Conan is a 'Die Hard' fan of Alan Rickman
New Tonight Show host Conan O'Brien had the honor of penning the upcoming "Must List" for Entertainment Weekly. The list, traditionally a list of hot to-do items for the coming week, was more of a collection of the funny man's personal pop culture faves this time around.
For example, No. 6 on his list: Alan Rickman as "Hans Gruber" in 1988's Die Hard.
"I love bad guys," Conan writes. "And in this movie Alan Rickman is so cartoonishly evil that seconds before he plummets to his death from a high office tower, he has the sick presence of mind to try and shoot Bruce Willis."
All talk show hosts should be stuck in the '80s. And his "Must List" allows Entertainment Weekly to stay stuck on villains. Here's the magazine's recent list of Top 20 Villains of All Time. Only a couple '80s heroes make the list sadly:
2. Darth Vader
3. Hannibal Lecter
4. The Joker
5. Alex DeLarge
6. Montgomery Burns
7. Catherine Tramell
8. Voldemort
9. Dracula
10. Nurse Ratched
11. J.R. Ewing
12. Norman Bates
13. Frank Booth
14. Annie Wilkes
15. Snow White’s Queen
16. Hans Gruber
17. Michael Myers
18. Gordon Gekko
19. Alex Forrest
20. Jack Torrance
Relive the music, movies and culture of the greatest decade ever with Times online editor Steve Spears. A teen during the decade, Steve is obsessed with everything from Duran Duran to Journey, John Hughes to John Cusack, and parachute pants to Reaganomics.
E-mail Steve Spears:
I have to admit, whenever my dad and I discuss great movie villains, we always come around to Hans Gruber. I think he might be our favorite of all time.
"Now I have a machine gun. Ho... Ho... Ho..." I love the way Alan Rickman delivers that line.
Posted by: Brother Ron in Dallas | June 02, 2009 at 11:35 AM
No Terminator? This list is bunk.
Posted by: Macho Slut | June 02, 2009 at 03:23 AM
"Alas, he won't be joining us... for the rest of his life."
Hans Gruber had some of the best lines ever.
Posted by: Bassnote | June 01, 2009 at 10:30 AM
How Odd, Spearsey and I must have been watching Die Hard on AMC late into the evening last night.....
Having a youngster, I have seen all the Potter Movies, and everytime Snape shows up, I say, "Hey, That's Hans Gruber!"
I don't know if Hans was ultimately diabolical, and pure evil, but Alan brought a flair and style to that character.
Bassnote, don't give the new movie away, assuming they keep it close to the books.....
Posted by: Crockett | June 01, 2009 at 09:51 AM
Clark, you just blew my mind! Vader..the puppet warlord. Damn!
Posted by: Gary in Gilroy | May 31, 2009 at 10:16 PM
Darth Vader is the most overrated villain of all time. In the end, he redeems himself with a heroic act and even at his worst, he's doing the bidding of The Emperor. Real villians don't work for somebody else. Can you visualize Hannibal Lecter saying "What is thy bidding, master?". Yeah, I didn't think so.
Posted by: Clark | May 31, 2009 at 07:08 PM
By coincidence, I recently came across this take on movie villainy:
http://tinyurl.com/nfysb6
My vote for best movie villain of the 80s probably goes to Christopher Walken for "At Close Range", though it's been a while since I saw it.
Posted by: Anders E | May 31, 2009 at 04:41 PM
Alan Rickman rocks. I can't wait to se the new Harry Potter movie, because Rickman's role is so pivotal in this one. His portrayal of Snape is the best thing about most of those movies.
Posted by: Bassnote | May 31, 2009 at 01:25 PM
Yes Gordon Gekko was a guy trying to get what he wanted,Chase.And he did.He got Catherine Tramell a few years later.
Posted by: Miguel | May 31, 2009 at 01:15 PM
Seriously? Gordon Gekko? I never, ever thought of him as a villan, just a guy trying to get what he wanted ...
Posted by: chase | May 31, 2009 at 12:44 PM