Kim Thomson Movies
Lead actress, onscreen from the late '80s. ~ Rovi
Katsuhiro Otomo, director of the groundbreaking anime feature Akira (1988), returns with this visually striking fusion of the past and the future. It's the Industrial Age in England, reimagined, and various and sundry inventors and scientists are arriving in Britain to hawk their products while capitalism rears its ugly head. A gadget-happy British lad named Ray (voice of Anna Paquin) receives a mysterious package from his grandfather Lloyd Steam (Patrick Stewart) -- a tiny ball that turns out to be an engine toting immense power. As it happens, several of these little balls run the O'Hara pavilion, a massive, mobile fortress. Ray later discovers that his dad and grandfather are located inside of the pavilion; his dad, Eddie, has become mesmerized by O'Hara and subject to their whims, while Lloyd suspects that O'Hara may want to use the balls for nefarious purposes, and tries to put a definitive end to those plans. Indeed, the O'Hara people soon take over the Great Exhibition and turn it into a veritable circus for weapons dealers. Meanwhile, Ray starts to develop feelings for a young girl named Scarlett O'Hara. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Anne Suzuki, Manami Konishi, (more)
- 2004
- G
- Add The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement to Queue Add The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement to top of Queue
Directed by Garry Marshall, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement picks up where its predecessor left off -- that is, with American teenager Mia Thermopolis (Anne Hathaway) reeling over the news that she is a princess within the royal family of Genovia, a little-known European nation with a population of barely 50,000. As promised, Mia, along with her best friend, Lilly (Heather Matarazzo), travels to Genovia after their high-school graduation. The unlikely princess has hardly settled into the castle, let alone begun representing the country, when she learns that a larger title is approaching more rapidly than expected; it seems as though Mia will have to take over as queen. Suddenly, in addition to further schooling on the etiquette of royalty, Mia finds herself with a daunting prospect -- according to Genovian law, all princesses must be married before they can be crowned. In addition to Julie Andrews' reprisal of her role as Queen Clarisse Renaldi, The Princess Diaries 2 also features Hector Elizondo and John Rhys-Davies in supporting roles. Though Princess Diaries author Meg Cabot did pen a sequel (The Princess Diaries: Princess in the Spotlight), this film is not an adaptation. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi
- Starring:
- Anne Hathaway, Julie Andrews, (more)
- 1992
Created by Harry Robertson and Brian Degas, the British series Virtual Murder took an intellectual approach to the standard cops-and-robbers business. The main character was criminal psychologist Dr. John Cornelius (Nicholas Clay), who relied upon brain rather than brawn and educated guesses rather than cold hard facts to solve all sorts of baffling murders. Also appearing was Kim Thomson as Cornelius' trusty aide, Samantha Valentine. The six 50-minute episodes of Virtual Murder were telecast from July 24 to August 28, 1992. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Nicholas Clay, Kim Thomson, (more)
- 1991
After English professor Charles Lattimore (Pierce Brosnan) assigns his class to plot the perfect murder, he finds himself the prime suspect in a police investigation after a student and another faculty member wind up dead. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi
- Starring:
- Pierce Brosnan, Dey Young, (more)
- 1991
Sherlock Holmes (Jeremy Brett) accepts a case involving a sinister Austrian baron and the man's bizarre fiancée. He does this on behalf of a man whose position in the British government is so high that he dare not use his own name in engaging Holmes' services. The great detective discreetly saves the empire from ruin and brings the villains to heel. "The Illustrious Client" was one of the more in-depth entries in Britain's Casebook of Sherlock Holmes. Filmed in 1990, this 50-minute drama made the American TV and videocassette rounds two years later. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jeremy Brett
- 1990
- PG13
In assembling the 1990 TV-movie version of Jekyll and Hyde, writer/director David Wickes recycled many of the elements of his 1988 adaptation of Jack the Ripper--including props, costumes, sets, and star Michael Caine. Caine goes through the standard motions as kindly Henry Jekyll, who dabbles where Men Must Not and unleashes his beastly alter ego Mr. Hyde. Anything new here? Well, the character of Dr. Lanyon, Jekyll's best friend in the original Robert Louis Stevenson story, has been rewritten as his worst enemy. Joss Ackland plays the vitriolic Lanyon, while Cheryl Ladd shows up as a newly fabricated love interest. Jekyll and Hyde has some neat makeup transformations, but otherwise is just the same old cloak 'n' fang jazz seen in so many earlier incarnations of the venerable Stevenson yarn. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michael Caine, Cheryl Ladd, (more)
- 1990
- Add Danielle Steel's 'Kaleidoscope' to Queue Add Danielle Steel's 'Kaleidoscope' to top of Queue
Wealthy, but yearning for the family he lost after his parents' untimely deaths, a businessman hires a private eye to locate his three sisters, each of whom was sent to a different foster home following the mysterious accident. One particularly traumatized sister seems to know the truth about the deaths. Her revelations could be catastrophic for the recently reunited siblings. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jaclyn Smith, Perry King, (more)
In this entry in the continuing exploits of Sherlock Holmes, the great detective must track down his nemesis Professor Moriarty after the villain kidnaps Holme's brother Mycroft. The evil doctor is forcing his captive to decode highly classified military documents. The film is also called Hands of a Murderer. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Edward Woodward, John Hillerman, (more)
- 1989
Produced for British television, this multipart adaptation of Dickens' Great Expectations stars Anthony Hopkins as the mysterious convict Magwich, who secretly finances the education and entree into society of young Pip. With 6 hours at its disposal, this version is able to cover the length and breadth of the Dickens original, without resorting to the heavy cutting and telescoping inherent in previous film versions. The most piquant bit of casting in the 1989 Great Expectations is that of Jean Simmons. In the 1946 film version, Ms. Simmons played the fickle Estrella as a child. Here, she essays the meatier role of the reclusive, half-balmy Miss Havisham, she of the rotting wedding cake. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Dexter King (Jeff Goldblum) is an actor who spends his nights on-stage in London's West End as a comedic punching bag for obnoxiously self-centered comedian Ron Anderson (Rowan Atkinson). He gets hit in the head with hammers, he trips, and he stands by dumbly as Anderson gets all the laughs. His home life is little different. His roommate, Carmen (Geraldine James), is a nymphomaniac, so he's always surprised by naked men parading through the kitchen in the morning. A chance meeting with lovely nurse Kate Lemon (Emma Thompson) and a tryout for the lead in a new Andrew Lloyd Webber-ish musical based on The Elephant Man (called, not surprisingly, "Elephant!") jolt Dexter from his torpor. Not that it makes him much less of a loser, which is the quality the show's producers are looking for. "You're a victim," they tell him. His attempts to seduce Kate are equally jarring. She asks him if he is a big believer in having sex on the first date. "Why, no," he tells her, trying to impress her with his sensitivity. Too bad, she replies -- she doesn't believe in getting serious with someone if they're sexually incompatible. Romance and showbiz go on, with the show a hit, though Dexter's romance hits a temporary snag: his backstage romance with a co-star (Kim Thomson) gets found out. ~ Nick Sambides, Jr., Rovi
- Starring:
- Jeff Goldblum, Emma Thompson, (more)
- 1988
- R
Based on the novel by Marion Meade, this costume drama retelling of the doomed 12th century romance of Abelard and Heloise was directed by Clive Donner. Abelard (Derek de Lint) is a philosophy professor at the cathedral school of Notre Dame. Considered the greatest teacher in Paris at a time when professors of philosophy are required to be chaste, Abelard is a champion of reason and a man of the people. Despite what it could mean to his career and standing, however, Abelard falls in love with a student, Heloise (Kim Thomson), an upper class teenage girl raised in a convent and possessing an insatiably curious intellect, along with a rebellious attitude toward the second-class status of women in her society. When word of the relationship begins to filter out, Heloise's ambitious uncle Fulbert (Denholm Elliott), who had hoped to marry her off to a wealthy gentlemen, schemes to end the romance, as does the bishop of Paris (Bernard Hepton). ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
- Starring:
- Derek de Lint, Kim Thomson, (more)
Adapted from a long novel by Pat Conroy, the story is shortened to focus on a harrowing account of institutional racism in the 1960s American South. David Keith stars as Will McLean, a senior student at the fictional Carolina Military Institute. When the school admits its first black student, McLean is confidentially charged with making sure that the newcomer's initiation does not get too violent. Yet that is exactly what happens, and McLean becomes alarmed when it seems like someone is out to kill his new charge. McLean's own investigation of the matter uncovers an elusive group of sadistic students who will go to any length to control their school. ~ Bernadette McCallion, Rovi
- Starring:
- David Keith, Robert Prosky, (more)
- 1983
In this enhanced graduation film by Terry Winsor, the adventures of caricatured teens as they search for sex and romance, saturated with rock music, go on for a long time and in a format that is not always intelligible to the non-teen. It becomes apparent early on that this search is not usually successful, and since there is no other point to the story, the comic moments alone will not be enough to keep viewers entertained. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Daniel Peacock, Karl Howman, (more)
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