DVD and Blu-ray Releases for April 29th, 2014

April 28th, 2014

According to Amazon, the top best selling new release of the week is Space Battleship Yamato on Blu-ray Combo Pack. Huh? This is a live action remake of a 1970s Anime series, and according to Amazon.com, it is the number one selling new release of the week. Either this is an incredibly slow week, or there's something wrong with Amazon.com's algorithm. It's mostly the former. Gloria is easily the best movie on this list, but the reviews on the DVD are weak. Star Trek: Enterprise: Season Four has a lot of extras and the season was arguably the best in the show's short run, but the Blu-ray is expensive and even the best season isn't as good as the average TNG season. I finally got to the review for Knights of Badassdom and I loved the Blu-ray, but I'm not sure there is a wide enough audience for the movie. I was tempted to go with Space Battleship Yamato as Pick of the Week. In the end, I went with Gloria. More...

Per Theater Chart: Holdovers Feeling Lonely

January 7th, 2014

It was a slow week for new releases as none topped $10,000 on the per theater chart. There were some holdovers that performed well, led by Lone Survivor, which pulled in an average of $42,429 in two theaters. This is compared to $45,436 during its opening weekend. Such a small decline is great news for its upcoming wide expansion. August: Osage County was next with an average of $27,983 in five theaters, which is 22% lower than its opening average of $35,860. Its running tally is already at nearly half a million and it has potential to expand, especially if it continues to do well during Awards Season. The final film in the $10,000 club was Her with an average of $15,378 in 47 theaters. It is already at nearly $3 million after three weeks of release and it expands wide this weekend. More...

Limited Releases: Early Year Doldrums

January 3rd, 2014

In order to qualify for the Oscars, a film has to open before the end of the year, so every year the weekend before New Years Eve has a few films trying to get into theaters just under the wire. This also means that the weekend after New Years Eve is a terrible time to release a movie in limited release. Art house theaters are loaded with Oscar hopefuls and it is very unlikely any of the new releases have the reviews to compete with those movies. That is certainly the case this year. More...