ONE TO WATCH: If there’s one local filmmaker who went this year from complete unknown to The Next Big Thing, it’s Ya’ke Smith. The UT-Arlington professor debuted his film Wolf at SXSW before taking it to the Dallas International Film Festival and several other fests around the country. (For more on Wolf, take a listen to my April story on the film.) In his travels, he’s grabbed the attention of the national media as well. NPR has named Wolf one of its “10 Films Worth Going Out of Your Way For.” I concur.

THE YEAR IN THEATER: The last few weeks of December is without a doubt the listiest time of the year. There will certainly be other year-in-theater lists to come, but we’ll start the parade with Front Row’s roundup. The list is in no particular order, but congratulations to Theatre Three for being the only company to land two shows on the list – Superior Donuts and Avenue Q (which is technically at Theatre Too, but let’s not allow a flight of stairs to stand in the way of distinction).

QUOTABLE: “I have such a love for the sound of the strings, and I’ve always said, ‘When you come to the show, it’s the sounds of heaven.’ When I sing some of my power ballads, and I hear the strings behind me, I’m in heaven. I almost levitate, because I’m just basking in the glory of the sound that’s behind me.”

– Wynonna Judd, speaking with dfw.com about her performance tonight with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra.