Limited and VOD Releases: Monster Hits and Animated Flicks

February 16, 2018

Tehran Taboo

It’s a strange week for limited releases with a wide variety of films to check out. There’s an Oscar nominationed Russian film, Loveless. As well as two Chinese films that are going to be monster hits back home, Detective Chinatown 2 and Monster Hunt 2. And finally, two animated films, Mind Game and Tehran Taboo.

The Boy Downstairs - Reviews
 Zosia Mamet plays Diana, a woman who returns to New York City after years abroad. She finds the perfect apartment, only to learn that her ex-boyfriend lives in the apartment just below hers. The reviews are mixed, so it likely won’t find an audience in theaters.

Detective Chinatown 2 - Reviews
 A sequel to Detective Chinatown. The early reviews are weak, but it is playing in 100 theaters and with major studio support. However, even if it bombs here, it is going to be a massive hit in its native China. Early reports have the film earning more than $50 million during its opening day there.

Double Lover - Reviews
 Francois Ozon is one of the few French directors who has enough name recognition here to drive ticket sales, at least on the art house scene. Unfortunately, this film’s reviews are only good and not great, while there are better options for fans of foreign-language films.

Loveless - Reviews
 This film earned an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign-language Film, so that should give it an advantage at the box office. That said, it is still a foreign-language film, so it will be limited to the art house circuit.

Mind Game - Reviews
 An anime title from Japan about a young man who is killed by the Yakuza, but when offered a chance to go to heaven, he runs in the other direction and returns to Earth. Like most Anime GKIDS releases here, this one is earning amazing reviews, but has almost no shot at mainstream box office success.

Monster Hunt 2 - Reviews
 There’s only one review on Rotten Tomatoes, which usually isn’t enough to be included here. However, there’s some talk that this film will earn more during its opening in China than Black Panther will earn during its opening weekend here. Last Minute Update: It made nearly $100 million during is opening day in China.

Nostalgia - Reviews
 An ensemble film that looks at several people dealing with loss and the objects one collects over a lifetime. The cast is amazing, but the reviews are not. There are just too many better options out there to watch this film.

Oh Lucy! - Reviews
 Shinobu Terajima stars as a middle-aged Tokyo woman who is convinced to take an English-language class by her niece. She falls for her instructor, only to find out he and her niece had been dating. There are only seven reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, but all seven are positive, so that’s a good sign. I don’t expect it to be a breakout hit, but perhaps it will stick around in limited release long enough to find an audience on the home market.

The Party - Reviews
 Patricia Clarkson stars as a politician who just received a substantial promotion and celebrates with a dinner party. However, practically everyone who attends, including her husband, have major secrets that are about to come out. The film’s Tomatometer Score is 90% positive, but the average score is only 7.1 out of 10. It is certainly worth checking out, but it is not the best film on this week’s list.

Tehran Taboo - Reviews
 The best-reviewed film of the week. This rotoscoped film deals with the social rebellion happening in Iran, where the official rules are strict, but breaking them is almost the national pastime. Like I said, the reviews are amazing, but animated movies almost never do well in limited release.

Western - Reviews
 A German construction team goes to a job in Bulgaria. While there, a couple of the Germans get into a competition for the recognition of the locals. The reviews are good enough that it could find an audience in limited release, but it is a foreign-language film, so it likely won’t escape the art house circuit.

Secondary VOD Releases:
The Housemaid - Reviews - Video on Demand
Looking Glass - Reviews - Video on Demand
Looking Glass actually has enough reviews to mention above, but it is yet another bad Nicolas Cage movie and I’ve run out of things to say about those films. Apparently Mandy is really good, so hopefully I will be able to be excited about a film of his soon.

Filed under: Limited Releases, VOD Releases, Home Market Releases, Black Panther, The Boy Downstairs, Cô Hầu Gái, Nelyubov, Zhuo yao ji 2, L'amant double, Western, Nostalgia, The Party, Oh Lucy!, Looking Glass, Mind Game, Tehran Taboo, Tang Ren Jie Tan An 2, Nicolas Cage, Patricia Clarkson, Zosia Mamet, Francois Ozon, Shinobu Terajima, Matthew Shear