Author Archive
 

 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Season Finale Review: “Killjoys”

  KILLJOYS is, along with Dark Matter, one of the ultra-cheap scripted pieces that Syfy runs on Friday nights.  (Defiance, which airs with them, is a somewhat more ambitious enterprise.)  The grubby aesthetics of the tw...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Season Finale Review: “The Whispers”

  THE WHISPERS never made much sense, and that went triple for tonight’s finale.  On a macro level, it was probably unwise to end the season with a cliffhanger, since reports are that although the ratings were no wo...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Season Finale Review: “Tyrant”

  TYRANT went all the way back to the source for its main plotline this season, giving Bassam Al-Fayeed (Adam Rayner) a saga so Moses-like that he might as well have witnessed a burning bush along the way.  Bassam was sen...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

HOLIDAY WEEKEND MOVIE REVIEW ROUNDUP

> For everyone journeying to the multiplex this long weekend, some reviews to click on: THE TREE OF LIFE:  An often stupendous achievement that courts ridicule–and sometimes earns it. THE HANGOVER PART II:  It w...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

Behind the US/Worldwide Weekend Box Office – 11.24.2024

  OPENINGS:  The $114M launch of WICKED (Universal) (which included “fan event” screenings throughout the previous week) set a new high for Broadway musical adaptations, and indeed for live-action musicals in ...
by Mitch Salem
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THE BIJOU: Early Boxoffice Report – 9/10/11

> Deadline has some early Friday boxoffice numbers, and the news was good for CONTAGION and its maybe-I’m-retiring-and-maybe-I’m-not director Steven Soderbergh:  an $8M opening day that should lead to a weekend...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE BIJOU @ TIFF: Sarah Polley’s “Take This Waltz”

> In just her second feature film as a director (her first was 2006’s Oscar-nominated Away From Her), Sarah Polley demonstrates that she’s already a filmmaker with rare grace and sensuality in TAKE THIS WALTZ, which...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE BIJOU @ TIFF: “Drive”

> DRIVE is a self-conscious genre movie, and those are tricky propositions.  On the one hand, you need to make your existential or other textual statement with all the artistry at your command; on the other, you still have...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

SHOWBUZZDAILY @ SUNDANCE REVIEW: “Middle of Nowhere”

  MIDDLE OF NOWHERE, which won the Sundance US Dramatic Directing award for Ava DuVernay last night, is in no rush.  The films moves with deliberation as it establishes its leading character and her difficult situation: ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

SHOWBUZZDAILY @ SUNDANCE: Collected Reviews

  Click on SHOWBUZZDAILY‘s reviews from this year’s Sundance Film Festival, in alphabetical order:   2 DAYS IN NEW YORK (Magnolia) BACHELORETTE (No Distrib) BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (Fox Searchlight) CE...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

The Sked SATURDAY RATINGS January 28

>FOX scored an impressive (for Saturday) preliminary 2.2 rating with Adults 18-49 last night with UFC: Evans vs Davis from Chicago (featuring two other undercard Ultimate Fighting bouts).  The live fights built smartly thr...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

SHOWBUZZDAILY WEEKEND STUDIO SCORECARD – 1/29/12

> Beware the round-number weekend estimate. OPENINGS:  THE GREY (Open Road) is claiming an even $20M gross for the weekend, which would make tomorrow’s adjusted number starting with “19” no surprise at al...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

SHOWBUZZDAILY @ SUNDANCE: Mini-Reviews

  Sundance is sometimes thrilling, but it can also be an ordeal.  Especially when the films are good, but not great.  And even more so if you arrive with limited tickets, and are left to the tender mercies of the Wait Li...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED’S SUNDAY NETWORK SCORECARD – 1/29/12

>   A football appetizer, compared to next week’s all-you-can-eat buffet. NBC:  The PRO BOWL, aka the NFL All-Star Game, won the night, but at nowhere near the ratings for regular games, let alone the bonanza th...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED PILOT REVIEW: “Touch”

> TOUCH:  Mondays 9PM on FOX, starting March 19 – Change the Channel FOX’s new series TOUCH got off to a very good start in the ratings with a “preview” episode last week (having American Idol as a ...
by Mitch Salem