Limited Releases: Early Year Doldrums
January 3, 2014
In order to qualify for the Oscars, a film has to open before the end of the year, so every year the weekend before New Years Eve has a few films trying to get into theaters just under the wire. This also means that the weekend after New Years Eve is a terrible time to release a movie in limited release. Art house theaters are loaded with Oscar hopefuls and it is very unlikely any of the new releases have the reviews to compete with those movies. That is certainly the case this year.
The Best Offer - Reviews
Beyond Outrage - Reviews
Interior. Leather Bar. - Reviews
Open Grave - Reviews
An Italian romantic mystery film about an anti-social auctioneer trying to deal with a young woman who has inherited the family art collection and wants to sell it. However, she's even less outgoing than he is, so he's having trouble dealing with her. Instead of giving up, he becomes more and more intrigued by her. Geoffrey Rush plays the lead character and he is earning praise. Unfortunately, the overall reviews are merely mixed. The Best Offer opened on New Years Day at the IFC Center in New York City.
Cops try to take advantage of a power struggle at the top of the Yakuza. This is the second film in Takeshi Kitano's potential Outrage trilogy. Fans of the first film will likely want to check out this one as well, but odds are there won't be enough of them to make it a hit in limited release. Then again, it is also playing on Video on Demand, so it will probably do better there. Beyond Outrage opens tonight in New York City at the Sunshine Cinema.
James Franco and Travis Mathews co-direct this film, which is about the making of Cruising. It is rumored that 40-minutes of SMBD gay sex was cut from cruising in order to get an R-rating. The two filmmakers are using that rumor as the starting off point for a film about filmmaking and censorship. It is an interesting idea, but the reviews are only mixed. Interior. Leather Bar. opened on Thursday in Los Angeles.
An horror film opening in limited release. Long time readers know that usually means trouble. Additionally, the film's reviews are terrible and are currently only 25% positive. Finally, it is already playing on Video on Demand, which will further hurt the film's box office chances. Open Grave opens tonight in five theaters in select cities.
Filed under: Limited Releases, Open Grave, Autoreiji: Biyondo, La migiliore offerta, Interior. Leather Bar., Outrage, James Franco, Takeshi Kitano, Geoffrey Rush, Travis Mathews