The Random Image Thread
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Remember to leave out a pumpkin full of raw meat for Sasha this year, kids.
The homemade birthday card my son gave me last week:
For the hell of it, I watched Die Hard recently for Xmas. I think I saw it once as a kid? All my other knowledge of it comes from memes and homages in other shows.
Probably gonna catch some hate here, but... it was just ok. I appreciated the practical effects and stunts, but the plot was full of bullet holes. I ended up zoning out at parts until the action started kicking in. It's such a guy movie. Estranged husband and dad gets to prove his worth by killing bad guys. The higher level authorities are wrong and he is right. Violence is the answer.
On a side note, TMM mentioned that Home Alone is like Die Hard for kids XD
Oh, yeah, no. It's total 80's shlock. I think the only reason it's as beloved as it is is that it's a christmas movie where the villain isn't redeemed, just killed.
Don't forget the Christmas Miracle where Carl Winslow learns that the power to shoot people was inside him all along!
But truth be told, I do love Die Hard. I had actually never seen it until I was in my late 20's, which is kind of shocking given my age and how omnipresent it was during my formative years. It came out when I was 8, so of course I was too young to see it at the time, then somehow, without TRYING to avoid it, I just somehow never did see it. I would run across it on cable, but it would always be about 1/2 way through, so I wouldn't want to start in the middle. Then, when I was around 27-ish, my wife took me out to dinner and a surprise movie on my birthday. We got to the little local theater, and I still wasn't sure what we were going to see. They only have 3 screens, and none of the films listed on the marquee seemed like something that she would bother keeping secret, so I was still confused. Once we went inside, though, I realized that it was the night of the free weekly Christmas movie (my birthday is mid-December) and they were showing Die Hard, so my first time seeing it was a full on theater experience. It's a total 80's action movie, but, to paraphrase Hans Gruber, it is not a common 80's action movie, it is an EXTRAORDINARY 80's action movie. It's got memorable villains, a flawed hero, tension that constantly ratchets up throughout the film, and just the right amount of heart.
It's also a great example of what I like about 80's action movies vs. the more modern ones. I don't know if it was the Taken series or if it came before that (I'm actually not a huge action movie connoisseur) but at some point, action movies became about hyper-competent individuals almost effortlessly running through a series of forgettable generic baddies for an hour and a half. The best 80's action movies always had a fairly average protagonist who got into a situation that was way over their head, then barely came through on the other side due to their modest set of skills, grit, determination, and a lot of luck. Like, it's a move, so you knew that the hero was going to win, but a good movie always made it seem like there was almost no way that they would.
But truth be told, I do love Die Hard. I had actually never seen it until I was in my late 20's, which is kind of shocking given my age and how omnipresent it was during my formative years. It came out when I was 8, so of course I was too young to see it at the time, then somehow, without TRYING to avoid it, I just somehow never did see it. I would run across it on cable, but it would always be about 1/2 way through, so I wouldn't want to start in the middle. Then, when I was around 27-ish, my wife took me out to dinner and a surprise movie on my birthday. We got to the little local theater, and I still wasn't sure what we were going to see. They only have 3 screens, and none of the films listed on the marquee seemed like something that she would bother keeping secret, so I was still confused. Once we went inside, though, I realized that it was the night of the free weekly Christmas movie (my birthday is mid-December) and they were showing Die Hard, so my first time seeing it was a full on theater experience. It's a total 80's action movie, but, to paraphrase Hans Gruber, it is not a common 80's action movie, it is an EXTRAORDINARY 80's action movie. It's got memorable villains, a flawed hero, tension that constantly ratchets up throughout the film, and just the right amount of heart.
It's also a great example of what I like about 80's action movies vs. the more modern ones. I don't know if it was the Taken series or if it came before that (I'm actually not a huge action movie connoisseur) but at some point, action movies became about hyper-competent individuals almost effortlessly running through a series of forgettable generic baddies for an hour and a half. The best 80's action movies always had a fairly average protagonist who got into a situation that was way over their head, then barely came through on the other side due to their modest set of skills, grit, determination, and a lot of luck. Like, it's a move, so you knew that the hero was going to win, but a good movie always made it seem like there was almost no way that they would.
It's also really the first big tentpole action movie where the lead character isn't the strong, silent type. He's a mouthy jackass. He's got constant quips instead of "manly" one liners after killing a villain. This movie inspired an entirely new type of action protagonist.
Spent the day going to a museum with a Jim Henson / Muppet exhibit
So much all of that...
Not just movies, either. YouTube is awful for it.
And a lot of TV and stuff these days.
Not just movies, either. YouTube is awful for it.
And a lot of TV and stuff these days.
