the theme this time was the works of val kilmer (last year it was the bale-a-thon).
the salton sea (2002): the movie reminds me of memento (2000), about an anti-hero who seems to have problems remembering past events clearly. both also feature a catastrophic husband and wife event that takes place in the bathroom. i get the title of the movie confused with truth or consquences, N.M. (1997), another quirky geographically named crime drama with lots of plot twists. the salton sea (2002) has a treasure trove of character actors: vincent d'onofrio (as the hilariously psychopathic pooh-bear), adam goldberg, r. lee ermey, danny trejo, b.d. wong, deborah unger, anthony lapaglia, luis guzman, and peter sarsgaard. val kilmer manages to go topless at some point in the movie.
the saint (1997): i've seen the movie before but have long since forgotten about it, which in retrospect was for the best, as the film itself has very few redeeming values, other than for cheap laughs. the original saint tv series with roger moore was much better. elisabeth shue has zero credibility as a cold fusion physicist, and always seems to be laughing through her delivery. val kilmer as simon templar is a master of disguises but his most impressive arsenal is the use of concealing moustaches. once again, val kilmer goes topless (shue strips down to her bra a few times as well).
willow (1988): this movie is like a poor man's lord of the rings (2001) - or more like a poor child's version, since the humor is geared towards the very young. i've never seen it before which once again was for the best. the stop-motion two-headed fire-breathing dragon was cool just to see the last of the old-school creatures before CGI took over. yes, val kilmer goes topless at some point.
real genius (1985): that was probably during a period when hollywood was trying to capitalize on the nerd-based comedy. i've seen the film so many times, it's permanently etched into my cortex, and i could probably recreate the plot in minute details should the film ever be lost. real genius also features a great 80's soundtrack, which occasionally get some play in my itunes library. 80's teen sex icon deborah foreman (valley girl, my chauffeur) has a memorable cameo. elias even sported an "i *heart* toxic waste" t-shirt, just like chris knight. val kilmer has a problem wearing shirts that button up completely, and sometimes goes topless, especially in the mornings.
the island of dr. moreau (1996): it was either this or tombstone (1993). i love tombstone but have seen it enough times that i wanted to try something different. should've stuck with tombstone! dr. moreau is one of those films that you want those 2 hours back after having seen it. maybe has a short half-an-hour twilight zone episode the story would've been fine, but it didn't have enough to carry itself into a feature length film, especially with terrible monster makeup combined with ham-fisted acting. val kilmer goes topless at some point.
top gun (1986): when watched with renewed reading of its gay subtext, the movie takes on a fresh new meaning. it's nice to see both tom cruise and val kilmer on top of their game, before each respectively descended into potentially career-ending bizarritude. hmm, does val kilmer go topless? does top gun locker room and beach volleyball ring any bells?
between movies, elias played scenes from the play the ten commandments: the musical (2006), starring val kilmer as moses. there was a trivia contest and i managed to tie with both dan and mike, although i did remember the matinee idol val kilmer played in top secret (1984) was named nick. we each got a copy of val kilmer's self-titled album.
coming back home around midnight was no fun. i was hoping the rain (which started soon after i arrived around noontime) would be over by then, but it picked up a bit. riding home in the rain, my jeans and shoes were soaked (i wore a rain jacket, so my upper body remained dry). waiting on my front doorstep were two boxes from amazon, one containing an egyptian guidebook, another a new battery charger and an universal usb card reader.