Corey Haim died a few days ago and, although I've thought about it a bit, it took seeing that he was the #1 celebrity on IMDb today, to coax a response out of me. First of all, I find it beyond sad that it took Corey Haim's death for him to reach #1 on the IMDb charts. Just brutal. As a quick aside, as weird as it is that Haim jumped to #1, it is possibly equally as weird that Corey Feldman has jumped to #12 based on his estranged friend's death.
Anyway, seeing Haim's face on that Star-o-meter flipped a switch in me. I'm going to speak directly to Corey Haim's ghost (or whatever) right now, just in case he is listening (and/or following me on Twitter). Now, with no further ado, my tribute to Corey Haim.
Corey,
The Lost Boys is forever in my filmmaking cannon. I honestly believe that for it's style and genre, it is one of the great American films. It is certainly one of the very best vampire films. Other than that spandex-clad saxophone player who looks like Glenn Danzig, the picture is nearly flawless. And your energetic performance is a key factor in the film's greatness. It is a movie that will influence my own filmmaking for years to come.
License to Drive and Dream a Little Dream, not so much. But those films were actually key to my adolescence--although I have to say that they probably left me more confused and with more unrealistic expectations than I already had going into puberty. Among other things, License was my first exposure to Heather Graham, and years of dreaming about her because of your flick certainly made her first appearance with Paul Thomas Anderson all the more rewarding. Also, Lucas and Silver Bullet weren't bad.You were down and out for many years and I alternated between disgust, sympathy, and flat out mocking you. Sorry that I made fun of you earlier this year. Had I known that you were going to die, I probably would have refrained. Actually, I definitely would have refrained. I'm that shallow.
Anyway, I never saw The Two Coreys, but I heard it wasn't pretty. That is why I was so happy to see you back in a big way for your stellar Crank 2 cameo. That performance had me looking forward to many more roles from you in the near future. Alas, it would not be.Corey, I hope you are not in hell. I don't technically believe in hell, but in all honesty, I still fear it. You weren't in Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey, but you might as well have been, and I can imagine you scurrying through some of those hellish scenarios right now. I hope that is not the case.
Anyway, I'm rambling and, surprisingly, this is getting even weirder than it was when I started writing. I will not only miss your performances (I'm going out to buy License to Drive right now), but I honestly feel a great deal of empathy for you personally. Haimster, we barely knew you. I'm sorry that life was so hard for you and I'm sorry that you're dead. You'll always be alive through your work.Stay cool,
Josh
PS. That was probably the weirdest thing that I have done in a public forum. No, definitely the weirdest.
