Die Hard (1988) - Hard-boiled police detective John McClane (Bruce Willis) plus Terrorist Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) equals a well portrayed and pure good versus evil tale. If you have never seen this movie then stop reading right now and watch it. If I made a list of some of the best movies ever made this would be on the list! John is a detective from New York who flies into Los Angeles to meet with his estranged wife for the holidays. While in her office building the terrorists take over and set about their diabolical scheming. John fits well into the role of an anti-hero but at the same time has a knight-in-shining-armor vibe. Watch it.
Trading Places (1983) - Eddie Murphy plays a broke criminal and blue-collar con-man while Dan Aykroyd plays a pompous rich white-chollar stock broker. The owners of the brokerage firm make a bet and put the criminal in their firm while ruining the rich man's career. Eddie Murphy's character learns that the old men plan to leave both of their toys in ruins. With the help of a butler and a prostitute the victims go to great lengths to get revenge and make a lot of money in the process. A great movie about trust and teamwork, plus it has Eddie Murphy.
The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996) - A housewife who can't remember her past, Samantha Caine (played by Geena Davis), has lost all but the last eight years. Finding no trace of her identity in that time she has resorted to hiring the cheapest of all private detectives, Mitch Henessey (Samuel L. Jackson). Events unfold that reveal Samantha to be a spy who was left for dead. Will she regain her memory in time to save herself? Will Mitch continue to wisecrack? You can probably guess. This action movie features prominently the theme of a mother fighting for the safety of her daughter. If "homemaker assassin" were a movie genre this would be a textbook case. I loved it.
(To Be Continued ...http://simplemethodscolumn.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-top-five-non-christmas-christmas_9.html)