Queue Tips: Val and Bill and Ted

I was a big Val Kilmer fan when I was in high school.  I used to rent VHS tapes from the public library.  In January 1996, I had "Tombstone" and "Beautiful Girls".  And then the next day or so, the Blizzard of 1996 came.  My mom was away somewhere, and I was home alone for those few days.  Everything was closed, so I had extra time to keep the tapes.  We didn't have cable TV, so we didn't have much else to watch.

I just watched "Tombstone" and "Beautiful Girls" over and over.  I rented "Beautiful Girls" because of, I don't know, the title, I guess.  And I liked it.  

I used to listen to WPLJ after school all the time.  They had this show called "The Rocky Allen Showgram".  One of the little contests they have is to quote a movie and stump the hosts.  Listeners would always call in and quote "Tombstone", and they would always guess it easily.  So that's why I rented "Tombstone".

I liked it.  I thought it was cool.  It was very quotable so I quoted it, too.  When I heard Val Kilmer would be the next Batman, I was very excited.  My friends and I all went to see it on the first day it was out, near the end of the school year.  I also liked that U2 was on the soundtrack.  I seemed to be the only kid who listened to that band.

I had been avoiding watching "Val" because I knew it would address his cancer, and I was sure it would make me sad.  Life is sad enough.  One morning, I decided to click on it just to watch a few minutes.  I ended up sitting through the whole thing.

This film is a documentary using primarily Kilmer's home videos.  You get a nostalgic feeling out of them, and the narration adds to the melancholy.  It's interesting that at the time I was watching "Tombstone" over and over, I was alone at home, and it definitely brought back some of that loneliness.

There are a lot of insights on how his career and life turned out.  You can see how his personal life affected him.  I liked seeing his process of auditioning and preparing.  He gives his point of view on why he decided to play the characters he did, such as Batman and why they were successful or not.

My friends and I actually also watched "The Island of Dr. Moreau" in the theatre in 1996.  I remember liking it.  I don't think my friends hated it.  Val gives his insight into what went wrong with that film as well.  Maybe I just liked seeing him, but I ended up buying the tape (I think on Columbia or one of those free trial subscription things) and watching that over and over, too.

I haven't seen a bunch of his later films, before his throat cancer.  I think the last one I saw was "Felon". I thought that was okay.  I think I rented "The Salton Sea" also but I couldn't get into it.  It seemed to be slow, and I had a bunch of other movies I wanted to get to.

One of the things that stuck with me is Val taking about his legacy.  He said, "I'm selling basically my old self, my old career" when he was at a "Tombstone" screening event.  Incidentally, I also watched "Bill & Ted Face the Music" recently.  That was basically what that movie was, selling their old selves and their old careers.  That one was sad to watch on a different level.  I wish they hadn't made it.

I still haven't seen the "Top Gun" sequel though.  I wonder how that made Val Kilmer look.  And I don't know who else is on it.  I don't think "Val" really made a big effort to understand the opposing point of view that he was difficult to work with.  And looking at his Wikipedia page, you can see that he did turn down some opportunities.  You can argue that he has been luckier than most, but regardless, feelings are valid.  It's interesting how much a decision can affect your entire life, like accepting roles like in "The Doors" or committing to a production and making personal sacrifices.  It's a good watch.  I think it will affect you even if you are not a fan.