Die Hard – Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers

Cliffhanger, 1993

Welcome to an all new episode of Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers‘ Kung Fu February! (this year though, just minus the Kung Fu) Well the secret is out–the boys have been planning a mountain climbing double-feature for the month. So after hitting last week’s The Eiger Sanction from 1975, in which Clint Eastwood both starred and directed, J. Blake and Dion Baia thought what better way to follow that up then with the ultimate mountain/action/thriller foray, Sylvester Stallone‘s blockbuster Cliffhanger, from 1993!

Dion and Blake take on this epic classic, discussing its placement in Sly‘s career, the backstory of getting it made, and the other scrapped projects Stallone was connected to before leading up to Cliffhanger—and what went into filming this odyssey in the Italian mountains–which doubled for the Colorado Rockies. They also discuss the casting, and opine about the poor choices the villains make in this story, while trying to pull over an air heist that leads to perhaps the ultimate action movie scavenger hunt ever. This week, it’s a party celebrating a classic action film, in an all new and exhilarating edition of Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers!

Extras!

Check out this behind the scenes featurette for Cliffhanger!

Take a look at this great segment from the 1990’s Discovery Channel show Movie Magic!, that highlighted the climatic helicopter crash minature SFX work within the film!

And if you liked that, check out this second episode of Movie Magic!, where that show the behind the scenes SFX work that went into the plane crash.

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Category: Action, Adventure, Classic, Thriller | 1 Comment

December 21

Emmet Otter’s Jug~Band Christmas , 1977

Welcome to another Holiday Edition of Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers! To close out 2018 J. Blake and Dion Baia are showcasing a cult Christmas classic that is getting some much-deserved love in recent years. They’re tackling the Jim Henson holiday classic, Emmet Otter’s Jug~Band Christmas, from 1977!

The boys lovingly unpack this once lost holiday gem that is celebrating its 40th anniversary in ‘the states’ this year. Dion and Blake utilize the original 1971 source book by Russell and Lillian Hoban for reference, and can’t hold back their utter amazement at the technical prose of the Jim Henson team and the unbridled magic they are able to create. Mixed with the genius that is Paul Williams and his music, they layout a Christmas Special that may have more film cuts than Blade Runner. So come pull up a chair and a have a listen as the boys grab their Mom’s washtub and head down to Waterville and Frogtown Hollow, on an all new holiday installment of Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers!

Extras!

Please go listen to J. Blake‘s 2014 Blues album, When You Coming Home?, as discussed in this week’s episode.

Here’s Dion with Paul Williams when they met at an Emmet Otter event in Queens, in December 2018.

Check out these hilarious outtakes from the 1977-78 Christmas Special!

Have a listen to this amazing soundtrack, which has been released for the first time this year, showcasing the genius that is Paul Williams.

Here’s an unused song from the special, written for the meek Music Store Owner, titled Born in a Trunk!

Lastly, take a look at this stirring rendition of the song “When the River Meets the Sea“, song by Jerry Nelson and Louise Gold at Jim Henson’s Memorial Service.

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Category: Animation, Books, Childrens, Classic, Comedy, Disney, Fantasy, Holiday, musical, Television, toys, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

September 7

Bullitt, 1968

Welcome again to an all new installment of Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers! This week Dion Baia and J. Blake are exploring a film that turns 50 this year, a classic and a pioneer in the genre, the Steve McQueen police-thriller, Bullitt, from 1968!

Blake and Dion go way down the alley- dissecting the history of this ground-breaking movie and take a deep-dive into the man, the myth, the legend, Steve McQueen. They lay out his upbringing to give context to the legendary career and short life he led. The boys then utilize the original 1963 source novel, Mute Witness, to flesh out the background of the film. They unpack all the elements like the car chase, McQueen’s style, Peter Yates’ direction, and the Lalo Schrifrin score – all of which turned this movie into the classic it became. And the fellas reveal Dion’s surprise as well! So, grab your Ford Mustang Fastbacks, cause the boys are heading back to San Francisco on an all new episode of Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers!

Extras:

For more about Dion’s new book, Blood in the Streets, have a look here!

Check out this behind-the-scenes, making of featurette for Bullitt, narrated by Steve McQueen.

Please check out this great site on the many styles worn in cinema, at BAMF Style: Iconic Style from Movies and TV.

Take a look at this GREAT Janaury 2018 commercial for the new Ford Bullitt Mustang, featuring Steve McQueen‘s granddaughter, Molly McQueen, in a great nod to the 1968 film.

Have a look at this 2005 Ford commercial for the new Bullitt Mustang, featuring Steve McQueen in a Field of Dreams kind of situation.

Here’s an article on the amazing story of the lost Ford Bullitt Mustang found in 2017 in a Mexican junkyard (the car that did a lot of the jumping, stunts, and took most of the abuse) thought to be lost forever!

Check out this article on the other lost Ford Bullitt Mustang used in the film (the one for close-ups and the car McQueen tried to buy back), and it’s story of where it’s been over the past 50 years!

Bullitt is going back into the theaters for it’s 50th birthday!

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Category: Action, Classic, Crime, Gangster, Police, Thriller | LEAVE A COMMENT

December 11

Invasion USA , 1985

Tis the Season! The boys are back with an all new episode of Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers! Dion and Blake are ushering in the holidays with a classic, Invasion USA, starring the great Chuck Norris and directed by the supremely underrated Joseph Zito.

invasion usa
Blake and Dion discuss the burning holiday questions, like does Santa shave his beard on December 26th, or has he had to up his game because of all the high-tech toys kids have nowadays? Then they get to the film: The year is 1985 and along with movies like Commando, Rambo: First Blood Part II and Missing in Action 2: The Beginning, a low-budget Studio named Cannon releases this gem, a great example of pure, unabashed 80’s Action Escapism. Chuck is Ex CIA agent Matt Hunter and is after a terrorist who plans to destroy America, at Christmas time no less! But why has this film fallen through the cracks of time and other Christmas-themed Action movies only bring Die Hard or say Lethal Weapon to mind? Does this deserve to be up there with those classics? Is this the film that helped solidify Chuck as the ultimate bad-ass? And what did Chuck really mean to say when he signed Dion’s poster?

All those questions (hopefully) will be answered in this all new holiday edition Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers!

(Dion mistakenly said Lebanon when he met Iran when speaking about he 1979-80 American hostage situation)

EXTRAS:

Check out the original trailer to Invasion USA

Have a look at a great Q & A with Chuck, as he discusses how he and Bruce Lee would fare today in MMA

Take a listen to the Jay Chattaway score to Invasion USA

Here’s Dion with the man, the myth, the legend, Chuck Norris

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Category: Action, Adventure, Martial Arts, Thriller, Uncategorized | 8 Comments

March 13

Dirty Harry, 1971

This time around Dion and Blake are talking about potentially their most controversial film for Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers to date, Don Siegel‘s classic, the original Dirty Harry, from 1971, starring Clint Eastwood. dirty-harry-poster
This groundbreaking film literally paved the way for the onslaught of police genre stories on the big and small screen in the 1970’s, and refined and set the standard for the Vigilante/Anti-Hero genre that blossomed for the next 20 years, and also spawned 4 sequels. So why the heck was this film so contentious for 1971? How did the raw violence and its graphic depiction sit with audiences at the time? How does it hold up today? Is this actually a Western in disguise? Is the film’s composer Lalo Schrifrin as underrated as it seems? Did this film quite possibly give us the action film genre as we knew it with Arnold, Sly, and Willis in the 1980’s- Wha-? Hmm… Well come on down and give us a spin on another brand-new edition of Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers!