Three And Above

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.     ...

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 th...

    </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/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...