A Night at the Flicks Takes Us Back to the '80s!

Stand by Me (1986) at the Shin Bungeiza. Photo by Brett Homenick.

On Tuesday night, March 26, I decided to take a break from all the craziness going on in my life right now to catch two flicks I'd never seen before. The films in question were Stand by Me (1986) and St. Elmo's Fire (1985). The screenings took place at the Shin Bungeiza in Ikebukuro, and unfortunately they were apparently Blu-ray projections, although the picture quality for both films was surprisingly good.

The first movie was Stand by Me, and I have to admit that I didn't care a whole lot for it. For all the complaints about unlikable characters that the evening's other film has received over the years, I think Stand by Me certainly has it beat in that department. If the kids weren't obnoxious, they were unpleasant. The only thing that made the audience root for them is that they were up against a gang of older (and even worse) ne'er-do-wells.

Watching the flick did seem to bring back an old memory that I had long forgotten, though. I'm pretty sure sometime in the sixth grade that the campfire discussion the kids have about what kind of creature Goofy is sparked a similar debate in my class. (I guess the movie must have been shown on cable or whatever, and some of my classmates watched it.)

Otherwise, I found the movie mostly unremarkable.

St. Elmo's Fire (1985) at the Shin Bungeiza. Photo by Brett Homenick

St. Elmo's Fire, on the other hand, was pretty good. I enjoyed quite a bit of the film's humor, and there were story lines that I couldn't predict. There aren't any easy answers for the characters, and they don't always get what they want, but the movie ends in a happily-enough way for them. I definitely wouldn't say it's a great work of art or some kind of masterpiece, but it held my attention much more than the other flick. See it if you haven't.