Val Kilmer Tribute

A titan of repertory cinema, Michael Mann's 1995 masterpiece Heat, is back at The Frida Cinema as part of our Val Kilmer Tribute series! A towering epic of crime and consequence, Heat is the film where everything came together: De Niro vs. Pacino, Mann at full power, and Los Angeles lit like a dream you don’t want to wake up from. It’s a genre-defining masterpiece that changed the way crime films look, sound, and move. Robert De Niro is Neil McCauley, a master thief planning one last score. Al Pacino is Vincent Hanna, the obsessive LAPD detective on his trail. Their lives orbit each other in parallel—both masters of their craft, both isolated by it. When they finally sit down face-to-face in a now-legendary diner scene, the movie bends time around them. With a killer ensemble cast (our beloved Val Kilmer, Ashley Judd, Tom Sizemore, Diane Venora, Natalie Portman, Jon Voight, and many more), an iconic synth-and-guitar score by Elliot Goldenthal, and shootouts that redefine the word intense, Heat is more than a crime film--it's pure cinema.

Just added: actor Ed Begley Jr. will also be joining us for the Q&A after the film! You’re invited to a special screening of 1995’s Batman Forever, the third film in the original Batman series, with the film’s writers, Lee Batchler and Janet Scott Batchler appearing for a post-screening on-stage Q&A, moderated by Scott Zillner! Before the Dark Knight brooded in grayscale and before Gotham became “grounded,” there was Joel Schumacher’s Batman Forever—a neon-drenched pop spectacle with a gothic heart and, at its center, a genuinely legendary performance by the late, great Val Kilmer as the Caped Crusader. 6:45PM - Doors Open 7:30PM - Start Batman Forever 9:45pm - Start Q&A Celebrate the 30th anniversary of Batman Forever on the big screen and let’s give Kilmer’s Batman the flowers he’s long deserved. This program is a venue rental engagement. Member discounts and Frida Cinema comp passes not valid. The views and opinions expressed in this program do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of The Frida Cinema or its staff.

Even having just played it a few months ago, we felt that no Val Kilmer Tribute could truly be complete without showcasing his brilliant comedic work in the goof-fest that is Top Secret! Kilmer stars as Nick Rivers, an Elvis-style American pop star sent to East Germany, where he becomes entangled in an underground resistance, a scientist’s mysterious daughter, and an increasingly deranged plot involving cows, underwater bar fights, backwards bookshelves, and ballet-dancing Nazis. It makes no sense—and that’s exactly the point! Equal parts homage and satire, Top Secret! fires visual gags and one-liners with a machine gun’s rhythm. But it’s Kilmer—singing his own songs, keeping a straight face through total nonsense, and completely owning the camera—who turns it into something iconic, as he often did.

For the first time in The Frida Cinema's history, we are presenting a very special run of the 1993 Western classic Tombstone, with an emphasis on celebrating Val Kilmer's electric performance as the legendary Doc Holliday! And to mark the occasion, we are, of course, running the brand new 4K restoration! Directed by George P. Cosmatos (and, unofficially, co-directed by Kurt Russell), Tombstone tells the true-ish story of Wyatt Earp and his brothers as they attempt to leave the law behind and settle into a quiet life in Arizona—only to be drawn into a violent showdown with the outlaw gang known as the Cowboys. It's lightning-fast, guns-blazing, and has an absolutely stacked cast. In honor of Kilmer’s legendary performance and enduring legacy, we’re bringing the O.K. Corral back to the big screen—where legends belong.

Oliver Stone's The Doors: The Final Cut is a psychedelic firestorm—a feverish vision of the ‘60s rock myth, driven by rebellion, poetry, and the endless search for something beyond the veil. But at the center of it all is Val Kilmer, vanishing into the role of Jim Morrison with such uncanny depth, voice, and electricity that even bandmates couldn’t tell where the frontman ended and the actor began. Following Morrison’s meteoric rise—from UCLA film student to rock god to haunted wanderer—the film pulses with chaos, charisma, and the tragic gravity of a man burning too bright, too fast. It’s a swirling mix of surreal imagery, concert ecstasy, and Stone’s trademark intensity, backed by iconic music that still rattles the bones. Come celebrate another one of Kilmer's most celebrated performances loud on the big screen!