Limited and VOD Releases: Luck of the Irish

November 1, 2019

The Irishman

There are not many limited releases on this week’s list and even fewer of them are earning overwhelmingly positive reviews. The best of these is The Irishman, which is also earning the loudest buzz. It should get off to a fantastic start, but it has less than a month before it hits Netflix, so it won’t have great legs in theaters.

Adopt a Highway - Reviews
 Video On Demand
Ethan Hawke plays a man, just out of prison, who finds an abandoned infant and decides it is his chance for redemption. The reviews are good, but likely not good enough to thrive in limited release. On the other hand, they are good enough for a VOD rental.

American Dharma - Reviews
 Errol Morris has made some amazing documentaries in his time. This is not one of them. The subject here is a literal white supremacist and Errol Morris doesn’t do enough to challenge him. The viewers will still learn something, but not enough to justify the kid gloves being used.

The Etruscan Smile - Reviews
 Brian Cox plays a man who has to leave his remote home in Scotland to travel to San Francisco for medical treatment. If the film were opening wide, then I would be more bullish about its chances. However, its reviews are just not good enough for limited release.

The Irishman - Reviews
 This film is earning buzz louder than many wide releases, some of it for its quality, some of it for the conversations it’s spawning. With the ubiquity of streaming services, some forms of entertainment that would previously be major theatrical releases are now a better fit for the home market. A three and a half hour long gangster film is one such release that just works better on streaming. You can look at this as validation that streaming services can be just as prestigious as theatrical releases, or you can complain about the amount of super hero movies coming out. Martin Scorsese decided to do the later and that created a “discourse” and I fear it will overshadow the film itself. Granted, its reviews are clearly award-worthy, so that probably won’t happen, but you never can tell. The film opens tonight in limited release, before hitting Netflix by the end of the month.

Light From Light - Reviews
 A single mother with psychic abilities is asked by a widower to investigate if his recently departed wife is haunting his farm. She brings along her teenage son and his classmate for the investigation. This film’s reviews are over 90%, so it could find an audience in theaters. However, it is not an Awards Season contender and there’s a growing amount of competition in limited release, so I fear this film will slip between the cracks.

Queen of Hearts - Reviews
 A Danish film about a woman who seduces her teenage stepson. The reviews are excellent, but it is a foreign-language film and I don’t think it will do well enough to escape the art house circuit.

Secondary VOD Releases:
Badland - Reviews - Video on Demand
The Rise of Jordan Peterson - Reviews - Video on Demand
There are only two secondary VOD releases this week and Badland looks more interesting to me.

Filed under: Limited Releases, VOD Releases, Home Market Releases, The Irishman, American Dharma, Light From Light, Adopt a Highway, Dronningen, Rory's Way, The Rise of Jordan Peterson, Badland, Ethan Hawke, Brian Cox, Martin Scorsese, Errol Morris