Limited and VOD Releases: Some Promising Limited Releases are Ready to Bloom
July 20, 2018
It is not a busy week for limited releases, but the majority of the ones on the main list are worth checking out. I think Blindspotting has the best shot at box office success, but personally I’m most interested in seeing Maquia: When The Promised Flower Blooms.
Blindspotting - Reviews
Generation Wealth - Reviews
Maquia: When The Promised Flower Blooms - Reviews
McQueen - Reviews
No Date, No Signature - Reviews
Pin Cushion - Reviews
The Third Murder - Reviews
Zoe - Reviews
Secondary VOD Releases:
-1-News.jpg)
Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal co-wrote and co-star in this film. It is about two friends trying to stay out of trouble, because one of them, Diggs, is just three days away from the end of their probation. However, when Diggs witnesses a police shooting, it complicates matters. This is one of the best-reviewed films on this week’s list and it is also generating some of the loudest buzz. It is never easy for a film in limited release to thrive, but this one has a shot.
Lauren Greenfield, director of The Queen of Versailles, returns with this documentary, which looks at her photography. The reviews are much weaker than her previous film—too weak to expect it to thrive in limited release.
An Anime about a member of a group of beings who don’t age once they hit their mid-teens. One of them, the titular Maquia, is forced away from the rest of her clan and into the wide world. There she discovers an abandoned baby and adopts it as her own. However, as the years go on, her child grows up and ages, while she remains the same. The film is earning 100% positive reviews, while its writer / director, Mari Okada, has an impressive resume as a writer. This is her first film she’s directed. It clearly won’t be her last.
A biography of fashion designer and artist Alexander McQueen, who tragically committed suicide in 2010. The film has 100% positive reviews and some of the loudest buzz on this week’s list. Furthermore, documentaries are on a winning streak at the box office, so I’m a little more bullish about this film’s chances than I otherwise would be.
A medical examiner at the coroner’s office has a car accident in which an 8-year old child is injured. The father of the child refuses his help, but later the doctor has to perform the autopsy on this child. Was it the lingering effects of the car accident that killed the child? Or was it an unrelated case of food borne illness as another doctor declared it? There are only seven reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, which would normally not be enough to be included here. However, all seven are positive, so that’s a good sign for its box office chances, at least compared to most foreign-language releases.
Joanna Scanlan and Lily Newmark play a mother and daughter who just moved to new town and are trying to fit in. Both pretend things are going well, but both are struggling. This is writer / director Deborah Haywood’s first feature-length film (She does have a handful of shorts on her resume.) and if they reviews are any indication, she’s got a long career ahead of her.
We talked about this movie about a month ago, but it changed release dates at the last minute. It still looks good enough to survive in limited release, at least compared to most foreign-language films.
I’ve seen more than one plot synopsis for this film, one of which sets it up as a mystery, the other spoils the major plot twist. I would argue that spoiling the major twist in a movie is a huge mistake, but the reviews suggest it was never going to be a hit in limited release.
Broken Star - Reviews - Video on Demand
Duck Duck Goose - No Reviews - Video on Demand
Occupation - Reviews - Video on Demand
There’s not much as far as secondary VOD titles are concerned. If you have Netflix and kids in the right age range, then maybe give Duck Duck Goose a try.
Filed under: Limited Releases, VOD Releases, Home Market Releases, Zoe, Duck Duck Goose, McQueen, Sandome no satsujin, Generation Wealth, Blindspotting, Bedoune Tarikh, Bedoune Emza, Occupation, Sayonara no asa ni yakusoku no hana o kazarô, Broken Star, Pin Cushion, Lauren Greenfield, Joanna Scanlan, Mari Okada, Daveed Diggs, Rafael Casal, Alexander McQueen, Deborah Haywood, Lily Newmark