In celebration of its 25th anniversary, Rob Reiner's seminal classic 'Stand By Me' was released on Blu-ray for the first time this week. The movie, set in the 1950s, tells a bittersweet tale of four adolescent friends who go off into the woods in search of a rumored dead body, that may or not be a missing young boy they know. They must also find this body before the bullying Ace Merrill (Kiefer Sutherland) and his gang the Cobras get to it. What follows is a poignant tale about childhood adventures in the summer, and the pain of growing up.

The editors over at AOL’s Moviefone (www.moviefone.com) were able to get the cast to share some of their memories on the once-in-a-lifetime Oregon film-shoot, the adventures they had off-camera and the global impact felt by 'Stand By Me.'

Rob Reiner: The story that it comes from was a book called 'Different Seasons,' a novella called 'The Body' and in it these four boys go on this journey together to find a dead body and Gordy was kind of an observer. It was just four of them and Gordy as the observer and I thought, 'Oh, maybe if I make Gordy the main guy, the story can really be about him and what he goes through and all these doubts about himself and how he feels his father doesn't love him. Through the help of his friends he starts to feel good about himself and all that, and then he goes on to be a successful writer.' Once I hit on that, and I realized Gordy was going to be the focus of it, everything kind of came very clear to me. That's when I got really excited about it.

Gordie Lachance (Wil Wheaton)
Wil Wheaton: I was a young actor and there were wonderful people attached to the project already and my agent got me an audition for the movie and I was lucky enough to be cast in the film. But at 12 years old, what drew me to it was that it was there. I didn't have the maturity and sophistication to appreciate what it was back then -- To me as a kid, it felt like a really cool adventure story about seeking out and going on this great adventure where from my point of view, our team "won."

Corey Feldman: Will was from LA and he was very conservative, a geek if you will. He still is and he'll admit to that. I didn't see him that way, I saw him as quiet and shy.

Reiner: Wil Wheaton was the perfect Gordy. I saw this very sensitive kid who had these doubts about himself and even though he was much more self-assured, he had this sweet, sensitive look to him.

Teddy Duchamp (Corey Feldman)
Feldman: For the sake of honesty and to be really brash, what drew me to it was that my parents were my managers and I did what they told me to do. It was, "Hey you have an audition with Rob Reiner." "You mean Meathead from 'All in the Family'? OK cool, what does he want?" -- When I met with Rob, the first thing I thought was that he didn't look like Meathead anymore. He had matured and looked very much like a director. So immediately when I walked in the room and took him very seriously. Number two, once I saw the material I realized this was a bit more heavy than anything I had previously worked on. The subject matter was going to be a bit more difficult and a little more intensive than anything I had done in the past.

Reiner: To be honest, I don't think there was anybody else that could have played the part that Corey Feldman played. We couldn't find anybody that, he came to it with all this kind of anger and he had a very dark side to him and I said "Wow, I don't know what's going on in his life but he's the only kid at that age that could play that."

Wheaton: Of all of us, Corey had spent his whole life in the industry so in some ways he was the veteran kind of guy. He had been on all sets than all of us and had a real history with movies. We all went and saw 'Goonies' together. It came out while we were working on 'Stand By Me' and then 'Explorers' that River was in and we all went and saw 'Explorers' too. Of the four of us, he was kind of the movie star. That was a really weird world for me to be adjacent to.

Vern Tessio (Jerry O'Connell)
Reiner: Jerry O'Connell was kind of a schlubby fat kid at the time, (laughs). Now he's this stud, he's married to Rebecca Romijn, and he's handsome and everything, but he was this schlubby kid. He came in and had no experience at all but he walked in and he was Vern. He was this kid, and I didn't know if he could do it because he had never acted before but I thought "Well, if he can be like he is in his room, he'll be the perfect Vern."

Wheaton: Jerry was hilarious. Jerry has such a wonderful sense of humor and it was the same when we were kids, he was constantly making us laugh. He was just so funny and so friendly and just so easy to get along with.

Chris Chambers (River Phoenix)
Reiner: River Phoenix was like, you know, he was a young James Dean and I had never seen anybody like this.

Wheaton: I remember being extremely impressed and a little intimidated by River. He was so professional and so intense, he just seemed a lot older than he was. He seemed to have this wisdom around him that was really difficult to quantify at that age. It seemed there was more going on with him. He just seemed cool.

Feldman: River and I had known each other for quite a few years now. He had moved out when he was around 9 or 10 years old, something like that. That was when we met, so we hit it off really early and we became fast friends. Whenever we saw each other on auditions we would hang out or play outside while everyone else was sitting in the room waiting for their shot. When we got to the set, or even when we got to the plane, we were very excited that we were both doing this so we got to hang out together and play together. We were like BFFs immediately and that's how the rest of the shoot went. River and I formed a very close bond for the rest of filming.

The read the full version of the Moviefone story visit:
http://blog.moviefone.com/2011/03/25/stand-by-me-oral-history-25th-anniversary/

Corey Feldman | Stand By Me | 25th Anniversary | River Phoenix

As loyal Moviepie readers know, The Goonies is flat out my all time favorite movie. I have endless happy memories of watching it throughout the years, and it's one of the few things from childhood that has remained relevant no matter how old I get. I could go on and on about why I love it, but one major reason is that it feels so much like home. It has a distinct Pacific Northwest sensibility, and I've always wanted to take a little Goonie field trip to Astoria, Oregon to see the town. I've never been able to wrangle anyone into going (despite throwing, "We could always go to Astoria!" into many random conversations), until last weekend, when I managed to rope Linda Moviepie into attending two days of the 25th Anniversary Celebration.

We made the 3 1/2 hour drive down from Seattle on Saturday morning, arriving in the Goondocks around 1:00. Miraculously, it was the one warm and sunny day after a long string of rainy grey days, and indeed the 2:30 showing of Goonies at the Columbian Theater was cancelled due to "NO RAIN", something that would probably only make sense in the Northwest, where sunshine is such a rare commodity that we need to cancel plans in order to go out and enjoy it. On their orders, we spent the afternoon exploring the town and paying a visit to the new Oregon Film Museum, which had opened that morning. Housed in the historic Clatsop County Jail (of Fratelli jail break fame), this teeny tiny museum includes the jail cells seen in the movie as well as various props from the film including the Walsh family mailbox, the ill-fated David statue, Data's costume, Chester Copperpot's library card, etc. There are also nods to other well known Oregon films, but nothing as comprehensive as the Goonies display. Parked out front? The Fratelli's ORV! Honestly, I think I was as excited to see the jail and the Jeep as I was to see any of the cast members. Just across the street is the historic mansion Flavel House, which served as the museum where Mikey's father worked in The Goonies.

After a brief break for a cup of coffee at The Rusty Cup (where we heard Joey Pants had been sipping a cuppa earlier that day), we headed down to the 6:00 showing of The Goonies. Fans in Goonies shirts were lined all around the building, and for a sinking moment I worried that we wouldn't be able to get a ticket. It didn't help that the lady in the ticket booth closed the window and stepped away for a moment just when it was my turn, and it's entirely possible that my heart stopped for a second or two. She cheerfully returned, however, and I found myself watching The Goonies for the first time in a theater in the town where it takes place. I'll admit that I got a little teary at several points, and I wouldn't be surprised if a few other fans did too. People were clapping, cheering, and taking pictures of the screen, obviously reveling in a moment that truly delighted their inner child.

After the movie, we spent some quality time alone with the jail, snapping pictures while no one else was around. We then headed down to Seaside to rest up for our big Meet and Greet in the morning. Unfortunately, two very key players in this event apparently did not rest up for the big day. Sunday morning was drizzly and grey, but we managed to avoid getting drenched in line by snacking at The Rusty Cup until the Liberty Theater opened its doors. As soon as I saw the stage, set with a table and six chairs, I was filled with hope. I was just sure it meant that Richard Donner and Sean Astin (announced at the last minute for the 3:00 Meet and Greet) were going to join Corey Feldman, Jeff Cohen, Joe Pantoliano, and Curt Hanson for our session as well. Or, you know, it could always mean that NO ONE is coming.

The announcement came while we were in the restroom, but we soon learned that only Curt Hanson had shown up. Joey Pants was still a possibility, but Jeff and Corey simply weren't coming. Event staff basically shrugged, "There's no excuse, really. We know they're in town." And at that moment, I'm sure one word flashed through the minds of every single person in that theater: hangover. Not only was it a huge disappointment to come all that way for a let down, it sort of flew in the face of everything it means to be a Goonie. Linda and I may have traveled 180 miles, but fans came in from all around the world.

I must say that the Chamber of Commerce was incredibly gracious in offering both their apologies and refunds to the audience. Their kindness made up for the strange absence of most of our guests of honor, as did the wonderful Curt Hanson, who single-handedly entertained us with stories from the film before posing for pictures and autographs with fans. You'll remember him as the fabulously snide Mr. Perkins, father of Troy Perkins, and the richest man in Astoria. One fan cheekily asked, "Why was Troy such a cheap guy?" and he gamely replied, "It's how his father raised him!" He even answered my question about the last scene in the film, where they tear up the foreclosure papers, and Mouth randomly grabs a pen and writes down the front of his overcoat. I only noticed this little detail in the last few years, and was curious as to whether it was scripted or improvised. Indeed it was in the script, and it took two jackets and a passel of ballpoint pens to create the moment. It seems they were never able to get the ink to show up on camera before they began losing light and had to move on. Interesting!

Meanwhile, as we waited for our turn with Curt, Joey Pants a.k.a. Francis Fratelli showed up! He set himself up onstage and a second line for meeting and greeting formed. AND THEN, just as it was our turn, we were told that Joey kinda wanted a break and wouldn't take any more people. Seriously?! I offered to turn on the tears, and I think someone else uttered the word "asshole", and soon the line was moving again. I had brought along a promotional dog tag from the video release of the movie Bound that I've had since my days as a video store clerk, long before I ever even saw the movie. He graciously signed it and posed for pictures, and was, unsurprisingly, his awesomely funny Joey self. All in all, the "disappointing" Meet and Greet turned out well, and given the fact that I'd be willing to visit this lovely little city any day of the week, I'll consider any celebrity encounters gravy.

After lunching at the farmer's market, we headed to event headquarters a.k.a. The Goondocks for our bus tour. Fittingly, there was some difficulty in locating a guide for our tour (we were apparently the jinxed Goonie group), but someone finally came to our rescue and our rock star bus driver got things rolling. The tour included Mikey's house (we were allowed inside!), the football field (where bus #7 from Kindergarten Cop is also parked), Mouth's house (now owned by a warm, welcoming family who actually had the clip from the movie looping on their TV so we could see the kitchen in the movie and then in real life), and finally the totally 80s bowling alley (where Chunk first sees the car chase).

The kindness shown to the fans throughout the event was truly remarkable, and our genuine love for the movie was always shown the utmost respect. As Curt Hanson said, "I don't get it, but I love it!" Indeed, Goonie love may be hard for some to understand, but just about anyone can appreciate its sincerity. For any of its warts, my Anniversary weekend was truly a dream come true, and I can only hope that it's a tradition that will continue in the coming years...perhaps with Jeff and Corey actually showing up at my event. Boys, if you're out there, I'm still waiting for my autographs!

25th Anniversary | Goonies | Astoria | Corey Feldman | Joe Pantoliano | Curt Hanson | Jeff Cohen