Limited and VOD Releases: These Limited Releases will Never Surrender

November 29, 2019

The Two Popes

Thanksgiving is one of the biggest weekends for wide releases, but it is a terrible week for limited releases. If I kept my usual rule about minimum number of reviews to be on this list, then there would be just a handful of films to talk about. Fortunately, all of them are worth checking out. The Two Popes is the biggest in terms of buzz, but its limited theatrical release window will keep it from doing particularly well in theaters. I’m most interested in Never Surrender: A Galaxy Quest Documentary, but I hope The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open does very well.

After Parkland - Reviews
 A documentary about the Parkland shooting and the after effects it had on the survivors. This is an important documentary and its reviews are award-worthy, so it could find a receptive audience in theaters. On the other hand, there are three other documentaries opening this weekend, so there’s a lot of direct competition.

Away - Reviews
 Oscar voters like to reward smaller films with one or two of the five Best Animated Feature-Length Film nominations and this film could benefit from that trend. There are only five reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, which is a bad sign, but all of them are enthusiastically positive. Unfortunately, animated films rarely do well in limited release, so unless this film earns some serious Oscar buzz, it won’t sell many tickets during its theatrical run.

The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open - Reviews
 This is a Canada film about the two Indigenous women who meet after an act of brutality. The reviews are nearly unanimously positive and this is a subject that needs to be discussed more, especially in my native Canada.

Kind Hearts and Coronets - Reviews
 A classic Black Comedy from 1949 is getting a re-release this week. It stars Alec Guinness in most of the roles in the movie. This release is based on a new 4K scan, which hopefully means a new Blu-ray release is on its way. If you have a chance to see it in theaters, do so. If it doesn’t play near you, get ready to buy the Blu-ray when it comes out.

Melody Makers: Should’ve Been There - Reviews
 A documentary about Melody Maker, a music magazine that ran from 1926 to the year 2000. The film focuses on the years 1965 through 1975, which is arguably the golden age for the magazine. Fans of rock’n’roll and especially music journalism will want to check out this film.

Never Surrender: A Galaxy Quest Documentary - Reviews
 A documentary about Galaxy Quest. It’s a hagiography made by fans for fans to celebrate the movie, so don’t expect a hard-hitting expose into the behind-the-scenes of this film. Instead, expect the filmmakers and the fans to gush about this movie for an hour and a half. Fortunately, the few reviews I’ve seen suggest this enthusiasm is infectious, so it is worth checking out.

Tremors - Reviews
 A 40-year old father of two falls in love with another man, but that contradicts his Evangelical Christian upbringing. His church and his family then try to help him by trying to “cure” his gay attraction. This film is written and directed by Jayro Bustamente. His first film, Ixcanul, earned 100% positive reviews and an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign-Language Film. This film’s reviews are not as strong, but his previous success should help this film at the box office.

The Two Popes - Reviews
 Anthony Hopkins plays Pope Benedict and Jonathan Pryce plays Cardinal Bergoglio, who would later become Pope Francis. The film’s reviews are strong enough that it has a shot at finding an audience in theaters, but not award-worthy, so it likely won’t do well enough to expand significantly. Additionally, it hits Netflix just before Christmas, so it doesn’t have a lot of time in theaters to find an audience.

Ximei - Reviews
 A documentary about a political activist, the titular Ximei, who is running a halfway house for victims of an AIDS crisis in China, created by a blood donor program targeting poor, rural Chinese people. There are not a lot of reviews, but all four of the ones on Rotten Tomatoes are positive. Unfortunately, the buzz is really quiet and nearly half the films on this week’s list are documentaries, so there’s a lot of direct competition.

Secondary VOD Releases:
There are no VOD titles on this week’s list, secondary or otherwise.

Filed under: Limited Releases, VOD Releases, Home Market Releases, The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open, Away, Temblores, After Parkland, Kind Hearts and Coronets, The Two Popes, Never Surrender: A Galaxy Quest Documentary, Ximei, Melody Makers: Should’ve Been There, Jonathan Pryce, Alec Guinness, Anthony Hopkins,