Die Hard On A Blank

It’s Die Hard on the streets! This week on DIE HARD ON A BLANK we’re discussing Richard Donner’s 2006 action-thriller/character study 16 BLOCKS, a film that some fans consider an alt-universe DIE HARD sequel! To get to the bottom of this we enlisted special guest Mitchell Beaupre, head of editorial at Letterboxd and an avowed 16 BLOCKS (and FREEJACK) fan!  

Aging, alcoholic New York City detective (Jack Mosley) is a depressed deadbeat waiting for death when he’s given an unwanted but seemingly routine assignment: to transfer petty criminal Eddie Bunker (Mos Def) from a jail cell to court, where he is planning to testify to a grand jury. However, after he saves Eddie from an assassination attempt, Jack comes to discover that everyone – including his own NYPD colleagues - seem to want Eddie dead. In dire need of redemption, Jack becomes determined to get Eddie to court on time, no matter what the cost or the consequences…  

The guys discuss the abundant DIE HARD DNA (and 48 HRS connections) and place this performance in the wider context of Bruce Willis’ career. They discuss the historic importance of LETHAL WEAPON-helmer Dick Donner making a DIE HARD-adjacent movie, and examine the film’s thematic interests, tonal inspirations, and ultimate ambitions. They discuss the film’s supporting cast, including Mos Def/Yasiin Bey as the interestingly named ‘Eddie Bunker’, podcast favorite David Morse as corrupt cop Frank Nugent, and David Zayas as the trigger-happy Bobby Torres. Awards are dispensed in the ‘Die Hard Oscars’ and as always events culminate with the ‘Double Jeopardy Trivia Quiz’, where the scores can really change!

TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqffzRFzdco

At the time of release, 16 BLOCKS is streaming on Hoopla in the US and is available to rent or buy on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV/iTunes, YouTube, Fandango and all the usual platforms! It is also available on physical media!

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It’s Die Hard in a diner! This week on DIE HARD ON A BLANK we’re discussing David Cronenberg’s masterful 2005 film A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE, a story that begins (and ends) with a DIE HARD-type scenario…and goes deep and hard on the consequences of surviving such an event. 

Mild mannered family man Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen) owns and runs a diner in the small, Norman Rockwellian town of Millbrook, Indiana, where he lives a quiet, happy life with his wife Edie (Maria Bello) and their two children, teenage son Jack (Ashton Holmes) and a young daughter Sarah (Heidi Hayes). However, Tom’s seemingly idyllic existence is shattered when he thwarts an attempted robbery at the diner, killing two murderous criminals in the process. The local media laud Tom as a hero, and the subsequent press attention results in the appearance of sinister Philadelphia mobster Carl Fogarty (Ed Harris), who believes that “Tom Stall” is in fact “Joey Cusack” a fellow mobster from his past. As Fogerty and his henchmen begin threatening Tom and his family, much of the subsequent tension stems from the uncertainty as to who Tom really is…and what he intends to do about this escalating threat to those he loves. 

The guys discuss their favorite Cronenberg films and where this particular picture fits within the auteur’s oeuvre. They talk about the myriad DIE HARD connections in the ‘DIE HARD DNA’ section, discuss its various themes, its provocative presentation of violence and sex, and the remarkable performances. Awards are handed out in the ‘DIE HARD Oscars’ and events culminate with the ‘Double Jeopardy’ quiz! 

TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_GSE_ZsUNw

At the time of release, A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE is available to rent or buy on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV/iTunes, YouTube, Fandango and all the usual platforms! It is also available on physical media and is part of the Criterion Collection! 

Click here to subscribe to our Patreon feed 48 HOURS OF BUDDY MOVIES!

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Pre-order NO ESCAPE on 4K (featuring our commentary track) here:

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It’s Die Hard in a mansion!

This week on DIE HARD ON A BLANK we’re discussing the 2005 Bruce Willis action-thriller HOSTAGE! And to break it all down we brought in special guest Jim Penola!

After a fatal miscalculation in a previous siege, hostage negotiator Jeff Talley (Bruce Willis) quits the LAPD and becomes the police chief of a small, quiet, remote California town. However, Talley is thrust back into the limelight when a trio of young criminals rob the mansion of the wealthy local figure Walter Page (Kevin Pollak) and take his children hostage. When the siege goes public, the situation becomes further complicated when it is revealed that Page is a mob accountant. The mysterious criminal syndicate then pressurize Talley to retrieve a valuable item from the house, putting Talley and his own family between a rock and a hard place.  

Given its presence and its leading actor, it's a film positively overflowing with DIE HARD DNA…yet unlike the 1988 Christmas classic, HOSTAGE has a particularly mean-spirited and abrasive tone. To make sense of this picture, we enlisted the help of Jim Penola, a connoisseur of the “home invasion” movie, and together the guys discuss this film in the wider context of the “action-horror” subgenre, the French extremist movement, and Bruce Willis’ career. They hand out awards in the DIE HARD OSCARS and pit their wits against the quizmaster in the Double Jeopardy section! You won’t feel like a hostage listening to this episode!!! (etc. etc.)

TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCt4L7RPweE

At the time of release, HOSTAGE is streaming on Hoopla in the US, and is available to rent or buy on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV/iTunes, YouTube, Fandango and all the usual platforms! It is also available on physical media! 

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It’s Die Hard in a police station!

This week on DIE HARD ON A BLANK we’re battening down the hatches with Ethan Hawke and Laurence Fishburne as we discuss the 2005 remake of ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13!

After a botched undercover drug bust results in the deaths of two of his fellow team members, traumatized Detroit cop Jake Roenick (Ethan Hawke) now works an unambitious desk job, where he oversees a quiet, remote precinct that’s about to be decommissioned. However, when a busload of prisoners – including notorious gangster Marion Bishop (Laurence Fishburne) - are forced to take refuge at said precinct because of a brutal New Year’s Eve snowstorm, Jake suddenly finds himself called back into action when mysterious masked gunmen assault the police station…

After comparing and contrasting this film with John Carpenter’s original 1976 classic (itself a loose remake of RIO BRAVO), the guys discuss the myriad DIE HARD (and DIE HARD 2) DNA on display in this pressure-cooker siege scenario, while musing on the possibility that the echoes of previous wars (Vietnam, the Iraq invasion) may be reverberating inside both versions of the story. They also discuss the idea of the “action-horror” subgenre in this surprisingly gory picture, as well as Ethan Hawke’s post-TRAINING DAY action-hero run. Awards are handed out to the stellar ensemble cast in the DIE HARD OSCARS section, and as always the episode culminates with a cheeky edition of the DOUBLE JEOPARDY trivia quiz!

TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isoX0zcyG-4

At the time of release, ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 is streaming on Starz and Philo in the US, and is available to rent or buy on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV/iTunes, YouTube, Fandango and all the usual platforms! It is also available on physical media!

The original 1976 version is also currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video, Fubo, Roki, Pluto TV, Kanopy, Shout TV, Plex and The Criterion Channel!

Click here to subscribe to our Patreon feed 48 HOURS OF BUDDY MOVIES, where we’ve discussed other John Carpenter classics such as BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA and THEY LIVE!

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It’s Die Hard in a taxi!

This week on DIE HARD ON A BLANK we’re taking a ride with Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx as we discuss Michael Mann’s exemplary 2004 thriller COLLATERAL!

Fastidious cab driver Max (Jamie Foxx) picks up a mysterious passenger named Vincent (Tom Cruise), who, impressed with Max’s driving and knowledge of the sprawling city, offers to hire him for the night while he makes a few stops around LA. However, Max soon discovers that Vincent is in fact a contract killer, who then forces Max to drive him around the city so that he can assassinate a list of people involved in a massive federal case. As an ordinary guy pitted against a skilled and ruthless hitman, Max must somehow find a way to survive and stop Vincent from completing his deadly mission.

After outlining the surprisingly dense and detailed amount of ‘DIE HARD DNA’ in this jazz-infused LA neo-noir, the guys wrestle with a fundamental question: is this the greatest thriller ever made? They get into the film’s philosophical themes, discuss the remarkable against-type performances from the two leads (and the stellar supporting cast) and place this film in context within Michael Mann’s filmography. The guys wrap things up with a highly competitive edition of the DIE HARD OSCARS (there’s a ton of love for Mark Ruffalo) and the always entertaining DOUBLE JEOPARDY trivia quiz!

TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JDf2zIFgO8

At the time of release, COLLATERAL is streaming on Paramount Plus and Kanopy in the US, and is available to rent or buy on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV/iTunes, YouTube, Fandango and all the usual platforms! It is also available on physical media!

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It’s Die Hard in a phone booth!

This week on DIE HARD ON A BLANK we’re in a glass case of emotion with special guests Katie Walsh and Blake Howard as we discuss the 2002 high-concept thriller PHONE BOOTH, starring Colin Farrell and Forest Whitaker!

Slick, sleazy, unscrupulous celebrity publicist Stu Shepard (Colin Farrell) lies for a living, hustling on behalf of his clients while strutting the streets of New York, and constantly making and taking phone calls with the help of a young intern named Adam (Keith Nobbs). However, while visiting one of the city’s few remaining phone booths to secretly call a young actress he is trying to sleep with behind his wife’s back, Stu suddenly finds himself in the middle of a terrifying situation…when an unidentified “Caller” (Kiefer Sutherland) informs Stu that he will kill him with a sniper rifle unless he remains in the phone booth and follows all his demands…

As the two hosts of the MIAMI NICE podcast, our friends Blake and Katie are no stronger to the joys of Colin Farrell…nor of director Joel Schumacher, whose life, career and filmmaking style are all discussed at length. We also get into the film’s long and tortured development history, other directors who were considered to helm Larry Cohen’s long-gestating screenplay (including Michael Bay), and of course, the surprisingly high amount of “Die Hard DNA” crammed into that confined space. We hand out some awards in the “Die Hard Oscars” and wrap things up with the “Double Jeopardy Quiz”…where the scores can really change. Schumacher stans rise up!

TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUqTCsjCsA8

At the time of release, PHONE BOOTH is available to rent or buy on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV/iTunes, YouTube, Fandango and all the usual platforms!

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It’s Die Hard with dragons!

After a summer hiatus, DIE HARD ON A BLANK is back with a vengeance and we’re bringing the heat…because this week we’re exploring Rob Bowman’s 2002 monster mash REIGN OF FIRE, with the help of returning special guest Rob Hackett!

As a young boy, Quinn Abercromby is visiting the construction of an underground tunnel in London, when he stumbles on a horrifying discovery – a dormant dragon – who attacks and kills the construction workers, including his mother. Twenty years later, what’s left of humanity is hanging by a thread following the rise of the dragons, and the now adult Quinn (Christian Bale) is the de facto leader of a group of survivors, who have adjusted to their grim new reality and live a remote existence in a castle in Northumberland. However, their existence is disrupted by the arrival of mysterious American soldier Van Zan (Matthew McConaughey), who claims to be a dragon slayer…and who might hold the key to humanity’s salvation. 

As a top executive at James Wan’s production company Atomic Monster (who recently merged with Blumhouse), Rob is uniquely positioned to provide expert insight into a film that falls somewhere between a blockbuster and a genre picture. The guys also discuss the history of dragons on film and in popular culture, the story’s mythic underpinnings, and its exploration of different cultural attitudes to crises, as embodied by a Brit (Bale) and an American (McConaughey). Is this a WW2 analogy? Is it about post-9/11 gloom? Or is it just a kick-ass monster movie? The guys get into it all and much more! Damn it’s good to be back!

TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUXQ2f3GAXA

At the time of release, REIGN OF FIRE is available to rent or buy on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV/iTunes, YouTube, Fandango and all the usual platforms, and is available on physical media from selected outlets!

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DHOAB is on summer hiatus! However, to continue to hear our beautiful voices, sign up for 48 HOURS OF BUDDY MOVIES at patreon.com/48hoursofbuddymovies. Use code DHOABBREAK40 to get your first month for $3! To wet your whistle, we're giving you our episode on LETHAL WEAPON 2 today, for free.

This week on 48 HOURS OF BUDDY MOVIES, we tackle one of the defining entries in the genre — LETHAL WEAPON 2! For Liam, this one’s personal: a formative film that helped shape his love of buddy movies and action cinema. We unpack the evolution of Riggs and Murtaugh’s partnership, from antagonistic sparks in the first film to full-blown brotherhood here, and how that emotional core elevates the surrounding mayhem. We dig into Richard Donner’s slick direction, Joel Silver’s architectural in-jokes, the reverberating echoes of Shane Black’s voice in the heavily re-written script, and the film’s perfect cocktail of gunfights, jokes, and toilet-based suspense. Plus: the politics of apartheid-era villains, the joys of Joe Pesci’s scene-stealing turn, and how this sequel helped codify the rhythms and tropes of the modern buddy action movie. A foundational text — and a very special episode! You won’t be “immune” to the vibes of this one!

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbFE2P3tASI

At the time of release, LETHAL WEAPON 2 is available to rent or buy on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV/iTunes, YouTube and Fandango and on physical media through selected outlets.

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CREDITS

"Miami Nights - Extended Theme" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

police2.wav by guitarguy1985 – https://freesound.org/s/70938/ – License: Creative Commons 0

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It’s Die Hard in a brownstone!

This week on DIE HARD ON A BLANK we’re breaking into PANIC ROOM with the help of a specialist: Shahir Daud - filmmaker, Fincher fanatic and host of the long-running show THE ONLY PODCAST ABOUT MOVIES!

On their first night after moving in to a luxurious New York ‘townstone’, recently divorced single mother Meg Altman (Jodie Foster) and her 11 year-old daughter Sarah (Kristen Stewart) are terrorized by a trio of mysterious burglars. When Meg and Sarah become aware of the intruders, they seek refuge in the house’s high-tech ‘panic room’, only to discover that the thing the thieves want most is inside that very room.

Despite being more of a Hitchcockian thriller than a traditional action movie, PANIC ROOM is nonetheless filled with DIE HARD DNA – right down to the bearer bonds (the economics of which we’re still trying to understand). The guys place this film in context among the wider careers of both director David Fincher and writer David Koepp, and analyze if it explores any of the thematic obsession of both of these storied creators. They discuss the performances of the movie’s eclectic cast and go deep on Fincher’s groundbreaking filmmaking techniques. As always events culminate with the DIE HARD OSCARS and the delightfully devilish DOUBLE JEOPARDY TRIVIA QUIZ. Fincher-philes rise up! 

TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sp2kKzrCm44

At the time of release, PANIC ROOM is streaming on Fubo, and is available to rent or buy on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV/iTunes, YouTube, Fandango and all the usual platforms!

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