The Blu Spot

The Film: In 2024, director Jon M. Chu delivered the first half of what turned out to be a marvelous adaptation of the smash Broadway hit "Wicked," one that earned massive critical acclaim, ten Oscar nominations (including Best Picture), and raked in a stunning $758 million at the box office. Great musicals seem to be more and more rare at the theater nowadays, so getting one that hit all of the right notes was certainly a pleasant & delightful surprise. Now Chu & co. are bac

The nominations for the 32nd annual Screen Actors Guild Awards have just been announced, and as usual, we have a few surprises in the mix. What was no surprise was finding Paul Thomas Anderson's "One Battle After Another" on top with seven nominations, followed closely behind by Ryan Coogler's "Sinners" with five. Guillermo del toro's "Frankenstein" made a surprise appearance in Cast, with additional nominations in Supporting Actor and Stunt Ensemble, replacing assumed nomine

With 2025 about to wrap up, it's time once again to delve into the best films I had the pleasure of seeing this year, so let's get right to it... 10. Dead Man's Wire - Gus Van Sant's "Dead Man's Wire" is a tense & compelling look at a real-life hostage situation in 1977 in which a disgruntled client of a mortgage firm wired a shotgun to the head of the president of the company and made demands. Austin Kolodney's screenplay unfurls the events quite skillfully and at a pretty

The Hollywood Foreign Press has just announced their nominations for the 83rd Annual Golden Globes, and it comes as no surprise to find that Paul Thomas Anderson's "One Battle After Another" leads the way with nine nods, followed closely by Joachim Trier's "Sentimental Value" with eight. As usual, there were a few surprises, including the shocking omission of "Wicked: For Good" in Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy, where "Blue Moon" and "Nouvelle Vague" made surprise ap