“The Kill Point” Countdown: Part 8

If you’ve been following along, then you’ve probably figured out that Spike’s The Kill Point has some heavy, intense stuff in it. So I saved the fun stuff for last, just to lighten it up a bit before the show premieres this weekend. (Check back on Friday for my review of the first episode.)

I asked a few of the guys I interviewed what their favorite movie was from the heist/robbery/standoff genre, and then I asked them what they liked to record on their TiVos or plain-old-generic DVRs.

One thing’s for certain: They love themselves some Dog Day Afternoon. Attica! Attica! Attica!

What’s your favorite heist or standoff movie?

Frank Grillo: My favorite is a Michael Mann movie called Thief with James Caan. I think it was done in 1971. [Ed.’s Note: It’s actually 1981.]

Jeremy Davidson: Dog Day Afternoon is on that list, and is just one of the best ever. I think that’s probably my favorite. Again, it’s a similar kind of thing when the crowd sympathizes with the robbers.

Cowriter/co-producer Todd Harthan: I’d probably put Dog Day way up at the top. I’d have to look at my list. I have a list of top 50 films. Dog Day is probably the biggest, if I was going strictly bank robbery.

John Leguizamo: Rififi is one of the greats of all time. It’s a brilliant French film, I think late 1940s [1955 actually], one of the best heist movies ever. There’s 20 minutes of silence. They stole it for Mission: Impossible, that whole quiet bank robbery break part of it. There’s 20 minutes in the movie where’s there’s no dialogue. Just action. It’s phenomenal.

Donnie Wahlberg: It’s probably an easy choice, but Dog Day Afternoon has always been one of my favorite movies. Pretty much anything Al Pacino ever did in the ’70s is gold for me. You’ve got a lot of New York actors on this show, so that’s why they all said Dog Day. They’re New Yorkers, they all grew up wanting to be Al Pacino. It’s an easy one, but why not? It’s a classic.

What’s on your TiVo or DVR?

Frank Grillo: You know, I have two young children, so there’s no 24 or any … I do TiVo The Sopranos, but we have the parental guide on there so they can’t see it. I TiVo The Sopranos, I TiVo Entourage, I TiVo Rome, which is another HBO series. There’s a few shows that my friends are on that I’ll TiVo, but mostly on my TiVo is Discovery Channel and things like that that are educational things for the kids and not too damaging.

Jeremy Davidson: Honestly, I think I watch more movies than I watch television. I really like the Yankees, so I watch the Yankees, and as far as television shows — The Sopranos.

John Leguizamo: My wife and my kids are the crazy recorders. My wife records everything HBO. My kids everything Nickelodeon. I’m more of a special shows — documentaries are what I like.

Donnie Wahlberg: There are two DVRs in the house. Actually, there are three. My son has his own. My wife has her own, which is pretty much locked in on Ellen and Oprah, Grey’s Anatomy and Desperate Housewives. Mine has World Series of Poker, Dog Whisperer, House Hunters, American Idol and Davey and Goliath. I grew up with Davey and Goliath. Man, it’s hard to find now, so I just popped it in and every now and again I get some odd network airing one of the Davey and Goliath episodes. So I just sit there and watch with my 5-year-old to try to get him in to it. The Claymation doesn’t really work for him, but I’m trying to get him on to it.

About Ryan Berenz 2166 Articles
Member of the Television Critics Association. Charter member of the Ancient and Mystic Society of No Homers. Squire of the Ancient & Benevolent Order of the Lynx, Lodge 49, Long Beach, Calif. Costco Wholesale Gold Star Member since 2011.