Posted by MPSimmons 7 days ago
I will get Deja Vu.
I recommended them to see "Top Secret" when I was in 9th Grade. My Catholic parents!
They came home and my mother said, "We are never listening to a movie recommendation from you ever again."
God knew what those Catholic priests had been up to.
And now that my parents are in love with that orange demagogue, I see God's humor and justice.
My parents used to be good people, but I'm not sad, it's their choice, and we each reap what we sow, for good or ill, in perfect harmony with our choices. My phone is open to them, but they don't call, because -- evidently -- it's hard for a person to dial a phone with their head up their arse. One can only help the willing.
They have taught me that how one is in the beginning is not nearly as important as how one evolves and whereto. Once I stopped pitying myself, I stopped pitying others, and instead embraced empathy, compasson, and generosity.
I found this site years (decades!) ago, and was happy to discover it's still there:
https://monkeybagel.com/culture/movies.html
The blurb there for _Real Genius_:
"The most accurate portrayal of geeks in the wild I've ever seen. The geeks in Real Genius LOOK, ACT and TALK like geeks. And Jordan gave me hope that I'd someday -- just maybe -- kiss a girl on the lips."
I remember a discussion of this film on a long-running private listserv back in the late 90s or early 00s about possible real-world antecedents for some of the characters, including and especially Jordan. A proto-web site existed for this person where she elaborated on her connection to the writers of the film, and more or less confirmed that she was "Jordan", or at least the inspo for it, but of course I can find no trace of this now.
Anyway, between TOP SECRET, REAL GENIUS, WILLOW, TOMBSTONE, HEAT, and TOP GUN, he's about as inconic as an actor can get. For a dose of maybe less blockbustery work, seek out 2002's THE SALTON SEA where Kilmer is joined by Adam Goldberg, Luis Guzman, Anthony LaPaglia, Peter Sarsgaarad, BD Wong, R. Lee Ermey (!) and in a spectacular turn Vincent D'Onofrio.
A film that started a life long love affair of phones with keyboards (hacking scenes with one of the original Nokia 9000 phones, which I have owned the 9290 and e90). It featured some of the same smirking jokey presence that Kilmer was known for, but with more action and political intrigue.
- The Lotus Community Workshop by Harmony Korine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31WEBwFpULg
- Oneohtrix Point Never - Animals by Rick Alverson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UztCDH2xuQ
- Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans by Werner Herzog: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OblPKObX6Q
- Twixt by Francis Ford Coppola