The Streamer’s Guide To February 2020: What To Watch At Home To Prepare For This Month’s Theatrical Releases
By Marshall Shaffer/Feb. 3, 2020 7:00 am EST
We may receive a commission on purchases made from links. (Welcome to The Streamer’s Guide, a new monthly feature recommending at-home viewing options from filmmakers with new movies arriving in theaters this month.) If you’ve seen all the /Film coverage from Sundance and gotten eager to sample the year’s first crop of new movies, you’re in luck! A number of them are hitting theaters almost immediately following their Park City debuts (plus a few on Netflix, including Dee Rees’ supposed bust The Last Thing He Wanted), and that’s on top of what looks like a promising crop of new releases on the studio side of things. If you’re looking to prepare for February’s openings, or perhaps just preparing a double feature with one half at home, here are some viewing options for you.
(Of note: I was not able to include a film for February’s biggest release, Birds of Prey, because director Cathy Yan’s debut feature still does not have U.S. distribution. Dead Pigs somehow got enough attention to get her a gig directing a giant movie for DC Comics, yet no distributor wants to put her prior film out there over two years after it premiered at Sundance. Justice for Dead Pigs, Cathy Yan and female filmmakers of color!)
Emma. (February 21, limited)
Was the lesson of The Favourite being a box office and awards success that studios should produce more irreverent period movies? If so, I’m very much down! Emma. (stylized with a period, as publicists have told me many times) takes a much cheekier approach than the usual Jane Austen adaptation if the trailer is any indication. I’m all for directors finding ways to liberate these classic texts from the stodgy Masterpiece Theater-style adaptations they received the last time around. And if it brings a different crowd of people to discover 19th century British literature, I deem that a success.
Want to prep for release? Watch this at home: Since you’ve probably seen all the major films of star Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch, Thoroughbreds, Split and Glass) and there’s not quite as much to survey from debut feature director Autumn de Wilde (though she has an extensive portfolio page), allow me to gush about one of the film’s supporting actors. Maybe you already know him from his role as Prince Charles on The Crown, but let me just say, Josh O’Connor is the real deal. God’s Own Country is an absolute star-making performance, and I’m embarrassed to say I’m only just catching up with it. Watching him play a young man struggling with his sexuality in rural England and turn his expression of that conflict from violence to tenderness when a farmhand arrives is a gutting journey. O’Connor is physically and emotionally raw in a startlingly vulnerable way, and I cannot wait to see what else has to show us in Emma. and beyond. (Available to stream for free to subscribers of Netflix, Hoopla and Kanopy)
The Last Thing He Wanted (February 21, Netflix)
As I type this out, Dee Rees’ The Last Thing He Wanted sits at a whopping 0% on Rotten Tomatoes. Not the kind of thing you want to see for a film that many assumed might factor into the Oscar conversation had Netflix released in 2019! A part of me thinks I must be including it here as an act of willful denial to accept the inevitable. Especially given how little effort I have to exert to watch the film, I’ll probably end up watching it, negative reviews be damned. Rees adapted a less-trumpeted Didion text here – at least one that’s not going to show up in many coffee shop or beachside Instagram posts – about political intrigue and romance against the background of the Iran-Contra affair. And if it gives star Anne Hathaway another reason to remind a skeptical audience that she’s a great actress, then the entire effort cannot be for naught.
Want to prep for release? Watch this at home: Look, if The Last Thing He Wanted is really that bad, just flip back to the Netflix menu and find Dee Rees’ last film, Mudbound. This is an absolutely magisterial film that I truly believe future generations will study. (They’ll also wonder how it didn’t get Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Best Director, but that’s a conversation for another day.) The way Rees handles narration and perspective in an ensemble drama full of rich characters is nothing short of stunning. Add to that the fact that the film provides a moving, challenging take on American race and class relations in the mid-20th century, and you’ve got yourself a film for the books. Whether you’re watching or rewatching Mudbound, I promise there is something to gain from spending two hours with it. (Available for free to Netflix subscribers)
The Streamer’s Guide To February 2020: What To Watch At Home To Prepare For This Month’s Theatrical Releases
By Marshall Shaffer/Feb. 3, 2020 7:00 am EST
We may receive a commission on purchases made from links. (Welcome to The Streamer’s Guide, a new monthly feature recommending at-home viewing options from filmmakers with new movies arriving in theaters this month.) If you’ve seen all the /Film coverage from Sundance and gotten eager to sample the year’s first crop of new movies, you’re in luck! A number of them are hitting theaters almost immediately following their Park City debuts (plus a few on Netflix, including Dee Rees’ supposed bust The Last Thing He Wanted), and that’s on top of what looks like a promising crop of new releases on the studio side of things. If you’re looking to prepare for February’s openings, or perhaps just preparing a double feature with one half at home, here are some viewing options for you.
(Of note: I was not able to include a film for February’s biggest release, Birds of Prey, because director Cathy Yan’s debut feature still does not have U.S. distribution. Dead Pigs somehow got enough attention to get her a gig directing a giant movie for DC Comics, yet no distributor wants to put her prior film out there over two years after it premiered at Sundance. Justice for Dead Pigs, Cathy Yan and female filmmakers of color!)
We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.
If you’ve seen all the /Film coverage from Sundance and gotten eager to sample the year’s first crop of new movies, you’re in luck! A number of them are hitting theaters almost immediately following their Park City debuts (plus a few on Netflix, including Dee Rees’ supposed bust The Last Thing He Wanted), and that’s on top of what looks like a promising crop of new releases on the studio side of things. If you’re looking to prepare for February’s openings, or perhaps just preparing a double feature with one half at home, here are some viewing options for you.
(Of note: I was not able to include a film for February’s biggest release, Birds of Prey, because director Cathy Yan’s debut feature still does not have U.S. distribution. Dead Pigs somehow got enough attention to get her a gig directing a giant movie for DC Comics, yet no distributor wants to put her prior film out there over two years after it premiered at Sundance. Justice for Dead Pigs, Cathy Yan and female filmmakers of color!)
Downhill (February 14, limited)
Ordinary Love (February 14, limited)
The Photograph (February 14, wide)
Emma. (February 21, limited)
Was the lesson of The Favourite being a box office and awards success that studios should produce more irreverent period movies? If so, I’m very much down! Emma. (stylized with a period, as publicists have told me many times) takes a much cheekier approach than the usual Jane Austen adaptation if the trailer is any indication. I’m all for directors finding ways to liberate these classic texts from the stodgy Masterpiece Theater-style adaptations they received the last time around. And if it brings a different crowd of people to discover 19th century British literature, I deem that a success.
Want to prep for release? Watch this at home: Since you’ve probably seen all the major films of star Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch, Thoroughbreds, Split and Glass) and there’s not quite as much to survey from debut feature director Autumn de Wilde (though she has an extensive portfolio page), allow me to gush about one of the film’s supporting actors. Maybe you already know him from his role as Prince Charles on The Crown, but let me just say, Josh O’Connor is the real deal. God’s Own Country is an absolute star-making performance, and I’m embarrassed to say I’m only just catching up with it. Watching him play a young man struggling with his sexuality in rural England and turn his expression of that conflict from violence to tenderness when a farmhand arrives is a gutting journey. O’Connor is physically and emotionally raw in a startlingly vulnerable way, and I cannot wait to see what else has to show us in Emma. and beyond. (Available to stream for free to subscribers of Netflix, Hoopla and Kanopy)
Want to prep for release? Watch this at home: Since you’ve probably seen all the major films of star Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch, Thoroughbreds, Split and Glass) and there’s not quite as much to survey from debut feature director Autumn de Wilde (though she has an extensive portfolio page), allow me to gush about one of the film’s supporting actors. Maybe you already know him from his role as Prince Charles on The Crown, but let me just say, Josh O’Connor is the real deal. God’s Own Country is an absolute star-making performance, and I’m embarrassed to say I’m only just catching up with it. Watching him play a young man struggling with his sexuality in rural England and turn his expression of that conflict from violence to tenderness when a farmhand arrives is a gutting journey. O’Connor is physically and emotionally raw in a startlingly vulnerable way, and I cannot wait to see what else has to show us in Emma. and beyond. (Available to stream for free to subscribers of Netflix, Hoopla and Kanopy)
The Last Thing He Wanted (February 21, Netflix)
As I type this out, Dee Rees’ The Last Thing He Wanted sits at a whopping 0% on Rotten Tomatoes. Not the kind of thing you want to see for a film that many assumed might factor into the Oscar conversation had Netflix released in 2019! A part of me thinks I must be including it here as an act of willful denial to accept the inevitable. Especially given how little effort I have to exert to watch the film, I’ll probably end up watching it, negative reviews be damned. Rees adapted a less-trumpeted Didion text here – at least one that’s not going to show up in many coffee shop or beachside Instagram posts – about political intrigue and romance against the background of the Iran-Contra affair. And if it gives star Anne Hathaway another reason to remind a skeptical audience that she’s a great actress, then the entire effort cannot be for naught.
Want to prep for release? Watch this at home: Look, if The Last Thing He Wanted is really that bad, just flip back to the Netflix menu and find Dee Rees’ last film, Mudbound. This is an absolutely magisterial film that I truly believe future generations will study. (They’ll also wonder how it didn’t get Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Best Director, but that’s a conversation for another day.) The way Rees handles narration and perspective in an ensemble drama full of rich characters is nothing short of stunning. Add to that the fact that the film provides a moving, challenging take on American race and class relations in the mid-20th century, and you’ve got yourself a film for the books. Whether you’re watching or rewatching Mudbound, I promise there is something to gain from spending two hours with it. (Available for free to Netflix subscribers)
Want to prep for release? Watch this at home: Look, if The Last Thing He Wanted is really that bad, just flip back to the Netflix menu and find Dee Rees’ last film, Mudbound. This is an absolutely magisterial film that I truly believe future generations will study. (They’ll also wonder how it didn’t get Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Best Director, but that’s a conversation for another day.) The way Rees handles narration and perspective in an ensemble drama full of rich characters is nothing short of stunning. Add to that the fact that the film provides a moving, challenging take on American race and class relations in the mid-20th century, and you’ve got yourself a film for the books. Whether you’re watching or rewatching Mudbound, I promise there is something to gain from spending two hours with it. (Available for free to Netflix subscribers)
