Limited and VOD Releases: To Infinity, and Beyond

April 29, 2016

The Man Who Knew Infinity

The list of limited releases isn't very long, but there are several films that look interesting. Of these, The Man Who Knew Infinity is the film I want to see the most. The reviews are not great, but I'm a math nerd.

A Beautiful Planet - Reviews
A documentary about the Earth featuring footage from the International Space Station. It is narrated by Jennifer Lawrence. At the moment, there are only six reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, but all six of them are positive. It is also an IMAX movie and these edutainment documentaries can last years in IMAX theaters.

The Family Fang - Reviews
The adult children of two performance artists come home when their parents go missing. However, they don't know if something is really wrong, or if this is just another performance. The film's reviews are 72% positive at the moment, which is good for a wide release, but likely not good enough for a limited release. That said, it hits VOD next Friday, so it could find an audience on the home market.

The Man Who Knew Infinity - Reviews
A biopic about Srinivasa Ramanujan, here played by Dev Patel. Srinivasa Ramanujan is arguably one of the smartest people to ever live, but this biopic is a little too standard to please the critics. Out of all of the films on this week's list, this is the one I've heard the most buzz about, but I am subscribed to three or four math channels on YouTube, so my point of view is different than most. The Man Who Knew Infinity opens tonight in six theaters in New York City, the Los Angeles area, as well as San Francisco and Cambridge. Check out the official site for more details.

Papa: Hemingway in Cuba - Reviews
A biopic that focuses on the friendship between Ernest Hemingway and a young journalist named Denne Bart Petitclerc. This film marks the directorial debut for Bob Yari, who is usually a producer. However, one look at the reviews shows that something has gone seriously wrong.

Viva - Reviews
Jesus is a hairdresser for a drag troupe who wants to be a performer. This is something his estranged father, Angel, is not happy about. The reviews are good enough that it has a shot at success in limited release, but foreign-language films rarely have breakout success.

Viktoria - Reviews
Irmena Chichikova plays Boryana, a woman who lives in Bulgaria in 1979. She wants a kid, but wants to leave communist East Europe before then. However, she has a girl, Viktoria, who is born without a belly button, and this child is named the Bulgarian child of the decade and becomes a celebrity for the state, thus trapping Boryana in Bulgaria. Ten years later, communism collapses and Boryana and Viktoria have to learn to bond. Like the film above, this one also has reviews that are good enough that it has a shot at success in limited release. But it is also a foreign-language film, so that limits its potential to expand significantly.

The Wait - Reviews
Any time Juliette Binoche is in a movie, it has at least a shot in limited release. Sadly, while there is star power here, the reviews are below 50% positive, so even if it has a good opening weekend, it won't have any legs.

Filed under: Limited Releases, VOD Releases, Home Market Releases, Viktoria, The Man Who Knew Infinity, Viva, A Beautiful Planet, The Family Fang, Papa: Hemingway in Cuba, L'attesa, Juliette Binoche, Jennifer Lawrence, Dev Patel, Giovanni Ribisi, Bob Yari, Hector Medina, Jorge Perugorria, Irmena Chichikova, Kalina Vitkova