DVD Digest for September 2, 2008

Paul Clark — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 14:00:00 GMT

This week’s DVD Digest is highlighted by a bumper crop of new TV-on-DVD releases in conjunction with the upcoming fall season. In addition, a large number of Blu-Ray only releases and a crush of new indie films on DVD helps to smooth over the lack of a first-rate “DVD of the Week”-worthy release.

This week’s high-profile new releases on DVD include Ira Sachs’ acclaimed fifties-set drama Married Life (Sony, also Blu-Ray), the Norwegian import Reprise (Buena Vista) (click here for Bryan Whitefield’s interview with the filmmaker), and the animated direct-to-DVD Marvel feature Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow (Lionsgate, also Blu-Ray). Also, in a strange coincidence, this week also brings the release of four films I caught at Columbus’ Out@Wex series of GLBT films this past spring: Jacques Nolot’s Before I Forget (Strand), the coming-of-age drama Water Lilies (Koch), the gender politics comedy Itty Bitty Titty Committee (Wolfe Video), and Lagerfeld Confidential (Koch), a documentary about the fashion designer.

This week’s slate of classics coming to DVD is highlighted by three new Fox Noir releases: Elia Kazan’s Boomerang, Jean Gabin in Moontide, and Road House (no, not that one), which includes a commentary track from Screengrab favorite Kim Morgan. Somewhat less notable is MGM’s 20th Anniversary Edition of the unholy union of Michael J. Fox and Jay McInerney, Bright Lights, Big City.

In the TV-on-DVD department, this week brings Desperate Housewives Season 4 (Disney), Eli Stone Season 1 (Disney), Ghost Whisperer Season 3 (Paramount), It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season 3 (Fox), Life Season 1 (Universal) starring the ever-underrated Damian Lewis, Supernatural Season 2 (Warner), and The Office Season 4 (Universal).

Finally, this week’s action-heavy Blu-Ray only releases include: Jet Li in Black Mask (Lionsgate), Arnold Schwarzenegger in Eraser (Warner), the Clint Eastwood double feature Every Which Way But Loose (Warner) and The Gauntlet (Warner), Marvel’s animated The Invincible Iron Man (Lionsgate), the killer-virus thriller Outbreak (Warner), Michael Bay’s Transformers (Paramount), and Steven Seagal ridin’ the rails in Under Siege 2: Dark Territory (Warner).

Indie Box-Office Roundup: Weekend of April 18-20, 2008

Paul Clark — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 14:00:00 GMT

Richard Jenkins- still the indie box office king! For the second consecutive week, The Visitor (Overture Films), directed by Tom McCarthy and starring Jenkins, reigns supreme for per-screen grosses, bringing in an average of $9,249 on eighteen screens. Along with the ever-dependable Mr. Jenkins, credit overwhelmingly positive press and some really good word of mouth among arthouse-goers in the major markets, as well as the relatively meager selection of new indie releases this past weekend. Overture currently plans to expand the film over the next few weeks in an attempt to continue its successful run before the summer blockbusters sweep aside all competition. Will it succeed? Watch this space.

The weekend's other big indie success story was the strong showing of second-ranking film The Singing Revolution (Abramorama Entertainment), which returned to the top 10 for only the second time in the twenty weeks since its initial release. The documentary deals with popular song festivals in Estonia during Soviet rule, and the distributor has wisely tailored its release to Estonian populations in the cities where it's playing. This would indicate that interest for the film might be limited outside these areas, but as any independent filmmaker would tell you, any audience is better than no audience.

Coming in at #3 and #4 are the weekend's top debuts, both documentaries: Scott Hicks' Glass: A Portrait of Philip in 12 Parts (Koch Lorber), and Constantine's Sword (First Run). Filling out the top five was the crowd-pleaser Young@Heart (Fox Searchlight), followed closely by the winner from two weeks ago, Hou Hsiao-hsien's Flight of the Red Balloon.

Finally, falling just outside the top 10 was the top-averaging indie that played on more than 1,000 screens, the "intelligent design" documentary Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed (Rocky Mountain Pictures). The documentary, featuring Nixon-speechwriter-turned-cranky-TV-personality Ben Stein, brought in a $2,824 average on 1,052 screens, and frankly beat the tar out of the weekend's other high-profile piece of info-tainment, Morgan Spurlock's Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden? (Weinstein Co.). Audiences must have seen the documentary hoping Stein might inquire about the whereabouts of a certain Mr. Bueller, or perhaps give them some of his money. Because honestly, I can't believe that intelligent design is really still an issue.

Top 10: Weekend of April 18-20:
1. The Visitor [Overture Films] ($9,249 per screen)
2. The Singing Revolution [Abramorama Entertainment] ($7,079)
3. Glass: A Portrait Of Philip In 12 Parts [Koch Lorber Films] ($5,546)
4. Constantine's Sword [First Run] ($5,066)
5. Young@Heart [Fox Searchlight] ($4,606)
6. The Flight of the Red Balloon [IFC Films] ($3,818)
7. Water Lilies [Koch Lorber Films] ($3,350)
8. La Traviata [Emerging Pictures] ($3,238)
9. Anamorph [IFC Films] ($3,120)
10. Bab'Aziz [Typecast Releasing] ($2,842)

Source: IndieWire.

The Screengrab : water lilies

DVD Digest for September 2, 2008

Indie Box-Office Roundup: Weekend of April 18-20, 2008