The Blu Spot

As another year comes to a close, it’s time to look back on the best films of these last 12 months. As usual, there were a number of big awards films that made the list, while there were a few earning big praise that I merely thought were decent ("The Shape of Water," "The Post," "Lady Bird"), but not particularly top ten material. However, there were still plenty of great films to choose from, and I think it's fair to say that the following list shows just how amazing a year of cinema 2017 was, so let's get right to it. 10. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 – In a year that saw superhero films range from decent (“Logan”) to “meh” (“Wonder Woman”) to downright awful (“Justice League”), it comes

The Film: The release of a Christopher Nolan film has become nothing short of an event. There are very few directors working today who command such respect, but ever since he made it big with “Batman Begins” (while many others knew him well before that for his brilliant “Memento”), audiences have anxiously awaited whatever project he has chosen to do next. Because of his incredible clout, not only have we gotten the greatest set of comic book films in cinematic history (“The Dark Knight Trilogy”), but also a number of other unforgettable works like “The Prestige,” “Inception” (his only film to date that’s been nominated for the Best Picture Oscar), and “Interstellar” (an ambitious project th

Upon the release of J.J. Abrams’ “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” I was moderately excited for a new film in the franchise after the decade-long absence. I’m a fan of the series for the most part, having liked almost all of the films, so a new trilogy under a new studio and different writers/directors sounded like it could be something special. While I enjoyed Abrams’ film enough, there wasn’t really any getting around the fact that he had basically remade “A New Hope” with some new characters thrown in. However, at the very least, it freed up the franchise and opened the door to allow writer/director Rian Johnson to take it in any number of new directions, which brings us to the latest entry

The Screen Actors Guild has just announced their nominations this morning and, as usual, there are quite a few unexpected inclusions and omissions. Probably the biggest surprise of the entire list is the complete omission of Steven Spielberg's "The Post," which was expected to be included in Cast, Actor (Tom Hanks), and Actress (Meryl Streep). Instead, they've delivered surprise nominees such as Judi Dench in "Victoria & Abdul" and Denzel Washington in "Roman J. Israel, Esq." Another big swap occurred with the omission of Armie Hammer for "Call Me by Your Name" in Supporting Actor, with Steve Carell unexpectedly getting a nod for "Battle of the Sexes" instead. It was also a little surprising

The nominations for the 75th Annual Golden Globe Awards have just been announced, and as usual, there were a few surprises to be found sprinkled throughout the 14 film categories. Leading the pack was Guillermo del Toro's "The Shape of Water," which earned seven nominations, including Best Picture (Drama), Best Director, and Best Screenplay. Not far behind were Martin McDonagh's "Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri" and Steven Spielberg's "The Post" with six, including Best Picture (Drama), Best Director, and Best Screenplay. I suppose the biggest shocker of all is finding Sir Ridley Scott's "All the Money in the World" making a great appearance with three nods (Director, Actress (Dram

It was a very eventful day for award season as the Boston Society of Film Critics, Toronto Film Critics Association, New York Film Critics Online, and the San Francisco Film Critics Circle all announced their year-end picks for cinematic achievement in 2017. Boston named "Phantom Thread" the Best Film of 2017. Additionally, the film received Best Director for Paul Thomas Anderson and Best Original Score for Jonny Greenwood. Toronto and San Francisco both named "The Florida Project" as their top pick, with both groups also giving the film Best Supporting Actor for Willem Dafoe. New York came up with a tie for Best PIcture between "The Florida Project" and "Mudbound," while also giving the for

The Los Angeles Film Critics Association has just finished announcing their awards, declaring the outstanding romantic drama "Call Me By Your Name" to be the Best Film of 2017. The film also tied for Best Director and received Best Actor for Timothee Chalamet's marvelous performance. As far as surprises go, there weren't too many to be found. Willem Dafoe continues his Best Supporting Actor streak for his decent performance in "The Florida Project," which is kind of odd given that there are several more memorable performances out there to choose from (including Sam Rockwell and Woody Harrelson in "Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri" and Armie Hammer in "Call Me By Your Name"), but it