The Blu Spot

The Film: It's hard to believe that it's already been 25 years since the original "The Fast and the Furious" was released in theaters. What most critics seemed to dismiss as a silly little car flick was quite heavily embraced by the public, who not only enjoyed its exciting action sequences & undercover cop narrative, but also made it a rather large hit that saw it grossing over $200 million worldwide (about six times its production budget). Little did anyone know that it wou

The Film: Nate Bargatze is a comedian whose name you probably haven't heard of, but for more than two decades, his career has seen him doing stand-up in clubs and on a few different talk shows, appearances that eventually gave him the chance to make a few specials for various networks (one of which earned him a pair of Emmy nominations). This success even led him to release a movie earlier this year entitled "The Breadwinner," which he co-wrote, co-produced, and stars in. Sad

The Film: Writer Craig Mazin has quite a fascinating filmography to his name that includes such goofy films as the third & fourth "Scary Movie" entries, as well as the second & third films of "The Hangover" trilogy. However, when it comes to his few television credits, we find far more refined material such as his incredible "Chernobyl" miniseries, which earned him two Emmys, and the marvelous "The Last of Us," which earned him a WGA Award & three additional Emmy nominations.

The Film: Back in 1998, an odd little romantic fantasy called "Practical Magic" was released. Based on the popular 1995 novel by Alice Hoffman, it boasted a star-studded cast, but for one reason or another, it failed to connect with critics, who heavily panned it, and audiences, who didn't exactly turn up in droves to see it, which lead to box office disappointment. However, like many films that aren't appreciated upon first release, it found new life on home video, growing i

The Film: As we've seen over the last several decades of cinema, single-location films are one of the hardest feats to pull off in regards to having strong enough characters & engaging enough writing to keep the story compelling enough for its entire duration. For some films, it can get even more complicated, especially when you have a plethora of characters in that one location, which brings us to Richard Sale's somewhat obscure survival picture "Abandon Ship!" (aka "Seven D

The Film: In May 2004, Wolfgang Petersen's epic "Troy," his rendition of the famous "Trojan War," was unleashed in theaters to rather harsh reviews, with many praising the performances, but criticizing its unfaithful telling of Homer's "Iliad." However, despite the reception from the pedantic critics, the film was fully embraced by the public, who not only made it a box office smash to the tune of nearly $500 million worldwide, but also thoroughly enjoyed it, as evident by mu

The Film: Back in late 1994, a little animated film called "The Swan Princess," loosely based on Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake" ballet, was released to mixed reviews and very little fanfare. Indeed, word of mouth at the time was not great, with the film doing rather poorly at the box office with a take of just under $10 million. However, most seem to believe that the reason for its under-performance was due to the overcrowding of big, popular films that season, including "The Sant

The Film: Director Tim Burton, a filmmaker who has become quite synonymous with dark & macabre tales, has delivered a number of classics over the decades, including "Batman," "Beetlejuice," "Edward Scissorhands," "Sleepy Hollow," and "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street." However, despite his reputation for making somewhat dark movies, he has also given us a few lighter projects along the way like "Pee-wee's Big Adventure," "Ed Wood," and "Big Eyes." An entry in th

The Film: Writer/director Damian McCarthy, who had primarily been known for making short films up until recently, gave us his first feature in 2020 with "Caveat," an effort that received a mixed reception, but was enough to lead to his next project, "Oddity" in 2024. It received better reviews, but in all honesty, it wasn't a particularly memorable horror outing, though it continued to show that he had some potential as a filmmaker. This brings us to his latest effort, "Hokum

The Film: There are very few entertainers in the history of music that have reached the level of superstardom that the great Elvis Presley achieved. With incredibly popular hits like "Love Me Tender," "Jailhouse Rock," and "Hound Dog," his songs (and renditions of others' songs) have delighted & entertained millions around the world for the past 70 years, and as we've recently seen, have captivated the mind of filmmaker Baz Luhrmann, who gave us a biopic of The King back in 2