Cinema Spotlight VIII - Leigh Whannell (Part 3): "The Invisible Man"

Cecilia "Cee" Kass (Elizabeth Moss) unaware that
someone is watching her.  

Since the success of The Mummy films starring Brendan Fraser, Universal has tried to revive their classic monster movies with no avail from Van Helsing, The Wolfman and Dracula Untold, Not even a third attempt of a mummy movie from Tomb of the Dragon Emperor or the Tom Cruise starring vehicle, that was meant to jump start a cinematic Dark Universe. Had the Dark Universe proceeded as planned, Johnny Depp would have been next in line to portray the Invisible Man but since that ship sunk, Universal pushes the reboot button once again with the project now in the hands of Leigh Whannell.

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.

Cinema Spotlight II – Taika Waititi (Part 6): ‘Jojo Rabbit’

Jojo (Roman Griffin Davis) talking with Adolf (Taikia Waititi).

This isn't the first comedy to lampoon the Nazi Party. From Charlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator, The Producers from Mel Brooks, even cartoon characters like Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Donald Duck had their respective shorts in Herr Meets Hare, Daffy the Commando and Der Fuehrer's Face. Roberto Benigni's Life is Beautiful being the most recent and the only I believe that takes place during the Holocaust. Taikia Waititi gives his take in this loose adaptation of Christine Leunens' bittersweet novel.  

Cinema Spotlight VII - Andrés Muschietti (Part 3): "It: Chapter Two"

The general consensus with the It mini-series is that Part Two isn't as good as Part One. The less said about that spider, the better. With the same team, lead by Andy Muschietti, can they bring the same quality from Chapter One and greatly improve in the second chapter of the Losers club?

Cinema Spotlight VII - Andrés Muschietti (Part 2): "It"

Two weeks before production on It began, the movie's original director, Emmy-award winner Cary Fukunaga (Beasts of No Nation & True Detective) left the project due to creative differences and studio disagreements. When news reached Andy Muschietti, he immediately jumped in for the opportunity, having been a lifelong Stephen King fan and read It in his early teens. The studio gave him five days to come with a pitch, and in those five days he re-read the novel, utilized Fukunaga's script, presented his pitch, and the rest was history.

Cinema Spotlight VII - Andrés Muschietti (Part 1): Mama

Jessica Chastain as Annabel 

Early in his career, Andy Muschietti made commercials in his home country of Argentina with his real passion being cinema. He snagged some odd jobs in show business from public relations to assistant director; one in particular was as a set production assistant on the Madonna musical Evita. He moved to Spain and collaborated with his sister Barbara Muschietti in advertisement; still looking for the chance to make his motion picture break.

Cinema Spotlight VI - Jon Favreau (Part 8): "Chef"

Emjay Anthony as Percy, Jon Favreau as Carl Casper, & Sofia Vergara as Inez.

When I think of Jon Favreau's best work, I think of Swingers, Made and Chef. Movies where Favreau serves as writer, director and lead actor. The characters he inhabits are sad sacks going through a personal crisis. As Mike Peters in Swingers, he's a comedian trying to make it in Hollywood while going through a break-up. In Made, he's Bobby Ricigliano, a boxer working with the mob to support his family. 

Cinema Spotlight VI - Jon Favreau (Part 7): "Cowboys & Aliens"

I am Iron Man-I mean James Bond-I mean Zeke Jackson, no wait.....

Indiana Jones, James Bond, Quorra, Justin Hammer, the Last Airbender, and Mr. Krabs, fighting aliens in the wild, wild, west? With Jon Favreau directing and Ron Howard, Brian Grazer and Steven Spielberg producing? Sign me in!

Cinema Spotlight VI - Jon Favreau (Part 10): "The Lion King"

I re-watched the original Lion King the night before watching the live-action remake. (I know that technically it's not live-action since everything from the settings and characters are created with computer generated effects but for the sake of this review, I'm calling live-action). The Lion King was another childhood movie I grew up watching in Spanish. I'd seen the sequels, spin-offs, sing-alongs, and television shows in English but never the original until that night. The animation is gorgeous, the songs are unforgettable, and the characters are memorable. Is it any wonder why it rank's high as one of Disney's best?

Cinema Spotlight VI - Jon Favreau (Part 6): "Iron Man 2"

Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man

As the first hero to reveal his secret identity, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) has no regrets of his new superheros status. But behind the parties, drinking, self-promoting and self-confidence, the arc reactor that keep's him alive and powers his Iron Man suit, is slowly poisoning him. With no luck on procuring a cure, his days seem to be numbered among other problems. 

Cinema Spotlight VI - Jon Favreau (Part 5): "Iron Man"

Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man

By the mid-2000's, Marvel was in a bit of a rut. Their movies weren't doing well as they used to from Fantastic 4, Elektra, The Punisher and Ghost Rider. Even the greats like Spider-Man, X-Men and Blade didn't fare well with many on their third entries. When Kevin Feige, a producer who had been present since the first X-Men movie, became the new President of Marvel, he had a risky plan that could help the struggling studio 

Cinema Spotlight VI - Jon Favreau (Part 4): "Zathura"

You can't discuss Zathura without discussing Chris Vans Allsburg. Writer and illustrator for many children books such as The Garden of Abdul Gasazi, Ben’s Dream and The Widow's Broom. His most popular work are Jumanji and The Polar Express, both having been adapted into feature films. In 2002, Allsburg published Zathura, serving as the long-awaited sequel to Jumanji, published back in 1981; this time, the game takes the players into outer space.  

Cinema Spotlight VI - Jon Favreau (Part 3): "Elf"

Will Ferrell as Buddy.

Swingers gave Jon Favreau a taste of working behind-the-camera. With Made he had full control, and applied all he had learned from watching other directors. With one movie down, Favreau proved that he could direct and appeal to the adult audiences, but could he do the same with the younger crowd? That's why for his next film, Favreau wished to do a family-friendly project; a Christmas movie to be exact. It came down between two comedies: one was about an obnoxious millionaire who pays a family to spend Christmas with him or a human who is raised by elves in Santa's workshop who searches for his real family. You can guess the rest.

Cinema Spotlight VI - Jon Favreau (Part 2): "Made"

Bobby Ricigliano and Ricky Slade

Thanks to Swingers, Jon Favreau nabbed more acting jobs in mainly supporting roles in movies (The Replacements & Deep Impact) and especially television; guest-starring in such programs like Friends, Disney's Hercules, Dilbert, The Sopranos, and Buzz Lightyear of Star Command. While the acting gig was fairly well, Favreau loved watching the director at work and learning a few tips like filming certain shots and working with actors; from his early his days on Rudy with David Anspaugh, his breakout role in Swingers with Doug Liman, to more recent work like The Wolf of Wall Street with Martin Scorsese. At the dawn of the new century, Favreau began working on another script that was reminiscent of his first screenplay with him and his old pal Vince Vaughn once again in the lead roles.

Cinema Spotlight VI - Jon Favreau (Part 1): "Swingers"

Mike Peters and Trent Walker arriving in Vegas

Jon Favreau lived as an inprov comedian in Chicago; he got his first bout in show business when he landed a part in the sports/drama Rudy. This prompted him to move to LA and pursue an acting career. The bad news was that he had little success on securing any roles. The good news was meeting new friends who like him, were actors looking for work; among them was Vince Vaughn whom Favreau previously knew from Rudy. With no luck on the acting gig, Favreau turned to screenwriting and started typing away.

Cinema Spotlight V - David F. Sandberg (Part 3): "Shazam!"

Freddy (Jack Dylan Grazer) marveling at the new powers of Billy (Zachery Levi) in Shazam form. 

James Wan and David F. Sandberg got their start with a popular horror short. They adapted it into a feature film, premiered with positive results, and commenced their frightening filmography. One of their films, included a creepy doll from a horror franchise that earned them more recognition. Their partnership with Warner Bros. added to that, and with the DC Extended Universe trying to recuperate, both were brought on board. James Wan's Aquaman became a success but could Sandberg deliver the same results?

Cinema Spotlight V - David F. Sandberg (Part 2): "Annabelle: Creation"

Impressed by his work on Lights Out, James Wan offered David F. Sandberg his next movie that would set in the Conjuring Universe. An offer, Sandberg was hesitant to accept seeing the bad reputation of Horror sequels. It didn't help that the proposed project would be another Anabelle movie, with the last one to star the demented doll being widely despised. But when told that it would be a standalone prequel and have little to no connection to its predecessors, he accepted.

Cinema Spotlight V - David F. Sandberg (Part 1): "Lights Out"

Born in Jönköping, Sweden, David F. Sandberg's passion for cinema began when working at a video rental store in his late teens. Since then, he has made various shorts, commercials, and documentaries; many submitted in film festivals and uploaded on YouTube (goes by the name ponysmasher). One of his videos went viral that before he could say "I'm going to Hollywood," the Swedish YouTuber got the call. What was it about this particular short that garnered such popularity to warrant a movie deal? Let's just say, you might want to keep the lights on for this. 

Cinema Spotlight IV - James Wan (Part 9): "Aquaman"

James Wan expressed interest in doing a superhero movie around the time he did the first Conjuring movie. Thanks to its success, Warner Bros. gave him the option to do either The Flash or Aquaman for his next project. Seeing how The Flash was a more popular character starring in several iterations including a popular TV show on The CW, Wan went with Aquaman. Outside of supporting roles in other forms of media, nothing had ever been done with the underwater warrior in the center spotlight. I can safely say that the choice paid off.

Cinema Spotlight IV - James Wan (Part 8): 'The Conjuring 2'

Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga).

Horror sequels are notorious for not being good as the first movie, but because the genre doesn't require that big of a budget, they are quick to make and still make enough money at the box-office. It doesn't help when most of the time, its not the same people who stay on board after the first installment. Perhaps the Saw movies would have benefited if James Wan stuck around as a director. It certainly helped the Insidious movies as he returned for the sequel with good results; even after passing the torch with the later chapters. Returning back to The Conjuring universe, Wan does it again.