December 23rd, 2006
Part IV of the Holiday Gift Guide is aptly named because if you are still shopping for gifts at this late date, every other word out of your mouth has exactly four letters.
Hopefully there's enough ideas in these four installments to find a gift for everyone on your list.
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August 14th, 2006
One of the most hotly anticipated releases of the summer opens this Friday as Snakes on a Plane finally hits theatres after what seems like years of hype. Because of this we have three prizes that will be awarded to both winners this weekend. To win you just have to predict Snakes on a Plane's opening 3-day weekend (Friday to Sunday). Whoever comes closest, without going over, and whoever comes closest, without going under with both win The Lost City on DVD, Half Nelson CD Soundtrack, and... most importantly, a handful of rubber snakes. And since these prizes will be airmailed to the winners, there really will be Snakes on a Plane. Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay!
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July 31st, 2006
The first full week of the month is usually quite busy, however, since the DVD coming out tomorrow had to be shipped in July, this is not the case this time around. In fact, there was only one contender for DVD Pick of the week,
V for Vendetta -
2-Disc Special Edition, and since I'm 90% sure an even better Ultra Edition is coming out, it fails to win that coveted honor. Next week we should have a much better selection of DVDs.
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April 16th, 2006
Several films made they international debut this past weekend with even more returning to the charts, but because of the power of
Ice Age: The Meltdown, none of them were able to reach the top five, but a few came close. Leading that list is Jean-Philippe; the
French film debuted in third place in its native home with $3.34 million on 550 screens. It also opened in two other French-speaking markets but was much weaker earning seventh in Switzerland with $62,000 on 12 screens over the weekend and $68,000 in total while in Belgium it managed just ninth with $131,000 on 29 screens over the weekend and $144,000 in total. Add it up and the film pulled in $3.53 million on 591 screens in 3 markets during its first weekend of release.
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March 25th, 2006
A History of Violence took top spot on the rental charts with $8.91 million in combined rentals during its first week of release. In that one week the film earned more than a quarter of what the film took in during its entire theatrically run and should have no trouble surpassing that total before long.
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March 13th, 2006
I can't say I'm particularly impressed by this week's selection of DVDs. There were a couple of films that I loved, but the DVD release was sub-par. The release I was most looking forward to
Grosse Pointe - The Complete Series, was pulled from the schedule. That left
A History of Violence -
Buy from Amazon as the obvious choice for DVD Pick of the Week, but there were a couple of release worthy of an honorable mention, including the
mockumentary,
LolliLove.
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March 5th, 2006
On the weekend before the Oscars are announced,
Brokeback Mountain climbed a couple of spots to sixth with $4.44 million on 1368 screens in 30 markets for an international total of $53.89 million. New openings include Belgium where the filmed debuted in second place with $312,000 on a mere 27 screens for the best per screen average in the market. It wasn't as potent in Poland where it had to settle for fourth place with $194,000 on 40 screens over the weekend and $217,000 in total. The film also benefited from soft in the U.K. where it slipped just 5% to $442,000 on 245 screens for a very impressive total of $15.83 million so far. It was even better during its second weekend in Holland where it rose 1% to $210,000 for the weekend and $562,000 in total.
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March 4th, 2006
There were no big winner at today's
Independent Spirit Awards with several films sharing the awards.
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March 1st, 2006
With the
Oscars less than a week away and our
contest well under way, there's no better time to take a closer look at some of the nominees. Today we'll look at the most prestigious award, Best Picture.
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February 28th, 2006
The overall box office champ, Madea's Family Reunion, also won the weekend Per Theatre Average race with $13,688.
Second place went to Tsotsi with and average of $12,721 in six theatres.
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February 26th, 2006
Casanova opened in several major markets more than doubling its screen count, and that helped it climb to sixth place over the weekend. Its best market was Italy where the film came in third place with $1.05 million on 243 screens over the weekend and $1.14 million in total while it also managed a third place finish during a very close race in Spain with $919,000 on 250 screens. Its other major market debut was the U.K., but there it had to settle for fifth with $959,000 on 351 screens. Overall the film made $5.17 million on 1699 screens in 18 markets for an international total of just $11.68 million so far.
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February 25th, 2006
With the
Oscars just over a week away and our
contest well under way, there's no better time to take a closer look at some of the nominees. Today we'll look at the Best Achievement in
Directing.
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February 19th, 2006
Fun with Dick and Jane added an handful of new markets this week and that allowed the film to remain in sixth place with $6.00 million on 2645 screens in 49 markets for a running tally of $63.30 million. The film opened in first place in Spain with $1.54 million on 316 screens and in the Netherlands with $475,000 on 75 screens over the weekend and $520,000 in total. It took first place in Argentina as well with $136,000 on 48. On the other hand, it had to settle for second place during its debut in Denmark with $319,000 on 45 screens over the weekend and $335,000 in total. Holdovers include the U.K. where the film was down 56% to $699,000 over the weekend and $10.44 million in total and Italy with a 55% decline to $594,000 over the weekend and $4.83 million in total.
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February 19th, 2006
With the
Oscars less than a month away and our
contest well under way, there's no better time to take a closer look at some of the nominees. Today we'll look at the Best Acting Awards.
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February 7th, 2006
With most of the nominations in the more prestigious categories going to smaller films, the famed Oscar bounce is very important this year. However, the first weekend's results were mixed.
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January 31st, 2006
Brokeback Mountain again led the list of nominees as with 8 Oscar nods. There were three films with six nominations a piece,
Crash,
Good Night and Good Luck, and
Memoirs of a Geisha, (although for that last one, they were all the less prestigious technical awards.
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January 31st, 2006
Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story topped the per theatre charts this week after earned more than $60,000 in just 3 theatres for an average of $20,295. The only other regular format film to crack the $10,000 market was
Rang De Basanti with and average of $11,503 in 61 theatres, however, it is a niche market film and that usually means steep declines.
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January 15th, 2006
The King and the Clown did something most films in
South Korea can't, it showed strong legs. In fact, in grew by 22% to $5.76 million on 369 screens over the weekend and $16.82 million in total.
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January 6th, 2006
It's guild day today as the
Producers Guild of America nominations were announced this week.
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January 6th, 2006
The
Writers Guild of America announced its nominations this week, and while there are plenty of awards, only three are for theatrical releases.
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January 6th, 2006
Of the 13 awards the Screen Actors Guild will hand out on January 29th, 2006, five will be awarded to theatrical releases. And like past awards nominations,
Brokeback Mountain again led the way, with four in total.
However, this time there were two films close behind as
Crash and
Capote each received three nominations.
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December 18th, 2005
Just Like Heaven dipped at the box office falling out of the top five with $4.53 million on 1609 screens in 30 markets over the weekend for an early total of $18.04 million internationally. Its best opening was in Belgium where it debuted in second place with $252,000 on 40 screens over the weekend and $290,000 in total. It also had debuts in Holland with $139,000 on 57 screens over the weekend and $167,000 overall, and in Greece with $116,000 on 24 and Norway with $113,000 on 26. Holdovers include Germany where the film dropped 24% to $890,000 on 273 screens for a total of $2.41 million so far, while in Spain the film fell 39% to 718,000 on 200 screens for a two-week total of $3.09 million.
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December 13th, 2005
Brokeback Mountain was the big winner today as Golden Globe nominations were announced. With seven nods, it led all films, which is an important Oscar indicator.
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December 6th, 2005
The post-holiday weekend and a nearly doubling of its theatre count didn't hurt Syriana's per theatre average much as it earned more than $500,000 in just 9 theatres for an average of $57,936. That was more than twice the second place film, Transamerica, which earned just shy of $47,000 in two theatres for a per theater average of $23,454.
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November 30th, 2005
The Independent Spirit Awards announced the nominations today and
The Squid and the Whale led the way with six nominations, including Best Feature, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and nods in three of the four acting categories.
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November 22nd, 2005
The overall box office champ, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, was also the leader of the Per Theatre Charts with an amazing $26,525 in 3,858 theatres. There were only two other films in the $10,000 club and they were Classe Tous Risques at $11,945 and Breakfast on Pluto at $11,093; the latter result is even more impressive since it was a Wednesday release.
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November 8th, 2005
Jarhead was one of only two films to crack the $10,000 per theatre average mark over the weekend with a chart topping average of $11,500. The only other film to do so was the overall box office champ, Chicken Little, which managed an average of $10,961 in 3,654 theatres.
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November 1st, 2005
Note: Since this article was written, we have received opening weekend numbers for Ballet Russes, which earned $12,230 in a single theater, and tops the final chart
The re-release of The Passenger led the way on the per theatre charts, with an average of $12,079 in two theatres.
Just behind was Paradise Now with a nearly identical average of $12,006, but the latter film did it in twice as many theatres.
The only holdover to top $10,000 was Shopgirl, with 460,000 in 42 theatres for an average of $11,037. Lastly, the overall box office champ, Saw II , just managed to reach the that milestone with $31.7 million in 2,949 theatres for an average of $10,758.
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October 30th, 2005
Oliver Twist opened in two major markets over the weekend, placing second in both France with $2.4 million on 547 screens and Italy with $1.3 million on 301 screens.
Other markets include $360,000 in the U.K. for a $3.6 million total there and $140,000 in Poland for $1.1 million. Add it up and you have $4.2 million for the weekend and $9.6 million in total.
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October 25th, 2005
Shopgirl topped the Per Theatre Charts this weekend, earning $230,000 on 8 theatres for an average of $28,711.
The film I thought would lead the way, Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, came in second with $180,000 on 8 theatres for an average of $22,583.
Both of those films should find mainstream success.
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October 23rd, 2005
The Brothers Grimm dropped just 35% during its second weekend in France adding $2.1 million to its $5.7 million total there. In Germany, the film performed a nearly the same level falling 36% to $950,000 over the weekend and $2.9 million during its run. Overall the film made $4 million for a $27.8 million runny tally and that places it fourth on this week's charts. While the film struggled domestically, it is doing quite a bit better on the international scene, and could show a profit sometime during its home market run.
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October 18th, 2005
There were four films in the $10,000 club this weekend, but not one of them was a new release.
Leading the way for the second weekend in a row was Good Luck and Good Luck, with an average of $18,305, despite seeing its theatre count climb from 11 to 68.
Second place went to Capote, which is holding on really well, with just over $360,000 in 30 theatres for an average of $12,129.
The Squid and the Whale just finished ahead of Little Manhattan, $10,368 to $10,355.
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October 16th, 2005
Company 9 remained in first place in Russia, its home market, down just 13% to $4.3 million for a running total of $14.3 million, which is well ahead of Revenge of the Sith's final box office in the market (which was just shy of $10 million).
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October 11th, 2005
Despite playing in nearly three times as many theatres as its nearest competitor, Good Luck and Good Luck was still able to top the Per Theatre Charts with an incredible $420,000 in just 11 theatres for an average of $38,313.
In second place was The Squid and the Whale with $125,000 on 4 screens for an average of $30,927 over three days and $155,000 over 5.
The first of two holdovers, Capote, finished third with an average of $16,489 in 24 theatres, while the last film in the $10,000 club was Little Manhattan, which dropped less than 16% to $15,354.
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October 9th, 2005
Company 9 opened in its native market of Russia with a stunning $5.0 million over the weekend and $6.25 million including the midweek numbers, which is better than Revenge of the Sith's opening in that market.
This also means there were two films that did so well in their local markets that they managed to place in the top five overall.
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October 7th, 2005
It is a very unusual week for limited releases as there were five wide releases and only four films on the limited release list.
(Undoubtedly there are more, but these are only ones with confirmed release dates.)
That doesn't mean the quality is amazing, but we have two films that are practically guaranteed to be players during award season.
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October 6th, 2005
During the past week promotional websites for several movies were launched and some older ones added additional content. Here the list of this week's releases, a couple of new sites and few updates, including this week's winner,
Waiting... -
Official Site.
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October 2nd, 2005
Red Eye added another $3.7 million on 2,057 screens in 37 markets to its $22 million international total. The film opened in second place in both Spain with $850,000 on 215 screens and in the Netherlands with $250,000 on 59 ($300,000 including previews).
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September 25th, 2005
Marrying the Mafia 2 again led its native market of
South Korean with $4.81 million over the weekend and $12.78 million during its two-week run. And like
last week, this was enough for the film to secure a place in the top five overall just beating out
Pride and Prejudice.
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September 22nd, 2005
During the past week promotional websites for several movies were launched and some older ones added additional content. Here the list of this week's releases, a couple of new sites and few updates. This week's list is a little shorter than usual partially because I'm moving today and had to complete the list on Wednesday. Because of this there was no site that really stood out as deserving the Weekly Website Award; perhaps next week there will be two winners.
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