Limited Releases - Lucky 13 Leads the Way
June 1, 2006
District 13 leads the list of limited releases this week, at least when it comes to box office potential. However, that said, it doesn't seem likely that any of the films on this week's list will expand their theatre counts too much farther than they start with.
50 Ways to Say Fabulous - Reviews
Coastlines - Reviews
District 13 - Reviews
Peaceful Warrior - Reviews
Typhoon - Reviews
A coming of age story with a gay twist. Set in 1970s New Zealand, the film stars a trio of newcomers and while the acting is uneven at times, they do bring enthusiasm to their performances that is infectious at times. 50 Ways to Say Fabulous opens tomorrow at the Quad Cinema in New York City.
Timmy Olyphant stars as Sonny, an ex-con returning to his home town to find the woman he loved married to the local sheriff. Filmed nearly half a decade ago, the film is finally getting a theatrical release, but with reviews that are merely average, it probably won't last in theatres long and will have to wait to the home market to find any kind of audience. Coastlines opened yesterday at the IFC Center in New York City.
A French film about a Dystopian future where the poor are forced into ghettos surrounded by huge walls. In the worst such ghetto, the titular District 13, a man by the name of Leito takes on the local crime boss only to be thrown in jail by a corrupt cop. He then has to team up with a undercover cop to rescue his kidnapped sister while trying to find and defuse a nuclear bomb smuggled into the area by one of the gangs. The best reviewed film of the week, (which is no surprise since it is written by Luc Besson), District 13 is also the widest release of the week opening in nearly 100 theatres tomorrow. However, that might be too many as Select City releases tend to struggle.
On paper, this film seemed to have a lot of great ingredients for a successful limited release. However, if the reviews are any indication, something went horribly wrong. The film is a message movie and while these films can have added emotional strength because of their message, they also have added perils to watch out for. Preaching to the choir is one such problem and so is having an unconvincing argument; however, the problem here is the movie focuses too much on the message while ignoring the dramatic weight of the story and that will turn off a lot of the audience. Peaceful Warrior opens tomorrow in 10 theatres, mostly in the Southern California region.
A South Korean action film that a lot of people are comparing to the typical summer fare from Michael Bay, and they are not using this comparison as a compliment. Add in subject matter and style that may be too Korean for a North American audience and you are left with a film that will struggled to expand past the 24 theatres it is opening in.
Filed under: Limited Releases, Peaceful Warrior