New movies to watch in February

The movies are back (again), and with winter still blustering, it’s a perfect time to make your way to the cinema to catch up on great early-year schlock and Oscar season leftovers.

Let’s get the most essential February release out of the way: the much-delayed Jackass Forever will be back just in time for Quebec cinemas reopening on Feb. 7. A decade after their last film, the boys are back in another boundary-pushing entry in the popular franchise. With most of the guys pushing their 50s, this may be the last time we see Steve-O and Johnny Knoxville jumping into large bodies of water in a grocery cart. Don’t miss out! 

Video games rarely translate well to the big screen, but who knows, maybe this will be the exception. The much-anticipated Uncharted (Feb. 18) film, based on the popular video-game series, also hits the big screens this winter. With Tom Holland as Nathan Drake and Mark Wahlberg as Sully, the film takes them on an adventure searching for “the greatest treasure never found.” 

Kenneth Branagh returns as Hercule Poirot in his latest Agatha Christie adaptation, Death on the Nile (Feb. 11). This murder mystery features an all-star cast including Gal Gadot, Armie Hammer, Russell Brand and Annette Bening. (Read our full review here.)

With the Super Bowl bringing another NFL season to an end, maybe you’re hungry for some football. Coming to VOD Feb. 8, National Champions, starring JK Simmons and Stephan James is about a player’s strike that happens hours before the big game. Ignited by the star quarterback, the players are fighting for fair compensation, equality and respect for putting their bodies on the line to enrich the school.

Are you looking for something a little less mainstream? Catch up with some hopefuls for the international Oscar category with The Worst Person in the World (Feb. 11) and Compartment No. 6 (Feb. 18). The Worst Person in the World is a vibrant portrait of a generation, a tragi-comedy about a young woman’s trials and tribulations over four years. Compartment No. 6 follows a young Finnish woman on an unpleasant train ride from Moscow to the Arctic port of Murmansk. Both films are easily among the year’s best and well worth seeing on the big screen. 

While not Spain’s official selection for the Oscars, Pedro Almódovar is also back on the big screen with his latest, Parallel Mothers (Feb. 11), starring longtime collaborator Penélope Cruz. The Spanish filmmaker, well known for his portraits of independent women and complex family dynamics, returns with the story of two unmarried women who have become pregnant by accident and meet as they are about to give birth in the same hospital.

With the Oscars on the way (see all the nominations here), you will have an opportunity to watch all the Oscar-nominated short films at Cinéma du Parc starting Feb. 25. Two Quebec live-action short films that were in contention, Frimas and Les Grandes Claques, unfortunately didn’t make the cut, but you can read about them here.

Love awards season, but you’ve exhausted all the Oscar hopefuls? Lost Illusions (Feb. 25), based on a novel by Honoré de Balzac, will be available across Quebec at the end of the month. With 10 nominees at the Césars (France’s Oscar), it’s a contender in many categories, including a best supporting actor nomination for Xavier Dolan. Dolan’s nomination and the multiple nominations for Aline (the unofficial Celine Dion biopic) spell out a big year for Quebec at the French awards show. 

Cinephiles should also keep eyes and ears open for films initially slated or had limited releases in December before Omicron shut down theatres. Licorice Pizza, Nightmare Alley, Red Rocket, Drive My Car and Spiderman: No Way Home (among others) will likely be seeing a second chance at life on the big screen. ■

This article originally appeared in the February 2022 issue of Cult MTL. Check Montreal cinema showtimes here.

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