Three And Above

The Hours (2002) Directed by :  Stephen Daldry Written by :  David Hare, based on                  Michael Cunningham's book Starring:   Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep,              Julianne Moore, Ed Harris Rating:   PG Release Date:   December 27th 2002 Meryl Streep & Ed Harris discuss their time together in The Hours Image Source Note : Minor spoilers and plot points are given away below. The Hours came out in 2002, but if you still haven't seen it, it's worth watching with a blank slate.      There's a scene in director Stephen Daldry's The Hours that sums up the entire film. Dan Brown, an every-man in 1951 suburban America, is recalling his time in the pacific during the Second World War; seemingly he's telling a short anecdote about how the love between him and his wife, Laura, (Julianne Moore), blossomed. Laura, close to the emotional breaking point attempts to stop him from telling a useless and pointless story, especia

     There's a lot of scary things in this world; the never ending  threat of nuclear destruction , the knowledge of our own mortality and the thought that maybe, just maybe, all those ghost stories and myths might have some truth in them. It's with this in mind, and the spirit of the Halloween season that I present my favourite * horror films:  THE TOP TEN HORROR FILMS OF ALL TIME by - Grant Kanigan - 10. The Blair Witch Project, (1999):         Although it may seem dated in the post- Paranormal Activity age, hand-held, first-person films weren't a thing until this 1999 masterpiece of low-budget scares hit the scene. Writer/Directors Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez hit cinematic and box-office gold with their film, fooling audiences into thinking the "project" was real; a simple, believable myth, non-actors having their wits pushed to the breaking point, and a mysterious video, so oddly shot, it had to have been shot without professional g

In Order of Disappearance (Kraftidioten) (2016) Directed by :  Hans Petter Moland Written by :  Kim Fupz Aakeson Starring:   Stellan Skarsgård, Anders Baasmo Christiansen, Pål Sverre Hagen, Bruno Ganz Rating:   18A Release Date:   August 26th, 2016* Stellan Skarsgård & Kristofer Hivju have a laugh in In Order of Disappearance Image Source       It's tough to see what would draw people to live in a cold, dark and desolate place like Norway, yet I say that never having been there. If In Order of Disappearance  is any indication, it's just like everywhere else; corruption, cynicism, revenge, violence and despair run rampant. It's only the sheer force of a father's love that can stamp out evil where it lies - in it's cold dead heart. And what better place for such an organ than the cold, dead heart of Norway. Although Hans Moland's film is most definitely soaked in Norwegian culture as well as originality, the film also has a lot to say a

Sausage Party  (2016) A Review by Grant Kanigan Directed by : Greg Tiernan Written by : Kyle Hunter, Ariel Shaffir,   Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg & Jonah Hill Starring:   Seth Rogen, Kristen Wiig, Edward Norton Michael Cera, Salma Hayek, Nick Kroll, David Krumholtz Rating:   18A Release Date:   August 12th, 2016 Kristen Wiig, Seth Rogen, Edward Norton & Davod Krumholtz come to terms with their own mortality in Sausage Party Image Source      In a summer movie season filled with remakes, superhero movies and the umpteenth Pixar sequel, there's a lot more stale things than popcorn at the theatres. It's not that Hollywood has run out of ideas, it's that brand recognition and sequels simply make more money than original scripts. Sequels, adaptations and remakes take less time, less effort, and usually, (when we're talking remakes), are very cost effective. With that in mind, it was a letdown to see Seth Rogen's next project was yet a

Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising  (2016) A Review by Grant Kanigan Directed by :  Nicholas Stoller Written by :  Andrew J. Cohen, Brendan O'Brien, Nicholas Stoller, Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg Starring:   Seth Rogen, Zac Efron, Rose Byrne, Chloë Grace Moretz, Dave Franco Rating:   14A Release Date:   May 20th, 2016 Zac Efron & Seth Rogen show off their six-packs in Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising Image Source      Seth Rogen's new project, the sequel to the surprise 2014 hit  Neighbors comes as an even bigger surprise. Sequels are a dime a dozen nowadays, tossed in the trash bin that is the local multiplex, and are rarely good. For every Godfather II or Spiderman II,  there are countless sequels, reboots, and remakes that are void of wit, originality or entertainment value. Additionally, it's even rarer when a comedy gets a sequel, and the results are almost always the same; a too-eager to please cast in a stale, unfunny joke that's worn out

Seven Samurai (Shichinin no samurai)  (1954) A Review by Grant Kanigan Directed by :  Akira Kurosawa Written by : Akira Kurosawa, Shinobu Hashimoto,  & Hideo Oguni Starring:   Toshirô Mifune, Takashi Shimura Rating:   Not Rated Release Date:   April 9th, 1954 Takashi Shimura, Toshirô Mifune and the Seven Samurai prepare for battle in Seven Samurai Image Source Note: This review contains spoilers.       With the epicentre of commercial cinema having lied within the borders of North America since it's inception, people tend to forget that cinema can also be a multilingual, multicultural form of art. Nowadays, people have access to more and more independent content throughout the world as globalized media enters the digital age. Brilliant foreign films like Wild Tales , The Hunt , Kon-Tiki , Monsieur Lazhar and Departures  are all available, either through iTunes, Netflix or online ordering, through relatively cost-effective means. In some ways, this

Macbeth  (2015) A Review by Grant Kanigan Directed by : Justin Kurzel Written by : J acob Koskoff, Michael Lesslie & Todd Louiso, based on William Shakespeare's play Macbeth   Starring: Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard, David Thewlis, Sean Harris &  Jack Reynor Rating: 14A Release Date: December 11th, 2015 (Limited) Michael Fassbender, awash in the blood of war in  Macbeth Image Source      There's a reason Shakespeare has been around for over four hundred years, and is still relevant. Philosophy, morals, humour and tragedy are explored brilliantly and uniquely in each one of his plays. His comedies explore social conventions, mores, and challenged hegemonic thinking in a way that wasn't offensive to the powers that be, but was poignant enough to be relevant. From obscure references to Greek tragedies to scatological humour, there's a bit of everything in Shakespearean comedy. Like it or not, Much Ado About Nothing,   As