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.
Christmastime, for those that celebrate it, tends to mean a few key things to people. For some, Christmas is about spending time with the family, drinking egg nog and watching Christmas Vacation. I’m not saying I don’t do those things, but they aren’t the key things that make the holiday what it is. As such, here’s a list of the things that have to happen every year for me to get into the Christmas spirit.
The Leg Lamp
Simply put, this is the first things that gets set up every year. My leg lamp is a source of pride as, when I was younger, I went through an obsessive A Christmas Story phase. I know some think the film is overblown and cliched these days, considering the fact that TBS plays it for 24 hours every year on Christmas, but I always maintain the flick as one of the absolute greatest films for the holiday. There were certain years, call them the “awkward teenage” years, where family members had no idea what to get me for Christmas, so I’d get A Christmas Story memorabilia. One year, gloriously, I got my own leg lamp, and it’s been a staple ever since. Hell, it was the centerpiece of my kitchen table at my first apartment for the entire first year I had it. It ain’t Christmas without the leg lamp.
Hallmark Ornaments
I don’t know if it’s a popular thing, but since I can remember my family has been collecting Hallmark ornaments. Every year, Hallmark puts out a bunch of new ones and luckily they’ve been getting better and more detailed as the years have gone on. Due to this product line, I’ve got Chewbacca carrying a broken C-3Po, Gandalf, several Batman versions, Captain Kirk, Spider Man, Indiana Jones and a ton of others. Putting up these ornaments on the tree is my own personal way to make my tree more badass every year. It makes the sentimental “Baby’s First Christmas” ornaments from when I was born way more tolerable. Again, without these, it ain’t Christmas.
It’s A Wonderful Life
While I have a special affinity for A Christmas Story, I’ll never argue against It’s A Wonderful Life being the pinnacle of Christmas movies. For a flick that’s over 75 years old, you really can’t do any better than this. The story of George Bailey losing faith in his humanity and being visited by a guardian angel after contemplating ending his life is deeply affecting and an incredibly wholesome and endearing story. If you aren’t at least fighting back tears by the end of the flick you are probably an atheist (seriously). Jimmy Stewart is one of the greats and he is pitch-perfect here. What makes this movie an even higher quality is the fact that the film works outside of it being just another Christmas film. I try to watch this early in the season to get into the spirit of things, and most Christmas nights I try to throw this on to fall asleep to. Great film, doesn’t diminish with age, an essential annual watch.
Alex Stevens Ugly Christmas Sweaters
I’m not very creative when it comes to DIY shit. Simply put, if you ask me to draw a stick figure I’ll routinely fuck it up. A few years back, I switched from my holiday-themed movie t-shirts for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day to designer Ugly Christmas sweaters. Cue Alex Stevens, a designer I found through a little Amazon searching. The above photo was one of the contenders I had on the docket when I purchased my sweater last year, but I ended up going with one featuring a polar bear doing hula hoop awkwardly with a circular candy cane. It always spawns quality conversation for people who are new to it, and the sweaters featured range from mildly random to straight up x-rated. I highly recommend these for the coordination-challenged among us who fear what they may come up with when making their own sweater.
Christmas Cocktails
Perspective is important here at Binge Media, and as a representative of the brand I feel responsible to let everyone know what I’ll be drinking over the next few weeks. I’ll definitely sprinkle in some beers here and there, but for the most part I will be making a large amount of cranberry flavored drinks throughout the season. I’m a big cranberry juice fan (no, it ain’t my period you fucking child) and the concept of mixing various vodkas and rums to it is enticing and wonderful. From here on out, any podcasts I am a part of until the end of the year will be aided by some cranberry goodness, in one form or several.
Christmas Morning
This may seem like a given but I absolutely love Christmas morning. Whatever time my brothers and I would wake up, we would come out into the living room to see a similar setup to the one above. Part of the fun of the holiday, for me at least, was that truly unique moment when you first see the presents under the tree. A combination of excitement, happiness and mystery came with that moment, something that happens each and every year, no matter how old I get. There is something about that image that is, in my opinion, far better than actually opening the presents. When you first see this mound, the possibilities are endless, one of the few times throughout the year where that is actually a great thing. I love Christmas morning. Of course, there is one other tradition we have for Christmas morning. See, in my house, many Christmas mornings in recent memory have been with my two brothers and my Dad, so we have an appropriate film that gets thrown on while digging through the gifts. That film is…
Die Hard
This is the cherry on top. Christmas morning isn’t complete without Die Hard. Is it always a little awkward when that topless chick gets ripped out of the office by the terrorists? It used to be, but at this point, we all love Die Hard so much that it doesn’t fucking matter. John McClane absolutely wrecking the assholes at Nakatomi Plaza, Hans Gruber doing the old helpless-office-worker routine to get on McClane’s good side, and F-bombs galore are a welcome, wholesome and fantastic piece of the season’s festivities. Other families might put on Charlie Brown or the aforementioned It’s A Wonderful Life, but I feel as though the themes in Die Hard, such as Bruce Willis being a fucking boss, Hans Gruber proving villains are just as good as heroes, the fact that Reginald Vel Johnson “shot a kid, man”, and ‘Murica are great lessons to be reminded of.
My Christmas is probably a little different than yours, but I would also argue it’s probably significantly better. If you haven’t before, try out some of these things this season for yourself and enjoy the season even more. Check out the video below of my personal favorite Christmas song. Until next week, Binge On!
We all wanted this match from the beginning, and by the end, it all came down to four votes. Four fucking votes! Your winner of the Christmas Deathmatch is none other than John McClane! I don’t know if we’ve had a closer deathmatch final than this one, and with good reason. It was East Coast vs West Coast, bat shit craziness vs balls of brass steel; these two iconic 80’s action heroes beat the fuck out of each other until only one was left standing. John McClane….bubby….is your white knight!
It looks as though the readers of Binge Media had it in their minds to pit two of the most baddest characters against each other in an epic battle of punches, kicks and one liners. John McClane is an old school, New York City cop who uses brute force to beat down the competition. Borderline psycho detective Martin Riggs has drifted through the Los Angeles police department and pushed away every potential partner due to his erratic but effective behavior.
Voting ends Friday January 3rd at midnight. Do this!
There were a few massacres in the Sweet 16 but the Elite 8 found more competitive matches along the way. Gizmo got out to an early lead until McClane kick the shit out of him. An uneventful match between George Bailey and Jack Skellington saw Skellington come out on top. Kevin McCallister tried to initiate some of his charming booby traps until Riggs put a bullet in his head and Frank Cross demoralized Buddy the Elf to finish out the round.
Voting starts today and ends Friday at midnight. Do this!