It used to be the January “Awards Season” meant the Holiday Movie Pool was nearing an end. Now it’s when the November films are already being available onDemand just two months after they were in theaters!

Christmas may be coming, but movie studios have been sending out their gifts early to theaters across the nation hoping for some Holiday Rush buyers. The returns are indicating that more than ever people may be waiting to order their movies online… or maybe not at all. Where some hoped for record-breaking openers, others found the twelfth biggest domestic opening of all-time. We’re #12, we’re #12!

Thanksgiving has come and gone so fast I barely remember if I had sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, or both. The Holiday Movie Pool is going from a couple movies a week into “every single movie left out there is coming out in the next 13 days” mode. There will be winners that take their place on our final Top Five and there will be losers as forgotten as whether you had ranch, blue cheese, or both on your salad at Thanksgiving.

If you ever wondered what’s the difference between a hit and a blockbuster, this weekend told the tale. Last week Ford v. Ferrari opened with $31.5 million. That’s a hit, for sure, even if you’re just guessing C-3 in a classic game. This week, however, a film opened with over $100 million. That’s a blockbuster by any stretch of the imagination and enough to make you say, “You sank my Battleship!”

Every now and then we have a movie weekend where no one is really sure what the top film will be. Usually, we have a pretty good idea. For example, this weekend we know Frozen II will top any Mr. Rogers movie and Chadwick Boseman action film (unless said action film is Marvel related). However, we’ve just had two weekends in a row with no clear “Is this going to be a hit or not?” slate of films… and to answer the question, we’ve had a “yes,” a “sorta” , and a lot of “we’re done.”

After an October that only had a one-two punch (or maybe just a one-one-and-a-half… No one would call Maleficent: Mistress of Evil any more than “half” a hit), audiences were starving for the hits that every Holiday Movie Season promises and they stormed box-offices in record crowds! At least, that’s how the story was supposed to go. Instead, AMC A-Listers seemed to take a swipe left approach after the first weekend in our pool was more of a ripple than a splash.

The Oktoberfest steins are back on the shelf, Costco’s got Samuel Adams Winter Packs for sale, and I got stuck on Jury Duty today just so I could finish this update, so it's time for the 23rd Annual Holiday Movie Pool!