It’s been a minute since I did a Look Ahead, there was a ton in December and not much in January that I wanted to catch up on.
Some good-looking things are coming out in February though. I’m going to make a slight change in how I share these items. I’m organizing them by my personal excitement level, and the more excited I am the more I’ll say about why, the lower it goes, the less I’ll say. The excitement categories are - Very Excited, Pretty Excited, and Intrigued.
Thanks for being here and let’s take a look at February’s releases.
Movies
Very Excited
Dario Argento Panico | 2/2 | Shudder
This documentary about the great master of European horror and fantastic films offers an immersive exploration into the life and legacy of the director of Suspiria. Using the writing process of his next film as a starting point, Dario Argento Panico immerses us in the mind of the Italian genius, and offers testimonials from other filmmakers who love his work, all key names in today's world of cinema including Gaspar Noé and Guillermo Del Toro.
Dario Argento is a beloved horror director — Suspiria, Deep Red, Inferno — and I’m very into learning more about him. The trailer looks very good and promises to be an interesting doc. It could turn out to be a fairly standard talking head doc, but nonetheless, I’m stoked to see it.
The Taste of Things | 2/9 | Theaters - Limited
Set in France in 1889, the film follows the life of Dodin Bouffant as a chef living with his personal cook and lover Eugénie. They share a long history of gastronomy and love but Eugénie refuses to marry Dodin, so the food lover decides to do something he has never done before: cook for her.
How could you not be excited after seeing the trailer? This looks incredible! Juliette Binoche is a queen, and I love a food movie! I’ve seen the opening scene from this and if it can deliver on the promise that scene makes, it’s going to be one of the best from last year.
2024 Oscar Shorts | 2/16 | Theaters - Limited
I love catching up with the Oscar Shorts and am so grateful they make it easier to watch them all each year. I wish it were easier to catch these throughout the year, but so it goes.
God & Country: The Rise Of Christian Nationalism | 2/16 | Theaters - Limited
God & Country’ looks at the implications of Christian Nationalism and how it distorts not only our constitutional republic, but Christianity itself…[it also] asks this question: What happens when a faith built on love, sacrifice, and forgiveness grows political tentacles, conflating power, money, and belief into hyper-nationalism?
A documentary about the perils and evils of Christian Nationalism, you say? I’m in! The subject matter is incredibly fascinating and the trailer implies it’ll be much more than a talking heads doc.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - To the Hashira Training | 2/23 | Theaters - Wide
A compilation film featuring the eleventh episode of the Swordsmith Village Arc and the first episode of the Hashira Training Arc.
Technically this is just the last episode of the previous season and the first episode of the upcoming season in Spring. Regardless, I can see this in IMAX in a movie theater, so I’m pumped! My fiancée is also very excited for this one.
Stopmotion | 2/23 | Theaters - Limited
A stop-motion animator, struggling to control her demons after the loss of her overbearing mother, embarks upon the creation of a film that becomes the battleground for her sanity. As her mind starts to fracture, the characters in her project take on a life of their own.
I don’t know if this will actually be any good, but I love the trailer. I’m also a sucker for movies that have an element of making movies in them. I just think it’s neat!
Pretty Excited
Argylle | 2/2 | Theaters - Wide
When the plots of reclusive author Elly Conway's fictional espionage novels begin to mirror the covert actions of a real-life spy organization, quiet evenings at home become a thing of the past. Accompanied by her cat Alfie and Aiden, a cat-allergic spy, Elly races across the world to stay one step ahead of the killers as the line between Conway's fictional world and her real one begins to blur.
How to Have Sex | 2/2 | Theaters - Limited
Three British teenage girls go on a rites-of-passage holiday—drinking, clubbing and hooking up, in what should be the best summer of their lives.
*I have already seen this and it’s very good!
The Promised Land | 2/2 | Theaters - Limited
Denmark, 1755. Captain Ludvig Kahlen sets out to conquer a Danish heath reputed to be uncultivable, with an impossible goal: to establish a colony in the name of the king, in exchange for a royal title. A single-minded ambition that the ruthless lord of the region will relentlessly seek to put down. Kahlen's fate hangs in the balance: will his endeavors bring him wealth and honor, or cost him his life...?
Lisa Frankenstein | 2/9 | Theaters - Wide
In 1989, a misunderstood teenager has a high school crush — who just happens to be a handsome corpse! After a set of playfully horrific circumstances bring him back to life, the two embark on a murderous journey to find love, happiness…and a few missing body parts along the way.
About Dry Grasses | 2/23 | Theaters - Limited
A young art teacher hopes to be transferred to Istanbul after completing his mandatory duty in a remote village school in Anatolia. After accusations of inappropriate contact with a student surface, his hopes of escape fade and he descends further into an existential crisis.
They Shot the Piano Player | 2/23 | Theaters - Limited
New York, 2010. Jeff Harris, a music journalist, sets out to uncover the truth about Francisco Tenório Júnior, a young Brazilian samba-jazz pianist who disappeared in Buenos Aires on March 18, 1976.
Intrigued
Orion and the Dark | 2/2 | Netflix
A boy with an active imagination faces his fears on an unforgettable journey through the night with his new friend: a giant, smiling creature named Dark.
Bushman (Re-Release) | 2/2 | Theaters - Limited
1968: Martin Luther King, Robert Kennedy, and Bobby Hutton are among the recent dead. In Nigeria, the Civil War is entering its second year with no end in sight. In San Francisco, the adventures of Gabriel, a young Nigerian reflects tribal, personal, and racial frictions during the tumultuous sixties. Truth is stranger than fiction in Bushman, a rare sort of film portrait, part document, part imagined - poetic in its approach to real events.
Skin Deep | 2/2 | Theaters - Limited
At first glance, Leyla and Tristan are a happy couple. When they travel to a mysterious island, a game of identities begins that changes everything – their perception, their sexuality, their entire selves. But not only their relationship threatens to break up. They may even never be who they used to be again …
Drive Away Dolls | 2/23 | Theaters - Wide
Jamie, an uninhibited free spirit bemoaning yet another breakup with a girlfriend, and her demure friend Marian desperately needs to loosen up. In search of a fresh start, the two embark on an impromptu road trip to Tallahassee, but things quickly go awry when they cross paths with a group of inept criminals along the way.
The Invisible Fight | 2/23 | Theaters - Limited
After surviving a deadly attack, a guard on the Soviet-Chinese border decides to become a monk but must continually prove along the way that he's capable of becoming the enlightened man he set out to be.
TV
Very Excited
30th SAG Awards | 2/24 | Netflix
The only televised awards ceremony to exclusively honor actors, the SAG Awards® presents 13 awards in TV and film. Voted on by SAG-AFTRA’s robust and diverse membership of 130,000+ performers – the SAG Awards has the largest voting body on the awards circuit. Beloved for its style, simplicity, and genuine warmth, the show has become an industry favorite and one of awards season’s most prized honors since its debut in 1995.
I don’t love that this is on Netflix, but I do love the idea of awards shows being connected to live streams rather than TV. I would not be surprised if the Oscars are live-streamed via a streamer in the next five or so years. Ideally, they would just do their own live stream on the Academy’s website, but that would be too smart.
Shōgun | 2/27| Hulu
In 17th century Japan, shipwrecked British sailor John Blackthorne rises from outsider to samurai, while being used as a pawn in Japanese leader Toranaga's struggle to reach the top of the ruling chain.
Based on the beloved novel, Shogun looks so up my alley it hurts. I love the visuals in the trailer and hope it can do justice to this sweeping epic.
Pretty Excited
Genius: MLK/X | 2/1 | Disney+
Season four focuses on two iconic geniuses — Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X — and how their dueling philosophies helped usher America through the Civil Rights Movement.
Constellation | 2/21 | Apple TV+
When a fatal accident occurs on board the International Space Station, a lone astronaut makes the heroic journey back to Earth, only to discover key pieces of her life—including her young daughter—have changed.
Avatar: The Last Airbender | 2/22 | Netflix
A young boy known as the Avatar must master the four elemental powers to save a world at war — and fight a ruthless enemy bent on stopping him.
Intrigued
Mr. & Mrs. Smith | 2/2 | Prime
Meet the Smiths: two lonely strangers, John and Jane, who have given up their lives and identities to be thrown together as partners – both in espionage and in marriage.
The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy | 2/23 | Prime
Dr. Sleech and Dr. Klak — aliens, best friends and intergalactically renowned surgeons — tackle anxiety-eating parasites, illegal time loops and deep-space STIs.
Books
Pretty Excited
Supercommunicators | 2/20
Come inside a jury room as one juror leads a starkly divided room to consensus. Join a young CIA officer as he recruits a reluctant foreign agent. And sit with an accomplished surgeon as he tries, and fails, to convince yet another cancer patient to opt for the less risky course of treatment. In Supercommunicators, Charles Duhigg blends deep research and his trademark storytelling skills to show how we can all learn to identify and leverage the hidden layers that lurk beneath every conversation.
Intrigued
Fourteen Days | 2/6
Set in a Lower East Side tenement in the early days of the COVID-19 lockdowns, Fourteen Days is a surprising and irresistibly propulsive novel with an unusual twist: each character in this diverse, eccentric cast of New York neighbors has been secretly written by a different, major literary voice—from Margaret Atwood and Douglas Preston to Tommy Orange and Celeste Ng.
Normal Women | 2/27
Most histories have been written by men, about men, relegating women—with the exception of a few queens—to the shadows of time. Now, bestselling author Philippa Gregory reveals the importance of ordinary women, providing a more balanced and truer chronicle that expands and adds rich detail to the story of Great Britain.
Anime
No new anime this month, just continuing episodes of January releases. These were the ones that looked good premiering last month:
Solo Leveling | Crunchyroll
TSUKIMICHI -Moonlit Fantasy- Season 2 | Crunchyroll
MASHLE: MAGIC AND MUSCLES Season 2 | Crunchyroll
HIGH CARD Season 2 | Crunchyroll
Classroom of the Elite Season 3 | Crunchyroll
Blue Exorcist -Shimane Illuminati Saga | Crunchyroll
Games
Intrigued
Granblue Fantasy: Relink | 2/1 | PS5, PS4, Windows
A grand adventure in the skies awaits! Form a party of four from a diverse roster of skyfarers and slash—or shoot or hex—your way to victory against treacherous foes in this action RPG. Take on quests solo or with the help of others in up to 4-player co-op play!
Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered | 2/14 | Switch, PS4, PS5, Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Play the original three Tomb Raider adventures with all expansions and secret levels in this definitive collection.
Pacific Drive | 2/22 | PlayStation 5, Windows
Face the supernatural dangers of the Olympic Exclusion Zone with a car as your only lifeline in this driving survival adventure! Scavenge resources, load up your trusty station wagon, and drive like hell to make it through alive.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth | 2/29 | PS5
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is the second entry in the Final Fantasy VII remake project, which retells the story of the genre-redefining RPG across three distinct games. Iconic heroes Cloud, Barret, Tifa, Aerith and Red XIII have escaped from the dystopian city Midgar and are now in pursuit of Sephiroth, the vengeful swordsman from Cloud’s past who was thought to be dead.
I usually consider February to be a slow month, with not too much, but I’m pleasantly surprised by how much I’m excited for.
See anything that looks good to you? Let me know! Anything I missed? Also, let me know!
Thanks for reading. Til next time!
- Colton