Commando

Someone is killing the former members of John Matrix's Special Forces team. Someone with a score to settle. That someone has about 12 hours to live, they just don't know it yet. Commando is a balls to the wall 80s action flick stuffed to the gills with steel drums and squealing saxophones. It's light on plot and logic but heavy on explosions and bloody squibs. Arnold's character in Commando is very quippy, tossing out almost as many barbs as death sentences. The supporting cast includes Alyssa Milano, Rae Dawn Chong, Vernon Wells, Dan Hedaya, David Patrick Kelly, Bill Duke and there's even a cameo appearance from Bill Paxton as an "Intercept Officer."

Rating: 72%

(Image from Wikipedia)

Die Hard 2

Every year more and more people think they're being clever when they tell you that the original Die Hard is their favorite Christmas movie. Don't get me wrong, the first Die Hard is a fantastic movie and, yes, it is set at Christmas time but, for my money, Die Hard 2 is the better Christmas movie. I can watch Die Hard at any point of the year but when the Christmas season is upon us I tend to reach for Die Hard 2. I think it has the distinct advantage when it comes to the setting. Die Hard takes place in California while Die Hard 2 takes place in Virginia during bad weather. It has snow and snowmobiles and pointy icicles that you can jam into a terrorist's eye. I'm just saying John McClane never killed anyone with a palm tree. And sure, Reginald VelJohnson is criminally underused in Die Hard 2, but the movie almost makes up for it with the rest of the cast. You got Dennis Franz, William Sadler, Franco Nero, John Amos, Fred Thompson, Robert Patrick and Colm Meaney. That's a murderers' row of character actors. So next year when some smug douche or some snarky listicle tries to convince you to rewatch Die Hard for Christmas, consider Die Hard 2, you may be pleasantly surprised.

Rating: 75%

(Image from IMDB)