March 7th, 2011
Another incredibly slow week with very few releases that could be considered top tier. None of the first-run releases are really worth picking up for most people, but there are a couple smaller releases that are contenders for Pick of the Week. This includes Mystery Science Theater 3000: Volume XX, but in the end I gave that honor to Inside Job on either DVD or Blu-ray.
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February 26th, 2011
Independent Spirit Award hand out their nominations earlier than the other major awards, but don't hand out the hardware till the day before the Oscars. The long wait ended last night and Black Swan became the big winner sweeping the four categories it was nominated it. It wasn't the only winner of the night, however.
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February 6th, 2011
With our annual Oscar Prediction contest underway, now is the best time to look at the nominees and try and figure out who the favorites are and which films should just feel honored to be nominated. Today we look at Best Feature-Length Documentary, which is only slightly more competitive than Best Animated Feature Film. (The next two categories are more competitive, I promise.)
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January 25th, 2011
The Oscar nominations were announced this morning, thus ending months of speculation. Along with a (very) few surprises, the list of nominees is mostly a case of Deja Vu. Leading the way, as it has so often this year, was The King's Speech, with 12 nominations, including six in seven of the most prestigious categories (Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, and the four acting categories). But it was far from the only multi-nominated film on the list.
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December 13th, 2010
This week we have the last of the major summer blockbusters hitting the home market, and not only did Despicable Me earn $250 million domestically and more than $500 million worldwide, it also earned amazing reviews. This makes it an obvious contender for Pick of the Week. Unfortunately, the screener is late, and I hate to award that honor to a release when this is the case. As far as its competition is concerned, there are two main releases vying for that title: The Quintessential Guy Maddin! on DVD and The Town on Blu-ray. Despite my well-documented pro-Canada bias, I'm giving it to the latter.
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December 1st, 2010
The official arrival of winter is still a few weeks away, but Winter's Bone ushered in the start of Awards Season picking up seven Independent Spirit Award nominations. This was the most of any film, with The Kids Are All Right placing second with five.
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July 27th, 2010
The $10,000 club was busy this weekend with five films reaching that milestone. This includes Life During Wartime with $30,507 in its lone theater. Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child also opened in just one theater and earned $17,466 over the weekend.
Countdown to Zero was the second documentary in the $10,000 club with an average of $13,769 in three theaters.
The Kids are All Right spent its fourth week in the $10,000 club with an average of $12,909 in just over 200 theaters.
The overall box office leader, Inception, earned an average of $11,267.
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June 9th, 2010
Agora remained on top of the per theater chart with an average of $10,332 in four theaters. However, it is unlikely that it will expand wide, or even earn a real measure of mainstream success.
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May 18th, 2010
Just like they did in the overall box office, Iron Man 2 and Robin Hood top the per theater chart, finishing in the same order. It was a close race with Iron Man 2 coming out on top, $11,854 to $10,295.
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May 2nd, 2010
A Nightmare on Elm Street continued what is now practically a tradition of impressive performances for franchise reboots by opening with $32.2 million this weekend, according to Warner Bros.' Sunday estimate.
That's the second-best opening performance for a movie in the franchise, behind only the franchise-crossover Freddy vs. Jason.
It also helped shake up the market a little after a few sluggish weeks.
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April 27th, 2010
During the second weekend of its release, Exit Through the Gift Shop rose to the top spot on the per theater chart, with an average of $13,356 in 11 theaters. The Secret in Their Eyes was the only other film in the $10,000 club, with an average of $10,911 in 33 theaters for its sophomore stint. In both cases, some further expansion is likely.
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April 25th, 2010
In another sign of the dominance of 3D at the box office right now, How to Train Your Dragon enjoyed another strong performance and returned to the top of the box office chart this weekend, according to studio estimates released on Sunday.
With a drop of just 23% from last weekend, Dragon now stands at $178 million, and it's likely to grow that number considerably between now and the release of Shrek Forever After on May 21.
The Back-up Plan, meanwhile, posted a somewhat disappointing $12.25 million.
That's considerably better than CBS Films' previous release, Extraordinary Measures, but decidedly middle-of-the-pack compared to Jennfier Lopez' other opening weekends.
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April 20th, 2010
The City of Your Final Destination rode its pedigree to first place with $24,401 in its one theater, while Exit Through the Gift Shop was very close behind with an average of $21,345 in eight theaters. The Secret in Their Eyes opened in third place with an average of $16,787 in ten theaters. Of these three films, Exit earned the best reviews. However, the Oscar winning Secret could have the best long-term success.
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April 18th, 2010
Another impressive hold from How to Train Your Dragon combined with a lacklustre opening for Kick-Ass to produce a second consecutive weekend where Sunday's estimates are too close to declare a weekend winner.
Paramount's estimate for Dragon is $20 million, while Lionsgate has Kick-Ass pegged at $19.75 million.
Lionsgate's second place position now may simply be because they've posted a more precise estimate.
Remarkably, there are three more movies within $5 million of top spot: Death at a Funeral opened with $17 million, which is just behind Date Night's second weekend $17.3 million (down just 31%), and Clash of the Titans did pretty well in its third weekend with an estimated $15.77 million.
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April 16th, 2010
While there are only five limited releases on this week's list, two of them are opening in more than 100 theaters. However, both of those films are only earning mixed reviews. The best-reviewed limited release of the week is Exit Through the Gift Shop, which currently has 100% positive reviews. Hopefully that will translate into a strong start at the box office.
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