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Thursday, January 7, 2010

Boots' Best - THE SALTON SEA


In his best role since Doc Holiday in Tombstone, Val Kilmer plays Danny Parker or Tom Van Allen - It's up to the viewer to decide who he is.

Danny Parker is a tweaker.

Tom Van Allen is a trumpet player.

Peter Sarsgaard is a buddy named Jimmy.

An Asian guy wears a cowboy hat and talks with a cliche Western accent.

Vincent D'Onofrio plays Pooh Bear - a drug dealer with a fake nose like Humpty Hump from Digital Underground.

R. Lee Ermey and Meat Loaf have cameos.

There's a recreation of the Zapruder film with pigeons and radio controlled cars.

There's a heist plot to steal a celebrities . . . um . . . "something" in order to sell it on ebay.

Luis Guzman is angry.

There's a badger named Captain Stuey.

Needless to say THE SALTON SEA is unlike most movies. There are layers and depths my teasers above don't reveal. It's hauntingly beautiful and captivating.

Right now the film is available to watch instantly on NETFLIX. I saw it when it was first released back in 2002 and thankfully it still entertained and tickled my brain after multiple viewings.

If you haven't seen it, do!

6 comments:

  1. It's kinda sad, but I can't come up with a single Val Kilmer performance worth mentioning between Tombstone in '92 and this in 2002 either.

    Did Salton Sea have some Oscar buzz back in the day? It seems vaguely familiar to me, but I haven't seen it yet.

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  2. I'm glad someone else has FINALLY see this! I've been in LOVE with the movie since I came across it at the library like 5 years ago...I think Dan M. recommended it to me. And yes, it is by far his only great performance since Tombstone.

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  3. badgers are indeed awesome. I read a kids book once where a little boy got lost and was raised by a badger. It was as awesome as it sounds.

    Also i love my instant netflix queue.

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  4. I have a special place in my heart for THE SAINT(1997) - "It's so early. You boys want to get a cup of coffee or something?"

    And of course HEAT(1995) is still one of the greatest action/thrillers ever! The scene where Ashley Judd waves Kilmer away cause the cops are in her apartment. I get chills every time.

    I don't think there was any Oscar buzz. I found out about the film from one of the various Independent film magazines I was reading at the time of its release.

    IMDB tells me Kilmer won the PRISM AWARD for his role. What's the PRISM AWARD?

    A quick search tells me - "the PRISM Awards™, a nationally-televised awards show recognizing the accurate depiction of drug, alcohol and tobacco use and addiction in film, television, interactive, music, DVD, and comic book entertainment. Established in 1997, the PRISM Awards honor productions that are not only powerfully entertaining, but realistically show substance abuse and addiction, as well as mental health issues."

    So hey.

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  5. Huh. Learn something new every day.

    Heat IS pretty awesome (I really need to watch it again...its been awhile). I just don't think of it as a Val Kilmer movie, usually.

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