Film Friday – “What’m I supposed to do? Think of everything? I brought the comb!”

 

Film Fridays is a project initiated by Darren from over at The Arty Plantsman and me.

After doing a daily music challenge for a month last year we talked about doing something similar for movies.

And the current global lockdowns give us the perfect excuse to start!
Many of us are confined to home with only the TV for company so we thought we would start ‘Film Fridays’ so that we can talk about our favourite movies and hopefully give our readers some ideas for things to watch.
We would be delighted if you would join us!
Just tag your post with #FilmFriday and do a pingback to either Darren’s or my posts so that we can can have a look at yours! You can also copy the “Film Friday” poster I came up with.

We don’t necessarily want to talk about the nerdy technical details but more about why these films speak to us as individuals, why they have a place in our hearts, and any personal memories they evoke.

So please join us each friday when we will each be talking about a different movie from our list of favourites!

 

 

 

In case you don’t recognize the quote from this post’s title, it’s from the film Stand by Me, an 1986 American coming-of-age film directed by Rob Reiner and based on Stephen King’s 1982 novella The Body, with a title derived from Ben E. King’s song.

The film stars Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, and Jerry O’Connell. In Stand by Me, four boys in 1959 Castle Rock, Oregon, go on a hike to find the dead body of a missing boy.

To me this is one of the best films ever made: the characters – vulnerable and strong at the same time –  are beautifully portrayed by such young actors, it makes you cry, the story and story-telling is simply superb and the music/soundtrack is just fabulous.

 

I really don’t know how many times I have watched it, but I know that it still isn’t enough. This is one of those rare jewels that get better with each viewing.

 

And even Stephen King was very impressed with the film. On the special features of the 25th anniversary Blu-ray set, King indicated that he considered the film to be the first successful translation to film of any of his works. According to a later interview with Gene Siskel, Reiner recalled that after a private early screening of the film, King excused himself for fifteen minutes to compose himself; he later returned to remark, “‘That’s the best film ever made out of anything I’ve written, which isn’t saying much. But you’ve really captured my story. It is autobiographical.’”

 

As to my favourite characters, I couldn’t really say that I have one as they were all so great – Gordie Lachance (Wil Wheaton) is nerdy and shy, Chris Chambers (River Phoenix) is cool, smart and passionate, Teddy Duchamp (Corey Feldman) is full of anger and hurt, Vern Tessio (Jerry O’Connell) is a scaredy-cat and often bullied, even by his friends.

Since I think the whole film is wonderful I’m also at a loss to pick a favourite scene. 😂

So I’ll leave that to you. 😉

Have you ever watched it? Did you like it? Do you have a favourite scene/character?

Let me know all about it in your comments!