I received Stand By Me in the mail the other day – what a gem. I would give it a 4.6/5. This flick definitely brought me back to my childhood. As a kid, I spent most of my time in the woods being a hooligan with friends. I look back now, and I am not friends with a single one of those fellas. However, I still remember all the crazy stuff we did and how furious our parents would have been if they knew  about the fights or the flaming arrows we shot at each other.  

As far as the movie goes, I was floored to see the young, tough Kiefer Sutherland. I have seen him kill terrorists in 24, but never seen him pull a knife on a small child. Furthermore, I found it interesting that each of the 4 boys had a crying scene. I don’t remember crying that often as a kid, especially in front of my friends, but it was fun to see all of them give their best effort at fake tears – Chris wins it for me. The most notable thing I took from the movie was when Chris said to Gordie, “It’s like God gave you something, man, all those stories you can make up. And He said, “This is what we got for ya, kid. Try not to lose it.” Kids lose everything unless there’s someone there to look out for them. And if your parents are too fucked up to do it, then maybe I should.” What a good friend, and an insightful little kid. 

—Jake