Val Kilmer
Willow Review: Fantasy Television That’s Here For a Good Time
The Pitch: It’s been quite a time for super-serious sci-fi and fantasy epics, as anyone who’s attempted to keep up with House of the Dragon, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, The Sandman, and many, many other shows will tell you. But here comes Disney+’s Willow, with a modern rock song in its heart, a young hot ensemble ready to jump into action, and its own take on swords and sorcery to share. Willow? You Mean Three-Time MTV Video Music Award Nominee Willow, Don’t You? Okay, as a longtime fan of the 1988 film Willow, a person who has spent a lifetime yelling “What do you mean, you haven’t seen Willow?” at people… I know that there’s a good chance that most people are not familiar with the original Ron Howard-directed fantasy adventure. So here’s the deal: In the original movie (w...
Top Gun: Maverick Used A.I. to Recreate Val Kilmer’s Voice
Tuned-in Top Gun fans know that Val Kilmer and his character Tom “Iceman” Kazansky have a few things in common, and perhaps their most notable similarity is the fact that in Top Gun: Maverick, both of them have lost the ability to speak due to cancer. Kilmer does, however, have one line of spoken dialogue in the new sequel, and it took some artificial intelligence to bring it to life. Kilmer — whose throat cancer treatment reduced his voice to a rasp back in 2014 — announced last year that he had partnered with the software company Sonantic to realistically recreate his old speaking voice for the documentary Val. Using hours and hours of audio, this process was used again for Kilmer’s appearance in Top Gun: Maverick. Sonantic used what they call a “voice engine” to teach the...
What Is a Top Gun? And Other Burning Questions
This month, the very long-awaited arrival of Top Gun: Maverick is poised to make us yearn for a time when we all had a need… for speed. The original film Top Gun was a huge hit upon its initial release, making stars of its core cast and creating a whole new appetite for patriotic tales of daring in the skies. Honestly, the fact that it took over 30 years for a sequel to happen is pretty impressive, and the new film has already begun racking up rave reviews from those who saw it at its CinemaCon premiere. But if it’s been a while since you properly Top Gun-ed, this should hopefully offer up all the information you need to know before seeing the sequel. What Is Top Gun? Released in 1986, Top Gun is a U.S. military recruitment device in the form of a movie about the United States Navy Strike ...
Every Batman Movie Ranked From Worst to Best
This article was originally published in March 2016, prior to Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. It has been updated to include that film as well as 2022’s The Batman. Batman’s lived so many lives. Whether it’s on page or onscreen, Bruce Wayne and his alter ego have occupied nearly every corner of the genre-sphere. From the garish comedy of Adam West’s kaleidoscopic crusader to the gravelly tones of Christian Bale’s dark knight, this is a franchise that’s proven its longevity and ability to evolve with the times. Batman’s modern reinvention came courtesy of Tim Burton, who in 1989 set the caped crusader against the gothic architecture and ominous strains of his aesthetic. It was an inspired pairing and one that’s seen its fair share of ups and downs as more cooks piled into the kitc...
Val Kilmer Documentary Pulls From 40 Years of Home Videos: Watch the Trailer
A new documentary on Val Kilmer, composed almost entirely of home videos from Kilmer’s personal archive, is set for release on August 6th through A24 in partnership with Amazon Studios. Entitled simply Val, the film is co-directed by Ting Poo and Leon Scott, and pulls from 800 hours of footage spanning more than 40 years. In piecing together the doc, Poo and Scott culled through everything from 16mm home movies Kilmer made with his brothers, to behind-the-scenes footage from the set of blockbusters like Top Gun, Tombstone, and Batman. As Kilmer has lost his ability to speak due to throat cancer, the footage is narrated by his son, Jack. “I’ve lived a magical life, and I’ve captured quite a bit of it. I was the first guy I know who owned a video camera. I have thousands of hours of vid...
