HYPERLINK "http://videos.theonion.com/avclub_video/2011/poppilgrims/PP001-Nakatomi.mov.flv" \t "_blank" http://videos.theonion.com/avclub_video/2011/poppilgrims/PP001-Nakatomi.mov.flv Brian Berrebbi Host: When A.V. Club Travelers we always make time to visit pop culture landmarks. If something memorable happened in the world of film TV books or music we want to go there, we’re not just tourists, we’re pop pilgrims. Welcome to the L.A. edition of Pop Pilgrim. I’m your host Brian Berrebbi, with music crew Jaime driving and Brendan in the back seat. When you think of L.A. you think of Hollywood you think of movies so we’re doing that as our theme. We’re going to stop where three of the most iconic scenes in film history was shot, something classic, something Indie, and some place just awesome. Christmas Eve 1988 a group of terrorist takeover an office building among the many hostages and off duty NYPD cop who would single handedly save the day, that cop, John McClane, the movie Die Hard, the building Nakatomi Plaza a.k.a Fox Plaza our location today. John McClane (Bruce Willis): Is that Christmas Music? Driver: This is Christmas music. Brian Berrebbi: So here we are down the street keeping a healthy safe distance from the ever so dangerous Nakatomi Plaza and with me is critic and columnist from MSN James Rocchi. Thanks for being here. James Rocchi MSM.com: If somebody calls you up and says lets talk Die Hard. I’ll do that. I’m not a communist robot. Brian Berrebbi: Okay. Hans Grubber (Alan Rickman): Who are you then, just another American who saw to many movies as a child. Brian Berrebbi: So let’s start off talking about the significance of this place. Can you tell us? James Rocchi: Well I mean it’s the 20th Century Fox Headquarters here in Century City California and it was being built while Die Hard was in production and it’s like well we need a large building for John McClane to blow up. We’re making a large building hmm? And this great confluence of serendipity in that. They didn’t have to build location; they didn’t have to scout anything. They could blow up and shoot around their own building. They have to cut down on costing to new time. And it still stands you know resolute above the skyline but 20th Century Fox lot is right at its base so if you work in the film industry in L.A. and you go to a Fox block you’re driving by Nakatomi on a regular basis. Die Hard changed action films in two ways structurally and cinematically. The one was you had the whole idea of let’s put a protagonist in one place, have them and the script explore that place, use it for excitement, use it for action. Die Hard is a great demonstration of classic Aristotelian unity. You know unity of time, place and action. Brian Berrebbi: Of course as written about it in the poetics. Hans Grubber (Alan Rickman): Benefits of a classical education. James Rocchi: So you know its one night, one set of events, one group of people. The other thing that’s great about Die Hard is that, it’s a movie where a man kills an entire building full of terrorist as an act of contrition to his wife. You know he has damaged, remarriage, he’s really sorry an international rag tag crew of scum bags has to die so he can better get through his feelings for her. Seriously that script in terms of physical layout which is so important in an action film really does a great job of establishing where everything is as that moment of Bruce Willis instead of trying to double back around the terraces and he runs by the pin up again and you’re like that’s right it’s a pin up again. I know where that is. Brian Berrebbi: Yeah James Rocchi: it does a great job of the mechanics of setting up the action scene. Brian Berrebbi: There’s more stories coming but first we have the 2012 FIAT 500 one classic driving us to another. It defies automotive convention by combining Italian style with uncompromising engineering. All that in a neat package that delivers big. FIAT facts Die Hard is an adaptation of the Roderick Thorp book Nothing Lasts Forever. Nothing Lasts Forever was a sequel to The Detective, which was made into a film starring Frank Sinatra in 1968. Because of a contract technicality, the filmmakers actually had to first offer the role of John McClane to Sinatra, who was 73. James Rocchi: Julian Casablanca from The Strokes said would you think of L.A. as a City but you may think of it as 7 cool towns if you can handle it. What Die Hard does is it turns L.A. into one building. You know everyone is working late, there’s an awesome Christmas Party and plenty of cocaine. And it sort of gets that whole shallow go getter thing which was a character but then you’ll saw to earth guy it’s like Hal Powell. William Atherton’s main newsman— Brian Berrebbi: Is that the guy from Ghostbusters, right? James Rocchi: Yeah. Brian Berrebbi: It’s true that this man has no dick? James Rocchi: Yes. “Tell me you got that.” James Rocchi: Get a camera in there, get a camera in there. Yeah Atherton is a vain news guy. We have an idea of L.A. as a media town. It’s not -shortcut it’s not Magnolia but you get these nice little L.A. touches in there. “We go to the coast, we get together, have a few laughs. You could easily list like 20 or 30 great L.A. movies but I feel like you can make an argument for Die Hard. Brian Berrebbi: So that has been a walkthrough of Die Hard in Nakatomi Plaza. James Rocchi: We have a lot of corrections right there. Brian Berrebbi: As there should be. James Rocch: Yeah. Brian Berrebbi: With critic and columnist for MSN James Rocchi, James, thank you. James Rocchi: Yipeekayay Brian Berrebbi: You could say it? James Rocchi: No I can’t. John McClane (Bruce Willis): Yippie-Kai-Yay Mother Fucker. Fox Plaza 2121 Avenue of the Stars Los Angeles, CA