Confessions of a Not-So-Dangerous Mind*
Aug 24, 2026 · 26 min · 9 segments
Rob Reiner's magnificent period coming-of-age story Stand by Me remains one of the best movies of its kind ever made.
And I didn't know, I knew it was 1986, but I didn't know that it was even a summer film.
This film is a Gen X standard, but unlike The Goonies, Stand by Me speaks to almost every generation of moviegoers who, who sees it, that see it.
Young Boomers, older Boomers, and even people from the Silent Generation, like my, my grandfather, my dad's dad, who saw this film when he was in his 70s.
He still found something, not so much in common with the kids, but the idea of being on a road trip, the idea of not having adult supervision all the time.
It's just so well done, and it is obviously very unfortunate and tragic that River Phoenix has been gone for 33-plus years, and we all know what happened to Rob Reiner.
But Rob Reiner made really back-to-back extraordinary films with Stand by Me, and then his follow-up movie was The Princess Bride.
And you wanna talk about an almost impossible choice, I feel like the average Gen X-er will take Princess Bride, and probably a lot of general movie fans.
But I think both films are, as far as their genre, they're, they're as good as it gets, to use the name of the James L. Brooks, Jack Nicholson classic from the '90s.
And I didn't know, I knew it was 1986, but I didn't know that it was even a summer film.
This film is a Gen X standard, but unlike The Goonies, Stand by Me speaks to almost every generation of moviegoers who, who sees it, that see it.
Young Boomers, older Boomers, and even people from the Silent Generation, like my, my grandfather, my dad's dad, who saw this film when he was in his 70s.
He still found something, not so much in common with the kids, but the idea of being on a road trip, the idea of not having adult supervision all the time.
It's just so well done, and it is obviously very unfortunate and tragic that River Phoenix has been gone for 33-plus years, and we all know what happened to Rob Reiner.
But Rob Reiner made really back-to-back extraordinary films with Stand by Me, and then his follow-up movie was The Princess Bride.
And you wanna talk about an almost impossible choice, I feel like the average Gen X-er will take Princess Bride, and probably a lot of general movie fans.
But I think both films are, as far as their genre, they're, they're as good as it gets, to use the name of the James L. Brooks, Jack Nicholson classic from the '90s.
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