Die Hard
Alan Rickman’s Top 10 Performances
Top Performances is a recurring feature in which we definitively handpick the very best performances from an iconic actor or actress. This article was originally published in 2006. He was the villain. Until he wasn’t. You can take this angle on the late Alan Rickman in two ways. The first is his film career, in which the actor set himself up to be a go-to heavy for years to come. His Hans Gruber in Die Hard was the perfect foil for Bruce Willis’ John McClaine — the former neat, succinct, calculating while the latter was a mess, foulmouthed, and always improvising. Then there was the scenery-chewing performance as the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, a movie oft-maligned but not because of Rickman. Far from it. These evil performances were not an indication of what wo...
Die Hard’s Jeb Stuart to Write Assassin’s Creed Live-Action Series at Netflix
Netflix is slowly chipping away at their new Assassin’s Creed live-action TV series, and the proof is in Jeb Stuart. The screenwriter best known for penning blockbuster action films like Die Hard has just been tapped to write the highly anticipated adaptation. Stuart has ventured into the world of TV shows before for Netflix, including limited series like The Liberator and the recent addition Vikings: Valhalla, the sequel to History Channel’s Vikings. However, he’s best known for his feature film scripts, many of which went on to become staples in the action genre. He made a splash when his first screenplay turned into Die Hard in 1988. Afterwards, he went on to help pen the sci-fi horror Leviathan, Sylvester Stallone’s prison thriller Lock Up, the 1993 classic The Fugitive. He even w...
Bruce Willis Returns as John McClane for Epic Die Hard Car Battery Commercial: Watch
Yippee-ki-yay, folks: John McClane is back — and in a car battery commercial of all places. Today, Advance Auto Parts dropped a wildly epic commercial that finds Bruce Willis back in the saddle as his iconic Die Hard hero. The crossover makes sense, however, as the automotive market is highlighting a new line of — you guessed it — DieHard batteries. Like the best blockbusters, the gist of the commercial is pretty simple: McClane is stuck in a rock and a hard place as he car breaks down. Fortunately, he’s near an Advance Auto Parts, where they just so happen to have those aforementioned DieHard batteries. The catch? He just so happens to face all of his old foes and even one of his former sidekicks. Fans of John McTiernan’s 1988 original classic will no doubt notice a couple of familiar fac...
The 100 Greatest Summer Blockbuster Movies of All Time
“Cool.” “Riveting.” “Gripping.” “High-Octane Thrill Ride!” All cliches of film criticism and yet all feelings we’ve experienced while watching a crackerjack summer blockbuster. Oops, there we go again. All things considered, any moviegoer can speak to the divine feeling of sitting in a cool, packed theater in the heat of the summer and being united by narrative. Not just united, but hypnotized, mentally convinced that the fate of the world is before your eyes, and there is nothing more important in that very moment. It’s escapism. It’s popcorn. It’s Chinatown. But also, it’s the power of spectacle. Over the years, Hollywood has certainly run that concept through the ringer, having turned what used to be a summer blockbuster season into, well, an entire calendar year. Now, all those aforeme...
