Limited and VOD Releases: Waiting All Week for Limited Releases

September 16, 2016

The Beatles: Eight Days a Week, The Working Years

There are almost 30 films opening in limited release this week, so obviously I won’t have time talk about all of them. I won’t have time to talk about half of them. The two films that stand out in this crowd are The Beatles: Eight Days a Week, The Working Years and Miss Stevens. Both are earning great reviews, but the former is a documentary and the latter debuts on VOD on Tuesday, so neither has a great shot at box office success.

31 - Reviews
Video on Demand
A horror movie that is earning mixed reviews and is also playing on VOD. We’ve seen this type of film before and they rarely make any impact at the box office. If you are a fan of Rob Zombie, then it is worth a rental.

The Beatles: Eight Days a Week, The Working Years - Reviews
This documentary takes a look at The Beatles during their first tour of the United States when they changed the world of pop culture forever. The film might be a little too generous with its praise, but that's understandable given the subject matter.

Command and Control - Reviews
A documentary about America's nuclear weapons program, specifically the size of the arsenal, the complexity, and the danger. I remember doing the math once and the United States has enough nuclear weapons to hit every metropolitan area with a population of 1 million or more ... 13 times. This includes those within the United States. The reviews are excellent, so if this is a subject you are interested in, then check it out. Command and Control opened on Wednesday with more showings being added over the coming weeks. Check out the official site for more details.

Miss Stevens - Reviews
Lily Rabe stars as a young teacher who has to be a chaperon for three students as they go on a road trip for a school event. The film is earning some of the best reviews of the week and is the only one that is earning some serious pre-release buzz. ... It debuts on Video on Demand Tuesday. Hopefully it will do really well in limited release over the weekend and that will act as advertising for its home market run.

Mr. Church - Reviews
20% positive reviews. So much for this film being Eddie Murphy’s return to respectability.

Operation Avalanche - Reviews
In this film set in the late 1960s, two CIA agents go undercover at NASA to find a Russian mole, only to learn a terrible secret: NASA has been faking the Moon landings. The film’s reviews are right on boundary between merely good and good enough for limited release. There’s a lack of buzz around the movie, so I think it will struggle in theaters. I hope I’m wrong.

Silicon Cowboys - Reviews
Video on Demand
A documentary about the computer company Compaq. They were the first company to challenge IBM for the PC market and without this competition, the technology would have stagnated. The film only has nine reviews up on Rotten Tomatoes at the moment, but all nine are positive. It could find an audience, but likely on the home market and not in theaters.

Tanna - Reviews
The film is set on a South Pacific island and is about one of the women in the tribe who falls in love with the son of the Chief. However, her tribe and another are at war and in order to stop the war, she is being offered in marriage to the other tribe. The film is Australia’s official selection for this year’s Oscar, but the reviews here are only good and not great.

The Vessel - Reviews
This film takes place in a small town where a Tsunami destroyed the local elementary school, killing all of the kids inside. Years later, someone uses the wreckage to build a mysterious structure. For some, this inflames the trauma of that event. The film’s reviews are good, but not great. Maybe it will still find an audience in limited release.

Secondary VOD Releases:
Cardboard Boxer - Reviews - Video on Demand
The Devil’s Dolls - Reviews - Video on Demand
Finding Altamira - Reviews - Video on Demand
The Good Neighbor - Reviews - Video on Demand
The People Garden - Reviews - Video On Demand
Of the secondary VOD releases, only Finding Altamira is one that stands out as worth checking out.

Filed under: Limited Releases, VOD Releases, Home Market Releases, Operation Avalanche, Altamira, The People Garden, The Beatles: Eight Days a Week, The Good Neighbor, Miss Stevens, Tanna, 31, Command and Control, Silicon Cowboys, The Vessel, The Devil’s Dolls, Mr. Church, Cardboard Boxer, Eddie Murphy, Rob Zombie, Lily Rabe