January 9th, 2016
The BAFTA nominations were announced and you can read them on their site... in alphabetical order. Alphabetical order is very useful in most circumstances, but not here. On the other hand, the nominees within each category are not presented in alphabetical order. ... Are the BAFTAs trolling us? As for the actual nominees, the big winners here are Bridge of Spies and Carol, both of which earned nine nominations. For Carol, this is just another impressive score, but this was a pleasant surprise for Bridge of Spies.
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December 14th, 2015
It is a strange week on the home market, as there are four first-run releases coming out, all of which were sequels. That's a lot. However, only one of them wasn't a box office disappointment, Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation. Additionally, there's very little depth here. On the plus side, it did give me an excuse to talk about some good releases that might otherwise have fallen between the cracks, like the Top Spin DVD. That said, the Rogue Nation Blu-ray Combo Pack is the Pick of the Week.
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November 5th, 2015
There were only two films in the $10,000 club this weekend, with Love leading the way with an average of $14,651 in two theaters. Heart of a Dog remained in the $10,000 club with $10,316 in one theater. That bodes well for its long-term chances.
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October 21st, 2015
Room was in a close race for top spot on the per theater with last week's winner, but it came out on top with an average of $29,575 in four theaters. Steve Jobs was right behind with an average of $25,212 in 60. This film is going to expand wide this weekend and could lead the weekend. The Assassin earned an average of $11,973 in four theaters, which is strong for a foreign-language film. Meanwhile, Truth was right behind with an average of $11,039 in six.
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October 8th, 2015
Only two films were in the $10,000 club this weekend. He Named Me Malala led the way with an average of $15,221 in four theaters, which is very strong for a documentary. The film's reviews are only good, but the appeal here is Malala Yousafzai and I don't think moviegoers are too upset that the film is a little shallow. The Martian was close behind with an average of $14,176.
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October 4th, 2015
Just a week after Hotel Transylvania 2 broke September’s weekend record, The Martian has a shot at setting a new mark for October, although it’s going to be a challenge. Fox is projecting the sci-fi thriller will make $55 million this weekend, just a fraction behind Gravity’s $55.8 million debut two years ago this weekend. There’s just a sliver of a chance that The Martian will take the record, but it would take a great performance on Sunday.
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October 2nd, 2015
It is a bad week for limited releases. Shanghai is the biggest release on this week's list, but that just means it is opening in way too many theaters to thrive. The film I'm most interested in is A Christmas Horror Story, but I do have a well-known pro-Canada bias.
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