I s'pose All Is Lost should slow down now and expand again when Robert Redford is nominated for multiple awards.

The Book Thief is doing fairly well, but without a doubt should have opened wide with a proper advertising campaign. It is a highly accessible film which will be much more warmly received by mainstream audiences than the art-house set.

Yes, The Book Thief should have gone wide. It still wouldn't have done particularly well, but at least it wouldn't be entering wide release with tepid word-of-mouth at play. The book may not be a huge bestseller, but it's at least known well enough that it could have pulled together a decent take over its opening weekend.

I've been meaning to read it, if only for the fact that I might end up having to teach it at some point (I know some fellow teachers who already have to).

Word-of-mouth will be fine, wonderful even, among mainstream audiences, which is ironic. The prestige minded platform release has, by showing it to the most cynical audiences first and then hoping to woo general audiences later, conjured a cloud over the film which needn't have existed. Fox screwed the pooch.

I believe it's not just people who were fans of the first that turned out for Best Man Holiday. I'm sure several people probably hadn't even seen the first. The holiday theme definitely helped, IMO.


Universal should make a sequel to Love Actually .