Movie Crush Monday: CT & Live Free Or Die Hard
Happy Fourth Of July, readers!
It's just happy coincidence that my Movie Crush week falls on this holiday, because I get to talk about one of my favorite Independence Day movies of all time (we're following Kevin Smith from Little C's Dogma).
Story time: When I was in high school, one of my best friends and I got in the habit of going to see movies together for our respective birthdays rather than doing presents. My birthday falls in the winter, which meant we usually saw some cheesey horror movie (my favorite kind) or one of the Oscar Hopefuls that year. But he (lucky dude) was born in the summer, which meant that we usually landed at a beautifully mindless Summer Action Flick. By far, my favorite one we ever saw was Live Free Or Die Hard.
Die Hard is one of those series that I fell in love with late in life, because no one in my house watched them when I was growing up. But man oh man have I made up time. These are some of the greatest action films ever. Mostly because Bruce Willis as John McClane is an unstoppable force of nature and I would follow him into a burning building so fast I cannot even tell you.
Live Free Or Die Hard (also winning best punny movie title of all time, forever and ever) is based on the idea that insanely attractive psychopath Timothy Olyphant is orchestrating a digital "fire sale". Through computers, he's taking out basically all of our modern conveniences- power, internet, cell towers. And for the low low price of several million dollars he'll give it all back. Now, is this possible? Can a crazy dude with a computer hold the US hostage for their power? I have no idea but I'll tell you what I don't even care because this movie is so freaking fun.
The heart of what works so well about LFODH is Justin Long. He plays an affable hacker nerd that gets caught up in all of this and helps McClane take down the terrorists. But he's not a super-human like McClane- he's a totally normal guy who's in way over his head. In my absolute favorite part of the movie, Willis and Long have survived a horrific car accident/attack and Willis asks him if he's okay. He says, "I scraped up my knee and my asthma's acting up but I guess I'm okay." I've never heard anyone in a movie so perfectly capture exactly what I would say in the same situation. He's the perfect audience substitute, and the pair of them works so well that I was bitterly disappointed that he wasn't in the next Die Hard.
We also have to make special mention of my hairoine Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who plays John McClane's daughter. She is badass, she is sassy, she is once and again forever and ever my favorite.
Happy Independence Day!! Go watch some fireworks!
CT
It's just happy coincidence that my Movie Crush week falls on this holiday, because I get to talk about one of my favorite Independence Day movies of all time (we're following Kevin Smith from Little C's Dogma).
Story time: When I was in high school, one of my best friends and I got in the habit of going to see movies together for our respective birthdays rather than doing presents. My birthday falls in the winter, which meant we usually saw some cheesey horror movie (my favorite kind) or one of the Oscar Hopefuls that year. But he (lucky dude) was born in the summer, which meant that we usually landed at a beautifully mindless Summer Action Flick. By far, my favorite one we ever saw was Live Free Or Die Hard.
Die Hard is one of those series that I fell in love with late in life, because no one in my house watched them when I was growing up. But man oh man have I made up time. These are some of the greatest action films ever. Mostly because Bruce Willis as John McClane is an unstoppable force of nature and I would follow him into a burning building so fast I cannot even tell you.
Live Free Or Die Hard (also winning best punny movie title of all time, forever and ever) is based on the idea that insanely attractive psychopath Timothy Olyphant is orchestrating a digital "fire sale". Through computers, he's taking out basically all of our modern conveniences- power, internet, cell towers. And for the low low price of several million dollars he'll give it all back. Now, is this possible? Can a crazy dude with a computer hold the US hostage for their power? I have no idea but I'll tell you what I don't even care because this movie is so freaking fun.
The heart of what works so well about LFODH is Justin Long. He plays an affable hacker nerd that gets caught up in all of this and helps McClane take down the terrorists. But he's not a super-human like McClane- he's a totally normal guy who's in way over his head. In my absolute favorite part of the movie, Willis and Long have survived a horrific car accident/attack and Willis asks him if he's okay. He says, "I scraped up my knee and my asthma's acting up but I guess I'm okay." I've never heard anyone in a movie so perfectly capture exactly what I would say in the same situation. He's the perfect audience substitute, and the pair of them works so well that I was bitterly disappointed that he wasn't in the next Die Hard.
We also have to make special mention of my hairoine Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who plays John McClane's daughter. She is badass, she is sassy, she is once and again forever and ever my favorite.
Happy Independence Day!! Go watch some fireworks!
CT
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