Val Kilmer Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Every few years, it seems necessary in the course of critiquing home video releases to clarify and designate the difference between all of those terms that distributors and producers come up with to describe films that arrive in stores in a version other than their theatrical iteration. For example, "unrated" no longer simply means that a film is too bawdy or offensive to garner a proper MPAA rating; rather, in many cases it means that the studio re-inserted footage, and didn't bother to screen it for the ratings board at all. "Director's cuts," meanwhile, sometimes really reflect the original vision of a filmmaker for his movie, and sometimes just qualify as an alternate version that was supervised or approved by the director. And most importantly, none of these changes are an automatic indication that the film will be superior to the one that you saw in theaters, even if there's a little more gore or nudity or (God forbid) character development.

Ironically, the new Blu-ray for Heat carries no such designation – to anyone buying it, this is the same film they saw in theaters and on standard-definition DVD. However, at the top of the list of the disc's special features, the topline attraction is "new content changes supervised by director Michael Mann." Even for someone who's seen more than his share of extended, alternate, unrated and director's cuts, this was particularly intriguing, which is why Heat is the subject of this week's "Making The (Up) Grade."

It's no secret that Nicolas Cage has been going off the deep end of late. His performances have become increasingly unhinged and harebrained; you never know when the character he's playing will suddenly become apoplectic over something that seems -- no matter what it is, in comparison to the reaction it draws -- relatively minor. This almost singlehandedly ruined this year's Knowing, at heart a decent science-fiction flick rendered nearly unwatchable by Cage's fevered overacting. It's no coincidence that Cage hasn't done a "serious" dramatic performance in more than three years. I shudder to think what that would now look like.

All of which makes me think that Werner Herzog is even smarter than people give him credit for. Having cast Cage in his "remake" of Abel Ferrara's Bad Lieutenant (I put "remake" in scare quotes as Herzog claims to never have seen Ferrara's film, and the new one has nothing to do with it beyond sharing some bare plot elements), he lets the actor go truly all-out. In The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, Cage, playing the titular Lieutenant Terence McDonagh, interrupts himself, has roundtable discussions with himself, cheers himself on, punctuates conversations with non sequitur chuckles and handclaps, and gets hugely angry. It's a completely absurd performance -- and, God willing, a way for the actor to let off steam and return to the more nuanced, settled acting he used to do.

I don't need to sit here and spew off a list of unsuccessful Saturday Night Live-related movies, because we're all well aware of their track record when it comes to stretching 30-second skits into full-length feature films. But maybe the problem lies in the amount of foul-mouthed filth on screen, which is why the folks behind the latest SNL flick MacGruber have decided to get completely nutty and go for a straight-up, balls-out hard-R comedy.

Speaking to Vulture about the film, SNL star Bil Hader (who's not listed as a cast member, but will almost certainly make a cameo) says, "I read the script, and it's like a hard-R comedy, and it totally works. It's hilarious. It's kind of in the vein of, like, eighties action movies, like there's a very definitive bad guy. I don't know if I can talk about the plot too much, but it's hilarious. The thing that kind of blew my mind about it is that it's like a HARD-R movie. I was like, "What is this? This is f**king ugly. You guys are really going to do this?" And they're like, "Yup." And I was like, "That is awesome. That is f**king hilarious." So far the cast of MacGruber (not counting cameos ... and we know these guys love their little cameos) includes Will Forte, Kristen Wiig, Val Kilmer and Ryan Phillippe

I actually dug the whole 80's action movie vibe in Pineapple Express, but I've spoken to a slew of people who were either turned off by it or didn't "get" it. Will it work for MacGruber? Is the answer to SNL's box office woes a film that's filthy, nasty and unapologetic? What do you think the chances are of this flick actually succeeding?

It's almost too obvious that this so-called Bad Lieutenant remake from Werner Herzog and Nicolas Cage is destined to become the crack junkie of Netflix a year from now; an instant guilty pleasure -- the sort of film some folks will hate, but some will adore. The original 1992 Bad Lieutenant from Abel Ferrara (and starring Harvey Keitel in the lead) was like a shock to the heart; a gritty, nasty, foul-mouthed dirty cop flick that made you immediately want to take a shower once the end credits began to scroll.

This new version, which carries its own original story and isn't a remake (according to Herzog), definitely looks to keep a lot of the nastiness, but injects it with that odd Cagian humor as well. How can you not laugh at Cage when he spits out sentences like, "What, you don't have a lucky crack pipe?" Eva Mendes (reteaming with her Ghost Rider co-star), Val Kilmer and rapper-actor Xzibit also star. If anything, this looks like a fun film for those old school Nicolas Cage fans desperate to see the guy take on non-commercial fare for a change. Herzog fans? I don't know what to tell you; this looks nothing like a Herzog film -- though this "trailer" does look like a promotional tool used to help sell the film (at Cannes?) and not an official, finished (and polished) piece of marketing.

But you be the judge -- we've included the trailer after the jump because it's definitely NSFW. Be warned.

If you crossed him, Shondor would kill you. If you didn't, he would charm you.

Sounds like Christopher Walken, doesn't it? Or, at least, his well-honed movie persona as charismatic tough guy. In a bit of pitch-perfect casting, The Hollywood Reporter posts that Walken, Ray Stevenson, and Val Kilmer have signed onto Jonathan Hensleigh's The Irishman -- an adaptation of Rick Porrello's book, To Kill the Irishman: The War That Crippled the Mafia.

Walken will play Shondor Birns, a Jewish-American mobster who was once Public Enemy No. 1 in Cleveland, who hired a young Irish-American dude named Danny Greene (Ray Stevenson) back in the '60s. As time went on, Greene wanted a bigger chunk of the biz and wealth, which led to bad blood and ultimately, a rather nasty car bomb that killed Birns. Greene, meanwhile, was a little bit of everything -- FBI informant, instigator of a country-wide turf war, union organizer. (Kilmer will play a police detective in Cleveland who befriends Greene.)The project is billed as an action movie, so expect lots of fighting, and probably lots of time spent on the bombs that riddled both men's stories. (Here is even more about it.)

This is far from the first mob-filled story ol' Walken has involved himself with, but should be a bit meatier -- and definitely bloodier -- than the usual fare. While we're on the topic: Which is your favorite Walken mob movie?

By now you've probably heard: Val Kilmer is considering running for governor of New Mexico in 2010. It seems that he's "looking for ways to be contributive," and if he can make "a substantial contribution," he'll run. And if he decides that there's a big contribution to be made ... well, he's determined to win: "If I run, I'm going to be the next governor." At least he's mastered the art of positive thinking.

THR also notes that if he runs, it won't be a conventional campaign. Kilmer says that it's all about getting out and listening to people, but will that also include shepherding in a new generation of politicians? When ol' Ronnie Reagan was entering the political world, he was coming out of a restricted Hollywood. Being an actor might have been a surprising twist, but Reagan didn't reveal much in his Hollywood work. But now: We've got terminators, professional wrestlers, and perhaps, egads, the man who played John Holmes. Will Kilmer swear that he only got high on film? Or, will he possibly make his varied film career a political selling point rather than ignoring it? I mean, he's a Real Genius, so anything is possible.

What do you think about Val's new interest, or would you prefer that he stuck with acting or condiments? And what do you think about today's actors getting into the political world? Are you comfortable having a man or woman in office after you've seen their bits?

The story behind the making of Delgo is heartwarming and inspiring. Fathom Studios, based in Atlanta, Georgia, has been creating commercial computer animation for more than ten years. When they decided to produce their own feature-length narrative film, they did it completely independent of the Hollywood studio system. They labored long and hard with a much smaller budget and a much smaller staff than the animation behemoths. They bravely posted "digital dailes" throughout production, a kind of progressive, online series of "making of" snippets. They recruited a slew of actors with name recognition -- Freddie Prinze Jr., Jennifer Love Hewitt, Val Kilmer, Malcolm McDowell, Louis Gossett Jr., Michael Clarke Duncan, Burt Reynolds, Chris Kattan, and the late Anne Bancroft in her last performance -- to voice the characters.

If only the film as a whole was as dramatic and lively as the behind-the-scenes story. Under the direction of Marc F. Adler and Jason Maurer, the 3-D animation is quite lovely to behold, but the characters are one-dimensional and the script, credited to six writers, spends too much time on convoluted plot mechanics. Delgo falls into an uncomfortable place where the technical achievement can be admired without the emotions ever being engaged, provoking nothing more than a tepid response ("meh") when the end credits begin to roll.

Set in a lush fantasy world of flying creatures, colorful reptiles, and the odd monster, beast, and giant insect, Delgo pits two races against one another. The proud, dominant, invading race lords it over the humble, subjugated, native race. Sound familiar?

These people just landed a part in a movie and you didn't:

Sorry boys, but Jessica Alba has officially become a math nerd. Oh yes, Variety tells us the actress has signed on to star in An Invisible Sign of My Own, based on the book by Aimee Bender. Marilyn Agrelo (Mad Hot Ballroom) will direct the flick, which follows a woman who becomes obsessed with numbers and math ... and then lands a gig as a second-grade math teacher. Hot, steamy gratuitous love-making scene not included.

Val Kilmer has decided he needs more action in his life, as the dude has hopped onboard the crime thriller Fake Identity for Nu Image/Millennium Films. The film, to be directed by Dennis Dimster-Denk (or Triple D, as I like to call him), tells of a doctor (Kilmer) who, while working in Chechnya, helps a woman escape from her would-be assailant and then watches a whole movie's worth of crazy stuff happen to him. (Variety)

I know, I've totally been waiting for Michael Caine to kick some serious ass too! Luckily, Variety tells us the actor has joined the British crime thriller Harry Brown. Who's Harry Brown, you ask? Well, he's an "elderly former serviceman drawn to vigilantism while living in a run-down 'burb rife with gangs, guns and drugs." Daniel Barber directs, while Emily Mortimer co-stars as a policewoman. And LL Cool J raps ... "Caine gonna knock you out ..."

We know that Val Kilmer is talented, whether it's morphing into icons like John Holmes or Jim Morrison, or voicing KITT, or being Bruce Wayne. But these days, Kilmer is all about the inspiration. There was talk recently of a collaboration with 50 Cent on some music, and now the actor has told MTV that he's the man behind Dr. Evil's Mini-Me -- not quite the news you'd expect to hear.

He explains: "[I was] the genesis of Mini-Me... [On] Island of Dr. Moreau, I told Marlon Brando my plan to save my performance just in case there was a giant hole in the second half. I was going to strap the little man to my chest. And, you know, you can't get around that visual. And then he [Brando] STOLE my little man!" So then he sees Vern Troyer on the big screen as Mini-Me, and "I asked Mike Myers about it myself. He said, 'absolutely.'" (That it came from the movie.)

So there you have it, folks. Val Kilmer is the reason that we now have Vern Troyer.