Ken Kerman Movies
Former X-Files writer James Wong makes his sophomore feature as a director at the helm of this science fiction thriller that's reminiscent of Timecop (1994). In the near future, a technology called "quantum tunneling" allows human beings to travel between parallel universes. The abuse of this ability by criminal elements has led to the formation of the Multi-Verse Authorities or "MVA," an agency of quantum traveling cops who apprehend violators of inter-dimensional laws. The MVA faces its greatest crisis when a former agent named Gabriel Yulaw (Jet Li) goes renegade, traveling between one universe and the next, murdering his own parallel selves and gaining enormous power with each slaying. It is believed that when Yulaw has become "the one," the only version of himself to exist, he will be omnipotent, but the final Gabriel Yulaw exists in our plane of existence (the "magna universe") and is also becoming stronger, though he doesn't understand why. Hot on the evil Yulaw's trail are his former partner Harry Roedecker (Delroy Lindo) and Harry's new colleague Evan Funsch (Jason Statham). Created with Wong's longtime writing and producing partner Glen Morgan, The One (2001) co-stars Carla Gugino. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jet Li, Carla Gugino, (more)
- 1995
- R
This psychological thriller was cowritten by Steven Pressfield, who went on to become a successful novelist with The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000) and historical fiction such as Gates of Fire and Tides of War. Linda Hamilton stars as Lauren Porter, a well-regarded professor of psychology who fears that she may be suffering from multiple personality disorder. As a young girl, she received psychological scars when her mother murdered her stepfather and then committed suicide. She approaches one of her students, Tom Beckwith (James Belushi), a former cop who has quit the force in order to study psychology, and tells him of her concerns. Although he is struggling with his own relationship with his daughter, Beckwith agrees to trail Porter, and before long she has indeed slipped into a totally different personality, that of Lena, a club-hopping swinger. When Lena gets into trouble with a man she's picked up, Beckwith intervenes and receives a brutal beating. Soon, the murder of an investigator and the death of Porter's ex-husband are laid at her feet. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Belushi, Linda Hamilton, (more)
Opening within one month from each other in 1994, Blown Away invited many comparisons to Speed. Both are pyrotechnical displays involving mad bombers and a multitude of flying building debris and body parts. The cop and the mad bomber in this one are Jimmy Dove (Jeff Bridges), a veteran of the Boston Bomb Squad planning to retire from the force, and Ryan Gaerity (Tommy Lee Jones), a revenge-crazed explosives expert who has recently escaped from a detention center in Northern Ireland. It seems that Gaerity is out to get Jimmy and has been nursing his grudge for the past twenty years. Back in his Irish past, Jimmy, then known as Liam, was a student of Gaerity, who constructed bombing devices for the IRA. But when Gaerity's bombing plans included the killing of innocent civilians, Liam opposed him and thwarted his efforts. As a result, Liam escaped to the United States to become Jimmy, and Gaerity was arrested and sent to prison. But now that Gaerity is out of jail, he is traveling to Boston to wreak havoc upon the city in revenge for what Jimmy has done to him. His plan is to create so many bombings in Boston that the bomb squad's strength will be depleted, allowing him to get to Jimmy and his family. The goal? Blowing up Jimmy's wife (Suzy Amis) and stepdaughter at a Boston Pops concert. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeff Bridges, Tommy Lee Jones, (more)
Dana Carvey plays a private detective who forgets everything when he goes to sleep at night, waking up each morning with a "clean slate," in this hit-and-miss comedy that plays like a companion piece to the much funnier Groundhog Day. Pogue (Carvey) is afflicted with his unique form of amnesia after getting injured in a car explosion. With the aid of a mysterious woman (Valeria Golino) who allegedly died in the bombing, he must find a priceless coin and evade the murderous clutches of the mobster (Michael Gambon) who executed the explosion and who wants to silence Pogue before he can testify against him. Carvey fares reasonably well in his role, but the best moments are provided by Pogue's dog, a one-eyed Jack Russell named Barkley who makes a habit out of running into things headfirst. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dana Carvey, Valeria Golino, (more)
- 1993
The nervous witness to a murder committed by the Cepeda brothers proves to have good reason to be scared. Meanwhile, Kelly (David Caruso) tries to find out if his ex-wife, Laura (Sherry Stringfield), is being stalked. As these two plot strands are woven together by a sting operation involving an incarcerated Mob hit man, Roberts (Michael Harney) seeks out Kelly's help in securing work as a private bodyguard. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1993
Jessica (Angela Lansbury) is shocked when her computer technician is murdered--and even more so when it turns out that the dead man was actually a rookie cop, working undercover. Investigating the situation, Jessica forms a strong bond with the late cop's veteran partner. At the same time, the murderer plans to strike again...and this time the target may be the victim's girlfriend. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1993
In this tense drama a reporter tries to figure out the reason a wealthy young man shot a popular pulp-fiction writer and then shot himself. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eric Stoltz, Jennifer Connelly, (more)
Marc Rocco's gritty drama Where the Day Takes You stars Dermot Mulroney as King, a street-smart hustler who acts as a father figure to a motley collection of young runaways. Among the people in his sphere are the young self-destructive drug addict Greg (Sean Astin), self-hating gay prostitute Little J (Balthazar Getty), and newcomer Heather (Lara Flynn Boyle). The film is structured as a series of flashbacks triggered by King's conversations with a prison psychologist (Laura San Giacomo). Included in the impressive cast are such soon-to-be-famous names as Will Smith and Ricki Lake, and the already established Kyle MacLachlan, Christian Slater, and Alyssa Milano. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sean Astin, Lara Flynn Boyle, (more)
- 1992
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This fact-based drama follows the flight of a Milwaukee woman wrongly convicted for murdering her husband's ex-wife. Hoping to have a chance for a re-trial she escapes from prison and heads for Canada. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1992
Martha Quinn guest stars as Alison Axelrod, overbearing mother of Jesse's wife Becky (Lisa Loughlin). After insisting upon redecorating the Tanner house, Alison causes a considerable amount of friction by pressing Jesse (John Stamos) on his plans for the future--just after he and Joey (David Coulier) lose their radio job. Not surprisingly, the situaton becomes well-nigh impossible. . .and it is up to DJ (Candace Cameron), Steph (Jodie Sweetin) and Michelle (played by the Olsen twins) to set things right (sort of). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1991
- PG13
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Leslie Nielsen returns as the intrepid (and accident-prone) Lt. Frank Drebin in Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear, "un film de David Zucker." This second feature film from the "Police Squad!" series finds Drebin as a guest at a White House dinner, receiving an award for shooting his 1,000th drug dealer, although he admits to shooting only 998 -- he ran over the last two in his car. ("Luckily, they turned out to be drug dealers"). Also at the White House dinner is energy czar Dr. Albert S. Meinheimer (Richard Griffiths), whom President George Bush (John Roarke) has chosen to start a new national energy policy. Since Meinheimer believes in promoting alternative energy resources, the evil leaders of the polluting energy industries (coal, oil, and nuclear power--or the lobby groups SMOKE, SPILL and KABOOM) are horrified at Bush's choice. Joining together with arch-villain Quentin Hapsburg (Robert Goulet), they plan to kidnap the real Meinheimer and substitute a fake Meinheimer in his place who will enact energy policy according to the dictates of the energy lobby. Drebin becomes deeply involved in the conspiracy when he runs into his ex-girl friend Jane (Priscilla Presley), who is not only Meinheimer's public relations director but also Hapsburg's current paramour. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, (more)
- 1991
Lou Diamond Phillips stars in this contrived but entertaining thriller (which he also wrote) as Mitchell Osgood, an aspiring writer who runs a Los Angeles bookstore. When a heartfelt book about his father Haing S. Ngor fails to win him a publishing deal, Osgood decides to write something more eye-catching -- a book about recently-released serial killer Albert Merrick Clancy Brown. The media beats him to it, so the ruthlessly ambitious Osgood decides to spur Merrick to commit more crimes, hiring him to work at the bookstore and playing cruel mind games in hopes of setting Merrick off. He does, but the results are quite different from what Osgood had anticipated. Phillips' performance is weak, and the screenplay is predictably bland, but the film remains worthwhile thanks to a terrific job by Brown as the killer. Brown has turned in a number of fine psycho performances, but he has rarely been better than he is here, building from understated diffidence to full-blown psychosis in expert fashion. Grace Zabriskie and Willard E. Pugh co-star with Cecilia Peck. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clancy Brown, Cecilia Peck, (more)
- 1990
- R
In this sudsy and violent melodrama, a prominent actress is tormented by both an obsessive stalker and a trauma from her distant past. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Catherine Oxenberg, David Naughton, (more)
- 1990
Made for the TNT cable network, The Court Martial of Jackie Robinson concentrates on the wartime service of major league baseball's first black player. Robinson (Andre Braugher), a star athlete at UCLA, is drafted during World War II. He hopes that his academic record will assure him entry into Officers Candidate School, but the racism inherent in the military at the time puts several roadblocks in his way. After finally making OCS, Robinson's belief in himself is strengthened tenfold--to the point that he refuses to bow to the "Jim Crow" laws regarding the seating arrangements on an Army bus, and is subsequently threatened with a court martial. Stan Shaw costars as boxing great Joe Louis, likewise a victim of prejudice during the war years (the script intimates that Louis was more willing to roll with the punches than Robinson). Ruby Dee, who played the ballplayer's wife in the 1950 film The Jackie Robinson Story, is here seen as Robinson's mother. The Court Martial of Jackie Robinson premiered on October 15, 1990. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1990
- R
Jezebel's Kiss is a dull, old fashioned, pretentious melodrama which has Jezebel (Katherine Barrese) driving into town, getting a job at a local bar, and proceeding to get her revenge against the townspeople who forced her grandfather to sell the family land. Jezebel uses her knowledge of the town's residents and her considerable sexual allure to make them each pay in their own way for her grandfather's suffering. However, the film fails at generating much sexual heat and falls short of offering any exploration of the psychological motivations of any of the characters. All in all Jezebel's Kiss is a lackluster predictable melodrama. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Katherine Barrese, Malcolm McDowell, (more)
- 1989
In the first episode of a two-part story, McCall (Stepfanie Kramer) teams up with her retired mentor, former police officer Andy Polanski (Claude Akins), to track down Frank Lassiter (Richard Lynch), the fugitive head of the neo-Nazi Aryan Legion. On the verge of finding out who provided inside information for an armored car robbery committed by Lassiter, Polanski is slapped with an obstruction-of-justice charge. This, coupled with Andy's profound loneliness, pushes the veteran cop off the deep end--and in the wake of the tragedy which ensues, McCall quits the force. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1989
- R
A remake of Roger Corman's 1964 adaptation of the Edgar Allan Poe tale was produced by Corman but directed by Larry Brand. Its the story of a medieval prince (Adrian Paul) and his attempt to avoid a vicious plague among the populace. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Macnee, Adrian Paul, (more)
- 1953
Treasure of the Golden Condor is a Technicolor remake of 1942's Son of Fury; both films were based on the same novel by Edison Marshall. Cornel Wilde stars in the old Tyrone Power role as Jean-Paul, a Frenchman cheated of his birthright by his duplicitous uncle (George Macready). Retreating to South America with lovable reprobate MacDougal (Finlay Currie), Jean-Paul searches for buried treasure in the jungles of Guatemala. He also romances MacDougal's comely daughter Clara (Constance Smith). Eventually, Jean-Paul must bid Clara goodbye and return to France, there to settle accounts with his uncle. Clara prays for the day that Jean-Paul will come back for her and as the closing music swells . . . . ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cornel Wilde, Constance Smith, (more)
