See 45 Years at the Tivoli, sing along to Moulin Rouge and more pop culture must-dos
Thursday 2.4
Valentine’s Day is 10 days away, so it’s important to stock up on alternative ammunition in case your partner suggests that the holiday might be a good time to catch up on the latest straight-to-Redbox Katherine Heigl romcom. I Love You Phillip Morris is a loony, little-seen 2009 black comedy starring Jim Carrey as a criminal so clever and so in love that he breaks out of prison four times to be reunited with his lover, Ewan McGregor. Did I mention it’s based on a true story? It hit Netflix yesterday.
Friday 2.5
Those checking off their Oscar to-see lists can watch 45 Years today at the Tivoli. It’s a powerful film about how quickly distrust can spread, even in a marriage that appears to be bulletproof. Considering Best Actress nominee Charlotte Rampling’s (since retracted) remark about how #OscarsSoWhite is “racist to white people,” it’s a little ironic that Spike Lee’s documentary, Michael Jackson’s Journey From Motown to Off the Wall, premieres tonight on Showtime. Lee was one of the first to boycott the Oscars, and his doc examines how culture defined King of Pop’s success through the lens of racial prejudice.
Saturday 2.6
There’s a surplus of violent, awful behavior in the 2015 Japanese revenge flick The World of Kanako. If you can handle the excessive nihilism, however, you may find Tetsuya Nakashima’s rapid-cut editing style as liberating as it is disorienting. The director establishes multiple timelines as he shows us a retired cop with nothing to live for who’s searching for his missing daughter. We also see a family rot that’s been handed down. It’s a punishing journey. New on Blu-ray, Amazon, Google Play, iTunes.
Sunday 2.7
If you’re not rooting against Peyton Manning and his band of donkeys in Super Bowl 50, grab someone close to you and belt out the “Elephant Love Medley” and “Come What May” at the Alamo Drafthouse’s Moulin Rouge sing along tonight. Against my better judgment, I adore Baz Luhrmann’s over-the-top 2001 musical, which recasts classic tunes from Nirvana, the Police and David Bowie as a gaudy spectacle and tears my heart out every time. If you miss it tonight, see an encore Monday or Wednesday.
Monday 2.8
As TBS further tries to redefine itself as a for-real TV network with good original content, tonight might be worth seeing how that’s going. Full Frontal With Samantha Bee, which sees the former Daily Show correspondent capitalizing on her hilarious on-the-road segments, premieres and Angie Tribeca, a cop-parody comedy starring Rashida Jones as part of the LAPD’s Really Heinous Crimes unit, continues its second season.
Tuesday 2.9
I know: You don’t want to watch 99 Homes. It’s about a slimy real estate opportunist (Michael Shannon) who forecloses the home of a blue-collar construction worker (Andrew Garfield). I didn’t either. Some movies seem like homework, and 99 Homes is one of those. But it’s a smart character drama that doubles as a white-knuckle suspense film. It’s also one of the best films of 2015 and new on Blu-ray today.
Wednesday 2.10
Austria selecting the disturbing psychological thriller Goodnight Mommy as its official entry into the Academy Awards’ Best Foreign Language Film category is a bold choice. A chamber drama that pits 10-year-old twin brothers against their mother, Goodnight Mommy taps into universal fears about raising children. Its subjective POV means nothing portrayed onscreen can be trusted, and co-writer/directors Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala make their few squirm-inducing scenes count. It’s now available on Blu-ray, Amazon and iTunes.
Eric Melin is editor of Scene-Stealers.com and president of the KC Film Critics Circle.
