Three And Above

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/dire...

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,...

Kingsman: The Secret Service  (2015) A Review by Grant Kanigan Directed by: Matthew Vaughn Written by: Matthew Vaughn, Jane Goldman, based on Mark Millar & Dave Gibbons' comic book Starring:  Colin Firth, Taron Egerton, Samuel L. Jackson,                Mark Hamill, Michael Caine, Mark Strong Rating: 14A* Release Date: February 13th, 2015 Taron Egerton and Michael Caine share a drink in Kingsman: The Secret Service © 2014 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation      Spies have always been fodder for the most exciting of cinema; The Day of the Jackal, Where Eagles Dare, The Bourne  films, the entire  Bond  franchise, The Eiger Sanction, or even  Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy  are all renowned classics of the genre, and continue to be thoroughly successful, (the last Bond film, Skyfall  grossed $1.1   billion  dollars). Yet, as cinema has been gleefull...

Whiplash  (2014) A Review by Grant Kanigan Directed by: Damien Chazelle Written by: Damien Chazelle Starring:  Miles Teller, J.K. Simmons,                Paul Reiser, Melissa Benoist Rating: 14A Release Date: October 24th 2014  Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons find the right tempo in Whiplash © Courtesy of Sundance Institute      "Don't you think that by pushing people so hard they might get discouraged, and in turn the next Charlie Parker might never be discovered?" Andrew, (Miles Teller), asks his devilish teacher, Mr. Fletcher, (J.K. Simmons). "If they get discouraged, then they're not the next Charlie Parker," is his reply, bookending his comment with his largest blow; "there are no two words in the English language more harmful than 'good job.'" This is the most important scene in the film, and the thesis for it's commentary; through the actions, failures and successes of the teacher and st...

Animal House  (1978) A Review by Grant Kanigan Directed by: John Landis Written by: Harold Ramis, Douglas Kenney,                   Chris Miller Starring:  Tom Hulce, John Belushi, Tim Matheson                 Peter Riegert, Kevin Bacon, Donald Sutherland Rating: R Release Date: July 28th, 1978 The Animals of  Animal House  © 1978 - Universal Pictures      "This is your life, and it's ending one minute at a time," says the Narrator in Fight Club . It's a powerful statement, that forces the listener to gain perspective of their respective situation. Life is fleeting. But it's in those fleeting moments that we discover the wisdom, ideals and love that echo throughout our existence. Animal House , in its reckless, anarchistic and hedonistic ways, is about capturing those moments, seizing the day, and having one hell of a party.     A...

The Grand Budapest Hotel  (2014) A Review by Grant Kanigan Directed by: Wes Anderson Written by: Wes Anderson & Hugo Guinness,                Inspired by Stefan Zweig's writings Starring:  Ralph Fiennes, F. Murray Abraham,                Tony Revolori, Edward Norton,                Harvey Keitel Rating: 14A Release Date: March 14, 2014  Paul Schlase, Tony Revolori, Tilda Swinton & Ralph Fiennes in  The Grand Budapest Hotel © 2013 - Fox Searchlight      Wes Anderson has always been an interesting filmmaker. Exploding onto the cinematic landscape with 1994's Bottle Rocket,  Anderson has quickly made a name for himself as an auteur. Swinging from sublime to stupid, Anderson has had as many hits as he has misses. For every Moonrise Kingdom, or Royal Tenenbaums , he's also had style-over-substanc...

Rosewater  (2014) A Review by Grant Kanigan Directed by: Jon Stewart Written by: Jon Stewart, based on                    Maziar Bahari & Aimee Molloy's                   book Starring:  Gael García Bernal, Kim Bodnia                  Claire Foy,  Shohreh Aghdashloo Rating: PG Release Date: November 14th, 2014 Kim Bodnia  & Gael García Bernal in Rosewater      Life is absurd. Human beings help, fight, love, kill, create and destroy, all on a tiny rock that's completely insignificant in the grand scale of the universe. As famed cosmologist Carl Sagan used to say, we're just momentary fragments of dust, aimlessly drifting through space on a pale blue dot.  Jon Stewart, host of the groundbreaking and absolutely ridiculous The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, often taps into ...