Sooo, Die Hard...

I saw it twice on Saturday, once the first show of the day and once late in the evening.  Two different theaters/locations, two different friends, two different experiences.

I liked it, but didn't love it.  I did absolutely love the interactions between John and Jack.  It was all quintessential McClane snark going both ways and it was funny as hell.  It will not surpass One and Four as a favorite, but it edges out Three, despite Sam L Jackson, barely.  MEW has gained or lost some weight.  It made me completely unsure it was actually her until I saw her name in the credits.  She doesn't look bad, just different.

Jai Courtney did a great job as Jack McClane.  He's gone on record as saying that when casting was going on, the implications were that when Bruce was tired of making the movies, he would be ready to pass it on to whoever got cast as his son.  I think Jai's a good choice, physically and in his mannerisms.  He's also on record as saying that despite knowing that the possibility of taking over the franchise exists, he definitely wants at least one more with Bruce, and would prefer more, as many as Bruce is willing to make.

Much as I hate to, I noticed that Bruce is showing his age.  That most assuredly will not stop me loving the Die Hard franchise as a whole, and as long as he wants to keep making DH movies, I'll want to keep seeing them.

There's a lot of the movie in Russian, with subtitles, so be prepared for that.  Listening to so much of it renewed my fickle interest in learning the language.  I'll never have occasion to use it, so I have no idea why I'd want to learn it, but I have for years now.  There were about half a dozen moments that I noticed held some parallel to the first movie.

First show was in a TINY theater, and it was pretty packed.  That was unexpected for 10:25 in the morning, and we had trouble finding seats.  I saw it with my friend B, and we laughed like schoolgirls throughout.  Of course, we both adore DH & BW, so it was fun for both of us.  Interestingly, that audience was almost entirely made up of (I don't even want to say this because it just isn't true, dammit!) middle-aged women, including me (the youngest at 48), B, her older sister, and their mother.  lol

She shared with me that her girlfriend had asked her to marry her, and instead of a ring, she'd gotten a ring on a charm bracelet.  Much more in keeping with B's work, since she'd be unable to wear a diamond ring a lot of the time.  I snarked, correctly, that since she was wearing said charm bracelet complete with engagement ring charm, that she must've said yes.  

Second viewing was less fun, since my companion to that one didn't seem to be enjoying it as much.  I made sure he liked the other DH movies before I asked him to go with me, but I'm not entirely certain he liked this one.  AMC apparently has something called ETX, which is their version of IMAX, and the only difference I was able to ascertain is that it costs three dollars more, and we both got DH t-shirts.  Video, sound, theater set-up, everything seemed the same.  It was very loud, though.  I could have done with the sound turned down about 20%. 

So, while I liked it, and it's a good enough addition to the franchise, I probably won't buy it on DVD unless there are compelling extras.  That said, I have the 1-3 trilogy pack, and rarely, if ever, watch Three unless I do a marathon of all of them, but I did buy it, nonetheless.

Trailers:
Bates Motel on A&E looks like it might be interesting.  I only ever saw Freddie Highmore in August Rush, and he has grown up!  He's much taller, and not 11 any more.  lol  Vera Farmiga is the lead.  I've not seen everything she's made, but I loved her in Roar, and try to keep up with her at least in movies.  Yes, I will go see Fast & Furious.  I don't even care how bad it is, because it'll be so damn much fun!  Olympus Has Fallen - it looked intriguing, and I do like Gerard Butler, but then I saw Morgan Freeman.  I'll see anything that man makes.  Anything.  A Sandra Bullock film that looks truly horrible - Fed/cop thing with Melissa (?) McCarthy (The Heat).  Some Vince Vaughn/Owen Wilson thing that might be funny but will not be getting my dollars at the box office to find out.  Also, AfterEarth - Will and Jada make some really frakking pretty kids.  Jaden looks more like Will every day, but with softer, less coarse facial features.  As for the movie, interesting concept.  I'll probably wait for the dollar movie to see it, though.  Now that I know that the first show of the day is only $6, I'll probably try to see Olympus at the regular theater - it's so much more comfortable than my LaZBoy - though getting out of 'bed' that early on a Saturday is hellish.