This week I've been contemplating a little marathon in memory of Val Kilmer, as one does. Almost immediately I came up with five movies I'd want to watch, which is kind of a lot! It really speaks to his work as an actor, I think. I might easily come up with a list of that many movies for a genre actor, but not so much a general actor.

In release order:

• Real Genius (1985) - I have, shockingly, never seen this movie. Friends and loved ones have been on my case for years to see this movie. I have no strong objection to seeing it; I just never got around to it. I guess I should get around to it now. (I'm sorry it took me so long!)
• Top Gun (1986) - I think this is the first movie I saw Val Kilmer in, but since I didn't know him from anything else, I didn't conceptualize him as Val Kilmer until much later. It's a great movie though. I know he made a brief reappearance in the sequel, but I don't know when/if I'll get around to watching it, so that one doesn't go on the list.
• Tombstone (1993) - I recently read an article about the tourism industry in Tombstone, and it reminded me that I've never seen this movie. I've been aware of it basically since it came out (and my goodness were the 90s a good decade for movies), but I've never actually seen it. So even before I heard the news about Val Kilmer, I was considering watching it soon. As I write this post I realize that the most difficult aspect of this movie is probably that as a Final Fantasy XIV Online enjoyer, it is almost impossible for me to write Tombstone and not Tomestone.
• Batman Forever (1995) - This is the first movie I saw Val Kilmer in that I thought of him as Val Kilmer. Mostly because that was how everyone presented it: There's a new Batman! They cast Val Kilmer as Batman! Who's Val Kilmer? Batman, apparently. It was the first Batman movie I ever saw in theaters, and it was a big deal at the time. Tommy Lee Jones! Jim Carrey! And...Val Kilmer. Who's Val Kilmer again?
• The Saint (1997) - Perhaps fittingly for The Saint, I have no idea if I've seen this movie or not. I think I've seen bits of it? Possibly out of order. Possibly I've seen a little bit of The Saint, and then mentally filled in the rest with Conspiracy Theory (1997), starring Mel Gibson and Patrick Stewart, and The Phantom (1996) starring Billy Zane. Is Billy Zane as The Phantom sort of like Val Kilmer as Batman? I don't know, really. I do know I probably shouldn't add The Phantom to my Val Kilmer movie marathon list.

I have a complicated relationship with David Lynch’s work, in that I am deeply allergic to his own works, but often very fond of the works he inspired. I am sad he will no longer be around to vex me so.

My taste in movies is a little weird or possibly excessively normal, in that I don’t really care about modern blockbusters, and I don’t really care about prestige cinema either, but what I do care about is movie-ass movies. Just the most regular kind of underwhelming films imaginable. I blame the fact that I’ve been a fan of MST3K for decades. After a while, you watch enough bad movies and you realize they’re not so bad and you’d honestly enjoy watching some of them on their own. Give me a budget Roger Corman flick over a Marvel movie any day of the week. I want to watch that kind of obscure 90s movie that ran on cable at an awkward time slot because it was cheap to license. I want to watch that those fake kung fu movies that they always seem to be watching on tv shows. I love a cult classic. The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension is one of my favorite movies of all time.

Back in the days before streaming, I loved independent video rental places because they tended to be staffed by the same kinds of fans of movies for movies’ sake. Heck, I remember the first time I walked into my dearly departed neighborhood video store and the staff were actively watching an episode of MST3K. I knew immediately I had found my video store.

Scarecrow Video is not my neighborhood video store and never has been, but I can tell they care about movies. Show them some love if you can, won’t you?

I appreciate the argument in favor of filler episodes, that some breathing room is good and that not every episode needs to move the plot forward, but in my opinion it doesn’t go far enough. Bring back purely episodic shows. Jessica Fletcher doesn’t need forward momentum; she’s too busy solving mysteries.