Filling Up on Smaller Films
November 22, 2007
Award season should be heating up, but you couldn't really tell by the limited releases this week. I'm Not There looks promising, but there are too many question marks regarding its Oscar and box office chances. Starting Out in the Evening is the only other release with Oscar potential, but it will need to make a box office splash for voters to take notice.
Everything's Cool - Reviews
I'm Not There - Reviews
Midnight Eagle - Reviews
Nina's Heavenly Delights - Reviews
Starting Out in the Evening - Reviews
A documentary about the politics of the global warming debate. It's a frustrating topic, because there shouldn't be politics in the global warming debate, but at least this documentary approaches it in an entertaining way and is a little more hopeful and upbeat than An Inconvenient Truth. Everything's Cool opens tomorrow in two theaters, one in New York City and the other in Los Angeles.
The most buzz-worthy film on this week's list, this biography of Bob Dylan stars six actors each playing a different aspect of his personality. The film is earning excellent reviews, there's no doubt about that, but 80% positive is not enough to guarantee substantial Oscar buzz. Additionally, while this film is the kind that should thrive on the art house circuit, it is opened nationwide in more than 100 theaters on Wednesday. The select cities release schedule could result in difficulties filling all those theaters leading to a lower per theater average and this could hurt its box office chances overall. The holidays should give it a boost, and it should earn some measure of mainstream success, but the degree in which is does is uncertain at the moment.
Opening in Japan and the United States this Friday, which is probably the most interesting aspect of the film, especially for audiences here. It is a little too nationalistic for crossover appeal, and the few reviews it has received are mostly negative. Perhaps as a pure action film it has some merits, but that is not the type of film that does well on the art house circuit. Midnight Eagle opens on Friday at the ImaginAsian in New York City before expanding to Los Angeles in a couple weeks.
An East meets West culture clash set in an Indian restaurant in Scotland. So far the film is earning zero positive reviews, but it is not as terrible as that sounds. It just doesn't add anything new to a genre that is all too common in movies and overall is way too insubstantial to be satisfying. Nina's Heavenly Delights opened on Wednesday at the Regent Showcase Theater in Hollywood.
Frank Langella stars as Leonard Schiller, an author who spent the past decade working on what he plans to be his last book. Lili Taylor plays his daughter and Lauren Ambrose plays a grad student writing her thesis on his work, each of whom has a different effect on him. The film is earning excellent reviews, but will likely slip beneath the radar of most voting committees. Starting Out in the Evening opens on Friday in a handful of theaters, mostly in the Los Angeles area.
Filed under: I’m Not There, Starting Out in the Evening, Nina's Heavenly Delights, Middonaito Îguru, Everything's Cool: A Toxic Comedy About Global Warming