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THE BIJOU @ SUNDANCE: Big-Time

Posted December 6, 2011 by Mitch Salem

> Like any showbiz stripper, the Sundance Film Festival has left its most notable revelations for last:  after releasing its Competition Entries and its Midnight and Other Fringe Titles, today the Festival announced its highest-profile Premiere films, both scripted and documentary.  They seem a bit lower-key than usual this year, with stars and filmmakers notable […]

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FRIDAY BOXOFFICE: STUDIO SCORECARD – 1/6/12

Posted January 7, 2012 by Mitch Salem

> Everyone wanted to go to the movies on the first full weekend of 2012. PARAMOUNT:  The studio went straight to its Paranormal Activity playbook to launch THE DEVIL INSIDE (pre-release screenings, months of buzz), and it all worked:  the picture should gross at least $30M in its opening weekend, and with a $1M production […]

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OSCAR ODDS for Major Categories

Posted February 9, 2012 by Mitch Salem

>Courtesy of the London oddsmakers (averaging a variety of books at easyodds.com), there appears to be little suspense ahead for the Best Picture and Best Director races at this year’s Academy Awards and almost no races at all for Best Supporting Actor and Actress.  Currently, The Artist is heavily favored to win Best Picture, with […]

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SHOWBUZZDAILY EARLY WEEKEND BOXOFFICE – 3/17/12

Posted March 18, 2012 by Mitch Salem

> Saturday was a little weaker than expected, according to preliminary boxoffice figures reported by Deadline, resulting in some shortfalls compared to initial weekend estimates.  21 JUMP STREET (Sony) had a small Saturday decline of about 5%, which should get it to around $34M for the weekend.  The novelty of Will Ferrell speaking Spanish in […]

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SHOWBUZZDAILY EARLY FRIDAY BOXOFFICE- 4/27/12

Posted April 28, 2012 by Mitch Salem

> Despite all Universal‘s efforts to imprint audiences with the idea that THE FIVE-YEAR ENGAGEMENT is some kind of quasi-sequel to Bridesmaids (it’s not), preliminary numbers at Deadline show the movie to be underperforming badly.  Its $3.7M Friday was only in 3rd place for the day, well below the $6M opening day the same creative […]

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THE SHOWBUZZDAILY REVIEW: “Project Nim”

Posted July 18, 2011 by Mitch Salem

  PROJECT NIM:  Worth A Ticket – If You Can Stand It   At first I wondered why on earth Fox Searchlight hadn’t grabbed James Marsh’s documentary PROJECT NIM at Sundance, to serve as an unofficial prequel to Big Fox’s release of Rise of the Planet of the Apes next month.  It seemed like a […]

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THE SHOWBUZZDAILY REVIEW: “Paranormal Activity 3”

Posted October 22, 2011 by Mitch Salem

  PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3:  Worth A Ticket – More Minimalist Bumps In the Dark   The PARANORMAL ACTIVITY franchise is a movie studio’s dream come true.  The concept itself demands a no-star cast, a very limited number of settings and a bare minimum of special effects (the third and latest entry in the series cost […]

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SHOWBUZZDAILY @ SUNDANCE REVIEW: “Shadow Dancer”

Posted January 28, 2012 by Mitch Salem

  Plot and character revelations are a critical part of James Marsh’s subtle, complex spy drama SHADOW DANCER, adapted by Tom Bradby from his own novel, so I’ll be circumspect in describing its plot beyond the initial set-up.  (Then again, I saw it at an 8:30AM screening at Sundance, so I’m not altogether sure I […]

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