Limited and Virtual Releases: I Used to Go Here Leads the Pack
August 6, 2020
It is a busier week than usual for theatrical releases, with twelve of them in total. Unfortunately, most of them are earning reviews that are merely good, or worse. Much worse in some cases. The few films that have the reviews strong enough to thrive are the wrong genre for the pandemic era. Hopefully films like I Used to Go Here will do well enough in VOD, but don’t expect much in theaters.
Black Water: Abyss
The Burnt Orange Heresy
Creem: America’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll Magazine
I Used to Go Here
Made in Italy
Out Stealing Horses (Virtual Release)
The Tax Collector
Trump Card
The Green Years (Virtual Release)
Highlights
A horror film about a group of friends trapped in a flooding cave and hunted by a pack of crocodiles. Horror movies are the only genre to really do well during the pandemic, so this film could find an audience in limited release. Unfortunately, the reviews are mixed, so I doubt it will be one of the biggest such hits.
A heist film set in the art world. The reviews are merely good and not good enough to thrive in limited release. It should do better on the home market.
A documentary about CREEM, the rock ‘n’ roll magazine that was published for 20 years starting in 1969. The reviews are great, but sadly, documentaries have really struggled recently and I just don’t see this film breaking that trend.
Gillian Jacobs stars as a struggling writer who is asked by her old professor to do a reading at her alma mater. The buzz is loud and the reviews are living up to the buzz. I think it will find an audience, but it will do so more on VOD than in theaters.
A father and son reconnect while renovating the villa they inherited from their late wife / mother. The reviews are mixed and the pandemic has been hostile to films like this, so it has very little chance of becoming a box office hit.
A Norwegian film set in 1999 and starring Stellan Skarsgård as a widower looking forward to greeting the new millennium alone. The film’s reviews are right on the boarder between merely good and good enough for limited release. Or to be more accurate, it had a chance to find an audience on the art house circuit under normal circumstances. However, it is getting a virtual release this week, so it will have to wait until the home market to find an audience.
David and Creeper, are “tax collectors” for a crime lord. When an old rival returns to Los Angeles from Mexico, the business is upended. This is the latest from writer / director David Ayer, whose hit-to-miss ratio has been getting worse and worse the past several years. He has made some good movies, so hopefully he finds his rhythm again soon.
The latest documentary from Dinesh D’Souza. His previous film earned a 0% on Rotten Tomatoes and it wouldn’t be a shock if this one does the same. Furthermore, his previous film failed to make a real impact at the box office, and this one will likely struggle too, although its target audience may be more inclined to go to see it in theaters than the general population. It is earning some of the loudest buzz on this week’s list, so it might surprise, although there’s a strong probability it won’t report numbers.
Other Releases
Paydirt
SamSam
You Never Had It: An Evening With Bukowski (Virtual Release)
Filed under: Limited Releases, The Tax Collector, The Burnt Orange Heresy, Ut og stjæle hester, I Used to Go Here, SamSam, Trump Card, Made in Italy, Creem: America’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll Magazine, Black Water: Abyss, Paydirt, You Never Had It: An Evening With Bukowski, Os Verdes Anos, Liam Neeson, Jemaine Clement, Gillian Jacobs, Shia LaBeouf, Stellan Skarsgård, David Ayer, Dinesh D'Souza, Bobby Soto, Micheál Richardson