December 29th, 2008
This week is a mess because we are dealing with DVDs released on the 26th, the 27th, and the 30th. Additionally, we are dealing with the latest two waves of Paramount Blu-rays, so there are a lot of spotlight reviews this week. (Although when it comes to those particular Blu-rays, I have previously reviewed nearly half of them previously, and I have seen more than half of the rest, so it was easy to review.) It was so easy, in fact, I was able to get a couple reviews done in advance, which lead to a record number of spotlight reviews. There are more spotlight reviews this week than the previous four weeks combined. Needless to say, the column had to be split into two, with the second part found here. As for the best of the best, Serenity - Blu-ray easily won the DVD Pick of the Week, while Duckman - Season Three and Four is the DVD Pick of Next Week. Also worth grabbing are Event Horizon on Blu-ray, Ghost Town on either DVD or Blu-ray, Greek - Chapter Two, and The Truman Show on Blu-ray
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October 13th, 2008
With four wide releases this past weekend, I knew not all of them would be hits, but I also didn't expect all of them to be misses. Perhaps that's not entirely fair, and given the production budgets involved, not all films flopped at the box office, but enough did that overall box office receipts dropped 10% to $102 million. Compared to the same week last year, that still represents an increase, albeit by less than 3%, which is more or less in line with ticket price inflation. Year-to-date, 2008 and 2007 have both brought in $7.38 billion, but 2008 has had the edge the past few weeks and could retake the lead this upcoming weekend.
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October 7th, 2008
Of the eight films that opened or expanded on Friday, only two were able to do some serious business, while most were lucky if they topped the Mendoza line by earning more than $2,000 per theater. It was just a disaster, in many ways. That said, it was still the first weekend in October and the overall box office was up 13% from last weekend to $113 million. More importantly, it was 35% higher than the same weekend last year. Year-to-date, 2008 closed the gap with 2007. 2008 is just a little below and 2007 a little above $7.25 billion. By this time next week, 2008 could retake the lead, at least in terms of raw dollars.
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October 5th, 2008
A busy week for new releases with more than a dozen sites here, but most were just average. The best of this week's selection was the Official Site for Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, which has enough of the basics, extras, and style to stand out.
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October 5th, 2008
Beverly Hills Chihuahua rose above a very crowded field of openers to claim the box office crown, according to studio estimates released on Sunday.
The movie scored Disney's biggest opening weekend in October with an estimated $29 million.
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist also performed well with a $12 million debut in 2,421 theaters.
That's a great return for a movie with a budget reported at $13 million.
The other strong performer was Appaloosa, which expanded to 1,045 theaters and pulled in $5.015 million for an impressive 5th place.
The rest of the wide openers didn't fare so well, although a couple of limited releases impressed...
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October 3rd, 2008
If you thought last weekend was too busy, this weekend is worse with eight films opening or expanding wide, or at least wide-ish. However, only one film is opening at saturation level (3,000 or more theaters) and one other is opening truly wide (2,000 or more theaters). After those two films, the rest of the new releases will be forced to fight over the table scraps.
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October 2nd, 2008
This week's round of new casting information contains updates for Paper Man, Sherlock Holmes, Kung Fu Panda 2, and more!
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October 1st, 2008
September ends, and for that we are all very grateful. However, while we are entering the final push for 2008 at the box office, things don't look too rosy for the upcoming month. First of all, there are way too many films opening, including eight that are opening or expanding on the first weekend. Of those two, maybe three will thrive. Most will sink without being noticed, which could negatively affect the overall box office going forward. On the other hand, there are a few films opening this month that could be players come Awards Season, which is just around the corner. Perhaps this will help a few mid-level hits rise above the crowd.
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September 30th, 2008
This week another number of upcoming movies, new stars and directors have been added to our archive!
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