The Killer (Dip huet seung hung) (1989)

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Chow Yun Fat is probably one of the best action stars I’ve ever come across, and the thing I love about John Woo is his utter ability to bring the best out of Fat, regardless of the film. Woo’s crime drama “Hard Boiled” is similar in many ways. It’s about a hardened killer with demons outrunning a rebellious cop, but that’s not a caveat in any sense. Because at the end of the day “The Killer” is a rather fantastic piece of crime cinema that really warrants its place as a masterpiece. I’m sad to say I never gave Yun Fat too much of my attention in the past, but thanks to a friend passing along “Hard Boiled,” I’m suddenly very interested to see what else this man has up his sleeves.

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Kaw (2007)

7129359.3[1]The film “Kaw” is a remake of “The Birds” before the actual remake of “The Birds” arrives to shit on us from above in theaters. I love monster movies with funny names, don’t you? There’s “SuperCroc,” and there’s “Sssssssss!” and then there’s “Kaw.” The title of this feature just isn’t the problem of Wilson’s film, because that’s just my good old humor. In spite of Wilson’s evident wisdom of pacing and tension, the birds here just don’t frighten me as much as I assumed they would. What’s the point of having Ravens if you’re not going to exploit their penchant for being creepifying? Otherwise, just bring on a humming bird and call it “Kaw.”

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Kraken: Tentacles of the Deep (2006)

It’s almost like watching teenagers act out “The Deep” on a student theater stage somewhere, because in the end, “Kraken” is basically just that. It’s a very low rent and C grade variation of “The Deep,” minus the compelling story, and wonderful characterization. And oh yes, there’s the small case of the acting and lack thereof. This low rent thief stars two people whom will garner two reactions from you. One will be “Who?” while the other will be “O-h-h-h-h-h… who?” Victoria Pratt, or as I call her “The hot chick from the crappy X-men show,” stars in “Kraken” as a marine biologist looking for an underwater treasure. Stop me, if you’ve heard this one.

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Kisses and Caroms: Uncensored Director's Cut (2006)

kissesandcaromsThis is the day in the life, the day in the life of some clerks. These clerks work at a local store which never gets much business yet they still manage to experience many crazy customers and have stories to tell. No, this isn’t a Kevin Smith movie, but “Kisses and Caroms” really wishes it were. I like the fact that people tend to think every profession sports a slew of assorted characters and various nuts, but that’s just not life; life is not filled with nuts and outlandish weirdo’s who trot in and out to give you a hard time. Thanks a lot Kevin Smith, you prick. So instead of a video and convenience store we instead focus on a group of clerks who work at a billiard store.

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Kicking & Screaming (2005)

Kicking_and_ScreamingI have found that comedies, even the good ones, have become so utterly predictable, that it’s not even funny. Pun intended. The good comedies are even predictable, and the mediocre ones are so predictable that I’ve discovered I can really lay out what’s going to happen before it happens. “Kicking and Screaming” begins on a truly predictable note. Narration. Instead of leaving our main character to pretty much show the audience how inept or stupid he is the writers feel that the actor and director are so incompetent of explaining through actions what and who they are, that they must explain to us through narration.

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The Key (2006)

Key_posterDirector Todd Kaufman’s short film named “The Key” is a film that I really couldn’t help but flip over. In only eighteen minutes it manages to speak sounds and waves of romance, and life more than any other film can attempt, and Kaufman really knows his characters. “The Key” is a beautiful short elegy about breaking out from your shell and being forced to confront the outside world you fear so heavily. In this case, it’s a girl named Miriam.

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