Triumph the Insult Comic Dog returns, Love debuts, Best Picture nominees go marathon

Thursday 2.18
Nobody gets in people’s faces quite like Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. Robert Smigel spews his usual mix of biting attacks and potty humor in the new 90-minute Triumph’s Election Special 2016, courtesy of Funny or Die and streaming for free on Hulu. Warning: Watching desperate politicians and their blind supporters get bested by a vulgar, cigar-chomping hand puppet may give you a malevolent kind of catharsis.

Friday 2.19
Judd Apatow expands his TV stable as all 10 episodes of Love debut on Netflix today. The L.A.-set relationship comedy was co-created with Apatow by co-star Paul Rust. Apatow’s track record of mentorship is pretty good — Lena Dunham, Amy Schumer, the entire cast of Freaks and Geeks — but it remains to be seen if Rust is his next breakout comedy writer-actor.

Saturday 2.20
What a lovely day! This is the tenth year that AMC Theatres has offered its Best Picture Showcase marathon, and there are two ways to mix these prestige pics and sleep deprivation: four movies over two days, or all eight in a row. The two-day showcase begins at 10 a.m. today and tomorrow, while the 24-hour showcase is next Saturday, which gives you just enough time to power nap all day Sunday and wake up for the red carpet.

Sunday, 2.21
The final season of Girls and the second season of the Duplass brothers’ Togetherness premiere on HBO tonight, and you can stream them later on HBO Now. Instead, spend the day at the sixth annual Kansas City Japanese Film Festival, which features Studio Ghibli’s 2016 Animated Feature Oscar nominee, When Marnie Was There, and 1962’s An Autumn Afternoon, the final film from Yasujiro Ozu, the master of restrained yet profound family dramas. The festival begins at 11 a.m. at the Alamo Drafthouse.

Monday 2.22
Jennifer Jason Leigh is in the midst of a career renaissance with her Oscar nomination for The Hateful Eight and her voice work in Anomalisa. Stream her all-time best performance, in the underrated black comedy Miami Blues, on Hulu and Amazon now. Leigh is heartbreaking as a community-college student who hooks on the side and dreams of a picket-fence life.

Tuesday 2.23
Not Safe With Nikki Glaser debuted on Comedy Central two weeks ago. Glaser, a KU graduate and Amy Schumer protégé, has proven that she can handle her own half-hour talk show. Each Tuesday-night episode tackles a different aspect of modern-day relationships, with frank sex talk and hilarious road pieces. Not Safe might have cracked the code on moving forward in a new way from the old Loveline model.

Wednesday 2.24
I never tire of watching 1967’s The Graduate because as I get older, I find completely different aspects that I can relate to, be they pitiful, absurd or both. Criterion’s new, extra-packed Blu-ray features an interview with Dustin Hoffman and a 4K restoration and 5.1 surround mix approved by the late director Mike Nichols, giving it a digital upgrade that preserves the film for new audiences. This classic announced a sea change in Hollywood attitudes and pioneered the pop-song soundtrack with the lilting sadness of Simon & Garfunkel.

Eric Melin is editor of Scene-Stealers.com and president of the KC Film Critics Circle.