Val (2021)

[BetterButter]

 

[letter8358]

I am really interested in seeing this. He did so many films and it is so sad to see him in such a fragile state. You had this charismatic young man who we thought would not age and to see him in this condition is beyond sad. You could tell even as a kid he had good looks. Fame did came at such a huge price for him.

[QQQQ]

I had no idea about his voice, which is ironic because I've always been drawn to it (especially as Nick Rivers in Top Secret).

[Morrigan2575]

Going to watch it this weekend. I have a feeling it's going to make me really sad.

[letter8358]

Anybody watched this yet? I just never noticed how many voices he did and they all go back to his childhood. He really was talented, was he? The Saint was my favorite movie! I remember watching that in theaters when it came out.

[letter8358]

Anybody saw it already?

[SunnyBeBe]

I watched it twice yesterday.  I liked it.  It’s sort of sad, but he has a very positive attitude throughout. Due to his voice, he has his son narrate much of the movie and their voices are quite similar.  He has some treasured vintage home videos!  He was in school with Penn and Bacon!  He says he had a charmed life, though there was some tragedy when he lost his teenage brother.  I’m interested in knowing what others think.  I think something else is wrong with him, but can’t say what. He really seems unwell.  He keeps fighting to live and work, though.  

[GaT]

I'm confused, is that him actually narrating? If it is, When did he record it? 

[letter8358]

I think it was 2019! His son was doing the narrative for the most part. This was before the pandemic..Val's mother died in 2019!  And that's how it ends! I mean, he was at those Comic Cons and that Texas Tombstone tribute, so it had to be 2019! It couldn't have been 2020 or 2021! Judging from his condition now, he is definitely immuno-compromised and his siblings recently said he is decided not to see the premier.

I can't blame him there. Those videos of his should be in a museum now! I am telling you when this pandemic is over, Tina Turner and Val Kilmer should show their rare videos or pictures in a nostalgic museum, like that SNL tour I did three years ago! 

Edited August 9, 2021 by letter8358

[letter8358]

And there's that one scene they mentioned that directors were uncomfortable showing

Can you believe it was The Island of Dr. Moreau? Marlon Brando scared the shit out of me!

[GaT]

1 hour ago, letter8358 said:

And there's that one scene they mentioned that directors were uncomfortable showing

Quote

Speaking of his voice, Kilmer’s son, Jack, does the narration and it’s downright eerie how similar he sounds to his father. Both Scott and Poo said they considered not revealing who the voice was until the end of the film, but thought it might be too big of a distraction.

Since the voice was the first thing I noticed & wondered about, they were right.

[letter8358]

And his daughter is the spitting image of Joanne Whalley! I swear, their children are the younger version of their parents! I have a question: Was he a smoker? It will only explain why he had throat cancer and recovered from it, leaving his voice damaged from the radiation.

Edited August 9, 2021 by letter8358

[Unclejosh]

I believe I read somewhere he started smoking at age 8.

[letter8358]

That's pretty young!

[blackwing]

I haven't watched this yet, but reviews seem to be great.  I imagine it will contend for "Best Documentary" at the Oscars.

Is his voice back to normal or is it still damaged?  If it's still damaged, how is he appearing in the Top Gun movie?

[AngieBee1]

Quote

Is his voice back to normal or is it still damaged?  If it's still damaged, how is he appearing in the Top Gun movie?

His voice is still damaged. He said when he approached the Top Gun: Maverick team about being in the film they didn't know how he sounds and he said there was only one way to portray it so I'm assuming it's written in that something has happened to his character's voice. 

I'm all for given actors work in the face of disability but I was always curious as to why Tomas Alfredson cast Kilmer in "The Snowman" when they had to dub all of his lines  - which threw every scene he was in out of whack.  He's not a box office draw anymore to jump through those hoops. They could have had him say the lines and sweeten it in post to make it more understandable. 

[letter8358]

Eight years old!?!? Damn, that's a long time to be smoking! 

[letter8358]

I have another question: Does it seemed like he suffered from mental health problems for years? In one of his home videos, he is cutting his hair with a knife and it had to be his post divorce phase there. In another video, he is filming himself nude near the Statue of Liberty site and just lying down as if it was nothing. I wondered if his brother's death probably escalated his difficult personality to some. I would not be surprised if there was a contributing factor there.

[SunnyBeBe]

I did some research on throat cancer back when Michael Douglas said he had it. Turns out he lied about it and actually had tongue cancer, but it’s all under a class called Oral cancer and a significant cause is HPV virus, according to this.  He’s a link.  It’s not always drinking and smoking.  It’s much more prevalent in men.

 

https://www.cnn.com/2013/10/14/health/michael-douglas-tongue-cancer/index.html

This movie was very entertaining to me.  I hope Val finds better health and happiness.
 

It seemed that Val  had a good reason to be perturbed with that director featured in the tense scene.  If the guy had nothing to hide, leave on the tape.  He was the ass, not Val, imo. 

[DoctorAtomic]

I enjoyed the documentary. I would have liked more on his insight into acting as when he was talking (I know it wasn't him) about Batman and Tombstone. I don't think he should (and doesn't) really care if he was labeled as difficult. Dude was in Julliard. He gets to have an opinion. I was kind of bummed he didn't like Top Secret because it's hilarious. The approach to The Doors was really good. I like stuff like that, when comedians talk shop about jokes, etc. Or putting the ice in the bed for the last scene in Tombstone. 

I don't think he was in the wrong with the director either. I think he was winding the guy up a little, but Kilmer correctly pointed out that the guy talked about leaving the film, so as the lead actor (one of) he's got a right to know who is piloting the ship. I was dying when they were filming 'Norm'. Hi Norm! 

He did say he is better than he sounds. I know acting is his life, but he can clearly write, so if he can't act anymore, he still has work. 

Jack killed me on the v/o with Holliday was...a...dentist?!

[letter8358]

I know this was in the worst season of SNL, but he was not a bad host. Turned out he also appeared on SNL in a Long Island sketch with Katy Perry as well. Man, 2000 was really a long time ago. Look how young looking and charismatic he was then....Man, the whole cast of SNL looked so young.

https://archive.org/details/saturday-night-live-s-26-e-07-val-kilmer-u-2

[Mrsmaul2021]

I watched Heat a few months ago and have been on a Val Kilmer binge ever since.  It breaks my heart what has happened to him and felt he was such a brilliant, anti-Hollywood, actor.