TV
–Last Week Tonight with John Oliver Season 11 Premiere (February 18 on HBO)
–Star Wars: The Bad Batch Season 3 Premiere (February 21 on Disney+) – Final Season Alert!
Music
-Chromeo, Adult Contemporary
-Granddaddy, Blu Wav – I’ve never heard of this band before, but they sound interesting.
-Paloma Faith, The Glorification of Sadness
-Jennifer Lopez, This Is Me… Now
-Usher, Coming Home
Get Up, Stand Up, Go See a Movie. (CREDIT: Paramount Pictures)
Starring: Kingsley Ben-Adir, Lashana Lynch, James Norton, Daniel Mellville Jr., Sevana, Hector Lewis, Tosin Cole
Director: Reinaldo Marcus Green
Running Time: 104 Minutes
Rating: PG-13 for Political Violence and Some Herbal Remedies
Release Date: February 14, 2024 (Theaters)
What’s It About?: It’s 1976, and Jamaican reggae musician Bob Marley (Kingsley Ben-Adir) is on the brink of unfathomably massive superstardom. Meanwhile, his native Jamaica is being torn asunder by violence between rival political factions. After an assassination attempt leaves him and his wife Rita (Lashana Lynch) seriously injured, he flees for his safety to England. Meanwhile, he’s also in the midst of a world tour and preparation for a new album that will become the most acclaimed of his career. On top of all that, he’s trying to pretty much unite all of humanity with spiritual enlightenment. Alas, a deadly disease is looming in the way of every single one of his plans.
What Made an Impression?: Savior of the World?: I don’t know if this was intentional on the part of director Reinaldo Marcus Green or his team of screenwriters, but Bob Marley: One Love struck me as a rather messianic story. The parallels with Marley’s life and Jesus Christ are striking: death in their 30s, attempts on their lives, the spread of a new religion, efforts to forgive their enemies. The connection isn’t perfect, as One Love certainly doesn’t portray Bob as immaculate, and his cause of death is cancer, rather than a state-sanctioned execution. But it is notable that the movie’s story begins just a few years before his death, with some flashbacks to his childhood. Rock stars often inspire religious fervor in their legions of fans, and I don’t know if that’s ever been more true than in the case of Bob Marley. Ya Mon or Not Ya Mon?: I’m no expert on Jamaican patois, and One Love doesn’t make much of an effort to accommodate me or anyone else who lacks that fluency. Even Kingsley Ben-Adir has admitted that he didn’t understand everything the real Bob Marley was saying when he watched videos of him to prepare for the role. And there are scenes within the film when non-Jamaicans struggle to make sense of him. Captions might have helped in this regard, but only to a certain extent. Still, I always got the gist of what was happening, and I ultimately appreciated the decision to keep it authentic this way. Getting the Story Out There:One Love wisely keeps its narrative focus on a compressed time period, but besides that, it doesn’t distinguish itself with a whole lot of personality among the rock star biopic heap. We don’t get to see much of Ben-Adir performing, and when Bob Marley’s songs do play, it’s usually just a non-diegetic jukebox approach. Then the story stops somewhat abruptly, and we get the typical end titles about what else happened. Quite frankly, some of the events that were left out sound a lot more dramatically compelling than what was left in. So while One Love doesn’t quite reach the loftiest of heights, it at least doesn’t detract from its subject’s legacy. And if it inspires some viewers to dig into his discography and embrace his message of unity, well then it will have brought some good into the world.
Bob Marley: One Love is Recommended If You Want: To Research Everything About Bob Marley That Wasn’t Included in the Movie
Final seasons have me like… (CREDIT: CBS/Screenshot)
Every week, I list all the upcoming (or recently released) movies, TV shows, albums, podcasts, etc. that I believe are worth checking out.
Movies
–Lisa Frankenstein (Theaters)
–Perfect Days (Theaters)
–The Taste of Things (Theaters)
–Turning Red (Theatrical Re-Release)
TV
-Puppy Bowl XX (February 11 on Animal Planet)
–Resident Alien Season 3 Premiere (February 14 on Syfy)
–Ghosts Season 3 Premiere (February 15 on CBS)
–Young Sheldon Season 7 Premiere (February 15 on CBS) – Final Season Alert!
Music
-Ducks Ltd., Harm’s Way – I’ve just heard of this band, but now I have to listen to them to find out how they quack.
-Dhani Harrison, Innerstanding
-Brittany Howard, What Now
Sports
-Super Bowl LVIII (February 11 on CBS and Nickelodeon) – Will the Nick version also have memorable commercials?
How Scrambled are they?! (CREDIT: Lionsgate/Roadside Attractions)
Starring: Leah McKendrick, Ego Nwodim, Andrew Santino, Clancy Brown, Laura Cerón
Director: Leah McKendrick
Running Time: 97 Minutes
Rating: R
Release Date: February 2, 2024 (Theaters)
Scrambled is about a single 34-year-old woman named Nellie (Leah McKendrick, who also wrote and directed) who decides to freeze her eggs in case she doesn’t get pregnant the usual way anytime soon. So of course, I now have to ask: would I like to become scrambled myself?
Obviously, I can’t go on the same exact journey as Nellie, seeing as I don’t have a body that ovulates. But I certainly could one day undergo some medical procedure that requires me to poke needles into my body in preparation. That begs the question: could I actually stomach such a regimen? Perhaps my experience watching Scrambled could provide some hints.
It didn’t start off so great, as I kept holding my hands over my eyes whenever Nellie injected herself. But then I remembered that back in 2005, I had no trouble remaining focused during the infamous syringe pit scene in Saw II. So as Nellie made her final injection, I took Alejandro Amenábar’s advice and opened my eyes. And well, I’m still standing, and just a little bit scrambled.
Rating: PG-13 for Some Violence and Sexuality That Could Easily Have Been R-Rated If the Most Intense Parts Didn’t Happen Off Screen
Release Date: February 9, 2024 (Theaters)
What’s It About?: It’s not easy being Lisa Swallows in 1989. For one thing, her mother was recently killed during a home invasion, and she appears to be the only one who’s actually been traumatized by that tragedy. Meanwhile, there are the more quotidian, but no less dramatic, struggles of being a teenage girl. Her dad Dale (Joe Chrest) has remarried a high-strung nightmare named Janet (Carla Gugino), which has forced Lisa to finish her senior year at a new high school. And since she’s an extremely mousy wallflower, she’s either ignored, insulted, or taken advantage of by her classmates. Her stepsister Taffy (Liza Soberano) tries to look out for her, but there’s a vague sense of manipulation beneath the bonhomie. So Lisa spends much of her time at the local grave of a young man (Cole Sprouse) who died a bachelor long ago. And wouldn’t you know it, the power to reanimate the dead is in the air.
What Made an Impression?: Silence and Isolation: One of the most striking things about Lisa Frankenstein is its rather quiet sound mix, to the point that I wondered if there were any technical snafus while I was watching. But things are usually on the up-and-up at the screening room where I caught it, so I’m left to believe that this was in fact a creative choice. It’s at least thematically resonant, as Lisa never quite behaves the way that you would expect someone in her situation to. She’s lost in a suburban nowheresville in which nobody knows quite how to communicate with her, save for the resurrected creature hiding out in her closet. As for Sprouse’s turn as the monster, he’s clearly studied the likes of Boris Karloff and Peter Boyle, as he adapts their grunts and staggering gaits into an improbable heartthrob. What Stays Buried: When I saw the trailer and read the premise for Lisa Frankenstein, I assumed it was going to be an adorably huggable gothic romance spin on Mary Shelley’s classic tale. But as it turns out, the Creature and Lisa have much more of an appetite for violence than I was expecting. Some whimsy tries to make itself felt, but it proves to be an odd match for Diablo Cody’s decidedly dark screenplay. This movie isn’t for the faint of heart, though I can imagine it being embraced by the latest generation of goths. Director Zelda Williams’ touch feels a little less than sure-handed in her feature debut, but the end result is unique enough that I don’t want to dismiss it entirely. There’s a reason why dark hearts like Lisa’s keep beating on the big screen, and while I’m not sure what her story means, I won’t be surprised if it’s embraced by a group of outcasts who locate some real resonance.
Lisa Frankenstein is Recommended If You Like: Edward Scissorhands and Heathers, especially the parts where people die
Every week, I list all the upcoming (or recently released) movies, TV shows, albums, podcasts, etc. that I believe are worth checking out.
Movies
–Argylle (Theaters) – I’m here mainly for the Dua Lipa.
–How to Have Sex (Theaters)
–Orion and the Dark (February 2 on Netflix) – Written by Charlie Kaufman, narrated by Werner Herzog.
TV
–Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 12 Premiere (February 4 on HBO) – Final Season Alert!
-Grammy Awards (February 4 on CBS)
–51st Anniversary Saturn Awards (February 4 on ElectricNOW) – Honoring genre films; hosted by Joel McHale.
–Solar Opposites Valentine’s Day Special (February 5 on Hulu)
–Abbott Elementary Season 3 Premiere (February 6 on ABC)
–The Conners Season 3 Premiere (February 6 on ABC)
–Not Dead Yet Season 2 Premiere (February 6 on ABC)
CREDIT (Clockwise from Top Left): Dana Hawley/Lionsgate; IFC Films; Takashi Seida/A24; Universal Pictures
For this latest annual cinematic Top 10 list, I decided to mix it up a bit and not focus too much on the ranking order. So instead, I’ve listed this decalogue in alphabetical order, along with some thoughts about the impressions they made on me.
(If you DO want to know the order that I’d rank them in, feel free to scroll ahead to the bottom for the big reveal.)
They keep making new movies, and some of them are even worth watching. Here’s what’s at the top of the slate for February 2024:
Lisa Frankenstein: The title of this movie is my favorite pun ever. As for the plot, Kathryn Newton reanimates the corpse of Cole Sprouse. Diablo Cody wrote the screenplay, while Zelda Williams (Robin’s daughter) makes her feature directorial debut.
Lisa Frankenstein will stagger into theaters on February 9.
Wait a minute — the cat! (CREDIT: Universal Pictures/Apple Original Films/Marv)
Starring: Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell, Henry Cavill, Bryan Cranston, Catherine O’Hara, Samuel L. Jackson, John Cena, Dua Lipa, Ariana DeBose, Sofia Boutella, Rob Delaney, Richard E. Grant, Chip the Cat
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Running Time: 139 Minutes
Rating: PG-13 for Violence That Makes the Main Character Constantly Wince
Release Date: February 2, 2024 (Theaters)
What’s It About?: Elly Conway (Bryce Dallas Howard) is a super-duper successful espionage novelist, so much so that some actual spies have started to take notice of her. It turns out that the plot of her books have somehow mirrored the actual activities of an underground spy ring known as The Division. At least that’s the story that a bearded man named Aidan (Sam Rockwell) tells her when he randomly pops up like he’s in a Terminator movie to say that she better come with him if she wants to live. And well, he might be onto something, as there do seem to suddenly be a lot of people with guns and knives in Elly’s vicinity. Meanwhile, she keeps having visions of Argylle (Henry Cavill), the titular hero of her novels who seems to know her better than she knows herself.
What Made an Impression?: We’re in a Spy Movie!: I found it difficult to embrace Argylle, because it just never felt like any of these characters were particularly spy-like. Instead, they felt more like people who were excited to be in a spy movie. Now look, I’ve never met a secret agent (that I know of!), so I can’t say with authority what genuine espionage dialogue truly is. But I’m still a little skeptical that the cloak and dagger set would refer to their adversaries as generically as “the bad guys.” And that seeming lack of authenticity is doubly felt by how antithetical it is to Argylle‘s premise. Dance For Your Life: In general, I’ve found Matthew Vaughn’s films to be at best only fitfully compelling. But I can’t deny that he knows how to choreograph some marvelously kinetic action sequences, particularly when they marry combat with dance. In 2015’s Kingsman, the standout set piece was a massacre in a church set to “Free Bird,” while Argylle ups the ante with a battle royale on a train soundtracked by Sylvester and Patrick Cowley’s disco hit “Do You Wanna Funk.” Vaughn’s characters might be fighting over nonsense, but these melees are something special. Stupid Fun or Just Stupid?: In the interest of avoiding spoilers, I won’t reveal why Elly’s novels are so prescient, but I will say that once we do get an explanation, Argylle really kicks into a higher gear. Suffice it to say, the explanation is a classic trope based on presumably bogus science. But as far as hokum goes, it’s enjoyable-enough hokum that can push the plot along in zippy directions. It justifies at least a little of all this silly business.
Argylle is Recommended If You Like: The Kingsman series, Unknown, Hypnotic
Miller’s Girl is the sort of tawdry movie that probably makes a lot of viewers go, “Why is this coming out in 2024? And why did we ever think this type of premise was okay?” When I ask myself that question and wonder why this sort of thing didn’t bother me in the 90s and early 2000s, I realize: it was because I didn’t watch that stuff back then!
Here’s the deal: Jenna Ortega plays a precocious high school student who gets a little too explicit for her teacher Martin Freeman to handle while working on an assignment that riffs on Henry Miller. Meanwhile, her friend Gideon Adlon flirts with another teacher (Bashir Salahuddin), just for the hell of it, I suppose? Anyway, it’s all mostly rather tame and forgettable (with the exception of some bluntly flowery voiceover).
When I first read the premise, I glossed over the “creative writing” part of “A creative writing assignment,” and I somehow got it in my head that the assignment in question had to do with espionage. I would have much rather lived in that reality.
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