Last week brought the tremendously sad news that Bruce Willis is stepping away from acting owing to health issues. Recently diagnosed with aphasia, a condition that affects cognitive abilities, it emerged that the star, aged 67, has been struggling with learning his lines and reacting to cues.
As the Los Angeles Times reported, Mike Burns, who directed Willis in the 2021 crime thriller Out of Death, was asked to reduce the star’s dialogue to lighten his workload.
The admission evoked an outpouring of sympathy online for Willis, as fans expressed their love for the actor whose career spans back to the 1980s. Back then, his breakthrough came as David Addison, the wise-cracking private detective, in TV’s comedy-romance Moonlighting. The show ran for five seasons, winning Willis an Emmy. By the time it wound up in 1989, Willis was a bona fide movie star — largely thanks to his role in Die Hard.
Even now, it’s hard to quantify the enormous impact Willis made in Die Hard as John McClane, the vest-wearing cop who single-handedly takes down a criminal gang raiding his wife’s workplace on Christmas Eve. Compared to the muscle-bound tanks such as Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger, Willis was more grounded, more vulnerable. When he picked broken shards of glass from his feet, you felt every wince, every cry of pain. Here was a reluctant hero we could all relate to.
Willis played McClane a further four times, with diminishing returns, but here remained a character who changed action movies for ever. When you look at stars such as Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson or Ryan Reynolds now — who boast similar everyman qualities — you can see the template that Willis first engineered. Like McClane, Willis was also a born survivor — even early '90s box office bombs such as Hudson Hawk and The Bonfire of the Vanities were not enough to derail his career.
He had no protective movie-star ego about wanting to look like an action star. He completely dove into this character
Rian Johnson,
director
Indeed, for all the smooth-talking schtick, Willis possessed a brilliant ability to reinvent his persona with edgy filmmakers — risks that paid off spectacularly. His role as the prize fighter Butch in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction remains one of his most memorable parts; one minute he’s cooing softly to his girlfriend and promising her blueberry pancakes, the next he’s gunning down John Travolta’s hitman Vincent Vega in his own apartment and singing about “Captain Kangaroo”.
Perhaps even better was his turn in Terry Gilliam’s time-travel masterpiece 12 Monkeys, which came a year later in 1995. He plays James Cole, the sanity-threatened prisoner sent back from the future to stop a viral apocalypse. Gilliam wasn’t a big fan of Willis’. “I hated the Trumpian mouth he does in films,” the director later recalled, demanding that Willis dial down the smirking, a go-to staple for the actor. He did, with masterful results.
Others will doubtless point to M Night Shyamalan’s twisty supernatural tale The Sixth Sense, another huge hit in Willis’ career, in which he plays, with real conviction, a child psychologist who connects with Haley Joel Osment’s troubled boy Cole.
Yet, the same year — 1999 — Willis was also acting for the esteemed Alan Rudolph in his Kurt Vonnegut Jr adaptation Breakfast of Champions, as car dealership owner Dwayne Hoover. It didn’t quite land, but once again showed Willis’ penchant for gambling.
This continued into the 2000s, albeit less frequently. He found work with Richard Linklater (Fast Food Nation), Wes Anderson (Moonrise Kingdom) and Rian Johnson (Looper), directors who sculpted Willis’ movie-star persona into something interesting; unique. In Anderson’s case, he saw Willis at his most tender, as a police officer leading a search party for some runaways, in this nostalgic look at a bygone America. The New York Times rightly praised it as a “wonderful” performance.
Ever better, sci-fi Looper had Johnson tap into Willis’ stock-in-trade: “He’s typically the hero who is going to find the right person and kill them and save the day,” the director told me. Only this time, in a wild inversion, his time-travelling assassin discovers that his target is his younger self.
“He had no protective movie-star ego about wanting to look like an action star,” said Johnson. “He completely dove into this character.”
Recently, Willis’s career was reduced to generic B movies, such as Fortress and American Siege, producers banking on his movie-star charisma to sell their titles to the video-on-demand market, regardless of quality. The Golden Raspberry Awards even created a one-off category called ‘Worst Performance by Bruce Willis in a 2021 Movie’, nominating him eight times, which rather spoke to the volume of films he was churning out.
The Razzies rescinded the award, which went to his turn in Cosmic Sin, upon hearing of his diagnoses. Yet even in these fallow years, Willis found some gems — notably Motherless Brooklyn, Edward Norton’s 1950s-set detective yarn, and M Night Shyamalan’s Glass, which had Willis reprise his character from 2000’s Unbreakable — a superhero-style project that arrived long before they’d become fashionable.
That's Willis all over: a Hollywood trailblazer.
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Six large-scale objects on show
- Concrete wall and windows from the now demolished Robin Hood Gardens housing estate in Poplar
- The 17th Century Agra Colonnade, from the bathhouse of the fort of Agra in India
- A stagecloth for The Ballet Russes that is 10m high – the largest Picasso in the world
- Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1930s Kaufmann Office
- A full-scale Frankfurt Kitchen designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, which transformed kitchen design in the 20th century
- Torrijos Palace dome
Evacuations to France hit by controversy
- Over 500 Gazans have been evacuated to France since November 2023
- Evacuations were paused after a student already in France posted anti-Semitic content and was subsequently expelled to Qatar
- The Foreign Ministry launched a review to determine how authorities failed to detect the posts before her entry
- Artists and researchers fall under a programme called Pause that began in 2017
- It has benefited more than 700 people from 44 countries, including Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Sudan
- Since the start of the Gaza war, it has also included 45 Gazan beneficiaries
- Unlike students, they are allowed to bring their families to France
Brief scores:
Liverpool 3
Mane 24', Shaqiri 73', 80'
Manchester United 1
Lingard 33'
Man of the Match: Fabinho (Liverpool)
Match info
Uefa Champions League Group B
Barcelona v Tottenham Hotspur, midnight
Essentials
The flights
Emirates, Etihad and Malaysia Airlines all fly direct from the UAE to Kuala Lumpur and on to Penang from about Dh2,300 return, including taxes.
Where to stay
In Kuala Lumpur, Element is a recently opened, futuristic hotel high up in a Norman Foster-designed skyscraper. Rooms cost from Dh400 per night, including taxes. Hotel Stripes, also in KL, is a great value design hotel, with an infinity rooftop pool. Rooms cost from Dh310, including taxes.
In Penang, Ren i Tang is a boutique b&b in what was once an ancient Chinese Medicine Hall in the centre of Little India. Rooms cost from Dh220, including taxes.
23 Love Lane in Penang is a luxury boutique heritage hotel in a converted mansion, with private tropical gardens. Rooms cost from Dh400, including taxes.
In Langkawi, Temple Tree is a unique architectural villa hotel consisting of antique houses from all across Malaysia. Rooms cost from Dh350, including taxes.
More on Quran memorisation:
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Korean Film Festival 2019 line-up
Innocent Witness, June 26 at 7pm
On Your Wedding Day, June 27 at 7pm
The Great Battle, June 27 at 9pm
The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion, June 28 at 4pm
Romang, June 28 at 6pm
Mal Mo E: The Secret Mission, June 28 at 8pm
Underdog, June 29 at 2pm
Nearby Sky, June 29 at 4pm
A Resistance, June 29 at 6pm
The years Ramadan fell in May
Spider-Man: No Way Home
Director: Jon Watts
Stars: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon
Rating:*****
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
The Africa Institute 101
Housed on the same site as the original Africa Hall, which first hosted an Arab-African Symposium in 1976, the newly renovated building will be home to a think tank and postgraduate studies hub (it will offer master’s and PhD programmes). The centre will focus on both the historical and contemporary links between Africa and the Gulf, and will serve as a meeting place for conferences, symposia, lectures, film screenings, plays, musical performances and more. In fact, today it is hosting a symposium – 5-plus-1: Rethinking Abstraction that will look at the six decades of Frank Bowling’s career, as well as those of his contemporaries that invested social, cultural and personal meaning into abstraction.
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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About Karol Nawrocki
• Supports military aid for Ukraine, unlike other eurosceptic leaders, but he will oppose its membership in western alliances.
• A nationalist, his campaign slogan was Poland First. "Let's help others, but let's take care of our own citizens first," he said on social media in April.
• Cultivates tough-guy image, posting videos of himself at shooting ranges and in boxing rings.
• Met Donald Trump at the White House and received his backing.
Dhadak
Director: Shashank Khaitan
Starring: Janhvi Kapoor, Ishaan Khattar, Ashutosh Rana
Stars: 3
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200
THE BIO
Ms Davison came to Dubai from Kerala after her marriage in 1996 when she was 21-years-old
Since 2001, Ms Davison has worked at many affordable schools such as Our Own English High School in Sharjah, and The Apple International School and Amled School in Dubai
Favourite Book: The Alchemist
Favourite quote: Failing to prepare is preparing to fail
Favourite place to Travel to: Vienna
Favourite cuisine: Italian food
Favourite Movie : Scent of a Woman
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The years Ramadan fell in May
Match info
Uefa Champions League Group H
Manchester United v Young Boys, Tuesday, midnight (UAE)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
MATCH INFO
Norwich City 0 Southampton 3 (Ings 49', Armstrong 54', Redmond 79')
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