June 27th, 2011
It's a bit of a madhouse in terms of DVD and Blu-ray releases this week: Amazon.com has more than 400 listed. That said, a lot of them are catalogue titles that would barely warrant a mention during a slow week. The most intriguing first run release is Sucker Punch on Blu-ray / DVD / Digital Copy Combo Pack, but while I think it's worth picking up, it's appeal is limited enough that it is not worthy of the Pick of the Week honors. Fortunately, one of the catalogue titles is clearly Pick of the Week material. In fact, Lord of the Rings Trilogy: Extended Edition - Blu-ray is one of the most anticipated releases in the history of Blu-ray.
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June 23rd, 2011
N-Secure was shot in 2008 and was shown at a few film festivals before its limited release in 2010. It opened in way more theaters than most limited releases do, but in the end it might have been too many, as it came perilously close to missing the Mendoza Line. Now that it's out on DVD and Blu-ray, will it find a more receptive audience?
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June 14th, 2011
The winners of our Superstar contest were determined and they are...
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June 13th, 2011
It's actually a rather busy week for DVD / Blu-ray releases, at least for the summertime, with four first run releases coming out. Granted, those four films averaged just 21% positive reviews, so it is certainly a matter of quantity over quality. Unfortunately, the quantity of first run releases appears to have scared away quality alternatives and there are not a lot of top notch releases. There are a few that are with picking up, some of which are for limited audiences, but as far as Pick of the Week contenders go, there are none. However, True Blood: Season Three arrived late, and I'm giving the Pick of the Week honor to the Blu-ray.
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June 3rd, 2011
There's only one wide release next week that has a shot at top spot, Super 8, which makes it the obviously choice for the target film in this week's box office prediction contest. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office number for Super 8.
Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going over, will win a copy of N-Secure on DVD.
Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going under, will also win a copy of N-Secure on DVD.
Finally, one additional entrant will be chosen and they will win the final copy of N-Secure on DVD.
Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay!
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June 1st, 2011
The winners of our BlackBelts and SquarePants contest were determined and they are...
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November 2nd, 2010
Again, there was only one film that reached the $10,000 mark on the per theater chart. Inspector Bellamy opened with an average of $10,318 in two theaters. However, Waste Land came very close with $9,806 in its one theater.
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October 19th, 2010
Clint Eastwood's latest film, Hereafter, topped the per theater chart over the weekend with an impressive average of $36,720 in six theaters. It expands wide on Friday, so this fast start was important. The overall box office leader, Jackass 3D, was well back in second place with an average of $16,343, but that's amazing for this type of movie and this time of year. Vision managed $11,406 in its lone theater, while Carlos opened with an average of $10,003 in two theaters, which is literally one ticket away from missing the $10,000 mark.
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October 17th, 2010
Jackass 3D is set to record the biggest October weekend ever, according to Paramount's Sunday estimate.
With $50 million over the weekend, the movie will also set a new mark for a factually-based movie, beating the record held by its predecessor in the series, Jackass: Number Two.
Although the debate on 3D's long-term future continues, this is a movie that seems to be perfectly suited to the medium.
Expect to see talk of Jackass 4D very soon.
We don't even dare to speculate what the 4th D will entail.
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October 15th, 2010
It looks like we are getting closer and closer to Awards Season with two Oscar potential films coming out this week. At least there are two films that look like they were made to win Oscars. I'm not sure either has what it takes. Other limited releases include two films opening in several hundred theaters, both of which could struggle. There should be at least a couple to find some measure of mainstream success, but I'm unwilling to bet which films those will be.
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