If you’re going to crib from Stephen King’s “Stand By Me,” then you’d better do a good job of re-tooling it. Thankfully, and miraculously, David M. Evans directs one of the best coming of age dramedies in cinematic history. “The Sandlot” is a film that takes the “Stand By Me” premise and adds a baseball-centric theme to the story that becomes the crux of everything the film is built on. It’s the reason characters are able to connect, it saves characters from immediate danger, and it’s the macguffin for the entire movie. “The Sandlot” thankfully doesn’t shove the baseball Americana themes down the audiences throat, but instead focuses on the characters featured in the film as actual characters with complexities and flaws that decide whether they succeed or not.
Mill Creek delivers a dozen family friendly films for anyone looking to wile away a weekend on light G rated television movie fare, for a low price. “The Best Bad Thing” features George Takei about a young girl named Rinko who discovers the nature of her Japanese heritage during the depression. Never quite feeling American or Japanese enough, she learns about her culture and comes of age and her culture. “Bonjour Timothy” about a young boy named Timothy who is tasked with hosting a foreign exchange student named Michael.
Much like “Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles” was much more about the journey of Sarah Conner rather than the life of John Conner, “Bates Motel” is much more about the psychosis and sheer lunacy of Norma Bates, rather than the origin of Norman Bates.
Mill Creek Entertainment offers drama fans four very acclaimed and intresting dramatic features for folks looking to save money. Sydney Pollack directs the 1977 film “Bobby Deerfield,” a film starring Al Pacino as a race car driver who finds himself falling for a mysterious and terminally ill young woman. Through the woman’s final days alive does Pacino’s daredevil character learn more about life. There’s also the 1965 “Baby, The Rain Must Fall” directed by Robert Mulligan starring theg reat Steve NcQuen. McQueen plays Henry Thomas, a young man who loves to sing in his band and is pressured by his mother to go back to school and get his educaiton.
