December 7

Die Hard, 1988

‘Tis the Season! J. Blake and Dion Baia are kicking off the Christmas season with a spectacular edition of Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers! For this holiday installment the boys are covering a genre-pioneering action-adventure epic–that’s also celebrating it’s 30th birthday this year. It’s the Bruce Willis classic, Die Hard, from 1988!

Die HardIt’s been a long night (and long year) for the SNMS crew and the lads have started hitting the old holiday ‘nog a little early this sleepover night. Dion and Blake layout the history of this holiday essential, unpacking the history of how it was originally a sequel to a Frank Sinatra property, and it’s journey to becoming one of the most influential action movie’s of the 80’s.  Blake also reminisces about seeing a screening of this film introduced by the late great Alan Rickman, and what he had to say when a film asked him a very specific script logic question regarding the storyline. So grab your sleigh bells, your yule tide cheer, your Berettas and most importantly your shoes, cause the guys are taking a trip to Nakatomi Plaza in this 2018 holiday edition of Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers!

And thank you to this week’s sponsor, Robinhood!

 

Extras!

Out this week, please go pick up a copy of Dion Baia‘s debut novel, Blood in the Streets, available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble.com, Target.com, Simon & Schuster, or at your favorite bookstore in paperback, ebook & audiobook!

Check out the original theatrical trailer for Die Hard, with lines no included in the final version!

Have a look at this great collection of Die Hard bloopers!

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Category: Action, Adventure, Classic, Thriller | 3 Comments on Die Hard, 1988
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!

Bullitt

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
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!

*Dion erroneously referred to Frank Sinatra‘s 1967 film Tony Rome, when he actually met his 1968 film The Detective.

(Check out the 1971 San Francisco premiere of Dirty Harry!)

(Have a look at this CANCELLED 2007 Dirty Harry game for X360/Ps3, that would have taken place between the first and second film, and looked sweet as all hell! And   –Here’s the story behind it!)

(Here’s a ultra-rare promotional ad done for the film while Frank Sinatra was still being talked about for the role.)

(Check out the back cover of the novelization at the really cool early concept for Scorpio‘s ransom note!)

(Watch the trailer to see how they promoted the film)

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Category: Action, Adventure, Drama, Police, Thriller, Western | LEAVE A COMMENT