Christmas Day Wonkette Movie Matinee: Die Hard
'Come out to the coast. We'll get together, have a few laughs...'
Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! Feliz Navidad! Happy Hanukah! Happy Kwanzaa! Seasons Greetings! & DIE HARD!
There's not much I can say about this movie that you don't already know. It's a raucous action flick with great one-liners that we love to quote. Bruce Willis is a New York City cop that finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time after some bad guys take over the skyscraper where his estranged wife is trapped in the worst office holiday party ever. As Willis' character John McClane plays a cat and mouse game with Alan Rickman's Hans Gruber, McClane knocks off the terrorists ("Who said we were terrorists?") one by one. Taunting Hans Gruber through a walkie talkie with great lines,
"Just a fly in the ointment Hans. The monkey in the wrench. The pain in the ass."
But the best quote, is this of course, say it with me:
"Yippie-ki-yay motherfucker!"
A really fun and artistic take on Die Hard by Bec Hill and Jonnie Common is Die Hard Pop-Up Book. (Thanks to Wonker Frank for the link.)
Some people don't have others to celebrate the holiday with and yet some might like to take a break from the ones they are with! So we come together and watch a movie. It is our own unique, smart, fun and dysfunctional family. And family, no matter what or who it is made up of can help hold us up when shit wants to pull us down.
As most know, the star of this movie, Bruce Willis was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia. And what has been the most important part of this story is how his family has surrounded him with love. His ex wife Demi Moore and their three children have pulled together with Bruce's current wife and their two children to help a man they all clearly love on his journey with this disease.
(Willis Family Statement, The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration)
We all have journeys we take in life and usually they're a little easier if we aren't walking alone. And just hanging out in Wonkette's comments means you are not alone. It may not give you all you want but to paraphrase the Rolling Stones, sometimes you get what you need.
An update on Bruceβs health from Demi Moore in People:
βAs she told Christiane Amanpour during a Dec. 5 CNN interview, Bruce is in a "very stable place at the moment."
"And I've shared this before, but I really mean this so sincerely: It's so important for anybody who's dealing with this to really meet them where they're at," The Substance star continued. "And from that place, there is such loving and joy."
Die Hard stars Bruce Willis, Bonnie Bedelia, Alan Rickman, Reginald VelJohnson, William Atherton and Alexander Godunov. Directed by John McTierman.
Available with subscription on Prime and Disney+. Free with ads on Tubi, The Roku Channel and Pluto TV. $3.99 in the usual places.
To make requests, see the movie lists and schedules go to WonkMovie.
Our animated short is a delightfully sweet tale of friendship by Kealan OβRourke, The Lost Letter narrated by Kate Winslet.
Find me on Bluesky as ziggywiggy.
I had a great time, how about you guys? Thanks for joining the party. This Saturday is ππ‘π ππ’π¨π§ ππ§ ππ’π§πππ«.
https://open.substack.com/pub/ziggywiggy/p/wonkette-movie-night-dec-28-the-lion?r=2knfuc&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
And as recommended by Rebecca: πππ° ππππ«'π¬ πππ² ππππ’π§ππ: ππ«πππ’π§π ππ₯ππππ¬ ππ©π¦ ππ
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In an article for the 30th anniversary of the film, Bonnie Bedelia stated that the first thing she thinks of when someone mentions the movie is Alan Rickman. The two became friends and had lunch together every day while shooting the movie. She expressed how lovely and gentle Rickman was in real life. Alan Rickman nearly passed up the role of Hans Gruber, which ended up being his first film role. He had only arrived in Hollywood two days earlier and was appalled by the idea of his first role being the villain in an action film. To a degree, Rickman was right to be concerned considering his performance as Hans Gruber was so hailed that the actor had to struggle against being typecast as a player of villains for much of his career.