VOD Overdose is Movie Buzzers’ coverage of video-on-demand developments and upcoming films premiering on video-on-demand. With an increasing number of studios embracing VOD as a way to premiere and distribute films, this column covers movies that might be worth a look even though they aren’t playing at your local multiplex.
Latest VOD News
After a brief summer hiatus I have some VOD news for you…
VOD provider Music Box Films recently followed me on Twitter. I’m glad they did, since I’ve found out that Music Box is another company that provides VOD foreign films that we simply can’t get in the United States otherwise, although the company does do limited theatrical distribution also (awesome!) There’s a nice mix of documentaries and features and are definitely worth a browse.
Gravitas Ventures, one of the best VOD distributors out there, has recently picked up the rights to 3,2,1… Frankie Go Boom, a 2012 SXSW comedy that stars Bridesmaids’ Chris O’Dowd and fanboy favorite Ron Perlman… in drag. The movie will get a September VOD release from Gravitas and an October theatrical release from Variance Films.
After flying internationally and having to go through U.S. Customs upon by return, I can definitely see how being a diplomat has its perks. Of course, it’s pretty obvious that many people are awarded diplomat positions on some very shady basis. That’s the storyline covered in the documentary The Ambassador, which arrives on VOD from Drafthouse Films on August 4 (to be followed by a theatrical run in New York and Los Angeles later that month). The documentary focuses on Africa, where the selling of diplomatic titles is a major issue.
Before his starring role in The Asylum’s American Battleship Warship, Mario Van Peebles directed We The Party, a contemporary urban coming-of-age movie starring Mario Van Peebles and Michael Jai White, Snoop Dogg, Melvin Van Peebles, Tiny Lister. Though shot in 2010, the film is finally making it out on VOD on July 19 and DVD/Blu-ray on July 31… and this was only announced a few days ago on IndieWire! That’s some pretty last-minute promotion, so something seems odd here.
Speaking of delayed releases, in an interview with Movies.com Weinstein Company honcho Harvey Weinstein reveals that Shanghai, which was filmed back in 2008, will finally get a release via VOD later this year (it has already been released on Blu-ray in the UK). The film, which stars John Cusack, Chow Yun-fat, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Ken Watanabe, is set in the 1940s and features Cusack going undercover as a pro-Nazi journalist to get to the bottom of the relationship between Japan and Nazi Germany. The film will be released on VOD via Weinstein Company’s partnership with Radias. Once again, I love how VOD has become a way to release films that are sitting on a shelf for whatever reason.
Now on VOD… And We Reviewed It!
Here’s a sampling of recent VOD movies that Movie Buzzers has viewed and reviewed. Check your cable provider or the below online retailers:
The Do-Deca-Pentathlon (Review 6.4/10), available at Amazon, iTunes, and Blockbuster
Take This Waltz (Review 8/10), available on Amazon, iTunes, and YouTube.
Upcoming VOD Releases
(For films premiering on VOD platforms, or hitting VOD after limited theatrical runs.)
[D2V] denotes movie that is also being released direct to DVD and/or Blu-ray on the same day.
July 19:
We The Party
Check out my notes on this movie’s release above!
July 20:
Burning Man
No, this isn’t about the big hippie concert. This New Zealand-based movie stars Matthew Goode in one of those “I screwed up my life and need to put it back together” movies. It won a bunch of awards in Australia but hasn’t gotten the same attention in the U.S.
July 27:
The Good Doctor
Premiering way back during the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival, this creepy thriller is about a doctor who falls for his patient, and as she recovers he decides to purposely worsen her condition in order to keep her in his care. Pretty brilliant concept, and looks like a big departure for Orlando Bloom. If you want to see it in theaters, you’ll have to wait until August 31.
Rites of Spring
Another IFC Midnight flick, this one involves a ransom gone horribly wrong when they kidnap someone who shouldn’t have been kidnapped. We’ve all been there, right?
August 3:
[REC]3 Genesis (Review 5/10)
Another entry into the [REC] found footage horror series, which apparently “decodes” the mysteries in the previous two films. Writer/director Paco Plaza is still with the series, so if you’re a fan you can expect more of the same. It hits theaters on September 7.
Have news about an upcoming VOD movie? Want to have Movie Buzzers check out your upcoming VOD release? Contact me here!
Recent Comments