The Blu Spot

Once again we find ourselves at the end of another long year filled to the brim with all kinds of different films. Just like in any other year, there were a few that didn't quite live up to their reputation, but there were still plenty of great films to choose from, so at long last, here are my picks for the ten best films of 2018: 10. Three Identical Strangers – Starting off the list is one of the best documentaries of the year, “Three Identical Strangers.” On its outset, it

After “Justice League” came out last year to a disastrous reception from critics and fans alike, it was hoped that DC would put the brakes on their current slate in hopes of finally taking the time to figure out just what was going wrong with their releases. After all, there were clear problems with duds like “Suicide Squad” and “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” and with another disaster like “Justice League,” clearly something needed to be done to fix the continuous prob

If you've seen this morning's Screen Actors Guild nominations, then you know there was quite a major shakeup involving several shocking snubs and surprise appearances, so let's take a look at the biggest ones and what it means for the rest of awards season. First off, "The Favourite" was shockingly left out of Best Cast (in favor of the undeserving "Bohemian Rhapsody") after having won a multitude of awards in this category for the past few weeks. Now, it's always possible th

The Screen Actors Guild has just finished announcing their nominations for 2018, and to say that there were a few surprises would be the understatement of the year. First off, the single biggest shock of the morning was finding "The Favourite," which had been winning Ensemble awards all over the place, left out of the Best Cast category, where it was the assumed frontrunner. It was somehow replaced by either "Bohemian Rhapsody," which merely has one memorable performance from

It was a big day for film critics awards today, with the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the New York Film Critics Online, the Toronto Film Critics Association, and the San Francisco Film Critics Circle all announcing their year-end picks. The fascinating thing here is that all four groups were in agreement, naming Alfonso Cuaron's "Roma" as the best film of 2018. New York and Toronto also awarded the film Best Director, while Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco al

It seems like we've been waiting for an absurdly long amount of time for our first look at the new "Avengers" film, but at long last, Marvel Studios has finally dropped the first official trailer for the film this morning, and it certainly doesn't disappoint. When last we saw our heroes, things were not going quite so well. The battle with Thanos had resulted in half the living creatures in existence being wiped out, including several of The Avengers, so understandably the tr

This morning's Golden Globe nominations were a lot to take in, with plenty of surprise inclusions and snubs, so let's take a look at a few and what this means for these films' Oscar chances. First off, "Vice" topping the list was entirely unexpected, with the film taking six major nominations (Picture, Director, Screenplay, Actor, Supporting Actor, and Supporting Actress). They clearly loved the film, but will it actually win any of these awards? For the supporting categories

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has just announced the nominees for their annual Golden Globe Awards, and as usual, there are plenty of surprises to be found among them. For starters, I don't think anyone could have predicted that Adam McKay's Dick Cheney biopic, "Vice," would be leading the way with six nods, including Best Picture (Comedy/Musical), Best Director, Best Screenplay, and three acting nominations. Several films followed right behind with five, including

The Film: The “Conjuring” series of films and spinoffs has been a series of hits and misses thus far, with there being an unfortunate leaning towards the misses. The original franchise started on a very shaky note, with a bland, dull, scareless, and overly-long entry that failed to provide the frightening experience it desperately wanted to give to audiences, while the second film miraculously managed to improve in just about every area. Meanwhile, the “Annabelle” films tried

The Show: HBO took an awfully big gamble when they green-lit “Westworld” for its first season in 2016. After all, who knew how the public was going to react to a slick and sophisticated reimagining of a small sci-fi film from the 70s. Luckily for them, the risk paid off with an opening season that, despite taking a little too long to get a move on, ended up weaving together some intriguing storylines into a compelling mystery that made the wait worthwhile. Before the first se