By Andrew Italia. Italia is a Quince Orchard High School graduate and MoCo resident. When he was in college at the University of Maryland, he was the movie critic for The Maryland Diamondback. During his time as the movie critic, he began making Oscar predictions for all 24 categories. His all-time record is 21 out of 24, but he usually falls in the 18-20 range. Below is his Top 12 movie list for 2024. For more movies on Twitter/X, see @Italia_budo
The Frederick-Gaithersburg-Bethesda region has once again been recognized as one of the most arts-vibrant communities in the United States, marking a decade of consistent national recognition. SMU DataArts, the National Center for Arts Research, released its 10th annual Arts Vibrancy Index ranking and placed the Frederick-Gaithersburg-Bethesda region at No. 24 among 100 core based statistical areas for 2025.
Quincy’s Golf & Social has officially opened at 245 Kentlands Boulevard in Gaithersburg, taking over the space formerly occupied by Not Your Average Joe’s in the Kentlands. Our very own “Mr. MoCo” Alex Tsironis stopped by to support during opening week and a video of the experience can be seen below.
Rockville entrepreneurs Tiffany and Chris McCasland, co-founders of The Chair Blanket, appeared on ABC’s Shark Tank Wednesday night, where they secured a deal with investor Robert Herjavec.
iSMASH, a rage room and entertainment concept built around stress relief and hands-on fun, is coming to The Square in Rockville.
A decades-old television prank involving Maryland resident Pat Sajak is going viral again online, nearly 18 years after it first aired. During an April 1, 2008 episode of Wheel of Fortune, Sajak addressed long-running viewer speculation that he wore a hairpiece. At the start of the show, he told the audience he had a secret to reveal and asked longtime co-host Vanna White to help him “unveil” it (video below).
Montgomery Parks is inviting the public to experience the beauty of North America’s waterfowl through a special art exhibit opening this week in Wheaton.
Ocean City’s biggest beach party is back. Oceans Calling Festival will return to the Ocean City Boardwalk September 25 to 27, 2026, bringing another star-studded lineup and three full days of music directly onto the sand. Since launching in 2022 in partnership with O.A.R., the festival has quickly grown into one of the East Coast’s premier music destinations.
A major influencer basketball event is coming to Silver Spring this spring as the J.Addo Birthday Basketball Classic tips off on Saturday, April 25, 2026, from 2pm-6pm at John F. Kennedy High School.
A social media interview making the rounds this week has officially crowned Montgomery County as “the best” county in Maryland, according to none other than Captain Maryland himself (video below).
Montgomery County native Joe Tippett is continuing his upward climb on television, this time with a starring role in Apple TV+’s Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, a series set within the MonsterVerse franchise.