January 29th, 2007
I'm still waiting for the first "Must Have" DVD of the year (the first one of those doesn't show up until mid-February), but at least there are more that nearly make the grade this week than so far this year.
Flyboys - Collector's Edition is better than the reviews would indicate, as long as you are in the right frame of mind.
Lucky Louie - The Complete First Season is a great show but a little demented for a mainstream audience, and the same can be said for Viva Pedro - Pedro Almodovar Classics Collection - Buy from Amazon.
But in the end I went with Red Doors - Buy from Amazon as the DVD Pick of the Week.
Perhaps an unexpected choice, but it's a movie that should be seen by more.
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December 30th, 2006
There were nearly a dozen
new releases to chart this week, but it was a holdover that took top spot in an extremely close race.
The Devil Wears Prada beat out
Little Miss Sunshine at $8.88 million to $8.80 million.
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December 19th, 2006
This is the last week before Christmas and there are a lot of DVDs on this week's list that would make perfect last minute Christmas gifts. There are also a lot of DVDs that feel like they are being dumped on the home market in the hopes that they will be scooped up by ever desperate shoppers. Of the contenders, Jackie Chan's Police Story - Special Collector's Edition and The Simpsons - The Complete Ninth Season - Collectable Lisa Head Packaging came close to taking home the honor. But in the end I went with When the Levees Broke.
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September 12th, 2006
The second weekend in September is quite often the slowest weekend of the year, and that appears to be the case here. Overall the total box office was a mere $71 million.
To put that into perspective, if that was earned by just one film this weekend, it would only place fourth on the list of 2006's biggest openings.
Needless to say, the overall box office was down this weekend, by a massive 31.3% from the last weekend.
Compared to the same weekend last year the decline was smaller at 18.2%, but that was a more devastating result in the overall scheme of things.
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September 10th, 2006
No new openings left
Garfield's A Tail of Two Kitties down 40% to $5.87 million on 3779 screens in 32 markets for a total of $90.08 million. It was reported that the film broke a record for an
animated film in China with $6.7 million putting it ahead of
The Lion King, which is a strange thing to report since the movie isn't
animated. Sure, it has a
CG lead, but that's not the same. As for the film's prospects for the future, hitting $100 million internationally is academic at this point and with several openings to go, including previews in Australia this weekend, the film could finish with close to the $125 million earned by the
original.
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September 6th, 2006
Labor Day long weekend is the official end of the movie summer season and this year it ended on a high note. While the 3-day total was 1.4% lower than last weekend, the $102 million it earned was 8.7% better than the same weekend last year. Adding in Monday and the box office reached $129 million, up 9.2% from last year.
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September 4th, 2006
It's the Labor Day today, which means there will be a one day delay in a few regular columns including the weekend wrap up and the per theatre charts. The DVD release column will be published late tonight, very late tonight. Perhaps even in the early morning hours of tomorrow. In the meantime, here are the studio estimates for the weekend numbers...
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September 2nd, 2006
Another busy week with plenty of top-notch films to chose from In the end, however, it was a two-way race between
The Black Dahlia -
Official Site and
Stranger than Fiction -
Official Site with the former site winning out by a narrow margin.
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September 1st, 2006
I've said it before and I'll say it again, September is the worst month of the year for movies.
Not only are there usually very few hits released at this time of year, but the average is dragged way down by the large number of movies simply dumped on the market.
This year the September dumping ground doesn't look quite as bad as years past.
In fact, several low-level hits and maybe even an Oscar contender are opening wide.
However, those few bright spots will be buried due to the sheer number of releases -- an average of 3 and a half films are opening wide each week.
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September 1st, 2006
It's the Labor Day weekend, the weakest long weekend in the movie business.
There are a trio of new releases trying to take on Invincible's undefeated record (current winning streak: 1), but the odds of there being a new winner this weekend are 50 / 50.
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July 21st, 2006
Another busy week, but unlike last week there was no massive blockbuster launching its flash site. Two sites stood out this week, (not counting past winners), and they are wildly different both in terms of style and in terms of the movie they are selling:
Accepted -
Official Site and
World Trade Center -
Official Site. The former is goofy and seriously immature, while the latter is one of the most emotional sites I've ever seen. In was nearly a coin flip, but in the end I went with
Accepted -
Official Site, but I would be willing to bet the other site will win before the movie comes out.
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June 23rd, 2006
Just an average week with
You, Me and Dupree -
Official Site taking the prize for the best of the week.
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