And the seller, Jerry Dodge, was a hard-luck ne'er-do-well with a criminal record and what his friends and family describe as limited intellect and diminishing prospects.

NPR: Neighbor Sours On Property Sale To Vt. Governor

Then, in the bound-to-be-self-referencing "World's End, " Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and friends try to do a pub crawl on their last night alive.

CNN: The biggest, buzziest movies of 2013

Yet, in my own experience as a breast-cancer patient, and for many of the people I have interviewed, friends do make hurtful remarks.

WSJ: What to Say to a Friend Who's Ill