King Arthur (2004)

Blue Woman With these simple constructions, its easy to see where they decided the hook would be. I imagine the pitch was that this would be “Braveheart” meets “Gladiator” but with a fighten’ gal. I’m sure they took a model and put her in blue tattoos and unlikely leather seminude battlegear and took photos to… Continue reading King Arthur (2004)

Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004)

Used Record Store There are movies that are well done; there are movies that satisfy; there are those that work, those that stick, those that transcend time to become classics and those that change lives. None of these measures necessarily has anything to do with each other and any can produce a movie worth watching.… Continue reading Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004)

Kagbeni (2008)

Open Fist This is a Nepali movie, loosely based on the 1902 horror short story The Monkey’s Paw. The name is a district in Nepal; the film is the director’s first. The reason for a Nepalese film to be made is the same in Nepal as anywhere in the developing world. Films validate a people,… Continue reading Kagbeni (2008)

Kinsey (2004)

The Wrong Interview Here’s a major problem in drama: you want to deal with big issues, great disembodied, cosmic sweeps of things. Things that people love or make them suffer. This is why people come. But the tools we have to display these things are humans, usually. So the dramatist has to invent or find… Continue reading Kinsey (2004)

Kingdom of Heaven (2005)

A Trip to Holy Ground Ridley Scott is the current and all time master of the big budget long form film, no question. Most big budget productions are really collections of episodes. Few filmmakers have the control to manage the hoards of creative talent that are involved in these efforts. (Jackson and Lucas depend on… Continue reading Kingdom of Heaven (2005)

Kingdom Come (2001)

The Pulpit It must be quite a challenge to create films to feed a distinct audience of any kind. You can only go so far with stories about gangstas, earnest kid transcends the ghetto, black dating plots, Eddie Murphy farts, and Denzel “pride” movies. This at least attempts to be respectful, working to treat the… Continue reading Kingdom Come (2001)

Klimt (2006)

Wittgenstein’s Gaudi Chapel While the world relaxed and enjoyed itself between wars. When art was a solitary and experimental endeavour. When Europeans rediscovered the power of nature in sex and in some cases the other way around. When lives really could be deep, and debauched and intelligent too, three men came out of Vienna: Freud… Continue reading Klimt (2006)

Knowing (2009)

The Cleansing Timing is everything. I saw this in a stressed state, looking for escape. I saw it in a grand old theatre with large, excellently tuned equipment. I saw it not knowing anything at all about it. And I loved it. Yes, I know people do not like Nic Cage. And I know many… Continue reading Knowing (2009)

Adaptation (2002)

Abject Folding I am writing a book about “folding” in film. That’s a term I have coined to describe all the parallel levels that have become part of the film vocabulary, among them self-reference, reflection self-aware irony and timeshifting. I love these films. They are always about ideas and many are incredibly sophisticated in concept,… Continue reading Adaptation (2002)