September 21st, 2018
It is not a particularly busy week for limited releases, as there are only nine films on the main list. However, several of them could do very well at the box office. Of these, I’m the most bullish about Colette and The Sisters Brothers, but there are two documentaries, Love, Gilda and Nothing Like a Dame, that could also open in the $10,000 club. All four could earn some Awards Season glory.
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April 19th, 2016
The biggest release on this week's list is The Revenant. There are no other releases that come close to that film's box office run and / or Awards Season run. However, personally I think it is well overrated and would be considered a merely good film if it weren't for its reputation for being a difficult shoot. As for the Pick of the Week, there were only a couple of contenders. In the end, Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead on Blu-ray was the clear choice.
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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 10th, 2015
The Golden Globes nominations were announced this morning and we are already beginning to see a trend for this year's Awards Season. For the most part, the same films are coming up over and over again. Carol led the way with five awards, while there was a three-way tie for second place with The Big Short, The Revenant and Steve Jobs each picking up four.
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December 4th, 2015
It's a very busy weekend with way too many limited releases. Because of this, we had to be a little more selective with what films made the cut to appear in our column. Chi-raq is opening the widest and should earn the most over the weekend. However, there are more than half-a-dozen films on this week's list earning overwhelmingly positive reviews. Some of these might pick up some major Awards Season nominations.
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July 20th, 2015
The Best-Exotic Marigold Hotel is a film that cost just $10 million to make, but pulled in a global box office of $135 million. Needless to say, a sequel was made and The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel hit theaters earlier this year. Comedies rarely produce sequels that live up to the original film, but is this one an exception? If not, is it still worth checking out, if it isn't quite as good?
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March 1st, 2015
February was strong thanks to The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water and Fifty Shades of Grey, both of which beat expectations. This March could actually be even better, as there are three or four films that have a decent shot at earning $100 million or more. The top film will likely be Cinderella, which has a real shot at $200 million. Insurgent will almost assuredly get beyond the $100 million mark, while Get Hard, Home, and perhaps Chappie will also get to the century mark. Last March, there were four $100 million hits, led by Divergent, which pulled in $150 million. While this March should be better than February, I'm not sure it will be better than last March. I don't think March 2015 will be much worse than last year, but I think its percentage lead will be chipped away at by the end of the month.
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September 12th, 2014
There's a large number of limited releases, including a few that are earning good reviews and strong buzz. One of these is The Drop, but it is opening in too many theaters and I think that will hurt it at the box office. If I were to guess, The Skeleton Twins will be the biggest hit on this week's list.
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January 11th, 2013
With the Oscar nominations announced yesterday, the focus is on the the high-caliber films from 2012 that are still in theaters. This will hurt the new wide releases coming out this week, but it will be devastating to the limited releases. There's only one film on this week's list that looks like it might escape relatively unharmed: Quartet.
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December 13th, 2012
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced their nominations and the same list of films that have been mentioned since the beginning of Awards Season were rewarded today. Lincoln led the way with seven nods, while Argo and Django Unchained were close behind with five.
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December 12th, 2012
SAG nominations were announced and there were only a few surprises to deal with. Leading the way for total nominations was The Silver Linings Playbook, Lincoln, and Les Miserables, all of which earned nominations in four of the six categories.
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