July 11th, 2014
For the past couple of seasons of True Blood, there have been troubling signs. The show was clearly off its peak in terms of quality and this was adversely affecting its ratings as well. It was still a good show, but no longer a great show. Season Six saw the show earn its weakest ratings since season one, which was before it was discovered by most people. Is this also a sign that these troubling signs finally broke and True Blood is now just a shadow of what it once was?
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April 23rd, 2014
Knights of Badassdom came out on DVD and Blu-ray on April 1st, so this review is late. In my defense, the screener did arrive late, although to be fair, it didn't arrive that late. The film is clearly aimed at the nerd audience, especially those into RPGs and LARPing. Will it appeal to these fans? Will it have broader appeal?
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March 14th, 2014
There could be as many as two-dozen limited releases opening this week, which is insane. That's so many that I'm going to have to limit the ones I talk about to those that I can easily find release dates and / or theater listings for on official sites. (I should really do this every week, because too many times I talk about a film opening in limited release, only to never hear about the movie again.) The competition is overwhelming, but there are a few that rise above the crowd. Veronica Mars is opening wider than any other film and its reviews are pretty good. On the other hand, it is also playing on Video on Demand, so its box office numbers might be really weak. Bad Words is only opening in six theaters tonight, but since it already has a wide expansion planned for the 28th, one could say it is the biggest release of the week. There are several other films on this week's list that could find an audience (Enemy, Exposed, On My Way, etc.) but the competition will likely prove to be too much.
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May 22nd, 2013
The last time I reviewed True Blood, I mentioned the ratings were flat between season four and season three. I also concluded the quality of the show was also flat. Season five saw its ratings drop for the first time during the show's run. Is this drop in ratings accompanied by an equal drop is quality? And if so, is the show no longer worth checking out?
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April 16th, 2013
It is both a great week and a terrible week on the home market. On the high end, Django Unchained is coming out. It is one of the biggest hits of the fall and one of the best reviewed films of the year. It would be a contender for Pick of the Week regardless how busy the week was. On the other hand, there are releases in the Amazon.com's top ten new releases for the week that would be filler on even an average week. After Django Unchained, there's no real depth this week. The Blu-ray Combo Pack doesn't have a lot of extras, but it is still worthy of Pick of the Week honors.
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