Reviewish: "Atypical" on Netflix

by Ben Miller

Keil Gilchrist headlines "Atypical" as Sam, a teenager on the spectrum.

Full disclosure: I am not objective.

Generally, a reviewer would attempt an unbiased look at how a piece of entertainment could appeal to the masses.  We all know this is not the case in reality.  Everyone comes in with their own experiences and assumptions, which we base our opinions on.  I want you all to know that I did not review Netflix’s new series Atypical without my own preconceived notions.

My son has autism.  I have been wavering on whether I wanted to give Atypical a chance.  It could go the This is Us route and over-sentimentalize everything, or it could go down the I Am Sam road and make everything offensively “special”.  There is a delicate balance with shows that deal with disabilities.  On top of that, I know a whole lot about autism that a casual viewer doesn’t...

Click to read more ...

Box Office: The Accountant and Certain Women

Though awards season has started outside of movie theaters it definitely hasn't started within them (a flaw of the system as we continuously bemoan) and The Birth of a Nation took another campaign hit this weekend dropping a rough 61% in its second weekend while its competition last weekend dimmed by only 38 to 50% in round two. This week was a battle between two films from reliably bankable stars without awards gold on their mind -- Kevin Hart's Kevin Hart: What Now? and Ben Affleck in the thriller The Accountant. The latter surprised by slightly outperforming the successful opening weekends of both Argo and The Town despite having nothing like their enthusiastic reviews. 

TOP TEN WIDE
01 The Accountant $24.7 NEW 
02 Kevin Hart: What Now? $11.9 NEW
03 The Girl on the Train $11.9 (cum. $46.5) Review
04 Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children $8.9 (cum. $65.8)
05 Deepwater Horizon $6.3 (cum. $49.3) 
06 Storks $5.6 (cum. $59.1)
07 The Magnificent Seven $5.2 (cum. $84.8) Review
08 Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life $4.2 (cum. $13.7)
09 Sully $2.7 (cum. $118.3) Review
10 Birth of a Nation $2.7 (cum. $12.2) More

TOP TEN LIMITED
01 Priceless $703K NEW 
02 Desierto $450K NEW Mexico's Oscar Submission
03 Denial $398K (cum. $839K) Review
04 A Man Called Ove $205K (cum. $436K) Sweden's Oscar Submission
05 The Dressmaker $171K (cum. $1.3) 
06 American Honey $142K (cum. $362K) Review
07 The Beatles: Eight Days a Week $123K (cum. $2.5) Review
08 No Manches Frida $110K (cum. $11.3)
09 M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story $80K (cum. $1.7)
10 Certain Women $65K NEW Review

In limited release Certain Women, just off of its NYFF festival bow, posted the strongest per screen average (albeit only on 5 screens) with the animated feature Miss Hokusai (part of a very competitive Best Animated Feature race this year) not far behind on just two screens.

What did you see this weekend?