Cinema Spotlights

Thursday, February 27, 2020

Cinema Spotlight VIII- Leigh Whannell (Part 2): "Upgrade"

Insidious Chapter 3 gave a small dosage of body horror during the film's climax as the evil ghost became flesh by taking possession of a living human body. Adding to the creep factor is that despite the body's serious injury of two broken legs, the ghoul is able to walk with no problem. Whannell makes this the center piece for in his next film as it stems away from the paranormal and into the technological...

Monday, February 24, 2020

Cinema Spotlight VIII - Leigh Whannell (Part 1): "Insidious: Chapter 3"

Stefanie Scott (known for her Queen Bee role on Disney Channel's A.N.T. Farm) 
as Quinn Brenner in Insidious Chapter 3.
Before he was trapped by Jigsaw with Cary Elwes, Leigh Whannell dreamed of being a story-teller whether as an actor or a writer. He got his chance while attending college in his home county of Australia where he met best friend and future collaborator James Wan. During the years that lead to the creation of Saw, Whannell served as a film critic on a television program called Recovery (think of it as Australia's version of nineties MTV). Fun Fact: Angus Sampson was among the cast and a writer of the show who would work with Whannell again in the Insidious movies as the ghost-tracking duo Specs and Tucker.

Tuesday, February 18, 2020

Sonic the Hedgehog: A Serviceable Sega Story.


If you recall in my Angry Birds 2 review, video game movies don't have a good track record. The late 2000's through the 2010's opted a more serious approach but fell short with the likes Max Payne, Silent Hill, War Craft and Assassin's Creed. Tomb Raider and Rampage came close but were still a little far-off. It wasn't until last year that Detective Pikachu and Angry Birds 2 seemingly broke the curse as the first video game films to get positive feedback. Could Sonic the Hedgehog do the same or should Illumination cancel the Mario film while they still can?

Top 5 Films of 2023

Another year and the Oscars have come and gone! Congratulations to  Oppenheimer  for winning the big awards including Best Picture, Best Sup...