Next Week's Films Jan 9 -15

I expected next week to be easy to book but it turned out to be really hard. Usually there would be several films available that had been pushed out of the first run theatres by all the new films that open at Christmas. We have been closed for two weeks so that should have built up a bit of a backlog.

However it turns out that's not the case. The first run theatres seem to be holding onto product longer, usually putting films down to fewer shows per day and splitting screens among more than one film.

I expected either Quantum of Solace or Twilight would be available or alternatively Australia. It turns out Quantum is holding. Rainbow is bringing back Twilight which is an unusual move. The Hyland picked up Australia and is keeping it for a second week so I couldn't have it.

The only two new movies were the following.

Four Christmases: I don't plan to play this, it was a good size hit but apparently wasn't that good and Christmas movies after Christmas don't always work.

The Spirit: see below.

So I had to come up with something to play that I hadn't planned on playing. I decided to try playing The Boy in The Striped Pajamas and see how it does. Hopefully I'll get surprised like I did last year with Kite Runner. If that wasn't available I was going to ask about I've Loved You So Long.

The late show was a tough choice. I initially booked Changeling back in, figuring it did pretty well during the last week before Christmas when there were few students here so they may come to see it now. However later I decided that I might not be right and figured I would be better off with a new movie that we hadn't played yet. It's a bit of a risk/experiment but I decided to play The Spirit instead. The Spirit didn't open well and got bad reviews but was a fun movie from a sheer over-the-top point of view. Also since we got it so fast I figure there are still some people that want to see it but didn't get to it yet.

The projectionist tonight Chris had a good idea to bring back Zack and Miri Make a Porno. The first week we played it was the first week of exams and the students were a tad preoccupied. I decided to go with The Spirit for next week but will keep Zack and Miri in mind for a late show possibility for the next couple weeks.

One thing I'm wrestling a bit with is whether to play Australia. It's long and from Fox so it will have to play by itself. I'm not sure I can justify that unless there's absolutely nothing else. I didn't have a problem with playing it a few weeks but I've started to hear negative buzz about it and thinking it won't do as well as I thought. Part of the problem is I had it on the Will Be Playing section of the Status page on the website and told at least one person on the phone I would be playing it. I hate going back on things I said I would do.