Limited and VOD Releases: A Lot to Love on This Week’s List

September 27, 2019

First Love

There are a lot of excellent films on this week’s list. Not only that, but there are a wide selections of films as well. Do you want to watch a documentary? Anthropocene: The Human Epoch is your best bet. Want to watch a potential Oscar-winning performance? Then Judy is for you. Want a Neo-Noir love story? First Love has what you need. Want to stay home and watch something on VOD? There are several choices there, both big and small.

Anthropocene: The Human Epoch - Reviews
A documentary about how humans are changing the world around us. Spoiler alert: It’s not for the better in most cases. The reviews are excellent; not quite award-worthy, but good enough to thrive on the art house scene.

Bliss - Reviews
Video on Demand
An artist is struggling to paint, so she decides to have a night of debauchery to recharge her creative juices. It works, but leaves her with a craving for blood. The reviews are excellent, among the best on this week’s list, but it is playing on VOD, so I don’t expect it to make a dent at the box office.

The Day Shall Come - Reviews
Video on Demand
I was really looking forward to this film, as the director, Chris Morris, previously made Four Lions, which is fantastic. Unfortunately, this film’s reviews are good, but not great, while it is playing on VOD, so its box office chances are negligible.

The Death of Dick Long - Reviews
Video on Demand
When their bandmate dies, two friends try to cover up his death for as long as possible. There is one problem: They are morons. This film’s reviews are good, but not great. Also, it is a Black Comedy and those tend to struggle at the box office. Finally, the film is playing on VOD, so its box office chances are nearly zero.

Extra Ordinary - Reviews
A driving instructor has a gift to talk to spirits, and not just of dead humans. Her father had the same gift and it ruined his life, so she doesn’t like to use it. She then meets a girl whose father is haunted by their dead mother / wife and she tries to help out the family. The reviews are 100% positive, but the average score is just 7 out of 10, so while all of the critics have liked the movie, few have really loved it and this could result is a less than stellar box office run. You don’t need to rush out to see it in theaters and watching it at home might be the better deal.

First Love - Reviews
A Neo-Noir love story from acclaimed director Takashi Miike. The film’s reviews are currently nearly unanimously positive (the first negative review showed up just as I was finishing this article) but the film itself is too out there for mainstream appeal. I want to see the movie, certainly more than any other film on this week’s list, but I don’t think it will be a box office hit.

The Golden Glove - Reviews
A film about a notorious serial killer in 1970s Germany. The reviews are mixed and it has almost no chance at box office success.

Judy - Reviews
Renée Zellweger has been earning so much Oscar buzz for her performance as Judy Garland that I’m surprised the film’s overall reviews are not better than they are. Don’t get me wrong, they are good enough to thrive in limited release, but not really award-worthy. If the film does get off to a fast start, it will increase its chances during Awards Season, which in turn will help it out at the box office, and the cycle will continue.

The Laundromat - Reviews
Busted Oscar-bait. The cast is amazing and Meryl Streep is a perennial Oscar-contender, but this won’t be another win for her.

Sister Aimee - Reviews
A film about the most famous evangelist in the 1920s, a woman who desperately wanted out of the business. The film is based on real life events, but the details are mostly made up. The reviews are good, but I’m not sure they are good enough to survive limited release.

Secondary VOD Releases:
10 Minutes Gone - Reviews - Video on Demand
The Curse of Buckout Road - Reviews - Video on Demand
The Gliksmans - Reviews - Video on Demand
Nineteen Summers - Reviews - Video on Demand
Obsession - No Reviews - Video on Demand
Prey - Reviews - Video on Demand
There are a few films on this week’s list earning one positive review on Rotten Tomatoes. They might be worth checking out, but with so few reviews, it is a risk.

Filed under: Limited Releases, VOD Releases, Home Market Releases, Anthropocene: The Human Epoch, Buckout Road, Judy, The Laundromat, 10 Minutes Gone, Bliss, The Death of Dick Long, Prey, Der Goldene Handschuh, The Day Shall Come, Hatsukoi, The Gliksmans, Extra Ordinary, Obsession, Sister Aimee, Nineteen Summers, Meryl Streep, Renée Zellweger, Chris Morris, Takashi Miike