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Rest In Peace Val Kilmer (1959-2025). The Man That Brought Mariah and I together.
This post will be a little different.
I will be talking about a book, but I will be talking about a lot of things here.
But mainly, all of this is a tribute to an actor I’ve admired since I was a kid.
That actor is Val Kilmer.
He’s known for such movies as Top Secret, Real Genius, Top Gun, Willow, The Doors, Tombstone, Batman Forever, The Saint, just to name a few.
But beyond that, Val Kilmer was a true artist in pretty much all walks of his life.
He started making home movies when he was a kid (many clips show up in his amazing documentary “Val” on Amazon Prime), he wrote poetry, he painted, and yes he was an actor.
He was what is called a method actor, in which he really got into his roles more than others did.
That rubbed some people the wrong way, but that was his method.
And it worked.
Look at his body of work.
He played Madmartigan in Willow, one of my favorite movies as a kid, and he’s one of the big reasons why I loved it so much then and now.
He played Doc Holliday in Tombstone (he should’ve won an Oscar for this). Maybe his most famous role and deservedly so. PHENOMENAL.
He played Jim Morrison in The Doors, and did it perfectly, as far as I’m concerned. You don’t have to be a fan of The Doors to appreciate his performance in the movie because it is stunning.
He played Batman/Bruce Wayne in Batman Forever, which I love. I know some don’t like it, but many do. He did a great job.
He played Simon Templar in the movie The Saint. Based on a series of books and a TV show, this is one of my favorite Val roles.
So much so that when I met him in 2019, I had him sign a picture of himself as The Saint.
But hey I’m getting ahead of myself.
He did some really funny movies in the 1980s, like Top Secret and Real Genius. Seek these out please. You’ll laugh a lot trust me.
He was Iceman in the iconic movie Top Gun. He even reprised the role briefly in Top Gun: Maverick many years later.
He starred in Heat w/Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, and a string of all-stars and carried his weight extremely well in one of my favorite longer movies.
He starred in some underrated movies in my opinion.
Movies such as Thunderheart, The Ghost And The Darkness (w/Michael Douglas), At First Sight, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (w/Robert Downey Jr., another HILARIOUS movie), Wonderland, Deja Vu (w/Denzel Washington), The Island Of Dr. Moreau (w/Marlon Brando), Red Planet, and The Prince Of Egypt (playing the voice of God and Moses), just to name a few.
He also did a lot of movies that maybe you’ve not seen or heard of. Movies such as Blind Horizon, Conspiracy, Columbus Day, Spartan, The Man Who Broke 1,000 Chains, The Salton Sea, The Traveler, Twixt, Felon, The Chaos Experiment, Pay Dirt, and The Super. All of which are worth seeing.
He did a lot!! He truly is a movie icon.
He even wrote his autobiography, called “I’m Your Huckleberry”, which is why I put this in my Book Reviews section.
Val chronicles his life throughout the book. Talking about growing up (actually living on property that had been owned by actor Roy Rogers), being the youngest student enrolled in Julliard at the time, many of his movies, people he worked with, his relationships, being a Dad (he has two kids, Jack and Mercedes), overcoming throat cancer, and more.
My only complaint with his book is that I wanted even more stories about his work. But that’s OK. I still really enjoyed it and it’s very easy to read.
I said earlier that this post is different because I found out when I woke up this morning (April 2 of 2025 when I’m typing this) that Val passed away the day before (April Fools Day of all days) of pneumonia at the age of 65.
I’m not crying, but this is a big loss.
Not only because I love his work.
Not only because I did get to meet him at Lexington Comic And Toy Convention in 2019 (more on that here).
But especially because as I said in the title of this post, that Val Kilmer is the one that brought my girlfriend and partner in life and this website, Mariah Startzman, together.
This may sound weird, but I was on Twitter one day early on in the 2020 pandemic just browsing around when I saw this post by a Mariah Rose talking about Val Kilmer.
Curious, I responded to her about him and we started chatting about our admiration for Val’s work.
And for the most part, we’ve been inseparable ever since.
Obviously we found other things in common and to talk about and love, but it really all started with our love for Val Kilmer and his work.
I’m sorry if that sounds weird, but that’s our story and I am grateful for it.
I’m sorry that he is gone, but his body of work will live on for us to enjoy and for more people to discover and enjoy.
Thank you Val for everything.
You were a positive light in a very dark world and brought happiness to many, including myself and Mariah. We literally have you to thank for initially bringing us together.
We love you very much and we will forever thank you.
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A Working Man Movie Review
I spent my Saturday afternoon at the movie theater, seeing the new Jason Statham movie called A Working Man.
I grew up on action movies like this.
I loved them then and I love them now.
In this movie, Statham plays a construction foreman, who finds out that his bosses’ daughter was kidnapped.
Using his military skills, Statham goes on a one man crusade to get her back.
If you’ve watched 80s and 90s action movies, then you know exactly how this movie goes.
Statham is great at doing movies like this, but he also shows his acting chops too because in this movie, he has a little girl of his own and their relationship is very sweet.
This movie was directed by David Ayer and was co-written by he and Sylvester Statllone (yes the one and only).
Stallone and Statham are also producers on this movie.
If you love 80s/90s action movies and Statham movies, then you will love this.
I know I do.
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Gregg Allman w/Alan Light My Cross To Bear Book Review
Singer/songwriter/musician Gregg Allman, of The Allman Brothers Band and solo artist, collaborated with Alan Light to put out his book “My Cross To Bear” in 2012.
This is about Gregg’s life growing up, his relationship with his older brother Duane (also in The Allman Brothers Band), good and bad times with the band, breakups and reunions, deaths (including his brother Duane and bassist Barry Oakley, and unfortunately in 2025 as I type this, most of the members of the band are gone including Gregg), substance abuse, relationships and marriages Gregg had (including with Cher), and all kinds of rock and roll stories.
If you are a fan of Gregg’s and The Allman Brothers Band, I don’t know how you could not read this book.
It’s got it all and then some.
I wish Gregg and most of the guys in the band were still here, but thank goodness for the music they made, together and separately, and for this document of a lot of their history, told by the very talented Gregg Allman, or as his friends called him Gregory.
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Queen Of The Ring Movie Review
One of my best friends and I went to see the movie Queen Of The Ring on Saturday, March 15, which was about a week since the movie premiered.
Queen Of The Ring is about the female wrestler Mildred Burke, who was popular in the 30s, 40s, and 50s.
She was a single mother who wanted to get in the professional wrestling business.
She ultimately met a wrestler/promoter by the name of Billy Wolfe, who became her husband and manager, and who ran a female wrestling troupe, which included the female wrestler Mae Young and others.
Mildred started wrestling in carnivals and eventually moved up the ranks to become a very popular female wrestler, in a time where female wrestling was banned in certain parts of the country.
This movie, Queen Of The Ring, chronicles Mildred’s start in the business, her relationship (good and bad) with Wolfe, being a mom and wrestler at the same time, trials and tribulations of being a female wrestler in a male dominated industry, and ultimately defying the odds and becoming successful.
Like any movie, some of it is exaggerated or even held back (the book the movie is based on is much more detailed), and even some of the names/events are different for dramatic effect.
However, this does not take away from Queen Of The Ring being a very good movie.
You do not have to be a wrestling fan to appreciate this movie.
It has a great story and a very good cast.
Emily Bett Rickards plays Mildred, Josh Lucas plays Billy Wolfe, Francesca Eastwood plays Mae Young, Walton Goggins plays promoter Jack Pfefer, and Martin Kove plays promoter Al Haft.
Some of the cast are in the wrestling business.
For example, wrestling manager/booker/promoter/commentator/announcer/podcaster Jim Cornette plays an athletic commissioner and Kailey Farmer, known as the wrestler Camille, plays another wrestler named June Byers.
My friend and I really enjoyed this movie.
Wrestling movies and biopics can be hit or miss, but I think this one is a hit.
It is an independent movie, directed and co-written by Ash Avildsen, and if you like good stories, this is one you should see.
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Jethro Tull Curious Ruminant Album Review
The legendary band Jethro Tull released their 24th studio album, Curious Ruminant, on March 7 of this year (2025).
Singer/Flutist/Multi-Instrumentalist/Songwriter/Founder Ian Anderson and the band is still going strong, still writing in my opinion very good songs.
Even though Ian is the only original/classic member left in the band, he still has great players with him.
On this album he has Jack Clark on electric guitar, David Goodier on bass, Scott Hammond on drums, James Duncan on drums/cajon/percussion, John O’ Hara on piano/keyboards/accordion, and Andrew Giddings on piano/keyboards/accordion.
Ian, while singing and playing flute as always, also plays acoustic guitar/tenor guitar/mandolin on this album, and as listed “odds and sods, bits and bobs”.
I know that several Jethro Tull fans don’t like what Ian and the band do now or have been doing for many years because they don’t like that Ian’s voice is not what it used to be.
It does not bother me at all. I think he still sounds good. It’s definitely different sounding now, but it doesn’t sound awful.
Ian just changed his vocal style to best fit what he can sing now, and as long as it doesn’t sound terrible, it does not bother me.
I understand why people aren’t as into it anymore, but I also think they are missing out because Ian and the band I think are still great.
I’ve already played this new Jethro Tull album, Curious Ruminant, several times. I find it very pleasant and fun to listen to.
Way to go Ian Anderson!! Keep on making music. I’ll keep on buying it and enjoying it.
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Dream Theater Parasomnia Album Review
The Progressive Metal band Dream Theater released their 16th studio album Parasomnia, on February 7 of this year (2025).
For Dream Theater fans, this is a treat because Mike Portnoy, the original drummer and co-founder, is back!!!!
He left Dream Theater in 2010 to pursue other musical ventures, while the band (James LaBrie on vocals, John Petrucci on guitar, John Myung on bass, and Jordan Rudess on keyboards) carried on with drummer Mike Mangini for 5 studio albums and a few live albums.
A few years ago, Portnoy saw Dream Theater as a fan for the first time, worked with Petrucci and Rudess on another album by their instrumental band Liquid Tension Experiment (LTE for short), then worked with Petrucci on one of his instrumental solo albums and did the tour.
Sometime during that period, the decision was made for Portnoy to return to Dream Theater.
This new album, Parasomnia, is the result of this reunion with Portnoy back on drums.
If you are a Dream Theater fan, you should really enjoy this.
It’s very heavy, but also has plenty of progressive music, intricate parts, great singing, long songs, and even one ballad.
It’s a great album to listen to if you are a diehard Dream Theater fan, and it’s a great album for any new Dream Theater fans.
This may not be your cup of tea, but if it is, get it!! It’s great.
Welcome back Mike Portnoy!!!! Hopefully this is the lineup for the rest of their career, which I thought it would be until it wasn’t in 2010.
But I’m glad the band carried on, and I love a lot of what Portnoy did outside of the band, but nothing against Mike Mangini, but this is Portnoy’s gig and I’m very glad he’s back.
Carry on guys!!
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My Girlfriend Mariah and My Fantasticon Experience
My girlfriend Mariah and I went to Fantasticon in Toledo, Ohio.
We met Michael Biehn (The Terminator, Aliens, The Abyss, Navy Seals, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Tombstone, The Rock, The Magnificent Seven TV series, The Walking Dead, The Mandalorian), and his wife Jennifer Blanc Biehn (Dark Angel, Party of Five, The Brady Bunch Movie), Donald Gibb (Bloodsport, Bloodsport 2, Revenge of the Nerds), and Mark J. Pillow (Superman IV: The Quest for Peace).
All were very kind and gracious.
I had met Michael once before in 2019 and he said it was nice to meet me again.
I told Michael that Mariah and I both love his movie Tombstone, and he said that movie turned out really well.
Mariah was just getting his autograph, but I wanted to get a selfie of the three of us together (Jennifer told us since we were doing that that we didn’t have to pay as much. Thanks for that!!). Also, the sign at Michael and Jennifer’s table said it cost extra for Michael to write a quote on a picture, but it did not cost any extra. Again thanks for that!!
Thank you Michael and Jennifer soooo much.
Donald Gibb could not have been nicer. He said he appreciated the fans and that without us fans people like him would not be here. I thanked him a bunch.
Mark J. Pillow again was very kind and gracious too.
I told Mark how much I love the Superman IV movie and he said he loves it too.
I asked him why Gene Hackman’s (R.I.P.) voice was used instead of Mark’s in the movie and Mark said that it was just decided to use Gene’s voice since his character Lex Luthor created Mark’s character Nuclear Man.
I also asked him about Gene Hackman and he said he was a joy to work with and just be around and have lunch with.
And I asked Mark about working with Christopher Reeve (R.I.P.) and Mark said that Christopher was great but very busy.
Mark also appreciated my shirt I was wearing (Cannon Films, which produced and distributed Superman IV along with Warner Brothers).
There were other cool guests there too, but Mariah really wanted to meet Michael and I wanted to meet Michael and Jennifer, Donald, and Mark and we did!!
We weren’t there for too long, but we had a fun time.
Thank you everyone for your kindness, all the selfies and autographs (thanks Mark for the picture of me and you on your page, which I included here also, hope you don’t mind) and Fantasticon for this great time.
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Bob Daisley For Facts Sake Book Review
Bassist Bob Daisley has done it all.
For many music fans, they know him as the bassist on many of Ozzy Osbourne’s biggest albums, but many may not know that Bob wrote many of Ozzy’s lyrics and he played in other bands before and after working with Ozzy.
If you are a music fan, this is a MUST READ book.
Bob tells it all. Not necessarily dishing dirt, but just tells the truth.
He played in the bands/artists Kahvas Jute, Widowmaker, Chicken Shack, Rainbow, The Blizzard Of Ozz (what Ozzy’s group was supposed to be called), Uriah Heep, Gary Moore, Black Sabbath, and more.
But as I said, many know of his work with Ozzy.
He wrote the lyrics on all of the albums he worked on with Ozzy and was the bassist.
There have been efforts to try to discredit him for some of his work, but you cannot argue with the truth, and that is: Bob Daisley is an extremely important person in the career of Ozzy Osbourne (who I am a fan of too).
I don’t want to say too much because I’ll be giving it away, but I’ll just say read the book because Bob tells all.
He talks about working with Lee Kerslake (another hugely important person in Ozzy’s career), Randy Rhoads, Jake E. Lee, Zakk Wylde, and many others he has worked with including Ritchie Blackmore, Ronnie James Dio (I did not know he briefly played in the Dio band for a short run of tour dates), Cozy Powell, Gary Moore, Jon Lord, and so many more.
He has tons of pictures throughout the book too. My gosh it’s worth getting just for the pictures.
As a music fan, reading the story of him being around the Led Zeppelin guys and ultimately getting all of their autographs on their Led Zeppelin IV album to give to his sister for Christmas is phenomenal to me.
Bob has so many stories (this book is set up like a big coffee table book but is so easy and great to read) so I cannot say enough: GET THIS BOOK! You will not regret it.
Rock on Bob.
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Captain America: Brave New World Movie Review
I went to see the latest Marvel movie, Captain America: Brave New World, at my local theater on Saturday morning of February 15.
Anthony Mackie plays Captain America in this very good action movie/political thriller.
After going on a mission to recover a package, Captain America is being asked by The President Of The United States (played once again by one of my favorite actors ever Harrison Ford) to restart The Avengers.
However, an assassination attempt on The President thwarts this idea because the person who seemingly attempted to kill The President is one of Captain America’s closest friends.
However, more is going on here than appears.
Spoiler alert: mind control is involved and even The President is not exactly how he appears to be (Red Hulk).
As I said, this is a very good action movie but also a political thriller within a Marvel Comics superhero movie, which I find quite entertaining and refreshing.
Anthony Mackie is great. Harrison is awesome as always, and even though he’s not a completely likeable guy, he’s not totally bad either.
Giancarlo Esposito also has a small, but good part as a villain.
I’m not up on all my superhero stories, but I really enjoyed this movie.
I cannot recommend it enough.
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Eric Roberts Runaway Train Or The Story Of My Life So Far Book Review
Eric Roberts may bet the busiest actor on Earth.
He is constantly working and I mean that.
Movies (Runaway Train, King Of The Gypsies, Star 80, Best Of The Best 1 and 2, The Specialist The Dark Knight, The Expendables and soooo much more), TV (In Cold Blood, Less Than Perfect. Heroes, Suits, Grey’s Anatomy, and soooo much more), music videos (appearing in videos by The Killers, Mariah Carey, Rhianna, and more) reality shows (Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, Dancing With The Stars), everything.
He’s even an author now.
Eric released his autobiography, “Runaway Train Or The Story Of My Life So Far”, written w/Sam Kashner, on September 27 of 2024.
In the book, Eric talks about many things.
His childhood, his relationships with his family (particularly his father and sisters, including his other famous younger sister Julia), starting acting as a kid and moving to NY to continue acting, many projects he’s done and his thoughts on them, his battles with substances, marriages (And how cats caused the end of one marriage. Read the book and you’ll understand.), stories about people he has worked with and learned from, an example of a week schedule in his life, and so much more.
Sorry that was a lot, but there is a lot in this book.
I really like Eric Roberts. He, like everyone is not perfect and he admits that, but I like him. I think he’s cool.
If you are a fan or just want to read a quick, but detailed book about a great talent and cool person, then read this book.
I hope I can meet Eric someday at a personal appearance because he does those too.
If you ever read this sir, just know I have all the respect in the world for you and I wish you well always.
Oh and when bought this book at a book store, it was already signed by Eric!! Thank you sir!!
