Steven Helmer Publications

The film Die Hard is a staple in my house. I think I put the movie on at least once per month, though by this point it has mostly just been as background noise with me only paying attention during the highlights. However, I put it on again last night and with nothing to distract me, did wind up paying attention to the whole film (or at least most of it). As I did, one thought popped into my head. Who was the inside man working with Hans Gruber ( Alan Rickman ) and his gang of terrorists? While the movie doesn't explicitly state there is someone withing the Nakatomi Corporation that is working with Gruber and his men, the evidence is there if you pay attention. First, the security in Nakatomi Plaza is atrocious, to the point it seems almost by design.  There is a lone security guard who doesn't check identification and a computerized directory that lists the names of everyone in the building. John McClane ( Bruce Willis ) was obviously the good guy in the film but could have ju...

One of my favorite things about this time of year is being able to watch, or rewatch, holiday movies. They are inspiring, have some great stories and in the case of Christmas-themed horror movies, often have some memorable villains. And let's face it, without a good villain (even when that villain also happens to be the protagonist), Christmas movies often fall flat. Something I've noticed with holiday movies though is there are often villains that go unnoticed or at least unrecognized for their efforts. Here are five of my examples: Joseph Yoshinobu Takagi, Die Hard (1988) -  To start, yes, I consider Die Hard a Christmas movie. All the arguments to the contrary could also be used to describe plenty of other recognized Christmas films and therefore are invalid in my book.  While Hans Gruber ( Alan Rickman ) is obviously the main villain in this film, Takagi (James Shigeta) deserves recognition as well because what kind of employer holds a company party on Christmas Eve? Th...

Synopsis: The subject of love is explored through the overlapping stories of eight different London couples as they prepare to celebrate Christmas. Who's in it? The movie stars Hugh Grant , Liam Neeson , Colin Firth , Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman. Review: My wife and I have both seen bits and pieces of this movie (sometimes in spoof form) and she had it in our library to watch. We finally got around to doing that tonight and, overall, I thought it was entertaining.  Some of the love stories were compelling, such as the British Prime Minister (Grant) falling in love with one of his assistants ( Martine McCutcheon ) and a business executive (Rickman) needing to choose between his wife/mother of his kids (Thompson) and his alluring secretary ( Heike Makatsch ). A couple others, like the one involving a man ( Andrew Lincoln ) being in love with his best friend's new wife ( Keira Knightley ) and a writer (Firth) trying to overcome a language barrier with the housekeeper he love...