a conglomerate of academics, artists, and activists. Veruska Sabucco interviews one member of the Italian writing collective known as Wu Ming to talk about Wu Ming's activist project and fan writing in terms of collective authorship, copyrights concerns, and popular culture. And fan voices are also heard in the Symposium section, including an essay by the founder of the Fanfic Symposium, Rebecca Lucy Busker, whose "On Symposia: LiveJournal and the Shape of Fannish Discourse" focuses on fannish meta discourses and the particular ways LiveJournal's interface has shaped and affected style and content.

"This is a strong issue that we hope will invite many more diverse contributions," Busse said. The second issue of TWC, which will focus on games and gaming, is scheduled for March 15, 2009, publication; No. 3 will appear September 15, 2009, and will feature more general submissions.

This isn’t the kind of thing you read front-to-back; skipping around is to be expected. So far, I’ve only read the editorial and Coppa’s Vidding essay (which was great, BTW), but expect I’ll be delving into it again. To download your free copy, go to the Transformative Works and Cultures website.

It's our first audio/moving visual of the movie to date! And I have several things to say:

1. Of course she has an animal friend. As we've previously pointed out, it's not a Disney film if the heroine doesn't commune with nature.

2. Hmmmm...a fairy tale heroine who doesn't believe in magic (at least at first). I like it! Maybe it'll add some kind of interesting dynamic to the film. Fairy Tale characters (both in the classical canon and in Disney) tend to take magic as "selbstverstaendlich," or a matter-of-course. Could be cool!

3. Please, Disney, please, hear my cry: don't screw it up.
[caption id="attachment_206" align="aligncenter" width="195" caption="Rapunzel, do you have YouTube up there?"][/caption]

Also on YouTube: one of Disney's execs asks New Orleans if they can have the premiere of "The Princess and the Frog."

Seriously though, people: hurry and see this, because Disney took down another clip just the other day. The lawyers never sleep!

Phil Solomon in person!

For over three decades, Phil Solomon’s cinematic alchemy has forged great beauty from images awash in material and emotional grit. Renowned for transforming found footage into molten dreamscapes through chemical and photographic processes, Solomon has recently garnered acclaim for an extraordinary series of videos that turn the imagery from the hyper-violent Grand Theft Auto video game to stunningly poetic ends. Tonight he presents four videos from this series, including UNTITLED (FOR DAVID GATTEN) (w/Mark Lapore, 2005), REHEARSALS FOR RETIREMENT (2007), LAST DAYS IN A LONELY PLACE (2007), and a special preview of the forthcoming STILL RAINING, STILL DREAMING (2008), along with two earlier films, the lush, seething TWILIGHT PSALM III: NIGHT OF THE MEEK (2002), and the staccato NOCTURNE (1980/89). Co-presented by the University of Chicago’s Film Studies Center, which will present a second program of Solomon’s work on Friday, October 10.

1980–2008, Phil Solomon, USA, multiple formats, ca 90 minutes.

PHIL SOLOMON has been making films since 1975 and is currently Professor of Film Studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1994 and has exhibited his films in every major venue for experimental film throughout the US and Europe, including 2 Whitney Biennials and three one-person shows at MoMA. He collaborated on three films with his friend and Boulder colleague, Stan Brakhage. Solomon is currently working on additional films in The Twilight Psalms series and a commission from the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. to create a six- channel digital installation entitled American Falls, currently scheduled to open in the Corcoran rotunda in Fall 2009 (with a preview set for Oklahoma City in September, 2008). Solomon’s recent Grand Theft Auto series has received numerous awards and was named in the Top Ten experimental films of the year by the Village Voice. He has also begun work on a book entitled A Snail’s Trail in the Moonlight: Conversations with Brakhage, transcriptions of several years of Brakhage’s film salons.

Solomon will also present his work with Stan Brakhage as part of the White Light Cinema series at the Nightingale on Saturday October 11.

More Information on Phil Solomon:

PhilSolomon.com

Cinema Scope: Phil Solomon Visits San Andreas and Escapes, Not Unscathed: Notes on Two Recent Works

Some rum punch-ups in - Parties of the Caribbean

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to tap water - Reservoir Cats

Homer Simpson IS James Bond in Doh- Another Day

Who wouldn't be? - Sleepless in Spittle

Titanic 2

You've seen it a thousand times before - Tiring Inferno

Your suggestions please!

My comfort movies/series a.k.a. what you watch when you're supposed to be doing papers,  range from old school anime to American sitcoms. Yesterday I realized that my ultimate comfort movie is The Talented Mr. Ripley. I lost count on how many times I've watched this film and I won't be surprised if the count comes close to a hundred. And no, it's not just because Jude Law is in it. Although one reason is because his character Dickie Greenleaf is who I want to be when I grow up. But also, it is all thanks to Ripley having jazz, Italian men and Matt Damon singing My Funny Valentine.

Weird. I've always expected The Beach or a Will and Grace episode on top of my list.

I already have my concerns regarding this film though, as Tim has stated he intends to use a mixture of live action with animation, whilst being made in 3D...so I will hold these till I see a trailer.  But it looks like Tim is going from strength to strength with all the current films he is making.

Wordsmith-Park & Ride-The Sunset Edition (Click for High Quality Quicktime Video)

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www.glightfilms.com

Ok, so this is only the stunt guy for the movie but still, this is the costume which looks like it came straight out of the comic book. I love that there're making a movie on a comic book thats only had 4 issues out...thats kick ass i guess (cheesy but this is my blog so deal with it).

Things You Wouldn't Know Without The Tube All Of Life's Mysteries Are On  TV

1. If staying in a haunted house, women should investigate any strange noises wearing their most revealing underwear.
2. If being chased through town, you can usually take cover in a passing St Patrick's Day parade - at any time of the year.
3. All beds have special L-shaped top sheets that reach up to armpit level on a woman but only waist level on the man lying beside her.
4. All grocery shopping bags contain at least one stick of French bread.
5. It's easy for anyone to land a plane, providing there is someone in the control tower to talk you down.
6. Once applied, lipstick will never rub off - even while scuba diving.
7. The ventilation system of any building is a perfect hiding place. No one will ever think of looking for you in there and you can travel to any other part of the building without difficulty.
8. You're likely to survive any battle in any war unless you make the mistake of showing someone a picture of you sweetheart back home.
9. Should you wish to pass yourself off as a German officer, it will not be necessary to speak the language. A German accent will do.
10. The Eiffel Tower can be seen from any window of any building in Paris.
11. People of TV never finish their drinks.
12. A man will show no pain while taking the most ferocious beating but will wince when a woman tries to clean his wounds.
13. The chief of police is always black.
14. When paying for a taxi, never look at your wallet as you take out a note - just grab one at random and hand it over. It will always be the exact fare.
15. If you lose a hand, it will cause the stump of your arm to grow by 15cm.
16. Kitchens don't have light switches. When entering a kitchen at night, you should open the fridge door and use that light instead.
17. During all police investigations, it will be necessary to visit a strip club at least once.
18. Mothers routinely cook eggs, bacon and waffles for their family every morning, even though the husband and children never have time to eat them.
19. Cars and trucks that crash will almost always burst into flames.
20. Wearing a singlet or stripping to the waist can make a man invulnerable to bullets.
21. A single match will be sufficient to light up a room the size of a football stadium.
22. If a killer is lurking in your house, it's easy to find him. Just relax and run a bath - even if it's the middle of the afternoon.
23. Medieval peasants had perfect teeth.
24. Although in the 20th century it is possible to fire weapons at an object out of visual range, people of the 23rd century will have lost this technology.
25. All single women have a cat.
26. Any person waking from a nightmare will sit bolt upright and pant.
27. Even when driving down a perfectly straight road, it is necessary to turn the steering wheel vigorously from left to right every few moments.
28. One man shooting at 20 men has a better chance of killing them all than 20 men firing at one.
29. Creepy music coming from a graveyard should always be closely investigated.
30. If a phone line is broken, communication can be restored by frantically beating the cradle and saying, "Hello?, Hello?"
31. Most people keep a scrapbook of newspaper cuttings - especially if any of their family or friends has died in a strange boating accident.
32. It does not matter if you are heavily outnumbered in a fight involved martial arts - your enemies will wait patiently to attack you one by one by dancing around in a threatening manner until you have knocked out their predecessor.
33. During a very emotional confrontation, instead of facing the person you are speaking to, it is customary to stand behind them and talk to their back.
34. When you turn out the light to go to bed, everything in your room will still be clearly visible, just slightly bluish.
35. Dogs always know who's bad and will naturally bark at them.
36. Police departments give their officers personality tests to make sure they are deliberately assigned a partner who is their total opposite.
37. When they are alone, all foreigners prefer to speak English to each other.
38. Action heroes never face charges for manslaughter or criminal damage despite laying entire cities to waste.
39. No matter how badly a spaceship is attacked, its internal gravity system is never damaged.
40. If there is a deranged killer on the loose, this will coincide with a thunderstorm that has brought down all the power and phone lines in the vicinity.
41. You can always find a chain saw whenever you're likely to need one.
42. Rather than wasting bullets, megalomaniacs prefer to kill their arch-enemies using complicated machinery involving fuses, pulley systems, deadly gases, lasers and man eating sharks that will allow their captives at least 20 minutes to escape.
43. Having a job of any kind will make all fathers forget their son's eighth birthday.
44. Many musical instruments - especially wind instruments and accordions - can be played without moving the fingers.
45. All bombs are fitted with electronic timing devices with large red readouts so you know exactly when they're going to go off.
46. It is always possible to park directly outside the building you are visiting.
47. Guns are like disposable razors - if you run out of bullets, just throw the gun away. You can always buy a new one.
48. Make-up can safely be worn to bed without smudging.
49. A detective can only solve a case once he has been suspended from duty.
50. If you decide to start dancing in the street, everyone you bump into will know all the steps.

Hollywood's at it again. First they brought back Indiana Jones, then they talked of reviving the Ghostbusters and now Kevin Costner's in talks for a Bull Durham sequel. According to this report, Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins would also return to reprise their roles. This time around, the real-life couple (who fell in love on the BD set in 1988) will play the married owners of a major league team, managed by Costner's character.

I'm not really sure what to think of this because as I've said before, I'm really wary of sequels. Especially sequels of great movies. And then to do it more than 20 years later just seems a bit odd to me. And since the original was set and filmed in my home state, I'm even more critical. What do you think? Should sequels to classic movies be made, especially if decades have passed? Is it OK since the original cast will return?

It's that time of year!

The days are markedly shorter, the air is crisp and cool, leaves are turning color and littering our lawns, the pumpkins are piling up at the grocery store and we are getting ready to publish our second annual list of the best Halloween movies ever! ...and we want your nominations!

But keep in mind, the theme of our list is a little different from the others you've seen out there.

We aren't just looking for the scariest horror movies or the bloodiest gore. Yes, we want monster movies and horror flicks, so by all means, nominate them, but more than that, we are looking for the very Halloweeniest films of all! (Jaws is a very scary movie, for example, but there's nothing particularly "Halloweeny" about sunny beaches and shark infested surf.)

Specifically, we'd like you to nominate the movies that best put you in the Halloween spirit. What evokes the holiday most to you?  Crisp autumn days and eerie foggy nights? Full moons? Pumpkins? Candy? Monsters, Goblins, Ghost or Ghouls? Or perhaps it's haunted houses or headless horsemen! You tell us.

Also, keep in mind the movies don't necessarily have to be scary at all! We are looking for nominations from all genres — so there will be something on our list for everyone in the family. Yes, we want horror and monster movies, but we're also looking for comedy, drama, adventure... last year we even had a musical and some Halloween chick flicks!

I think you get the idea.

So have at it! Retrieve your brains from the laboratory, shoo the bats from your belfry and tell us what you think are the very Halloweeniest movies of all time! And be sure to tell us why you think they belong on the list of Best Halloween Movies Ever! You can use the comments section below, or email us by clicking "contact" in the navigation menu in the sidebar to make your nominations.

And be sure to check back for the results! (But remember to bring your own popcorn!)

I took the book on holiday to Fuerteventura and spend a few happy hours in the sand dunes having some laugh out loud moments.

The book is written by Dave Gorman about his search for other Dave Gormans (and it’s co-authored by Danny Wallace).

Later, I went on to read two more books by Danny Wallace - Join Me (where he, sort of, starts his own cult for no reason) and Random Acts of Kindness (the followers of Danny’s cult - the Kama Army - instruct you in “365 Ways to Make the World a Nicer Place”).

His next book was Yes Man, which tells what happened when, for several months, Danny answered every question for the word ‘yes.’ It was, again, laugh out loud funny.

When I heard that a film was being made as a result of Yes Man I was delighted. When I later found out it was being made in America, by Americans and starring Jim Carrey I was a little less delighted.

Now, I actually do rate Jim Carrey and I’m not adverse to sticking on The Grinch at Christmas or watching any one of his other films when I want to pass a couple of hours without wasting any brain cells.

But this was Yes Man, a book I loved and I didn’t think Hollywood would give it the treatment it deserved. They’d “mess” with it too much.

Looking at the trailer below, I fear my fears will be confirmed. The only question is - I can bring myself to watch the full feature when it comes out in the cinema on December 19 in the hope that it‘s better than I think?

Or the myth of eternal return. Father and Daughter by Dutch animator and illustrator Michael Dudok de Wit.

Una buona notizia dell'ultima minuto: Scarlett ci ha concesso l'uso delle sue scene (girate a Zelarino) nel montaggio finale del film...

Personalmente, sono molto rincuorato da questa concessione... perche', in caso contrario, avrei dovuto RISCRIVERE LA STORA e RIGIRARE QUASI TUTTO il girato finora... invece cosi' devo solo riadattare la sceneggiatura e posso utilizzare le scene girate in tranquillita' magari modificandone un po' il montaggio...

Comunque, il lavoro a "LUCCAN PIE 2" procede, lento e' vero, ma procede...

For me, Shostakovich is immensely approachable as a composer. For one thing, he is very well documented, with a lot of footage and quotes available that features people who knew him and worked with him, and heard his music performed. If you haven't seen it before, Shostakovich against Stalin - the War Symphonies, is a must-see documentary that really depicts the times in which he lived and worked. I love it. I probably watch it every year. The interviews and archival footage are interspersed with performance footage of the symphonies by Valery Gergiev conducting the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic. If you don't know Shostakovich's music, this film is an excellent way in.

He was a composer of his times, and justly celebrated, in a way that we don't see these days in the 'western art music' world. He wrote about current events in a way that his audience connected with very directly. His use of musical symbols (quotes, rhythmic figures assigned specific meanings, melodic fragments) is in dispute between scholars, but his musical vocabulary is certainly a rich one to mine for workshop starting points.

I have led several composing projects based on Shostakovich's music. My main points are to:

• identify a current event or topic about which the group feels strongly, to depict in the composition
• Develop 'word-songs' (following Shostakovich's example with his 'name-song', D.SCH) as the main melodic material and mode to stick to for harmonies
• Choose several rhythmic figures or cells from Shostakovich's music to incorporate into these pieces.

I find that this is enough to get some really interesting music happening. It did today - even limited to mostly tuned percussion instruments, each group created highly individual pieces of music. The group chose the current controversy over the photographer Bill Henson as their composition focus. They developed word-songs on words like 'dirt', 'art', 'pervert' and 'photos'. Some of the small-group pieces sounded more 'Shostakovich-y' than others, but that's fine. We are not looking to imitate him wholesale, rather, the intention is to create strong listening pathways into his music for all the participants.

Even though I've seen this kind of movie before, I still really liked it because it had a good balance between comedy and drama. Not only is it about family dynamics, it's also about relationships outside the home (or lack thereof). In the middle of the film, I realized the greatness of its title. Yes, most of the characters are smart academic-wise but some of them lack emotional intelligence, which makes it harder for them to be liked by others. Dennis Quaid is great as a professor and a father who not only wants to get his book published but also become the head of the English department. Quaid is often very elegant and I think he truly shines. A lot of people claim that Ellen Page plays the same role as a blend between quirky and too smart for her own good. I disagree because her character here is not as likable as Juno; the nuances in Page's acting can be discovered if one decides to look deeper into the character she's playing. I also really liked Sarah Jessica Parker, Thomas Haden Church, and especially Ashton Holmes. I first took notice of him in "Wind Chill" (but seen "A History of Violence" first) and I'm glad to have stumbled upon him again. His character brings heart and something different to the story. Overall, this movie may not be the most original but I thought it was smart, funny, and heartbreaking; for a movie that's only about an hour and thirty minutes long, in the last few scenes, I feel like the characters have grown a lot. This is worth a rental if one likes character studies.

Defying Gravity (1997)
[ 2 stars out of 4 ]

Overall, I'm glad to have stumbled over this small gay-themed movie even though it had its flaws. I enjoyed the characters, especially the romance between Daniel Chilson and Don Handfield. Even though I wish there were more scenes of them together because those were when the movie became alive (they have great chemistry!), in a way their limited time on screen together made their interactions that much more special. I also liked Chilson's relationship with his best friend, played by Niklaus Lange. I had major doubts about Lange's character because at first the filmmakers weren't using him the best possible way. I was suspicious (and slightly annoyed) because they didn't know what to do with him. Luckily enough, they found the right angle regarding Lange's character so I was very happy about that. One of the highlights of the film involves Chilson and Lange's conversation in the mountains. A character that I wanted to get to know more was the girl played by Linna Carter. Instead, she just appeared in and out of the story without really having much of a purpose. On the more negative side, I thought that the writing was borderline terrible. Yes, it was made in the 90's and it's a small film but those are not excuses. I've seen plenty of films that are older than twenty years and films that didn't have a big budget that have a really good script. I actually laughed out loud during some of the scenes because some characters would say things like "very... uncool!" when someone messes up. In a way, I felt like I was watching a TV-movie during some scenes. I give this film kudos for actually wanting to focus on the story, unlike most LGBT movies that focus too much on the sex scenes. This one barely had any but it was interesting to watch because we ultimately care for the characters.

Stand by Me
[ 4 stars out of 4 ]

This is without a doubt one of the best coming-of-age tales I've ever seen. I haven't read the novella by Stephen King which this film was based on so I don't know how close this movie followed the original material. However, I cannot praise this film any higher. The four main cast is top notch: Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, and Jerry O'Connell. Each of them were put on the spotlight during their journey to see a dead body, so we really got to know them well, despite the film's running time of only about an hour and thirty-five minutes. Wheaton is the writer whose brother had died, played by John Cusack, and doesn't feel accepted by his father, Phoenix is the natural leader of the group who is both tough and sympathetic, Feldman is the sarcastic kid and is a bit emotionally disturbed, and O'Connell is the "fat kid" who desperately wants to belong with the group by trying to prove himself. I found this film to be really insightful about not only childhood friendships but all kinds of friendships in general. The scenes where Wheaton and Phoenix would bond by sharing their thoughts and emotions really put tears in my eyes because their acting was top-notch; I felt like I was watching regular people shedding their souls in order to achieve some sort of an understanding. For a pretty short picture, there were so many highlights which include the bridge, the leech, Wheaton's revenge story around the campire, and of course the scenes where Wheaton and Phoenix were one-on-one, just talking about their failures, successes, and goals. Another actor that is worth mentioning is Kiefer Sutherland as the bully. He's was intimidating... but in a good way. I was convinced that he could actually hurt the four kids. I have to say that he somewhat kind of reminded me of Emile Hirsch in "Alpha Dog" (the tough guy persona) and "The Air I Breathe" (looks-wise). This was really a joy to watch because each scene has something special and memorable in it. That certain glow that the picture had made it look timeless, and the script combined with Rob Reiner's excellent direction made this more than just a movie for me.