Michael Kitchen Movies

Based on the novel by the pseudonymous "John W. Grow," this drama is the first feature to examine the unsolved murder of Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme, who was shot in February of 1986 as he walked through the center of Stockholm with his wife. Troubled police officer Roger (Mikael Persbrandt) is on the brink of a breakdown, and his pal Bo (Reine Brynolfsson) gets an order to find out the problem. Roger relates how he almost prevented Palme's murder, and the tale then flashes back to the beginnings of the conspiracy and the killer (Michael Kitchen) in Malta. While the novel fingers a leader in the Swedish business community as the manipulator of the murder, the film evades this point. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

Based on a novel by Dennis Danvers, the three-part British miniseries Wilderness asks the question "Can a nice Quaker girl find happiness as a sometimes-werewolf?" At the beginning of each lunar cycle, heroine Alice White (Amanda Ooms) transforms into a wolf -- or at least that is her story. Unable to convince her sweetheart that she suffers from lycanthropy, Alice turns to a psychiatrist who, instead of helping her, draws up plans to exploit her "complex" for his own professional advancement. Despairing, Alice heads to a Scottish wildlife retreat, where the story reaches its startling conclusion. Since its original TV run in 1996, Wilderness has been released to video in a shortened "feature film" version. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Pierce Brosnan made his first appearance as James Bond in this action thriller, the 17th in the series (excluding the 1967 Casino Royale and the 1983 Never Say Never Again) featuring the suave British super-agent. As the story begins, Agent 007 and his partner, Agent 006 (Sean Bean), pull a daring raid on a chemical weapons plant in the Soviet Union; however, they are captured by Russian troops, and while Bond is able to escape, 006 is not so lucky. Several years later, the Soviet Union and the Cold War are a thing of the past, but Bond is still at work ferreting out evildoers everywhere. Xenia Onatopp (Famke Janssen), a beautiful but vicious villain working with the Russian Mafia, spearheads the theft of the controls to GoldenEye, a high-tech satellite weapons system, and with her gunmen, she kills most of the soldiers and guards at a top-secret military facility in the process. Bond joins forces with Natalya Simonova (Izabella Scorupco), one of the base's few survivors, to help track down Onatopp's minions and the controls to GoldenEye, which can destroy all electronic circuits in a given area in a matter of seconds; however, in time, Bond discovers the true identity of the criminal mastermind who is behind this bid for unholy power and world domination -- none other than Alec Trevelyan, the man Bond once knew as 006. In addition to Brosnan, GoldenEye also marked another significant cast change for the Bond series -- Judi Dench made her debut as M, Bond's superior. Minnie Driver also has a cameo as a nightclub singer. Sadly, this was the last film in the Bond series for special-effects supervisor Derek Meddings, who died in the midst of production; the film was dedicated to him. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

What if Germany had won WW II and successfully taken over Europe? Based on a novel by Robert Harris, this compelling drama is set in just such a world, 30 years after the Germans defeated the Allies at Normandy on D-Day. By this time, the country is known as Germania and since the war it has been at odds with the United States. In hopes of bringing peace, the two government leaders, Hitler and president Joseph Kennedy Sr. are planning a historic summit in hopes of obtaining detente. It's a tense situation and matters are made worse when an SS detective and an American reporter begin investigating a series of murders. Together, they discover a horrible and long-suppressed secret: Hitler and his regime were responsible for the deaths of over six million Jews during the war. Armed with this damning information, the two must hurry to the summit to stop President Kennedy from making a terrible mistake. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Previously filmed in 1935 with Ann Harding, Enchanted April, a romantic novel by Elizabeth, was remade in 1992. The first film skips along superficially at 66 minutes: the second, directed by the always intriguing Mike Newell, runs 101 minutes, allowing for richer characterizations and a bottomless reserve of brilliant dialogue. Two cloistered, married English women (Josie Lawrence, Miranda Richardson) impulsively rent an Italian villa and embark upon a vacation without their spouses. They are joined by two other ladies: the high-flown aging widow Joan Plowright, and elegant upper-crust beauty Polly Walker) whom they've never met. Under the spell of an exotic new location, the foursome are in for quite a few life-altering experiences, many of them amusing, and not a few very surprising. Impeccably accurate in its recreation of European manners and mores in the 1920s, Enchanted April is sheer bliss from fade-in to fade-out. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This direct-to-video thriller stars Sam Neill as a British secret agent who wants to retire--much to the dismay of his superiors, who decide instead to have him killed. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

Set in post-WW I Ireland, Fools of Fortune takes place on the huge estate of the aristocratic Quinton family. Sheltered from the economic and political travails all around them, the Quintons are shocked into the Real World when one of their workers is ritualistically murdered. This is but one more bloody chapter in the ongoing struggle between the IRA and the British Army. Previously noncommittal, the Quintons are thrust into the middle of the struggle, After a deadly confrontation in which most of his loved ones are killed, young Willie Quinton (Sean T. McClory as a youth, Ian Glen as an adult) vows revenge. He briefly forgets his new purpose in life during a romantic liaison with his cousin Marianne (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio), but a renewed cycle of tragedy galvanizes Willie into disastrous action. It is difficult to sort out the heroes and villains in Fools of Fortune; it is a certainty, however, that the true victims are the Innocent. Michael Hirst based his screenplay on a novel by William Trevor. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Out of Africa is drawn from the life and writings of Danish author Isak Dinesen, who during the time that the film's events occured was known by her married name, Karen Blixen-Flecke. For convenience's sake, Karen (Meryl Streep) has married Baron Bor Blixen-Flecke (Klaus Maria Brandauer). In 1914, the Baron moves himself and his wife to a plantation in Nairobi, then leaves Karen to her own devices as he returns to his womanizing and drinking. Soon, Karen has fallen in love with charming white hunter Denys Finch Hatton (Robert Redford), who prefers a no-strings relationship. A woman who prides herself on her independence, Blixen finds herself unhappily in thrall to a aloof man -- and doubly unhappy for living out such a cliché situation. Although Redford received a lion's share of criticism for his too-American performance, Streep has rarely been better, and the film's perfectly measured pace is offset by David Watkin's stunning location photography. The movie was nominated for 11 Academy Awards and won 7, including Best Picture, Best Director for Sydney Pollack, Best Adapted Screenplay for Kurt Luedtke, and Best Cinematography for Watkin. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

David Suchet (Poirot) stars as famed Austrian physician Sigmund Freud, the father of modern psychoanalysis, in this biopic written by Carey Harrison, and directed by Moira Armstrong. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

This exhaustive (and exhausting) 3-hour TV movie dramatizes the last three months of Adolph Hitler's life, spent in his bunker in Berlin. Anthony Hopkins is repulsively riveting as Hitler, while Piper Laurie is even more frightening as fanatical Frau Goebbels. Joseph Goebbels (Cliff Gorman) feeds the Fuehrer's ego as the Nazi empire crumbles, while Albert Speer (Richard Jordan) defies him. The day before his suicide, Hitler legalizes his relationship with mistress Eva Braun (Susan Blakely). The film's plot extends beyond the suicide, with the triumphant allied forces arguing orver who has proprietary rights to Hitler's remains. First telecast January 27, 1981, The Bunker was based on Joseph O'Donnell's best seller, which in turn was based on first-hand accounts. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

One of the most controversial works by author Dennis Potter, best known for Pennies from Heaven and The Singing Detective, the searing drama Brimstone and Treacle centers around the heavily troubled Bates family. The marriage between Mr. and Mrs. Bates is rocky, and both are suffering under the strain of caring for their mute, handicapped daughter Pattie. When a mysterious stranger arrives, they welcome him as a surrogate member of the family, especially pleased by his eagerness to help care for Pattie. Martin, however, is not all he appears to be -- indeed, the film ultimately suggests that he may be the devil himself. Potter uses the archetypal scenario of the supernatural visitor to explore the ambiguities of good and evil, as some of Martin's demonic acts have unexpectedly positive effects. Though originally made in 1976 by director Barry Davis, Brimstone and Treacle was subject to a last-minute ban by the BBC, which termed the film "diabolical." As a result, the film was not broadcast until 1987 -- 10 years after the script had been performed as a stage play and five years after the theatrical release of a lesser remake featuring Sting as the enigmatic stranger. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi

The Brontes were one of England's most remarkable literary families. Sisters Charlotte Bronte, Emily Bronte, and Anne Bronte published a collective volume of poetry in 1846, and the following year all three penned novels that went on achieve tremendous critical and commercial success: Charlotte wrote Jane Eyre, Emily was the author of Wuthering Heights, and Anne created Agnes Gray. The Brontes of Haworth is a miniseries produced for British television which examines the personal and literary lives of these three remarkable siblings, as well as their brother Branwell Bronte, who also went on to become a respected poet. Vickery Turner plays Charlotte, Ann Penfold portrays Anne, Rosemary McHale appears as Emily, and Michael Kitchen rounds out the cast as Branwell. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi