The night before Christmas

From darkhorizons, “There have been many complaints of late as to how crowded December has gotten. With around sixteen films in wide release and more than double that in limited bows, this past December was so packed with new films that many quickly vanished as audiences simply could not keep up.

Some are only now getting around to older releases like "The Last King of Scotland", "The Queen" or "Pan's Labyrinth" - helped by the fact both last month and February has seen just 2-3 films on average getting a wide release each week. Next week's release of five wide titles seems almost an anomaly, but it's one that's about to become the norm.

March 16th kicks off what is arguably the busiest pre-Summer film line-up in recent history. In the seven weeks leading up to the first big Summer movie going weekend (May 4th), an estimated three dozen or so wide-release films, along with at least half that amount again in high profile limited release films, are to debut on screens.

This adds up to an average of 5 wide and 2-3 limited releases per week over the period - an amount even a full-time film reviewer would have a hard time keeping up with let alone the moviegoing public. Many of these are also relatively high profile titles - "Grindhouse", "Hot Fuzz", "TMNT", "Blades of Glory", "Reign Over Me", "Sunshine", "Shooter" and "Dead Silence" just to name a few.

Combined with even higher profile entries immediately preceeding (300, Zodiac) and following (Spider-Man, Shrek, Pirates), the big question now is what will get lost in the shuffle, and more importantly which ones will blink and be held back a few months til a quieter time.

Today already saw high-profile Middle Eastern action film "The Kingdom" and ping pong comedy "Balls of Fury" make the jump to early Fall (ept 28th & 14th respectively). Don't expect it to be the last to make the move in coming weeks.

Here's a list of what's coming in that seven week spring flood. Personally recommended films have been highlighted in blue:

March 16th 2007
Captivity
Dead Silence
Premonition
Shooter
Sunshine
I Think I Love My Wife (limited release)
The Wind That Shakes the Barley (limited release)


March 23rd 2007
Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters
The Hills Have Eyes II
The Last Mimzy
Pride
Reign Over Me
TMNT
Angel-A (limited release)
Colour Me Kubrick (limited release)
First Snow (limited release)
The Lookout (limited release)


March 30th 2007
Blades of Glory
Meet the Robinsons
The Reaping
Rescue Dawn
After the Wedding (limited release)
Blind Dating (limited release)
Live Free or Die (limited release)
Exterminating Angels (limited release)


April 4th 2007
Firehouse Dog

April 6th 2007
Are We Done Yet?
Grindhouse
The Hoax
Offside (limited release)
Penelope (limited release)
Severance (limited release)
The Pleasure of Your Company (limited release)
The TV Set (limited release)


April 13th 2007
Disturbia
Hot Fuzz
Perfect Stranger
Spring Breakdown
Private Fears in Public Places (limited release)
Redline (limited release)
Trade (limited release)
Year of the Dog (limited release)


April 20th 2007
The Greatest Escape
In the Land of Women
Kickin' It Old School
The Kingdom
The Nanny Diaries
Pathfinder
Vacancy
Civic Duty (limited release)
Even Money (limited release)
The Flying Scotsman (limited release)
Smiley Face (limited release)
The Tripper (limited release)
The Valet (limited release)


April 27th 2007
The Condemned
Fracture
The Invisible
The Last Legion
Next
Wind Chill
Jindabyne (limited release)