February 26th, 2013
It's a good week on the home market with not only one of the biggest films of the last year coming out, but also one of the best. The biggest is The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2, which should be the best selling DVD and Blu-ray for the week, but it isn't a contender for Pick of the Week. For that honor, we go back a few weeks to Frankenweenie. The screener arrived late, but it was worth waiting for and the 3D Combo Pack, while a little pricey, is worth picking up. Also in contender for Pick of the Week is Rocko's Modern Life: The Complete Series.
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February 23rd, 2013
Compliance had some pretty good pre-release buzz for a limited release and its reviews were even better than the buzz. This helped it opened with more than $16,000 in just one theater. However, after that it really struggled and quickly disappeared from theaters. Is it the type of film that will please critics, but not the average moviegoer? Or does it deserve a wider audience?
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January 7th, 2013
After two weeks of almost nothing worth talking about on the home market, there's plenty to talk about this week. ... Actually, to be totally honest, it is another slow week, it's just not painfully slow. (Also, I'm unwilling to pad the list like I had to do the last couple weeks.) Worse still, because the holiday just ended, a lot of the screeners that were supposed to arrive have not, including a few Pick of the Week contenders. Compliance, Dredd, and Frankenweenie are all contenders that are currently late, and I really don't like choosing a late screener. In the end, it was literally a coin toss between Archer: Season Three on DVD or Blu-ray and Red Dwarf: X on DVD or Blu-ray. And the coin said... Red Dwarf: X.
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November 28th, 2012
The Independent Spirit Awards has a special place in the Awards Season. The nominations are the unoffficial start of Awards Season, but the actual awards aren't given out until Oscar weekend, so they are the beginning at the end of Awards Season. They also help out a lot of limited releases that would otherwise not get enough buzz, although they are not so good at predicting Oscar wins. This year, two films tied for most nominations, Moonrise Kingdom and The Silver Linings Playbook, both of which earned five nominations. They weren't the only films to earn multiple nominations though.
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August 22nd, 2012
Cosmopolis led the way on the per theater chart with an excellent opening of $70,000 in three theaters for an average of $23,446. Given its reviews, I'm not sure it will do well as it expands. Robot and Frank was also strong with an average of $17,770 in two theaters, while Compliance was right behind with $16,427 in one theater. Ek Tha Tiger didn't quite reach the $10,000 club over the weekend with an average of $9,655, but it was a Wednesday release, so had it opened on Friday, it likely would have easily made the cut.
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August 19th, 2012
The Expendables 2 will enjoy a comfortable win at the box office this weekend, even though its debut number looks as though it will fall somewhat behind the first film in the franchise. Lionsgate currently has the film pegged at $28.75 million for the weekend, well ahead of The Bourne Legacy's $17 million second weekend. ParaNorman will scare up about $14 million for third place, and a total of seven films will top $10 million this weekend, including the two other debutants, Sparkle (which is set for $12 million, per Sony), and The Odd Life of Timothy Green (shooting for $10.9 million, according to Disney).
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August 17th, 2012
Late August is a poor time of year for wide releases, but it is also usually not a good time of year for limited releases. It is too late to take advantage of the summer holidays, but it is also too early for Awards Season. However, there are nine films on this week's list, several of which are earning overwhelmingly positive reviews. Chicken and Plums, Compliance, Robot and Frank, and Side by Side are all earning amazing reviews. There are also several others that are earning good, but not great reviews. There might be too many good films coming out this week and the competition could cause one or two films that truly deserve to earn some measure of mainstream success from reaching their potential.
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