Yippee Kay Yay… (The only movie that doesn’t depresses me in Xmas)

  • JackbyDev@programming.dev
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    5 days ago

    This is such an exhausting topic. Anyone saying it isn’t a Christmas movie either hasn’t seen it recently enough to remember it or they’re being contraian. It takes place during Christmas, a Christmas party even. It has Christmas music woven into the soundtrack. The b plot is the main character fixing his marriage (a common theme of Christmas movies is fixing families).

    To be honest, I sort of would view people arguing that it isn’t a Christmas movie like people arguing Red One isn’t a Christmas movie because it is primarily an action movie. Red One is more obvious due to the marketing and the fact it’s literally about saving Santa after he is kidnapped, but it’s still very moreso an action movie than other similar titles (The Santa Clause also has a kidnapped Santa subplot and a team of elite elves rescue him, but it is much more minor).

    • kamenLady.@lemmy.world
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      6 days ago

      What We Left Behind made me feel idk. I loved seeing everyone again and some of the background info, but part of me wants to forget i ever saw it.

      I don’t know why, i love DS9. My next rewatch would be the 9th.

      I was hyped for the documentary and couldn’t wait to get to see it.

      Missed Sisko.

      Edit: on topic, i think Die Hard is Santa’s favorite christmas movie - but really only the first one.

      • Lem Jukes@lemm.ee
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        6 days ago

        I’m kinda in the same boat. I think Ira is a really talented creator and producer but he’s got that tried to hard theatre kid vibe at times. Like, love him and don’t doubt his sincerity in the slightest but yeah, bit navel gazey.

        I think Die Hard 1 & 2 both qualify for Christmas films but the first one is obviously superior for sure.

  • Altima NEO@lemmy.zip
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    6 days ago

    I mean if a movie like It’s A Wonderful Life can be a Christmas movie, despite most of it not having anything to do with Christmas, then so can Die Hard.

  • adarza@lemmy.ca
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    7 days ago

    subtract chrismas from the plot: you have no chrismas party filling a finished floor of the office tower with future hostages; you have no cross-county traveling hero to save-the-day. becomes a six page script and an easy in-and-out for snape and co.

  • Bashnagdul@lemmy.world
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    6 days ago

    There are 2 kinds of people, those who say die hard is a Christmas movie, and those who are wrong.

  • ShaggySnacks@lemmy.myserv.one
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    6 days ago

    Gremlins is also a Christmas movie.

    So is Mortal Kombat from the 90s. It’s all about people fighting to be number 1. Just like Christmas shopping.

    • makyo@lemmy.world
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      6 days ago

      Every time I watch it I am surprised at how well Xmas and Halloween go together. And mostly because Xmas is sort of a spooky holiday too yet no one ever acknowledges it.

      • JackbyDev@programming.dev
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        5 days ago

        And mostly because Xmas is sort of a spooky holiday too yet no one ever acknowledges it.

        A Christmas Carol features four ghosts (six if you’re being weirdly technical about the book) and is a very traditional Christmas story people are familiar with.

  • Sergio@slrpnk.net
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    6 days ago

    Why Die Hard is a Christmas Movie:

    • there’s a grinch who spoils the party
    • “You’re, uh…?” “Clay. Bill Clay.” (checks directory to see if naughty or nice)
    • need help? call a plump do-gooder (the cop at the donut shop)
    • anxiously expecting a vehicle to land on the roof
    • “It’s Christmas, Theo! It’s the time of miracles, so be of good cheer!”
    • a good guy climbs down the chimney / elevator shaft
    • Susaga@sh.itjust.works
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      6 days ago

      Also, it’s about a man attending a party in order to fix his family, and he needs to learn to let go of his pride. Classic Christmas movie message.

      • rwtwm@feddit.uk
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        6 days ago

        Jumping on here, because this is often overlooked. If you didn’t know the title of the film, and someone played the first 20 mins to you you’d expect a hallmark film. Going to see the estranged wife, trying to repair a relationship, the awkwardness at the Christmas party.

        The whole thing subverts Christmas movie tropes. It’s not just an action movie set at Christmas. It’s a Christmas movie which gets hijacked.

        Even the final scene plays on the parody with the ‘snow’ falling, the comedy comeuppance for the nuisance bad guy, and then they kiss and drive off as ‘let it snow’ plays.

    • JackbyDev@programming.dev
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      5 days ago

      Real reasons:

      1. Happens during a Christmas party.
      2. Christmas music in the score.
      3. B plot involves family mending which is a common trope of Christmas movies.
    • metaStatic@kbin.earth
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      6 days ago

      You NEED to download the 35mm scan.

      Fucking distributors did Stanley dirty cleaning it up for release. It was under exposed and overdeveloped on purpose to make the film grain pop.

        • metaStatic@kbin.earth
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          6 days ago

          I just checked torrents and looks like this one isn’t a point and click adventure, sorry.

          Gonna need to figure out Usenet which typically includes at least 2 paid services, a Usenet provider and an NZB indexer and then a client to download with. not really worth it for a single thing but absolutely pays for itself if you totally replace streaming services.

          A provider really is location dependant but I can totally recommend nzbgeek.info as a great indexer.

        • Fuck spez@sh.itjust.works
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          6 days ago

          Here’s the only release I could find if the name helps:

          Eyes.Wide.Shut.1999.UHD.35mmITScan.v2.1080p.DDP.5.1.x265-SM737

          It’s a very dusty scan and the audio doesn’t work on some of my devices but the exposure does look better.

          • rezz@lemmy.world
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            5 days ago

            Eyes.Wide.Shut.1999.UHD.35mmITScan.v2.1080p.DDP.5.1.x265-SM737

            Found it, thanks so much.

            Very low GB file though. Hope it’s good.

    • Postmortal_Pop@lemmy.world
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      7 days ago

      I’d say they both have equal standing. Diehard couldn’t happen. If it wasn’t for the corporate Christmas party and Grimlin’s because of the poorly thought out, last minute Christmas gift.

  • IngeniousRocks@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    6 days ago

    Diehard is 100% a Christmas movie, however, Die Hard 2 which also takes place at Christmas time, is NOT a Christmas movie, as the fact that it’s Christmas is coincidental and not at all integral to the plot.

    • LovableSidekick@lemmy.world
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      6 days ago

      Christmas being part of the plot is irrelevant - The Wizard of Oz is a Christmas movie. I think what makes Diehard a Christmas movie is simply that people like to watch it at Christmas.

        • LovableSidekick@lemmy.world
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          5 days ago

          About 75 years of tradition - until the 3 major TV networks lost their dominance it was always on during Christmas season. I don’t watch them anymore so I don’t know if they still play it.

          • JackbyDev@programming.dev
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            5 days ago

            Oh, hard disagree, I don’t believe playing a movie at Christmas time is what makes a movie a Christmas movie.

  • AllNewTypeFace@leminal.space
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    6 days ago

    No, we agree that “Die Hard is a Christmas movie” is a fun proposition to entertain, either because it’s edgy and freaks the mundanes with its audacious disregard for cherished norms, or (more recently) because it’s a fun meme, with own line of commercially available ugly Christmas sweaters and knowingly ironic greeting cards. Though the meme eventually will become so overexposed that quoting from Die Hard on Christmas will become as basic and mid as dressing up in a Santa costume and drunkenly making an arse of yourself with several hundred similarly attired dudes.

    • Sc00ter@lemm.ee
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      6 days ago

      It is literally set at a christmas party. Without christmas, that movie doesnt happen

      • AllNewTypeFace@leminal.space
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        6 days ago

        That’s a glib technicality, but not sufficient to make it a “Christmas movie” in the usual sense. The Christmas party is a plot device, and could have been replaced with a different one without significantly altering the plot of the film.

      • Nibodhika@lemmy.world
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        6 days ago

        Everyone keeps saying that, but it could be a random party. It’s not particularly important that the party is Christmas, the company could be having an Easter celebration or even just a random party for a specific milestone for the company. As far as I remember, there’s nothing particular about being Christmas other than the decorations.

        • Sc00ter@lemm.ee
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          6 days ago

          Thats a pretty thin argument. “If you replace this part of the movie, it could be completely different!”

          Is home alone not a christmas movie because they also could have taken any vacation and left their kid at home?

          • Nibodhika@lemmy.world
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            6 days ago

            Home alone has to be set during Christmas, these are crucial parts of the plot:

            • The entire block travels at the same time
            • Houses have decorations, which are used as traps
            • Houses have lights that turn on at a specific time
            • It has to be set during winter

            So if you could have a different holiday during winter where lots of people decorate their houses to turn on lights at a specific time, then it wouldn’t necessarily be a Christmas movie. Otherwise you need to change crucial points of the plot.

            Other examples are Jingle all the way or Nightmare before Christmas you can’t change the Christmas theme in those movies. I mean, you can but you’ll end up with a very different movie. Whereas if you change Christmas on Die Hard for any other party event only the decoration changes, the plot of the movie would be essentially the same.

        • JackbyDev@programming.dev
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          5 days ago

          “If Elf was about a human raised by bunnies and then Buddy helped a family learn the true meaning of Easter it would be an Easter movie! So Elf isn’t a Christmas movie.”

          That’s what this argument sounds like to me. You’re hyper focusing on one tiny element of the story. Yes, there are not many Christmas parts, but taken together they are sufficient to make a Christmas movie. If the party wasn’t Christmas themed you’d still have Christmas themed misic and a movie about a man trying to fix his family (super common Christmas trope).

    • JackbyDev@programming.dev
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      5 days ago

      While I agree that people shouting about it being a Christmas movie is annoying, it definitely is a Christmas movie. It has all the trappings of a Christmas movie and Christmas music is in the score.

    • Susaga@sh.itjust.works
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      6 days ago

      It’s a movie about a man attending a Christmas party in order to patch things up with his wife and spend the holidays among his family. But the only way to do that, and to defeat the greedy villain, is to let go of their pride. And also there’s guns and stuff.

      It’s a Christmas movie in the same way Addams family is a wholesome family. They obviously are, and you only disagree if you’re unable to look past the surface.