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Stand By Me... Lives UP!

  In memory of Rob Reiner, we reviewed his self-declared favorite of all the movies he directed, Stand By Me. Of course this movie lives up.  Other people have described Stand By Me as triggering nostalgia for a time that most of us didn't actually experience. This movie portrays childhood in the late 1950s (and filmed during the 1980s - another era also known for hands-off parenting). It invokes a memory of freedom, exploration, morbid curiosity. It reminds us how it felt not having parents, bosses, or authority figures hovering over us at all times... and a memory of not being reachable anytime, anywhere on a cell phone. The 12 yr old boys in Stand By Me decide to spend their Labor Day weekend hiking 20-30 miles to see if they can find the body of a missing boy. They pre-arrange an alibi that they're sleeping over at Vern's house... but ultimately, none of their parents ever ask.  In the 1950s (and the 1980s), parents accepted a certain lack of control about their kids ...

Gremlins... does NOT live up!

Planes, Trains and Automobiles... does NOT live up.

Ladybugs... is the worst movie we have ever reviewed.

Batman... Lives UP!

A League of Their Own... Lives UP!... barely.

Jaws... Lives UP!