January 11th, 2015
The BAFTA nominations were announced yesterday and unlike most other Awards Season voters, the BAFTA voters gave us some real surprises. For instance, Birdman didn't lead the way. In fact, it was a comedy, The Grand Budapest Hotel, that earned the most nominations at 11. Granted, Birdman and The Theory of Everything were tied for second place with ten each, but it is still strange to see a comedy leading the way.
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December 6th, 2014
The Independent Spirit Awards nominations were announced last week and I'm getting to them a little late, because I needed to organize the whole Awards Season stories. Firstly, I've decided to use the year the movies were released not the year the awards are handed out, unlike what we did last year. This means both will have 2014 as the year. Not ideal, but it is better to fix the mistake now than carry on making it. Secondly, the headlines are just going to be the name of the Awards and either nominations or winners. This will make it easier for readers to find later on. As for the Independent Spirit Awards nominations, Birdman led the way with 6 nods, while Boyhood, Nightcrawler, and Selma were right behind with 5 each.
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July 14th, 2014
There is actually a $100 million hit on this week's list of new releases, which puts it miles ahead of most of recent weeks. Unfortunately, that new release is Rio 2, which isn't terrible, but it certainly isn't Pick of the Week material either. Worse still, there is practically no depth this week and almost none of the new DVDs / Blu-rays are Pick of the Week contenders. Fortunately, "Weird Al" Yankovic comes to the rescue with Mandatory Fun, which is a CD, which I normally don't talk about. As far as DVDs and Blu-rays are concerned, Orphan Black: Season 2 on Blu-ray is clearly the best.
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July 14th, 2014
Under the Skin stars Scarlett Johansson, which gave the film a lot more star power than most limited releases have. On the other hand, the premise was a little out there, so much so that it really never had a shot at expanding significantly. It managed $2.5 million, which is great, especially considering so far this year only three limited releases have topped $10 million (The Grand Budapest Hotel, Chef, and very recently Belle). Does the film work as an art house film? Will it please more mainstream audiences?
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May 14th, 2014
It was a good week on the per theater chart with five films in the $10,000 club, led by Chef with an average of $34,160 in six theaters, which is the third best opening average of the year so far. Palo Alto was well back, but was still strong earning an average of $15,865 in four theaters. The overall box office leader, Neighbors, was next with an average of $14,954. There were also a couple of holdovers in the $10,000 club, which is impressive. Ida held on strong earning an average of $12,223 in seven theaters, with room to keep growing. Belle expanded from 4 theaters to 45 theaters, but still managed an average of $10,825. By this time next week, it will have reached its first major milestone, with more to come.
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April 23rd, 2014
Fading Gigolo debuted on top of the per theater chart with an average of $36,160 in five theaters. This is the second best per theater average for a 2014 release behind The Grand Budapest Hotel. Granted, it was well behind that film, but still in second place. Also, given the film's reviews, it won't last very long at the box office. The only other film to reach the $10,000 club was Godzilla: The Original Japanese Version, which celebrated its 60th anniversary with $10,903 in one theater.
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April 13th, 2014
When Friday's numbers came in, the consensus was that Rio 2 would take the weekend, but relatively weak Saturday numbers for the debutant, and strength through the weekend for Captain America: The Winter Soldier, means that the final weekend estimates on Sunday morning point towards a win for Marvel's superheroes. Captain America is projected to earn $41.4 million over three days for a domestic total around $159 million after two weekends. That's well ahead of the original's $117 million at this stage in its release, and the film's worldwide box office will better the first film's final global total by the end of the weekend too. Rio 2, meanwhile, will have an opening weekend almost identical to Rio, which is a slight disappointment, but hardly a disaster.
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April 8th, 2014
Under the Skin opened surprisingly well with a per theater average of $33,289 in four theaters. This is the second best opening per theater average for any film released in 2014, well back of The Grand Budapest Hotel's record-breaking debut. The only other film in the $10,000 club was the overall box office leader, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which earned an average of $24,130 in nearly 4,000 theaters.
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April 6th, 2014
The evolution of the Avengers universe is working out very well for Disney. In November, Thor enjoyed a bump from $65 million to $85 million on opening weekend (and an almost $200 million boost in final worldwide box office). Now, Captain American: Winter Soldier is topping the first movie in its sub-franchise by $30 million or so on opening weekend, with a projected total of $96.2 million, compared to $65 million last time around. With excellent reviews, and a better global launch, we could be looking at another $600 million in the bank before this one is finished. Into the bargain, the film will easily be the record weekend in April, comfortably ahead of the $86 million earned by Fast Five back in 2011.
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April 4th, 2014
It is a busy week, not only in terms of quantity, but also quality. There are seven films earning 80% positive reviews or higher (at least when I checked last). Some of these, like Afflicted, probably won't find an audience in theaters, because it is just the wrong genre. Others, like The Unknown Known and Watermark, might do well for the genre, but won't find any real measure of mainstream success. On the other hand, Under the Skin and Alan Partridge might find audiences in theaters.
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