Peter Billingsley settles the ‘Die Hard’ debate – The Hollywood Reporter
The star of one of the most iconic Christmas movies of all time waded into one of the most divisive annual debates of the holiday season: whether Die hard Christmas movie?
Peter Billingsley says yes – and in the final episode of the season A cinematic Christmas trip The podcast, which will be released on December 15, does its best to convince him Die hard Cinematographer Jan de Bont.
“I mean they didn’t think Die hard It was a Christmas movie. “They just happened to be setting the movie at that time, but the filmmakers didn’t mean it that way,” Billingsley explains. Instead, like many classics over the decades, its meaning to audiences has evolved. “This film creates its own life, it exists in the culture, and over time, people discover it. It’s wonderful to see how this life can move in ways that the filmmakers never intended, or even ever imagined. (Watch an exclusive clip from the episode below.)
The podcast, which launched last year with an episode on Christmas story, co-created by Vince Vaughn and hosted by Billingsley and comedian Steve Byrne. The holiday movies they’ve delved into so far include Vaughn’s Fred Claus And Four birthdays, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Home Alone And National Lampoon’s Christmas Holidayamong other things.
“People like Jan and Beverly D’Angelo from Christmas vacation“It’s nice to have a comfortable environment to sit down and have a thoughtful, in-depth conversation about movies they like,” Billingsley says. “They know the power of these films and what they mean to audiences.”
He continues: “We do the podcast in partnership with Spotify and we have a video component, which is great. When the filmmakers are in the studio, we can show them clips and have them remember what they were doing and decode some of the tricks they used on set.
Before the end, Billingsley spoke with Hollywood Reporter on Christmas story He turns 40, what he learned about film while making the podcast, and why he apologizes for 24-hour marathons.
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