Author Archive
 

 

TV NEWS AND NOTES

> BROADCAST UPFRONT DONE.  Broadcasting & Cable reports that the broadcast upfront market is finished with sales exceeding $8.6 billion for ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX and CW.  Other reports have the total haul over $9 bil...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED PILOT REPORT: NBC’s “Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea”

> Disclaimer:  Network pilots now in circulation are not necessarily in the form that will air in the Fall.  Pilots are often reedited and rescored, and in some cases even recast or reshot.  So these critiques sh...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

LIMITED RELEASE: “Beginners”

> Worth a Ticket:  A funny, moving story about navigating the twists of life.   Mike Mills’ BEGINNERS is about the fumble for love, the wrong turns and mistakes that can delay–although luckily not always p...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

“SUPER” 8?

> Amid multiplying online reports, spearheaded by New York Magazine’s Vulture site, that Paramount’s SUPER 8 is tracking for a very soft opening this weekend at the box-office, the studio has decided to launch a ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

WEEKDAY BOX OFFICE UPDATE JUNE 6-7: Updated

> X-Men First Class started its first weekday period with a solid 19% of opening weekend between Monday and Tuesday.  A good sign for longer term playability. The X-Men reboot earned $10.5 million Monday-Tuesday, represent...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED PILOT REPORT: NBC’s “The Playboy Club”

> Disclaimer:  Network pilots now in circulation are not necessarily in the form that will air in the Fall.  Pilots are often reedited and rescored, and in some cases even recast or reshot.  So these critiques sh...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

Movie On TV: “Bobby Fischer Against the World”

> A program note:  tonight at 9PM, HBO will premiere the documentary BOBBY FISCHER AGAINST THE WORLD, which screened at this year’s Sundance Film Festival; it will then air many more times on the network’s chan...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

TRASH, ART AND MANOHLA DARGIS

>Those interested in the disconnect between old-line film critics and audiences need look no farther than “In Defense of the Slow and the Boring,” a column in today’s NY Times.  In it, chief Times critics...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

LIMITED RELEASE: “Beautiful Boy”

> Watch It At Home:  Much sadness, little insight. BEAUTIFUL BOY is less interesting than you’d think it would be.  The premise is certainly arresting:  Shawn Ku’s first film (written with Michael Arm...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

Box Office Footnotes – 6/3/11

> It’s good that the weekend’s total will beat last year’s awful group of Get Him To the Greek, Killers, Prince of Persia and Sex & the City 2, but on a picture-by-picture basis, the news is a lot less ple...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

Weekend Review Roundup

> Reviews of some of the more prominent movies in theatres right now: X-MEN:  FIRST CLASS MIDNIGHT IN PARIS THE HANGOVER PART II KUNG FU PANDA 2 THE TREE OF LIFE
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED PILOT REPORT: The CW’s “The Secret Circle”

> Disclaimer:  Network pilots now in circulation are not necessarily in the form that will air in the Fall.  Pilots are often reedited and rescored, and in some cases even recast or reshot.  So these critiques sh...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

UPFRONT SALES UPDATE

> Broadcasting & Cable says that Fox has completed selling its prime time inventory for next season.  Reportedly, Fox has sold 80% of its spots, leaving the rest for “scatter market” sales during the season...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

“X-MEN FIRST CLASS” – First Class Indeed

> Worth A Ticket:  Superheroes Behind the Camera, Too. The most substantial movie of the summer so far is, depending on how you calculate, the fifth in a comic book series, a prequel or a reboot.  X-MEN:  FIRST C...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED PILOT REPORT: NBC’S “Up All Night”

> Disclaimer:  Network pilots now in circulation are not necessarily in the form that will air in the Fall.  Pilots are often reedited and rescored, and in some cases even recast or reshot.  So these critiques sh...
by Mitch Salem