For once, I acted like I'm not a totally sedentary gourmand for a Friday night. I called Gibbs and called upon Dan, and we watched Die Hard: With a Vengeance at the house before going to get Alex and going to Kingstowne 16 to see Live Free or Die Hard.
The movie was no Die Hard 3. I would put it above one and below three in the quality ranking. The banter was good, the characters were great (with some exceptions) and the plot was a serviceable action movie plot. All law enforcement was feckless in the face of the crisis, except for McLane, of course, who's nigh invulnerability to death allowed him once again to get beat up for ninety minutes until he finally wins. McLane is slick and creative, and the bad guy is a mastermind, but the law is collectively idiotic, moreso than usual in a Die Hard movie. No sir, I didn't like it. They were just a touch too idiotic for me to believe that they got those jobs in the first place. Tuvoc shows up, though, which is cool.
What else? Oh, right, the one stupid or otherwise not believable character: Mai. Mai is the bad guy's girlfriend, and is just a bad fit for the part. The character is somewhere between IT guy and CS guy on the spectrum of henching (where CS guy henching means using guns instead of computer hardware, although it doesn't exclude such), and for some reason, goes in place of other, equally competent henchman to take down one of the villain's targets just so McLane can show up and have an absurdly elaborate fight scene.
Now, that part is okay, and the fact that she's probably 102lbs and decent at kung fu was also okay, and having McLane get the villain's girl to get his goat was a forced-but-good plot point, but why the hell does she last so long?
Seriously, she's made of marshmallow and darksteel! I would have even believed the character had someone sturdier-looking been cast for the part, but widening lens tricks or no, she looks pretty flimsy compared to what all happens. That failing makes the whole buildup to it seem pointless and bitches the moment. Cast a finer fitting femme fatale, and this movie could be better than the third.
We got back and I found out that the plan to get Libby in the door without inviting others had worked, except that when you're here alone the house is pretty creepy, and she bugged out and left, despite her mixed feelings of fatigue and queasiness from her food (or lack thereof) in the day. Also it was about midnight. But come on, I was like 30 minutes out.
You can't wait in a creepy, cold, haunted house for thirty minutes? Look, I keep the ghosts around as a ward, but turn on some lights and put a dvd on the telly or something next time. Naturally I'll feel a little bummed if she got in a crash and died. It would be a good death, though. Probably quick.
I admit I keep the place creepy.
An idea had been bugging me for awhile, and since I had set out to accomplish another idea that had been bugging me for awhile today, I thought I would finish this one too as a kind of ritualistic creative expulsion. In the Venture Bros: Henchman 24 (or 21, I get them mixed up) springs into Dr. Killinger's room at night and shoots toy web-fluid at the magic murder bag. When the guards catch him, he starts decrying Killinger, saying "Semper fidelis tyrannosaurus," which means, as Killinger points out "always faithful terrible lizard." You should watch the episode.
So I had to do it:
Remember, compromise is the essence of diplomacy, and diplomacy is the cornerstone of love. Sweet looo~oove.
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