I have thought long and hard about posting this. It is so sad and so strange that we now live in a world and in a city where this is an issue. A week ago, this was one of my top ten Christmas movies. It still is. Should I let what happened this week prevent me from listing it? I don't think so, which is why I have. Feel free to stop reading, if you'd rather.
Die Hard
No Christmas movie list ever, nay, no list of any kind relating to screencraft can be without Die Hard. Released just four months prior to Scrooged, Die Hard manages to take the combined stresses of marital woes, holidaying in L.A. and office Christmas parties, throw in a band of menacing German thieves, and trap them all in the Nakatomi Plaza over the course of just a few hours of madness. Television star Bruce Willis, who at the time was filming for "Moonlighting" during the day, and then shooting relentless action sequences all night, was roughly the seventh choice for the role of Officer John McClane, and it's fair to say his fame was then catapulted somewhere above the stratosphere. So, too, was unknown British actor Alan Rickman, debuting here as possible terrorist Hans Gruber, after director John McTiernan saw him on stage in Dangerous Liaisons the year before. (Actually, the first time I saw this film I saw Dangerous Liaisons and Die Hard on the same night - straaaaange) The suspense is beautifully plotted, the action is manic, the set pieces are seamlessly blended into the plot, it's got soul, it's got laughs, it's got terrible European accents, it's got around 700 unnecessary sequels, it's got the Christmas spirit all over it, and it's just as much fun watching it for the fortieth time as it is the first.
Die Hard
No Christmas movie list ever, nay, no list of any kind relating to screencraft can be without Die Hard. Released just four months prior to Scrooged, Die Hard manages to take the combined stresses of marital woes, holidaying in L.A. and office Christmas parties, throw in a band of menacing German thieves, and trap them all in the Nakatomi Plaza over the course of just a few hours of madness. Television star Bruce Willis, who at the time was filming for "Moonlighting" during the day, and then shooting relentless action sequences all night, was roughly the seventh choice for the role of Officer John McClane, and it's fair to say his fame was then catapulted somewhere above the stratosphere. So, too, was unknown British actor Alan Rickman, debuting here as possible terrorist Hans Gruber, after director John McTiernan saw him on stage in Dangerous Liaisons the year before. (Actually, the first time I saw this film I saw Dangerous Liaisons and Die Hard on the same night - straaaaange) The suspense is beautifully plotted, the action is manic, the set pieces are seamlessly blended into the plot, it's got soul, it's got laughs, it's got terrible European accents, it's got around 700 unnecessary sequels, it's got the Christmas spirit all over it, and it's just as much fun watching it for the fortieth time as it is the first.
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