I swear to God, it's like somebody took America by the East Coast and shook it, and all the normal g

[yendi]

While in Florida, shadesong and I watched Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Holy shit, was it good. Shane Black remains one of the best screenwriters around, and he's just as good a director as some of the folks he's worked with. The dialogue is just amazingly sharp, and the interplay between Kilmer and Downey is a joy to watch. Kilmer may be the hardest-working, least appreciated actor around (regardless of what one thinks of his off-camera issues).

And Michelle Monaghan? It's like someone said, "hey, let's clone Carla Gugino. Only, you know, we need to make the clone even sexier." Um, yeah, I'll take one of those for Christmas, please (ideally dressed in the same Xmas outfit she wore in the movie).

Seriously, folks. Buy this movie. It's a blast.

Oh, and nifty bonus casting note: Robert Downey Jr.'s son plays a young version of Downey's character. :-)

Comments

[mistercrabby.livejournal.com]

This Christmas outfit?

[yendi]

Yes. Yes, indeed.

[terracinque.livejournal.com]

Merry Christmas indeed! God bless us, everyone!

[chris-walsh.livejournal.com]

Word on Kilmer, and yep, everything I've heard suggests how hard he works. Seeing him be funny again (which he'd barely done since the one-two punch of Top Secret! and Real Genius) is one of the joys of KKBB. He seems like a naturally funny guy. (And that reminds me; I have a stash of old press-kit photos of Kilmer, from Thunderheart to be exact, that I need to get to a local DJ who lusts after him.)

And word on Ms. (I believe she's not taken) Monaghan.

[yendi]

Yup -- he's just plain multi-talented.

[fiddledragon]

yendi, I'd just like to make it known that I did NOT see this comment until this morning *after* I'd made my Real Genius reference ;)

[terracinque.livejournal.com]

I saw it in the cinema last year, and yeah, I loved it. I wondered if Downey and Kilmer really had chemistry together, or if they're just that good at acting.

I adore Michelle Monaghan and think she's yummy, but I don't really see the Carla Gugino thing. Monaghan is more leggy and less curvy.

"You're Gay Perry? Are you still gay?"

"Nah, I gave that up years ago. Now I'm knee-deep in pussy. I just liked the name."

[yendi]

For me, it's not so much the exacty physical similarities as it is the way they both carry themselves.

[bassfingers.livejournal.com]

"The words "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang," which I saw on an Italian movie poster, are perhaps the briefest statement imaginable of the basic appeal of movies. This appeal is what attracts us, and ultimately what makes us despair when we begin to understand how seldom movies are more than this."

— Pauline Kael, circa 1976

[texmorgan.livejournal.com]

I'd disagree. I think John Turturro is the most underrated/least appreciated actor. Go pick up a copy of Box of Moon Light if you can find it.

[yendi]

I saw Mac. Twice. As a director, Turturro is on my shortlist of people to bitchslap.

As an actor, he's okay (haven't seen BoML), but he's never blown me away.

[texmorgan.livejournal.com]

I've never seen Mac but I'll check it out. He's had several worthwhile performances and BoML is one of them. I'm sure you've seen The Big Lebowski, he's hilarious in that.

[lordrexfear.livejournal.com]

I absolutely loved Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Here's a cluttered mess of a apragraph I wrote about it way back that I can't seem to find the journal entry for.

Full of fun action, great writing in dialogue and design of story development, amazing acting, references and research into its reference material and plenty of playing with structure of film that some reviews couldn’t stand, but I found utterly charming. None of this should be surprising when the man at the helm was Shane Black, the man who gave us The Monster Squad, Martin “Lethal Weapon” Riggs, and wrote most of the best parts of “Last Action Hero”. A writer who got to learn how to direct a film by watching men like Richard Donner, Tony Scott, Fred Dekker, Renny Harlin and I’m sure others during his long time in Hollywood. Combining the inspiration of Brett Halliday, Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammet, Ian Fleming and various film adaptations of the mystery genre in film and Television, Black made a ball out of it all, spun it around, tossed in his great one-liners, awesome character development, sick sense of humor and love of parody and ripping into the pastiche in only ways he’s shown to be able to come out with a perfect and hilarious comedy. When you have Robert Downey Jr. as your lead male AND narrating voice in a lovable, comedic, hapless loser done good, Val Kilmer as your tough, straight man gay detective and future Hollywood superstar and someone to try to use as looking for good films that may be in production Michelle Monaghan as your lead female (check her out in the BRILLIANT North Country for more of a dose of her amazingness[sic]) , not to mention Corbin Bernsen, Dash Mihok, Shannyn Sossamon, Larry Miller and Rockmond Dunbar in an important supporting role, there’s was no chance that with a brilliant script and awesome mind behind the camera that you’d wouldn’t get something as excellent as this film.