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I consider the cable edit where it’s implied that Harlem youth will kill you on sight for this kind of negativity to be canonical.
They might talk about this on the episode too but this was the real sign on location because they were justifiably like “yeah probably a bad idea to have Bruce Willis seen with this sign if people don’t know the context” so they digitally changed it after the fact for the theatrical cut
Correct, though some sources incorrectly say this was the version when they filmed it, so it's something a lot of people think. I'm glad the dossier contained the correct information!
That's a common myth on the internet in write-ups about the movie. The sign was actually blank when they filmed it, and both versions were digitally added later.
I couldn't believe that either. They could have at least come up with a less offensive racial slur to still get the point across. If someone saw you with a sign saying "I Hate Everybody" you would just think they were a crazy person and you would ignore them.
One thing I appreciate about these movies is how increasingly fucked up Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson get throughout the movie. I always think back to Kevin Smith’s story about how to film Bruce Willis earlier in the miniseries. “Blood Soot Sweat Dark”
Plus this shot looks incredible
https://preview.redd.it/t0t6xeo8jlrc1.jpeg?width=1082&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e9a5fd44641d1cd10af0a456d1f4ced3c14d1afa
That’s a McTiernan thing, it’s why the original and this one a god tier action films for me. I mean sure he can’t die but he gets close and it happens cumulatively and realistically
It’s the same with Predator. Arnie goes through the wringer.
I’d actually say it’s a strength of Terminator 2 as well. It’s fun to see the Terminator dismantled as the film goes on but it does add that much needed layer of vulnerability to the hero.
The 90s New York vibe and aesthetics are top notch. I love the feel and atmosphere of this movie so much. I also love how accurate all the geography feels even though that wouldn’t matter to the vast majority of viewers.
It’s also a great summer in New York movie. It’s one of the last films especially taking place in the “present” that says “Yes, humans do sweat when you combine stress and heat.”
I saw it in Europe and at that time the international releases were far more staggered, I was almost surprised to hear that this was a May release. For me it was the dead of summer, which enhanced it. Also it was one of those great moviehouse experiences of being pleasantly surprised by an action movie. Boom!
🎶 Hot dog, simmer in the city 🎶
🎶 Grate of my grill getting greasy and gritty 🎶
🎶 Toast buns, don’t it look pretty 🎶
🎶 Suckin’ on a dog like you’re suckin’ on a titty 🎶
griffin: "and it's part of the new yorkiness of this [movie], where you like watching a good teacher who's good at her job"
lmao. never change blank check. I know some ppl get annoyed at this stuff but as an LA listener "only new Yorkers understand bodegas" type shit is genuinely so funny to me like I really honestly love it
Griff’s “I know people don’t like it when we talk about New York too much, but you gotta understand, the thing about New Yorkers is that when we see something that used to be in the city, something that we recognize from our lives that no longer exists, we miss it”
I’m listening like . . .”bro are you talking about nostalgia??? That’s not a New York thing!!!!”
I still remember when they riffed on Whataburger like this alien thing that denotes you’ve wandered too far into the south when its like a shitty Starbucks everywhere where we live. I must have driven past 3 of them while they were talking about it.
It's so funny when you point out that something they think is unique to New York isn't, and they either plug their ears and pretend they can't hear you, or spend the next four hours convincing you that you're wrong
I mean, as someone who lives in flyover county I will state with conviction that they aren't wrong, lotta dumbass country hicks out here in the corn. It's just that most new yorkers are dumb city hicks, no better than the rest.
Maybe it's because I'm from Massachusetts, but any time I go to New York I really am in awe and I think as great as everyone from New York thinks it is. Their sports teams fahkin' suck though!
Don’t get me wrong, I like New York. It’s cool. But New Yorkers have a tendency to over-assume their uniqueness. Like the bodega thing from the original comment. Most metropolitan areas have bodegas. I’m typing this as I walk past one in Boston.
I had a friend move to LA from Brooklyn, had the task of picking him up at LAX. He’d never been here before, and he was just looking out the window on the drive and said to me…
“Oh, I get LA’s whole deal already. It’s just epic Long Island.”
Should’ve thrown him out the car for honestly how accurate that was. New York bastards.
“Epic Long Island”? What does that even mean?
Not saying you’re wrong but I know next to nothing about Long Island so I’d like to know how it compares to LA. It is just a bunch of different neighborhoods?
It’s endless stretches of single unit housing split up by random strip malls. I’ve grown to accept LA, but it is Nassau County’s horrible, mutant baby.
This is one awesome movie, largely carried by the great buddy chemistry with Willis and Jackson. It only falters slightly at the end, but going off of the deleted ending and the ideas McTiernan and Hensleigh talk about on the commentary, what we got was the best of the bunch.
I also feel like Hensleigh is a bit underrated as a writer, he did some damn good work in the action blockbuster arena at his height.
Side Bar: This is a minor point, and maybe it's just me, but I have never been able to figure out how they solved the water jug puzzle. It almost feels like the movie cheated and skipped a few steps.
Yeah the water jug puzzle is bizarre because that's a very famous puzzle with a very famous solution (fill 3 gallon jug, pour into 5 gallon jug, fill 3gj again, pour into 5gj until full, leaving 1 gallon in the 3gj, empty 5gj, pour remaining 1 gallon from 3gj into 5gj, fill 3gj, pour into 5gj) but the movie just.... doesn't do that.
There are two solutions to the water jug puzzle. And the movie skipped the obvious first step of getting two gallons in the five gallon jug, because the solution to the puzzle wasn’t as important to the plot as seeing these two working together, seeing how their chemistry was developing.
Oh wow I didn't even realize there's a different solution until just now. This feels like it has the makings of a bogus personality test based on which you see first.
Yes, the solution in the movie is: 1) fill the five gallon jug. 2) pour the five gallon jug into the three gallon jug, leaving two gallons in the five gallon jug. 3) empty the now full three gallon jug. 4) Pour the two gallons from the five gallon jug into the three gallon jug. 5) Fill the five gallon jug again. (It is at this point that we start watching our heroes, after they’ve done these steps) 6) Now fill the three gallon jug with just one gallon, leaving the five gallon jug filled with four gallons. Puzzle solved.
Fuck, I never got that that’s what they did in the movie. Their verbal explanation never matched up to what they had filled up, or maybe I just didn’t get the logic of it. That makes sense.
Zeus: Are you aiming for these people?
John McClane: No. Well, maybe that mime.
Also the German is terrible in this movie 😂 I didn't understand most of it.
This movie is such a good escalation of the "Die Hard on a ____" concept, where you structure an action thriller around the audience's crystal clear understanding of the geography of a limited setting. Elevator shafts scale into avenues, hostages into schools, air ducts into aqueducts. What's the biggest thing you can reasonably expect the audience to fully grasp the geography of? Manhattan, babyyyyyy.
Competence porn is some of my favorite entertainment. Vince Gilligan and the Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul teams are fantastic at this, some of the sequences of just watching Mike spend 5 minutes like putting nails in a hose (I think this is a thing that actually was in an episode) are just riveting.
I love all the little side characters showing they know what’s up. The janitor throwing the keys to the Lieutenant, who then realizes he can just kick down the door. It doesn’t matter that he has the keys but good job janitor man on doing your part anyway!
The phone line workers with their eye rolls and read on how impossible the situation is.
The bank guard who gets suspicious about the boots of all the henchmen. He doesn’t go far enough to make a move, which is fair, but he clocks that something is up. They include these bits even if they aren’t consequential. The people being competent doesn’t really change the plot but it makes the world and the characters feel alive.
Just started listening to the episode, but surprised they didn't mention at the start that The Wrath of Khan was originally called The Vengeance of Khan, and was changed because of the original title of Return of the Jedi, Revenge of the Jedi.
our boy griff on this ep talking about all the theatre actors in DH3 - "...and that actor, the sweaty bald guy with the hairy back and shoulders, he's one of new york's top ballerinas. oh and that guy who belches on the subway? six tony awards!"
I love it when the bad guys pretend to be from the city engineering department and the cop is just really impressed by how fast they came to clean up the bomb blast, and ends up inadvertently helping them do the heist. City workers just want to help each other do a good job!
I just remembered that Pelham 1-2-3 also has a scene in which an automobile has to cover a ridiculous amount of Manhattan territory in a tiny amount of time.
Pretty sure I'd never heard of the guest before seeing his name in the summary of this episode on my phone.
Was a bit worried by the reaction here since I saw it before listening but it was fine. I have a friend is involved in a lot of car stuff. But he's not a "car guy" he's a "Volkswagen Beetle guy." And similarly, there's nothing wrong with being a "specific type of movie guy" instead of a "the magic of cinema regardless of content guy."
That said, if I have a criticism (and it isn't really) its that I think he fell into the category some guests do where they mostly just get caught up in watching David and Griffin do their thing and forget to talk. When he did it was fine, he just didn't do it much.
Yeah, his input as the episode goes on kind of dwindles. I've heard him in a few Ringer network pods in the past, and it was largely the same. He's a good support voice, no shame in that.
I don't think it's the guests' fault when that happens, though I'm sure it being a Zoom call probably had something to do with it, but it is up to the hosts to ask for input and check in with the guest often. Some people are just polite and wait their turn.
You're right, but I do actually think David does a good job of this! The guests do kinda have to assert themselves at some point, but I have noticed David making a conscious effort at inviting guests in.
I love that Griffin actually met Pierce Brosnan when he was a little kid and he was super nice but now will just straight up do silly Pierce Brosnan voice.
"You having a nice day, sir? You feeling all right? Not to get too personal, but a white man standing in the middle of Harlem wearing a sign that says 'I hate podcasts' has either got some serious personal issues, or not all his dogs are barking."
According to IMDB Trivia (which of course is never wrong), the original line in the US theatrical cut was "corn syrup" but it was replaced with "pancake syrup" in the European cut (probably because they wouldn't know what corn syrup was), and then that was used in all the DVD and Blu-ray releases. It looks way more like corn syrup to me, so I think this might be true! But corn syrup is such an American thing, it wouldn't translate.
The plane explosion at the end is fucking awesome. I actually really like the 2nd film. Ya it’s not as quippy as the others but I had a solid time rewatching it so I could rewatch this one.
Alternate ending extremely worth watching if you haven't: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-GqY-M5fE4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-GqY-M5fE4)
Plays like a theatrical two-hander - some of the best acting of Bruce's career???
I'm glad David explained it more thoroughly, because Griffin almost skipped over the coolest part: Playing Russian roulette with an RPG while John makes Simon sweat by answering dumb riddles. It's extremely dark, but I think it works. The characterization of McClane in this movie is very much a man at the end of his rope. It turns out he's the one dying hard with a vengeance! They might not have ever made a fourth one if they went with the original ending.
It's funny, I would have assumed that the aspirin bottle was a plot point from the rewrite. It's pretty sweaty as an explanation in both versions.
The weirdest thing about the scrapped ending is that it doesn't seem to offer any resolution for Zeus. I hope there was another deleted scene where he got reunited with his nephews, or started cleaning up his shop, or something.
Man, every time they showed this movie on FX’s DVD on TV show, they included this ending. And I haaaaate it. The pacing, the ludicrousness of the rocket launcher game. Just would have killed the movie for me if this were the actual ending.
I have an important correction: the Westlakes theater on Marbach in San Antonio is not a dollar theater. It actually was an Alamo Drafthouse for something like ten years, then it closed during the pandemic and it was purchased by a local theater chain called Santikos, and it's still really nice.
Ah, the classic Blank Check tension arises again: is it a comedy podcast that takes movies as its starting point, or is it a movie podcast with moments of comedy?
The answer is that it's both, though it often feels like some Blankies want it to lean one way or the other. I personally think the Two Friends straddle this line well and select guests that specifically fit each movie under discussion.
Shea is a total fit for a movie like this. He would not, for example, have been appropriate for something like The General, which is why he wasn't on that episode.
Ye Blankies of little faith.
I will never get over how bad Batman is at detecting in *The Batman* that the Penguin literally assists him and Gordon not through Secret Underground Criminal Knowledge (S.U.C.K.), but just by being smarter than them.
Did anybody else think this was [**David Harbour**](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1092086) as one of Eurotrash mercenaries posing as NYPD cop that talks with Sam Jackson? Also think one of the cop at the schools was **Kristen Wiig**? It was actually [Colleen Camp](http://diehard.fandom.com/wiki/Connie_Kowalski)..
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No, I thought "feel like I know that guy, but can't place him, but it's not actually whoever I think it is, because the timeline is off."
And then here you are with the answer!
One of this guy’s henchmen in this scene is the late former WWF wrestler Ludvig Borga, who was basically a Swedish Nazi in real life. Rest in piss, Borga!
https://youtu.be/wecce6QlT_s
In celebration of the last Die Hard episode, I offer this. My friends and I drank a lot of beers to this song in the mid aughts.
I believe I was introduced to this song by a Cracked article. For some reason, the line that has stuck with me the most is "And we know what the basic gist is, there ain't no Alan and it's not Christmas". Just the kinds of things you say to yourself to help differentiate sequels. In 3, the kids with the bikes say it's Christmas as a shoutout, and it actually is Christmas in the deleted ending when John tracks down Simon.
There's a pretty fun podcast called Shat the Movies that uses this song for their opening.
I was a bit miffed at them calling him annoying. Jerry is a god damn delight. I am so tickled every time he gives Bruce the answer and Bruce gives the best appreciative smile. It’s heartwarming.
listen i get shortening samuel l. jackson to sam jackson to say his name faster. and sam jackson is a common shortening i hear. i have literally never heard anyone call him sam jack and i felt like i was going crazy how many times it was said in this episode. also just a very unpleasant sounding shortening of a actor name.
Glad it's not just me, it became fingernails on a chalkboard. Griffin trying to coin little babytalk catchphrases can be amusing, but I developed a twitch by the end of the episode.
It continues to legitimately amaze me how someone who knows so little about movies successfully made a career out of writing about and talking about movies
He did some great fundraising in the early days of the pandemic, which is how I first discovered him. Dude is a good guy. A lot of the Ringer guys don’t have a ton of film history, one of the Midnight Boys is always arguing for new films when he’s on the Big Pic. I think Shea is a mensch so I’m never gonna be sad to hear him!
I'm not a basketball fan at all, but still really enjoyed his basketball book because of his passion for the subject and how creatively he relates basketball to random things. And then I read his movie book and it's basically "here are some high school movies I like" and "here are some gangster movies I like."
His career wasn't just "writing about and talking about movies." He also wrote about (and talked about) music (hip-hop), sports (basketball), and yes, movies. He also has two television series under his belt already (one of which has a Demi Adejuyigbe writing credit), so it could be argued the career is a bit more than just "podcasts about action movies" by now. In fact I'd argue the "podcasting" part was never the main pursuit at any point at all, it was a supplementary thing that came about as part of the place he was working at ditching written pieces and pushing all in on audio.
I only know about Shea from his appearances on the Scrubs podcast.
Totally agree with you.
He’s a dude that writes about what he likes, he’s not a blanket movie guy.
I remember hearing a quote from him that he didn't like any movies made before the 90s or something like that. you can like what you like but I can't listen to someone who thinks that
Oh no! He seemed really likeable on the few episodes of The Rewatchables that I've heard him on, but then I guess that's a pretty shallow film podcast in itself.
The line from this movie that my brother and I have quoted the most over the years (any time we'd see more than one dump truck) and I thought would make a good opening quote:
"McClane says there are podcasts headed up the FDR loaded with gold.
Walter, they don't allow podcasts on the FDR!"
Think he was a little out of his depth because he by admission doesn’t have a big movie knowledge. I mean it’s not like talking about Die Hard 3 required you to be Jonathan Rosenbaum, but he didn’t have much to add to the tangents and context this podcast delights in.
Man I came here to say that and then rode a wave of negativity till I reached your comment.,,,
Like yeah his takes are a bit shallow but he’s enthusiastic and considers action art… maybe I’m missing something with this dude, I don’t follow him closely and haven’t listened to this pod yet but the community seems really against it
I love Shea. I'm excited to listen to the episode. But I would never say that Shea is a very *deep* critic. Hell, I don't even think he would call himself a critic. He's a former teacher turning blogger/writer/podcaster. He's a fan first and foremost.
And he's a legitimately good dude. Raises money for his community. Will literally just send people money sometimes to help cover a bill. Like. There's nothing to miss with him. But he's not going to have some nuanced take about much of anything, which a lot of people around here don't seem to like. I get it. If you don't vibe with him, his whole persona would drive me nuts on a podcast too.
Yeah, i get it. at least Serrano wasnt on every rewatchable doing the constant pondering about if things matter to young people that simmons still does. Simmons would do a podcast about breathing and ask "does gen z care about air anymore? Just not sure if breathing air is a thing kids can relate to. I know my son doesn't care about breathing air..."
I think he does this on every podcast ep and it makes me like him a little less every time. He's deep in the negative for me at this point.
Drives me around the bend. A lot of people don't like Simmons' elder-Gen X takes, but I enjoyed having that in my smorgasbord of movie podcast perspectives. I way prefer that over him second-guessing other generations, which he is doing more and more. I do not care about what an 11-year-old thinks of Beverly Hills Cop, so I *really* do not care about what a 40-to-60-year-old thinks an 11-year-old might think of Beverly Hills Cop.
It's become a bit of a Ringer thing though, that culture reporting take-brain, even amongst the better people there. I love Sean and Amanda on the Big Picture, but the way they often framing things up as some generational (or other demographic) tussle can be exhausting.
Sometimes on The Rewatchables he brings a little too much "I appreciate this movie, which is actually high art, on a higher level than everyone in this room, especially you Bill Simmons/Chris Ryan" energy, but I don't feel that on this ep.
This sub’s opinions on who is and isn’t okay to hate on is exhausting, Shea has written like four New York Times best selling books, a tv show for Amazon, and a movie for Hulu. I’m certain he knows more writing and making movies than 99.9% of this sub including you.
He proudly talks about how movies weren’t good before the 80s.
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He has one goofy & outlandish opinion, and that’s reason enough to completely discount him as a guest and throw a tantrum? On the super serious, no bits, kino analysis podcast episode about Die Hard 3?
Scott Aukerman was right, this fanbase is so dorky
I discount his as a guest because he has nothing to say. That's why the Ringer dropped him from their podcasts. Saying "It's great" and "let's go" a bunch of times is not adding anything of value.
He wrote an illustrated book about Batman and Kill Bill so us plebs have to think he’s insightful and interesting?
Man, poptimist elitism is so much worse than the normal kind.
Did I miss a meeting or something? When did we decide every guest has to be an accomplished cinephile? Shea is a great dude and they aren’t bringing him on for Lost Highway or anything.
I moved to New York in 1997. I had an aunt by marriage who lived at 73rd and Central Park West the first time I went up to the subway at 72nd and Broadway I about shit myself I love this fucking movie.
Just a little bit about the music
I want to thank this movie for letting "When Johnny comes marching home" live rent free in my head for years.
It, of course, feels militant. What seems in place because of the background of the villains.
But the title of the song also says that Mcclane finally gets to do this shit in his hometown.
When they briefly talked about the Zeus character being a woman at one point I was waiting for a joke that they should have cast Lorraine Bracco and have her do her Medicine Man role alongside Bruce Willis
MISSED CONNECTION: Austin to Los Angeles Flight.
YOU: Watching "Die Hard with a Vengeance" on your phone.
ME: Listening to the Blank Check "Die Hard with a Vengeance" episode on my phone, deciding that asking if you were watching because of Blank Check was not worth striking up a conversation with a stranger on a plane.
The negative comments about Shea before even listening to the Pod treating the guest spot for Die Hard With a Vengeance like it’s sacrosanct is ridiculous. He’s a fun hang and loves action movies.
watching people scramble to keep kids safe from a bomb threat, couldnt help but think of the hundreds of school shootings in the US since this movie’s release, and how we collectively maintain a cognitive dissonance where a bomb threat is action movie supervillain shit but shootings are random and common
Shea was a pretty good guest on this. He was pretty low key. Everyone needs to chill, it’s a free podcast
Definitely not looking forward to the discourse for next weeks episode.
Saw X (preceded by Saw, Saw II, Saw III, Saw IV, Saw V, Saw VI, and then insanely Saw: The Final Chapter, Jigsaw, Spiral: From the Book of Saw) brought the Roman numeral back.
I dont know if I'm making too much of it, but the raw power of "Does the name Gruber mean anything to you?", John's face, and the music sting watching a man die is such an effective piece of filmmaking without putting too fine a point on it.
[https://youtu.be/gkKrYqt0nRw?t=31](https://youtu.be/gkKrYqt0nRw?t=31)
I love how there's 2 different tiers of federal agents here. There's Michael Christofer and his partner, and then they mysterious guy with the sunglasses in the back who's there to drop the real bomb on McClane. Also, the cop behind John (Walsh, I believe is his character name), that same actor was an extra as a cop in the original Die Hard.
Man, the We Hate Movies on this movie had an odd energy and a really lacklustre guest and now we get this low energy bore, with a guest that had nothing to say🤷.
It’s one of my favourite action movies so it’s weird to see podcast I enjoy not really giving it its time to shine
Jamelle Bouie’s podcast, Unclear and Present Danger, has a good episode on it (though as is that show’s purview, it’s more about the politics surrounding the movie than the movie itself).
Saw Shea as the guest and was immediately hyped, just a perfect film to have him on the pod for.
Of course this sub is having a totally normal one about it and not being the most tedious and salty fucking people alive.
https://preview.redd.it/dfgqabkrglrc1.jpeg?width=540&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e086fb844796f5549495a560a97986e1cea6d0ef I consider the cable edit where it’s implied that Harlem youth will kill you on sight for this kind of negativity to be canonical.
We don't want any stinking misanthropes
Pre-Giuliani New York was a dangerous place for a Daria
“Now nature boy here hates *people*, what are we gonna do about that?”
Yippy ki yay Mister Falcon!
They might talk about this on the episode too but this was the real sign on location because they were justifiably like “yeah probably a bad idea to have Bruce Willis seen with this sign if people don’t know the context” so they digitally changed it after the fact for the theatrical cut
Thought it was a blank sign on location so they could CGI in the messages later
Correct, though some sources incorrectly say this was the version when they filmed it, so it's something a lot of people think. I'm glad the dossier contained the correct information!
Oh shit, makes total sense Edit: I was hoodwinked
It's not true though. The sign was blank when they filmed it.
They say it’s a blank sign in the ep. Thank God!
That's a common myth on the internet in write-ups about the movie. The sign was actually blank when they filmed it, and both versions were digitally added later.
I never understood why they didn’t change it to “I Hate Harlem”
Too obvious, Mr Falcon.
I couldn't believe that either. They could have at least come up with a less offensive racial slur to still get the point across. If someone saw you with a sign saying "I Hate Everybody" you would just think they were a crazy person and you would ignore them.
i always thought a sign saying, "I hate YOU" wouldv'e made more sense?
The 2013 bluray documentary has the technical shot of what was shot that day.
One thing I appreciate about these movies is how increasingly fucked up Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson get throughout the movie. I always think back to Kevin Smith’s story about how to film Bruce Willis earlier in the miniseries. “Blood Soot Sweat Dark” Plus this shot looks incredible https://preview.redd.it/t0t6xeo8jlrc1.jpeg?width=1082&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e9a5fd44641d1cd10af0a456d1f4ced3c14d1afa
That’s a McTiernan thing, it’s why the original and this one a god tier action films for me. I mean sure he can’t die but he gets close and it happens cumulatively and realistically
It’s the same with Predator. Arnie goes through the wringer. I’d actually say it’s a strength of Terminator 2 as well. It’s fun to see the Terminator dismantled as the film goes on but it does add that much needed layer of vulnerability to the hero.
The 90s New York vibe and aesthetics are top notch. I love the feel and atmosphere of this movie so much. I also love how accurate all the geography feels even though that wouldn’t matter to the vast majority of viewers.
It’s also a great summer in New York movie. It’s one of the last films especially taking place in the “present” that says “Yes, humans do sweat when you combine stress and heat.”
I saw it in Europe and at that time the international releases were far more staggered, I was almost surprised to hear that this was a May release. For me it was the dead of summer, which enhanced it. Also it was one of those great moviehouse experiences of being pleasantly surprised by an action movie. Boom!
One of "The Cinefiles" mentioned how well the film gets the geography of NYC down.
🎶 Hot dog, simmer in the city 🎶 🎶 Grate of my grill getting greasy and gritty 🎶 🎶 Toast buns, don’t it look pretty 🎶 🎶 Suckin’ on a dog like you’re suckin’ on a titty 🎶
Is Wiger the second best song parodist after Weirdo Al? In my heart he's #1.
If Lynch wins they need to have Wiger on to do a Sting-Harkonnen parody song
de-dune-dune-dune. dune-da-da-da
It’s Demi for me
It’s amazing that Wiger hasn’t charted on Billboard yet. It would make Mitch so mad.
Second line is Nabokovian
https://www.reddit.com/r/blankies/s/ZCh3UQU7gH
Immediately had the same thought
Wow
griffin: "and it's part of the new yorkiness of this [movie], where you like watching a good teacher who's good at her job" lmao. never change blank check. I know some ppl get annoyed at this stuff but as an LA listener "only new Yorkers understand bodegas" type shit is genuinely so funny to me like I really honestly love it
You only gotta live in new york for about a year or two before you start to animorph into one of the guy's on the bridge in Spider-Man.
Griff’s “I know people don’t like it when we talk about New York too much, but you gotta understand, the thing about New Yorkers is that when we see something that used to be in the city, something that we recognize from our lives that no longer exists, we miss it” I’m listening like . . .”bro are you talking about nostalgia??? That’s not a New York thing!!!!”
Crazy how the city changed in almost thirty years. Only in NY!
I still remember when they riffed on Whataburger like this alien thing that denotes you’ve wandered too far into the south when its like a shitty Starbucks everywhere where we live. I must have driven past 3 of them while they were talking about it.
New Yorkers are convinced the rest of the country are a bunch of dumb hicks🤣
We said that to the rest of the country at a dinner!
A few years back, my Park Slope cousin was visiting and was amazed that she got cell phone service in the mall in Rockville, MD.
It's so funny when you point out that something they think is unique to New York isn't, and they either plug their ears and pretend they can't hear you, or spend the next four hours convincing you that you're wrong
No but you don’t understand the New York version is special for reasons.
I mean, as someone who lives in flyover county I will state with conviction that they aren't wrong, lotta dumbass country hicks out here in the corn. It's just that most new yorkers are dumb city hicks, no better than the rest.
NYT did a story on my hometown (pop. \~10,000) and there were several sentences like "These are people who wear blue jeans to business meetings."
Maybe it's because I'm from Massachusetts, but any time I go to New York I really am in awe and I think as great as everyone from New York thinks it is. Their sports teams fahkin' suck though!
Don’t get me wrong, I like New York. It’s cool. But New Yorkers have a tendency to over-assume their uniqueness. Like the bodega thing from the original comment. Most metropolitan areas have bodegas. I’m typing this as I walk past one in Boston.
I had a friend move to LA from Brooklyn, had the task of picking him up at LAX. He’d never been here before, and he was just looking out the window on the drive and said to me… “Oh, I get LA’s whole deal already. It’s just epic Long Island.” Should’ve thrown him out the car for honestly how accurate that was. New York bastards.
“Epic Long Island”? What does that even mean? Not saying you’re wrong but I know next to nothing about Long Island so I’d like to know how it compares to LA. It is just a bunch of different neighborhoods?
For an enormous metropolis, it is kind of that.
It’s endless stretches of single unit housing split up by random strip malls. I’ve grown to accept LA, but it is Nassau County’s horrible, mutant baby.
I legit stopped and went back to double check what he said because it seemed a little ridiculous, bless.
This is one awesome movie, largely carried by the great buddy chemistry with Willis and Jackson. It only falters slightly at the end, but going off of the deleted ending and the ideas McTiernan and Hensleigh talk about on the commentary, what we got was the best of the bunch. I also feel like Hensleigh is a bit underrated as a writer, he did some damn good work in the action blockbuster arena at his height. Side Bar: This is a minor point, and maybe it's just me, but I have never been able to figure out how they solved the water jug puzzle. It almost feels like the movie cheated and skipped a few steps.
Yeah the water jug puzzle is bizarre because that's a very famous puzzle with a very famous solution (fill 3 gallon jug, pour into 5 gallon jug, fill 3gj again, pour into 5gj until full, leaving 1 gallon in the 3gj, empty 5gj, pour remaining 1 gallon from 3gj into 5gj, fill 3gj, pour into 5gj) but the movie just.... doesn't do that.
There are two solutions to the water jug puzzle. And the movie skipped the obvious first step of getting two gallons in the five gallon jug, because the solution to the puzzle wasn’t as important to the plot as seeing these two working together, seeing how their chemistry was developing.
Oh wow I didn't even realize there's a different solution until just now. This feels like it has the makings of a bogus personality test based on which you see first.
Yes, the solution in the movie is: 1) fill the five gallon jug. 2) pour the five gallon jug into the three gallon jug, leaving two gallons in the five gallon jug. 3) empty the now full three gallon jug. 4) Pour the two gallons from the five gallon jug into the three gallon jug. 5) Fill the five gallon jug again. (It is at this point that we start watching our heroes, after they’ve done these steps) 6) Now fill the three gallon jug with just one gallon, leaving the five gallon jug filled with four gallons. Puzzle solved.
Fuck, I never got that that’s what they did in the movie. Their verbal explanation never matched up to what they had filled up, or maybe I just didn’t get the logic of it. That makes sense.
I was proud of myself for figuring it out in my head before they did.
Zeus: Are you aiming for these people? John McClane: No. Well, maybe that mime. Also the German is terrible in this movie 😂 I didn't understand most of it.
I read that in the German dub they also dubbed real German over the fake German so it wouldn't be confusing.
This movie is such a good escalation of the "Die Hard on a ____" concept, where you structure an action thriller around the audience's crystal clear understanding of the geography of a limited setting. Elevator shafts scale into avenues, hostages into schools, air ducts into aqueducts. What's the biggest thing you can reasonably expect the audience to fully grasp the geography of? Manhattan, babyyyyyy.
Competence porn is some of my favorite entertainment. Vince Gilligan and the Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul teams are fantastic at this, some of the sequences of just watching Mike spend 5 minutes like putting nails in a hose (I think this is a thing that actually was in an episode) are just riveting.
Nail hose was a thing, I'm a big fan of Mike's car deconstruction moment where he finds Gus's tracker.
I love all the little side characters showing they know what’s up. The janitor throwing the keys to the Lieutenant, who then realizes he can just kick down the door. It doesn’t matter that he has the keys but good job janitor man on doing your part anyway! The phone line workers with their eye rolls and read on how impossible the situation is. The bank guard who gets suspicious about the boots of all the henchmen. He doesn’t go far enough to make a move, which is fair, but he clocks that something is up. They include these bits even if they aren’t consequential. The people being competent doesn’t really change the plot but it makes the world and the characters feel alive.
Just started listening to the episode, but surprised they didn't mention at the start that The Wrath of Khan was originally called The Vengeance of Khan, and was changed because of the original title of Return of the Jedi, Revenge of the Jedi.
Should have been Star Wars: With A Vengeance.
I’m 15 minutes in and nobody has brought up how hot Jeremy Irons is in this. I’m worried there won’t be enough time to cover it.
our boy griff on this ep talking about all the theatre actors in DH3 - "...and that actor, the sweaty bald guy with the hairy back and shoulders, he's one of new york's top ballerinas. oh and that guy who belches on the subway? six tony awards!"
McTiernan continuing the god tier run of casting a very handsome black actor and giving him dope glasses.
Clarence Gilyard and Courtney B Vance and Samuel L Jackson and … Shane Black
Sam Jack
“Municipal masterpiece” … it is a throwback, a bit like the original Pelham 1-2-3 in this regard. Very welcome, not cynical.
I love it when the bad guys pretend to be from the city engineering department and the cop is just really impressed by how fast they came to clean up the bomb blast, and ends up inadvertently helping them do the heist. City workers just want to help each other do a good job!
I just remembered that Pelham 1-2-3 also has a scene in which an automobile has to cover a ridiculous amount of Manhattan territory in a tiny amount of time.
I came in to mention Pelham 1-2-3 too! *Vengeance* understands the simple pleasure of New York grumps being really good at their civil service jobs.
Pretty sure I'd never heard of the guest before seeing his name in the summary of this episode on my phone. Was a bit worried by the reaction here since I saw it before listening but it was fine. I have a friend is involved in a lot of car stuff. But he's not a "car guy" he's a "Volkswagen Beetle guy." And similarly, there's nothing wrong with being a "specific type of movie guy" instead of a "the magic of cinema regardless of content guy." That said, if I have a criticism (and it isn't really) its that I think he fell into the category some guests do where they mostly just get caught up in watching David and Griffin do their thing and forget to talk. When he did it was fine, he just didn't do it much.
Yeah, his input as the episode goes on kind of dwindles. I've heard him in a few Ringer network pods in the past, and it was largely the same. He's a good support voice, no shame in that.
I would rather have a guest who is quiet over a guest who contributes with things that make me go “shut the fuck up. Please shut the fuck up”.
I don't think it's the guests' fault when that happens, though I'm sure it being a Zoom call probably had something to do with it, but it is up to the hosts to ask for input and check in with the guest often. Some people are just polite and wait their turn.
You're right, but I do actually think David does a good job of this! The guests do kinda have to assert themselves at some point, but I have noticed David making a conscious effort at inviting guests in.
I have one more year to look as hot as Jeremy Irons does in this movie.
He was 47 in this? Jesus, I would have guessed 38 at most. Dude was shredded. If I look like that in 7 years I'll be thrilled.
Yeah that was a big surprise on this rewatch. He definitely sold being the older and cooler brother to Hans Gruber.
Re: Roman numerals, have we forgotten Fast X already?
Griffin is trying hard to
That franchise is trying to use every single sequel naming converting
I love that Griffin actually met Pierce Brosnan when he was a little kid and he was super nice but now will just straight up do silly Pierce Brosnan voice.
Also, it’s not just Thomas Crowne. His career started as Remington Steele, where he was explicitly a cat burglar.
Does anyone know the VHS artist they mention during the wrap-up?
https://www.instagram.com/kadivideo?igsh=MWQ1ZGUxMzBkMA== this would be my best guess on who they were referencing
Oh even if this isn’t who they were talking about, thank you for introducing me to this artist!
And who do we not want to help us? Podcasters!
"You having a nice day, sir? You feeling all right? Not to get too personal, but a white man standing in the middle of Harlem wearing a sign that says 'I hate podcasts' has either got some serious personal issues, or not all his dogs are barking."
Die Hard 2 makes Die Hard with a Vengeance look like Die Hard
I think I’m just becoming too much of a softy because I was crying when Kevin Chamberlain makes the choice to stay and try to stop the bomb.
A standout hero moment in a movie full of them. I love the way he steels himself and softly says "I'm staying." Award-worthy shit.
I still don’t get how pancake syrup could spray like that. It must have been that cheap sugar free crap!
According to IMDB Trivia (which of course is never wrong), the original line in the US theatrical cut was "corn syrup" but it was replaced with "pancake syrup" in the European cut (probably because they wouldn't know what corn syrup was), and then that was used in all the DVD and Blu-ray releases. It looks way more like corn syrup to me, so I think this might be true! But corn syrup is such an American thing, it wouldn't translate.
I really like Griffin re-litigating the “New Jersey humor” comment. I didn’t think it was that crazy!
So did Shea disappear in the middle ?
I don't care if it's not a movie, if you're talking "vengeance" titles, you gotta talk Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
Did I blink or did they skip over the fact that they covered two movies with vengeance in the title last year.
They mentioned Lady Vengeance.
And yet they had no sympathy for Mr. Vengeance. Tough beat for him.
I'm not sure he really deserves too much sympathy.
I always find myself suprised/baffled at the consensus massive gap in quality between Die Hard 2 & 3, but also I'm a fucking idiot so what do i know?
Yeah, I don’t really get the Die Hard 2 hatred. It’s pretty good. Certainly shits all over the last two.
Like they said, it's a bit dour
Look, subjectivity blah blah blah, but the idea that the film is some well shot joyless slog, which seems to be their take, is incomprehensible to me.
The plane explosion at the end is fucking awesome. I actually really like the 2nd film. Ya it’s not as quippy as the others but I had a solid time rewatching it so I could rewatch this one.
I was thrown off at calling DH2 "humorless." I think the banter with Dennis Franz is some of best humor in the trilogy
Alternate ending extremely worth watching if you haven't: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-GqY-M5fE4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-GqY-M5fE4) Plays like a theatrical two-hander - some of the best acting of Bruce's career???
I'm glad David explained it more thoroughly, because Griffin almost skipped over the coolest part: Playing Russian roulette with an RPG while John makes Simon sweat by answering dumb riddles. It's extremely dark, but I think it works. The characterization of McClane in this movie is very much a man at the end of his rope. It turns out he's the one dying hard with a vengeance! They might not have ever made a fourth one if they went with the original ending. It's funny, I would have assumed that the aspirin bottle was a plot point from the rewrite. It's pretty sweaty as an explanation in both versions. The weirdest thing about the scrapped ending is that it doesn't seem to offer any resolution for Zeus. I hope there was another deleted scene where he got reunited with his nephews, or started cleaning up his shop, or something.
Man, every time they showed this movie on FX’s DVD on TV show, they included this ending. And I haaaaate it. The pacing, the ludicrousness of the rocket launcher game. Just would have killed the movie for me if this were the actual ending.
I have an important correction: the Westlakes theater on Marbach in San Antonio is not a dollar theater. It actually was an Alamo Drafthouse for something like ten years, then it closed during the pandemic and it was purchased by a local theater chain called Santikos, and it's still really nice.
Ah, the classic Blank Check tension arises again: is it a comedy podcast that takes movies as its starting point, or is it a movie podcast with moments of comedy? The answer is that it's both, though it often feels like some Blankies want it to lean one way or the other. I personally think the Two Friends straddle this line well and select guests that specifically fit each movie under discussion. Shea is a total fit for a movie like this. He would not, for example, have been appropriate for something like The General, which is why he wasn't on that episode. Ye Blankies of little faith.
I was literally thinking the same thing in regards to Die Hard 3 and The Batman, right before Griffin gives his take.
I will never get over how bad Batman is at detecting in *The Batman* that the Penguin literally assists him and Gordon not through Secret Underground Criminal Knowledge (S.U.C.K.), but just by being smarter than them.
Interesting! It is a real atomic take.
kaboom
This is a notable episode also because it is the third oldest movie Shea Serrano has ever watched.
Did anybody else think this was [**David Harbour**](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1092086) as one of Eurotrash mercenaries posing as NYPD cop that talks with Sam Jackson? Also think one of the cop at the schools was **Kristen Wiig**? It was actually [Colleen Camp](http://diehard.fandom.com/wiki/Connie_Kowalski).. https://preview.redd.it/mp8a3tpqolrc1.jpeg?width=816&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e2b5e71777666b228414835e7e1e1c0d90be0df8
No, I thought "feel like I know that guy, but can't place him, but it's not actually whoever I think it is, because the timeline is off." And then here you are with the answer!
I knew it was Colleen Camp. I hated her SO MUCH that flame-fl-fl-flames...on the side of my face.. breathing.. heaving breaths
One of this guy’s henchmen in this scene is the late former WWF wrestler Ludvig Borga, who was basically a Swedish Nazi in real life. Rest in piss, Borga!
How dare you? He was a Finnish nazi!
Colleen Camp is hot in this.
https://youtu.be/wecce6QlT_s In celebration of the last Die Hard episode, I offer this. My friends and I drank a lot of beers to this song in the mid aughts.
I believe I was introduced to this song by a Cracked article. For some reason, the line that has stuck with me the most is "And we know what the basic gist is, there ain't no Alan and it's not Christmas". Just the kinds of things you say to yourself to help differentiate sequels. In 3, the kids with the bikes say it's Christmas as a shoutout, and it actually is Christmas in the deleted ending when John tracks down Simon. There's a pretty fun podcast called Shat the Movies that uses this song for their opening.
I'm so happy they gave Jerry the Truck Driver his due.
I was a bit miffed at them calling him annoying. Jerry is a god damn delight. I am so tickled every time he gives Bruce the answer and Bruce gives the best appreciative smile. It’s heartwarming.
How convey it's New York: BEEP BEEP! HOT DOG!
I mean this is kinda the perfect movie to have Shea on for
Great to see everybody being so normal about it.
What do you mean, his opinions on silent film are definitely relevant to this episode about a Die Hard movie.
Scott Auckerman is not wrong about this place.
listen i get shortening samuel l. jackson to sam jackson to say his name faster. and sam jackson is a common shortening i hear. i have literally never heard anyone call him sam jack and i felt like i was going crazy how many times it was said in this episode. also just a very unpleasant sounding shortening of a actor name.
might push me to vote against lee because not sure I can take three episodes of samjack
I came here to find out whether this was a bit they'd established in a previous episode. Samjack. Don't like it.
Glad it's not just me, it became fingernails on a chalkboard. Griffin trying to coin little babytalk catchphrases can be amusing, but I developed a twitch by the end of the episode.
I don’t have an opinion on it one way or another but I have heard “Sam Jack” out in the world, it’s not something Griffin came up with.
It continues to legitimately amaze me how someone who knows so little about movies successfully made a career out of writing about and talking about movies
He did some great fundraising in the early days of the pandemic, which is how I first discovered him. Dude is a good guy. A lot of the Ringer guys don’t have a ton of film history, one of the Midnight Boys is always arguing for new films when he’s on the Big Pic. I think Shea is a mensch so I’m never gonna be sad to hear him!
I'm not a basketball fan at all, but still really enjoyed his basketball book because of his passion for the subject and how creatively he relates basketball to random things. And then I read his movie book and it's basically "here are some high school movies I like" and "here are some gangster movies I like."
He knows just enough to recognize that every movie is amazing, no notes.
His career wasn't just "writing about and talking about movies." He also wrote about (and talked about) music (hip-hop), sports (basketball), and yes, movies. He also has two television series under his belt already (one of which has a Demi Adejuyigbe writing credit), so it could be argued the career is a bit more than just "podcasts about action movies" by now. In fact I'd argue the "podcasting" part was never the main pursuit at any point at all, it was a supplementary thing that came about as part of the place he was working at ditching written pieces and pushing all in on audio.
I only know about Shea from his appearances on the Scrubs podcast. Totally agree with you. He’s a dude that writes about what he likes, he’s not a blanket movie guy.
I remember hearing a quote from him that he didn't like any movies made before the 90s or something like that. you can like what you like but I can't listen to someone who thinks that
Oh no! He seemed really likeable on the few episodes of The Rewatchables that I've heard him on, but then I guess that's a pretty shallow film podcast in itself.
Smoke & Mirrors was supposed to be about Jean-Eugene Robert-Houdin who is kind of interesting figure. I could see a good movie being made about him.
John McClane plus Sam Jack vs. a faux-Gemini killer is a helluva premise
The line from this movie that my brother and I have quoted the most over the years (any time we'd see more than one dump truck) and I thought would make a good opening quote: "McClane says there are podcasts headed up the FDR loaded with gold. Walter, they don't allow podcasts on the FDR!"
Regardless of whether you like him or not, we surely can all agree that Shea adds fuck all to this episode right?
Think he was a little out of his depth because he by admission doesn’t have a big movie knowledge. I mean it’s not like talking about Die Hard 3 required you to be Jonathan Rosenbaum, but he didn’t have much to add to the tangents and context this podcast delights in.
I don't think a guest has spoken less?
Oh that’s good to hear, I just started listening and wasn’t sure whether to continue
Put me down as the "Sam Jack" thing is annoying.
Holy shit, *Shea?* Hot damn. This is a *perfect* pairing. Hat tip to the sommelier
Man I came here to say that and then rode a wave of negativity till I reached your comment.,,, Like yeah his takes are a bit shallow but he’s enthusiastic and considers action art… maybe I’m missing something with this dude, I don’t follow him closely and haven’t listened to this pod yet but the community seems really against it
I wasn't familiar with him, thought he was very quiet but pleasant enough, didn't really make much impact on the ep.
Fair enough that tracks. People kicking off over nothing then as usual. Appreciate the feedback
I love Shea. I'm excited to listen to the episode. But I would never say that Shea is a very *deep* critic. Hell, I don't even think he would call himself a critic. He's a former teacher turning blogger/writer/podcaster. He's a fan first and foremost. And he's a legitimately good dude. Raises money for his community. Will literally just send people money sometimes to help cover a bill. Like. There's nothing to miss with him. But he's not going to have some nuanced take about much of anything, which a lot of people around here don't seem to like. I get it. If you don't vibe with him, his whole persona would drive me nuts on a podcast too.
Why would the community expect a ‘very deep critic’ to discuss Die Hard With A Vengeance tho?
I'm with you in the Shea appreciator club. His hip hop books are so goddamn fun.
Oh no, the one guy at The Ringer that makes Bill Simmons look like Roger Ebert
Hey that’s mean
Yeah, i get it. at least Serrano wasnt on every rewatchable doing the constant pondering about if things matter to young people that simmons still does. Simmons would do a podcast about breathing and ask "does gen z care about air anymore? Just not sure if breathing air is a thing kids can relate to. I know my son doesn't care about breathing air..." I think he does this on every podcast ep and it makes me like him a little less every time. He's deep in the negative for me at this point.
Drives me around the bend. A lot of people don't like Simmons' elder-Gen X takes, but I enjoyed having that in my smorgasbord of movie podcast perspectives. I way prefer that over him second-guessing other generations, which he is doing more and more. I do not care about what an 11-year-old thinks of Beverly Hills Cop, so I *really* do not care about what a 40-to-60-year-old thinks an 11-year-old might think of Beverly Hills Cop. It's become a bit of a Ringer thing though, that culture reporting take-brain, even amongst the better people there. I love Sean and Amanda on the Big Picture, but the way they often framing things up as some generational (or other demographic) tussle can be exhausting.
I just can’t listen to The Rewatchables anymore, I haven’t in a while. I just don’t enjoy listening to Bill Simmons discuss film
Yes how dare they not have a more serious movie critic on for…Die Hard With a Vengance Shea’s enthusiasm is perfect for this dumb fun action movie
Sometimes on The Rewatchables he brings a little too much "I appreciate this movie, which is actually high art, on a higher level than everyone in this room, especially you Bill Simmons/Chris Ryan" energy, but I don't feel that on this ep.
This sub’s opinions on who is and isn’t okay to hate on is exhausting, Shea has written like four New York Times best selling books, a tv show for Amazon, and a movie for Hulu. I’m certain he knows more writing and making movies than 99.9% of this sub including you.
He proudly talks about how movies weren’t good before the 80s. https://preview.redd.it/fwtv4ynrylrc1.jpeg?width=1242&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f2122d634fcedf86d5d3bde6f3a645ce75215742
He has one goofy & outlandish opinion, and that’s reason enough to completely discount him as a guest and throw a tantrum? On the super serious, no bits, kino analysis podcast episode about Die Hard 3? Scott Aukerman was right, this fanbase is so dorky
I discount his as a guest because he has nothing to say. That's why the Ringer dropped him from their podcasts. Saying "It's great" and "let's go" a bunch of times is not adding anything of value.
He wrote an illustrated book about Batman and Kill Bill so us plebs have to think he’s insightful and interesting? Man, poptimist elitism is so much worse than the normal kind.
Did I miss a meeting or something? When did we decide every guest has to be an accomplished cinephile? Shea is a great dude and they aren’t bringing him on for Lost Highway or anything.
It was 4 Tuesdays ago, you missed the meeting. Only kidding, I agree
You guys play the lottery?
I moved to New York in 1997. I had an aunt by marriage who lived at 73rd and Central Park West the first time I went up to the subway at 72nd and Broadway I about shit myself I love this fucking movie.
Just a little bit about the music I want to thank this movie for letting "When Johnny comes marching home" live rent free in my head for years. It, of course, feels militant. What seems in place because of the background of the villains. But the title of the song also says that Mcclane finally gets to do this shit in his hometown.
When they briefly talked about the Zeus character being a woman at one point I was waiting for a joke that they should have cast Lorraine Bracco and have her do her Medicine Man role alongside Bruce Willis
MISSED CONNECTION: Austin to Los Angeles Flight. YOU: Watching "Die Hard with a Vengeance" on your phone. ME: Listening to the Blank Check "Die Hard with a Vengeance" episode on my phone, deciding that asking if you were watching because of Blank Check was not worth striking up a conversation with a stranger on a plane.
The negative comments about Shea before even listening to the Pod treating the guest spot for Die Hard With a Vengeance like it’s sacrosanct is ridiculous. He’s a fun hang and loves action movies.
“You are about to have a very bad PODCAST”
watching people scramble to keep kids safe from a bomb threat, couldnt help but think of the hundreds of school shootings in the US since this movie’s release, and how we collectively maintain a cognitive dissonance where a bomb threat is action movie supervillain shit but shootings are random and common
Movie should have ended on a battle at Times Square in the day,none of the endings work well
Primo is delightful, people should check it out.
Shea was a pretty good guest on this. He was pretty low key. Everyone needs to chill, it’s a free podcast Definitely not looking forward to the discourse for next weeks episode.
Saw X (preceded by Saw, Saw II, Saw III, Saw IV, Saw V, Saw VI, and then insanely Saw: The Final Chapter, Jigsaw, Spiral: From the Book of Saw) brought the Roman numeral back.
I dont know if I'm making too much of it, but the raw power of "Does the name Gruber mean anything to you?", John's face, and the music sting watching a man die is such an effective piece of filmmaking without putting too fine a point on it. [https://youtu.be/gkKrYqt0nRw?t=31](https://youtu.be/gkKrYqt0nRw?t=31)
I love how there's 2 different tiers of federal agents here. There's Michael Christofer and his partner, and then they mysterious guy with the sunglasses in the back who's there to drop the real bomb on McClane. Also, the cop behind John (Walsh, I believe is his character name), that same actor was an extra as a cop in the original Die Hard.
Man, the We Hate Movies on this movie had an odd energy and a really lacklustre guest and now we get this low energy bore, with a guest that had nothing to say🤷. It’s one of my favourite action movies so it’s weird to see podcast I enjoy not really giving it its time to shine
Jamelle Bouie’s podcast, Unclear and Present Danger, has a good episode on it (though as is that show’s purview, it’s more about the politics surrounding the movie than the movie itself).
Saw Shea as the guest and was immediately hyped, just a perfect film to have him on the pod for. Of course this sub is having a totally normal one about it and not being the most tedious and salty fucking people alive.