2016 - Awards Season - And the Oscar Goes to... La La Land Moonlight!

February 26th, 2017

It’s Oscar night and we were live blogging the show. Read on the the highlights of what turned out to be a crazy night. More...

2016 - Awards Season: Oscars - Nominations - Final Look

February 26th, 2017

It’s Oscar night and we will be live blogging the show. Before that, let’s take a last look at the nominations with a few annotations. Nominees 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. More...

2016 Awards Season: Oscar Nominations

January 24th, 2017

The Oscar nominations were announced starting at 5:18 am Pacific time. Nothing is good that early in the morning. Worse still, it’s a boring year for nominations with very few surprises worth talking about, especially in the biggest categories. Leading the way was La La Land with 14 nominations, tying the record. More...

Home Market Releases for December 27th, 2016

December 26th, 2016

This Tuesday is the day after Boxing Day. I don’t know if there is a worse possible day to release something on the home market. There are a few films on this week’s list you could call busted Oscar bait, but almost nothing that is a contender for Pick of the Week. Fortunately, it is almost nothing and not completely nothing. A Man Called Ove is the best release and the DVD or Blu-ray are clearly the Pick of the Week. More...

Home Market Releases for December 13th, 2016

December 12th, 2016

This is a strange week on the home market. We have one of the biggest domestic hits of the year, Suicide Squad, but it is one of the worst movies I’ve seen this year. (Granted, I’ve done fewer reviews this year and skipped a lot of terrible looking movies, like Independence Day: Resurgence, Warcraft, Gods of Egypt, Allegiant... Ben Hur, The Huntsman, The Legend of Tarzan. I could keep going. Wow! It was a bad year for $100 million movies.) After Suicide Squad, the next biggest release according to Amazon is the Chicago Cubs 2016 World Series Collector's Edition Blu-ray. That’s a huge drop in sales. As far as quality is concerned, I have to give a shout out to that World Series Blu-ray. Real fans want full games and this one provides them. On the other hand, I personally find baseball boring to watch. Unfortunately, there’s no one release that stands out as an obvious Pick of the Week, but instead we have a lot of releases that are close, but wouldn’t be close enough during a good week. The Twilight Zone: The Complete Series on Blu-ray is the best, assuming you didn’t grab the individual seasons when they came out. More...

Theater Averages: Lion Starts like a Lion with an Average of $30,840

November 29th, 2016

Lion led the way on the theater average chart this week with an average of $30,840 in four theaters. Its reviews are great and it could become a sleeper hit throughout the Christmas holidays. Up next was Manchester by the Sea with an average of $25,541 in 48 theaters. It still has plenty of room to expand and its Awards Season buzz is growing. Miss Sloane opened with an average of $19,932 in three theaters. This is good, but not good enough to think it will expand truly wide. The overall number one film, Moana, was next with an average of $14,615. The final film in the $10,000 club was Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them with an average of $10,880. More...

Theater Averages: It’s a Long Walk to the Top with $57,065

November 16th, 2016

Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk earned first place on the theater average chart over the weekend earning an average of $57,065 in two theaters. That’s the good news. The bad news is its reviews suggest poor word of mouth and difficulty expanding wide this coming weekend. Elle opened in second place with an average of $25,467, also in two theaters. Loving remained in the $10,000 club for the second weekend with an average of $11,149 in 46 theaters. It still has room to grow. Doctor Strange was right behind with an average of $11,069. The final film in the $10,000 was the biggest new release of the week, Arrival, which earned an average of $10,390. More...

Theater Averages: Moonlight Remains Full earning an average of $23,614

November 2nd, 2016

Moonlight remained in top spot with an average of $23,614 in 36 theaters. The film has already reached $1 million and it has room to grow. Additionally, its reviews are Oscar-worthy, so its Awards Season buzz should really start to grow. The only other film in the $10,000 club was Gimme Danger, which earned an average of $14,908 in three theaters. More...

Theater Averages: Denial Denies American Honey Top Spot with $18,746

October 5th, 2016

Denial and American Honey were the only two films in the $10,000 club on the theater average chart this week. Denial earned first place with an average of $18,746 in five theaters, while American Honey was relatively close behind with an average of $17,801 in four. More...

Limited and VOD Releases: Don’t be in Denial

September 30th, 2016

There are more than a few films on this week’s list that were made to win Oscars. Of these, Sand Storm is the best. However, Denial has the biggest box office potential. More...