October 7th, 2021
The latest Bond movie has finally reached North American shores and hits theaters in large fashion, arriving in a massive 4,407 theaters, which places it 14th on the all-time widest openings list (coming in one spot, and one theater more than 2019’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker). No Time to Die’s opening count also towers over its predecessor, Spectre by nearly 500 theaters. Worldwide, the film has already scored over $121 million ($35 million in the United Kingdom alone).
More...
November 11th, 2019
I really liked the first season of Star Trek: Discovery and thought it was the best first season of any Star Trek series since the original. Was the show able to grow and improve? Or did it peak out of the gate?
More...
December 5th, 2018
The first installment of our Holiday Gift Guide dealt with First Run wide releases, which was dominated by super heroes, again. This week, we look at TV on DVD releases, specifically first seasons and Megasets. I limited this list to two types, because you don’t need me to tell you if someone will want the sixth season of a show. If they liked the first five, then season six is likely a good gift. However, like last year, I’m going to start this list with an exception. Sort of. On a side note, originally, I was going to lead with K-On: Limited Edition Box Set, but that got pushed back till February. You can still buy it and give them a print-out of the receipt at Christmas. “Merry Christmas. You’re gift will arrive in two months.” ... Yes, I’ve done that in the past. No, it's not tacky.
More...
November 27th, 2018
Star Trek: Discovery is the first TV series in the Star Trek franchise since the untimely, and well-deserved, early death of Enterprise. It was part of the launch of CBS’s streaming service and it helped increase subscriptions to that service, so in that regard, it was a success. Is it also a critical success? Or did it thrive during its first season more out of curiosity than anything else?
More...
February 1st, 2017
January turned out to be a good month. Granted, it didn’t live up to last January, but its box office was one of the top five Januarys of all time, so that’s still a good start to the year. Also, we will have our first $100 million movie released in 2017 and that doesn’t happen this early very often. As for February, there’s potentially the first $200 million hit of the year, The Lego Batman Movie. Fifty Shades Darker and The Great Wall both have a shot at $100 million. That said, it is more likely that both will miss that milestone than both will get there. As for the rest of the films, there are a few that are aiming for solid midlevel hits, like John Wick: Chapter Two and Get Out, while there are very few potential bombs. By comparison, last February there was one monster hit, Deadpool, and a lot of bombs. No other movie besides Deadpool made $50 million. No movie opening this month will match Deadpool, but we won’t have as many bombs either, so hopefully that will balance out and 2017 won’t fall further behind 2016.
More...
October 11th, 2013
The headline might claim God loves limited releases, but it is clear the critics don't. There are more than a dozen limited releases on this week's list, but many of them are earning reviews that are weak, or much, much worse. God Loves Uganda is practically the lone exception, as it is earning perfect reviews. Unfortunately, it's a documentary, so its chances of expanding significantly are very limited. On the other hand, The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete might be the breakout hit of the week. Its reviews are not as good, but good enough to suggest it will find an audience, but it is opening in more than 100 theaters, which might be too many.
More...