Limited and VOD Releases: Starting to Love Awards Season
September 21, 2018
It is not a particularly busy week for limited releases, as there are only nine films on the main list. However, several of them could do very well at the box office. Of these, I’m the most bullish about Colette and The Sisters Brothers, but there are two documentaries, Love, Gilda and Nothing Like a Dame, that could also open in the $10,000 club. All four could earn some Awards Season glory.
Call Her Ganda - Reviews
Colette - Reviews
Garry Winogrand: All Things Are Photographable - Reviews
Intelligent Lives - Reviews
The Last Suit - Reviews
Love, Gilda - Reviews
Nothing Like a Dame - Reviews
The Sisters Brothers - Reviews
The Song of Sway Lake - Reviews
Secondary VOD Releases:
A documentary about a Filipina transgender woman who was murdered by a U.S. Marine. This is one of several documentaries on this week’s list that are earning stellar reviews and since documentaries are doing so well at the box office, it could become a hit. I don’t think it will earn $1 million, but it could do well enough to open in the $10,000 club.
This movie is Oscar-bait. It is a period piece based on real life events with a modern relevant political message that stars a multi-Oscar nominated actress, Keira Knightley. Fortunately, the reviews live up to the hype, for the most part. Its Tomatometer Score is just over 90% positive, but the average score is 7.3 out of 10, which is low for an Awards Season contender. It could still top the theater average chart over the weekend.
A documentary about Garry Winogrand, a photographer from the 1960s and 1970s. The film’s reviews are 100% positive and while the average score isn’t enough to be award-worthy, it could be enough to land in the $10,000 club over the weekend. I’m not making that prediction, but I wouldn’t be too surprised if it happened. It has been a very good year for documentaries.
This film only has five reviews, which normally wouldn’t be enough to make this list. However, all five are positive, plus it is a self-distributed documentary with an important message. It looks at the lives of three adults diagnosed with learning disabilities and how they can still live great lives.
Miguel Ángel Solá stars as an 88-year old Holocaust survivor who runs away from his family to Poland to find the Christian friend who saved his life at the end of World War II. The reviews might be good enough to thrive in limited release, but as a foreign-language film, it has added obstacles to earning any measure of mainstream success.
A documentary about the late Gilda Radner. It has been a very good year for documentaries with 8 films released in 2018 earning more than $1 million. I wouldn’t be surprised if this film joined that group.
A documentary featuring four British Dames. Literally. Dame Eileen Atkins, Dame Judi Dench, Dame Joan Plowright, and Dame Maggie Smith were all awarded Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for their work in the field of acting. They are also all friends and this documentary has the four of them drinking tea and reminiscing. Its reviews are 100% positive and it could be the latest documentary to earn some measure of mainstream success.
John C. Reilly and Joaquin Phoenix play two brothers, whose last name is Sisters, hence the title. They are hitmen on the trail of Hermann Kermit Warm, a chemist that developed a new method for finding gold. The film earned amazing pre-release buzz, but the reviews are not award-worthy like some had hoped they would be. That said, it should still do well enough to earn some measure of mainstream success.
A young man plans to steal a valuable jazz record from his grandmother’s lake house. The reviews are barely above the overall positive level and while that would be fine for a wide release, it usually proves fatal for a limited release.
American Dresser - Reviews - Video On Demand
Beyond the Sky - Reviews - Video on Demand
Little Italy - Reviews - Video on Demand
The Pagan King - No Reviews - Video on Demand
The Storyteller - Reviews - Video on Demand
White Rabbit - Reviews - Video on Demand
World of Darkness - No Reviews - Video on Demand
There are seven secondary VOD releases on this week’s list and only White Rabbit looks like it could be an undiscovered gem. There are a few here with no positive reviews.
Filed under: Limited Releases, VOD Releases, Home Market Releases, The Sisters Brothers, El último Traje, Colette, Garry Winogrand: All Things Are Photographable, Nothing Like a Dame, The Song of Sway Lake, Nameja Gredzens, White Rabbit, Love, Gilda, Little Italy, American Dresser, Beyond the Sky, World of Darkness, Call Her Ganda, Intelligent Lives, The Storyteller, Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Eileen Atkins, Keira Knightley, Joaquin Phoenix, Joan Plowright, John C. Reilly, Riz Ahmed, Gilda Radner, Garry Winogrand, Miguel Ángel Solá