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A Good Day to Die Hard

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die hard

Director: John Moore

Writer: Skip Woods

Starring: Bruce Willis, Jai Courtney, Sebastian Koch

Tomatometer: 16/10/82 (all critics, top critics, audience)

Spoiler-free Summary: Everyone’s favorite NYPD officer, John McClane, heads to Russia in search of his estranged son Jack, who has gotten into some trouble with the law.  Somehow, Jack has become the key witness in a trial that pits a merciless politician against a disgraced billionaire.  Needless to say, John gets caught in the middle, and explosions ensue.

Two Cents: The dialogue is terrible, the plot has more holes than the O-zone, and the acting is on par with most junior high productions of Cats.  But, it sure is fun to watch stuff blow up!  The movie is short, and a lot of the action is imaginative and exciting.  You can’t go wrong with a little John McClane on a cold winter day.  Don’t worry about learning the names of the other actors, this movie is like a Springsteen concert – it’s all about BRUUUUUUUUCE.  There’s no real connection to the other films in the series, but that’s to be expected (continue reading to find out why).

Over the past decade or so, the most common question leaking from moviegoers’ lips is some form of “Why don’t they make anything new, anymore?”.  As a movie fan, I, too, am upset by the lack of cinematic innovation flowing from Southern California.  Still, I can’t blame Hollywood for leading the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle movement.  Allow me to explain.

Picture yourself in an ice cream store.  There are two flavors available – vanilla and Super Fudge Celery Peanut Salmon Crunch.  What flavor is everyone ordering?  Unless you’ve recently experienced debilitating head trauma, you know everyone is getting vanilla.  Super Fudge Celery Peanut Salmon Crunch may be the best ice cream ever invented, but it’s going to take a lot more than a tiny spoon to convince people to try it.  Now, look at it from the scooper’s side.  He’s spent days, if not months, perfecting his new, delicious flavor of ice cream.  He’s also spent money on all of the premium ingredients that make up the final product.  Now, he needs to convince everyone who walks into his store to try the new flavor.  He scoops out thousands of baby spoonfuls, losing money each time.  Then, only a fraction of the people who taste the new flavor are willing to make a loving commitment to an entire cup or cone of Super Fudge Celery Peanut Salmon Crunch.  Can you blame them?  When you offer vanilla, it’s comforting to people.  They no what to expect, and only the worst version of vanilla would truly upset them.

Now, consider Hollywood’s state of mind.  A large movie studio – let’s use Universal – wants to produce a film.  Universal can pay a couple million dollars for a hot, new script that’s been floating around the agencies, or pay a no-name writer a few hundred thousand bucks to pen a screenplay based on existing content.  The writer already has an advantage, because he doesn’t need to introduce us to the main characters.  He can just jump right into the action.  That gets people in and out of the theater more quickly, which means more showtimes.  When it’s time to cast the movie, the work is already done. Universal has at least one star in place (thanks to contracts that lock actors in for all potential installments in a series), and often, a whole slew (e.g., the Ocean’s 11 and the Pirates of the Caribbean series), so, they don’t need to bring in any other movie stars, or a big-name director.  Then, when it’s time to market the movie, Universal can slap one catchphrase on a million billboards, and people will get the message (Yippe ki-yay…).  Plus, once they post a teaser trailer on YouTube, it is sure to go viral within minutes.  I could go on and on, but you get the point.  Universal can save millions of dollars on production and advertising, and bank on selling millions of tickets to fans of previous installments in the series.  No risk, high reward (especially if you shoot in 3-D).

Should I/Shouldn’t I: If you love action on the big screen, see this one in the theater.  It’s short, and the good stuff starts right away and never lets up.  If you’re looking for a good movie, you’re better off watching the original Die Hard a few dozen times.

Sundae Rating: One scoop of Super Fudge Celery Peanut Salmon Crunch (two scoops if you’re an action junkie)

The 85th Academy Awards – What I think

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Each year, I make an effort to see every film that earns a nomination in the Best Picture category for the Oscars.  I generally get a bit more lazy with the second-tier categories.  However, this year, an unusually high number of nominees in the acting, directing, and writing categories came from the Best Picture nominees, making my 2012 Sunday morning screenings more rewarding and a little less expensive.

While I am far from qualified to argue with the members of the Academy about a particular film’s artistic or technical merits, I believe any person who watches a movie is qualified to offer an opinion about it.  Below are the Academy’s nominations for some of the more high-profile Oscars.  I will do my best to predict the winner in each category, as well as offer my thoughts on the nominees (and the hopefuls who got snubbed) and offer my choice for each award, had I been given the power to vote.

Let’s get down to it.

(Note: “Prediction” = I think this person/picture will win the Oscar.  “Pick” = I would vote for this person/picture if I were granted a vote.)

Best Animated Feature

Nominees: Brave, Frankenweenie, ParaNorman, The Pirates! Band of Misfits, Wreck-It Ralph

Prediction: Brave

Pick: Wreck-It Ralph

I’ll admit I haven’t done the necessary research here.  I’ve only seen two of these five movies, but they are the two heavyweights.  There’s no question this race will come down to Brave and Ralph.  Of the other three, I’d love to see Pirates, but I doubt it will get much consideration from voters.  Brave was a very good movie, with funny characters, beautiful artwork, and a dynamite soundtrack.  However, I found the plot to be weak, especially compared to the rest of Pixar’s filmography.  Having been partially raised by an Irish woman, I was rooting for this picture, but it didn’t quite resonate with me the way I’d hoped it would.  Ralph, on the other hand, blew me away.  Once I saw the preview, I had that “This is going to be awesome, but it might suck” feeling that I often get from trailers.  Luckily, only the first part of that feeling was correct.  With a complex storyline, lovable lead characters, some creative twists, and an impressive sprinkling of classic video game heroes, this movie gave me everything I want in an animated film.  Although I think most viewers would agree that Ralph was a better movie, I have a feeling that the Academy’s love affair with Pixar will carry Brave to victory.

Best Writing – Adapted Screenplay

Nominees: Argo, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook

Prediction: Lincoln

Pick: Lincoln

None of these screenplays blew me away.  Each one has flaws, but some – especially SLP – benefitted from superb acting and directing.  The story behind Argo was so Hollywooded for the big screen that I feel a demerit is in order.  Beasts was such a free-spirited picture that I don’t think the screenplay was firm enough to warrant a victory here.  I love Pi, and I am amazed at Ang Lee’s  ability to make such an engaging movie with just one actor on screen for so much of its duration (major props to Suraj Sharma, as well); however, the magic of this movie is in the cinematography and the artistic special effects, not in the screenplay.  In my opinion, Lincoln suffered from a common flaw in “epic” movies – an overabundance of characters.  With so many people playing a role in the debate and passing of Old Abe’s cherished amendment, I feel Spielberg gave a cursory glance at too many characters and developed too few.  For example, I would have loved to see him delve deeper into the band of misfits played by James Spader, John Hawkes, and Tim Blake Nelson.  That being said, I believe Tony Kushner had the greatest challenge of this bunch – painting a realistic picture of Abraham Lincoln while covering just a fraction of the legend’s entire life – and his screenplay easily matches the others in quality, so I’d give him the nod.

Best Writing – Original Screenplay

Nominees: Amour, Django Unchained, Flight, Moonrise Kingdom, Zero Dark Thirty

Prediction: Zero Dark Thirty

Pick: Moonrise Kingdom

This category is packed with great nominees.  Honestly, I wouldn’t mind seeing any of these screenplays take home the statuette.  Still, only one can win.  I honestly believe that Django would have been a shoe-in had Quentin Tarantino not decided to add about 20 extra pages once production had begun.  The final few scenes in the otherwise extraordinary film were all about QT, not the story.  Plus, I think we’re all getting over his overindulgent dialogue.  I love QT’s movies, but I think, with this picture, he got carried away with leaving his fingerprints on the final product.  The Academy respects Tarantino, but they’re scared of him.  For that reason, I believe he will be beaten out by Mark Boal, yet again.  (Note: Boal won the Oscar in this category for The Hurt Locker the same year Tarantino had a great chance with Inglourious Basterds.)  I enjoyed Flight, and the screenplay was sharp, but I feel it was the least groundbreaking of the group.  Amour was a beautiful movie, but I think the direction and acting were more impressive than the screenplay itself (even though the writer and director are one and the same).  My choice would be Moonrise Kingdom.  Wes Anderson has such a distinct style, yet he always finds new worlds to explore.  The way he blends humor with whimsy always impresses me, and this movie was no exception.  He made a simple story feel like an epic romance, simply by placing the viewer in a world that revolves completely around his two lead characters.  I don’t think he has a real shot at winning, but the nomination definitely shows how much the Academy appreciates Anderson and his unique storytelling skills.

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Nominees: Amy Adams, Sally Field, Anne Hathaway, Helen Hunt, Jacki Weaver

Prediction: Hathaway

Pick: Hunt

The supporting actress category is often chock full of great nominees, even more so than the lead actress category.  Hollywood still writes for male leads, which means the best female roles are often supporting those male leads, not replacing them.  This year, there are some big names fighting for this award.  Jacki Weaver, the least famous of the group, was great in SLP, and she helped complete a record-tying sweep of acting nominations for that film, but she was faced with a tough challenge, having to share the screen with three nominated (and arguably more talented) movie stars.  She definitely got drowned out a little, and voters won’t be willing to honor her over her three more deserving costars.  Amy Adams played a perfectly sweet/creepy puppet master in The Master, but she just doesn’t seem to be getting much buzz, mostly because voters fell out of love with her film after a relatively early release.  Sally Field fought tooth and nail to land the role of Mary Todd Lincoln (who was actually much younger than Abe), and she did a splendid job.  I do think she came across as a bit more loony than Spielberg may have expected, but, for all I know, her portrayal of the First Lady was spot-on.  If the other award shows hadn’t been so obsessed with Hathaway, I’d predict Field as the winner.  Speaking of Hathaway, she certainly made the most of her screen time.  Neither her acting, nor her singing blew me away, but she did stand out as the best singer in a film that was cast based on acting ability more than anything else (I feel Eddie Redmayne was the second-best singer of the bunch).  For some reason, Academy voters seem to be overly impressed with Les Misérables as a whole, and Hathaway’s performance in particular.  My vote would go to Hunt, who amazed me in The Sessions, a movie that deserved far more recognition throughout awards season, in my opinion.  She inhabited her role with complete dedication and reckless abandon (in a good way).  Basically, I think Hunt’s performance required far more bravery than those of the other nominees, and she truly nailed it (pun not intended).

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Nominees: Alan Arkin, Robert De Niro, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Tommy Lee Jones, Christoph Waltz

Prediction: Jones

Pick: Waltz

This is one category that is bothering me.  I didn’t think TLJ’s performance was even nomination-worthy, yet it looks as though he’s going to win an Oscar for it.  I would have replaced him with Dwight Henry, who was the true star of Beasts, Javier Bardem, who terrified me in Skyfall, or John Goodman, who turned in two great supporting performances this year, the better of the two being his turn as Denzel’s best buddy in Flight.  Furthermore, I thought James Spader out-performed TLJ in his own movie.  Alan Arkin was very funny in Argo, but it was nowhere near his incredible (and Oscar-winning) performance in Little Miss Sunshine.  PSH was awesome, as usual, but The Master lost so much of its prestige too early in the awards season process.  If anyone else has a shot to win this category, it’s De Niro.  He was fantastic in SLP, and surprisingly un-De Niro, as well.  I would be more than happy to watch RDN accept his first Oscar in over 30 years, but there’s just too much Lincoln love out there.  I hope I’m wrong.  Christoph Waltz turned in one of the few performances this year that had me jumping out of my chair.  In Django, he was equal parts hilarious, bad-ass, and manipulative.  He somewhat reminded me of a funny Hannibal Lecter, or, more accurately, a more lovable version of his own character in Basterds.

Best Actress in a Leading Role

Nominees: Jessica Chastain, Jennifer Lawrence, Emmanuelle Riva, Quvenzhané Wallis, Naomi Watts

Prediction: Lawrence

Pick: Riva

Jennifer Lawrence has pretty much won every other award, so it’s a safe assumption (yet, not a certainty) that she will take home her first Oscar for her performance in SLP.  She was superb, and she continues to make a name for herself as one of the most believable actresses in Hollywood.  Considering this less-than-stellar crop, I can’t fault anyone for voting for Katniss.  Jessica Chastain is Lawrence’s closest competition, and it would be nice to see ZD30 win a major award (possibly, in addition to Best Adapted Screenplay).  However, I feel that Chastain’s character played a passive role in her own story.  She wasn’t the one doing the torturing, she was rarely doing the interrogation, and she didn’t invade the house.  While she helped moved the story along, I don’t feel Chastain truly carried the movie.  Wallis made an incredible debut in Beasts, but the film was very loose, leaving a lot of room for Wallis to just be what I imagine is herself.  She also benefitted greatly from playing opposite an inspiring performance from Dwight Henry.  Until last week, I would have picked Watts in this category.  She was incredible as a victim of the recent tsunami in Thailand.  She possesses the incredible ability to make filth look beautiful.  She carried the underrated The Impossible, and elevated a wonderful performance from Tom Holland, who played her character’s son.  However, last week, I finally saw Amour, and Riva blew me away.  She was able to portray an elderly woman in failing health with grace and a sense of humor.  That can’t be easy.

Best Actor in a Leading Role

Nominees: Bradley Cooper, Daniel Day-Lewis, Hugh Jackman, Joaquin Phoenix, Denzel Washington

Prediction: Day-Lewis

Pick: Day-Lewis

This category is expected to be a one-horse race, and I don’t have a problem with that.  DDL is such a phenomenal actor, and he so rarely accepts a role, that we are practically conditioned to give him Oscars simply as a token of thanks for gracing our screens with his face.  He certainly was in top form playing President Lincoln, carrying an otherwise underwhelming movie.  He deserves this award, and I’m fairly certain he’ll get it.  That being said, there were two other fantastic performances in this category.  Phoenix perfected the tortured antihero in The Master, and Cooper completely changed the trajectory of his career in SLP.  (In fact, Cooper’s performance, coupled with the belief that his interview with James Lipton on Inside the Actors Studio was the most honest and enjoyable in the series’s storied history, have stoked a rather impassioned man-crush within me.)  Denzel was Denzel, which is always a good thing, but I think we’re past giving him awards for playing the same character so often.  Hugh Jackman’s nomination doesn’t sit well with me.  He was great for the first couple of songs in Les Mis, but once his hair grew in, he started to mail it in.  In his scenes as an ex-con, he showed passion, and his eyes were filled with rage, but all that (as well as his ability to sing on-key) disappeared once Valjean became a proper gentleman.  I definitely would have replaced Jackman with John Hawkes, who flat out mesmerized me in The Sessions and might have even gotten my pick for the win, had he been nominated.  I consider Dwight Henry’s to be a supporting role, although I would have been fine with his inclusion in this category.

Best Director

Nominees: Michael Haneke (Amour), Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild), Ang Lee (Life of Pi), Steven Spielberg (Lincoln), David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook)

Prediction: Spielberg

Pick: Russell

Lee made a gorgeous movie, and I hope it wins a bunch of artistic Oscars, but i don’t see him pulling off an upset here.  Haneke’s movie had the most heart of any in this group, and the acting was superb, but it was a little slow for American audiences, so he won’t be taking home any hardware.  I was happy to see Zeitlin earn his first nomination, as he made a first-rate film with a tiny budget.  Although, if I had to replace one nominee in order to squeeze a very deserving Ben Affleck into this category, it would probably be Zeitlin.  Affleck’s snub is likely the most egregious mistake made by the Academy this year (with Hawkes’s snub close behind).  It may have been caused by the collective assumption, among voters, that Affleck was guaranteed a nomination and, therefore, didn’t need to have his name written on each Academy member’s ballot.  Either way, he has been dominating awards season, which may provide him some bit of comfort.  Spielberg made a technically sound film, but I think DDL’s transcendent performance made it look better than it is.  While I didn’t love Lincoln, Academy voters seem to.  Plus, most of the voting members in the directing category love to show their allegiance to “old Hollywood”, and I think Spielberg has at least one foot on that side of “old”.  Had he been nominated, I may have picked Affleck, and I would have considered Kathryn Bigelow, as well, but of the actual nominees, Russell gets my vote.  SLP is a very good movie, but the acting is phenomenal.  It’s actually the first movies since 1981 (Reds) to earn a nomination in all four acting categories, and I think much of the credit has to go to Russell, especially since so many of the actors (Cooper, De Niro, and Chris Tucker, especially) were playing against type.  

Best Picture

Nominees: Amour, Argo, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Django Unchained, Les Misérables, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, Zero Dark Thirty

Prediction: Lincoln

Pick: Argo

Lincoln is riding full steam ahead into Oscar season, and it will most likely dominate the major categories at the Academy Awards.  Expect Spielberg, along with his cast and crew, to be celebrating the biggest win of all on February 24th.  I won’t go through each film’s chances, as, frankly, there are far too many nominees, but I will point out a few snubs.  Since there are only nine films nominated, I would have loved to see The Sessions sneak into the tenth slot.  I was surprised that film did not get more love from the Academy.  Another film that is nomination-worthy, in my book, is Skyfall.  More than just a Bond movie, Skyfall was a fast-paced, intelligent thriller with a stellar cast and a killer soundtrack (Adele’s “Skyfall” is a lock for Best Original Song).  No doubt, Argo will get a few sentimental votes, as voters revolt against the fools who didn’t nominate Affleck (themselves), and it’s actually been gaining steam with a nice haul at other awards shows, but Lincoln has captured the hearts of voters in many artistic and technical categories.  The same cannot be said for Argo.  I originally thought ZD30 had a good shot at this award, but once Bigelow got dissed in the directing category, her film’s chances dimmed.  Plus, any pity votes she may have garnered have already been cast in support of Affleck’s cause.


Good luck to all of the contenders, and thank you all for taking a few minutes to read through my insignificant musings on the 85th Academy Awards!