August 6th, 2020
It is a busier week than usual for theatrical releases, with twelve of them in total. Unfortunately, most of them are earning reviews that are merely good, or worse. Much worse in some cases. The few films that have the reviews strong enough to thrive are the wrong genre for the pandemic era. Hopefully films like I Used to Go Here will do well enough in VOD, but don’t expect much in theaters.
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January 12th, 2018
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Awards Season is in full swing, so the moviegoers most likely to head out to see a limited release are preoccupied with the latest surprise / snub. This has resulted in a terrible week for limited releases. It’s so bad that if we stuck with our usual rule of needing 10 reviews to be listed here, there would only be a few movies. Even being more generous, there’s not a lot to talk about this week. The best movie is Lover For a Day, while Saturday Church is its only real competition.
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May 8th, 2017
This HBO comedy has an impressive cast, but its reviews were merely good and its ratings were weak compared to most other HBO shows. It did well enough to get a second season, but will audiences come back? Will those who missed it the first time want to check it out on the home market?
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December 13th, 2015
The third installment of the Holiday Gift Guide focuses on smaller releases, movies that opened in limited release, foreign films, classics getting new releases, and a few Canadian films. This year the list looks different to the previous guides for a simple reason. While there were only eight releases on the TV on DVD installment of the holiday gift guide, the first pass had more than 30 films on this list. I tried trimming the list, but that resulted in me remembering more films I wanted to add to it. Even after getting rid of the ones that won't be released until after Christmas, like Bone Tomahawk, there are still way too many releases to deal with. So let's not delay anymore and get to the list, starting with the biggest release...
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October 7th, 2015
The home market release report is a little late this week, because in our ongoing attempt to improve our site, we are looking at the format of this column and it will change shortly. (Also, this week both Amazon and Rotten Tomatoes were acting up. I had to download a script blocker and block all scripts on Rotten Tomatoes. Certain things no longer work, but at least it doesn't cause Firefox to freeze every ten minutes.) The biggest release of the week is The Avengers: The Age of Ultron, sort of. It came out last Friday, not this Tuesday. I'm waiting for my copy to arrive so I can do a full review. Meanwhile, the best new release of the week is When Marnie Was There in Blu-ray Combo Pack.
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August 14th, 2015
It is both a very busy week with nearly a dozen releases on this week's list and a disappointing one. The slate of new releases is really weak, with only Mistress America having a decent shot at box office success. There are a couple of other releases that have the reviews to do well, but are playing on VOD. Of these, People Places Things is my choice for Video on Demand Pick of the Week, although I'm hoping Final Girl is better than its early reviews would indicate.
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February 18th, 2015
What We Do in the Shadows dominated the per theater chart earning an average of $41,778 in two theaters. This is high enough to suggest the film will be able to expand significantly. Additionally, its reviews are stunning, so its chances at box office success are even better. However, the comedy stylings of Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi are not really mainstream and that might hurt its chances. The second place film on the per theater chart was the overall number one film, Fifty Shades of Grey, which earned an average of $23,360. The Last 5 Years was next with an average of $17,158 in three theaters. Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem opened with an average of $12,105 in two theaters. Meanwhile, the second wide release of the week, Kingsman: The Secret Service, was the final film in the $10,000 club with an average of $11,300.
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July 20th, 2014
I previously reviewed Rio and thought it was... a movie. It is so middle of the road that I couldn't get passionate about the film, either positively or negatively. That said, it made a ton of money, especially internationally, so it should come as no surprise that Rio 2 was made. Does it improve upon its predecessor? Does it get worse? Or is it yet another movie that just exists?
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