So, the new "Die Hard" movie is taking its title from the state motto of New Hampshire, which is "Live Free Or Die." Interesting.

Well, hopefully it won't suck. It would be even better if it was a return to form for action movies, which have become stuck in this "Vin Diesel-throw-a-shit-load-of-money-into-the-CGI-and-screw- the-plot" slump. What action movies need is return to the old-school, gritty realism of, say, "The French Connection" and the original "Die Hards," that created suspense through characterization and story.

That's what modern action filmakers have forgotten: how to tell a story. All the special effects in the world mean shit if there is no meaning or emotional resonance behind it. Today's directors seem to think that action in of itself is exciting and suspenseful. And their movies fall flat, or even worse become mired in mediocrity. Nobody wants to make films that will be remembered anymore; it's all disposable entertainment--a few cheap thrills and then forgotten. We still talk about "Raiders of the Lost Ark" almost 30 years after it was made. Will anyone remember "Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift" even three years from now?

And its because nobody knows how to create tension and drama anymore. There is no atmosphere; no mood; no character.

I just had a discussion with a co-worker who said a new Die Hard movie is a bad idea. I say it's about fucking time! At least with "Die Hard," and other movies of it's pedigree, you know you are getting an intelligent, labrynthine plot that doesn't dumb itself down for stupid high school twits.

At least, I hope that's how it turns out. It has been 12 years since "Die Hard 3," so who knows if they're going to capitalize on the stupidy trend in action films and ruin the franchise in the process.