It’s Die Hard in a bank!

This week on DIE HARD ON A BLANK, we plug into SWORDFISH — the slick, post-Matrix cyber-thriller produced by Joel Silver and directed by Dominic Sena. With Hugh Jackman hacking mainframes under extreme duress, John Travolta dropping pseudo-Brechtian monologues, Halle Berry delivering the most famous topless scene of the early 2000s, and Don Cheadle constantly violating people’s civil rights, it’s a film that dares to ask: does it matter if a movie makes no sense, as long as it’s entertaining? We also dig into Swordfish's dense meta-layering and debate the broader question: when is too much meta actually bad for the form? As always we break the film down in detail in our ‘Anatomy of an Action Movie section’, hand out some ‘Die Hard Oscars’ and wrestle with some ‘Double Jeopardy’ brain teasers…heck, there’s even a Vinnie Jones impression thrown into the mix for good measure! What more could you possibly want?!

SWORDFISH trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFwtY1bxlNc

At the time of release, SWORDFISH is available to rent or buy on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV/iTunes, YouTube, Fandango and all the usual platforms, as well as on physical media!

Click here to subscribe to our Patreon feed 48 HOURS OF BUDDY MOVIES! Sign up on the website (instead of the app) to save $$$!

www.patreon.com/48hoursofbuddymovies

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It’s Die Hard in Las Vegas!

This week on DIE HARD ON A BLANK, we strap on our snakeskin boots and bullet belts for a dive into 3000 MILES TO GRACELAND - the loud, chaotic, Elvis-themed heist movie that somehow manages to sneak in a surprising amount of DIE HARD DNA!

Two career criminals, Michael Zane (Kurt Russell), and Thomas Murphy (Kevin Costner) team up to pull a casino robbery in Las Vegas during an Elvis convention. However, the botched heist results in a high body count and in the aftermath, the psychotic, self-serving Murphy betrays Michael and the rest of the crew, sparking an expansive feud between the two men, who each try to reclaim their ill-gotten gains from the other, leaving an escalating trail of carnage in their wake.

We explore how this underrated oddity isn’t merely a post-Tarantino shoot-’em-up, but a film obsessed with American archetypes - outlaws, lawmen, lone wolves, and false idols. We also dig into the maximalist performances from Kurt Russell and Kevin Costner, the mythic cowboy framing, and how the film situates itself in the lineage of Western icons reimagined for the modern age. Is it Die Hard in a jumpsuit? Tune in and find out!

3000 MILES TO GRACELAND trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdEFmGB--kQ

At the time of release, 3000 MILES TO GRACELAND is streaming on Philo and is available to rent or buy on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV/iTunes, YouTube, Fandango and all the usual platforms, as well as on physical media.

Click here to subscribe to our Patreon feed 48 HOURS OF BUDDY MOVIES! Sign up on the website (instead of the app) to save $$$!

www.patreon.com/48hoursofbuddymovies

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s Die Hard on an ice cream truck!

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream! This week on DIE HARD ON A BLANK, we’re trying to keep our collective cool as we discuss the 1999 buddy-comedy/action-misfire CHILL FACTOR! Joining us on our adventure is none other than special guest Matthew Strohl, a professor at the University of Montana and author of the books Hard to Watch and Why It’s Ok To Love Bad Movies!

When an experimental military chemical weapon nicknamed "Elvis" accidentally falls into civilian hands, a hapless ice cream truck driver (Cuba Gooding Jr.) and down-on-his-luck diner cook (Skeet Ulrich) team up to keep it away from the ruthless mercenaries who are trying to steal it. The catch is that if "Elvis" heats above 50 degrees, it will detonate with catastrophic consequences – forcing the unlikely duo to outrun the bad guys and keep the temperature under that threshold, all while attempting to safely deliver the precarious device to a military facility!

We start by analyzing the film’s DNA, which includes genetic links to a myriad of movies including DIE HARD, SPEED, THE ROCK, THELMA & LOUISE, and most surprisingly, A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT. Backed by Matt’s spirited defense case, we try to give this much maligned (and largely forgotten) motion picture its day in court, applying the thesis espoused in his excellent books to the film. Against the odds, this approach leads to a passionate (and unexpectedly deep) discussion about how we choose to engage with art…as CHILL FACTOR becomes a living example of “why it’s okay to love to bad movies”! But the fun doesn’t stop there...because as always we wrap things up with the DIE HARD OSCARS and the DOUBLE JEOPARDY trivia quiz!

CHILL FACTOR trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYNiikB4wvI

At the time of release, CHILL FACTOR is available to rent or buy on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV/iTunes, YouTube, Fandango and all the usual platforms, as well as on physical media. It is also available in its entirety on YouTube at the following link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7ede9OJ6pw

Click here to subscribe to our Patreon feed 48 HOURS OF BUDDY MOVIES! Sign up on the website (instead of the app) to save $$$!

www.patreon.com/48hoursofbuddymovies

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.