Cube (released in 1997) - Now a cult movie

Imagine a movie in which you see a set of characters being put in a weird setting where they can get killed by sudden moves, where there is no recollection of why they are placed in that location, and where answers need to be figured out, and tested out one by one (and where figuring out the puzzle incorrectly can result in serious injury or death). It would almost seem like the viewer only knows as much as any of the characters, and even the characters keep on changing personalities through the movie. Combine that with the movie being made by a newbie director, and being made on a low budget, and you can consider such a movie to be a 'blink and miss' kind of movie. Movies like this come and go, and you won't miss much.
Well, Cube was nothing like that. The movie was a decent commercial success, including overseas (especially Japan and France) and is now considered a cult hit. The movie inspired 2 more movies - Cube 2: Hypercube (2002) and the prequel Cube Zero (2004). It was also nominated for a few awards (not the Academy awards though). The movie was a real low budget one, and had some complex mathematics involved if the viewers wanted to figure out what the logic being used inside the cube were.



Cube is the story of a group of people who find themselves inside a white room, cube shaped, with no idea of why they are there. When they compare their professions, there does not seem to be any commonality between them, with people being a police officer, a doctor, and so on. They resolve to move as a group and to try to escape, but are foundering about what to do. There are 6 doors in the room, one in each wall, one in the ceiling, and one in the wall. The doors lead to more rooms, and problematically, some of the rooms are booby trapped; entering could lead to a painful death - as happens to one of them when he enters a room and is sprayed in the face with acid that kills him.
The set of people are facing 2 main issues
- Quentin, the police officer and the one who seemed to be the most responsible is losing his head, and attacking the others in the group. On the other hand, Dr. Holloway, who seemed to be the most unstable at the beginning, begins to show a great deal of stability as the movie progresses
- The mathematics involving prime numbers to figure out which cube was a trap or not was complicated enough (until the idiot savant Kazan shows his great mathematical talent for doing these calculations), but then they learn that the cubes are also on the move, doing a complete movement before returning to their original position, and that the timeframe to escape is limited.

The Ghost and the Darkness (released in 1996) - starring Michael Douglas and Val Kilmer

How often do you find a movie getting awards both from the Academy awards and also a Razzie award? Well, "The Ghost and the Darkness" is a movie that got both these awards, an Academy award for Sound Editing, as well as a Razzie award (for Val Kilmer for Best Supporting Actor). The movie got critical praise and was well received, although there were some differences between the book (The Man-Eaters Of Tsavo, by J. H. Patterson) and the movie, especially around the character of the hunter, Charles Remington (played by Michael Douglas). The concept is that since Douglas also stepped in to part-produce the movie, he decided to enhance the role of Remington from the original role that was supposed to be much more mysterious. In the process, this also reduced the scope of the character of Col. John Henry Patterson (the hunter who is brought into the project to bring it back to schedule, played by Val Kilmer), given that it was Patterson who killed 3 lions, including the 2 monster ones who killed a large number of workers at the site.




There is some dispute over the number of workers killed by the lions, with Patterson claiming that there were 135 workers killed, while new research claimed that there were around 35 workers killed. The actual lions who were killed by Patterson can now be seen on display at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Illinois, and these are magnificent specimens, worthy of scaring workers.
The movie centers around a railroad project in Tsavo, Africa, where the project is running behind schedule. Col. Patterson is sent to take command of things and reaches the site. There he starts on his mission, killing a lion quickly, but then unable to prevent the lions from killing off the workers one by one. To everybody's surprise, 2 lions attack the camp, and lions never attack in a group, but are single hunters. This is seen as a bad sign. Then a famous hunter Remington is sent in to help, and in the meantime, the workers are not willing to stay. The lions are a tough hunt, especially when they don't fall for a ruse and attack a new hospital, killing all the inmates and the camp doctor. Patterson finally manages to kill one lion, but the other one manages to kill Remington. In a final stand-off, Patterson finally manages to kill the remaining lion, and the bridge gets built.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (released in 2005) - starring Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang was a movie released in 2005, but it was certainly not the first time that this term was used. It was used to represent James Bond (given the way he would use woman and kill people in his movies), and there were multiple movies and songs written with the same name. The movie name references the 1968 book, written by Pauline Kael, while the story of the movie is based on the novel by Brett Halliday "Bodies Are Where You Find Them". The movie is acclaimed as a black comedy, and satirizes the film noir genre. The movie did not have a large public release and started gaining in popularity based on favorable critical reviews. The movie earned most of its money outside the US, with a total earning of around $15 million in the box office as well as around $6 million in DVD rentals.
The movie earned critical praise, earning praise for its black comedy, with the performances by Robert Downey, Jr. and Val Kilmer earning praise, as well as the direction by Shane Black (who was more famous for his screenplays for action movies such as Lethal Weapon and Last Boy Scout).



The movie is about a small time crook, Harry Lockhart (Robert Downey, Jr.), who also narrates the movie and talks to the audience from time to time. Harry is running from the police after a robbery gone awry, when he stumbles into an acting audition, and so impresses the crew that he is selected and taken to Hollywood. He soon meets a private investigator named Gay" Perry van Shrike (Val Kilmer), who has been deputed to help Harry prepare for his role.
And Harry also meets his long time dream girl from high school Harmony Lane (Michelle Monaghan), but soon gets involved in a very strange murder mystery. Now, he has to work along with Perry and Harmony for solving the case, which seems to go through all the various plots and subplots that you can find in a number of different movies. Fun to watch.

The Doors (1991) - starring Val Kilmer

The Doors was a rock band that existed for a short period, but was incredibly famous, primarily due to its lead singer and lyricist Jim Morrison. The Doors existed between 1965, and went into a major problem in 1971 after the death of Jim Morrison, and was finally disbanded in 1973, but remain famous to this day. The Doors was formed by vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger. Jim Morrison, or if you know him by his full name, James Douglas "Jim" Morrison (December 8, 1943 – July 3, 1971), had a very short life, all of 28 years, but in this short life, he became popular enough with his vocals, his persona, and his charisma to be counted at # 47 among the 100 greatest singers of all time (as enumerated by Rolling Stones magazine).
Why the name "The Doors" ? Well, it was adopted from a famous author, Aldous Huxley's book, "The Doors of Perception", and fittingly, refers to the use of psychedelic drugs getting doors open.



The movie about an iconic man was in turn directed by an iconic director, Oliver Stone. The movie starred in the lead, Val Kilmer as Morrison, Meg Ryan as Pamela Courson (Morrison's companion). The further roles of the other band members were played by, Kyle MacLachlan as Ray Manzarek, Frank Whaley as Robby Krieger, Kevin Dillon as John Densmore and Kathleen Quinlan as Patricia Kennealy. This however happened after only a decade of casting for the leading man with many being considered (such as Tom Cruise, John Travolta, etc). Travolta was rejected by the band members, they wanted somebody with a wilder look. Kilmer in fact got the part by making a video of him singing, and then getting Stone to watch it.
The movie takes the viewer through Morrison's life, from his young self onto his arrival in California, his studying at UCLA, and the formation of the group. The group in turn starts growing in popularity; and it is this popularity that leads to Morrison going down the path of alcoholism and drug abuse, something that starts to affect the band. He starts going downhill, and eventually dies of "heart failure" in Paris in 1971.