Never mind the blackout, Sundance's The Farewell glowed with the year's best opening weekend per- theater average in its debut, despite cancelled shows at AMC Lincoln Square, though most tickets were likely purchased ahead of time. In any event, distributor A24 gets bragging rights to a great opening,
The F…
As we launch into the second half of the 2019 movie calendar today with Spider-Man: Far From Home and upscale horror entry Midsommar, we now inch closer to actually coming up with some legitimate Oscar contenders in this year’s Best Picture race. Not that either one of those movies has a prayer for that, or pretty…
The dog days of summer have arrived early for the specialties, which have only had some success in peeling away audiences from studio fare. New limited release titles landed slowly this weekend, with Sony Pictures Classics Toronto '18 documentary Maiden topping the few titles reporting numbers Sunday. The…
The 4K restoration of 1974 semi-fictionalized documentary A Bigger Splash edged out with the top per theater average among the specialties this weekend, playing an exclusive run at the Metrograph Theater in Manhattan. Directed by Jack Hazan, the Metrograph Pictures release grossed $18K. This is the second…
Joe Talbot won the Best Director prize at January's Sundance Film Festival for his debut feature The Last Black Man in San Francisco. But, as he explained when I sat down with him and his lead actor Jimmie Fails, on whom the film's story is based, it took a village.
A love letter to the titular city, the film deals…
Two of this year’s higher profile Sundance debuts are making their way to theaters this weekend. Late Night by director Nisha Ganatra, starring Emma Thompson and Mindy Kaling, was an eight-figure acquisition by Amazon Studios at the festival. The dramedy is heading out to several New York and Los Angeles locations…
As gentrification runs rampant across the country, it seems that San Francisco is one of the main victims with high rises, slow-drip coffee stands, tech startups, yoga studios, and cafes of the juice stand variety. Joe Talbot’s The Last Black Man In San Francisco explores one man’s journey to reclaim his hometown and…
“When everybody was saying ‘No’ this story does not have an audience, you, Sundance and the people who have seen this film have proven that there is an audience for this film, and I thank you!” beamed Clemency director Chinonye Chukwu after accepting the U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize for her death penalty drama Clemen…
