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215 3901 CARRIGAN Court, Burnaby North, British Columbia

Don Kennedy — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 13:42:08 -0700

I just sold this Condo at 215 3901 CARRIGAN Court, Burnaby North, British Columbia Government Road.

View this recently sold Condo or see all my home sales

215 3901 CARRIGAN Court, Burnaby North, British Columbia

Don Kennedy — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 13:41:37 -0700

I just finished uploading this Condo for sale, 215 3901 CARRIGAN Court, Burnaby North, British Columbia

This south facing light and bright home offers a good-sized deck where you can enjoy the view of the manicured and tranquil private backyard. Kitchen has newer self-cleaning stove and painted cabinets. Also new are the light fixtures and fi replace mantle. Only steps to Lougheed Mall, skytrain, seniors centre, library, recreation, Burnaby Lake & SFU. Maintenance fees include heat and hot water, plus access to an indoor pool, hot tub, sauna, recreation room, outdoor picnic/BBQ area and workshop. Complex is well maintained with new roof & plumbing. Pet friendly allowing max. 2 (16" high or 35 lbs). Compare prices, this unit offers outstanding value. View virtual tour and pictures and call today!

Going the Distance

Don Kennedy — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 13:22:55 -0700

Going the Distance is about Erin (Drew Barrymore) and Garrett (Justin Long) who hook up for a New York one nighter that turns out to be a care free summer fling that should have ended when Erin headed back to fall semester in California. Turns out neither wants the affair to end so a bi-coastal love affair ensues with all the typical frustrations. It doesn’t help that Erin resides with Corinne (Christina Applegate) her over protective sister and that Garrett has two scene stealing buddies in Dan (Charlie Day) and Box (Jason Sudeikis) who are trying to steer him clear of yet another train wreck of a relationship. The fact that Erin and Dan are chained to careers in imploding industries prohibits either from pulling up stakes and moving to the others turf. Going the Distance isn’t that far distant from so many other romantic comedies involving long distance relationships that are complete with cute titles and a predictable outcome. As a matter of fact the climax here gets downright hokey. What sets this little gem apart outside of the clear chemistry on screen between the two principle characters (Long and Barrymore used to be an item and clearly the break was amicable) is the frank, taboo-less dialogue about sex that produces wave after wave of belly laughs.

The American

Don Kennedy — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 13:22:20 -0700

The American is the screen adaptation of Martin Booth’s 1990 best selling novel A Very Private Gentleman starring George Clooney who in 2005’s Syriana beefed up to play Bob Barnes and here buffs down to play Edwards (who goes by the alias of Jack). He’s a sinewy and sullen lone wolf who seems to have driven to homicide not only some rarely vindictive Swedes but also his apparent comrades. Why? Good question but eventually we assume it has to do with his skill set for creating unique munitions. After literally dodging a Swedish bullet (well several actually) he hides out in Italy the land of Clooney’s real life palatial digs. Coincidence? Maybe but certainly convenient. He toils over his next assignment for Mathilde (Thekla Reuten), a dangerous hottie with a lethal laundry list of required options, while hiding in what could be any of the picturesque hilltop villages that typically dot the Italian landscape. Here he befriends the local priest Father Benedetto (Paolo Bonacelli) who asks more questions than the local polizia when bodies stack up but Jack’s answers reveal a lot about his tortured mind. Realizing that having a relationship diminishes his edge Jack pays for his female companionship only to hook up with Clara (Violante Placido) the one hooker who sees him as much more than a steady customer - but is she for real or is she the set up that is going to finally do Jack in? The American is this years annual Clooney fall thriller that always seems to start the clock that counts down to the Academy Awards and it is a pleasantly thrilling ride. Dues to some lapses in logic this one may get overlooked by the Americans that decide who gets Oscar but because of its European flavour the foreign press may take note while handing out Golden Globes.

The Last Exorcism

Don Kennedy — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 10:53:42 -0700

The Last Exorcism has a cast of barely knows including star Patrick Fabian as Cotton Marcus, a charlatan evangelist taking over the family ministry from a long line of bible thumpers many of whom claim to have exorcised demons. Cotton was a child preaching prodigy and although his faith is waning he continues for pragmatic reasons which he justifies on camera in documentary style. Although no longer a committed missionary he does have a mission which is to mitigate the damage done by “dangerous” exorcists. To that end he takes to the Loozianna swampland with the camera crew in tow to document tricks of the trade that he uses to cast the devil out of Nell Sweetzer (Ashley Bell) a teenager possessed who lately has been mutilating the livestock of her widower father Louis (Louis Herthum) and sullen and wary brother Caleb (Caleb Landry Jones). Once the job is completed Cotton barely has time to whiffle through his cash retainer when it becomes clear his mission is accomplished in George Bush fashion only. When it turns out that Nell is pregnant fingers start pointing everywhere and Nell starts contorting in ways that Linda Blair only wishes she could. The Last Exorcism revisits the creepiness and camera angles of The Blair Witch Project with mostly pleasing results and with surprisingly shocking low budget special effects a la Let Her In. When it’s not tickling you it’s freaking you out.

Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist, and Rebel

Don Kennedy — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 10:53:16 -0700

Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist, and Rebel on the surface might almost be mistaken for a somewhat self serving legacy piece somehow funded by the iconic octogenarian but when you follow the money it leads nowhere near Hef. This documentary is funded by Canadian dollars some of which originates from Astral Media. This helps to objectify this well made film with the objectifier of women at its centrefold. There’s a myriad of talking heads some not unexpected like hedonistic henchmen Gene Simmons and James Caan but accolades from Jesse Jackson and Mike Wallace perk up your eyebrows. And it’s not a total love fest for this purveyor of free love. Pat Boone gets a lot of face time to spout religious morality and likewise bitter feminist Susan Brownmiller who has been on the warpath with Hefner since the sixties and remains unrelenting (although now sounds jaded and shrill). Hefner is a well known jazz fan so it’s no surprise to hear kind words from Tony Bennett but accolades from Pete Seeger and Joan Baez seem strange. Academy Award winning director Brigitte Berman has laid bare a paradoxical legend who to no one’s surprise is an advocate of free speech and first amendment rights but what is a surprise is his historic contribution to human rights.

Lebanon

Don Kennedy — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 10:52:41 -0700

Lebanon doesn’t have much in the way of anything Lebanese – language or gentry. It’s 1982 and the start of “First Lebanon War” routinely glimpsed claustrophobically through the periscope of an army tank manned by four reluctant Jewish conscripts. This vehicle is stencilled with the Hebrew phrase “men are made of steel, tanks are just junk”. Maybe not so much in this armoured personnel carrier. Asi (Itay Tiran) is the unsuccessful commander of three unruly charges and on day one of the invasion they are put under the command of Gamil (Zohar Shtrauss) a steely veteran paratrooper who leads them on an easy mop up mission that turns out to be far less of a slam dunk and is fraught with the horror and terror that is modern combat where enemies are not so easily defined. This latest expose of Israeli navel gazing produces a tense, original, authentic and very compelling film.

Nanny McPhee Returns

Don Kennedy — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 14:23:18 -0700

Nanny McPhee Returns bring back that stern but kind hearted governess with the startlingly bad dental work even by British standards. She left last time when she was wanted and not needed and here comes to stay when needed but not wanted by Isabel Green (Maggie Gyllenhaal issuing a spot on Brit accent) a weary shop keeper and farmer’s wife whose husband is off to war. At her wits end trying to keep a thatched roof over her unruly children Norman (Asa Butterfield), Megsie (Lil Woods) and Vincent (Oscar Steer) but lacking funds to even bring in the harvest much less take it to market, she’s suddenly saddled with a well healed and spoiled niece Celia (Rosie Taylor-Ritson) and nephew Cyril (Eros Vlahos) from London. Their privileged city airs manifest more bratty behaviour among the cousins which brings on the need for Nanny McPhee (Emma Thompson). As she disciplines the children Isabel has to deal with Mrs. Docherty (Maggie Smith) her absent minded shop assistant and brother in law Phil (Rhys Ifans) who has gambling debts and is constantly trying to sell off the family farm. Joining the cast in surprisingly small parts are Ralph Fiennes and Ewan McGregor (in a non speaking role). Nanny McPhee Returns still leaves us with burning Nanny McPhee questions. Where’s the ack story on why her complexion heals up with each lesson learned by her charges and why does she ugly up again before each new gig? Also specific to this film - how did she foster a terse relationship with a dyspeptic crow? Still, unlike many sequels this one has all of the original charm presented in a more entertaining film.

Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work

Don Kennedy — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 14:22:47 -0700

Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work had a reality show like inception and ended up as a documentary of a TV reality show star. Not that she wasn’t a star already but through the footage captured during fourteen months of the 76th year of her life interspersed with file footage we get a revealing look at some dramatic points in television history. There’s her departure as permanent guest host as anointed by Johnny Carson himself of the prestigious Tonight Show. Also explored is the catastrophic personal toll resulting from her failed move to the fledgling Fox network where she went head to head not just with Carson but also her new bosses. The film starts inauspiciously as this somewhat mercenary septuagenarian with an ebbing notoriety takes on stand up gigs at divvy clubs in order to maintain her lavish lifestyle. Looking like she is capable of doing absolutely anything for money we’re there when she gets the call from Donald Trump to do Celebrity Apprentice. What seems like another desperate sell out turns out to be a game changer as the funny and feisty Rivers took that show’s top honours which put her career back on top - even though the experience brought out the daggers that define the love/hate relationship she has with daughter Melissa. Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work documents the career of a living comedy legend and it could not be more fascinating. I mean, can we talk? No longer lost in the ubiquitous face-lift jokes that follow her everywhere (she originating many) is the courageous pioneering she did for generations of grateful female performers who followed.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Don Kennedy — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 13:23:54 -0700

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World stars Canada’s Michael Cera who does a subtle stretch in acting style to inch past the terminally virginal alter ego he’s constantly cast to play. Scott Pilgrim is a 23 year old slacker who at least appears to have had some success with women even if the relationships all ended badly. Cera must have been thrilled to be set in his actual home town of Toronto where he’s crashing at the apartment of his gay friend Wallace Wells (Kieran Culkin) and dating Knives Chau (fellow Ontarian Ellen Wong) a seventeen year old high schooler. This is much to the consternation of his sister Stacey (Anna Kendrick) and fellow band mates of the group Sex Bob-omb - a garage band that features drummer Kim Pine (Alison Pill), a resentful ex girlfriend of Scott’s. Scott’s ardour for Knives cools when he meets his actual dream girl Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), an Amazon.ca courier. In order to date Ramona however Scott must defeat her League of Evil Exes that includes Todd Ingram (Brandon Routh) with his almost unbeatable psychic vegan abilities as well as Matthew Patel (Satya Bhabha), Lucas Lee (Chris Evans), Kyle and Ken Katayanagi (Keita & Shota Saito) and Roxy Ritcher (Mae Whitman). Once defeated league members dissolve into a heap of coins (loonies and toonies of course), however the league was assembled by a more challenging foe, Gideon Gordon Graves (Jason Schwartzman) the New York record producer who holds Sex Bob-omb’s future in his hands. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World appears to answer the question “what if video game rules applied to real life”? and with lightning editing and hilarious dialogue may end up indeed capturing the world. This highly anticipated and brilliantly executed film is based on a series of six graphic novels, not all of which are fully explore in the film. That’s a good thing as it could mean we’ll get more.

Eat Pray Love

Don Kennedy — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 13:22:57 -0700

Eat Pray Love would be an enthralling but a little far fetched romantic novel - if it were fiction. However it’s actually the memoirs based on a year in the life of author Elizabeth Gilbert which dominated the New York Times best seller list for years. At 32 New York starts to feel surprisingly small with her ex husband Stephen (Billy Crudup) and fading boy-toy David Piccolo (James Franco) still pining after her long past their expiration date. Liz (Julia Roberts) sets off on a voyage of discovery starting in Italy where she eats her way into the next jean size and then seeks spiritual nourishment at an Indian Ashram. She completes her soul search by revisiting Ketut Liyer (Hadi Subiyanto) an Indonesian shaman in the tropical paradise of Bali where love waits for the taking. But will she take it this time around? The role is a huge challenge for Roberts who is in every scene of this two and a half hour film and for the most part rises to the occasion but being two years older than the now 41 year old Gilbert I’m reminded of Kevin Spacey as Bobby Darin in Beyond the Sea being beyond believable playing someone so much his junior. And you’d think polished veterans like Roberts and Javier Bardem as Felipe her end game love interest could effortlessly produce some incendiary chemistry but we got more on screen passion between Liz and her Roman pasta than her Balinese boyfriend.

Animal Kingdom

Don Kennedy — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 13:22:13 -0700

Animal Kingdom is a tense Aussie underworld flick that takes place on the mean streets of Melbourne (why does that just sound odd?). Joshua 'J' Cody (James Frecheville) at eighteen is a bit slow so when his junkie mother OD’s he’s really at a loss. Although estranged he calls the only help he can think of - his grandmother Janine (Jacki Weaver) who is affectionately called Smurf and looks every bit the doting family patriarch. It soon becomes apparent why J’s mother dropped out – she didn’t want her son to get involved in the family business that grandma benignly runs. The family business is robbing banks. Right now business is slow because her oldest son Andrew 'Pope' Cody (Ben Mendelsohn) is in hiding from a special police task force that is inclined to shot first and ask questions later – maybe. Not only that but the biz is showing signs of erosion as Pope’s brother Craig (Sullivan Stapleton - constantly high on his own supply) has started a sideline business selling drugs while Pope’s business partner Barry Brown (Joel Edgerton) wants to hold up on the hold-ups and go legit. Just as Joshua joins the clan Barry is gunned down by the police and the unbalanced Pope decides to go to war with the cops. This unwinnable battle puts Joshua in the grasp of Detective Nathan Leckie (Guy Pearce) who wants to massage the kid over to his side. Joshua successfully resists the persuasive Leckie until family politics put him in peril. Animal Kingdom doesn’t feature any animals other than the two legged variety but as in the animal kingdom there are some creatures that have no conscience about eating their young.

The Other Guys

Don Kennedy — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 11:24:45 -0700

The Other Guys are what they call third string paper pushers in the NYPD, diametrically opposed to the precinct heroes. In the New York precinct where P.K. Highsmith (Samuel L. Jackson) and Christopher Danson (Dwayne Johnson) are kingpins, Allen Gamble (Will Ferrell) and Terry Hoitz (Mark Wahlberg) are very much the other guys and they get zero respect. In the case of Hoitz who was an up and comer its because he put a beloved Yankee on the injury list for a season but for Gamble the lack of respect is for his anal personality – but he can respect that lack of respect. As a matter of fact the only person he shows no respect for is his drop dead gorgeous physician wife Sheila (Eva Mendes), just one of a litany of hot females unexplainably attracted to this geek and one of a litany of hilarious quirks that make this summer action comedy a hoot. When Highsmith and Danson perish as the result of believing their own publicity, top dog status is up for grabs. The volatile Hoitz wants to go vigilante to make his bones but it turns out that their best bet is due to some of Gambles forensic auditing that points to big white collar fraud perpetrated by a David Ershon (Steve Coogan) in cahoots with a multinational powerbroker played by an uncredited Anne Heche. But why is their Captain Gene Mauch (Michael Keaton) so ready to roadblock their investigation when he gets heavy duty political pressure? As producer the heat is doubly on Ferrell who also needs a rebound from the disastrous Land of the Lost and here he dials his over the top instincts back with pleasing results. As for Wahlberg he needn’t wonder if he can do comedy and can add another one to his growing list of impressive works.

Step Up 3D

Don Kennedy — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 11:24:14 -0700

Step Up 3D has dynamic narrative but third rate choreography – NOT! No longer centered in Baltimore this unnecessary outing in even more unnecessary 3D has the action moves to New York City. Moose (Adam G. Sevani) from Step Up 2: The Streets and Camille (Alyson Stoner) from the original Step Up movie are the only vaguely familiar principles but who knew they were an item (albeit platonic) through the first two films? Maybe I did but just forgot as I did with the rest of these generic waddles. Here Camille and Moose are fresh faced freshmen at NYU dropped off by Moose’s grateful parents who are glad he finally left that “dancing thing” behind. He’s not alone for two minutes when implausible circumstances start dragging him back and hook him up with the nimble Luke (Rick Malambri), a resourceful street dancing patron of sorts who owns a hotwired Gangs-Of-New-York- style warehouse for broke but aspiring and talented hoofers. We could run through the wafer thin plot but why waste time on something so generic, derivative and downright hoaky. It’s all just a set up anyway for spontaneous outbreaks of explosive high energy dance moves which run the street scene gambit from krunking, locking, popping and even some capoeira and a little third rate parkour thrown in. It’s hard to tell which of the Step Up trifecta would come in last.

Get Low

Don Kennedy — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 11:23:37 -0700

Get Low is a backwoods colloquialism for putting ones affairs in order before casting off this mortal coil. Here the backwoods is in 1930’s Tennessee and feeing it’s time to get low is Felix Bush (an almost unrecognizable Robert Duvall) a recluse with a reputed short fuse. The film is based on a true event of a hillbilly hermit buying himself a fancy funeral that he wants to attend while still alive. Where that reality ends this one is embellished with Bush harbouring a dark past. Unsatisfied with the funeral arrangements offered by the clergy through Rev. Gus Horton (Gerald McRaney) he contracts the somewhat shady funeral director Frank Quinn (Bill Murray) and his family man assistant Buddy (Lucas Black) who may in days gone by been one of a litany of kids who tormented Felix at their own peril. They’re hired to stage the funeral and have it open to anyone who has a story to tell about Felix. Feeling that his scary personally might make partygoers literally gun-shy about sharing their stories, Felix offers to raffle off his large acreage of prime timber to someone in attendance. Through the process of arranging the funeral the truth dribbles out about a long ago relationship between Felix and Mattie Darrow (Sissy Spacek) and the terrible secret that’s kept him in a self imposed prison for decades. Get Low gets high marks for the superb telling of an interesting scenario.

Dinner for Schmucks

Don Kennedy — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 12:54:18 -0700

Dinner for Schmucks is based on the 1998 French film The Dinner Game. Tim (Paul Rudd) is making impressive jumps up the corporate ladder despite backstabbing by jealous co workers. He learns that he can really cinch that corner office by landing one perfect client – the most outstanding idiot as designated by his boss Lance Fender (Vancouver's Bruce Greenwood) when brought as a guest to one of Lance’s swish dinner party. When Tim literally runs into Barry (Steve Carell), a taxman/taxidermist who makes dioramas from dead mice he can almost feel the executive washroom key jingling in his pocket. His own conscience bothers him but the biggest obstacle is Tim’s disapproving girlfriend Julie (Stephanie Szostak). Tim invites Barry anyway and soon discovers how devastating it can be to have such a well meaning but monstrous loser enter his life. Tim’s trick back leaves these guys alone together for a day that sees Barry inadvertently manufacture one disaster after another for Tim, not the least of which is to reveal Tim’s address to his on line stalker Darla (Lucy Punch) - who actually seems like a little more fun that Julie. Dinner for Schmucks is The Hangover for the summer of 2010 and just like that sleeper comedy coincidentally has Zach Galifianakis in a secondary role. One might assume that this is the corporate equivalent of a college “pig” party spawning expectations of low grade laughs hinged on degradation but the comedy here is brilliant. That’s largely dues to Carell’s inventive interpretation of a totally unlikeable character that can engender so much pathos.

Charlie St. Cloud

Don Kennedy — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 12:53:45 -0700

Charlie St. Cloud is a teen romance flick starring Zac Efron. As a high school senior he’s poised to escape from his cloistered home town thanks to a sailing scholarship (say what?) when his life gets put on hold with the untimely death of his eleven year old brother Sam (sparky but believable Charlie Tahan). Instead of college he takes a job as groundskeeper at a local cemetery so that he can keep a promise to Sam’s ghost that every night the two brothers commune via the ultimate male bonding glue, baseball. All’s fine for half a decade until the re-emergence of Tess Carroll, a former sailing rival played by Langley’s Amanda Crew – formerly of TV’s intriguing but largely ignored series Whistler in which she’s the love interest of a guy mentored by his brother’s ghost. Yikes, typecasting already. Also featured are Kim Basinger and Ray Liotta in throw away roles. When Tess is imperilled while training for a solo global circumnavigation Charlie has to make a choice between her and Sam. Charlie St. Cloud was filmed at West Van’s Eagle Harbour and It’s hard to decide what is more captivating, the steel blue beauty of our coastal water or the steel blue beauty of Efron’s dreamy eyes. However if you enter the movie with expectations as low as I did you might be pleasantly surprised.

Salt

Don Kennedy — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 12:05:28 -0700

Salt stars Angelina Jolie as CIA operative Evelyn Salt who is accused by a Russian defector of being a mole for the former Soviet Union. She takes off using all of her spy chops to elude former colleagues, not the least of which is Ted Winter (Liev Schreiber) the one person who speaks out on her behalf. While she’s not only on the lam but also trying to rescue her kidnapped husband we learn that there are cells of Russians embedded in America since their indoctrinated youth and ready to spring into subterfuge on a future unnamed date with the aim of causing chaos and instability in the west. In a post cold war world this scenario might seem too far fetched except for the fortuitously coincidental news in the real world lately of Russian spies expelled for long term espionage on American soil. The action is relentless but it would be a more plausible experience if Salt relied way more on her wiles as opposed to reducing this character to the common cliché that it’s possible for a willowy woman to physically overpower groups of men twice her size. Still this Salt has a fair amount of pepper.

Solitary Man

Don Kennedy — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 12:04:44 -0700

Solitary Man stars Michael Douglas as Ben Kalmen an almost sexagenarian skirt chasing scoundrel with a spotty EKG – which at least proves that he does have a heart. While bedding a litany of females who are at most half his age he spends his life emotionally sabotaging the relationships he has with those who refuse to stop loving him. That includes his friend of 35 years Jimmy Merino (Danny DeVito), his newfound protégé Daniel Cheston (Jesse Eisenberg) and even family like his daughter Susan (Jenna Fischer) not to mention ex wife Nancy (Susan Sarandon). Once a kingpin in the New York business world Ben blows it all on a hair brained scam and just when he’s on the cusp of a comeback he manages to again scuttle himself completely through the double cross of his latest liaison (both political and romantic) with Jordan Karsch (Mary-Louise Parker) via her daughter Allyson (Imogen Poots). Rebounding this time seems impossible which is one of the elements that make this well written and unpredictable story worthwhile, but it also re-establishes Michael Douglas as a crackerjack leading man. That’s an attribute we almost forgot having only seen him in occasional brilliant cameos lately.

I Am Love

Don Kennedy — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 12:03:38 -0700

I Am Love is a gorgeous and gastronomic journey into the lifestyles of the rich and Milano. Tilda Swinton does justice to her Italian lines as Emma, a Russian émigré married into the old money of the Recchi’s whose patriarch Edoardo Sr. (Gabriele Ferzetti) is about to pass down the reins of power in the families lucrative factory. However in a family already showing signs of strain this will lead to more instability. Those eligible include Emma’s husband Tancredi (Pippo Delbono) and their sons Edoardo Jr. (Flavio Parenti) and Gianluca (Mattia Zaccaro). Shortly after the fractious decision is announced it’s revealed that daughter Elisabetta (Alba Rohrwacher) is a lesbian and Emma starts an affair with the much younger Antonio Biscaglia (Edoardo Gabbriellini). This relationship is doubly doomed as Antonio is also Edoardo Jr.'s best friend so in effect she’s cheating on her husband and her favourite son. Meantime Eduardo Jr. is twice deceived as under the stewardship of Tancredi the family business is about to head down a road that Eduardo finds abhorrent. All this transpired in a whirlwind of high fashion, idyllic Lombardy landscapes and especially exquisite Italian cuisine. You may not leave the theatre feeling the love but you surely will leave saying “I’m hungry!”.