Matchmaker’s guide to your perfect film
Valentine’s Day has never been more crowded with choice viewing options, which can spell trouble for entertainment commitment phobes who have trouble making the right selections in general. To help the cause, USA TODAY’s Bryan Alexander sums up the offer
IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR LOVE THAT HURTS ... IN THE GOOD WAY: FIFT Y SHADES DARKER Seductive billionaire Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan) and his increasingly-less-innocent gal pal Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson) continue to explore their growing emotional ( but still kinky) relationship. The love, lust and bondage story first sizzled onscreen in 2015’s Valentine’s monster Fifty Shades of Grey. The new version is even hotter. IF YOU WANT A TRULY BLOODY VALENTINE: JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2 Keanu Reeves is making a killer resurgence as a lethal hitman who wants to be all about love but is forced back into the assassination game (again) in John Wick:
Chapter 2. Reeves puts away more baddies trying to do him harm (141 of them), which crushes his 2014 shoot-fest John
Wick (a mere 84 killings). We counted. And, really, who doesn’t want to spend Valentine’s Day with Keanu? IF YOU WANT A ROMANTIC ALL-TIME CLASSIC: AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER Sixty years after its original release, Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr and their glorious, global 1957 romance An Affair to Remember returns to 700 theaters across the country. Affair is 100% sepia-tinged Hollywood, named one of the most romantic movies ever by the American Film Institute and
Time magazine. IF YOU WANT A SOON-TO-BE-CLASSIC LOVE STORY: LA LA LAND Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone already are sweeping through awards season with their singing and dancing roles as a couple of starstruck artists trying to make it in Hollywood while keeping their perfectly adorable love alive.
La La Land is the most romantic story to hit Hollywood since Cary Grant rode off into the sunset. It’s also a sure talking point for Feb. 26’s Oscars night, having earned a record-tying 14 nominations. IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR SCARIER THINGS THAN RELATIONSHIP PROBLEMS: SPLIT No matter how bad your Valentine’s date, that person can’t be as bad as Kevin Crumb (James McAvoy), a guy with 23 personalities including the kidnapping kind known as “Dennis.” Director M. Night Shyamalan’s psychological horror film marks a creepy return for The Sixth Sense director who can now blame past critical duds like The Last Airben
der on off-kilter personalities. IF YOU WANT TO GIVE LOVE TO SOME OVERLOOKED HEROES: HIDDEN FIGURES The unheralded story of brilliant female AfricanAmerican mathematicians helping NASA put a man in orbit at the height of the space race is a rare kind of film — an awards contender with three Oscar nominations (including best picture and supporting actress for Octavia Spencer) that’s also a crowd-pleasing hit.