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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June 25th, 2012
It's a good week on the home market, especially for this time of year. Not only do we have a first-run release that hit $100 million at the box office, 21 Jump Street, but we have an art house film that found massive success with moviegoers, critics, and even Awards Season voters, The Artist. There are also a couple of wide releases that should have some impact on the overall sales, Mirror Mirror and Wrath of the Titans, as well as some TV on DVD releases, limited releases, catalogue titles, etc. that are also of interest. As for Pick of the Week, The Artist on Blu-ray is the most obvious choice, but The 39 Steps on Blu-ray and Sound of Noise on DVD were also in the running. Finally, Phineas and Ferb: - The Perry Files arrived late, but it too is worthy of that honor.
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January 10th, 2012
The $10,000 club was again crowded this week and, as expected for this time of year, it was filled almost entirely by holdovers. Iron Lady remained the top film with an average of $35,275 in five theaters and it should start hitting major milestones very soon. Pina's average grew, again, reaching $27,676 in three theaters. Hopefully it will start expanding quickly, before its momentum fades. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close earned an average of $16,521 in six theaters. Its mixed reviews haven't taken too much of a toll, yet. A Separation doubled its theater count, but its per theater average remained relatively steady at $15,440. The overall box office leader, The Devil Inside, was next at $14,763. Finally, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia opened with $10,652 in one theater.
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January 6th, 2012
While it is a weak time of year for wide releases, it is a devastating time of year for limited releases. Not only is it too late to qualify for the Oscars, but art house theaters are crowded with films vying for awards. There is one exception to this rule, Foreign Language Films. (They have to be released in their native country during the year in question.) So it should come as no surprise the only film earning Oscar-worthy reviews is one such film, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia. However, Norwegian Wood is actually earning a bit more buzz, even if the reviews are not quite as high as I would like.
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