2018 Awards Season: Oscar Highlight: Best Feature-Length Documentary

February 7th, 2019

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. Logic and evidence suggests the favorite film is Won’t You Be My Neighbor? with Three Identical Strangers coming in a close second. However, neither of them were nominated. More...

2018 Awards Season: DGA - Nominations

January 9th, 2019

Directors Guild of America announced their theatrical nominations this week and we are starting to see some real patterns emerge and I think the Oscar picture is getting clearer. More...

2018 - Awards Season: PGA - Nominations

January 4th, 2019

The Producers Guild of America announced their nominations in the theatrical categories today and there are some trends building. However, there are also some questions generated after these nominations were announced. More...

2018 - Holiday Gift Guide - Part III - Limited Releases, Classics, Foreign Imports

December 13th, 2018

The first instalment of our Holiday Gift Guide dealt with First-run Releases and the second instalment with, TV on DVD releases. The third installment of our Holiday Gift Guide deals with limited releases, classics, and foreign imports and this list can get out of hand rather quickly, so I will try and keep it to a dozen items or so, starting with... More...

2018 - Awards Season: Independent Spirit Awards - Nominations

November 17th, 2018

The Independent Spirit Awards nominations were announced on Friday and thus the 2018 Awards Season begins. We The Animals topped the list with five nominations, while A24 earned 12 as a studio. More...

Home Market Releases for September 4th, 2018

September 4th, 2018

Like last week, this week is rather busy on the home market with many more TV on DVD releases. There are not a lot of big releases this week, nor are there a lot of contenders for Pick of the Week. It’s really a two-horse race between Won’t You Be My Neighbor? and New Game!!: Season Twp. Won’t You Be My Neighbor? on Blu-ray won that race rather easily. More...

Home Market Releases for August 21st, 2018

August 20th, 2018

It’s a good week on the home market as we not only have a monster hit that is worth being a Pick of the Week contender, Deadpool 2, we have a wide selection of other contenders. This includes a limited release, First Reformed; an Anime title,Sakura Quest: Part Two; as well as a TV on DVD release, Ash vs. Evil Dead: Season Three. In the end, I went with Ash vs. Evil Dead: Season Three, but it was a close race. More...

Theater Averages: Documentaries Remain in Fashion

August 2nd, 2018

Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood dominated the theater average chart earning first place with $28,144 in one theater. The next closest film was a fellow documentary, McQueen, which earned an average of $16,692 in five theaters during its second weekend of release. The overall number one film, Mission: Impossible—Fallout, was next with an average of $13,962. The final film in the $10,000 club was Puzzle, with an average of $12,243 in five theaters.

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Theater Averages: Eighth Grade Repeats a Grade

July 25th, 2018

Eighth Grade remained on top of the theater average chart with an average of $24,975 in 33 theaters over the weekend. McQueen and Blindspotting were right behind with averages of $24,718 and $24,024 in 4 and 14 theaters respectively. The re-release of Wanda opened with $10,679 in one theater. The two wide releases of the week were next with The Equalizer 2 and Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! in a virtual tie at $10,629 and $10,537 respectively. More...

Theater Averages: Sorry isn’t a Bother

July 12th, 2018

Sorry to Bother You dominated the theater average chart this week with an average of $45,454 in 16 theaters. As I previously mentioned, this is the sixth-best opening average for a limited release this year. Ant-Man and the Wasp earned top spot on the weekend chart and second place here with an average of $18,025. Three Identical Strangers remained in the $10,000 club with an average of $13,427 in 51 theaters and should have no trouble expanding further. Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda earned $12,827 in its lone theater, which is excellent for a documentary. Leave No Trace remained in the $10,000 club with an average of $10,892 in 37 theaters. It will continue to expand. More...

Theater Averages: Triplets Top Trio of $10,000 Club Members

July 4th, 2018

Three Identical Strangers top the theater average chart with an average of $34,301 in five theaters. The only other members of the $10,000 club were wide releases, with Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom earning an average of $13,581 and Incredibles 2 being relatively close behind with $10,525. More...

Theater Averages: Kingdom Crowned Leader of Theater Average Chart

June 27th, 2018

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom led the way on the theater average chart with an average of $33,078, putting it ahead of Incredibles 2’s sophomore stint score of $18,219. The King was the best of the new limited releases, with an average of $14,525 in two theaters. Finally, 2001: A Space Odyssey returned to the $10,000 club with an average of $12,989. The 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack is coming out in October. More...

Theater Averages: Incredibles Tops Another Chart

June 20th, 2018

The overall number one film, Incredibles 2, earned top spot on the theater average chart with an impressive average of $41,426. Only two other wide releases have started with bigger averages: Infinity War and Black Panther. The only new limited release in the $10,000 club was Eating Animals, which earned an average of $17,262. Finally, Won’t You Be My Neighbor earned an average of $10,445 in nearly 100 theaters, earning over $1 million in the process. This bodes well for its future. More...

Theater Averages: 2001 is Louder than the Competition

June 12th, 2018

2001: A Space Odyssey returned to the top of the theater average chart earning an average of $18,969 in 5 theaters. The best new release was Hearts Beat Loud, which was right behind with an average of $18,631 in four theaters. Won’t You Be My Neighbor? was next with an average of $16,394 in 29 theaters. It won’t need to expand to earn more than $1 million domestically, and it will expand over the coming weeks. The final film in the $10,000 club is the overall box office leader, Ocean’s 8, with an average of $10,038. More...

Weekend Estimates: Ocean’s 8 Tops Chart, Franchise

June 10th, 2018

Ocean’s 8 matched expectations with $41.5 million over the weekend. If it can maintain this figure, then it will open in the $10,000 club, while even if its final numbers slips a little, it still would be on pace for $100 million domestically. Its reviews have settled to 67% positive, and it managed an acceptable B plus from CinemaScore, so its legs should be average. Fortunately, with a start like this, it only needs average legs to break even early in its home market run. More...

Friday Estimates: Ocean’s 8 Opens With $15 million, Fallen Kingdom Will Steal its Thunder

June 9th, 2018

Two of the three new releases opened well on Friday. Ocean’s 8 open with $15.8 million, putting it on pace for an opening weekend of $42 million. This is the best opening in the franchise. It is also the cheapest installment in the franchise with a $70 million production budget, so it won’t need amazing legs to break even during its initial push into the home market. Its reviews are 69% positive, while it earned a B plus from CinemaScore. Neither of those results are particularly good, but they are no reason to panic either. Unfortunately, it won’t have the same legs as its predecessors, as the market has changed in the past decade. Furthermore, films with predominately female casts don’t do as well internationally, so the film will rely a little more on its domestic numbers to break even. That said, Warner Bros. should be happy with this result. More...

Limited and VOD Releases: Won’t You See a Movie?

June 8th, 2018

There is a disproportionate number of documentaries on this week’s list, including several earning amazing reviews. Of these, Won’t You Be My Neighbor? has the best shot at mainstream success. However, it isn’t the only film with good reviews and I think Hearts Beat Loud could also do well in limited release. More...

Won't You Be My Neighbor Trailer

May 25th, 2018

Documentary about Fred Rogers opens June 8 ... Full Movie Details. More...