Hump Day Movie: Thunderheart (1992)

This is one of those movies that surprises you. You think you're going to get a standard thriller with some cultural appropriation, and instead you get a thoughtful exposé on real events that happened during the 1970s in South Dakota.

Thunderheart stars Val Kilmer, Sam Shepard, and Graham Greene. I think this is one of the first movies I ever saw Greene in, and it's definitely the one where I developed my crush on him.

Kilmer plays an FBI agent in the 1970s sent as a liason to an Sioux Reservation to investigate a murder because he is 1/4 Sioux. The problem is that he doesn't identify with his Native American heritage, and to the people on the rez, he's just another white man in a suit. Once he arrives, he discovers that there is far more going on than a "simple" murder. He steps into the middle of a war, and some machinations by greedy people that have turned the South Dakota Badlands into the murder capital of the country.

There is a bit of "Hollywood" to the story, but enough heart remains to make this one of the more memorable Kilmer movies. It's one I recently re-watched on Amazon Instant Streaming, and it's held up just fine. It's also available on DVD for around $6.

It is very violent, however, and more than a little disturbing given the subject matter. If you haven't seen it, you've missed out.

Hump Day Movie: Willow (1988)

Warwick Davis has an impressive résumé, but this is the movie I will always remember him for.  It's also the first movie I saw where Dwarfism wasn't presented as a disability. All to the good.

Not only does Willow  have Val Kilmer in it at the height of his career and attractiveness (he did NOT age well IMHO), it also has the future ex-Mrs. Kilmer, Joanne Whalley (who I think is just stunningly gorgeous).

Willow is one of those movies that didn't hold up well in the special effects department, but it was one of those movies I've never forgotten. It has action, adventure, romance and heart all set in a fantastical world.