Limited and VOD Releases: Nothing to Freak Out About

October 30, 2015

Freaks of Nature

It is a short week for limited releases with nothing that looks particularly promising at the box office. Freaks of Nature might get a boost from Halloween, but I seriously doubt it. On the other hand, The Armor Of Light, Flowers, and The Wonders all are earning great reviews and have a shot at doing well in art house theaters. None of them will expand wide enough to earn a significant measure of mainstream success. It is likely none of them will crack $10,000 on the per theater average.

The Armor Of Light - Reviews
A documentary about a right-wing Christian pastor who decided that the gun rights movement wasn't compatible with being pro-life. The reviews are excellent and this is a debate that is always politically charged, so that could help it out at the box office. On the other hand, documentaries rarely have breakout success at the box office.

Flowers - Reviews
This is the official entry from Spain for this year's Best Foreign-Language Oscar. However, its reviews are not Award-worthy. They might not even be enough to thrive on the art house circuit. Flowers opens tonight at the Paris Theatre in New York City.

Freaks of Nature - No Reviews
Usually we only cover films with at least ten reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. After all, there's only so many hours in a day and we can't deal with every film. However, this is the most thematically relevant film, as it is Halloween weekend. The movie takes place in a small town populated by humans, vampires, and zombies. The three groups live in harmony, until an alien invasion breaks the peace. The cast is amazing and the screenplay was on the 2010 Blacklist. (That's an annual list of the best-liked unproduced screenplays.) Unfortunately, the lack of reviews suggests something went wrong from screenplay to screen and now it is opening in "select cities". That release strategy rarely works out. Check out the official site for more details.

Love - Reviews
A 3D art house erotic drama. ... Huh? The director has made some good movies in the past, but this film's reviews are merely mixed, so its box office chances are very weak. 3D erotica sounds more like a gimmick than something that will actually draw in moviegoers.

Regression - Reviews
This film stars some very talented actors and is written and directed by Alejandro Amenabar, who has made some amazing movies in the past. However, something went terribly, terribly wrong. Its Tomatometer Score is just 6% positive at the moment, which would be awful for a wide release. It would be fatal for a limited release, except for one point. There are rumors that Emma Watson appears nude in the movie. She doesn't.

The Wonders - Reviews
An Italian film about a family of beekeepers, specifically Gelsomina, who is only 12, but practically runs the farm. The family's life is disrupted when a Reality TV crew arrives to record their way of life. The reviews are amazing, but as a foreign-language film, its chances of box office success are limited to the art house circuit.

Filed under: Limited Releases, VOD Releases, Home Market Releases, Regression, Le meraviglie, The Armor Of Light, Love, Freaks of Nature, Loreak, Emma Watson, Alejandro Amenábar, Maria Alexandra Lungu