June 17th, 2014
It's a good week / bad week on the home market. There are several releases coming out this week that are absolutely worth picking up. But there are also several of these where I'm still waiting for screeners to arrive, some of which are contenders for Pick of the Week, like The Grand Budapest Hotel or House of Cards. Other potential Pick of the Week contenders include Ernest and Celestine on Blu-ray Combo Pack and The LEGO Movie on Blu-ray Combo Pack. It was literally a coin toss and Ernest and Celestine won. Meanwhile, No Clue on DVD wins the Puck of the Week, for the best Canadian release of the week.
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June 15th, 2014
Pretty much every year, the Oscar nominations for Best Animated Feature includes one surprise nomination. I don't mean one film that didn't earn strong enough reviews to be an Oscar-contender (although that also happens a lot) but a film that most mainstream moviegoers haven't heard of before the nominations are announced. Last year, that film was Ernest and Celestine. The film only got a token release in theaters, but it is coming out on DVD and Blu-ray Combo Pack this week. Did it earn the nomination? And is the Blu-ray Combo Pack worth picking up?
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March 5th, 2014
There were three films in the $10,000 club this past weekend, two that were not a surprise, but one that was a huge surprise. Leading the way was The Lunchbox with an average of $14,847 in three theaters. This film earned 94% positive reviews. Likewise, Ernest & Celestine earned 100% positive reviews, so its start of $13,078 in one theater is also to be expected. In between those two films was The Bag Man, which earned an average of $14,616 in two theaters, but only managed 9% positive reviews.
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March 2nd, 2014
Even with awards shows dominating industry headlines this weekend, three movies, none of which are nominated for anything, will manage to top $20 million at the box office. Top of the pile will be Liam Neeson actioner Non-Stop, which will debut with a shade over $30 million. That's the best performance for a non-sequel movie Neeson has headlined. Not far behind, Son of God is projected to earn around $26.5 million this weekend, and Fox is projecting it to top the chart on Sunday. The third movie topping $20 million will be The LEGO Movie, which passes $200 million in the process in its 4th weekend in release.
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February 28th, 2014
It is Oscar weekend, so it should come as no surprise there are not a lot of limited releases with the usual target audience. Art house aficionados will be paying more attention to the Awards than to new releases. Ernest & Celestine is the lone exception, which is the only Oscar-nominated film on this week's list and the best reviewed as well. Most of the rest of the movies are earning reviews that range from mixed to outright terrible. The Lunchbox could be the break-out hit of the weekend, if there is a break-out hit.
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February 15th, 2014
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 Animated Feature Film, which looked like it would be competitive for most of the year, then Frozen came out and instantly became the favorite. Is it the favorite? Or is there a dark horse out there?
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January 16th, 2014
The Oscar nominations were announced this morning and there are some surprises mixed in with the predictable results. Gravity and American Hustle led the way with ten nominations each while 12 Years a Slave was right behind with nine. The fact that 12 Years a Slave wasn't the leader is the first of the surprises.
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March 13th, 2013
There were a trio of films to top the $10,000 mark on the per theater chart. Somebody Up There Likes Me earned first place with $34,362 in its one theater. The overall number one film, Oz the Great and Powerful, earned second place with an average of $20,223 in nearly 4,000 theaters. The final film in the $10,000 club was The We and the I, which managed $10,774 in one theater.
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