Contest: Clash of the Non-Titans: Winning Announcement

August 25th, 2011

The winners of our Clash of the Non-Titans contest were determined and they are... More...

Contest: Clash of the Non-Titans

August 12th, 2011

I think it safe to say summer is over, as next week's batch of releases will all struggle just to be midlevel hits. Which one has the best shot at top spot? Not One Day, which is not opening truly wide. Other than that, it's is a coin toss. I'm going with... tails, Conan the Barbarian 3D as this week's target film. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office number for Conan the Barbarian in 3D. Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going over, will win a copy of Clash on DVD. Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going under, will also win a copy of Clash on DVD. Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay! More...

Contest: Waiting for the Axe to Fall: Winning Announcement

August 10th, 2011

The winners of our Waiting for the Axe to Fall contest were determined and they are... More...

DVD and Blu-ray Releases for August 9th, 2011

August 9th, 2011

This week's list is highly frustrating for two reasons. Firstly, while there's a pretty big list of first-run releases, many of which had some pre-release buzz, almost none of them matched expectations. Secondly, my internet access kept cutting out, so it took till 4:30 a.m. to get this done, and by the end I was swearing nearly constantly. (Even 15 minutes of the Smooth Jazz Nyan Cat wasn't enough to calm my nerves.) Moving on... There were two main contenders for Pick of the Week, Paul on Blu-ray and Stargate: Atlantis: Complete Series Megaset on Blu-ray. In the end I went with the latter, partially because the screener for the former hasn't shown up yet. More...

Featured DVD Review: Clash

August 7th, 2011

Clash, or as it was known in its native Vietnam, Bay Rong, was a monster hit in its native market. On the other hand, when it opened in limited release here, it failed to hit the Mendoza Line by a considerable margin. It finished with less than $30,000, which would have been a disappointing opening weekend, given its theater count. That said, the film is not exactly the typical art house release and perhaps it is poised for much greater success on the home market. More...

Per Theater Chart: Jane Eyre is in the Red

March 15th, 2011

It was an amazing week on the per theater chart, even if you ignore Red State's special showings. The latest Kevin Smith offering added more than $100,000 over the weekend, at two special showings, for an average of $51,283. At this pace, it's going to start hitting major milestones before its theatrical debut this fall. Meanwhile, Jane Eyre had the best per theater average for a regular release this year at $45,721 in four theaters. The good news doesn't end there as Kill The Irishman opened with an average of $29,086 in five theaters, which also suggests the ability to expand significantly. Certified Copy earned close to $80,000 in five theaters for an average of $15,587. That would have been enough to lead the way many weekends so far this year. 3 Backyards opened with $11,000 in one theater, while the overall number one film, Battle: Los Angeles opened with an average of $10,411 in more than 3400 theaters. More...

Limited Releases are Killer

March 11th, 2011

Quite a busy week for limited releases with a number of films opening, including several that are earning excellent reviews. A few of these, like Jane Eyre and Certified Copy, might even do well enough to find some measure of mainstream success. More...