John Hanlon says “Die Hard” is a Valentine’s Day Movie
Posted on February 14, 2013 at 8:37 am
My friend John Hanlon has a funny column on CNN today about why “Die Hard” is a perfect Valentine’s Day movie (for guys).
Men often imagine winning a girl’s affection by proving their worth in a battle against someone or something that threatens their loved one’s life. While many women want the men in their lives to be sensitive like Ryan Gosling’s “Notebook” character Noah, guys aspire to be like the renegade John McClane in “Die Hard.”
But he leaves out my favorite quote in the movie, Mrs. McClane’s tender but knowing assessment of her estranged husband: “He’s still alive. Only John can drive somebody that crazy.”
Cher won an Oscar as the bookkeeper who has given up on love until she meets the brother of her fiance, who tells her:
Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet find that they really don’t want to forget each other, no matter how painful love can be.
This third version of the story of a couple who are at war in person, not realizing that they are tender lovers through the mail, updates the story to the computer age. Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan have so much chemistry on screen that we know from the first moment what it will take them the whole movie to discover — they are meant to be together. Be sure to watch the earlier versions, 
with James Stewart and Margaret Sullivan and the musical 
with Judy Garland and Van Johnson.
On the eve of her wedding, socialite Tracy Lord’s ex-husband shows up with a couple of journalists and we get to watch three of the greatest stars in Hollywood history sort out their affections. This movie has everything: Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, and James Stewart (who won an Oscar), George Cukor as director, wit, heart, and romance and an important lesson about how sometimes it is not about falling in love but recognizing that we have already fallen.
As tough guy Humphrey Bogart meets the even-tougher Lauren Bacall (only 19 years old when this was filmed), we get to see the real-life romantic sparks that gave the on-screen love story some extra sizzle. Watch her teach him how to whistle.
, starring Jeffrey Wright as Dr. King. And every family should study the history of the 
. Paul Winfield has the lead in 
, starring Whoopi Goldberg and Sissy Spacek, makes clear that the boycott was a reminder to black and white women of their rights and opportunities — and risk of change.
is a PBS documentary with archival footage of Dr. King and his colleagues. 
has his famous speech in full, still one of the most powerful moments in the history of oratory and one of the most meaningful moments in the history of freedom.
and 
are a good introduction to Dr. King and the Civil Rights movement.