The Chatty Pointless Thread

[altcunningham]

The eternal debate.

Is Die Hard a Christmas movie?

Yes or no? Why or why not?

Yes. It takes place during the season. The season is a plot device. The season is referenced in dialogue.

And it's a movie about having to attend an event that you have a violent disinterest in but you have to go because of your significant other to make her happy, and when you go everyone is an asshole and looking to pick a fight. It is a blatant commentary on your SO's work and in-law events.

 

[AceofKnaves]

The four Christmas movies I watch every year are:
-It’s a Wonderful Life
-Gremlins
-Die Hard
-Batman Returns

 

[d2bruce]

The four Christmas movies I watch every year are:
-It’s a Wonderful Life
-Gremlins
-Die Hard
-Batman Returns

I agree, and my list adds Lethal Weapon. Heavily Christmas oriented scenes. Drinking egg nog from the container and more.

 

[Ru1977]

My wife always puts on Elf when we decorate, and Home Alone is one my kids still love so I see that every year too. I always work Die Hard in somewhere in the month, and I do want to watch Lethal Weapon this year too. We also try new Christmas movies every year, hoping to find new favorites. So far it's just... The Jones Brothers Christmas movie, which.... Wasn't as awful as I was expecting but I'll be totally fine if I never see it again.

 

[altcunningham]

I'm doing all the bad Netflix ones like Hot Frosty and whatever shows up on the queue just to do it and embrace the season. Background noise watches while I do things around the house.

Not ashamed to say some of them invest me.

 

[AceofKnaves]

I should rewatch Lethal Weapon, haven’t done so in a couple decades. I guess the Mel Gibson ick keeps it from the front of my mind.
What I *do* need to do is finally get mu DVD player going so I can watch the classic Tales from the Crypt episode with Larry Drake as the deranged killer in the Santa suit.
“Naughty? . . . or nice?”

 

[Ru1977]

Yes the ick is a hindrance but I have an easier time with Lethal Weapon than The Ref (due to Spacey, I have gotten over Denis Leary, heh).

 

[docsilence]

I think the only two Christmas movies I make sure to watch every year are Muppet Christmas Carol because it's of course the best adaptation of that story ever, and Muppet Family Christmas, because "Look out for the icy patch" is the greatest piece of recurring slapstick comedy I have ever seen.

 

[AceofKnaves]

The Ref

I have a complicated relationship with that film because it is not just one of my favorite Christmas movies, it’s one of my favorite comedies of all time. It’s for me what I gather Home Alone is for other people. The whole cast is *phenomenal*.
But . . . Kevin fucking Spacey.

 

[Ru1977]

I think the only two Christmas movies I make sure to watch every year are Muppet Christmas Carol because it's of course the best adaptation of that story ever, and Muppet Family Christmas, because "Look out for the icy patch" is the greatest piece of recurring slapstick comedy I have ever seen.

I don't know that I've seen the Family one... I must remedy that tonight.

I have a complicated relationship with that film because it is not just one of my favorite Christmas movies

Same!

, it’s one of my favorite comedies of all time.

Also same. It has some cheese but the dialogue is so awesome and the three leads are wonderful together. And there's just so many funny little throwaway lines.

It’s for me what I gather Home Alone is for other people. The whole cast is *phenomenal*.

True. Like the dinner table scene is just amazing for everyone involved.

But . . . Kevin fucking Spacey.

It's a pretty big butt. I used to watch it almost annually, then stopped when all that came out. We did show it to the kids last year, and it's still the only Spacey thing I think I've watched the last few years. Maybe I could watch Al Pacino dress him down in Glengarry though...

 

[AceofKnaves]

Maybe I could watch Al Pacino dress him down in Glengarry though...

Ahhhh but Spacey “wins” that fight.

Spacey is a tough one because unlike some of the right-wing lunk actors who have been “canceled” for being hideous people, he actually has staggering talent. Like the guy has always been an acting idol of mine, it’s always educational to watch him work. But holy shit he is a *monster*. I don’t know that I have sat through a full Spacey film (other than Se7en, which I watch all the time because it is Se7en) since the stuff came out.

 

[Ru1977]

Ahhhh but Spacey “wins” that fight.

Shit. I didn't remember that. I just remember Pacino tearing him apart, which to me was the real victory heh. Well fuck it, I'll just watch Baldwin's scene. Everytime one of my kids mention they're phone died, I unleash on them with the whole, "A-B-C! A, always, B, be, C, charging. Always-Be-Charging!"

Spacey is a tough one because unlike some of the right-wing lunk actors who have been “canceled” for being hideous people, he actually has staggering talent.

Like the guy has always been an acting idol of mine, it’s always educational to watch him work. But holy shit he is a *monster*. I don’t know that I have sat through a full Spacey film (other than Se7en, which I watch all the time because it is Se7en) since the stuff came out.

I haven't even watched Se7en honestly, and that's probably the easiest one because he's playing a monster too. but yeah, he was an amazing talent. You know which one I only ever saw once? American Beauty. Yeah, I get why people were so into it at the time, but I also felt like they were missing some things that turned my stomach.

 

[SDcomics]

The one movie I always watch every Christmas Eve, and have since I was five years old: The 1938 version of a Christmas Carol.

A timeless classic with a simple and powerful moral: It's never too late to change.

 

[AceofKnaves]

Well fuck it, I'll just watch Baldwin's scene.

Fun fact: that scene is not in the play.
Mamet added it for the film.
Wild to me, since I’ve done the stage show a couple times now in different roles, but all anyone remembers is Baldwin and clanking balls. Folks actually get confused when they don’t see that scene, and if it were up to me I’d add it into the parade version the way Aaron Sorkin revised the stage version of A Few Good Men after it got solid rewrites (removing the “smoking gun” and making Caffee’s run at Jessup a “Hail Mary” rather than a setup) for the film.

 

[TheSameIdiot]

The good news is Spacey's catalog is largely crap. Outside of Se7en, American Beauty, The Usual Suspects, LA Confidential, Moon, and Glengarry, there isn't much you'd want to see. I doubt American Beauty or The Usual Suspects hold up anymore, either. Se7en is the only one I'd revisit.

Now Gremlins, GREMLINS is a Christmas movie, because of the Santa story.

It also has the single darkest line in any mainstream movie. My wife and I quote it all the time.

"While everybody else is opening up their presents, they're opening up their wrists."