Dig A Hole: Corey Haim
March 10th, 2010 by Scott Marks
As easy as it would be to slam Corey Haim, I can’t. The kid could act.
“Firstborn,” Michael Apted’s divorce melodrama and Haim’s first feature, is a damn good little film with superb performances all around from a cast that included Teri Garr, Peter Weller, Christopher Collet, Robert Downey and Sarah Jessica Parker. Haim played one of two siblings impacted by the breakup of their family. He was a natural. Before decades of partying ravaged his looks, Haim was an adorable little kid with a killer smile and a talent for delivering dialog.
He had a few funny bits in the dopey teen comedy “Secret Admirer” and his third feature found him in a wheelchair battling werewolves in “Stephen King’s Silver Bullet.” At a time when lycanthropy was making a brief resurgence in Hollywood (”An American Werewolf in London,” “The Howling”), “Silver Bullet” was more than passable entertainment and Haim was wonderful as the young paralytic who acts as human wolfbane in order to save his small town from sharp fangs and dull dialog.
He had a supporting role in the James Garner, Sally Field romantic comedy “Murphy’s Romance” before delivering his career defining performance at the age of 15. I remember “Lucas” as being a sloppy, sentimental ode to suicide in which Haim was a standout.
Stardom and the title of teen heartthrob came calling with “The Lost Boys.” It was also the first of several collaborations with his future second banana Corey Feldman. It was all downhill from there. Their rich partnership would yield two more features (”License to Drive” and “Dream a Little Dream), a made-for-cable exploitation film (”Blown Away”) most notable for Nicole Eggert’s nude scenes, two direct to home video turds (”National Lampoon’s Last Resort” and “Dream a Little Dream 2″) and self-conscious cameo’s in the David Spade debacle “Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star.” The nostalgia ghouls at A&E gave the strung out duo one last shot at fame reality TV style with “The Two Coreys” a show that was almost painful to watch.
The 38-year-old Haim was found dead this morning of what authorities are calling an “apparent overdose.” According to the LA Times, “Haim was taken to Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank after being found unresponsive, reportedly by his mother whom he was staying with as she battled cancer.”
No one could claim surprise when the news hit. Haim had been battling drugs for years now. The long discussed sequel to “Lost Boys” went straight to DVD and the 10 projects he currently had in production were not enough to keep him on the straight and narrow. Both he and Feldman had long become human punch lines, but unlike his partner Haim had talent. I can’t claim to be shocked by his sudden passing, but I sure am saddened by it.
Tags: corey feldman, corey haim, Corey Haim dead, corey haim movies, corey haines, corey haines dead, corey haines died, corey hanes, corey haynes, Cory Haim, FIrstborn, lost boys, Nicole Eggert, Stephen King's Silver Bullet, the two coreysShare: 
Filed Under Obituaries
KPBS Film Club reviews “Shutter Island,” “Red Riding Trilogy,” “Une Prophet,” “Alice in Wonderland,” “Ghost Writer” and Oscar
March 10th, 2010 by Scott Marks
I don’t think the bookworm liked me.
Jerry Griswold, the director of SDSU’s National Center for the Study of Children’s Literature, was on to talk about the differences between Lewis Carroll and Tim Burton. Instead of giving me a vacation, Griswold came out swinging all because I nice things to say about the 3-D version of “Alice in Wonderland!” Made for grate radio!
My favorite shows are when Beth and I disagree on everything and today was one such example. Beth didn’t even like the Oscars and her thoughts on “Shutter Island” made me shudder!
If I seem more hurried than usual you have Marty to thank. Wanting to ensure that we didn’t go over and bump the “Shutter Island” review, I tried my best to be brief. So did our producer Angela Carone who kept the segments flying at a brisk pace in order to allow time to pay my respects to Him. The three listeners who actually put stock in my opinions needed to hear them.
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