Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hello, everyone, and welcome to another episode of How Bette Davis Saved My Life, Life lessons from classic Hollywood. I'm Moya.
[00:00:07] Speaker B: And I'm Georgia.
[00:00:09] Speaker A: And Georgia, could you please, please, please introduce our fantastic expert guest today?
[00:00:18] Speaker B: This is our guest, James. And James I consider to be an expert in the movie Die Hard today because he has seen it at least 50 times.
And just like you and I, Moye, he considers this a true Christmas movie. And so he's going to chime in along with us and give us his perspectives about the movie and all the things that we can appreciate about it. And James is also a real estate attorney and he is an amazing volunteer. This guy is super smart and he has such a great personality, and I know he's going to add a lot to the show today.
[00:01:00] Speaker A: And I think because this movie involves some serious real estate. James, could that be part of your obsession with this movie?
[00:01:11] Speaker C: Well, I was actually kind of curious if this building had been in any other movies. And I thought about actually trying to look it up and do some history, but I didn't get quite that far. So.
[00:01:22] Speaker A: Okay, that is because this, I guess, well, this movie, everybody's 1988. Everybody and their mama should have seen this movie by now. But this is. So this movie, this movie, this, this is. Is it still around? This was an act. This was an actual building. Right. I think it is no longer around. I think. Georgia, do you know, I think it.
[00:01:44] Speaker B: Is because this is actually the headquarters of 20th Century Studios. So owning the building, the studio didn't have to hold back on the stunts and the action sequences. This is an actual building.
[00:01:56] Speaker A: Yes, so. So it's still functioning. Like it's not just a landmark or.
[00:02:00] Speaker B: Something, as far as I know. I think it still is.
[00:02:04] Speaker A: Okay, so we got that established, that this building that you're seeing here is an actual building.
And so I know, Georgia, you have all the tea, and James, I know you can give us more of the tea for the, for you squares out there. That's the information and the trivia about Die Hard. All right, so, James, we're going to start with you. When did you first see Die Hard?
[00:02:30] Speaker C: Oh, I probably saw it in the theaters when I was 8 years old with my dad, I would expect. I can't, I don't know for sure, but I know I went to see Predator in the theaters in 1986 with my dad. So I imagine that Die Hard would have been, you know, had to take the kids to the theater back then.
And so probably that was the first time. But Certainly I've watched it many, many times over the, over the past years.
[00:02:58] Speaker A: Okay, so this is good. So obviously this movie had an impact on your life. Tell us. So we want to know what was your first reaction when you first saw Die hard as an 8 year old boy?
[00:03:12] Speaker C: Just, I grew up, you know, action movies, you know, and said my dad was a huge Arnold Schwarzenegger fan who made a bunch of movies in the 80s. And of course Bruce Willis was a, you know, high, you know, market action star back then as well, had a lot of movies.
So just love action movies. And I love the whole Die Hard series. I've seen all of them several times.
[00:03:38] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:03:39] Speaker C: It's not just the original. It is, it is all. I think there's at least five, if not six of them.
[00:03:45] Speaker A: Yeah, I was trying to. Yeah, I think you're right because like I checked out at the second one because I like. Because, you know, I was like, you know, sequels are hard. Then, then you have a trilogy, then you start beating a dead horse. So I checked out after the second one. So what do you think? Did the, the sequels, can you rank them just really quick, the sequels?
[00:04:11] Speaker C: Yeah, so I'd probably go one and then three. The third one had Samuel L. Jackson in it and it was.
And that one was actually really, really good.
[00:04:23] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:04:23] Speaker C: So I mean, you can't, you can't outdo the original. But number the.
What was it called now that I'm.
[00:04:31] Speaker B: Was it Die Hard and. Or Die Hard maybe?
[00:04:35] Speaker C: So it's Die Hard with Avengers with the vengeance.
[00:04:40] Speaker A: Which one is Die Hard with a.
[00:04:41] Speaker C: Vengeance is the third one. Yeah, Die Hard with a Vengeance. That has Jeremy Irons and that one is really good. That was really good. It's a very good plot and a good story.
So. And then the other ones are okay, you know, 4 and 5.
[00:04:57] Speaker A: Which one had his son in it? Was that the one with Sam Jackson in it?
[00:05:02] Speaker C: No, he has a daughter. Oh, a daughter in number.
I don't know if she's in number four. Number five, but yeah. So, you know, since, you know, he's such a rough character, he's always isolating his loved ones, you know, Right. In the first one, he's, he's flying out there to see her. She moved out to California for her career.
He's kind of, you know, coming out there, you know, hesitantly because, you know, she made it and then he wasn't thinking that she was going to. And so he's trying to, you know, win her back. And then. Same thing in the second one. Kind of continuing that.
[00:05:43] Speaker A: Oh, really?
[00:05:45] Speaker C: That story. And then. And so by Die Hard With a Vengeance, she's like, left him and he's just, you know, leaving her messages on the phone or whatever. And then I think in the fourth one, that is where the daughter comes into the picture and it's sort of that same relationship. You know, he's not a. He's not a great father because he's the cop and that takes a lot. And so, you know, and he's always suspicious of everyone and all the. Her boyfriends off and whatnot. So he's a tough guy to love, but he's a tough guy.
[00:06:18] Speaker A: Was.
So there was. I don't know why I got. I could have swore. Didn't they have one with him and a son? No.
[00:06:24] Speaker C: Well, the first one does have two kids, right? Maybe. Maybe one of them does have his son in there.
[00:06:30] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:06:31] Speaker C: I haven't seen the. The later ones as many times as the.
[00:06:34] Speaker A: I think the last one he did, the son appeared, I think. Don't quote me. So, guys, let us know in the comments and I'll look it up as we talk to see what the plots were. Because I said I lost. I lost track of them. So the second one was that. That was the one with Jeremy Irons. Or that was the third one.
[00:06:53] Speaker C: The third one had Jeremy Irons and they were in New York. The second one was another Christmas movie and we're at an airport and some terrorists bringing a drug lord or I don't know, some military leader or something like that.
But it was also a Christmas movie because it happened at Christmas time.
[00:07:15] Speaker A: Okay, see, I got confused. So I saw the Jeremy Irons one and in my mind, in my timeline, that's the second one for me. But that's actually the third one.
[00:07:24] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:07:25] Speaker A: Yeah, because I. I'm telling. I lost like, like the Rockies and the Rambos. I can't. There's like 50 rambos now. Like, I can't keep up with all that. Rocket is 66. 60 Rockies.
So I cannot keep up with any of that. So. Yeah. So guys, what you're seeing. And for our audio listeners, got a picture on the screen and shout out to Bruce Willis, man. You know, we all know he has aphasia, a form of pretty much incurable dementia. And that just broke my heart when I heard that.
Oh, and you know, he. His star had kind of dimmed just a hair. He wasn't doing A list movies. Instead of doing a lot of B lists and like straight to video stuff. And then we come to find out later. The way he was doing, the reasons why he was doing that was to get money because he. His condition and he wasn't able to be hired and he wanted to secure his family and those straight. So, James, did you see any of his, like, straight to video and B movies? Are you like, nah, I can't do it?
[00:08:30] Speaker C: No, I mean, I see them as I'm scrolling through, you know, the various streamings and you know, sometimes I'm tempted just to see it, but I'm like, man, you know, I know it's gonna be bad.
I just, I just saved myself the disappointment and just remember him in his glory days.
[00:08:49] Speaker A: Right, right. Well, Georgia, jump on in here and then, you know, I'll pull up some stuff for us to look at. So, Georgia, what do you got for us?
[00:08:59] Speaker B: Well, I have a little bit of trivia, but, you know, I go back to remembering him first when he was in Moonlighting with Cybill Shepherd. And so when they first showed the trailers of this movie to the audiences, they started laughing because they thought it was going to be a comedy. They did not know. Yes. They did not know that this was a straight serious action hero role for him. And so they thought that this movie was going to tank. They thought it was going to be an absolute stinking bomb. They did not. Yes, they did not. They thought it was going to just.
And all the money they, they sunk into it. The thing is, is they actually offered the movie to other action stars like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone, and they turned it down. Also Richard Gere turned it down.
[00:09:44] Speaker A: Oh, not Richard Gear. He's not tough.
[00:09:49] Speaker B: Well, no, you're right, he's. I don't think it was as an action hero either.
[00:09:52] Speaker A: No.
[00:09:53] Speaker B: And so it was approved to offer Bruce Willis an unheard of sum of $5 million. And it was approved by. Yes, it was approved by Rupert Murdoch for him to get that money. But the thing was, is he was filming Moonlighting at the same time as he was doing this mov. And so he was exhausted. So what they did was they decided to beef up the other supporting characters roles and build on them. So that's. That is why you have such great secondary characters in this role.
[00:10:26] Speaker A: Now that is some good information because almost all of these secondary characters, especially Rip to the villain. My man Girl. His name Escaping. What's the villain name? His real name? Alan R. Alan Rickman. That's my man. I love Alan Rickman. So fat, you know, So I was like, you, James, I'm older than you, so I But I didn't see it in the theaters. I saw, like, when, you know, y'all know when cable kind of not first. First came out, but you know, when cable, kind of early cable, and they would show the same freaking movie like 10 times a day. And my grandfather would sit there and watch every, every. And we're like, grandpa, turn that off. Like you saw it like five times. So sitting there looking at it with him, and I was like, man, this movie is good. So Fast Forward didn't know who, because this was Alan Rickman's first move. Like, big time movie, right? Right?
[00:11:16] Speaker B: Yes, yes. This was his first one. Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
[00:11:20] Speaker A: Love Alan Rickman. So, like I say, fast forward, he became a huge star. Bonnie Bedelia, she became a star. Reginald Val Johnson. Like y'all were saying, all these people became stars. So I think this is a rarity, Rarity, rarity for secondary characters jump, like, blow up. Don't y'all think? I can't think of a movie like. Like, like almost everybody in a secondary role kind of blew up.
[00:11:44] Speaker C: Well, I mean, you know, it's the Outsiders. I mean, you look at that cast.
[00:11:48] Speaker A: Yeah, that's true. That is true.
[00:11:50] Speaker C: Whoever did the casting for Outsiders, I mean, they like, you know, grand slam and beyond. I mean, they kill everybody, right?
[00:11:56] Speaker A: Yeah, that one.
[00:11:58] Speaker C: That wouldn't be hard to outdo the quality of characters that you have in that one in any movie, I think, in history.
[00:12:06] Speaker A: That is true. Georgia, we got to do the Outsiders. I love that move. I was so scared of that move when I was a little girl. Oh, my gosh.
[00:12:14] Speaker B: Yeah, we're going to have to do that one more.
[00:12:16] Speaker A: Well, wait, am I getting confused as Outsiders? The one that's the vampires.
[00:12:20] Speaker C: No, the outsiders is the 50s greasers versus the preps and very social, you know, movie. Right?
[00:12:32] Speaker A: Who's in that? James? I can't. I don't think I've seen Ralph Macho.
[00:12:35] Speaker C: Tom Cruise, Patrick Swayze.
[00:12:38] Speaker A: I didn't see that one. I haven't seen that.
[00:12:41] Speaker C: I forget who the who the who the woman is that. She was. She was famous, too. I mean, there's like.
Yeah, it was like, okay, seven or eight people that became mega stars in. In that movie all together.
[00:12:55] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:12:57] Speaker C: That's where Stay Golden Pony Boy comes from, if you ever heard that one.
[00:13:01] Speaker A: Okay. I know of it, but I've never seen it, so I'm getting confused. Which was the one with the vampires with Kiefer Sutherland and what is that one? You know, the Lost Boys.
[00:13:12] Speaker C: Oh, that's another classic.
[00:13:14] Speaker A: Yeah. So a lot of them blew up as well, too. So.
[00:13:16] Speaker C: Yeah, for sure.
[00:13:17] Speaker A: Okay, so we getting off track, guys. We're sorry.
[00:13:19] Speaker B: It's just impressed with your encyclopedic knowledge, James. Yes. Movies and cast.
[00:13:26] Speaker C: Only 80s movies.
When you grew up with the cable, they showed it 100 times. And so you.
[00:13:32] Speaker B: Right.
[00:13:34] Speaker A: And movies were so good back then. Like, you could literally watch them over and over. Cause you would miss things. But they were so, so much better than today. So. Sorry, guys. So, Georgia. So we gotta put the Outsiders and the Lowes Boys. I love the Lowe's Boys.
[00:13:47] Speaker B: You got it, Moya.
[00:13:48] Speaker A: All right, so where are we now? So I'm showing. So Reginald Val Johnson. For those.
[00:13:51] Speaker C: We got Urkel's dad.
[00:13:53] Speaker A: Yeah. The neighbor. Yeah. What? Was Urkel a neighbor?
[00:13:57] Speaker B: No, that was Urkel's dad.
[00:14:01] Speaker C: He wasn't his dad. He was the. Urkel was the neighbor. So this was the neighbor's.
[00:14:05] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
[00:14:06] Speaker B: Oh, you're right. Okay.
[00:14:07] Speaker A: Yeah.
Laura and Eddie's dad.
[00:14:11] Speaker C: Yeah. I don't remember their name, but.
[00:14:13] Speaker A: But yeah. So he played a cop in Family Matters. And he just. So he just was. He just left the set of Die Hard and went on to the setup.
[00:14:21] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:14:22] Speaker A: Right. Even though, little trivia. This. He was not. This character is two different characters from Die Hard and Family Matters. Because his wife, Jo Marie Payton, the character she played, the mom, she. It was actually. She was a spin off from another abc. What was it? Bosom. Not Bosom Buddies. Perfect Strangers with Bronson Pinchot. Like, he was from another country and he found his cousin in America. Yeah. So that's where Family Matters come from. But he played a cop in both of them. So he literally could have walked off the set of Die Hard. It just went on a family matter because that's what happened. So. So I'm gonna try to find some more secondary characters as y'all talk. So talk amongst yourself.
[00:15:02] Speaker C: The guy. The police chief guy. Yeah.
[00:15:08] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:15:10] Speaker C: He's the principal from something.
Breakfast Club.
[00:15:17] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:15:18] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:15:18] Speaker A: I was trying to remember because he saw him. And I'm gonna show the guy who plays a reporter.
They always play or jerks. And I was like, how did this movie not implode with the jerk? Like the jerkathon. I was about to say something else with the Jerkathon.
You see, I caught myself.
Oh, my gosh. So, yeah, let me show him. They always play a holes. And so I was like, man, how do you manage to get these two dudes in one film? So they. So they out each other in this film, which Was great.
There he is. I'll find his name in a second. I'll get the cast name. So yeah, he played the assistant chief, Dwayne. I said, now, you know, that role was for a black man and his name, Dwayne.
White people named Dwayne.
Hilarious. So yeah, guys, go ahead. So I found his picture. So I'll go through all the cast names and y'all, everybody probably already knows who these people are, but what else we got, guys?
[00:16:23] Speaker B: Well, you know the catchphrase, yippee ki yay. It actually came from Roy Rogers, but they have added on this obscenity to it.
[00:16:31] Speaker A: But, you know, terrible language.
[00:16:34] Speaker C: That's because he. When whenever Bruce Willis gets the walkie talkie and starts communicating with Hans Gruber, he's like, well, you know, Hans says, well, you know my name, but I don't know yours. And so he says, you can. I was always a. He goes, you know, because he's talking about him being a cowboy, you know, you're John Wayne. And he goes, you know, I was always a fan of, you know, Roy Rogers. And that's where he does the yippee ki yay.
[00:17:01] Speaker A: Right.
[00:17:02] Speaker C: Tie into that.
[00:17:04] Speaker A: Right? So let's see if I can.
I'm gonna scrub. So I'm just gonna share this tab. Yeah, y'all keep talking. So I'm gonna share this and I'm a scrub through it because like I said, we. You know how YouTube and everybody is, so. And did you all cringe when the terrorists broke in? Because I was like, in 1988, this was such a novel idea of mass shootings and terrorists. You know, of course, 9, 11 hadn't happened and I created like, oh my gosh. This was pure fantasy back then, but now I kind of felt bad by enjoying this movie because this crap happens all the time now.
[00:17:47] Speaker B: Yeah, unfortunately it does. It is. It is very cringe worthy.
[00:17:50] Speaker C: Well, you know, they say life imitates our heart or something like that.
[00:17:54] Speaker A: Right, right. But like I said, this is like an everyday people being held hostage and stuff.
It's just. It's just sad. So I'm gonna.
I don't know you too. Don't get mad with me. I'm. This is. Get mad with Bruce Willis and them. This is their. So this is his first kill, quote unquote. And he was wrong. Like, he was wrong like a son of a gun for this. I was like, man, you wrong for that. But, but this was so. So James, as an eight year old boy, how did your dad. How were you allowed? Because PG 13. Had it come out yet?
[00:18:32] Speaker C: Well, I mean, so, you know, my dad, like I said, he was a huge Arnold Schwarzenegger fan. So, I mean, I. By this time I had seen Predator Commando, Running Man.
[00:18:43] Speaker A: Oh, wow.
[00:18:44] Speaker C: All those, all those were, you know, coming out in the same time. So, I mean, you know, rated R movies weren't a big deal for, you know, back then, you know. And then I grew up with cable song and they were around, you know, all the time there as well. So, yeah. Turned out mostly okay.
[00:19:10] Speaker A: So, I don't know. Did anybody oppose to him bring you to see all this. All this violence?
[00:19:18] Speaker C: No. I mean, that was, you know, what our bonding time, you know, going to see an action movie, you know, so that was. I loved it, you know.
Yeah. I mean. And you know, back then, they didn't make movies for kids like they did, you know, they do today because they didn't realize what a huge market selling to, you know, adolescents were. So movies were made for adults.
[00:19:46] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:19:47] Speaker C: And so, you know, just because you had to take your kids everywhere, you couldn't drop them off. There weren't, you know, place where you could just drop your kids off, you know, unless you had relatives or something. So, you know, we go to the movies with your parents.
[00:20:01] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:20:02] Speaker C: Watch whatever they watch.
[00:20:03] Speaker A: And that's true because he was so, like I said, I'm a little older than you. I think maybe about 10 years. So I think maybe Chuck E. Cheese and showbiz had come out. But again, if you didn't have any money for that, you had to take your kids everywhere with you. So you're right. So you took. So. And you're right. At home, we watched everything that our parents and grand. You know, you didn't have control over the remote. So you looked at. But you know, we had also Georgia, like our generation, we already was girl, Kojak and Starsky and Hutch and all that shooting. So, you know, we already. In Western, so we were already groomed, if you will, to violence. But when this came out and so you didn't really see blood. And so when this came out, this was just like, oh, my gosh, you know, so novel.
[00:20:55] Speaker B: Yeah. It wasn't. Especially for the hero himself.
[00:20:57] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:20:58] Speaker B: To get all bloodied up and he took a lot of bad punches and.
[00:21:03] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:21:04] Speaker B: All kinds of stuff. Because this was so different from like what we'd seen with Schwarzenegger and Stallone.
[00:21:10] Speaker A: Right.
[00:21:10] Speaker B: Because he's got so much vulnerability and he gets hurt.
[00:21:13] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:21:14] Speaker B: And this is a whole different kind of action hero than what we had before.
[00:21:19] Speaker A: Right.
[00:21:19] Speaker B: It just changed the whole genre.
[00:21:21] Speaker A: I think it did.
[00:21:22] Speaker B: And one of the things that I really like about it, I, you know, I think for me the best parts of the movie are when he's by himself and he talks himself through the situation. He goes through all these predicaments and yet. And he comes up with these funny lines. I mean, they're hilarious. And it kind of takes the intensity. You know, you have like these comic moments that kind of, you know, balance the intensity of the movie.
[00:21:47] Speaker A: Right, right. Well, I don't know. Do we even talk about the plot? Because we like everybody and a mama has seen Die Hard. I mean, we kind of talked about the plot, but. And so James, George and I try not to do spoilers, but this was such a well written act. This was like top shelf action pictures because the plot was so well written and there's twists and turns, there's plots within plots. So without giving away too much, either James or Georgia talk about the plot a little bit.
[00:22:19] Speaker B: Well, the plot is actually pretty straightforward and simple. And just like what James said earlier, he is on his way. He's a New York City cop and he's on his way to Los Angeles to visit his family because his wife has taken on a job in Los Angeles and they've become separated. And you can tell that there's some strains or cracks in the relationship. And to my opinion, he's, you know, he's in the wrong about this. But anyway, to advance the plot a little bit further, so he arrives in la, he wants to meet his wife at the Christmas party. And then what happens is these terrorists, they're German terrorists led by Hans Gruber. What they really want to do is they want to steal millions of dollars out of this vault from this Japanese corporation.
And so this is where the action starts really is where he is one man by himself and he's up against about 12 terrorists. And also he's got like meddling from the local police and also the FBI. And somehow or other you just see him take one, one thing at a time and all the action occurs in one night.
[00:23:31] Speaker A: And that's so unheard of. Meddling by the federal government pish population.
[00:23:36] Speaker B: No, that never happened.
[00:23:38] Speaker A: Never. They never screw up anything that locals could possibly. They know, they know all. Anyway, let's move on. So James, what can you tell us about the plot? What impressed you as an 8, 8 year old James and then as an adult James.
[00:23:57] Speaker C: Well, so, you know, watching it as an adult, you know, you look at all the technology and so, you know, my son, we watched it the other day, and so when the Bruce Willis walks into the building for the first time and he goes to look into the directory, right. The touch screen panel, and it's like, you know, probably one of the first touchscreens that would have ever, like, really been around at this time. Like, the technology would have been, like, so cutting edge. Like, I'm like thinking, like, man, that must be like a $50,000.
[00:24:37] Speaker A: Right?
[00:24:38] Speaker C: Or something. Right? Because where, you know, we take for granted today, you know, our phones are, you know, have more power than all the technology in the whole movie, right?
And so you just sort of notice those little things that, you know, at the time would have been revolutionary or really high tech, how, you know, seem very dated.
So that was. That's. That's fun.
[00:25:06] Speaker A: I said the same thing. So I was in the fifth grade when the World's Fair came to my hometown of New Orleans, the 84 World Expo. And my dad worked there, and he got me some passes or something like that, and that's when they first had the touch screen. And you are so correct. You'd have thought, like, it was the fire being discovered. Like, it was just like, you know, so. Yeah, so you could. And then I saw a documentary that I think Disney World or. Yeah, Disney World, I think them in conjunction with some other probably defunct tech company, they were the first ones to really develop that. That technology because they had it in one of their rides, like in Epcot, or if not Epcot, like in that area. So. So it might have either predated that 84 experience I had, but anyway, it was in the 80s, so you're right, James, that. That was revolutionary. And what else was revolutionary, James and Georgia, what else? Some term we use. It's a verb every day. That back then, we had no clue that one of the villains was doing.
Oh, it's like we hate. Like, we fear this in tech. Like, if this happens to you, you're screwed most of the time.
[00:26:31] Speaker B: Identity theft.
[00:26:32] Speaker A: Okay. You close, you're close, you're close.
So if you. If you commit identity theft, you've. You've done what to some system or something? You're. You're a what, Attacking? Yes.
[00:26:45] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:26:46] Speaker A: So that was like, so. So shout out to the actor because he also went on, I'm gonna find his picture to play in.
What's that? Chuck Norris. Wait, where he was a t. The TV Sheriff cop or whatever.
[00:27:00] Speaker C: Walker, Texas Ranger.
[00:27:01] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. So let me. Oh, here's this picture right here.
And I'll find his picture. There we go. Y'all saw me scrolling. So yeah, this gentleman right here, he. He was the hacker. And. And you know, not to get into the racial stuff like that, but that to me, that was really groundbreak breaking as well, to have a showing a black man in tech. You know, I apologize for any old head black people in tech. You know, the old shout out to the OG techies and nerds. But to my knowledge, this was the first time that I'd ever seen look, besides Lieutenant Uhura from Star Trek, black people I saw handling some technology. So I'm sorry. But anyway, this was. So he was a hacker. So I was like, oh, my gosh, this move is like predicting the future.
[00:27:55] Speaker C: Yeah, it was like a. Like a glimpse into the. To the future for sure.
[00:27:58] Speaker A: Right.
[00:27:59] Speaker C: And you know, you keep calling them terrorists, but they were not really. Never really terrorists. They were. They were bank robbers. Right. That's what they were doing. Now they. This is in a terrifying manner, certainly, but I don't know that they would check the boxes. If terrorists have a scientific definition, I don't know that they would qualify. Right.
[00:28:22] Speaker A: Yeah, that's valid. That's valid.
[00:28:25] Speaker B: It is. They really were thieves.
[00:28:27] Speaker A: Yeah. And that's a part of the plot twist.
[00:28:29] Speaker C: Try to do it in a peaceful manner. It's just, you know, people didn't cooperate and so they had to, you know, do the. Do the plan B. Okay.
[00:28:43] Speaker A: Ah, James. They came in. They came in with. On their mind because the first thing they did when they had the dude who was a hacker, and they came in, and I won't give it away, but they came in. Blam. First thing they did. Y'all, Y'all. I won't give it away.
[00:28:56] Speaker C: They announced themselves, but they didn't kill anybody.
[00:29:02] Speaker A: Well, no, when they first came in, like, literally, I don't give it away. Like, when they first came in and.
[00:29:08] Speaker C: The guy they just shot up into the air, they didn't. They didn't hurt anybody.
[00:29:12] Speaker A: No, like literally, like, didn't they. I don't give it away. Like, when they first literally walked in the door, they walked up to the reception desk by the security guard.
[00:29:19] Speaker C: Oh, yeah, I guess there's. There's that.
[00:29:21] Speaker A: Yeah, there's that. James.
[00:29:24] Speaker C: Security guard. Security guards are cannon fodder.
[00:29:27] Speaker A: Oh, that's terrible.
You better. You clean that up. You clean that up. Oh my gosh, that's horrible.
[00:29:37] Speaker C: I apologize to any security guards that are listening today.
[00:29:41] Speaker A: James. That's terrible.
Oh, my goodness. Oh, wait. Speaking of a holes. Okay, y'all saw me scrolling, y'all. Okay. Oh, here we go. Oh. What y'all thought about this dude right here? I was about to curse. I'm trying to not curse this dude here. What do y'all thought? So there was villains and there was sub villains.
[00:30:01] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, he. He played his character very well.
[00:30:06] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:30:07] Speaker C: Yeah, he did. He did a great job embodying that. That Persona.
[00:30:13] Speaker A: So, yeah, they had. Yeah, they had, like I said, villains and sub villains. There were so many subplots. I really enjoyed it.
Let's see what else. What else y'all got for us?
We have the 31 minute mark. We try to at least go to, like, a little bit 35 or maybe 40, because I'm really en conversation. And we're just really scratching the surface of this, as y'all did. I wanna. I'm gonna try to look for the cast and get all of their names. So Georgia, James, take it away. I'm gonna look for that right quick.
[00:30:43] Speaker B: Well, sure, just maybe just a little bit of trivia here and there. But, you know, Ellen Rickman did such an amazing job playing the villain. And, you know, he's just cool. Very kind of like an elegant kind of guy, but yet it's balanced with. He does such brutality, but he does it with poise, and that makes it all the more terrifying. And so I have to tell you that Bonnie Bedelia said that she had lunch with Alan Rickman every day, and she commented how lovely and gentle he was in real life.
[00:31:17] Speaker A: I could see that. My favorite Alan Rickman movie. Because everybody knows he was in, like, those period pieces. I mean, he done. But James and Georgia. Did you all see what. I almost said it?
Oh, Quest. Old space Quest.
[00:31:34] Speaker B: Insensibility.
[00:31:36] Speaker A: Well, no, yeah, yeah, he's done those, but no Space Quest. I'm not saying it with him. And Tim from what's his.
[00:31:42] Speaker C: It's been a long time since I've seen it, but yeah, he played like an alien.
[00:31:46] Speaker A: Yeah. And I love Galaxy Quest. Galaxy Quest.
[00:31:49] Speaker C: There you go.
[00:31:50] Speaker A: Let me go find that. I. George, we gotta do that movie. So put that there. I love that movie. He is so funny.
[00:31:57] Speaker C: But by far his most famous would have to be, you know, his seven Harry Potter movies, right?
[00:32:02] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:32:03] Speaker A: Oh, I didn't know he. So he was an. I don't look at Harry Potter. I've never seen Harry Potter.
[00:32:06] Speaker C: Professor Faith. I mean, he's like, oh, wow.
[00:32:09] Speaker A: I didn't know that.
Okay. I don't know anything about Harry Potter.
[00:32:13] Speaker C: Harry Potter movies.
[00:32:15] Speaker A: Huh.
[00:32:16] Speaker C: Have you not seen the Harry Potter movies.
[00:32:17] Speaker A: I know nothing about Harry Potter. I have not.
[00:32:20] Speaker C: Oh, wow.
[00:32:21] Speaker B: I have to admit, I am also totally culturally deprived and have not seen any Harry potter either.
[00:32:31] Speaker C: They're 20 years old now.
The first Harry Potter movie is over 20 years old, so.
[00:32:40] Speaker A: Oh, that's. Oh, my God. Now that's really making me feel. Oh, really? Because, yeah, we watched those kids grow up. They basically grew up in front of the world.
[00:32:48] Speaker C: So this is his. He does his character phenomenal in that one because not to spoil it, you know, for you, but he's.
He walks that bad guy, good guy line throughout the whole movie and you never really know, you know, till the end which side he falls on.
[00:33:09] Speaker A: Okay, let me find a picture. I am so sorry, all you Harry Potter fans. It's just. That was just not on my radar. Wait, Harry. So let me find who you say his name was. Oh, here he is. Harry Potter.
[00:33:21] Speaker C: Professor Snape, I believe.
[00:33:23] Speaker A: Oh, I've seen this picture before.
[00:33:26] Speaker C: Yeah, he looks like a. Emo. Ah, yeah, that's what he look like.
[00:33:30] Speaker A: He looks like.
Remember that, that, that image G. Brooks tried to do one time?
That alter ego?
[00:33:41] Speaker C: Yeah, what was his name?
[00:33:42] Speaker A: I forget. Chris something. He looked like the, the dude who does the.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, here we go, guys. Let me, Let me get that. We. And so, God, our audience knows. George and I, we veer off all the time because there's so many rabbit holes, especially with this movie, with all these, these people who blew up. Okay, here he is.
I. I've seen this, this, His. This character. And James, I had never even connected with me because I'm with George. I think of him with Galaxy Quest and all her period pizza. Like, like you just said. The.
[00:34:19] Speaker B: Which.
[00:34:19] Speaker A: That movie you just said. So I never think of him with this kind of stuff, okay? So I. I apologize, all you Harry Potter people.
I sincerely do. All right, what else we got, guys? Because Die Hard. So I know what I want to ask you in Georgia.
Is there anything on the scene now?
And I'm gonna give you a little grace, or maybe a few, let's see, five to ten years ago, comparable to Die Hard, not counting any Die Hards that came along. But is there anything good like Die Hard on the scene now?
[00:34:58] Speaker C: John Wick.
[00:34:59] Speaker A: That's what my husband said. John Wick. I've never seen that.
[00:35:02] Speaker C: They're full of action. I mean, they. There's four, and they get a little repetitive.
[00:35:08] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:35:09] Speaker C: After a while. Or at least Die Hard, it's all action, but it's a different bad guy. And A different, you know, maybe a connected story, but a different, you know, scene or a different location. Whereas John Wick is just like this one long continuous story of chasing the bad guy. And so, you know, they, you know, they get creative and they have good fight scenes. And so that one was pretty good.
[00:35:41] Speaker A: What about. Have you seen. I think my dad looks at it. It's on Amazon. Jack Reacher or something like that.
[00:35:51] Speaker C: Yeah, that's a show. And. Well, so there's two movies, Jack Reacher, that Tom Cruise did, and they're pretty good.
[00:35:59] Speaker B: They are. They're good.
[00:36:00] Speaker A: I've never seen them.
[00:36:02] Speaker C: And did a show on prime that has a couple seasons where there's a guy and it's same, same sort of thing. It's, you know, he can, he can kick your ass, but he's also very cerebral and can beat you mentally, you know, as well. And so it's kind of this smart, tough guy Persona. And so it's pretty cool. But, you know, it's not just a pure action movie. It's. It has, you know, the story and the plot and, you know, kind of the mystery element to it versus just a pure action flick.
[00:36:46] Speaker B: Well, you know, this movie, I think started the genre of having a big action thrill within like a confined or claustrophobic spaces. Because I was thinking back to how they would do Die Hard spin offs like on a bus, a plane, a train or a boat. Because we had speed. Because speed is really Die Hard on a bus. And we had Under Siege, you know, with Steven Seagal. That's Die Hard on a Boat.
[00:37:15] Speaker A: True. That's so true. I was, I'm glad you said that.
I didn't even think about that.
[00:37:21] Speaker C: Yeah, I agree.
[00:37:23] Speaker A: We should do those and have James come back.
[00:37:28] Speaker C: I've seen all those as well. If it was in the 80s or 90s, I've seen it. I'm not definitely not as much into movies. I mean, I still watch plenty of movies, but I don't watch the same movie as many times as like I did when I was growing up. Like you said, when you had cable, HBO played, you know, the same movie for six months. And so you did watch it. That was the only thing. There was no streaming, there was no Internet.
[00:37:56] Speaker A: Right.
[00:37:56] Speaker C: It was whatever was on, that's what you got. And you know, you were, you were happy to have it.
[00:38:02] Speaker A: Right, Right. And then guys, then, you know, right around the corner, DVDs were coming out. Well, we had tapes. You had VHS that was right around kind of at the advent of that. So you could have these Libraries with all these hard copies of these great films and hard copies of physical media is making a resurgence because streaming sucks. That's why I was asking y'all what movies are equivalent to a Die Hard, and y'all came up with some great ones. But, you know, like I said, they will die hard. Like I said, Georgia was the root of that. But. And. And so my husband asked my husband the same thing, and he said the same thing you said, James.
Pretty much John Wick and, like, maybe some stuff on Amazon, but like I said, a depth and just. And see stars. To me, yes, I'm going on a rant. Stars aren't stars like Bruce Willis and Clint Eastwood and Arnold and even Stallone.
I don't trust these guys, you know, like these new cats. They don't really. They don't instill any fear in me or they don't make me feel comfortable or safe. Do y'all know what I mean?
[00:39:12] Speaker B: Yeah, I think I do. But, you know, one of the things that I love about this character, John McClane, was he was the one that today started our action heroes being more flawed or sarcastic or unhappy because, you know, they either drink too much, they have mental health issues, they get, you know, shot up a lot more. So it was a real departure from Schwarzenegger and Stallone.
[00:39:38] Speaker A: Yeah. James, you were saying something.
[00:39:41] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. I forgot what I was gonna say. But no, I think you're right. That, you know, the hard to love good guy, right? Everyone. Nobody wants to be him. Nobody wants to be around him right? Until everyone needs him. Hey. Sorry for interrupting. You know, because he has to be. And I think in one of the later movies, he kind of. He kind of says something along those lines, you know, that it's not. You know, I'm not the guy because I want to be on the guy, because I have to be, right? No one else is stepping up. And so that. That's the kind of. That's the kind of guy that he is, right? That. Okay, you know, when someone needs to step up, he's going to be the one to do it.
[00:40:23] Speaker A: And that makes sense because, you know, that's a perfect explanation of this.
I kind of want to show this scene because we're about to wrap up, everyone.
This scene is so iconic with Alan Rickman.
Okay, I'll just freeze it right there.
Let's see. I'm gonna show you guys in a second, the. The climax or the end, if you will.
And I hope I'm not giving away too much.
There we go.
Okay.
Oh.
All Right. Can y'all see that?
[00:41:04] Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
[00:41:05] Speaker A: All right, so this is iconic. And Georgia, I know you have the trivia behind us. You are, James. I have the trivia behind us. Right.
[00:41:15] Speaker B: I really don't, actually.
[00:41:17] Speaker A: Okay, James, do you have the trivia behind the scenes?
[00:41:20] Speaker C: Is there some trivia that goes along with it?
[00:41:22] Speaker B: So I didn't know there was.
[00:41:24] Speaker A: Okay, so this sheer look of terror on Alan, as great as an actor of Alan as Alan Rickman was, this sheer look of terror is real because the stunt coordinator had, you know, they, you know, it's green screen behind him. Okay. Obviously, we know that dude ain't hanging off no building. 30 foot building.
So they have it on some really high scalp. Scaffolding. Scaffolding. I hope I'm saying that. Right. And at the bottom there's a. The. Like the fireman cushion. You know that when. Or, you know, the little bean bag that catches you or whatever they call it. Mattress. Whatever. So the stunt coordinator is holding Alan Rickman by the hand, just like he's in the movie. Holding. He's holding on to Bonnie Bedelia's hand, trying to hold on for dear life and take her down. And you see he has a gun here. He's multitasking, if you will. So. But in actuality, he was holding on to the stunt coordinates coordinator's hand. So the stunt coordinator's like, okay, we got. I got you. Get ready. Action.
He lets Alan Rickman go. And Alan Rickman fell, like, 12 or more feet. And so this is Alan Rickman, like, oh, my. Like, he's like seeing his life flash in front of his face.
[00:42:42] Speaker B: So I did not know that.
[00:42:46] Speaker A: So poor Alan Rickman. This is actually.
[00:42:50] Speaker C: Oh, that's authentic then, you know, that.
[00:42:51] Speaker A: Is authentic how they had to do.
[00:42:53] Speaker C: It in the 80s. They didn't have CGI. Right.
[00:42:56] Speaker A: Right. So as great as an actor as he is, he is like, oh, no. Like, I'm dying. Like, this is it. My first and last movie. This is it. So then we see the, you know, then you see the actual, you know, the stunt man.
That's not Alan Rickman. We know, but. Yeah, but that. That look of sheer terror in his face is actually him being dropped, like, several feet from a scaffolding. Because. Because the. The director, he wanted him to be genuinely terrified. And so he did not know. So they. He was set up, guys. Poor Alan Rickman. But we got him to live on and be the fabulous villain and actor that we have because he could do it all comedy. So those of you all who are Kings. King of the Hill fans. He was in King of the Hill. He played the Renaissance fair king and he was bullying the people and wouldn't pay him. And yes, I know I watch too much tv, but so I don't give away too much. So Alan Rickman can do. He can do American accents and apparently he does Southern accents really well. And so in the movie, you're gonna see him kind of change up a little bit and then. But then he does it again in the King of the Hill cartoon and is absolutely. Because he's in the King of Hill cartoon, he stays in character as a Renaissance king, like Henry VIII or something like that, and something happens. He goes completely out of character and starts with this Texas Southern accent and it's freaking hilarious. So I loved Alan Rickman. Can you tell? Love Alan. He was so good looking to me. They had a lot of good. George. They had a lot of good looking little German men up in here, right?
[00:44:35] Speaker B: They did. Girl.
[00:44:38] Speaker A: They was kind of coyote. I just want to show really quick.
I did find the shout out to the director. Just want to show him real quick before we get out of here. John McTiernan, he directed like so many great action films. Hunt for Red October. And I think Georgia. We did Hunt for Red October, I think on here.
[00:44:59] Speaker B: No, we didn't.
[00:45:00] Speaker A: We didn't.
[00:45:01] Speaker B: We wanted to. We wanted to do Hunt for Red October. We wanted. But we were having problems with accessing it.
[00:45:08] Speaker A: Oh, man. Okay, so we gotta try to research that again. But he's done like really, really good films. Have you seen Humphrey Red October, James?
[00:45:17] Speaker C: I have.
[00:45:18] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:45:19] Speaker C: Been a while, but yes, I have.
[00:45:20] Speaker A: Yeah, me too. I only saw it once a wheel. So. So, James, now we're gonna harass you. You gotta. Every action movie we do, you got to come and talk about it.
[00:45:28] Speaker C: So watch. I said up to about 2,000 and then, you know, I mean, I'm kind of sporadic after that, but yeah, definitely 80s action movies.
Jean Claude Van Damme.
[00:45:40] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:45:40] Speaker C: Oh, yeah, Arnold. Arnold movies. Yes, definitely. Definitely seen plenty of those. Before we go, I just thought I would share some stuff. So I'm gonna turn on my camera.
[00:45:52] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:45:52] Speaker C: And we have Christmas decorations.
[00:45:56] Speaker A: You do not have that.
[00:45:58] Speaker C: Yes, there's Tony that come down in the elevator.
[00:46:04] Speaker A: That's crazy.
So for our audio listeners, there apparently is a funko pop of Bruce Willis's character First Kill. Tony, you say his name is?
[00:46:15] Speaker C: Yeah, this is Tony. Yeah. And there's also Hans. And also you can get. They have several. Several characters from the movie. But this is by Far my favorite. I plan to buy the others, but, you know, around Christmas time, they put the price like $50. No, that's too much.
[00:46:33] Speaker A: Really?
[00:46:34] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:46:35] Speaker A: So how dare they? $12.
[00:46:37] Speaker C: You know, not gonna go. I'm not gonna pay $50. So.
[00:46:41] Speaker A: No.
[00:46:42] Speaker C: So, yeah, So I have. So that's Tony. And then also the Nakatomi Tower advent calendar.
[00:46:55] Speaker A: I love it. James, stop.
[00:46:59] Speaker C: Every day, Hans gets a little bit closer to his demise.
[00:47:04] Speaker A: Stop.
Wait a minute. Why? We could have just talked about that. The whole doggone show. That's so fun. Well, I'm leaving. That's a high note. I can't answer that neither.
That is a mic drop. Guys, thank you all for tuning in to how Bette Davis Saved my Life. This is our Christmas gift to you. You know, every year we have a Christmas gift to film for you. And so we want to do something a little different. So, you know, guys, there's some controversy, like, is Die Hard actually a Christmas film? So, Georgia, I want to take a vote. Yes or no? Is Die Hard a Christmas film?
[00:47:42] Speaker B: Definite yes.
[00:47:44] Speaker A: Okay. All right. What do you say, James?
[00:47:47] Speaker C: Absolutely. I mean, I don't know if there's some objective criteria out there for determining what is and what is not a Christmas movie, but. But it's filmed at Christmas time. There's lots of Christmas themed sayings and scenery.
So I mean, in my opinion, it checks all the boxes to be qualified as a Christmas movie. I mean, the fact that there's an Advent calendar, I mean, I think that's de facto proof that you are now a Christmas movie. Right?
[00:48:17] Speaker A: Look, absolutely. And the fact that they played Run DMCS Christmas time in Hollis, Queens. Case closed. Right? It is a. So shout out to the cast and crew. I didn't get it, but go on to IMDb. Everybody's on there. I mean, like I said, just Clarence Gilliard iii, a junior. I'm sorry, he was the hacker and all kind. All people. You've seen these people a million times in a lot of movies. I was trying to get the guy who played the reporter. He always plays, like I say, an a hole. Robert Davey, a great actor. A great, great. Always play. He was one of the FBI agents. He always plays a villain. And some. He plays both. And I cannot find somebody. Let me know the reporter's name because I'm looking for it. I'm trying. I know we run out of time. Oh, gosh, I can't find it. But James Shigita, he's been in a lot of stuff. That plays Takagi the. The Boss. So go look that up at IMDb we run out of time. But I love this movie.
I'm so glad I got a chance to see it again because I hadn't seen it since I was a kid, so I don't know if it was. George, George, I think you suggested this, so thank you for that.
[00:49:32] Speaker B: I did.
[00:49:35] Speaker A: Well, guys, merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone. Especially you, James. Thank you so much for joining us.
[00:49:41] Speaker C: Yeah, absolutely. Thank you for having me. It was, it was quite entertaining. So anytime you need some like a guest, you know, happy to join.
[00:49:49] Speaker A: Yes, that. We got our action man. We got, we got Norm for our fashion man and we got James F. Action man. That's cool.
[00:50:00] Speaker B: It is.
[00:50:02] Speaker A: Well, guys, take care.
We. So this, this, this is a recording. So when you, when everyone sees this on Facebook, it will not be live. It is a recording. So you know, if you want to comment or something during the, you know, it's a recording so you won't get any live comments. But you know, we do always check to see what you guys are saying. So don't forget to like share, subscribe and comment. Have a wonderful holiday season. So I'm Moya.
[00:50:28] Speaker B: And I'm Georgia. Wishing you a very merry Christmas and happy New Year too. And we will be bringing you. Oh Moya. We meant to tell our listeners on January 4, we are going to be doing the movie King of Comedy.
[00:50:43] Speaker A: Yes, yes. Rupert Pupkin. One of. One of Rob De Niro's in my opinion, one of my favorite roles from him because it's so anti what he normally does. And regardless of how the man is now, you know, I think of him as an actor in all his great roles. So. But this is one of my favorite roles. So. Yes, Georgia, thank you. So we'll see you again in a new year for the King of Comedy starring like you said, De Niro, Jerry Lewis and the Grace Sandra Bern. I always said Bernard or Bernard. Anyway. Yeah, so can't wait for that. And James, come back anytime. It doesn't have to be action, just anytime. Georgia, you know, ask what we're doing. We usually put our schedule on a Facebook page, but you are welcome anytime. Thank you so much.
[00:51:32] Speaker C: Yeah, you bet. My pleasure. You know, have a happy holidays.
[00:51:35] Speaker A: You too. So guys, you take care. We'll see you in a new year at the King of Comedy. We love you. And don't forget to subscribe again. Share like comment we'll see you soon. Bye bye.
[00:51:47] Speaker B: Bye.
Okay.
