News

Netflix’s February Lineup: Japanese Reality Dating Show and Romantic Crime Drama

The Bay's best newsletter for underground events & news

If mentioning February is coming brings up thoughts of love, Netflix has programming for this month that will keep you in the mood.  A Japanese reality dating show mixes digital detox, travel to France, and such old romantic devices as letters and coincidence.  A Chinese drama considers what happens when “happily ever after” turns out to be overrated.  Lena Waithe scripts a film where a bad first (and supposedly only) date transforms into something else entirely thanks to an encounter with police racism.  

The non-romantics out there have other offerings to warm up their February.  “Zombies on a train” pithily describes the K-horror classic screening this month.  Michael Keaton offers a painful object lesson in how one man’s business success comes at the price of screwing over the brother pair who came up with the successful idea.  And former Doctor Who Jodie Whittaker leads a tale of a years-long struggle against a governing body’s environmental negligence.

Whether you feel like reliving the Battle of Mogadishu or want to see Kristen Stewart channeling Princess Diana, Netflix offers some tasty titles this month.

February 1

Cult Of Chucky–In this installment of Don Mancini’s popular “Child’s Play” franchise, Nica Pierce (Fiona Dourif) has survived her encounters with the homicidal doll Chucky (Brad Dourif, and yes Fiona’s father)…but at the cost of being framed for her family’s deaths at Chucky’s hands and being committed to a mental institution.  When Nica gets transferred to a medium security institution, the innocent gift of a Good Guy doll creates an opening for Chucky to return into Nica’s life.  But unlike previous times, Chucky’s soul has developed the ability to occupy several dolls simultaneously, leading to further mayhem and murder.

It–Andres Muschietti helms this acclaimed adaptation of Stephen King’s novel.  Could Bill Denbrough’s belief that his long-missing younger brother Georgie may still be alive in the marshy wasteland known as the Barrens be a product of guilt?  Derry, Maine newcomer Ben Hanscom, who’s also Bill’s classmate, might have the answer.  Georgie’s disappearance might be tied to the centuries of unexplained tragedies and child vanishings that has plagued this town.  What part does Pennywise the Dancing Clown play in this mystery, particularly given his ability to appear as his target’s worst fears?

Queen & Slim

The Nice Guys–Shane Black wrote and directed this buddy action-comedy set in 1977 Los Angeles.  Private eye Holland March (Ryan Gosling) has been hired to locate a supposedly dead porn star named Misty Mountains.  When the trail leads to filmmaker Amelia Kuttner (Margaret Qualley), freelance enforcer Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe) is hired to scare March away.  Healy soon reluctantly teams up with March when he realizes Kuttner’s life is in danger because of the film she was working on.

Parasite–Bong Joon-ho’s Oscar winning classic depicts the relationship between the economically struggling Kims and the wealthy but naive Park family.  The Kims obtain jobs in the Park household via various subterfuges to worm their way in…even if it means displacing the Parks’ existing staff.  But the Kims’ ability to covertly enjoy the Parks’ lifestyle soon hits a major problem, and it’s not one whose solution requires someone being paid off.

Queen & Slim–Lena Waithe wrote and produced this romantic crime drama film.  A bad Tinder dinner date between Black criminal defense attorney Angela “Queen” Johnson (Jodie Turner-Smith) and Ernest “Slim” Hines (Daniel Kaluuya) goes to a new level of worse on the drive home.  The pair are forced to go on the run thanks to a racially-motivated traffic stop which ends with the white cop who initiated the stop shot to death.  But the POC they encounter during their flight are supportive, not chomping at the bit to turn the two fugitives over to the cops.

February 2

The Founder–Part of the life of traveling salesman Ray Kroc (Michael Keaton) is having to regularly eat at bad drive-in restaurants.  When he has a great burger at an efficient and clean stand run by the affable McDonald brothers (Nick Offerman and John Carroll Lynch), the salesman/failed businessman thinks a lot of money can be made franchising the McDonalds’ burger-making operation.  Kroc turns out to be right, but that runaway success unfortunately doesn’t mean the McDonald brothers get to share in the profitable bounty. 

February 6

Apple Cider Vinegar–This Australian true crime drama set in the early days of Instagram is likely to make viewers shout “F**k Zuck.”  Australian Belle Gibson (Kaitlyn Dever) becomes an influencer in Instagram’s health and wellness sphere.  She claims her terminal brain cancer was cured via health and wellness methods, not icky medicine.  A popular health and wellness empire builds up around Gibson, including an app, a social media channel, and a cookbook.  So what happens when it’s revealed that Gibson was neither diagnosed with brain cancer nor cured of it?

Spencer

Golden Kamuy: The Hunt Of Prisoners In Hokkaido–This live-action adaptation of Satoru Noda’s historical action manga is set in the wake of the Russo-Japanese war.  War veteran Saichi Sugimoto initially dismisses a drunken old man’s tale of a nearly 2 ½ ton unclaimed Ainu gold cache.  The cache’s location can supposedly be found via a ciphered map which was split into two dozen pieces and tattooed on the bodies of a group of Abashiri Prison inmates.  However, those inmates escaped captivity and scattered into the night.  When Sugimoto realizes the tale is true, he’s determined to recover the gold with the help of the Ainu girl Asirpa.  But collecting the tattoos will lead to clashes with other parties interested in the treasure for themselves.

Supreme Models–How did the fashion industry move beyond having a token Black model or two to a full on embrace of Black talent?  This docuseries answers that question by looks at such subjects as: Donyale Luna (the first Black supermodel), the White Out (the name for the mid-90s to mid-2010s period when Black models disappeared from the fashion runways), and how fashion was affected by both the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement.

February 7

The Greatest Rivalry – India vs. Pakistan–Sports rivalries in America have nothing on the intense rivalry between the cricket teams of India and Pakistan.  When these two teams face off against each other, the stakes go beyond winning or losing to making a statement about each nation’s pride and identity.  Going from the very first India-Pakistan ODI to the intense showdowns of the present, get ready to relive legendary moments from this rivalry and hear from such greats as Virender Sehwag, Sunil Gavaskar, and Shoaib Akhtar.

February 8

Spencer–Fans of Pablo Larrain’s recent biopic about Maria Callas might want to check out this earlier film about another famous woman in personal emotional crisis: Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales (Kristen Stewart).  Diana may be spending Christmas with the Royal Family at their Sandringham estate, but it’s definitely not an enjoyable experience.  Her marriage with Prince Charles is crumbling.  Her eating disorder is making the very formal meals of the season a continual strain.  Her royal in-laws are spectacularly unsupportive as she struggles with all aspects of Royal life.  Given the strain Diana is under, something is likely to break.

February 10

Surviving Black Hawk Down–The 1993 Battle Of Mogadishu was a brutal two-day battle between United States forces and the Somali National Alliance.  At its end, 18 Americans and hundreds of Somalis were killed.  Ridley Scott’s famed dramatization “Black Hawk Down” focused on American soldiers defending two downed Sikorsky Black Hawk helicopters until reinforcements arrived.  This docuseries expands the story with first-hand accounts and dramatizations from both the American and Somali sides of the fighting.

Surviving Black Hawk Down

February 11

Train To Busan–Workaholic Seok-woo tries to make up with his estranged daughter Su-an by granting her birthday wish to spend the day with her mother Na-young in Busan.  But what’s supposed to be a routine trip on the KTX 101 to Busan suddenly turns deadly.  A female passenger spreads a disease that turns most of the train’s passengers into violent zombies.  Soon Seok-woo, along with what few uninfected passengers are left, must fight to stay alive and reach the possibly safe city of Busan.  Director Yeon Sang-ho’s modern horror tale became a hit and even spawned a sequel, “Peninsula,” also showing this month on Netflix.

February 13

The Exchange Season 2–It’s the return of the 1980s-set Kuwaiti drama about the first women working in the boys’ club world of the Kuwaiti Stock Exchange.  As the new season opens, some time has passed since the 1987 stock market crash rocked the exchange and ultimately left protagonist Munira as bank manager.  But her rise and that of cousin Farida has not gone unnoticed by either potential friends or adversaries.  Expect to see a major betrayal that will test the two cousins’ loyalties as well as the schemes of a rival investor hoping to undermine our heroines’ successes.

Resident Alien Season 3–It’s the new season of this live-action adaptation of the comic book created by Peter Hogan and Steve Parkhouse.  For those coming in, an alien (Alan Tudyk) lands on Earth with a nefarious mission to kill all of the planet’s human inhabitants.  He conceals himself by taking over the identity of Patience, Colorado town doctor Harry Vanderspeigle.  But Harry’s commitment to that mission soon gets undermined by the presence of a 9-year-old boy who can see his true face, and his need to assimilate to life on Earth.  In the new season, Earth is in danger from the Grey aliens, and Harry’s efforts to stop them run into a couple of big complications.  A Grey alien has established himself in Patience as the new Deputy.  Also, Harry has trouble dealing with first love.

February 14

I Am Married…But!–What happens when the ever after part doesn’t turn out happily?  Married I Ling finds her life with husband Zeng Xie You is stuck in a weekly emotional rut.  She’s discovered her husband is a Momma’s boy yet he regularly does something charming that kills her resolve to leave him.  But will meeting her soulmate on a dating app and the ticking of her biological clock finally strengthen I Ling’s resolve to leave her husband?

February 18

Court Of Gold–Ready for another sports docuseries about the 2024 Paris Olympics?  This one delivers a behind-the-scenes look at the national men’s basketball teams of US, France, Serbia, and Canada as they prepare for the Paris Summer Games.  Executive produced by Barack and Michelle Obama.

Offline Love

Offline Love–In this Japanese dating reality show, 10 single contestants have 10 days in Nice, France to find love and connection.  But the contestants must do so without using any digital devices.  Fortunately, letters, promises, and even coincidences are fair game to advance the cause of true love.  Will this digital detox result in the contestants’ appreciation of life’s small moments?

February 20

Zero Day–After a devastating cyber attack results in both chaos and fatalities around the world, respected former U.S. President George Mullen (Robert De Niro) helms the Zero Day Commission.  Mullen’s job: find the truth about the perpetrators of the attack and hopefully prevent them from doing it again.  But rampant disinformation is not the only thing impeding Mullen’s job.  Ambitious power brokers in tech, Wall Street, and government clash while trying to advance their own interests.  

February 25

Full Swing Season 3–It’s the new season of this sports documentary series which takes viewers behind the scenes of the PGA Tour and the LIV Golf League.  Expect to see Scottie Scheffler’s history making run (including his arrest at the PGA Championship), the Pinehurst No. 2 battle between Bryson DeChambeau and Rory McIlroy, and the attempt by Min Woo Lee and sister Minjee to be the Olympics’ first brother/sister golf tandem.

Really Love–In this romantic drama, talented artist Isaiah and law student Stevie seem made for each other.  However, each of them have big life challenges facing them.  The ambitious Isaiah wants to make sure his first solo show is successful.  Stevie can’t choose between joining a Chicago silk-shirt law firm or staying in D.C. and doing lower paying pro bono work.

Watcher–Julia (Maika Monroe, “It Follows”) moves to Bucharest with her husband Francis.  It’s bad enough that he works long hours, and she’s left alone in their apartment.  But there’s a man in a building across the street watching her through their apartment’s picture window on a daily basis.  The actress gets further wound up by her having a sense of being followed to a theatre and a supermarket.  Sending Julia’s fears into overdrive are news reports of The Spider’s crime spree.  The criminal is a serial killer with a penchant for decapitating young women.  If Julia’s only imagining she’s being stalked, then where’s next-door neighbor Irina?  

February 27

Toxic Town–The Northamptonshire town of Corby housed a steelworks which closed down in 1981.  However, left behind was a massive deposit of toxic waste.  The Corby Borough Council’s attempts to remove the waste wound up contaminating populated areas and communities.  Is it a coincidence that a way-above-average number of children were soon born in Corby with upper-limb birth defects?  Former Doctor Who Jodie Whittaker leads the cast as one of three funny, brave and incredible mothers of birth defect-affected children.  The mothers’ struggle to obtain justice from the Borough Council wound up becoming a years-long David and Goliath fight. 

Previous post

Noir City Festival's Opening Night Promises Ten Days of Dark Cinema

Next post

Martinez Oil Refinery Belches Half-Ton of Sulphur Dioxide into Atmosphere


Peter Wong

Peter Wong

I've been reviewing films for quite a few years now, principally for the online publication Beyond Chron. My search for unique cinematic experiences and genre dips have taken me everywhere from old S.F. Chinatown movie theaters showing first-run Jackie Chan movies to the chilly slopes of Park City. Movies having cat pron instantly ping my radar.