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Using Data To Determine if 'Die Hard' is a Christmas Movie (stephenfollows.com)

Posted by msmash on from the closer-look dept.

Stephen Follows, a writer and producer who also researches data and statistics on the film industry, writes: Today we're going to use data to answer the question "Is Die Hard a Christmas movie?" Along the way, we're going to test Die Hard's Christmas bona fides against all movies in US cinemas for the past thirty years, using a variety of methods. I have put details of my sources and methodology at the end of the article. The short story is that unless I say otherwise, the data for 'all movies' relates to all movies shown in US cinemas between 1988 (ie the year of our Lord John McClane) and 2017.

Part 1 - Creative: Let's start by assessing the artistic work of Die Hard (as opposed to the commercial product or cultural icon). We'll do this by measuring the Christmas references in the script, on-screen and in the soundtrack. By going back to the film's script we are able to see what the screenwriters saw as part of their vision. The word "Christmas" appears 18 times in the script, which is more than the words "explode" (4), "die" (5), "hard" (11), "shoot" (12), "kill" (13) and "blood" (13), although far fewer times than "gun" (73), "terrorist" (51) and "suddenly" (45). [...] There are a total of 21 distinct Christmassy elements in the movie, ranging from Santa hats and Christmas Trees to festive treats and a pivotal piece of "Christmas Greetings" tape.

[...] Audible references: Let's turn to a cultural measure of Christmasification for which we can get large-scale data: songs. I gathered song listings for three-quarters of all movies released over the past thirty years and identified the songs culturally associated with Christmas. Of these films, 95.5% did not feature any Christmas songs at all. Shame. The prevalence of Christmas songs in modern movies varies considerably but in most years it ends up that between 3% and 7% of movies have at least one such ditty. This means that having even one Christmas song makes a film unusually Christmassy compared to most other releases. Die Hard features Christmas in Hollis, Winter Wonderland, a whistled section of Jingle Bells and a rousing rendition of Let It Snow over the end credits. This means that audibly, Die Hard is more Christmasy than 99.2% of all movies released over the past thirty years. Follows makes several more points in his argument. You can read them here.

87 comments

  1. Just as Christmas as A Christmas Story by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    A Christmas Story is just a kid's selfish quest to own a gun, whereas John McClane unselfishly uses guns to save his family.

    Well there is that one scene where Ralphie uses a gun to save his family, but that was just a dream sequence.

    1. Re: Just as Christmas as A Christmas Story by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Shut up russian we use data here KGB PUTIN troll.

      msmash

    2. Re: Just as Christmas as A Christmas Story by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Of course itâ(TM)s a Christmas movie silly, it just sometimes is only available in SD.

      Mermeid

    3. Re:Just as Christmas as A Christmas Story by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Elegy For *BSD

      I am a *BSD user
      and I try hard to be brave
      That is a tall order
      *BSD's foot is in the grave.

      I tap at my toy keyboard
      and whistle a happy tune
      but keeping happy's so hard,
      *BSD died so soon.

      Each day I wake and softly sob
      Nightfall finds me crying
      Not only am I a zit faced slob
      but *BSD is dying.

    4. Re:Just as Christmas as A Christmas Story by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Of course it is. I am watching it now Ho Ho Ho, now I have a machine gun

    5. Re: Just as Christmas as A Christmas Story by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I wonder how many people on the left ended up with Tourette's syndrome after Trump won? ("KGB TRUMPTARD RUSSIA PUTIN RACIST"). And I'm saying that as someone on the left...

  2. Itâ(TM)s a Christmas movie. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    This data analysis is a waste of time. Itâ(TM)s a Christmas movie. The end.

    1. Re:Itâ(TM)s a Christmas movie. by Tablizer · · Score: 2

      I agree, it is a waste of time. They should use their skills for something more practical, like fixing unicode handling/filtering in Slashdot. That would be a nice Christmas gift to Slashdotters.

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
    2. Re:Itâ(TM)s a Christmas movie. by Kaenneth · · Score: 3, Insightful

      You are allowed to enjoy it before thanksgiving, therefore is is NOT a 'christmas movie'

      If it were a christmas movie, it would be weird to watch during the springtime, for example.

    3. Re: Itâ(TM)s a Christmas movie. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      MDM ash is gay as hell

    4. Re:Itâ(TM)s a Christmas movie. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Shaddap moron

    5. Re:Itâ(TM)s a Christmas movie. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So National Lampoons Christmas Vacation is not a Christmas movie? The Santa Clause is not a Christmas movie? The Nightmare Before Christmas? The Muppet Christmas Carol? Home Alone and Home Alone 2? Scrooged?

    6. Re:Itâ(TM)s a Christmas movie. by Ryanrule · · Score: 1

      I’ll watch Christmas movies whenever I want.

    7. Re:Itâ(TM)s a Christmas movie. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Seriously. Why do some people voluntarily constrain themselves with these bizarre arbitrary rules?

  3. Yippie-ki-yay mofo by sconeu · · Score: 4, Funny

    It ain't Christmas until Hans Gruber falls from Nakatomi Tower

    --
    General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
    1. Re:Yippie-ki-yay mofo by catchblue22 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      It's Christmas Eve. Just finished watching Die Hard. Now I'm watching Die Hard 2. We do this every year.

      --
      This and no other is the root from which a tyrant springs; when first he appears as a protector - Plato (423 to 327 BC)
    2. Re:Yippie-ki-yay mofo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Watching right now to.... them gremlins

    3. Re:Yippie-ki-yay mofo by olsmeister · · Score: 1

      How is this not modded up?

  4. It is. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    People seem to think a Christmas film must be directly about Christmas itself (Christianity, Santa Claus) but that rules out loads of films like home alone and love actually. Die hard does cover themes like family reconciliation, greed, duty (very Christian themes) and a metaphorical reference to Santaâ(TM)s sack of desirable gifts i.e. bag of C4.

    1. Re: It is. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And if a Christmas story isnâ(TM)t enough just to be set at Christmas then what about a Christmas carol? Whatâ(TM)s that got to do with Christmas? The ghosts arenâ(TM)t symbols of Christmas. They were written for the story. It just happens to be set at Christmas...

    2. Re: It is. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Donâ(TM)t forget the lack of Unicode support!

    3. Re:It is. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In that case, Gremlins is a Christmas movie and for that matter so is Trading Places. Just has to reference Christmas, can't be only be a positive feel-good movie.

  5. Die Hard is a great Christmas movie by WCMI92 · · Score: 3, Informative

    My favorite, in fact.

    Now I have a machine gun.

    Ho
    Ho
    Ho

    --
    Corporatism != Free Market
    1. Re:Die Hard is a great Christmas movie by mnemotronic · · Score: 2

      My favorite, in fact.

      Now I have a machine gun.

      Ho Ho Ho

      Santa's favorite prompt to Rudolph is "Yipee Kai-yea, mother f**ker".

      --
      The Russians have won. They have made the world a cesspool of distrust, greed, fear and hate.
    2. Re:Die Hard is a great Christmas movie by Jetstream · · Score: 2

      "Yipee Kai-yea, mother f**ker"

      Wait, wasn't that what Rudolph said as he took off, leading the sleigh through the fog?

    3. Re:Die Hard is a great Christmas movie by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 3, Interesting

      My favorite is still It’s a Wonderful Life. Especially if you include the lost ending...

      https://www.nbc.com/saturday-n...

      --
      #DeleteChrome
    4. Re:Die Hard is a great Christmas movie by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      Now I have a machine gun. Ho Ho Ho

      Elves go postal, a Christmas Story

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
    5. Re:Die Hard is a great Christmas movie by meglon · · Score: 1

      It's a Bundyful Life is far better; a true holiday classic.

      --
      Fascism: An authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization. See also: NAZI's
    6. Re:Die Hard is a great Christmas movie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Was that supposed to be funny?

    7. Re:Die Hard is a great Christmas movie by mvdwege · · Score: 1

      Funny that I never hear the ammosexuals complain about this misuse of 'machine gun'

      --
      "I know I will be modded down for this": where's the option '-1, Asking for it'?
  6. Yes by Chewbacon · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Die Hard and Gremlins are Christmas movies. Stop with the nonsensical argument.

    --
    Chewbacon
    The Bible is like Wikipedia: written by a bunch of people and verifiable by questionable sources.
    1. Re:Yes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Exactly.

    2. Re:Yes by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 1

      Die Hard and Gremlins are Christmas movies.

      And going back to the classics... so is The Thin Man.

      --
      #DeleteChrome
    3. Re:Yes by h33t+l4x0r · · Score: 1

      If anything Die Hard follows a Western formula. A town under siege by bad gunslingers, a single good gunslinger saving the day, even some cowboy references in the dialog.

  7. Does content dictate category? by holophrastic · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Simply put, does having christmas content, make a movie a christmas movie?

    Having a seat does not make a bicycle a chair.

    Sitting on a rock, similarly, does not make that rock into a chair.

    There must be more. Something of design intent. That intent may be in-advance (such as carving a rock into a chair), or subsequently, such as denoting a rock to be a chair.

    However, the fact remains; without intent, a rock is never ever ever a chair.

    I thusly claim that Die Hard is only a christmas movie, if it was intended to be a christmas movie, or if later it has become deemed a christmas movie by some form of intent (and obviously, here, we mean more than just one viewer's opinion).

    Data sucks. You can read anything into it. We already have astrology. We have numerology. We have angels and demons and miracles and curses. Logic can be used to explain anything, that's its power. Logic is not reason. Data is not logic.

    1. Re:Does content dictate category? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You have no idea what logic is. Reason is, indeed, logic in the same sense that science is empirical. Logic does not "explain," it infers.

      What you are considering is meaning and being.

      Start here.

    2. Re:Does content dictate category? by n3r0.m4dski11z · · Score: 1

      "Sitting on a rock, similarly, does not make that rock into a chair."

      If only everything in life was so simple. The freedom you get when you neglect so much must be intoxicating for a while.

      it is a christmas movie, the end. proof over.

      --
      -
    3. Re:Does content dictate category? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Simply put, does having christmas content, make a movie a christmas movie?

      Having a seat does not make a bicycle a chair.

      Sitting on a rock, similarly, does not make that rock into a chair.

      Meaning is just use and convention, if everyone sat on rocks and called them chairs, they'd be chairs.

      Labels are just consensus/convention agreements, there are no other "rules" on how they can or cannot apply.

    4. Re:Does content dictate category? by Kjella · · Score: 1

      Simply put, does having christmas content, make a movie a christmas movie?

      You don't have to get so philosophical about it because for the most part this is a tautology, if it has comedic elements it's a comedy and if doesn't it's not. It could be a romantic comedy if it has romance elements too, but it's still a comedy. Ordinarily that would mean that Christmas content does actually imply a Christmas movie. It's more that some themes bludgeon others, for example is a horror movie with a Christmas theme actually a "Christmas movie" as most people define it? For a more obvious example, a creepy stalker movie is obviously not a romantic movie even though it involves a romance. And a mafia boss making a wisecrack doesn't make it a comedy unless it's for the audience to laugh at. So there's a general rule and there's exceptions. And probably exceptions to the exceptions.

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
    5. Re:Does content dictate category? by Anubis+IV · · Score: 1

      Here’s the thing: “Christmas” is a setting, not a genre. A rock is always a rock, regardless of intent (though it may not be a seat). A Christmas film is always a Christmas film, regardless of intent (though it may not be a comedy).

      There are Christmas horror movies (e.g. Gremlins, Krampus), Christmas kids’ films (e.g. Jingle All the Way, The Santa Clause), Christmas dramas (e.g. It’s a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street), Christmas romantic films, Christmas musicals (e.g. White Christmas), Christmas action films (e.g. Iron Man 3), and many, many more. We can debate until the cows come home what genre a film belongs to, but “Christmas” movies are defined by their setting, not their tone, intent, or thematic content. The fact that each of these films firmly established that Christmas was their setting was sufficient to definitively prove that they’re each Christmas films.

      So, is Die Hard set during the Christmas season? Yes? Christmas movie. Simple as that. It’s only when you misidentify Christmas as a genre that you run into subjective territory.

    6. Re:Does content dictate category? by fermion · · Score: 2
      Design requires intent, but creativity often takes a life of its own. For instance, It's a wonderful life is a Christmas movie because it fill the network television time royalty free. There may be no intent, but most people see this movie as the definition of christmas.

      That said, there may be design in this creative effort. Like the child born on this day, McClane sacrificed himself to save the people. He went though a series of trials, just like the child when he was an adult, and never flinched or took the easy way out.

      Gruber, like the prosperity gospel pharisees that occupy the christian landscape, use misdirection to trick the masses into thinking he was a terrorist. In fact, like the hypocrites that fill our mega churches, all they wanted was money and they do not care about the sanctity of life or the immortal soul. But McClane smites the judas.

      How could this be more Christmas. One can see the great teacher telling this parable as a way to demonstrate the ill will of the false prophets, as he did so so many centuries ago.

      I mean, the question still stands,. Would he wear a rolex on his television show.

      --
      "She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
    7. Re:Does content dictate category? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "It's a Wonderful Life" was released the week before Christmas, signaling the intent that it's a Christmas movie. "Die Hard" was a summer blockbuster, meaning that Christmas was merely the setting for the action movie rather than the genre.

      dom

    8. Re: Does content dictate category? by Tomahawk · · Score: 1

      So by your argument, Die Hard is a Christmas movie, as it had become a Christmas movie by the intent of multiple viewers -- huge deaths of viewers who watch it every Christmas, and only at Christmas.
      Thank you for clearing that up.

    9. Re:Does content dictate category? by ravenshrike · · Score: 1

      Under this theory, Miracle on 34th street is merely a film about mental illness, a delusional old man, and the little girl who enables his delusions.

    10. Re:Does content dictate category? by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Sitting on a rock, similarly, does not make that rock into a chair.

      A chair is something with a very specific shape. Sitting on a rock however does make it a seat.

    11. Re:Does content dictate category? by holophrastic · · Score: 1

      What you say is as general as any common error. If 99% of people make a mistake, it is still a mistake. "ain't" isn't a word, and there isn't a god, just because millions of people believe in them. "ain't" isn't a word, because it originated as a mis-spoken error -- like "mentee" -- unknown to the person speaking it. However, if 1 person intentionally coins a new word, that word is indeed a word. To that end, at some point, "ain't" became a word, because it was declared to be one as a result of too-much intent. And that's evolution of language. Common mistake is not evolution, it's simply cart before the horse.

      So, to use your terminology, consensus that an error is a word is absolutely true. Because "consensus" includes "intent". Almost as much, "convention" also includes "intent". "Rules" has absolutely nothing to do with this conversation. I don't know why you brought it up. But "use" is where my sentiment does not allow for evolution. "Use" of a rock as a chair does not make it a chair. "Convention" does, and "consensus" certainly does. "Rule" certainly does not, as a nice rock may absolutely meet all of the rules of a chair (base, surface, structure, shape).

      So there.

    12. Re:Does content dictate category? by holophrastic · · Score: 1

      I think you've gone too far into fuzzy-logic territory, where, in my opinion, logic becomes meaningless.

      Given a sad drama, with a single comedic joke to break the tension, is that a comedy movie because it has a comedy moment? I think you're saying it's a 3% comedy, 97% sad drama.

      I don't accept categories being diluted like that. I think categories must be a threshold effect. Whether those thresholds are relative to each-other, or relative to the whole is another conversation, but at some level, 97% needs to washout 3%.

      When it comes to recreational content -- and I think we're talking about purely recreational movies here -- I think the category needs to be based, not on content, but on over-all viewer experience/feeling. Perhaps that's at the end of the movie, or at the end of each act, or maybe at the end of each scene, but it's definitely at the end of some quanta.

      I take the movie "Primary Colors" as my example. Decades ago, I rented a VHS tape (wow) of Primary Colors -- a politically-centred John Travolta movie -- from the "comedy" shelf at my local video store (wow again). I watched it. I returned it. I got my money back exclaiming that it isn't a comedy.

      Sure, it had jokes. But at the end, when it was over, what I remembered about the movie wasn't funny. I remembered the drama. I remembered the politics. I did not remember the comedy. On that night, I wanted a comedy to cheer me up. Instead I got political drama.

      I think I'm saying that the "lasting impression" is more important than the moment-to-moment content.

      I think I'm saying that the memory is more important than the experience.

      I think that's wise.

    13. Re:Does content dictate category? by holophrastic · · Score: 1

      Dude (or dudette?) you are the most brilliant person I know. There are only two persons in my life who think this way -- one of them is myself, although I did not do so in this case.

      So it comes down to your words "established Christmas setting". I love it. And I've now re-wired my brain in accordance. It was definitely Christmastime in Die Hard.

      Alas, now I must challenge your wisdom, in order to bound it. So help me out here.

      What of a hypothetical movie/story, taking place in a summer August, about a toy company's plans to design a christmas toy? It's not set during christmas, and there are no christmas decorations, no songs, no characters. But it does discuss christmas in every scene.

      Now, that certainly covers your words "established" and "christmas", but does it satisfy your term "setting"?

      Of course, if it does, then what of a movie/story about a toy company, designing toys, across an 18-month period, and one plot-significant scene includes mention of their accounting books across the holiday season?

      I guess I'm asking you to show me the boundaries of what makes a "setting".

    14. Re: Does content dictate category? by holophrastic · · Score: 1

      I'm really hoping that you meant "swaths" not "deaths" of viewers!

      I think that my argument requires someone (of some kind of authority) to intentionally declare it as a christmas movie, but yes I would say that it has certainly crossed that marker.

      Although I far prefer another's argument, in this thread, that "christmas" is a setting, not a genre, and that most certainly Die Hard is set during christmas, without any doubt. It is an action movie set during christmastime.

    15. Re:Does content dictate category? by XanC · · Score: 1

      "Ain't" certainly is a word; it's the contraction for "am not". Members of the British aristocracy still occasionally use it as such.

      Often it's used incorrectly as standing for different words. "He ain't nice" is incorrect, but "I ain't interested" is correct.

    16. Re:Does content dictate category? by fermion · · Score: 1
      So Hangman, Destroyer, and patriots day are also Christmas movies.

      The thing with you grinches is you want to limit Christmas to one day, instead of spreading the joy all year

      --
      "She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
    17. Re: Does content dictate category? by Tomahawk · · Score: 1

      Swaths, yes. Bloody autocorrect...

      Swipe "swaths" and it comes up "deaths". Manually type "swaths" and it's autocorrected to "deaths".

      GBoard is a little morbid, methinks!

  8. Planes, Trains and Automobiles by Jhon · · Score: 1

    Is the greatest Christmas movie ever!

    You just need to :s/thanksgiving/christmas/g before watching...

  9. Also a Christmas movie by tquasar · · Score: 1

    Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0...

  10. It's all just pragmatic semiotics... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...meaning is defined by use. If people say "Die Hard" is a Christmas movie, and watch "Die Hard" at Christmas, then it's a Christmas movie.

    That's how language works.

  11. Die Hard is not A Christmas movie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    it's two Christmas movies...

    1. Re: Die Hard is not A Christmas movie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The fault lies entirely with you. Correct you are

  12. In summary, it's a Christmas Story by mykepredko · · Score: 1

    If I summarize the plot as:

    It takes place on Christmas Eve with a guy that has gone to LA to spend Christmas with his estranged wife and their kids. Unfortunately, things get in the way that makes a happy Christmas for the family problematic.

    Great movie by the way - much better than the book (if the book had been followed then Frank Sinatra would have been a better John McClane than Bruce Willis).

    Merry Christmas everybody!

    --
    Mimetics Inc. Twitter
  13. Jingle Bells Ka-ching by godel_56 · · Score: 1

    The author laments the lack of Christmas songs in Christmas movies.

    The producers probably don't want to pay the exorbitant fees necessary to license those songs from the copyright holders, that's if they can get permission to use them at all..

    1. Re:Jingle Bells Ka-ching by Cederic · · Score: 1

      The author must be a fuckwit that doesn't understand how intolerable shitty themed songs are when heard constantly for several weeks.

      Nothing like throwing christmas songs into a film to get me to stop watching.

  14. Die hard is my favourite by slazzy · · Score: 1

    It's my favorite movie, but I wouldn't call it a Christmas movie, just an action movie that takes place at Christmas. Unless it pisses off millennials then I'll call it a Christmas movie while eating pineapple pizza.

    --
    Website Just Down For Me? Find out
  15. "Christmasification" ? by gawbl · · Score: 1

    I prefer "Christmasfaction."

  16. Theme! by antdude · · Score: 1

    Yes, it's an action movie during Christmas season. Argh. SO YES!

    --
    Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
  17. My favorite Christmas movie? by koick · · Score: 1

    Brazil

  18. Short answer: by fredrated · · Score: 1

    No

  19. Not really sure.... by meglon · · Score: 1

    When i think of Christmas movies, the first thing i think of is coked up hookers swan diving off the penthouse balcony. https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

    --
    Fascism: An authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization. See also: NAZI's
    1. Re:Not really sure.... by ArchieBunker · · Score: 1

      For me its Eyes Wide Shut.

      --
      Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
  20. There are two kinds of people in the world - by anvilmark · · Score: 4, Funny

    Those that believe that Die Hard is a Christmas movie and those who are wrong.

    1. Re:There are two kinds of people in the world - by NerdENerd · · Score: 1

      Yippee-ky-yay Mothefucker

  21. Yes and no by mark-t · · Score: 2

    If Die Hard come out in November or December, I would say that it was intended as a Christmas film. If I remember correctly, it came out in June, however. It was definitely summertime.

    I think Die Hard is a non-Christmas movie that happens to use Christmas as a setting, and has since evolved into being viewed as a Christmas movie.

    Which is fine... I have always seen Die Hard as a Christmas movie, and I remember when I first saw it in theaters when it came out, I was puzzled about why they didn't release it closer to Christmas.

    --
    File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
    1. Re:Yes and no by timholman · · Score: 3, Funny

      If Die Hard come out in November or December, I would say that it was intended as a Christmas film. If I remember correctly, it came out in June, however. It was definitely summertime.

      "Miracle on 34th Street", arguably one of the greatest Christmas films ever made, was released in June of 1947.

      As for "Die Hard", it has several elements that make it a Christmas classic:

      (1) It's all about a man who is determined to stop a villain who wants to spoil Christmas for a lot of other people.

      (2) The focus is all about family; McClane will do anything to save them.

      (3) The film provides a rejection of short-sighted greed and corruption through the execution of Harry Ellis.

      (4) McClane plays the role of Santa Claus, dealing out punishment to everyone who is naughty, and saying, "Ho! Ho! Ho!"

      So while many may regard the question of "Die Hard" being a Christmas movie as strictly tongue-in-cheek, the fact remains that it is a meme that keeps popping up every holiday season, and by that reason alone, it is very definitely a Christmas movie.

    2. Re:Yes and no by thegarbz · · Score: 2

      If I remember correctly, it came out in June, however. It was definitely summertime.

      That's just in time for the Christmas in July season.

  22. Re:Does content dictate category? Whatabout SF? by petes_PoV · · Score: 1
    Does having a spaceship or an alien in the plot make a film Science Fiction?

    The superficial and ignorant answer is "yes". Whereas those who are prepared to look deeper often recognise that these are merely props to the more basic story - not crucial elements of it.

    --
    politicians are like babies' nappies: they should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons
  23. So is Lethal Weapon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Both Die Hard and Lethal Weapon are Christmas movies.

    You know what movies isn't a Christmas movie, despite it ALWAYS being shown at Christmas time? The Sound of Music. Unless running from Nazis and singing in the Alps are now Christmas themes.

    1. Re: So is Lethal Weapon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sound of Music is a New Year's movie - new beginnings

  24. there's an app for that by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    https://sourceforge.net/projects/newsscrape/

  25. Christmas Eve by Tomahawk · · Score: 1

    Die Hard takes place on Christmas Eve, therefore is a "Christmas Eve" movie...
    This makes it very definitely a Christmas movie, but one to watch on Christmas Eve, not Christmas Day.
    IMHO IANAL etc...

  26. Burp by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If i watched it on Christmas then it's a Christmas movie. It's as simple as that. All this unnecessary scientific retardation over a simple point makes me laugh.

  27. Ho ho ho, now I have a machine gun by dfn5 · · Score: 2

    It doesn't get more Christmas than that

    --
    -- Thou hast strayed far from the path of the Avatar.
  28. Opinions by edris90 · · Score: 1

    Are we seriously arguing opinion as if it were a technical discussion? This is pointless.

  29. There is only one, "Rare Export" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There is only one, "Rare Export", the rest don't know what they're rambling about.

    https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rare_exports/

    Top Critics
    TOMATOMETER
    89%

  30. In our family it is...even more so this year! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    My wife and I always watch it at Christmas as a Christmas movie alongside Home Alone, Home Alone 2, Scrooged, Muppets Christmas Carol and Blackadder's Christmas Carol! This year our daughter was old enough to watch it with us for the first time and even she agreed, it's a Christmas movie! So in our family at least the Die Hard Christmas tradition has been passed on to the next generation!

  31. Algorithms canâ(TM)t do cultural criticism. M by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If you want it in your garden itâ(TM)s a flower. If you donâ(TM)t itâ(TM)s a weed.
    If you want to watch it at Christmas itâ(TM)s a Christmas movie.