A different look at love
Movies released for Valentine’s Day aren’t typical fare, Chris Lackner writes.
MOVIES
Big releases on Feb. 13: Isn’t It Romantic; Happy Death Day 2U
Big picture: This week the silver screen is dominated by two strong females stuck in their own personal hell. Isn’t It Romantic stars Rebel Wilson as a cynical New York architect knocked unconscious by a mugger only to awaken to find herself trapped in a rom-com (this phenomenon may also explain much of Meg Ryan’s career). Wilson’s leading lady aptly describes rom-coms as “lies told to terrible pop songs.” Post-accident, she suddenly has a chic apartment, a gay sidekick, a musical soundtrack to her precious moments and hunky men wearing nothing but white towels wandering out of her bathroom in the morning. Cue the rainy kiss, dance numbers, love triangles, love at first sight and other rom-com clichés — all mocked endlessly while somehow cleverly still being reinforced. Isn’t it romantic?
Meanwhile, Jessica Rothe celebrates Happy Death Day 2U, once again finding herself stuck in a time loop in which she is murdered every day. This time around her friends are getting murdered, too. If she breaks the loop, they stay dead. Despite being murdered every other scene, her plucky character, Tree, stands tall. She is the kind of heroine who takes it all in stride — less a victim and more inconvenienced by all the slaughter. It makes for great dead-pan barbs such as, “I am literally dying to figure this out.”
Forecast: I predict a cameo by Bill Murray, the star of the “original” Happy Death Day. I think it was called Groundhog Day.
TV
Big events: Proven Innocent (Feb. 15, Fox); The Umbrella Academy (Feb. 15, Netflix); Weird City (Feb. 13, Youtube Premium)
Big picture: The Umbrella Academy is the promising live-action adaptation of an acclaimed series of graphic novels by Gerard Way. The titular academy is basically Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters meets lowered expectations and a whole lot of crazy. The school is a home to dysfunctional group of super-powered misfits who reunite as adults to mock their nutty mentor’s death — and try and save the world. The cast includes Ellen Page, Tom Hopper and Mary J. Blige.
Proven Innocent is another legal procedural — this one about a virtuous firm devoted exclusively to helping the wrongfully convicted. They’re “warriors for the innocent,” as one lawyer coins it. They’re like Robin Hood’s merry men, only they rob from corrupt judges and prosecutors. The cast includes Rachelle Lefevre (Under the Dome) and Kelsey Grammer.
Finally, the anthology sci-fi series Weird City is set in the titular metropolis. Each episode features a new cast, including appearances by the likes of Mark Hamill (Star Wars) and Levar Burton (Star Trek); if the latter two appear in the same episode, geek heaven will temporarily exist on Earth.
Forecast: When it rains it pours. If you don’t think you a need another superhero show, The Umbrella Academy will quickly weaken your resolve. It’s like kryptonite, but funnier.
MUSIC
Big releases on Feb. 15: Avril Lavigne (Head Above Water); Florida Georgia Line (Can’t Say I Ain’t Country)
Big picture: Canada’s pop-punk queen is back and finding new form at age 34. Tracks include confessionals like Warrior, inspired by her battle with Lyme disease. Avril claims the new single Love Me Insane is about taking the risk to fall in love with someone again. (If the title had been Love me? Insane! I would have guessed the song was about her falling in love with Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger.) Nicki Minaj even joins Avril on the track Dumb Blonde. Not only does Napanee, Ont.,’s favourite daughter have her head above water, but this album should make a splash on the charts.
As for Florida Georgia Line, the strangely popular vocal duo is right. I can’t say they aren’t country; but I also can’t say they’re good country.
Forecast: Nothing will be complicated about Avril’s comeback.