Limited Releases: Limited Releases are Frozen Out
November 22, 2013
This week's list of limited releases is kind of mixed. Frozen is coming out this week for a prestige opening before expanding wide on Wednesday and it is virtually guaranteed box office success. On the other hand, most of the rest of the films are documentaries, which almost never have breakout success. Every documentary on this list looks interesting, but of the non-Frozen releases, I think Philomena has the best shot at box office success.
Bettie Page Reveals All - Reviews
Contracted - Reviews
Frozen - Reviews
Gori Tere Pyaar Mein - Reviews
Is the Man Who Is Tall Happy? - Reviews
Narco Cultura - Reviews
Philomena - Reviews
Weekend of a Champion - Reviews
A documentary about Bettie Page, narrated by Bettie Page. The reviews are good, but not great, with some critics complaining it goes a little overboard in praising the subject. I'm not sure that's medically possible. Bettie Page Reveals All opens tonight in New York City and expands to Los Angeles next weekend.
A body horror film that centers on a woman who thinks she contracted a STI from a one-night stand, but learns it is much worse. It is the wrong genre for limited release, the reviews are only mixed, and it opens Video-on-Demand on Friday as well. All this spells trouble for the box office numbers.
This film opens tonight at the El Capitan Theatre before expanding wide on Wednesday. I will talk about it more then.
A Bollywood film opening in more than 100 theaters but with no reviews. This would be fatal for most films, but it is common for Bollywood films.
An animated documentary by Michel Gondry featuring a number of conversations with Noam Chomsky. So far the reviews are perfect, but while it opens tonight in three theaters, it hits Video on Demand on Monday, so it doesn't have a long window in theaters before it has competition on the home market.
A documentary about the drug trade in the United States and how it is affecting the culture there. Since being a drug trafficker is seen as the easiest way out of poverty, they are being seen as role models by some. Like a few other films on this week's list, it is earning reviews that are good, but perhaps not good enough to thrive in limited release. Narco Cultura opens tonight in New York City and Miami before expanding to Toronto next week and select cities nationwide the week after that. Check out the official site for more details.
One of the best-reviewed limited releases on this week's list. It stars Judi Dench as a woman who gave up her child for adoption decades ago and Steve Coogan as the investigative reporter who helps her find her son. Philomena opens tonight in four theaters, but the official site only says coming soon.
In 1971, Roman Polanski spent a weekend behind-the-scenes with Formula One driver Jackie Stewart as he tried to win the Monaco Grand Prix. 40 years later, they got back together to discuss it. The film's reviews are good, but not great. If you like Formula One, you should like the movie, but not all critics think it can find an audience beyond that. Weekend of a Champion opens tonight in two theaters, the IFC Center and the Lincoln Plaza Cinema, both in New York City.
Filed under: Limited Releases, Frozen, Bettie Page Reveals All, Narco Cultura, Philomena, Contracted, Weekend of a Champion, Gori Tere Pyaar Mein, Is the Man Who Is Tall Happy?, Judi Dench, Noam Chomsky, Steve Coogan, Michel Gondry, Roman Polanski, Jackie Stewart, Bettie Page