The Flipped Trailer: Stand By Me

It's been a while since a movie trailer was able to use Sha Na Na, The Crystals and The Rascals as irony free music cues, so for that reason alone you should be interested in Flipped. That it could also possibly be a return to form for director Rob Reiner -- legitimate question: when was the last time he made a good movie? -- and will likely make you cry tears of happy are only added bonuses. And hey, is that Aidan Quinn?

Based on this expertly crafted piece of marketing -- designed for maximum "awww!" -- Flipped has all the ingredients necessary to become a sleeper hit when it gets released in August. This is the kind of film that comes out of nowhere, makes $30 million and starts a rush on both cheap, nostalgia-themed projects, and "Rob Reiner is still great!" profiles. Never mind that the premise is basically a mixture of The Wonder Years, My Girl (hopefully minus killer bees!) and The Sandlot, look how cute those kids are!

There are adults too -- Quinn, Anthony Edwards, John Mahoney and, according to IMDb, Rebecca DeMornay -- but the trailer for Flipped belongs to its central couple: Callan McAuliffe (as the boy, Bryce) and Madeline Carroll (as the girl, Juli). Yes, they are cute. And since neither one of them is portraying a brooding vampire or underage assassin...

VERDICT: Sold.