Will Fanboys Flock to Theaters for Limited Releases?
February 6, 2009
Only four limited releases this week, and only one of those is opening with overall positive reviews. That film, a foreign language martial arts movie, should please genre fans, most of whom will wait till the home market to check it out. Also coming out this week is the latest set of Oscar nominated short films, which is always a treat for fans of the short film format.
Chocolate - Reviews
Fanboys - Reviews
Nurse.Fighter.Boy - Review
The Objective - Reviews
The only limited releases earning overall positive reviews this week, and even then it's not at the 80% level I normally associate with films that thrive in limited release. This film was directed by Prachya Pinkaew, who directed Ong Bak and Tom Yum Goong, so fans of martial arts movies should stand up and take notice, especially if they are fans of Muay Thai. I'm also interested because the film has a female protagonist, and I prefer movies with strong female characters. That said, odds are I'll only be able to see the movie when it comes out on DVD a Dragon Dynasty DVD perhaps). Chocolate opens tonight in six theaters in major cities nationwide, including New York City, Los Angeles, Seattle, Denver, and Dallas.
It's finally coming out. After delays lasting nearly two years, Fanboys is finally coming out in theaters. Sadly it is only coming out in 44 theaters, but that's better than nothing. ... I hope. The road trip movie should appeal to Star Wars fans, but with 27% positive reviews, it won't please too many others. That's too bad, because there were many fans looking forward to this release that won't get a chance to see it in theaters. Hopefully it will have a tricked out DVD and Blu-ray release, as it should find a more receptive audience on the home market. Fanboys opens tonight in 44 theaters in major cities nationwide.
A Canadian film about a nurse dying of a hereditary disease, her boy, and a former boxer taking over his mentor's gym. It's a Canadian movie, so there are almost no reviews online, but the few I did read were mixed to positive. The film has great performances, great cinematography, but it also has a rather weak story that relies too much on the melodramatic. Nurse.Fighter.Boy opens tonight in Vancouver and Toronto.
Co-written and directed by Daniel Myrick, who co-wrote and co-directed The Blair Witch Project. It is also co-written by Wesley Clark Jr., who is the son of Wesley Clark and also frequent guest on The Young Turks. (That reminds me, I've fallen three weeks behind on that show.) The movie is about a Special Forces operation in Afghanistan shortly after 9/11. They think they are looking for evidence of a nuclear weapon detonation, but the truth is much worse. So far there's only one review on Rotten Tomatoes, but I've found a few others online and they are mostly mixed. Many critics say there is a good story here, but it is hampered by a low budget and narration that hurts more than it helps. The Objective opens theatrically tonight at the IFC Center in New York City and expands to Los Angeles next weekend. However, it is currently play on IFC's VOD for those not living in those two cities.
Filed under: Limited Releases, Fanboys