The Blu Spot

The Film: After six seasons of the marvelous hit television program and two decent feature films, creator Julian Fellowes is finally bringing the world of "Downton Abbey" to a close with the aptly-titled "Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale." It's been a long road to get to this point, and we've seen quite a lot of ups & downs with this vast ensemble of characters, but now it's time to say goodbye as they head into a new era marked with many personal changes that will take a fair

The Film: There was understandably a fair amount of apprehension when it was announced that there was going to be a reboot of the classic comedy "The Naked Gun," a film that is still highly-revered to this day and which was executed so brilliantly thanks to its amusing gags & the remarkable talents of the legendary Leslie Nielsen. That sense of concern was only elevated when it was additionally announced that Liam Neeson, known most recently for the action films he's made ove

The Film: Back in 2021, Sian Heder's "CODA" (Child of Deaf Adults) premiered at Sundance to decent reviews, but not a particularly high amount of fanfare. However, little did anyone know that in just a little over a year, it would be claiming the Oscar for Best Picture (along with Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor for Troy Kotsur), shattering several major stats on its amazing journey to victory, including having only three nominations in total (no film had wo

The Film: In 1981, a little sci-fi thriller called "Outland" was released into theaters from writer/director Peter Hyams, who had previously given us similar genre films like "Capricorn One," and would go on to deliver other sci-fi & horror outings like "2010: The Year We Make Contact," "The Relic," and "End of Days." "Outland" wasn't exactly a hit with the critics, though it did receive positive notices from The New York Times & Variety, and performed respectably at the box

The Show: Without a doubt, one of the very best writers to come along in the business over the last few decades is the great Aaron Sorkin, who has garnered massive critical acclaim for writing extraordinary film projects like "The Social Network," "Moneyball" (co-written with Steven Zaillian), "Molly's Game," and "The Trial of the Chicago 7," all four of which earned him Oscar nominations and a win for "The Social Network." However, his work has not been restricted to film, w

The Film: A little over 50 years ago, a little gangster thriller called "Get Carter," starring the great Sir Michael Caine, was released in theaters. Over the decades, opinions of the film have varied quite a bit, with many having a mixed reaction to it, and many others considering it to be one of the finest films of its genre ever made. Wherever one may fall on the spectrum, there's no doubt that the film has quite a few fans, so for them, Warner Bros. recently unleashed a n

The Film: Renowned master of horror John Carpenter has been known for a number of memorable works throughout his incredible career, including "Halloween," "The Thing," and "The Fog," but one of his later works that seemed to slip through the cracks was his 1994 supernatural thriller "In the Mouth of Madness." It was another one of those films that didn't exactly wow critics at the time, and hardly made a dent at the box office, but in the 30 years since its release, there hav

The Film: It's impossible to overstate the important impact of Hammer Films as a major stage in the history of horror cinema. Their numerous classic films, which primarily involved beloved horror stories like "Dracula," "Frankenstein," and "The Mummy," had their own distinct look & feel that created rich atmospheres to go along with their well-known tales, leaving behind an incredible legacy of entertaining & absorbing works that continue to delight audiences to this day. Wit

The Film: Actor Riz Ahmed has had a rather remarkable last few years, not only earning an Oscar nomination for his incredible performance in "Sound of Metal," but also winning one for his short film "The Long Goodbye." While it may seem like he hasn't been around as much lately, the truth is that he remains hard at work in smaller films like "Encounter" and "Fingernails," while also taking on small parts in major films like Wes Anderson's "The Phoenician Scheme." Another one

The Film: Between 2011 and 2017, three different "Smurfs" films were brought to the big screen, attempting to keep alive the spirit of the beloved comics from the '50s, which were most famously turned into a popular cartoon series that ran for nine seasons between 1981 and 1989. Sadly, the recent films were not received very well by critics, but that hardly stopped them from being rather successful at the box office, with the first of them grossing well over half a billion do