February 26th, 2011
Independent Spirit Award hand out their nominations earlier than the other major awards, but don't hand out the hardware till the day before the Oscars. The long wait ended last night and Black Swan became the big winner sweeping the four categories it was nominated it. It wasn't the only winner of the night, however.
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February 20th, 2011
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 nominees should just feel honored to be nominated. This weekend we wrap things up and the final category is the most prestigious, Best Picture. With ten nominations, it's a crowded field; however, all but a couple of those are clearly long shots.
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February 13th, 2011
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 nominees should just feel honored to be nominated. This weekend we will look at the four acting categories, ending with Best Lead Actress, which is, while not exactly competitive, at least has a long shot with a shot.
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February 13th, 2011
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 weekend we will look at the four acting categories, with Best Supporting Actor, which is a two-horse race, if you want to be very generous.
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February 6th, 2011
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 Best Adapted Screenplay, which is one the categories that I think could give us a surprise. There's a favorite, and one or two that could pull off an upset.
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January 25th, 2011
The Oscar nominations were announced this morning, thus ending months of speculation. Along with a (very) few surprises, the list of nominees is mostly a case of Deja Vu. Leading the way, as it has so often this year, was The King's Speech, with 12 nominations, including six in seven of the most prestigious categories (Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, and the four acting categories). But it was far from the only multi-nominated film on the list.
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December 17th, 2010
The SAG nominations were handed out this week, and while there were a couple of interesting notes, overall there was a decided lack of surprises. The King's Speech and The Fighter led the way with four nominations each, while Black Swan and The Kids Are All Right were right behind with three. All four have been considered Awards Season players for a long time, so their success with SAG merely confirms that and is not shocking in the least.
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December 14th, 2010
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced their nominations early this morning, and there are some interesting surprises included in the mix. Leading the way was The King's Speech, which has long been seen as one of the major players this Awards Season. Meanwhile, The Fighter and The Social Network were right behind with six each. There were many, many other films nomination, including more than a few shocks. ... Mostly in one category.
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December 9th, 2010
Christmas shopping season continues, as does our Holiday Gift Guide. We started with Part I, which talked about the big first run releases, while Part II dealt with box sets and TV on DVD releases. This week we look at limited releases, foreign releases, and some old time classics, starting with...
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December 1st, 2010
The official arrival of winter is still a few weeks away, but Winter's Bone ushered in the start of Awards Season picking up seven Independent Spirit Award nominations. This was the most of any film, with The Kids Are All Right placing second with five.
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October 25th, 2010
Not exactly a busy week on the home market, as the biggest box office hit making its debut this week is Sex and the City 2, which I think is fair to call a disappointment at the box office. That doesn't mean there are no DVDs / Blu-rays that are worth picking up, including Winter's Bone on Blu-ray, which is this week's Pick of the Week.
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October 24th, 2010
Winter's Bone started in limited release back in June. Its reviews were so good, that at the time, I said they would be worthy of Awards Season buzz, if it were released during the winter. Turns out I may be right after all, as it picked up three Gotham Independent Awards nominations (Best Feature, Best Cast, and Breakout Actor) and this could be a portent of things to come. However, all this hype has raised expectations, perhaps it has raised them to unobtainable levels.
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August 24th, 2010
The Tillman Story led the way on the Per Theater Chart with an average of $13,046 in four theaters. Given its reviews, it could last a long time in theaters. Soul Kitchen was the only other film to reach the $10,000 mark with an average of $10,458 in two theaters.
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August 3rd, 2010
Get Low opened in first place on the per theater chart with an impressive average of $22,046.
I expect it will be able to expand significantly.
Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child was down barely more than 1% and added $17,226, while still playing in just one theater.
The final film to make the $10,000 club was The Concert with an average of $10,871 in two theaters.
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July 20th, 2010
The Kids are All Right continued to lead the way on the Per Theater Chart with a stunning average of $28,009 in 38 theaters that helped it earn more than $1 million over the weekend.
Its per theater average did fall 40%; however, its theater count rose from 7 to 38, so this is actually a very good result.
The only other film in the $10,000 club was the overall box office leader, Inception, with an average of $16,557.
That's a little below expectations, but if it holds really well, it might remain in the $10,000 club next week.
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July 13th, 2010
The Kids are All Right stunned box office analysts by earning nearly $500,000 in a mere seven theaters for an average of $70,282.
That's virtually unheard of.
I still look at that number and think, "Typo".
The only other confirmed entry in the $10,000 club was Despicable Me with an average of $16,225.
I say confirmed member, because it is likely that The Girl Who Played with Fire also earned an average of $10,000 in the United States; however, its weekend numbers included a number of theaters in Canada, where it has been playing for more than six months.
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June 29th, 2010
Restrepo opened in top spot on the per theater chart with an average of $17,791 in two theaters. This was just a hair above Cyrus' average of $17,719 during its second weekend of release. Further expansion is all but assured, as are at least a couple of earning milestones. Toy Story 3 remained in top spot on the overall chart, earning an average of $14,731. Meanwhile, a fellow wide release, Grown Ups, was the only other film in the $10,000 club, opening with an average of $11,462.
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June 20th, 2010
As expected, Toy Story 3 is dominating this weekend at the box office, and it is heading for a record opening for Pixar.
Disney is projecting a $109 million opening weekend, which is significantly ahead of the $70 million opening posted by The Incredibles back in 2004.
3D tickets sales and general ticket price inflation helped the cause, of course, but it's still a very impressive result, to go with Disney's success with Alice in Wonderland earlier in the year.
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June 14th, 2010
Limited releases haven't had a single major hit this summer so far, but that may have changed this weekend as there were a number of new releases that topped the $10,000 mark on the per theater chart. Leading the way was Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work with an average of $23,479 in seven theaters. Winter's Bone was next with an average of $21,222 in four theaters. Both films have a real shot at expansion. The Lottery was also strong, with an average of $16,435. The overall box office leader, The Karate Kid, was close behind with an average of $15,197. Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky was in a virtual tie with Kid, opening with an average of $14,818 in three theaters.
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June 13th, 2010
The Karate Kid won the battle of the '80s revivals over the weekend with a solid $56,000,000, well ahead of The A-Team, which could only manage $26,000,000.
In what has been a very disappointing Summer so far, a $50 million plus opening for a franchise revival has to be considered a success, and it will almost certainly give Sony their first $100 million hit of the year.
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June 11th, 2010
We are still waiting for our first breakout success off the year on the limited release front. There are a couple films on this week's list that could be the first, including the dramatic film Winter's Bone and the documentary Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work. Both are earning reviews that are 90% positive, or better, and hopefully both will find receptive audiences starting this weekend.
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