One Step! One Step!

[rionaleonhart]

I watched Die Hard 4 with my housemates over Christmas.

Riona: I'm glad McClane is finally bleeding.
Farrell: I'm not a doctor, but you look hurt.
McClane: Yeah. Sexy, right?
(everyone in the room laughs at me)

How dare you, John McClane?

Die Hard 4 was fun enough for an evening's entertainment, but it felt glaringly sexist in a way the previous films didn't; McClane wasn't exactly a feminist icon in the first Die Hard, but the original film treated that as the character flaw that it was. I also missed McClane being a terrified mess, but of course it makes sense that he'd be hardened to all the ludicrous bullshit he goes through by this point.

The fourth film is better than Die Hard 2, which tried too hard to replicate the original, but I'd rank Die Hard 3 above it without hesitation, and the original Die Hard remains the best in the series.

Speaking of, I showed my dad the original Die Hard, and he actually watched the whole film; he didn't fall asleep or leave the room once! This is a huge achievement for any film. I'm very pleased.

The DNA of Uncharted's Nathan Drake is so clearly visible in John McClane. Both perpetually in the wrong place at the wrong time, skilled but scared, prone to making bad decisions and talking to themselves to calm themselves down. They're both great and I love them.


Mum: I've been watching this BBC reality show called The Traitors, where people have to vote off who they think the traitors are, and every night the traitors murder someone.
Riona: Pfft, this sounds just like one of my murder games.
Mum: We should watch the final two episodes together!
Riona, wearing full-face clown makeup: Good thing there's no chance I'm going to get emotionally invested in this!

Anyway, I got invested in The Traitors and I'm very sorry. I'm not planning to go back and watch from the beginning, though; I think the final two episodes were exactly the correct amount to watch. You get the full, largely self-contained story of the final remaining traitor picking another person to convert, and all the dramatic fallout of his choice. It was regrettably fascinating.

Please let me hold to this, self. Please don't go back and watch The Traitors from the beginning, because we all know that ends in fanfiction.

(To clarify for anyone wondering: the people on this reality show are not actually getting murdered.)


I got a Pokémon puzzle book for Christmas, so I showed my baby niece the picture of Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle on the inside and asked her what she would choose as her starter. She grabbed the book, flipped it shut and pointed at Pikachu on the cover.

In conclusion, my niece is Ash Ketchum, but with more agency.

(I can't believe Ash is being retired as the protagonist of the Pokémon anime! I hope he and Goh get married.)

Comments

[wolfy_writing]

I've only seen the first one, so I didn't know about that line, but it's hilarious how 2007 John McClane called you out like that!

That is impressive about your dad! And I get what you mean - my mom makes a recipe with tofu that's so good that my dad will eat a small amount of it, on purpose, knowing what it is and not being pressured into it in any way. If you don't know my dad, that doesn't sound like much, but if you know my dad, you're basically going to accuse my mom of having magic wizard powers to pull that off.

I predict you won't write any fanfic for The Traitors for the rest of the year.

Aw, that's adorable with your niece! Baby nieces are excellent!

[rionaleonhart]

John McClane called me out mercilessly and I'm still reeling.

Congratulations to your mum on getting your dad to eat tofu! Rei performed similar magic for me with courgettes; I never liked them before Rei sliced them into thin strips, fried them in olive oil and added pesto, cream and parmesan to make a pasta sauce, and now it's a meal I'll make at every opportunity.

I predict you won't write any fanfic for The Traitors for the rest of the year.

I appreciate your three days' worth of faith in me.

[wolfy_writing]

That is hilarious!

Oh, that sounds tasty! I do a pasta that's similar, with goat cheese, fresh basil, tomatoes, and red wine. It's my own invention. (They key is to chop an insane amount of tomatoes.)

[sholio]

It's been aaaages since I watched any of the Die Hard movies except the first (my favorite by far) but what I remember noticing most about the last one, which I watched several years after it came out, was that it seems to have been made at the peak of the "make things dramatic by making them pale green" 2000s-era fad that I'm pretty sure Matrix kicked off. The washed-out coloring looks so dated now! I should probably rewatch them.

I definitely prefer quipping-to-cover-up, scared mess McClane to quippy, confident action hero McClane.

[rionaleonhart]

I'll be interested to see the last one! Although it, er, does not appear to have been well reviewed.

I definitely prefer quipping-to-cover-up, scared mess McClane to quippy, confident action hero McClane.

Yes! I understand that a character can only go 'what the fuck is this situation and how can I handle it' so many times before they start going 'okay, I've been in this situation before and I know what to do', but scared mess McClane is so much more fun.

[necrophilia]

I feel like this entry could be the prototype for a Riona bingo square. We've Die Hard (with especial attention to sexy suffering!), Uncharted, a murder reality show, and the desire to turn Ash Ketchum into a child bride. Excellent.

[rionaleonhart]

It mentions my housemates and my family, too, bringing together the main two factions of this journal's extended cast!

and the desire to turn Ash Ketchum into a child bride

I'm mildly concerned about the image I've built for myself, but not quite concerned enough to retract my statement that I want Ash and Goh to get married.

[wyomingsmustache]

I can't wait to see your posts about the other episodes of The Traitors from the beginning.

[rionaleonhart]

noooooooo