Kil-Kin
Kil-Kin
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Sample: Title; rating (out of 4); principal setting; year of release; international co-producer (if any); cast; description; scriptwriter; director; content warning; running time.
KILLER *
* * setting: USA.
(1994) (/U.S.) Anthony LaPaglia, Mimi Rogers, Matt
Craven, Peter Boyle, Monika Schnarre, Joseph Maher.....Burned-out New
York hit man (LaPaglia) is sent to murder an enigmatic woman (Rogers) --
who's nonchalantly expecting him! Off-beat, very funny dark serio-comic
drama boasts interesting characters and excellent performances, not just
from the principles (including Craven as LaPaglia's bumbling sidekick and
Boyle as the mobster who orders the hit) but also Schnarre and Maher in
bit parts. Great dialogue and quirky scenes (even if the overall
story is familiar ground). Think Quentin Tarrantino only with smarts
and heart and eschewing the shock violence. a.k.a. Bulletproof
Heart. sc: Gordon Melbourne (story Malone). dir: Mark Malone.
- partial female nudity, sexual content.-- 98 min. (video)
KILLER IMAGE
* * setting: USA.
(1992) M. Emmett Walsh, Michael Ironside, John Pyper-Ferguson,
Krista Errickson, Chantelle Jenkins.....U.S. photographer (Pyper-Ferguson)
discovers his murdered brother took some photos that the brother (Ironside)
of a Senator (imported Walsh) will do anything to get his hands on -- including
murder. Thriller is more a collection of striking images and interesting
scenes than a solid whole, with too little dialogue. Nor does it
explore its characters the way it wants to. Close but no cigar.
sc: Stan Edmonds, David Winning, Jaron Summers. dir: David Winning. - violence,
partial female nudity, sexual content.- 97 min. (video)
KILLER INSTINCT *
1/2 setting: USA.
(1981) Henry Silva, Nicholas Campbell, Barbara Gordon,
Ralph Benmergui, Gina Dick, Joy Thomson, Sam Malkin, Allan Royal.....American
university students (led by Campbell) get on the wrong side of some inbred
rednecks (led by American Silva) after witnessing a murder. Obvious,
supposedly ironic "Deliverance"-styled suspenser is so bad it almost seems
like a parody. Almost. Benmergui is better known, nowadays,
as an interviewer on radio and TV. sc: John Beaird. dir: William
Fruet. - female nudity and casual male nudity, violence.-
THE KILLING GROUND
*
* * 1/2 setting: other
(1988).....Documentary about Canada's involvement
in the first World War as told by journalist Terrence MacKenna with monolgues
by actors reading real-life letters and reports. A tough, gritty
look at the horrors of war and governments' disregard for their own people.
sc./dir: Terrence & Brian McKenna.
KILLING MACHINE
* * 1/2 setting: USA.
(1994) Jeff Wincott, Terri Hawkes, Michael Ironside,
David Campbell, Michael Copeman, David Bolt, Jeff Pustil, Calista Carradine,
Tyrone Benskin.....A mob hitman (Wincott) wakes from a coma with a
new-found conscience in a secret location, only to be pressed into committing
assassinations for a sinister U.S. government organization (headed by Ironside).
Variation on "La femme Nikita" (which became the Canadian series Nikita)
though, arguably, with more depth, is a slow but surprisingly good-looking,
better-than-usual Lee/Mitchell effort thanks to some stylish direction
and good performances all around. sc: Damian Lee, David Mitchell.
dir: David Mitchell. - violence, partial female and male nudity, sexual
content.- 91 min. (video)
KILLING MOON *
1/2 setting: USA.
(1998) Kim Coates, Daniel Baldwin, Penelope Ann Miller,
Daniel Kash, Denis Akiyama, Tracey Cook, Christopher Bolton, Natalie Radford,
Mark Camacho, William B. Davis, Elias Zarou.....An American airliner
becomes infected with a mysterious virus. Suspenser has the potential to
be a diverting disaster-style movie, but is more often silly, confused,
and scientifically suspect with the characters and their relationships
inadequately developed. Some decent actors are stuck mouthing inane dialogue.
American "names" Baldwin and Miller (both delivering less than stunning
performances) are featured in a silly ground-based sub-plot as a sinister
government agent with his own agenda and a guileless doctor with the Centres
for Disease Control (erroneously referred to in the singular throughout
the film). The canucks on the plane are the real stars, for a change, particularly
Akiyama as a doctor and Kash as a navy officer. And just an aside on Canadian
films (and what's the point of having a Canadian movie site if you don't
consider the industry as a whole?): there's a feeling Canadian filmmakers
are really screwed up ethically. There's a scene where Coates, as an obnoxious
passenger, tries to buy a possible deterent from another (good guy) passenger,
in which the (good) passenger basically taunts a desperate Coates, acting
like maybe he'll sell it to him when we know he won't. I mean, come on!
This is supposed to be a good guy (egged on by other good guys)
and he's taunting a man faced with the possibility of a grisly death. Can
you picture a mainsteam American movie with a scene like that? sc: Tony
Johnston. dir: John Bradshaw. - violence.- 89 min. (video)
A KILLING SPRING *
* setting: Ont.
(2002) Wendy Crewson, Shawn Doyle, Michael Ontkean,
Zachery Ty Bryan, Sherry Miller, John Furey, Bruce Gray, Kim Schraner,
Kristen Holden-reid (a.k.a. Kris Holdenreid or Kris Holdenried), Jocelyn
Snowdon, Don Francks.....Joanne Kilbourn (Crewson) investigates the
murder of a University journalism professor. Fifth made-for-TV
Joanne
Kilbourn movie is slick enough, and starts out promising, but quickly
starts to go nowhere. Kilbourn doesn't do much investigating, and a local
cop (Doyle) asks various characters for their alibis...but doesn't do much
beyond that. It's as if the writers, knowing most scenes and clues in mysteries
are red herrings, figured, why bother? sc: Andrew Wreggitt, Jeremy Hole,
Janet MacLean (from the novel by Gail Bowen). dir. Stephen Williams. 90
min.
KING (TV Series)This TV series has a kind of weirdly deliberate 1970s vibe at work in terms of style, camera work, even the jazzy music score -- which is actually kind of appealing if you grew up on old '70s police procedurals and Ernest Tidyman cop dramas. A drama, but leavened with humour, it's briskly paced, with the plots (and mysteries) suitably twisty and turny to make it a legitimate contender lined up against the US examples of the genre from "Bones" to "CSI" -- but often with an underlining human drama/emotional thread that a lot of other (modern) cop series don't have (the episodes are even named for the victims, again suggesting a "human" focus...not that the titles appear on screen). Add that to the on going character stuff involving King's personal life, and there is arguably more of an emotional kick to it than a lot of similar series. And at the series' heart is the title character -- a smart, almost arrogant, force-of-nature who's willfully oblivious to the feathers she ruffles (as one character quips: he assumed she was raised by wolves!), yet retaining her compassion. In a way, King is evocative of the seminal Canadian TV hero -- Wojeck. King is an intriguing, dynamic character -- heroic, yet flawed and vulnerable beneath her tough exterior. Price-Francis is a charismatic, attractive presence, and if the plots are straight forward (albeit well done) cop show whodunits and thrillers, she -- and the character of King -- help give the series its own unique tone and identity. Van Sprang is also exceptionally good. The rest of the cast is fine, too, particularly Hogan and Nardi. Created by Bernard Zukermann and Greg Spottiswood. Hour long episodes on Showcase. |
THE KING CHRONICLE (TVMS)
* * * setting: Ont.
(1988) Sean McCann, Sandy Webster, R.H. Thomson, Colin
Fox, voice of Donald Brittain.....Story of the
rise of the very odd Prime Minister W.L. MacKenzie King (McCann) before
and during W.W. II, and of his many eccentricities. Off-beat docudrama
throws in newsreel footage, "interviews" with ghosts, as well as a more
conventional narrative. McCann's mannered performance is true to
King and Brittain's ironic narration is a high point, but we never really
understand the man. Albert Millaire has a bit part as Sir Wilfred
Laurier, who he played in Laurier. 6 hours.
sc./dir: Donald Brittain.
THE KING OF FRIDAY NIGHT
* * setting: N.S.
(1984) Eric Peterson, Geoffrey Bowes, Andrew Rhodes,
Sheree Jearoke, Frank MacKay, Alec Willows.....Reunion of a short lived
'60s rock band causes the different members to remember their youth and
how it started. Technically innovative made-for-CBC TV musical, but
the movie never rises above being a film of a play -- and a so-so one at
that. Good rock music. sc: John Gray (from his play "Rock and
Roll"). dir: John Gray, Andrew Gosling. - casual male nudity.- app. 90
min.
KING SOLOMON'S TREASURE
* 1/2 setting: other
(1977) (/British) David McCallum, John Colicos, Patrick
Macnee, Yvon Dufour, Ken Gampu, Britt Ekland, Wilfred Hyde-White.....Turn-of-the-century
adventurers, led by Allan Quatermain (Colicos, in a rare lead role), encounter
dinosaurs and a lost city in their quest for treasure. Nice performances
in this adventure flick, and witty dialogue, are lost among a confusing
plot and a really low-budget. There's money for the name cast and
a big set at the end, but not enough even for reaction shots. Some
video versions, taped at LP, don't help. Veronique Beliveau,
in a bit part, went on to success as a singer. Look for a couple
of scenes which may have inspired "Raiders of the Lost Ark". Allan
Quatermain was the hero of a series of novels, including the most famous,
King Solomon's Mines (but you knew that, right?). Filmed in
Swaziland. sc: Colin Turner, Allan Prior (from the novel Allan
Quartermain by H. Rider Haggard). dir: Alvin Rakoff. - violence.- 89
min. (video)
KINGS AND DESPERATE MEN
* * * 1/2 setting: P.Q.
(1978) Patrick McGoohan, Alexis Kanner, Andrea Marcovicci,
Margaret Trudeau, August Schellenberg, Frank Moore.....Eccentric radio
talk-show host (McGoohan) is taken hostage by revolutionaries (led by Kanner),
as is his family, in retaliation for what they see as the un-lawful arrest
and conviction of one of their members. Innovative, experimental
directing/editing somehow works in this off-beat psychological suspense
flick. McGoohan and Kanner, two of the strangest actors ever to grace
the screen, are naturally very good...in a weird sort of way. Not
for all tastes. A few years later, Kanner sued the makers of the
American movie "Die Hard", claiming they had ripped-off this film (not
that this is an action flick). sc: Alexis Kanner, Edmund Ward. dir:
Alexis Kanner. 118 min. (video)
KINGSGATE *
1/2 setting: B.C.
(1989) Elizabeth Dancoes, Duncan Fraser, Barbara March,
Alan Scarfe, Roberta Maxwell, Christopher Plummer.....University prof
(Fraser) and his younger girlfriend (Dancoes) have an uncomfortable visit
with her dysfunctional parents (Maxwell and Plummer) then head off to a
weekend visit with his writer friend, Kingsgate (Scarfe) and his wife (March)
which is even worse. Dark drama about dysfunctional relationships and destructive
(self and otherwise) people has a decent tempo thanks to a capable cast
and the talkiness of the script, and there are moments that click. But
overall...not. At times it seems like a parody of a dark drama,
with the characters bursting into histrionics and seeming to change personality
from scene to scene. Surely the point of the story is that things start
out seeming fine on the surface, then the bitterness and venom bubbles
up as the story progresses; instead, characters start sobbing and ranting
almost instantly. That, along with the fact that the visit with the parents
mirrors the visit with the writers, means the movie just seems kind of
repetitive. One doesn't object to the intent of the movie, nor its bleak
sentiments, but the execution is unconvincing, uninsightful, and even silly
at times. Producer (along with Darcus) Tom Braidwood, later achieved
on-camera cult fame as Frohickey in TV's "The X-Files". sc./dir: Jack Darcus.
THE KINKY COACHES AND THE POM POM PUSSYCATS a.k.a. Crunch
Kinnip Drumbo see Short Films
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