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We fibbed a bit at the end of our last post<\/a> about THE INFORMANT!<\/strong> (Just remember which movie we\u2019re talking about, folks.) With the video editions now available for home viewing, C-U Blogfidential<\/strong> dug up more statistics that might reinforce or implode our opinions about the overall performance of this Steven Soderbergh<\/strong> semi-experiment. Industry data supplier Rentrak<\/strong><\/a>, whose box office numbers we cited before, also issues weekly reports<\/a> that track DVD, Blu-ray, and video-on-demand (VOD) releases. So, how in their estimation did the Mark Whitacre<\/strong> story hold up amidst the current crop?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n THE INFORMANT!<\/strong> landed in third place on their DVD rental chart, after LAW ABIDING CITIZEN<\/strong> and COUPLES RETREAT<\/strong>, and fifth place on their DVD sales chart, also led by CITIZEN<\/strong>, during the disc\u2019s first week of availability ending last Sunday, February 28<\/strong>, per a March 4<\/strong> press release. In a separate item issued on March 5<\/strong>, INFORMANT!<\/strong> placed third on their VOD sales chart after RETREAT <\/strong>and THE BOX<\/strong> for the same week. Lastly, rival data reporter Home Media Magazine<\/strong><\/span> notched INFORMANT!<\/strong> in 10th place on their Blu-ray sales chart<\/a>, way behind CITIZEN <\/strong>and Disney<\/strong>\u2019s UP <\/strong>at the top.<\/p>\n We didn\u2019t expect THE INFORMANT!<\/strong> to cream the competition, of course, but how it ultimately fares in secondary channels will rely heavily on the appeal of star Matt Damon<\/strong>, who returns to the public eye later this week when the Paul Greengrass<\/strong> military action flick GREEN ZONE<\/strong> opens theatrically. In addition, INFORMANT!<\/strong> distributor Warner Bros.<\/strong> and co-producer Participant Media<\/strong> gave a highly-publicized \u201cgo\u201d<\/a> to the $60 million virus thriller CONTAGION <\/strong>\u2013 right before the former\u2019s DVD\/Blu-ray release \u2013 that will team Soderbergh, Damon, and screenwriter Scott Z. Burns<\/strong> again while adding actors Kate Winslet, Marion Cotillard, Jude Law<\/strong>, and Gwyneth Paltrow<\/strong> to the mix. We guess a well-timed, Hollywood<\/strong>-sized vote of confidence is better than no confidence at all, so by that logic INFORMANT!<\/strong> has ultimately paid its dues.<\/p>\n Since the film\u2019s business history is all but wrapped up except for the inevitable re-releases, CUBlog <\/strong>is game to wind down INFORMANT!<\/strong> coverage with a smattering of observations. One cast member we\u2019d like to give a shout this outing, even though she doesn\u2019t appear often in the film, is New Zealand<\/strong> native Melanie Lynskey<\/strong> who plays Whitacre\u2019s wife, Ginger<\/strong>. She fits in gamely with Soderbergh\u2019s gamble to surround Damon with character actors that can reliably keep a straight face amidst the increasingly ridiculous situations. Usually seen in quirky roles that play upon her doe eyes, girl-next-door look, and distinct high-pitched voice, Lynskey effectively employs these qualities here as a compassionate housewife.<\/p>\n The actress\u2019 credentials are spiked with numerous critical and big-studio hits, including AWAY WE GO, FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS, SHATTERED GLASS, SWEET HOME ALABAMA, BUT I\u2019M A CHEERLEADER, EVER AFTER<\/strong>, and HEAVENLY CREATURES<\/strong>, but we\u2019d like to discuss how Lynskey is only a \u201cFew Degrees of MICRO-FILM Country<\/strong>\u201d based on curious circumstances. You know by now that the bulk of THE INFORMANT!<\/strong> was shot on location in Decatur, Illinois<\/strong>, and nearby towns in the summer of 2008, requiring her presence for obvious reasons. Many of you have also seen her in the lauded UP IN THE AIR<\/strong>, partially shot in the St. Louis<\/strong> area and starring INFORMANT!<\/strong> executive producer George Clooney<\/strong>. Association by mere geography and \u201cthe biz,\u201d we know, but we\u2019re not done yet\u2026<\/p>\n Lynskey is arguably best known to United States<\/strong> audiences for her role as Rose, the sweet-if-\u00fcber<\/em>-possessive stalker of Charlie Harper (Charlie Sheen<\/strong>) in the CBS-TV<\/strong> situation comedy TWO AND A HALF MEN<\/strong>, created by writer and stand-up comic Mark Roberts<\/strong> who hails from nearby Tolono<\/strong>. Her indie cred also includes a pair of features from California <\/strong>graphic designer Mark Tapio Kines<\/strong>, one of the earliest friends of MICRO-FILM<\/strong> based on introductions in mid-1999 at the late Chicago.Alt Film Festival<\/strong> which played his first full-length, FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS<\/strong>. This drama about long-distance relationships intertwining unexpectedly stars Lynskey, Corin Nemic, Yelena Danova<\/strong>, and Wil Wheaton<\/strong>; you can find a micro-picture of the future Mrs. Whitcare and former Mr. Crusher tucked away within the first issue of MICRO-FILM<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Kines used his talents to good effect by creating a Web presence that helped him raise $150,000 necessary to fund post-production work on FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS<\/strong>, a novel scheme at the time. This apparently wasn\u2019t in the cards for CLAUSTROPHOBIA<\/strong>, a lower-budget follow-up financed out of the director\u2019s pocket that features Lynskey and fellow television regulars Sheeri Rappaport<\/strong> (CSI<\/strong>) and Mary Lynn Rajskub<\/strong> (24<\/strong>) as gal pals trapped in a house by a killer wielding a crossbow. Lionsgate<\/strong>\u2019s home video division released it domestically<\/a> as SERIAL SLAYER<\/strong> at the end of 2004. Earlier, Kines\u2019 Cassava Films<\/strong> banner self-distributed FORCOR<\/strong>; copies can be purchased through Amazon.com<\/strong> via the Cassava site<\/a>.<\/p>\n ~ Jason Pankoke<\/p>\n [Beauty! This is post #400 on CUBlog<\/strong>! Let\u2019s score 100 more, y\u2019all!]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" THE INFORMANT! proves not to be the most heard on DVD, Blu-ray, and VOD in its first week of availability, although it does not stop C-U Blogfidential from mildly doting on featured actress Melanie Lynskey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[376,228,15],"tags":[389,388,386,385,375,384,287,134,387],"class_list":["post-1771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gone-hollywood","category-home-videos-du-c-u","category-media-coverage","tag-claustrophobia","tag-foreign-correspondents","tag-mark-roberts","tag-mark-tapio-kines","tag-matt-damon","tag-melanie-lynskey","tag-steven-soderbergh","tag-the-informant","tag-two-and-a-half-men"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1771"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1771\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n
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