February 24th, 2022
Situated between the blockbuster releases of Uncharted and The Batman, this week’s newest wide releases are aiming at more targeted demographics, and they couldn’t be more different. Romantic musical Cyrano and horror comedy Studio 666 arrive in theaters this week. Uncharted stays this week’s widest release, keeping its opening count of 4,275 locations.
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February 17th, 2022
Although still early in the year, we have our first 2022 film debuting in over 4,000 theaters, and first to do since Spider-Man: No Way Home opened in 4,336 locations back in mid December. This week’s widest release, Uncharted, arrives in 4,275 theaters as it kicks off its theatrical run (Tom Holland seems to be popular these days, huh?). Two other wide releases make their way into theaters this holiday weekend in the way of a buddy comedy and a horror feature.
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February 5th, 2019
We are finally getting to the massive fall hits on the home market, as Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch hits the home market this week. It is the biggest release, but not the best. The Pick of the Week was a coin toss between Maquia: When The Promised Flower Blooms and Widows. In the end, the latter won, but both are worth buying.
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October 24th, 2018
It is a slow week on the home market, as Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! is the only first run release. There are several horror films that are selling well enough to be worth talking about, but that is all. As far as the best of the best are concerned, the two I’m most interested in and I put in requests for screeners for both are BlacKkKlansman and Incredibles 2, but they are only coming out on VOD this week. I don’t like handing out Pick of the Week titles to VOD releases, so the real race is between The Americans: The Complete Final Season and Made In Abyss: Season One. Both are worth picking up, but I think there will be a full series Megaset for The Americans, so I’m giving the title to Made In Abyss.
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September 14th, 2018
Every week, I have to decide which limited releases to talk about in the main list of this column. Usually I limit myself to those with double-digit reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. Last week, there were so few limited releases to talk about, I included some that I wouldn’t normally include. This week, there are about 30 films coming out in limited release, so I have to be extra judicious and cut some films just to keep the list manageable. Unfortunately, it feels like a case of quantity over quality. There are some movies that are getting excellent reviews, but a lot of movies that had strong pre-release buzz are disappointing critically. There are some I’m interested in, like I Think We’re Alone Now, but that’s more for the cast than the reviews. Mandy is one of the best films, but it is playing on Video on Demand, so I don’t expect it will do well at the box office. There are also several documentaries, with Science Fair being the one I want to see the most.
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August 14th, 2018
Avengers: Infinity War and its still unnamed sequel are the culmination of ten years of the MCU. This is a massive undertaking, even more so than the first Avengers movie, and with the MCU’s outstanding track record with critics and moviegoers alike, expectations couldn’t be higher. Can the movie possibly live up to expectations? Or was it destined to disappoint?
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December 18th, 2017
Game of Thrones is one of the biggest TV shows of all time. It was considered a hit right away with an average viewership of just over 2.5 million during its fourth season. Its most recent season had an average viewership over four times that. It holds the record for most Emmy wins by a scripted show at 38. (This past season wasn’t eligible for this year’s Emmys because it started too late in the year, but I suspect it will earn a ton of nominations next year.) However, there is bad news, as season eight, the final season, won’t begin airing until 2019. Will season seven leave viewers aching for more? Or has the show finally started to show its age?
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November 13th, 2016
Long time fans of Game of Thrones have just one question on their minds... Why is Season Six coming out this week and not in spring just before Season Seven comes out, like they’ve done every year before. Well, I have some bad news for you. Season Seven isn’t coming out in the spring. It’s coming out in the Summer. So will this Blu-ray holdover fans until the next season comes out?
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March 13th, 2016
Season Six of Game of Thrones starts on the 24th of April. Still a full month away. On the other hand, Season Five comes out this week and to celebrate we have a Contest and a review. How was Season Five compared to the previous seasons? Is it still engaging? Or now that the show is running out of source material to pull from, is it starting to show cracks?
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July 27th, 2015
X-Men: Days of Future Past came out last year and earned plenty of praise from critics. It also became the biggest worldwide hit in the franchise. Now it is being re-released on DVD or Blu-ray as something called The Rogue Cut. How is it different from the theatrical release? And is it worth the double-dip?
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July 1st, 2015
June was a much better month than expected due to two films, Jurassic World and Inside Out. Had those two films merely matched expectations, then 2015 would have likely fallen behind 2014. As for this coming month, there are five weekends in July and each week there is at least one film with the potential to reach $100 million. Most weeks there are two films that at least have a shot at getting to the century mark. The biggest hit of the month will likely be Minions, which has already opened in several international markets and it's ahead of Despicable Me 2 at the same point. That film made more than $300 million and nearly $1 billion worldwide, so any growth would be fantastic. There are also a number of potential $200 million films, led by Ant-man. Ant-man is the latest release in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a franchise that has averaged $300 million domestically over eleven films and all of the past six films have reached at least $200 million. I'm not saying this one is guaranteed to do the same, but you can't dismiss that possibility. Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation and Pixels have smaller chances to get to $200 million, but you have to at least entertain the possibility. Additionally, last July was a lot weaker than this July looks to be, so 2015 should win in the year-over-year comparison most weeks. Or I might have let the box office success of June cloud my judgment. We will soon find out.
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May 1st, 2014
It has been a great year so far and April was again a strong month. The box office was led by Captain America: The Winter Soldier, as it became the second film of the year to reach $200 million, while Rio 2 is on pace to become the seventh $100 million hit of the year. Big picture, 2014 has already hit $3 billion, which isn't a record for this time of the year, but it is $250 million ahead of 2013. That streak ends in May. Don't get me wrong. There are six films opening this month that at least have a shot at $100 million and two of those should earn more than $200 million and there are two others that at least have a shot at that milestone. Leading the way is The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which is looking to top The Winter Soldier and become the second biggest hit of the year so far. Its main competition this month is X-men: Days of Future Past, while Godzilla also has a shot at $200 million. Unfortunately, this month last year, Iron Man 3 earned more than $400 million, while two other films took in $200 million and seven films in total reached the century mark. That is going to be really hard to replicate this year and 2014 will likely lose some of its lead over 2013. Fortunately, 2014 has such a big lead that unless the box office really slumps, it will end the month with at least a small lead over 2013.
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April 23rd, 2014
Knights of Badassdom came out on DVD and Blu-ray on April 1st, so this review is late. In my defense, the screener did arrive late, although to be fair, it didn't arrive that late. The film is clearly aimed at the nerd audience, especially those into RPGs and LARPing. Will it appeal to these fans? Will it have broader appeal?
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March 31st, 2014
The home market isn't terrible this week and there are a couple of releases on top that could sell well. However, it is not a very deep week and even the second page of the new releases over on Amazon.com has some releases I would call filler. Anchorman: The Legend Continues on 3-Disc Blu-ray Combo Pack is the best-selling new release of the week and it is arguably the best as well. The Pirate Fairy on Blu-ray Combo Pack is the second best-selling new release of the week and also a contender for Pick of the Week. Meanwhile, I'm really looking forward to seeing Knights of Badassdom but the Blu-ray Combo Pack is still on its way.
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February 19th, 2013
Game of Thrones was one of the biggest new shows of 2011 and the second season was given the green light, and a larger budget, a mere two days after the series premiere. This turned out to be a wise choice, because the ratings for season two were even greater than they were for season one. But was this due to just hype? Or did the quality of the show increase as well? And is the DVD or the Blu-ray Combo Pack as good as the first time around?
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December 9th, 2012
I've seen all of the Ice Age films. I thought the first film was great and the second film was good, but I thought the third film was only average for a kids film. Will the franchise bounce back with Ice Age: Continental Drift? Or will the fourth film continue the decline?
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