This graph shows Steve Coogan’s score on our annual analysis of leading stars at the box office. The Star Score represents points assigned to each of the leading stars of the top 100 movies (based on box office) in the current year and two preceding years. For appearing in the number one movie in a year a star gets 100 points, the number two movie 99 points and so on..
Latest Ranking on Selected Box Office Record Lists
Normally this time of year is a transitional period, as the flood of TV on DVD releases begins to give way to the soon-to-be flood of summer blockbusters. However, the pandemic means there are no summer blockbusters coming out this week, or next week. Or next month. Or the month after that. There are still a couple of bigger TV-on-DVD releases, including The Flash, but the biggest recent theatrical releases hardly made an impact. The best release on this week’s list is Yes, God, Yes, but Amazon has it currently unavailable, so grab it from Target instead.
We are slowly looking towards returning to normal, and that includes opening more and more theaters in select parts of the nation. This week we have three limited releases with a variety of release strategies going from just virtual theaters for Lucky Grandma, to a mix of virtual and real-world theaters for The Painter and the Thief, to apparently everything all at once for The Trip to Greece. All three films are earning excellent reviews, so hopefully they can all find audiences, no matter where they are playing.
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The BAFTA nominations were announced and The Favorite led the way with 12 nominations. Sometimes the BAFTAs are a really good indicator for who will do well on Oscar night. Other times their bias to British films is too much. I think this year will be an example of the latter and I don't think The Favourite is suddenly an Oscar favorite. That said, there’s still some things you can learn here.
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There is not a lot of time for Oscar contenders to come out in theaters and usually this time of year there are a few Oscar-bait films getting last minute runs. This is sort of true this year. There are three films coming out till the end of the year that have been earning Awards Season buzz, but none of them are earning award-worthy reviews. Besides these three films, there are almost no limited releases. Even if you include all of next week, there are only eight films opening this week in total.
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Laurel & Hardy, one of the world’s great comedy teams, set out on a variety hall tour of Britain in 1953. Diminished by age and with their golden era as the kings of Hollywood comedy now behind them, they face an uncertain future. As the charm and beauty of their performances shines through, they re-connect with their adoring fans. The tour becomes a hit, but Stan & Ollie can’t quite shake the specter of Laurel and Hardy’s past; the long-buried ghosts, coupled with Oliver’s failing health, start to threaten their precious partnership. A portrait of the most tender and poignant of creative marriages, they are aware that they may be approaching their swan song, trying to rediscover just how much they mean to each other.
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There are not many limited releases on this week’s list and almost none of them have a real shot at mainstream success. That said, there are still several that are earning absolutely amazing reviews. The film with the best shot at mainstream success is probably Leave No Trace, with its 100% positive reviews. That said, I’m going to suggest something different, GLOW: Season Two on Netflix. It just started streaming today and I may have watched half of the season while working on this column.
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Christmas is rapidly approaching, so most of the big releases have already hit the home market. The biggest box office release on this week’s list is Kingsman: The Golden Circle, but its reviews were only mixed. The biggest release overall is Game of Thrones: Season Seven, while the only other competition for Pick of the Week is Election: The Criterion Collection. I’m going to award the title to Game of Thrones, even though the screener didn’t arrive until Monday afternoon.
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Despicable Me 3 is the fourth film in the Despicable Me franchise. I’ve previously reviewed the first three films and bought the first film, because I loved it. The second film was weaker, but still great. The third film was Minions. It’s a kids movie, nothing more. There’s been a downward trajectory in the quality that’s quite noticeable. Does it continue here? Is it at least better than Minions was?
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There are a number of limited releases coming out this week that are earning good reviews and / or strong buzz. Of these, The Trip to Spain is the one I want to see the most. It also has a good chance to earn more than $2 million in theaters, as its two predecessors did the same.
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Technically this is HAPPYish: Season One, but the show was canceled after just one season, so adding Season One isn't accurate, as it implies there will be a Season Two. So we know the show wasn't able to find an audience, but does that mean it isn't a good show? Was it an undiscovered gem that deserves to be seen by more on the home market?
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Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb is the third film, and likely final film, in the Night at the Museum franchise. The previous two films were very profitable, but the films have never really won over critics. This film had the weakest run at the box office, but is it also the weakest in terms of quality?
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Like every other week, new releases on the home market come out on Tuesday. Unlikely every other week, Christmas Eve is on Wednesday. Christmas Eve is the busiest shopping day of the year, but it is mostly last minute food purchases and almost no one is paying attention to new DVD and Blu-ray releases. This explains why there are so few new releases of note. That's not to say there are no releases worth checking out; in fact, there are four contenders for Pick of the Week. Continuum: Season 3 (DVD or Blu-ray); The Good Lie (Blu-ray Combo Pack); and The Trip to Italy (DVD or Blu-ray) were all in the running. However, in the end, I went with Pride (DVD or Blu-ray).
The Trip to Italy is a sequel to The Trip, which I previously reviewed. That movie was basically two people, Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, travelling around northern England, eating food, and getting into weird conversations. Is this film any different? If not, is it worth watching a second time?
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It's a terrible week on the home market with no major releases. The biggest theatrical release is Begin Again, which earned excellent reviews, but opened in limited release and never expanded truly wide. The best new release on the list is the limited edition Breaking Bad: The Complete Series 2014 Barrel, but it costs more than $200, so it is out of the price range of most people. Besides those two releases, there's more filler than releases worth talking about. Begin Again wins Pick of the Week, practically by default, as it is the only release I can enthusiastically recommend.
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In Alan Partridge, Steve Coogan plays Alan Partridge, a character he first played more than 20 years ago. However, for most people here, this will be their first introduction to the character. Will this be a problem? Are there too many inside jokes? Or will the humor be appreciated by even those who have never heard of Alan Partridge before?
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As the summer blockbuster season ends, there are a few limited releases that are actually fairly strong. Perhaps they are hoping to take advantage of the lull in blockbusters, or perhaps they are hoping to get a jump on Awards Season. Regardless why they picked this weekend to open, Abuse of Weakness, Frank, and The Trip to Italy all have a chance to thrive in the art house circuit.
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It is a busy week, not only in terms of quantity, but also quality. There are seven films earning 80% positive reviews or higher (at least when I checked last). Some of these, like Afflicted, probably won't find an audience in theaters, because it is just the wrong genre. Others, like The Unknown Known and Watermark, might do well for the genre, but won't find any real measure of mainstream success. On the other hand, Under the Skin and Alan Partridge might find audiences in theaters.
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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 will look at the two writing categories, ending with Best Adapted Screenplay. This race is about as uncompetitive as it can be with nearly all analysts agreeing on the likely winner.
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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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Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced their Golden Globe nominations this week, and a clear picture is forming. 12 Years a Slave was again the recipient of the most nominations, but this time it was a tie, as it and American Hustle both grabbed seven nominations. If you look down the list of other multi-nominated films, you will find a number of familiar faces.
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This week's list of limited releases is kind of mixed. Frozen is coming out this week for a prestige opening before expanding wide on Wednesday and it is virtually guaranteed box office success. On the other hand, most of the rest of the films are documentaries, which almost never have breakout success. Every documentary on this list looks interesting, but of the non-Frozen releases, I think Philomena has the best shot at box office success.
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It's a pretty busy week for limited releases with several films having openings spread out from Wednesday through Friday. However, while it is a busy week, only two of them are earning overall good reviews. Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me is earning the best reviews, but as a documentary, its chances of expanding are limited. On the other hand, The Way Way Back is not only earning great reviews, but its cast is better than most wide releases could hope for.
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Paul Dano is an incredibly talented actor; however, his track record at the box office has been spotty. Ruby Sparks had enough buzz going in that some thought it would expand semi-wide. It did start out well, but by the third week of limited release, it was clear it wasn't going to find a mainstream audience. Did it deserve to perform better? Is it too art house? Or is there another reason it failed to live up to some expectations.
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Anne Hathaway played a princess in each of her first three wide releases; however, only Ella Enchanted was a proper fairytale. It also didn't do as well as the other two films did. Granted, live action kids movies, especially those aimed at girls, tend to struggle at the box office. Is this one of the better films in the genre? Should it have performed better? And will fans of the movie want to upgrade to the Blu-ray?
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All Acting Credits
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