Three And Above

City of Angels  (1998) A Review by Grant Kanigan Directed by: Brad Silberling Written by:  Dana Stevens, based on Wim Wenders,                  Peter Handke & Richard Reitinger's                  "Wings of Desire" Starring: Nicholas Cage, Meg Ryan, Denniz Franz Rating: PG Release Date: April 10th 1998 Nicolas Cage & Meg Ryan in City of Angels       City of Angels  is unabashedly sentimental, dead serious and epic in scope. For a mainstream slice of cinema, it's a daring move. In a world becoming increasingly ironic, cynical and sarcastic, City of Angels  is a revitalizing breath of fresh air. Although it's over a decade old, it's philosophy and presentation remains fresh.      Brad Siberling's film, based on Wim Wender's 1988 German-language film Wings of Desire , follows the inquisitive, intellectual and solemn Seth, (Nicolas Cage). Existing as a barrier between life and the afterlife, required to ease the pain o

Just a quick update: There won't be as many reviews as usual in the coming week or so, but we've got an extensive Charlie Chaplin retrospective on the horizon, as well as reviews of the Fast and Furious franchise! Stay tuned!

Beyond the Lights  (2014) A Review by Grant Kanigan Directed by: Gina Prince-Bythewood Written by:  Gina Prince-Bythewood Starring: Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Nate Parker,                       Danny Glover, Minnie Driver Rating: 14A Release Date: November 14th, 2014 Danny Glover & Nate Parker in Beyond the Lights  Photo by Suzanne Tenner - © 2013 Blackbird Productions, LLC. All Rights Reserved      At first glance, Beyond the Lights  seems like just another one of your average, dime a dozen adult melodramas pumped out a couple times a year by the studios behind the multitude of identical Nicholas Sparks or Tyler Perry movies. A misunderstood star, a plucky cop, and the less than ideal lives than surround them. Yet, much like the main character of Beyond the Lights,  there is so much more at stake than what's seen at face value. While Beyond the Lights may seem like your average drama, it's nothing but. Beyond the Lights  is one of the most emotionally effec

The 400 Blows ( Les quatre cents coups)  (1959) A Review by Grant Kanigan Directed by: Francois Truffaut Written by: Francois Truffaut & Marcel Moussy Starring: Jean-Pierre Léaud, Claire Maurier,               Albert Rémy Rating: No Rating Release Date: November 16th, 1959* Jean-Pierre Léaud in The 400 Blows Image Source      Rebellion has always been at the core of what it means to become a young man. Unsure of one's future, their feelings, and their opinions of the world, most young men rebel against the world of their fathers, or conversely, fall into it without question. For young Antoine Doinel, his father is virtually nonexistent. It's no surprise, then, that he rebels against absolutely everything.     Living in a microscopic apartment in downtown Paris with his mother Gilberte, (Claire Maurier), and stepfather Julien, (Albert Rémy), Antoine is often left alone, to fend for himself, only talking to his parents over dinners that consist o

Tim's Vermeer  (2015) A Review by Grant Kanigan Directed by: Raymond Teller Written by: Raymond Teller, Penn JIllette Starring: Tim Jenison, Penn Jillette,                Martin Mull Rating: G Release Date: February 21st, 2014 Martin Mull & Tim Jenison watch paint dry in Tim's Vermeer © 2013 - Sony Pictures Classics      How can we define art? In a globalized world, the subjectivity of what defines art is ever increasing. Like Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam famously remarked at the 1996 Grammy's ""I don't know what this means ... I don't think it means anything." Art is what you make it, and what moves you. Conversely, like music, there are a certain set of notes, tempo, keys and the like which make a song work well together, or else it falls out of place and just becomes static noise. So true art is a middle ground between the subjective and prescriptive schools of artistic thought. Analyzing and dissecting art is important

Chappie  (2015) A Review by Grant Kanigan Directed by: Neill Blomkamp Written by:  Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell Starring: Sharlto Copley, Dev Patel, Hugh Jackman, Sigourney Weaver, Jose Pablo Cantillo, Ninja, Yo-Landi Visser Rating: 14A Release Date: March 6th, 2015 Sharlto Copley & Dev Patel in Chappie © 2015 CTMG, Inc. All rights reserved. Courtesy of Columbia Pictures     As cinema mastermind Martin Scorsese once remarked , "I don’t think I’m being pessimistic when I say that the art of cinema and the movie business are now at a crossroads. Audio-visual entertainment and what we know as cinema – moving pictures conceived by individuals – appear to be headed in different directions."For the most part, Scorsese is right on. The top grossing films of 2014 were all big budget sequels, adaptations, and remakes. Even the exception, American Sniper , had a substantial budget of 58 million dollars. Conversely, the best picture nominees for 2014

Foxcatcher  (2014) A Review by Grant Kanigan Directed by:  Bennett Miller Written by:  E. Max Frye, Dan Futterman Starring: Channing Tatum, Steve Carell               Mark Ruffalo Rating: PG Channing Tatum, Steve Carell and Mark Ruffalo in Foxcatcher © Fair Hill, LLC. All Rights Reserved        Musician and author David Byrne once remarked on the fleeting nature of art, music and life; "As music becomes less of a thing--a cylinder, a cassette, a disc--and more ephemeral, perhaps we will begin to assign an increasing value to live performances again." Miller's Foxcatcher , is one of the first films in a long time to capture this ephemeral nature of life, showcasing the story of John Du Pont and the Schultz brothers as less of a series of events and more of a collection of moments, ebbing and flowing with tension until finally the wave breaks, and crashes back into the ocean.       Foxcatcher follows Mark Schultz, (Channing Tatum), an olympic gold

Focus  (2015) A Review by Grant Kanigan Directed by:  Glenn Ficarra & John Requa Written by:  Glenn Ficarra & John Requa Starring: Will Smith, Margot Robbie,               Adrian Martinez, Rodrigo Santoro Rating: 14A Release Date: February 27th 2015 B.D. Wong, Will Smith and Margot Robbie place their bets in Focus © 2015 - Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.     There's an old saying, which posits that nobody will ever know the what the greatest heist is, because nobody will ever know it took place . It's logic like this which leads people to believe that nothing is illegal until you're caught. For Nicky and Jess, (Will Smith and Margot Robbie), such logic is a way of life.      Nicky is a career criminal. Raised by a second generation con-man, Nicky has been taught to lie, cheat, steal and con by the best in the business. With his extensive knowledge and contacts from a life in the business, Nicky heads a professional, ethical, (as ethical a

    </3     When I first started this blog , I wanted to focus on films that were enjoyable, memorable cinema. Now that I've hit 50 posts, I wanted to pause and reflect. I want to keep focusing on great films, but in the hopes I can help people avoid some truly awful films, I've made a list of the worst ten films I've seen in the past few months. In an effort to give terrible cinema no more attention than it deserves, I've only taken a few sentences for each to comment on what went so wrong. I'm a little late to the game with a few of these, but better late than never, right? 1. The Lazarus Effect - Bringing together one of the best casts in recent memory; Olivia Wilde, Mark Duplass, Evan Peters and Donald Glover and then absolutely wasting their talents in this ultra-low budget, one-set piece, piece of garbage is a worse crime than the illogical, stupid and insulting script that fails to say anything of substance. A boring, lifeless and completely unorig

Frozen  (2010) A Review by Grant Kanigan Directed by: Adam Green  Written by: Adam Green Starring: Shawn Ashmore, Emma Bell,               Kevin Zegers Rating: 14A Release Date: February 5th 2010 Emma Bell, Kevin Zegers and Shawn Ashmore go for a ride in  Frozen Frozen - 2010      Horror is arguably the most underrated genre in cinema. Either adhering to a strict set of formulaic rules or breaking them, most horror films have to rely on the creativity of their effects and the wit of their scripts, (for a breakdown of horror, check out my review of Wes Craven's brilliant Scream ), to please an audience. Films like The Blair Witch Project , Halloween, Night of the Living Dead, Evil Dead and Saw  were all extremely low budget films, ( Saw being the only budget within the millions), and remain as pillars of the genre. It's this low-budget/high-concept tradition that continues with writer/director Adam Green's Frozen .       Frozen follows three p

Hot Tub Time Machine 2  (2015) A Review by Grant Kanigan Directed by: Steve Pink Written by: Josh Heald Starring: Rob Corddry, Craig Robinson,              Clark Duke, Adam Scott Rating: 18A Release Date: February 20th, 2015 Craig Robinson, Clark Duke, Rob Corddry and Adam Scott go for a dip in Hot Tub Time Machine 2  © 2015 Paramount Pictures Corporation and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc.      The main point of a comedy is to make the audience laugh. Any good comedian will tell you that as long as the audience is listening and laughing, you're doing your job. Comedians like George Carlin, Lenny Bruce or Bill Hicks went further than that into social commentary, and made a lasting impact with their bodies of work. Others, like Jerry Seinfeld, Mitch Hedberg or indie-comic Nick Thune merely go for the comic jugular. Like differing wines, each comedy style fits a certain taste, yet, more often than not, the comics who juxtaposed social commentary with their