December 7th, 2013
The first full weekend of December and less than three weeks till Christmas. The second installment of our Holiday Gift Guide is where we talks about TV on DVD releases. We limit ourselves to the first season of new shows or the Megasets for complete shows. We do this, because generally speaking, you don't need our advice whether or not to give someone the sixth season of Murdoch Mysteries as a gift. Did they buy and enjoy the first five? Then yes, but the sixth season as a gift. If not, I wouldn't bother. Like with Part I, this year's selection doesn't seem very strong. There were very few new shows that were truly great. According to Metacritic, the best new show of the season was Nashville, which is a bit of a surprise. The second best show was Call the Midwife, but season two has already come out on DVD and Blu-ray, so it is not really a new show. Meanwhile, the third best show was canceled before its first season was completed. It wasn't a good year for high quality TV. There are also not a lot of Megasets for shows that recently ended that are obviously worth picking up, but the best of the group is...
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May 20th, 2013
Stand Up Guys has a very impressive cast with three Oscar winners in the three lead roles. It also opened with an Oscar-qualifying run; however, outside of a Golden Globe nomination for best original song, it was passed over by Awards Season voters. When it opened in limited release, it debuted in several hundred theaters, but barely topped the Mendoza Line on the per theater chart, while it disappeared as quickly as that opening would suggest. Will it find success on the home market? Or will it struggle there like it did in limited release and during Awards Season?
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February 8th, 2013
While there are a number of diverse limited releases this week, only two of them are earning overwhelmingly positive reviews. Those two are Lore and Caesar Must Die. Neither has a real shot at mainstream success, as foreign language films and documentaries rarely expand significantly. Hopefully they will at least find a receptive audience in the art house circuit.
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