March 23rd, 2018
There are over two dozen limited releases coming out this week, but many of them had only a handful of, if any, reviews. There are some that should find a receptive audience, whether its on Video on Demand like Pyewacket, or whether it has massive breakout success, like most think Isle of Dogs will manage.
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June 28th, 2014
The Grand Budapest Hotel is the latest film from auteur director, Wes Anderson, and it is also his biggest box office hit. I liked some of his earlier films, but after The Life Aquatic and The Darjeeling Limited, I didn't consider myself a fan of his work. Then I saw The Fantastic Mr. Fox and Moonrise Kingdom and I loved both. Because of this, I was super excited to see The Grand Budapest Hotel and its box office success caused my expectations to rise even more. Did they rise too high? Is this Wes Anderson's best movie, as well as his biggest hit?
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June 20th, 2014
There are a dozen limited releases on this week's list, including five films that are earning overwhelmingly positive reviews. Unfortunately, I don't think any of them will be monster hits. There's a Code Black, documentary, which is a genre that rarely finds breakout success. There's Coherence, a high concept Sci-fi movie that will likely be too out there to find an audience. Norte, the End of History, a four-hour foreign-language film, which will reduce its target demographic and the number of screenings that can be shown. A Summer Tale, a French film from 1996, which is making its theatrical debut. And finally Venus and Fur, which is probably going to be the biggest limited release hit of the weekend, but I really doubt it will expand wide enough to find a measure of mainstream success.
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June 16th, 2014
Jimmy P. came out in February, which isn't a great time of year to release a limited release. It earned mixed reviews and struggled to find an audience in theaters. Now that it is getting a second chance on the home market, will it perform better? Or are the weak reviews and weak box office numbers deserved?
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February 14th, 2014
There are lots of films on this week's list of limited releases, but only one of them, The New Black, is earning overwhelmingly positive reviews. The Returned is earning overall positive reviews, but that's not enough to thrive in limited release. In fact, given the competition, it is unlikely there is any film that will earn breakout success.
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