March 18th, 2018
Coco won Best Feature-Length Animated Film at this year’s Oscars, an award Pixar has won so many times that people sometimes refer to it as The Pixar Award. Did Coco deserve this award? Or have voters just become accustomed to voting for whatever Pixar movie came out that year?
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November 1st, 2017
October wasn’t a good month; then again, outside of a few bright spots, the overall box office has been a disaster since early summer. I would love to say November will turn things around, but, while it should be better, in this case “better” is a relative term. There are two films on this list with a chance at $300 million, Thor: Ragnarok and Justice League, while Coco is nearly a guarantee for $200 million. By comparison, last November had a similar result with three films earning between $200 million and $300 million, but none topping that figure. This means, if Thor: Ragnarok and Justice League both get to that milestone, then 2017 could cut into 2016’s lead during the month. It will still take a minor miracle for 2017 to catch up in the end, but just cutting the lead in half by the end of December would be a reason to celebrate at this point.
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February 17th, 2017
While there are not a lot of films on this week’s list, there is still a wide selection of limited releases. Most of these films are earning overall positive reviews, if not overwhelmingly positive reviews. Two of these films are aimed at Hispanics, Everybody Loves Somebody and You’re Killing Me Susana, and they could do well in theaters.
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September 2nd, 2016
It’s a bad week for limited releases, as the only two films earning any real advance buzz are Skiptrace and Yoga Hosers, neither of which are earning good reviews. Of all of the films on this week’s list, Zoom is the only one I really want to see. It’s just $5 to rent on Video on Demand.
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February 9th, 2015
Rosewater is Jon Stewart's directorial debut and it is coming out on the home market the same week John Oliver's show returned to HBO. I wonder if that is a coincidence? As for the movie itself, it opened in a very awkward theater count and it struggled at the box office, but still managed $3 million overall. Is it worth checking out for those interested in Jon Stewart's directorial debut? Is it good regardless of who was behind the camera?
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November 14th, 2014
It's a long list this week, but you could eliminate nearly all of the films and concentrate on just Foxcatcher and Rosewater. These two films are earning the vast majority of the buzz. They are not the only films worth seeing, Red Army looks particularly good, but I worry no other film will thrive.
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June 24th, 2013
It's summer time. Long time readers know what that means for the home market. It's bad news. There are a couple of first-run releases to come out: The Call and The Incredible Burt Wonderstone. The former was a solid midlevel hit earning more than $50 million on a $13 million budget. The latter bombed. Neither one is a contender for Pick of the Week. There are a couple limited releases that might rise to that level, but I think the best release is Todd & the Book of Pure Evil: The Complete Second Season on DVD. Unfortunately, the screener arrived late so I haven't had a chance to review it, and I hate handing out that honor when till after I give the screener a full review. Fortunately, there is a screener that arrived late that is worth that honor: My Neighbor Totoro on Blu-ray.
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February 15th, 2013
There are a trio of limited releases on this week's list earning 80% positive reviews or better. There are also a couple of films earning no reviews. Of the three best-reviewed films, No likely has the best shot at mainstream success, but I'm more interested in seeing Like Someone in Love.
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October 26th, 2012
There are not a lot of new limited releases this week and so far only one of them, The Loneliest Planet, is earning overwhelmingly positive reviews. There are other films that come really close to the 80% positive level. I was looking forward to Funeral Kings, but earlier in the week, that film was bumped to a November 16th release.
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