February 24th, 2019
-2-News.jpg)
It’s Oscar night and we will be live blogging the show. We will announce the winners and have our reactions as they happen, while keeping track of how our readers did in predicting the outcomes.
More...
February 24th, 2019
-1-News.jpg)
It’s Oscar Day, and we will be live blogging the show. Before that, let’s take a last look at the nominations with a few annotations. in Italics are those that have received the most votes from our readers so far in our Oscar contest (which is open to new entries until noon, Pacific, today—enter now!). Bold films are those films I think will win. Meanwhile, those that are Underlined are those I want to win. Not all categories have underlined nominees, because not all categories have someone I’m cheering for, or because there are two nominees I couldn’t pick between. For example, I would be happy with half of the Best Picture nominees winning.
More...
February 20th, 2019
-1-News.jpg)
The fall smash hits and the Oscar contenders are starting to come out in full force, making it a great time on the home market. This week, we have one of the biggest hits of the fall, A Star is Born; one of the best movies of the year, Can You Ever Forgive Me?; and the Anime that arguably solidified Moe as powerhouse genre, K-ON: Complete Collection Premium Box Set. Of the three, I like K-ON the most, but I admit that price will scare away a lot of people, so Can You Ever Forgive Me? is the better choice for Pick of the Week.
More...
February 19th, 2019
With our annual Oscar Prediction contest underway, now is the best time to look at the nominees and try and figure out who the favorites are and which films should just feel honored to be nominated. Today we look at the two Screenwriting Categories, starting with Best Adapted Screenplay, which is not among the most competitive categories, but it isn’t inconceivable that there will be an upset.
More...
February 18th, 2019
-1-News.jpg)
The Writers Guild of America announced their winners last night and I don’t know what to say. None of the favorites won and two of the winners were not even nominated for Oscars.
More...
February 14th, 2019
-1-News.jpg)
With our annual Oscar Prediction contest underway, now is the best time to look at the nominees and try and figure out who the favorites are and which films should just feel honored to be nominated. This week we look at the four acting categories, ending with Best Lead Actress. In this category, there is an overwhelming favorite without an obvious runner up.
More...
February 12th, 2019
-1-News.jpg)
With our annual Oscar Prediction contest underway, now is the best time to look at the nominees and try and figure out who the favorites are and which films should just feel honored to be nominated. This week we look at the four acting categories, continuing with Best Supporting Actor. In this category, there is a favorite, but an upset isn’t out of the question.
More...
February 5th, 2019
-1-News.jpg)
We are finally getting to the massive fall hits on the home market, as Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch hits the home market this week. It is the biggest release, but not the best. The Pick of the Week was a coin toss between Maquia: When The Promised Flower Blooms and Widows. In the end, the latter won, but both are worth buying.
More...
January 23rd, 2019
The Oscar nominations were announced yesterday starting at just after 5 am Pacific time. They do this every year for reasons no one has been able to adequately explain to me. Because it was the day after a long weekend, it took a bit of time to get all the normal work done and digest the results. And there were some interesting results to digest. No one film led the way with total nominations, as two films, The Favourite and Roma tied with 10 nominations each.
More...
January 12th, 2019
The BAFTA nominations were announced and The Favorite led the way with 12 nominations. Sometimes the BAFTAs are a really good indicator for who will do well on Oscar night. Other times their bias to British films is too much. I think this year will be an example of the latter and I don't think The Favourite is suddenly an Oscar favorite. That said, there’s still some things you can learn here.
More...
January 10th, 2019
The Writers Guild of America has a lot of categories, as they hand out nearly 30 awards. However, only three of them are for theatrical releases. The list of nominees include several major Awards Season players and not a lot of surprises. There are some clear patterns emerging, but also some surprising results.
More...
December 12th, 2018
-1-News.jpg)
The Screen Actors Guild were the third group to announce their nominations for this awards season. There’s not a lot of surprises on this week’s list. A Star is Born led the way with four nominations, while The Favourite was right behind with three.
More...
December 6th, 2018
-1-News.jpg)
The Golden Globes nominations are the second major Awards Season set to come out. It is still very early in the year and the predictive value of the Golden Globes is a little suspect, but there are still some things to learn here. For example Vice led the way with six nominations, so its Oscar chances have gone up, but don’t expect it to lead the way when the Oscars nominations are announced.
More...
November 29th, 2018
The Favourite had the best theater average, not only of the weekend, but of the year. It pulled in $422,000 in 4 theaters for an average of $105,603, putting it ahead of the previous leader for 2018, Suspiria. It is a lot more mainstream and shouldn’t have a problem expanding significantly beyond this point. Shoplifters was well back with an average of $17,853 in five theaters. The overall box office leader, Ralph Breaks The Internet, was next with an average of $14,000. The World Before Your Feet was the latest documentary to open in the $10,000 club earning an average of $11,241 in two theaters. The final film in the $10,000 club was also a wide release, Creed II, which earned an average of $10,338.
More...
November 20th, 2018
At Eternity’s Gate led the weekend chart with an average of $23,214 in four theaters. The overall box office leader, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, was next with an average of $14,932. Green Book debuted with an average of $12,817 in 25 theaters. This would normally be a good start for a limited release, especially one playing in 25 theaters. However, it isn’t good enough to justify a wide expansion on Wednesday.
More...
November 17th, 2018
The Independent Spirit Awards nominations were announced on Friday and thus the 2018 Awards Season begins. We The Animals topped the list with five nominations, while A24 earned 12 as a studio.
More...
November 14th, 2018
-2-News.jpg)
Chef Flynn debuted on top spot on the theater average chart with $29,869 in one theater. The overall box office chart leader, Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch, was next with an average of $16,318. The Front Runner followed with an average of $12,886 over the weekend. The film opened on Tuesday, which obviously had some negative effect of its weekend number, but even the full six-day result of $71,742 / $17,936 average isn’t enough to warrant a full wide expansion. El Angel was the final film in the $10,000 club with an average of $11,674 in two theaters.
More...
November 7th, 2018
-2-News.jpg)
Boy Erased led the way on the theater average chart earning an average of $41,411 in five theaters. This was nearly three times the second place film, A Private War, which earned an average of $15,123 in four theaters. The only other film in the $10,000 club was the overall box office leader, Bohemian Rhapsody, with an average of $12,765.
More...
October 31st, 2018
-1-News.jpg)
Suspiria led the theater average chart both over the weekend and for the year earning just over $180,000 in two theaters for an average of $92,019. This tops the previous average of $73,572 by Free Solo, although that movie was playing in four theaters. Up next was Can You Ever Forgive Me? with an average of $14,255 in 25 theaters during its second weekend of release. A couple of foreign-language films were next with Burning earning an average of $13,066 in two theaters and Border earning an average of $10,529 in seven.
More...
October 25th, 2018
-1-News.jpg)
Mid90s had a much better than expected start earning an average of $64,539 in four theaters. This is the third highest theater average of 2018 behind just Free Solo ($73,572 in four theaters) and Eighth Grade ($65,949 also in four theaters). On the other hand, its reviews are good, but not great, so it could struggle to expand wide. That said, I would be absolutely shocked if the film didn’t earn some measure of mainstream success after this start. Can You Ever Forgive Me? opened in second place with an average of $32,302 in five theaters. Its reviews are award-worthy, so it should have very long legs and if it actually picks up some major award nominations, it could expand truly wide. Wildlife also rode amazing reviews to an average of $26,147 in four theaters. The overall box office leader, Halloween, was next with an average of $19,405. The Price of Everything opened with $16,817 in one theater, while the re-release of Wings of Desire managed $12,885, also in one theater.
More...
October 21st, 2018
-4-News.jpg)
According to Universal’s numbers, Halloween is going to debut with $77.75 million over the weekend. This is by far the biggest opening in the franchise; in fact, it is the biggest worldwide hit in the franchise after just three days at the domestic box office. Its reviews are 80% positive, while it earned a B plus from CinemaScore, and both of those suggest better-than-average legs, for a horror film. Plus, with actual Halloween just 10 days away, it could hold better next weekend than it otherwise would. I don’t expect it to get to $200 million domestically, but it will become Universal’s second-biggest hit of 2018, at least so far. Internationally, the film looks to pull in $14.3 million in 23 markets. It wasn’t able to match its opening here in any major market, which isn’t surprising given its start here. It will come the closest in Mexico, as it is estimated to make $4.99 million over the weekend. It only managed second place in the U.K. with a projected $3.61 million over the weekend, which is equivalent to a $20 million opening here.
More...
October 20th, 2018
-3-News.jpg)
Before the weekend began, people were asking if Halloween would top The Nun for biggest opening weekend for a horror film released this year. After Friday, no one is asking that question anymore, because the answer is obviously going to be yes. The film pulled in $33.34 million during its opening day, meaning it is within striking distance of Venom’s record for biggest October weekend. Venom earned $32.50 million during its opening day. Additionally, Halloween has 81% positive reviews and a B plus from CinemaScore, which is great for a horror film. On the other hand, horror films do tend to have shorter legs than comic book movies, so Halloween is essentially a coin-toss to break the record. Universal is going with $80.3 million, so we likely won’t know the answer until Monday when the final numbers show up.
More...
October 19th, 2018
It’s an excellent week for limited releases with a trio of amazing films that have great star power as well. Can You Ever Forgive Me?, What They Had, and Wildlife all have a shot at box office success. Not to mention several documentaries, like On Her Shoulders, Sharkwater Extinction, Transformer, that could do well in limited release.
More...
March 19th, 2018
Real-life crime caper starring Melissa McCarthy and Richard E. Grant opens October 19 ... Full Movie Details.
The true story of best-selling celebrity biographer (and friend to cats) Lee Israel who made her living in the 1970’s and 80’s profiling the likes of Katharine Hepburn, Tallulah Bankhead, Estee Lauder and journalist Dorothy Kilgallen. When Lee is no longer able to get published because she has fallen out of step with current tastes, she turns her art form to deception, abetted by her loyal friend Jack.
More...
