Konflikt in the Kino

Konflikt in the Kino
Editor-Publisher: Dion Conflict
18(?) issues: 2002 – 2009

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Dion Conflict, the self-described “Overlord of Flea Market Cinema”, began showing film prints from his own collection, “Canada’s most eclectic private film archive”, every eight weeks (usually on Thursday nights) at the second-run theatre, The Royal Cinema, beginning in 2002, until the Festival chain (which included other rep cinemas, The Fox, The Revue, The Kingsway and The Paradise) had closed in 2006. (Each of these theatres later re-opened independently.) A veteran showman, Dion presented film prints at the Rivoli in the 90s, and late in the 2000s, had also hosted Shock n Awe, all-night marathon screenings which recalled the grindhouse days.

The Royal screenings, which featured oddball films from “the Conflict archives”, were also events into themselves. Dion often had door prizes of kitschy pop culture artifacts- so much so, that sometimes patrons wouldn’t admit they had the winning ticket. Eventually, Dion would read the winning number before people knew what the prizes were. Therein lied the appeal of Dion’s programming: it was a look back at forgotten pieces of our pop culture. The feature films from his collection (including but not limited to vintage drive-in swill, movies with “lots of kissing”, and other curios) would be presented along with ephemeral educational shorts and vintage trailers. During this period, he had also gone on tour with Trailer Trash (two hours of movie trailers) and Hunkajunk (a grab bag of educational shorts, corporate training films, bumpers, and trailers): each of these were also presented as part of his regular appearances at The Royal.

His shows were also unique in that they were often presented with a free Xeroxed newsletter, Konflikt in the Kino. (He still sporadically published them for screenings elsewhere, after the Royal’s closure.) The main article would be relevant to that night’s film (ie- UFO-related movies for Eyes Behind the Stars, and a William Beaudine career overview for Second Chance). Other recurrent features included “3 Questions” (an celebrity interview that, yes, consisted of three questions), followed by a section simply titled “Junk”, which offered capsule reviews of cheap DVDs, weird imports on VCD (remember that format?) and CDs of boy bands and hip-hop artists from abroad. Over time, it grew from four to eight pages (11×17, folded in half). Below is an index of the Konfikt in the Kino zine. I’m missing a couple of issues, but will update this post when they are found.

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#1 (2002; 4 pgs.): presented with The Devil in Miss Jones or The Filthy Rich
Introductory piece on Gerard Damiano; Who Wants To Be a Much Music Pop Culture Reporter? (his trials and tribulations of attaining such a position); When Pictures and Sound Collide There are Fatalities (a precursor to “Junk”).

#2 (June, 2002; 4 pgs.)
We Close Our Eyes: The Eaton Center Cinema (lamenting the closure of those screens, including an exhaustive sidebar of Toronto cinemas that have also closed); “Junk”. Dolph Movie Review: Jill the Ripper.

#3 (June, 2002; 4 pgs.) presented with Tintorera
When Blue Waters turn Red! Shark Movies, on the Beach! (capsule shark movie reviews); “Junk”. Dolph Movie Review: Sweepers

#4 (August, 2002; 4 pgs.) presented with Surf II
I’ve got this one somewhere (in fact, this was the night I first met Dion)- contents to be added soon!

#5 (October, 2002; 4 pgs.) presented with Necromancy
Readers write in their choices for sexiest witch (Elizabeth Montgomery wins); Junk; Dolph Movie Reviews: Silent Trigger and Red Scorpion; Do Your Video House Cleaning (the joys of discovering what’s on your homemade VHS tapes)

#7 (February, 2003; 8 pgs.) presented with Eyes Behind the Stars
UFO: Unidentified Films Onscreen! (capsule reviews of UFO movies); The Young Talent of “Young Love”: Joonas Nordman (interview); Red Asphalt, Fresh Air, and Onion Rings! The Hallowe’en Horror Dusk-to-Dawn Revisited! (Dion and Colin Geddes go to a Drive-In marathon! Colin brought his laptop to a drive-in!); 3 Questions: Wil Wheaton; “Junk”.

#8 (April, 2003; 8 pgs.) presented with The Tomcat
I’m Cuckoo …over Koo Stark!; A visit to a Russian 3-D Cinema; interview with Ricky J. (Canada’s Vanilla Ice?); 3 Questions: Pat Mastroianni; “Junk”.

#9 (August, 2003; 8 pgs.) presented with Once Upon a Girl
Nursery Rhymes Gone Sour! (capsule reviews of fairy tale movies); 3 Questions: Teresa Strasser; Pulp Friction (interview with Mike White of Cashiers du Cinemart and Who Do You Think You’re Fooling); Diesel Therapy (one of my favourite pieces in all of KITK- about an American bus trip); Otto & Tupelo (comic strip by P.A. Manninen); “Junk”.

#10 (December, 2003; 8 pgs.) presented with Second Chance
The Undiscovered World of William Beaudine; 3 Questions: Robin Bougie; interview with Jason Everly; Ukraine Idols! The Ukraine’s biggest band hits Toronto; “Junk”.

#11 (Feb. 2004; 8 pgs.) presented with Trailer Trash
More Trailers than a Trailer Park! (Jeff Joseph’s amazing collection of trailers); 3 Questions: Mikey Bustos; Popcorn and Bullets (a drive-in and a shooting range!); “Junk”.

#12 (June, 2004; 8 pgs.) presented with Mysteries from Beyond Earth
Mysteries from Beyond Earth – Films out of this World! (paranormal movie reviews, plus Amazing Kreskin board game); 3 Questions: Jay Bakker; Hot Dog Man (interview with Joyce Ventimiglia and Jim Haverkamp about their short film, also shown at this night’s screening); Viikate interview; “Junk”.

#13 (December, 2004; 4 pgs.) presented with Hunkajunk 4
Skip Elsheimer of A-V Geeks and your classroom favourites; “Junk”.

#14 (Feb. 2005; 8 pgs.) presented with The Other Hell
The Movies of Italy’s Bruno Mattei; 3 Questions: Malicious Death’s Pekka Malinen; Joey Greco interview; How Ed the Sock and Much Music played into my Southern tour; “Junk”.

#17 (Aug. 2007; 8 pgs.)
Interview with Canadian First Nations hip-hop artist, Hellnback; 3 Questions: George Stover; Remli interview; “Junk”.

#18 (Nov. 2009; 8 pgs.)
Interview with “eco-friendly adult film star” Antonio Biaggi; 3 Questions: director Michael Goorjian; Andin Randobrava interview; Canada, Its Media Industry, and the Recession; “Junk”.