JoshuaABranstetter

Yes. I only first saw Stand by Me this summer, I was born after it released, and I don't believe I hold a nostalgic attachment to the film, but a story about kids learning to accept their own mortality speaks to me on a foundational level, and Reiner does this with perfect casting and a story that feels real and down to earth. I saw so much of myself in each of those kids, and so much of the kids I once called best friends, people I never talk to now. This captures that aspect of growing up so well, with sincerity and authenticity. Big yes. And I love the Keds simile, it paints a clear, concise, and vivid image, and that's what a good metaphor should do. Also, there was totally a homoerotic vibe going on between Phoenix and Wheaton's characters.

I remember the first time I saw There Will Be Blood, it was playing on the big screen at my friend's bachelor pad. Everyone was either passed out on the floor or waking up to puke and pass out again, it was one of those nights. I never liked drinking, and that night that was worth something: I was awake. It must've been 3 a.m. when Daniel Plainview yelled "I drink your milkshake!" and bashed in Eli Sunday's head with a bowling pin. I sat across the room on that seedy, pasty couch, jaw on the floor, eyes red and half-open, and thought three things: "What the fuck just happened?" "Somebody hit play again." "I feel different." I felt like I'd just touched The Monolith. There Will Be Blood is one of the formative experiences of my love for film. I have to vote it in.