Tagged: AR-15
Heat: Val Kilmer’s Gray Glen Plaid Bank-Robbery Suit
Val Kilmer in Heat (1995)
Vitals
Val Kilmer as Chris Shiherlis, professional armed robber
Los Angeles, Spring 1995
Film: Heat
Release Date: December 15, 1995
Director: Michael Mann
Costume Designer: Deborah Lynn Scott
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
R.I.P. Val Kilmer (1959-2025)
After becoming the youngest student ever accepted into Juilliard’s prestigious Drama Division at the time, Kilmer rose to fame through a streak of memorable ’80s hits like Top Secret! (1984), Real Genius (1985), and Top Gun (1986). The ’90s saw Kilmer take on a range of leading roles, from his magnetic turn as Jim Morrison in The Doors (1991) to donning the cape in Batman Forever (1995), as well as his scene-stealing performance as the sardonic and tubercular Doc Holliday in Tombstone (1993).
Kilmer followed that success with another standout role in Heat (1995), Michael Mann’s masterful crime epic that celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Kilmer plays Chris Shiherlis, a reliable criminal but not-so-reliable husband, part of a tight-knit crew led by the calculating Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro). Hoping that one last big score will salvage his unraveling marriage, Shiherlis throws in on a high-stakes heist at the Far East National Bank in downtown Los Angeles. “The bank is worth the risk. I need it, brother,” he tells McCauley. Continue reading
Fargo, Season 5: Sam Spruell as Ole Munch
Sam Spruell as Ole Munch on Fargo. Photo credit: Michelle Faye/FX.
Vitals
Sam Spruell as Ole Munch, mysterious mercenary and ancient sin-eater
Minnesota and North Dakota, Fall 2019
Series: Fargo
Episodes:
– “The Tragedy of the Commons” (Episode 5.01, dir. Noah Hawley, aired 11/21/2023)
– “Trials and Tribulations” (Episode 5.02, dir. Noah Hawley, aired 11/21/2023)
– “The Paradox of Intermediate Transactions” (Episode 5.03, dir. Donald Murphy, aired 11/28/2023)
– “The Tender Trap” (Episode 5.06, dir. Dana Gonzales, aired 12/19/2023)
– “Linda” (Episode 5.07, dir. Sylvian White, aired 12/26/2023)
– “The Useless Hand” (Episode 5.09, dir. Thomas Bezucha, aired 1/9/2024)
– “Bisquik” (Episode 5.10, dir. Thomas Bezucha, aired 1/16/2024)
Creator: Noah Hawley
Costume Designer: Carol Case
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
I recently received a request from BAMF Style reader Joe (thanks for the tip, Joe!) to review the interesting style of Ole Munch (Sam Spruell), an antagonist from the fifth and latest season of Fargo, which just ended last month.
For those unfamiliar, the series is a loosely connected anthology inspired by—and tangentially related to—the 1996 masterpiece film by the Coen brothers, who also joined as executive producers after being impressed by series creator Noah Hawley’s interpretation. Each season is primarily set in a different era and locale throughout the snowy American Midwest, pulling additional inspiration from other Coen brothers’ films.
With his relentlessness and terrible haircut, Ole Munch arguably takes a few queues from No Country for Old Men‘s Anton Chigurh… though the mysterious Munch ultimately demonstrates a more merciful sense of pragmatism than the psychopathic Chigurh. A self-described nihilist (which also echoes the philosophy of German technopop stars-turned-kidnappers in The Big Lebowski), Munch reveals himself to be over 500 years old, doomed to immortality as a sin-eater from 16th century Wales… delivered by fate to 21st century Minnesota. Continue reading
Tony Montana’s Chalkstripe Showdown Suit in Scarface
Al Pacino as Tony Montana in Scarface (1983).
Vitals
Al Pacino as Tony Montana, impulsive and hotheaded cocaine kingpin
New York City to Miami, Spring 1983
Film: Scarface
Release Date: December 9, 1983
Director: Brian De Palma
Costume Designer: Patricia Norris
Tailor: Tommy Velasco
Background
Even if you’re one of the 0.5% of the population who hasn’t seen Scarface, you’ve seen this suit and you know this scene. You’ve seen it on T-shirts, dorm room posters, memes, and anywhere that pop culture will allow it. The scene has become legendary over the last three decades as one of the greatest movie gunfights in history for many reasons: an unhinged Al Pacino who may or may not have been pretending to be high, an endless mob of cartel gunmen each meeting their fate at the end of his AR-15, and—of course:
Say hello to my little friend!
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