R.I.P. Val Kilmer

Here's Val Kilmer as Tom Van Allen, who is living as Danny Parker, in the Pooh Bear breakfast scene in the little known movie, The Salton Sea.  Danny is trying to get Pooh Bear on tape agreeing to a big drug deal for some crank.  But this isn't Pooh Bear's first rodeo.  This is an incredibly well made movie, chock full of really memorable characters.  You should watch this movie.  If you're in recovery from meth, crank, or coke, this movie will probably knock you off the wagon.  So people in recovery from hard drugs should probably avoid this movie.  Luckily, I'm a pizza addict, drugs aren't my thing, so I can watch this movie with reckless abandon.  After you watch The Salton Sea movie, look up the actual place, the Salton Sea, it's story is just as crazy as the movie.  

"The greatest words on written page

Only come to life when you're on stage"

-

excerpt from "Actress," a poem I wrote about 1990.  I wrote the poem for my sister's best friend, who's been a dedicated actress since a young age.  I lost all copies of this poem years ago, and have forgotten the rest of the poem, unfortunately.

I'm really sorry to hear about the death of actor Val Kilmer.  He just died at age 65.  I'm generally not huge a fan of specific actors, male or female, but some actors would just keep showing up in movies that became my personal favorites.  Val Kilmer was one of those.  

Of course, the Hollywood press, like in this Entertainment Tonight tribute, reminds everyone of his best known roles, Iceman in Top Gun, Bruce Wayne and Batman in Batman Forever, Jim Morrison in The Doors, and Doc Holiday in Tombstone.  All great roles.  But none of those roles are why I've been a fan of Val Kilmer's work since the late 1980's.  

It's easy to talk shit about actors in general.  People say they're all shallow, self-absorbed, and narcissistic.  People say actors just want to be movie or TV stars, and live as glamorous prima Donna's.  People say that the top actors make way too much money.  These things are true for some actors.  But then there are the hardcore, devoted actors.  They take a writer's characters, described only in words, or maybe simple drawings in some cases.  The great actors flesh out and literally become those fictional characters, taking the rest of us on a believable journey, for an hour, two hours, or maybe through a whole TV series.  That's a pretty amazing thing to be able to do well.  Val Kilmer was one of the greatest at this.  Rest in Peace, Mr. Kilmer, in whatever realm the greatest move into after an inspiring journey here on planet Earth.  

Here are the main roles that made me a big fan of Val Kilmer's work.

Real Genius- 1985- as Chris Night- the pickle dream/liquid nitrogen scene

Thunderheart- 1992- Ray Levoi- Original Trailer.

Thunderheart- 1992- Ray Levoi- While on tribal lands, FBI agent Ray Levoi has an experience he doesn't understand

True Romance- 1993- How many of you know that Val Kilmer played Elvis in True Romance?

The Saint- 1997- Simon Templar- trailer  He played about 15 different roles in this movie.

The Saint- Microchip heist scene

The Saint- Thomas the artist- introduction scene

The Saint- Thomas the artist- restaurant scene

The Saint- Bruno the German- train station scene

The Salton Sea- 2002- Original movie trailer

The Salton Sea- Bobby the dealer scene

The Salton Sea- Captain Stubing and Pooh Bear

The Salton Sea- Jimmy and Danny

I do most of my writing on Substack these days, you can check out my writing there

Steve Emig The White Bear's Substack

RIP Frank Fritz of American Pickers

Frank Fritz, long time co-star of American Pickers, just passed away yesterday, September 30th, 2024.  I've been a fan of the show since I first saw it, shortly after it hit the air in 2010.  Frank had a stroke in 2022, leaving him in a wheelchair, and just passed away at age 60.  He's best known for about a decade of driving around the U.S. with Mike Wolfe, looking to pick antiques and collectibles, to resell.  They picked "rusty gold" treasures from garages, barns, long fading outbuildings, and anywhere else cool stuff has been stored for years.  

Since I live in the San Fernando Valley now, I picked the segment where Mike and Frank visited custom car legend the late George Barris, in his shop in North Hollywood, California.  They got to sit in the original Batmobile, from the 1960's TV show.  That's a big thing for young Boomers and old Gen Xers.  In that episode, Frank and Mike got a tour of the shop that put out decades of customized cars for TV, movies, and private clients.  They did pick up some collectibles, photos and similar things, from Barris, but this clip is just the first part of that show.  

My dad was a guy who was always "wheelin' and dealin'" all kinds of things as I grew up, items bought from gun shows, garage sales, and flea markets.  He taught me how to make a few bucks on the side when I was a kid.  Many years later, I got into buying and flipping stuff from storage unit auctions, and tried to turn that into a business at one point.  That never really got going full time, but I still enjoy looking for odd treasures in old junk, and may get back to it some day.  So American Pickers was right up my alley, and I really enjoyed Mike and Frank's adventures, and learned a lot from the show.  So it's sad to see "the bearded charmer," as Mike often called him, pass on from this life.  RIP Frank.  

Ski Filmmaking Legend Warren Miller is Skiing Clouds Now

When I first moved to Southern California, I soon learned an annual tradition there.  Even though hardly anyone I knew skied, everyone seemed to look forward to the new Warren Miller ski movie that came out every fall.  I never managed to see one actually projected on a screen, but I was shown the video by somebody every year for my first several years there. Ski and snowboard film making legend Warren Miller died yesterday, at the age of 93.

Decades before "action sports" were called action sports, before S-VHS and Hi-8 video cameras were affordable to average people, even before surf movies were really a thing, Warren Miller was making one, totally kick ass, ski film each year.  He started way back in 1949.  He shot real film on real movie cameras.  He produced and edited the movies.  But there were few, if any, theaters who wanted to show a skiing movie back then.  So he started "four walling" his films.  He'd rent a room, set up the projector and a screen and a bunch of chairs, and charge admission to watch them.  Long, LONG before the Do It Yourself idea became  popular, he was doing it himself, with the help of some friends. 

As a video producer, and one of the first BMXers to make our own videos, I often forget that Warren Miller was one of my big influences when I started producing videos in 1987.  In tribute to his legacy, I'll be binge watching some of his films this weekend.  Maybe you want to as well.  Hats off to you Warren Miller.