In a recently unearthed basement tape, I found an interview I did with one of my all-time favorites, Val Kilmer, about his 2005 action comedy “Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang.” Kilmer starred along Robert Downey Jr. and Michelle Monaghan in the film, which was directed by Shane Black and produced by Joel Silver.
Back in the day, I used to record all of my interviews for my print articles on cassette tape, and the conversations have rarely been heard publicly. Interestingly enough, while Kilmer’s produced an amazing body of work including “Top Gun,” “Tombstone,” and “Heat,” I didn’t bring up any of those films in my conversation with Kilmer. That’s because I was completely blown away by “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” and the actors’ flawless performance in the picture, that the thoughts of Kilmer’s previous films, quite honestly, didn’t even enter my mind.
Sadly, Kilmer has battled some serious health issues in the past decade, which makes this opportunity I had to talk him with feel all the more poignant. Since he’s making his big-screen comeback this week in an emotional turn in “Top Gun: Maverick,” I felt now is a good time as any to share a couple clips from the interview, with the promise of much more to come!
BELOW: Kilmer discusses his fateful meeting with Robert Downey Jr., which quickly led to him joining “Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang.”
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BELOW: Kilmer talks about how “Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang” gave him the rare opportunity to act in a comedy.
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BELOW: The first time I talked with Kilmer was during a roundtable session for his sci-fi thriller “Red Planet” in 2000. Click to hear Kilmer and his co-star Simon Baker below.
Tim Lammers reviews movies weekly for “The KQ92 Morning Show” with Tom Barnard on KQRS-FM, “Paul and Jordana” with Paul Douglas and Jordana Green on WCCO Radio, “It Matters with Kelly Cordes” on WJON-AM, KLZZ-FM, “The Tom Barnard Podcast” and “The BS Show” with Bob Sansevere, and reviews streaming programming on WCCO Radio’s “Paul and Jordana” as well. On TV, Tim has made hundreds of guest appearances on NBC affiliate KARE on the news program “KARE 11 News at 11”.
Arnold Schwarzenegger is not back in “The Predator” a sequel – even though it’s essentially a reboot – of the movie series that began with Schwarzenegger, continued with Danny Glover and then joined Alien for a couple movies before attempting a comeback in 2010. The big difference with this comeback is that Shane Black, who had a brief role in original but went on to a more successful career as a writer and director (“Kiss Kiss Bang Bang,” “Iron Man 3”), is in charge of the new film, and with a talent of writing comedic dialogue, makes “The Predator” very funny at times … an element the original film didn’t have much of.
“The Predator” stars Boyd Holbrook (“Narcos,” “Logan”) as Quinn McKenna, a military operative who witnesses the crash of a spaceship with a Predator amidst a drug smuggling operation, who quickly lays waste to everything in its way, including Quinn’s entire unit. Convinced the government won’t believe him, Quinn takes some of the Predator’s weaponized armor, which he ships to the home of his estranged wife (Yvonne Strahovski) and son (Jacob Tremblay).
AUDIO: Tim reviews “The Predator” and talks Jesse “I ain’t got time to bleed” Ventura with Tom Barnard on “The KQ Morning Show.” Click to listen!
Determined to keep the crash off the books by any means necessary, a top government agent (Sterling K. Brown) soon finds that he has a bigger problem when a second, since Quinn’s son activates a beacon that alerts the Predator’s location. As a result, a larger and even deadlier Predator arrives, and his actions reveal a much bigger plan for the alien creatures, and it’s up to Quinn and a band of fellow solider outcasts to stop it from happening.
While the setup is very familiar, Black’s addition of humor to the film (sometimes through dialogue, other times through over-the-top gore), along with some impressive special effects and a solid ensemble cast (including Keegan-Michael Key and Thomas Jane) more than make “The Predator” a worthwhile sequel. Plus, there’s no denying that the Predator after all these years is still a fantastic-looking creature that definitely commands all of the attention it attracts.
Naturally, fans of the original film will be disappointed at the lack of a Schwarzenegger cameo, even though he was reportedly offered one. That’s not to say he can’t appear in another “Predator” sequel, since Black has left the door wide open for another film. Until then, the new “Predator” is a nice welcome back to the franchise.
Lammometer: 7 (out of 10)
Tim Lammers reviews movies weekly for The KQ92 Morning Show,” “KARE 11 News at 11” (NBC), WCCO Radio, WJON-AM, KLZZ-FM, “The Tom Barnard Podcast” and “The BS Show” with Bob Sansevere.
The creation of action figures for movies and television series is big business in the toy and collectibles industry, but generally the assortments that emerge from any given line generally consist of the characters, creatures and vehicles associated with film or TV shows and nothing more.
But thanks to the National Entertainment Collectibles Association (NECA), the action figure business is taking an exciting new direction.
Appealing to the fans who appreciate the talent both in front of and behind the camera, the New Jersey-based specialty collector company has found a niche by making action figures of directors behind famous films. To date, NECA has released seven-inch action figures of directors Quentin Tarantino (in a “The Hateful Eight” costume) and James Cameron (in “Aliens” attire); and now, for a limited-edition figure that will be sold the San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) this week, Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro.
In a recent email interview, NECA’s director of product development, Randy Falk, revealed that the idea to immortalize “The Shape of Water” filmmaker came about when the company and del Toro worked together on creating figures and sets for two of his classic films.
“We have a great history working with Guillermo del Toro, and when he attends SDCC he always comes by the booth to check out our latest and greatest,” Falk said. “The idea to actually create a figure of del Toro himself grew out of our experience collaborating on ‘The Devil’s Backbone’ and ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ over the past two years. We’ve had success in the past creating director figures of Quentin Tarantino and, last year, Col. Cameron (James Cameron), so immortalizing Guillermo was a no-brainer. He loves toys and collectibles and is an icon to our fanbase since he is such a visionary director.”
In addition to selling the 8-inch Guillermo del Toro Signature Collection figure and other exclusives at SDCC, NECA will be revealing upcoming licenses. So, given that “The Shape of Water” won the Best Picture Oscar at the Academy Awards earlier this year, could an Amphibian Man figure be in the works?
“Possibly — (that is) certainly something that is very high on our wish list considering how beautiful that film was and the critical acclaim that followed,” Falk said. “Perhaps we will have more news on this come SDCC.”
In a wonderful bit of symmetry, another exclusive NECA action figure of a director will be available at SDCC this week. The interesting bit is, it’s a 7-inch figure of Shane Black, the director of the upcoming sci-fi thriller “The Predator,” but of Black as his character, Hawkins, from the 1987 classic “Predator,” starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.
“I was fortunate enough to visit the set of the latest ‘Predator’ film back in the spring of 2017 and I sort of bounced the idea off of Shane and his people at that time,” Falk recalled. “We had just finished up our ‘Predator’ 30th anniversary collection and felt like it would be great to incorporate Shane into it … to be able to do his character as Hawkins would be a perfect lead-in to him taking over the franchise as a director and was just perfect synergy. Luckily, he liked the idea and wanted to do it. The timing really was perfect. With the film having a big panel and presence at SDCC and releasing in September, to have the exclusive Shane Black as Hawkins release this July couldn’t be more perfect. The toy gods were smiling down upon us for this entire project.”
While fans are getting the unique opportunity to get action figures of del Toro and Black at this year’s SDCC, Falk said NECA isn’t “actively pursuing” any other filmmakers to make into action figures at the moment. He’s completely open to the idea of creating more, however.
“We agree it is a really nice addition to get the actual creators involved and into the line where it makes sense. Everything so far has grown out of special circumstances or situations that lent themselves to the creation, and there has been a narrative or compelling reason behind it,” Falk said. “The ‘Aliens’ 30th anniversary for example, Shane being director of ‘Predator,’ the launch of the Guillermo del Toro Signature Collection we have worked so closely with him to create. All those factors helped make those possible and make them special. So, along those lines, I would love to do something with, say, Wes Craven or George Romero if we could find a way to make it special and have it make sense.”
In the meantime, Falk said, fans can look forward to plenty of surprises as the company reveals new lines at its booth at SDCC throughout the weekend.
“We definitely have some incredible surprises in store! I think there is truly something for everyone in this year’s reveals and a few jaw-droppers that no one will have seen coming,” Falk enthused. “We have some reveals involving horror, classic TV, classic ’80s films, lots of nostalgia and lots of fun. I can’t wait to be in San Diego again to debut all the great new items our team has worked so hard to create.”
Tim Lammers reviews movies weekly for The KQ92 Morning Show,” “KARE 11 News at 11” (NBC), WCCO Radio, WJON-AM, KLZZ-FM, “The Tom Barnard Podcast” and “The BS Show” with Bob Sansevere.
“Iron Man 3” writer-director Shane Black is back and firing on all cylinders with “The Nice Guys,” a smart and funny action buddy comedy starring the likeable duo of Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling. Set in Los Angeles in 1977, Crowe and Gosling star as a pair of bumbling private detectives trying to unravel the sprawling mystery behind the death of a porn star and people connected with her, and the disappearance of the adult daughter of a high-ranking Justice Department official.
While “The Nice Guys” is certainly a breath of fresh air amid the mostly stale comedies polluting theaters today, it’s actually similar in tone and structure to Black’s far superior 2005 action buddy comedy “Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang,” starring Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer. “The Nice Guys” is worthy of attention in theaters, but fans definitely need to mine the brilliant Black, Downey and Kilmer gem to get the best the genre has to offer.
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“Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising” (R) 1 1/2 stars
Seth Rogen is entrenched deeper than ever in his comedy rut in “Neighbors 2,” a dreadfully unfunny sequel to the dreadfully unfunny comedy hit from 2014. Once again co-starring Zac Efron and Rose Byrne, “Neighbors 2” once again heavily leans on stoner jokes, cracks about body parts and other college party shenanigans, with the only difference being the neighbor frat boys from the first film have now been replaced with sorority girls.
There are only a handful of laughs in “Neighbors 2,” and apart from some layered-in social commentary on the sexist culture of fraternities on college campuses, the film is a complete dud. Chloe Grace-Moretz co-stars as the leader of the sorority and the thorn in Rogen and Byrne’s side.
Original Interviews, Reviews & More By Tim Lammers
