March 21st, 2011
It's a deceptively slow week when it comes to DVD and Blu-ray releases. Have I mentioned how much I love the word, "deceptively"? It is worse than meaningless and actually reduces the amount of information given in any sentence it appears in. In this case, the first sentence could mean the week appears to be slow, but it is actually quite busy. Or it could mean the week appears busy, but is quite slow. Unfortunately, it's the latter. There are four first run releases coming out on the home market, which is more than most weeks, but all four missed expectations to one degree or another. Additionally, there's only one new release that I'm seriously considering for Pick of the Week, The Venture Bros.: Season Four on Blu-ray. In fact, there are a couple Blu-ray catalog titles that are more interesting than any of the first run releases. Leading the way there is Stand By Me, which is not only a great movie, but the Blu-ray isn't shovelware and includes Blu-ray exclusive extras like a Picture-in-Picture track. So which release is the Pick of the Week? I can't decide, so let's call it a tie.
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March 30th, 2009
It's a big list this week with nearly 50 DVDs here (including a few that are late reviews). This includes this year's big Oscar winner, Slumdog Millionaire, which is coming out on DVD and Blu-ray. Also coming out this week is two foreign language thrillers: Tell No One on DVD and Blu-ray, and Timecrimes on DVD. All three are worth picking up. In fact, all three are DVD Picks of the Week. With so many releases, it comes as no surprise that this week's list has to be split into two, with the second part found here.
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June 10th, 2006
It turns out
Date Movie was a good excuse to stay at home this week as in pulled in $8.09 million in DVD rentals, easily putting it into first place.
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November 15th, 2004
Every week films get a second chance at success from the home market; or, in some cases, a first chance at success. Here is a list of wide releases, limited releases and a few from the growing TV on DVD section, including the winners of the DVD Pick of the Week, Iron Giant - Special Edition - Buy from Amazon and The Kids in the Hall - Complete Season 2 - Buy from Amazon
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September 14th, 2004
The Village again was the weekend champ in the international box office with $15.3 million on nearly 3,500 screens in 31 markets. Highlights for the weekend include and impressive debut in Germany at $5.5 million and a less spectacular $3.1 million in Japan. The film also suffered a 55% drop-off in its second weekend in Australia while it held up much better in Brazil. So far the film has earned $63.2 million internationally and is well on its way to matching its $112 million domestic total.
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September 8th, 2004
The weekend on the international scene was very much the same as last weekend, just a little bit slower.
The Village was again the champ, thanks to seven openings in mostly mid-ranged markets. A $2.2 million debut in Australia was the top money earner as the film took in $9 million in 23 markets. It's international total is now $45 million and should be headed to $100 million before it is done.
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August 31st, 2004
As the summer box office comes to a close,
The Village continues to set career best records for
M. Night Shyamalan, but it's the sophomore stint drop-offs that the real story. The previously mentioned career best openings were in Belgium, Sweden and Norway totaled $2.6 million, but at the same time saw its U.K. and French numbers cut nearly in half from last weekend. This week it took in a total of $10.2 million in 14 markets, lifting its international total to $30.8 million
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August 24th, 2004
A trio of new openings pushed
King Arthur into first place this week with $13 million in 33 markets. The film now sits at $88 million internationally, and should break $100 million by next weekend. Worldwide it looks headed for $200 million.
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August 10th, 2004
With the summer juggernauts mostly wrapping up their runs, and very little in the way of new competition,
I, Robot easily finished first on the international box office charts. Its weekend earnings of $31.3 million on more than 6,000 screens in 29 markets was nearly triple what the nearest competitor could take in. The film opened number one in the U.K. (8.7 million), Germany ($5.3 million) and Russia ($2.4 million) as well as strong holdovers in France ($2.6 million) and other nations. The film has already earned $71.2 million internationally, and should top its domestic numbers within a few weeks.
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August 3rd, 2004
I, Robot first major expansion into the international markets proved very profitable for
20th Century Fox. Big openings Europe, $5 million in France and $4.7 million in Spain; Asia, $2.5 million in South Korea, $1.8 million in Taiwan; and in $1.9 million in Mexico help it earn $20.5 million over the weekend. Still early in its run, the
Sci-Fi action film has earned $29.6 million in just 17 markets so far.
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July 27th, 2004
Despite a severe, nearly 50% drop at the box office,
Spider-man 2 remained on top with $31.6 million, including a record $1.6 million in India, the biggest opening for a Hollywood film in that market. However, the news isn't all good as big drop-offs continue to plague the
Marvel web-slinger, 56% in France, 50% in the U.K. and 59% in Spain. But it is still earning immense figures thanks to record-breaking openings and should cross $600 million worldwide early in the mid-week and $300 million internationally during next weekend.
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June 14th, 2004
Every week films get a second chance at success from the home market; or, in some cases, a first chance at success. This is the worst week for DVDs since the
beginning of February. There's not one, not two, but
FIVE DVDs that were in contention for the DVD Pick of the week. And with all but one from the TV on DVD section, this is going to be a very expensive week for me. Even if I don't buy groceries for the week I'll still need to trim the list by a couple. Go with Dead Like Me - The Complete First Season -
Buy from Amazon,
Monk - The Complete First Season -
Buy from Amazon and
The Thin Blue Line - The Complete Line-Up -
Buy from Amazon. Maybe I can sell some blood to pick up
The Simpsons - The Complete Fourth Season -
Buy from Amazon and
The Station Agent -
Buy from Amazon. Maybe if I sell a kidney I can get a whole new home theatre system as well. [Editor's Note: He's joking ... we think.]
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June 14th, 2004
The weekend box office was filed with bad movies and that makes predicting that much more difficult. However, while there were a few surprises, it wasn't as chaotic as it could have been. But with the three new movie combined opening barely above the drop
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban suffered. And that lead to a serious drop from last weekend of 15.75%. But last year at this time, the trio of films that opened really bombed leading to a spectacular 29% increase at the box office. That's several weeks in a row of year to year increases.
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June 11th, 2004
While three films open wide this weekend, none seem likely to finish first. In fact, I wouldn't be too surprised if at least one of them misses the top 5. However, if any one new movie doubles my predictions I wouldn't be too surprised. Nor would I be all that shocked if any one movie failed to reach half of what I predicted. It's just that kind of week.
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June 10th, 2004
During the past week promotional websites for several movies were launched and some older ones added additional content. Here the list of this week's releases, a couple of new sites and few updates including the winner for the week,
Garfield -
Official Site. If you know of any new movie websites not on this list feel free to e-mail me with the details.
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June 3rd, 2004
During the past week promotional websites for several movies were launched and some older ones added additional content. Here the list of this week's releases, a couple of new sites and few updates including the winner for the week,
Two Brothers -
Official Site . If you know of any new movie websites not on this list feel free to e-mail me with the details.
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June 1st, 2004
After a rather mediocre May, June looks a lot stronger with two films that should break $300 million. Not surprisingly, these monster hits are being released unopposed during their respective weeks. And also not surprisingly, they are being released at opposite ends of the month. The rest of the films are unlikely to make much of an impact, although a few should cross the increasingly irrelevant $100 million plateau.
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May 31st, 2004
Every week films get a second chance at success from the home market; or, in some cases, a first chance at success. This was a hugely busy week for DVD releases. Taking a look at the list of releases we find almost 700 DVDs, unfortunately, it's mostly a case of quantity not quality. There are a LOT of re-releases coming out this week, many related to upcoming films. However, there is not one release that shouts Pick of the Week, so I didn't choose one. But there are so many DVD being released that there should be at least one to fit everyone's tastes.
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May 27th, 2004
During the past week promotional websites for several movies were launched and some older ones added additional content. Here the list of this week's releases, a couple of new sites and few updates including the winner for the week,
Baadasssss! -
Official Site. If you know of any new movie websites not on this list feel free to e-mail me with the details.
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May 13th, 2004
During the past week promotional websites for several movies were launched and some older ones added additional content. Here the list of this week's releases, a couple of new sites and few updates including the winner for the week,
The Chronicles of Riddick -
Official Site . If you know of any new movie websites not on this list feel free to e-mail me with the details.
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May 6th, 2004
During the past week promotional websites for several movies were launched and some older ones added additional content. Here the list of this week's releases, a couple of new sites and few updates including the winner for the week,
Shrek 2 - >
Official Site. If you know of any new movie websites not on this list feel free to e-mail me with the details.
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March 4th, 2004
During the past week promotional websites for several movies were launched and some older ones added additional content. Here the list of this week's releases, a couple of new sites and few updates including the winner for the week,
The Prince & Me -
Official Site . If you know of any new movie websites not on this list feel free to e-mail me with the details.
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December 18th, 2003
During the past week promotional websites for several movies were launched and some older ones added additional content. Here is a list of highlights, (including this week's winner
Lord of the Rings: Return of the King -
Official Site plus one last look at websites for films opening this week. If you know of any new movie websites not on this list feel free to e-mail me with the details.
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December 11th, 2003