We are kicking off our 12 Comms of Bingemas with a commentary for one of the best films of all time, Die Hard!
Christmas movie or not, we’ll leave it up to you. But it’s one of our favorite films; so much that this is our second commentary we’ve recorded for it.
We’ll be releasing 3 commentaries on the regular feed and the rest will be on our Patreon. Check out the list below!
If you liked the 12 Comms of Bingemas for Die Hard, head over to Patreon.com/BingeMedia to sign up for The Full Binge to make sure you don’t miss out on the rest of the 12 Comms of Bingemas!
Subscribers to The Full Binge also receive access to all exclusive content including commentaries and tournaments, access to the Binge Media Discord server, a Lawlapalooza shot and/or pint glass and, most importantly, all the burps.
Moreno, Law, and Pete do their best to try and find the greatest Christmas movie ever made. There’s upsets, breakdowns, pleas, and regrets. Come find out who sits atop the Binge Christmas Tree.
The two drunkest dads in the Binge Universe are back and talking shit, in the first episode since we wrapped up Halloween. We do all sorts of SPOILERy talk around Santa Claus and the chaos that is the Holiday season. Plus, we dive deep into what happens when we show our kids DIE HARD, SEINFELD, HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER, and some revelations about the souring of the FORTNITE phenomenon.
All that plus some theatrical experiences with the family, what it’s like to have way too much influence over kids’ opinions on the movies they think are awesome (but are shit), and so much more. Grab a beer, sit back, and take a listen!
By the time 2007 rolled around, Die Hard had become legendary. As discussed in this very podcast, if they had stopped at 1995’s Die Hard with a Vengeance, the three of us would be praising just how fully entertaining the Die Hard TRILOGY is. But hence, 20th Century Fox had to quadruple dip into the Die Hard pot. The result, Live Free or Die Hard, is a film you either love or hate. Listen to hear two of us discuss how much we hate it. While the other defends it, only to finally determine that he hates is too.
But that’s not all. To make up for the lack of podcast last week, we also talk about 2013’s A Good Day to Die Hard. What, if anything worked about this seen as a train wreck fourth sequel? Whose body does director John Moore know the location of that he leveraged to get into the director’s chair? And how does Batch feel watching this film for the first time in his life? And, you get an already falling out of his chair drunk Ammon to talk about A Good Day to Die Hard, you will laugh at just how awesomely bad he feels about this film. No, he does not hold back.
Well, another month, another retrospective gone. I’d like to once again thank Ammon and Batch for joining me on this journey through the adventures of John McClane. Stay tuned. More with them by the end of the year.
By the time 1995 rolled around, the action genre was still seeing all the remnants of Die Hard’s success take shape in the form of its imitators. Die Hard on a ship. Die Hard on a bus. The movie going public was so inundated with imitations, that the prospect of John McClane returning for another adventure were looking to be dwindling away due to Hollywood’s common ability to over saturate the market with too much of a good thing.
But extrenuating circumstances forced two major players in the franchise to flex their action movie making muscles once again. First, Bruce Willis was in the position of sorely needing a hit. After taking control of what was reportedly a fantastic script in Hudson Hawk, Willis’s ego brought the production to its knees, as he had them do his bidding. Much to the film’s dismay. And the 1993 action yarn Striking Distance wasn’t doing too much fire burning at the box office either.
John McTiernan was also coming off a career slump, as the Arnold Schwarzenegger flop Last Action Hero was still on the tips of tongues of Hollywood executives learning that too much of a good thing, in action’s most successful star and the innovative director that put adventure filmmaking on the Hollywood map, was anything but. The re-teamup of these two in a sequel to their most successful film was all but inevitable. And we at the Aftertaste are here to watch it.
Once again join Batch, Ammon, and myself as we look at 1995’s Die Hard with a Vengeance, and decide whether the film seemingly made out of career salvaging desperation was either a good or bad result in our eyes.
Note: Due to our schedules being all over the place this week, there will not be an Aftertaste next Thursday. However, in two weeks, we will return with not one, but TWO reviews. One of Live Free or Die Hard, and the other being A Good Day to Die Hard. Also, keep an eye on this space as lots of surprises are coming down the pike.
Die Hard With A Vengeance (1995) (?/10, ?/10, ?/10)
Released in the summer of 1988, it didn’t take long for 20th Century Fox to realize that Die Hard was a hit, and almost immediately started putting together a sequel concept. However, this time their film wasn’t going to be based on anything by original novelist Roderick Thorpe. Instead, Fox already had the rights to the novel 58 Minutes by Walter Wager, and in a move that will be a theme to this series, just plugged almost all of our favorite characters from the original Die Hard film and made it the sequel lazily known as Die Harder.
But Hans Gruber isn’t the only piece of the 1988 film’s puzzle missing from this film. There is no sly hand of original director John McTiernan at the helm. Instead, we get the upstart, high on his action game Finnish director Renny Harlin at the helm. Join Ammon, Batch, and myself as we dissect whether the sequel’s outlandishly ridiculous concept is able to be overshadowed by the hard nosed action Die Hard 2: Die Harder contains. And whether the still full toupee wearing Bruce Willis brings his A game to another adventure containing John McClane being at the wrong place at the wrong time.
Download the podcast that I like to call, Christmas in June. And don’t forget, we will be going down this road of one film a week until we get to the 2013 fifth film A Good Day to Die Hard.
The action landscape was certainly missing something in 1988. Sure, the first Terminator and Lethal Weapon movies had already come out and set the ball rolling. But, the genre still needed that one extra push. Something to come out of nowhere and change cinema forever.
Enter Die Hard. Directed by John McTiernan and starring then relative unknown Bruce Willis, Die Hard rapidly ascended to the top of many peoples’ 1988 Best of lists, and movie quips were no longer owned solely by Ah-nold. Instead, this Bruce guy came in and gave the art of a one-liner a true make-over by giving them, and this film as a whole, something Schwarzenegger and those around him couldn’t. He gave them a naturality.
Join me, Ammon, and Batch as we start our look at the entire Die Hard series by dissecting this first history-making film. I don’t think it’s a secret that we all love it. But how much? What books did the film base itself on? And is this REALLY the first film of the series?
We answer all these questions and more, below. So welcome yourselves to the party by downloading!
Things we learn about on this week’s show include – How Lawlapalooza saved Moe’s Bar, what happens to bald Scientologists, what happens when you call our Google Voice number by accident, and where Ammon is going to podcast in three weeks. Also – movies and stuff. Tell ’em, TimeStamp Guy!
0:00:00-Do it.
0:01:53-Bingecast. OG3. Yes. Why was Booperpalooza Booperless? Jim Law explains. So what became of Law and Moreno meeting up? As soon as they started man on man fucking I was just in. LAWLAPALOOZA IS ON THE HORIZON! Moreno tells the story of the fire near Moe’s Tavern. No one was hurt, thank God. Secretive plans have been made for Lawlapalooza. What is 26 hour Law? Again a secret Bingecast guest bails. Goddamnit. Movie Homework possibly getting the boot? (0:27:22, timestamped for Jim Law) We need feedback about Movie Homework! Lil Retros could be a thing. You should’ve seen the poll in the Binge Media Fantasy League Facebook Group. If you didn’t well fuck you. Now go look.
0:35:23-GOOGLE VOICE. Two weeks worth. Shit. The guys try to figure out where Ammon can record Bingecasts in his new place after.
1:55:29-TV ROUND UP. Leah Remini returned with Scientology and the Aftermath: Merchants of Fear. Hair talk. What in the fuck. Why is the Music Cast not a thing anymore? Already this segment has gone off the rails. Back on track with Fargo. Better Call Saul. Law brings up The Handmaid’s Tale. The Leftovers. Moreno watched some of F is for Family (Law binged the whole season, holy fuck), Bloodline (Law binged that too, the cocksucker), and House of Cards. Ammon gives the deets on Twin Peaks. Law finally got to Legion. Ammon is doing his duty and watching The Bachelorette.
3:20:54-WHAT DID YOU WATCH? Moreno saw John Wick: Chapter 2. Law brings up his thoughts on the movie even though he watched it way back. Law checked out Trainspotting 2, Kidnap, Table 19, and A Cure for Wellness. Ammon watched Die Hard and Die Hard 2: Die Harder. He also viewed Logan Noir. Which franchises are the best overall?
That’s it.
LAWLAPALOOZA THIS WEEKEND COCKSUCKERS. NBA JAM AND SHIT.
No matter how you feel about Deadpool -and if you heard this week’s Binge Cast you know exactly how I feel- there is no arguing that the success of Ryan Reynolds’ starring comic book film means a brand new awakening for the future of comic book filmmaking. The perseverance Reynolds displayed in getting Deadpool made has to be commended, and there will come a time in the next decade or so, much like we currently do with 2008’s Iron Man, that we will point to February of 2016 as the month ‘it all changed.’ There is no question that the box office results of Deadpool make for a hell of a success story. Reynolds fell on his ass so many times for the twelve plus years he took in getting it made, that I am not going to put him down for finally succeeding in his goals. That is a story which cannot be written if you tried, and I have all the respect in the world for him.
But it didn’t take long for its wave of success to cause word of Wolverine 3, supposedly the very final time Hugh Jackman dawns the iron fisted claws, now specifically aiming for an R rating. Fans of the character can be heard jumping for joy every which way you go. And this site’s very own Jackie Boy recently posted a well written article about comic book adaptations he would like to see slapped an R rating as well. Look. It’s great to be a ground breaker, and I think I have been fair enough in my praise of Deadpool‘s ability to be as much. Even if PLENTY of successful R rated comic book adaptions have been released in the years leading up to this one.
Interestingly, that leads right into my topic of this article. I decided to do some major digging, and research just what films in years past started trends, and how said trends keep going through the distillation machine that Hollywood is so very well known as having.
5) Space Movies
Yes, there had been Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, and 2001: A Space Odyssey to fill our hearts and heads with enough space imagery to last a lifetime. But it wasn’t until George Lucas’s 1977 space opera Star Wars was released to massive success that they started becoming a Hollywood trend. Legend has it the sole reason for Ridley Scott’s Alien being greenlit was because it was the only other space script in 20th Century Fox’s offices at the time. But that wasn’t the only movie trying to capitalize on a trend. Enter The Black Hole, Enemy Mine, Solarbabies, Dune. And my favorite, James Bond’s very own Moonraker.
All of these were met with varying degrees of artistic and box office success, and the Hollywood machine keeps cranking them out to this day. Where’s a Bill Pullman motivational speech when we need one?
4) ‘Found Footage’ Films
Now, it can be argued that 1999’s The Blair Witch Project was the first film to put this genre in the widest of stratospheres (no, The Last Broadcast does NOT count), and there had been sporadic ‘found footage’ movies like 2007’s Rec beforehand. But 2009’s Paranormal Activity created what can only be described as a phenomenon. To put its success in perspective, there have been 397 found footage movies released since Paranormal Activity was released six years ago, and only 113 released before then.
Hatred is generally spewed at these films. Every once in awhile, a Cloverfield comes along to knock us on our asses. But for every Cloverfield, there are four or five Apollo 18s.
3) Gladiator Movies
Airplane captain Captain Oveur must have been living on cloud nine in the 2000s. After Ridley Scott’s Gladiator won five Academy Awards, earning over $450 million in the process, we saw more and more ‘sword and sandal epics’ hit the circuit with no abandon to spare. Movies like Kingdom of Heaven, Pathfinder, 300, and Scott’s own telling of Robin Hood came and went with barely a whimper. The only one I REALLY enjoyed from this time was Wolfgang Peterson’s 2004 Brad Pitt starring epic Troy. And even that was released to mixed reviews. Despite this, Troy would go on to make close to $500 million.
2) Die Hard on a (blank)
Anyone who grew up on the late 80s – early 90s remembers this trend. In fact, if you count recent films like Olympus Has Fallen, the trend is still going strong. After the Bruce Willis starring Die Hard was released to propulsive box office thunder in 1988, studios found another formula to mix into their money making medicine. Before long, Speed wasn’t Speed. It was ‘Die Hard on a Bus.’ Under Siege wasn’t Under Siege. It was ‘Die Hard on a Ship. Awakenings wasn’t just Awakenings. Ok, that one stuck.
There is no question about it. Die Hard remains one of the most influential films -not just ‘action’ films- ever made. With the perfect mix of violence and salty one liners, John McClane stepped into movie immortality. Yippee Kii Yayy is right.
1) 3D Movies
Ahhh, hello Avatar. One thing about Deadpool‘s success that seems to be getting overlooked in all the shock & awe over its opening weekend take, is how the movie took the film going public by storm –without the advent of its audience having to put on a pair of dirty recycled 3D glasses. This can only be a good thing, as the 3D experience has very rarely been anything of the sort, and is just an added incentive by studios to get audiences out of their houses and into theaters. Let me make clear: I see nothing wrong with that. But the problem is that 3D, with the exception of the aforementioned Avatar, adds absolutely nothing to the experience.
Immediately following Avatar‘s massive success, movies like Alice In Wonderland, 2010’s Clash of the Titans, almost the entire Marvel Universe, etc etc jumped on the bandwagon. Hell, even The Force Awakens didn’t turn down the opportunity to capitalize on the trend. Despite all of this, I have a feeling that if James Cameron doesn’t get off his ass and put Avatar 2 on the release board within the next couple years, executives are going to look mighty close at that little non 3D factor in Deadpool‘s success.
Let me reiterate here. I, in no way, feel these or any of the other trends in movie history are necessarily bad. I also understand that all of the examples I have mentioned above had examples of such before them. But there was always one which stuck out head and shoulders above the rest, planting itself in cinematic history. And Deadpool is one of those films. But I think James Gunn beautifully outlined the dangers of the lessons learned from the surprise $150 million take of Deadpool in its opening weekend. Wolverine 3 would already seem to be the trickle effect Gunn was talking about. And yes, as long as there are angry teenage boys, there will always be an audience for an ultra violent yuk-fest like Deadpool. But the danger of watering down your product to the point of obscurity hovers like a black cloud. A character like Superman does NOT warrant slapping an R rating on his movie just…because. Even when movies like Alien vs Predator and Terminator Salvation were getting PG-13 ratings, the incentives that drove so-called ‘outcries’ over the movies before they were even released never bothered me. A movie is never good based on its rating. Its rating is an organic off shoot of the film itself. With this in mind, I wish all filmmakers luck with the new current trend. Let’s hope it’s Die Hard by nature of lasting ability.