Four Upcoming February Cinema Releases That Might Get My Butt Seated (Trailers
- movieduckcritic
- Jan 30, 2024
- 4 min read
Updated: Feb 7, 2024
It feels like forever since I went to the cinema. Pre-pandemic, I went fortnightly with my friends. Now I actually live within walking distance of three different cinemas and, I must admit, I've been so slack. I'm lucky to go thrice a year!
With the everyday cost of profit gauging at the moment, it takes a lot to get my butt in a cinema seats. But here are four upcoming February Cinema Releases that might just do it!
Coming Out February 01
01 | ARGYLLE: Spy Comedy
An introverted spy novelist is drawn into the activities of a sinister underground syndicate.
Argylle was something I forgot was on my radar. For a film dropping literally this week, it's like its marketing team also forgot about it until a few days ago. Suddenly, it's everything. Or maybe that's just my algorithm. But Argylle looks like so much fun and a throwback to the fantastic light-hearted action comedies of the early 2010s. Unsurprising given Stardust (2007), Kick-Ass (2010) and Kingsman (2014) director and producer, Matthew Vaughn, is at its helm.
I'm a sucker for any romantic action-comedy where an author gets in-over their head: Romancing the Stone (1984), The Lost City (2022)... Misery (1990)? All that jazz! And with the rumours that Taylor Swift is actually its mysterious author, Elly Conway, and /or they might be trying to pull off the meta-genius of William Goldman's The Princess Bride (1973 - novel). (Which you need to read if you haven't already. Top five favourite books all time right there). Well, either way, I'm just sending thanks to Vaughn for giving us more original story goodness.
Coming Out February 08
02 | FALLEN LEAVES: Dramedy
In modern-day Helsinki, two lonely souls in search of love meet by chance in a karaoke bar. However, their path to happiness is beset by obstacles - from lost phone numbers to mistaken addresses, alcoholism, and a charming stray dog.
It's not often I come across a film that has the quiet beauty and adoration I usually seek in old black and white classics. Films like Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) where there's this sense of poetry. Of love, purpose, and fate. As if the world itself has spotlighted these main characters, who often aren't that special really, but in their every day choices show meaning and fulfillment and validation can be found: that the lovers will reunite, the foe will be defeated, the quiet peace will be restored. It's gentle escapism that--rather than providing full fantasy--just shifts the lenses on our own lives to turn mundanity into something cinematic.
It's a fitting angle for Aki Kaurismäki's fourth entry in his working-class "trilogy", originally completed in 1990 with The Match Factory Girl. I'm looking forward to watching this film (hopefully in cinema!) and then going back through Kaurismäki's extensive works.
Coming Out February 15
03 | HUMANIST VAMPIRE SEEKING CONSENTING SUICIDAL PERSON: Horror Comedy
A young woman vampire is unable to kill to meet her need for blood, but may have found a solution in a young man with suicidal tendencies.
Another of my all time favourite stories is Let the Right One In. Both its 2008 film directed by Tomas Alfredson and the original 2004 novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist. (Which again, I encourage you to read if you haven't already). It's a gorgeous story showing the nuanced blurred lines of morality, intention, even sexuality and infatuation. Many films have aspired in its vein. Most notable A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014). And, while the concept of an Other asking for a consenting victim has been well explored across multiple mediums, director Ariane Louis-Seize's latest film captures the essence of all this so well it's hard to think this film didn't already exist. That isn't already a cult hit. But I'm trying to keep my expectations in check! It's not too much to ask that it is everything I expect and still surprising, is it?
Coming Out February 22
04 | DRIVE-AWAY DOLLS: Action Comedy
Jamie regrets her breakup with her girlfriend, while Marian needs to relax. In search of a fresh start, they embark on an unexpected road trip to Tallahassee, but things quickly go awry when they cross paths with a group of inept criminals.
Did you know the Coen brothers broke up? I didn't. I just knew they had been out of mind for quite some time since their 2018 The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. (Which, no, I have not seen). But I am a massive fan of their work. Hilariously, Joel Coen blamed his younger brother Ethan for their pause, telling The Score Podcast: "Ethan just didn't want to make movies anymore". But it is Ethan who has returned with a variety of projects including this hopeful instant-classic which boasts one hell of a cast. And yet--let me tell you. There is only one reason I am thrilled for this film. That being the one and only. The stunning. The hilarious. The Australian.
Geraldine Viswanathan.
This babe stole my heart in Miracle Workers Seasons Three and Four which are absolute masterpieces. And it is a travesty we won't be getting a fifth season of the dynamic Geraldine Viswanathan and Daniel Radliffe duo (not to mention the rest of the stellar cast!). But fellow bisexuals, perhaps you'd agree, that a fifth season may have just done us in. Oof.
As consolation, I can only hope this film brings the goods
Are you excited for these films too? What else is out next month you're excited for? Let me know down below :)
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