There's something for everyone: YA love stories, Oscar hopefuls, superhero movies and Helen Mirren's haunted house movie.
After a snoozy start to the year, prospects are looking up at the cinema and February seemingly has something for everyone, whether you're looking for something family-friendly or, well, the exact opposite. (Mr. Grey will see you now.) This month will also see the release of our most anticipated movie of 2018 (Black Panther) and more of this year's Academy Awards contenders. (And who knows? Perhaps an Oscar contender for next year. After all, February is when Get Out came out last year.) Here are 14 movies to keep on your radar this month:
1. Braven (Feb. 2)
Jason Momoa's big movie this year, Aquaman, won't hit theaters until December. Until then, you can see the king of Atlantis doing the action-adventure thing -- on land -- as a father protecting his cabin from drug traffickers.
Watch the trailer:
2. On Body and Soul (Feb. 2 on Netflix)
February is a big month for the Best Foreign Film race: Chile's A Fantastic Woman opens in select theaters on Feb. 2 and Russia's Loveless arrives shortly after on Feb. 16. The most accessible selection, though, will be Hungary's On Body and Soul, about two co-workers who have the exact same dream every night. It's streaming on Netflix.
Watch the trailer for On Body and Soul here.
3. Winchester (Feb. 2)
Academy Award winner Helen Mirren in a haunted house movie, what more could you ask for? Especially when that house of haunts is one of the most infamous and inexplicable mansions in the world: the real-life Winchester Mystery House.
Watch the trailer:
4. Basmati Blues (Feb. 9)
Between winning an Academy Award, signing on to two massive franchises (Captain Marvel and Kong: Skull Island), making her directorial debut on and cameo-ing in a JAY-Z video, when did Brie Larson find time to film a Bollywood-ish musical in which she stars as an American scientist who travels to India and which features original music by Pearl Jam? She didn't. Basmati Blues was shot years ago and is just now being released, making the whole project seem even more bizarre. We can't wait.
Watch the trailer:
5. Fifty Shades Freed (Feb. 9)
Whether you're shivering with anticipation for the big finish or just waiting for it all to be over, we all have the same question about the Fifty Shades threequel, right? Is Jamie Dornan finally going to go full frontal for this one? (Sidebar: There's a movie this year that could possibly out-sex it -- France's Double Lover, which is out the following weekend.)
Watch the trailer:
6. Peter Rabbit (Feb. 9)
Big year for children's book characters getting turned into CGI. First, Paddington Bear and now Peter (voiced by James Corden) will rub rabbit elbows with human co-stars Rose Byrne (as the bunny-loving hero) and Domhnall Gleeson (as the bunny-murdering villain).
Watch the trailer:
7. The 15:17 to Paris (Feb. 9)
Certainly directors have cast non-actors in their films before, but perhaps never like this: Clint Eastwood's latest, about a 2015 terrorist attack aboard a Paris-bound train and the American passengers who thwarted it, stars the real-life heroes (Anthony Sadler, Alek Skarlatos and Spencer Stone) as themselves.
Watch the trailer:
8. Black Panther (Feb. 16)
Of all the anxiously awaited Marvel movies -- which is every Marvel movie -- Black Panther may be the most anxiously awaited. (That's including this year's Avengers: Infinity War and another installment in the severely underrated Ant-Man franchise.) There's a new king in the MCU (played by Chadwick Boseman) and he arrives with quite the entourage: Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Daniel Kaluuya, Angela Basset, Forest Whitaker, Letitia Wright and Sterling K. Brown.
Watch the trailer:
9. Early Man (Feb. 16)
Tom Hiddleston fan club, this one's for you! Sure, everyone's favorite boyfriend appears as a Claymation figure here and, yes, as Lord Nooth, he's probably a less sexy villain than Loki. But it's still Tom Hiddleston's dulcet tones you'll be hearing, and isn't that enough sometimes?
Watch the trailer:
10. Nostalgia (Feb. 16)
If you're like me, you had no idea this movie existed -- and after watching the preview, still can't say what it's about -- but the cast is stacked: Jon Hamm, Ellen Burstyn, Catherine Keener, Bruce Dern, Amber Tamblyn and Nick Offerman.
Watch the trailer:
11. Annihilation (Feb. 23)
Annihilation is not only what Natalie Portman did while presenting at the Golden Globes, but also the name of her next movie, a sci-fi flick following a crew of all-female scientists played by Portman, Gina Rodriguez, Tessa Thompson and Jennifer Jason Leigh.
Watch the trailer:
12. The Cured (Feb. 23)
Ellen Page's zombie movie comes with quite the enticing twist: While most zombie movies are concerned with the outbreak, this one is about the cure. Years after a zombie outbreak, the cure can return the undead to life. But once a zombie, always a zombie? Or will the infected be able to re-earn their loved one's trust.
Watch the trailer:
13. Every Day (Feb. 2)
This logline is so crazy it must be based on a YA book: "16-year-old Rhiannon falls in love with a spirit named A, a traveling soul who wakes each morning in a different body, living a different life every day."
Watch the trailer:
14. Game Night (Feb. 23)
Rachel McAdam's career is a real roller coaster. I'd love to have lunch with her agent someday, but in the meantime, I’m just happy to see her onscreen again and hesitantly optimistic about this R-rated action-comedy, which also features Jason Bateman, Jesse Plemons, Kyle Chandler and Sharon Horgan.
Watch the trailer:
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