Happy Valentine's Day: A Good Day To Die Hard

The Die Hard movie series is now 25 years old. And there was a time in my life when I would have made sure I was at the theater on release day. But life changes and I'll have to wait for a window of opportunity. Life changes for everyone but John McClane that is. He's the guy that always winds up in the middle of some master criminal's plot.

According to IMDB, Bruce Willis is now 57 years old. Which in this world of personal trainers, anti-aging centers, and PEDs makes him ready for another couple installments. Unless he dies in this one - I haven't seen it yet - but I get the feeling he won't.

Willis was 30 and plucked from obscurity when tabbed to play alongside Cybil Shepherd, running the Blue Moon Detective Agency in Moonlighting. Their banter became the formula the romantic comedy crime drama like you now see in Castle or Bones. And that propelled Willis to mega-success.

There were some great films: Pulp Fiction, The Sixth Sense. And there were a lot of also-rans where the  Willis name appeared above the title. But nothing in Hollywood has ever been a more perfect fit than Bruce Willis as John McClane.

You think back to the release of Die Hard in 1988. Who possibly could have pulled that role off back then - Nick Nolte? Tom Berenger? Stallone? Maybe, but 25 years later Willis is an icon for this character.

All the Die Hard films surround Willis with an outstanding cast and very colorful arch-enemies. I will watch the first three movies just about every time they pop up on cable. The fourth one, Live Free Or Die Hard, is just a notch below though we like Timothy Olyphant as an evil cyber-genius. And Olyphant has moved on to the role that he's meant for, a bit of an icon himself.

John McClane's one-liners have taken on a life of their own. "Yippee Ki Yay" is the one that gets all the play. But if you're not a big fan of the series, I've got one thing to say to you:

Ryan Romney: The 6th Son

Come on. As far as handsome, presidential-looking, preppie guys go, we thought the Romneys had already cornered the market. But I guess Tagg, Matt, Josh, Ben and Craig were looking for a sixth for the three-on-three game to play on their own indoor fullcourt gymnasium, so enter their long-lost brother Ryan.

Or is this the shelved remake of The Sixth Sense: I See Rich White People?

I have to admit that I didn't think the Romney camp would go this direction. But everyone seems to have nailed the timing of the move. After a week Mr. Romney sunk in the polls, and he was struggling to get the campaign back on message, they found the messenger. And the timing of the pick was appropriate as well.

The selection could have been made much earlier, but if it took place during the Olympics, that would have shafted NBC News, who was essentially based with all their resources in London. It's another example of the media driving the news cycle, the polls, and everything related to the countdown to election day.

The pick was close enough to the end of the games (or "sport" as Colbert calls it re: Rafalca) that NBC didn't get caught with their pants down. But the exclusive still deservedly went to 60 Minutes and CBS' Bob Schieffer. Fareed Zakaria was next in line, but was waiting for Schieffer to ask the questions first.

The two political parties have differing opinions on the VP candidate, but nobody denies that this is a serious pick. Except for me. The physical similarity and collegial manner of these two is so strikingly similar, I can't get a particular image out of my head.

That's right, the diabolical "Number Two" (apropos for a #2 pick) from Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, where Rob Lowe plays a younger Robert Wagner. They laugh at your inferior intellect and resources!