USA TODAY International Edition
‘ Messiah,’ ‘ Music’ on weekend’s viewing list
Pandemic hampers Year of the Ox get- togethers
New streaming movies are coming to entertain you and your family during socially distanced times.
This Valentine’s Day weekend, newly minted Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nominee Daniel Kaluuya heads a 1960s- set period thriller about Illinois Black Panther Party chairman Fred Hampton; Netflix’s third “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” film closes out the young- adult trilogy; pop singer Sia tackles autism and sisterhood through a musical lens; and “Bridesmaids” screenwriters Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo go on a wild vacation in a new comedy.
If you’re feeling the itch to get back to the movies in person, and there’s a drive- in or it’s safe enough to return to your local theater, there are quite a few new offerings. Awards- season contender Steven Yeun leads the acclaimed Korean family drama “Minari,” Robin Wright stars as a woman who retreats to cabin life in her directorial debut “Land,” Vanessa Kirby and Katherine Waterston star in the period lesbian romance “The World to Come,” and Benedict Cumberbatch teams with Jodie Foster for the legal drama “The Mauritanian.”
But if you’d rather stick closer to home, here’s a rundown of new movies hitting streaming and on- demand platforms this weekend, for every cinematic taste:
If you want to see Daniel Kaluuya own the screen: ‘ Judas and the Black Messiah’
From “Get Out” to “Black Panther,” Kaluuya always is a magnetic presence in a movie, none more than as Fred Hampton in Shaka King’s tense period drama. In the late ’ 60s, a young Chicago criminal ( Lakeith Stanfield) is brought in by the FBI and turned into an informant to spy on Hampton from the inside, as the charismatic Black Panther leader forms a Rainbow Coalition and is a top threat for J. Edgar Hoover ( Martin Sheen).
h Where to watch: HBO Max
If you’re dying to know what happens to Lara Jean and Peter: ‘ To All the Boys: Always and Forever’
The popular series based on Jenny Han’s young- adult books concludes with a chapter that finds lovebirds Lara Jean ( Lana Condor) and Peter ( Noah Centineo) in their senior year, figuring out college plans, navigating relationship obstacles and going to the prom. It’s all fairly predictable and lovey- dovey, though props for giving Peter more of a backstory and not throwing in yet another love triangle.
h Where to watch: Netflix
If you’re ready to do the time loop again: ‘ The Map of Tiny Perfect Things’
While it’s not quite as clever as “Palm Springs” or “Groundhog Day”
( the G. O. A. T. of time- loop movies), the romantic comedy does carve out a certain charming niche in the teen space. Mark ( Kyle Allen) is an artistic dude spending his endless day helping folks when he meets Margaret ( Kathryn Newton). Unlike him, she doesn’t want to leave their shared loop, but they end up bonding over trying to find every perfect little moment that happens in their town.
h Where to watch: Amazon Prime
If you feel like being disappointed in a pop star: ‘ Music’
What could have been a joyful look at the inner world of a teen girl on the autism spectrum is instead a formulaic drug- addict drama with nonsensical musical sequences and so, so many bad creative decisions in Sia’s disastrous directorial debut ( which defied all logic to snag a Golden Globe nod). Top of that list is neurotypical Maddie Ziegler cast as the mostly non- verbal Music, who comes under the care of her self- centered drug- dealing sister, Zu ( Kate Hudson). Hey, at least the songs are pretty good.
h Where to watch: Apple TV, Vudu, Fandango NOW
If you’re missing sunny vacations: ‘ Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar’
The buddy comedy starts off like a bad “Saturday Night Live” sketch: Unemployed and chatty Nebraska besties Star ( Wiig) and Barb ( Mumolo) decide to take a Florida vacation. Their adventure turns absolutely bizarro from there, with a super villainous plot involving killer mosquitoes, several musical sequences ( including the very earwormy song “I Love Boobies”), an attractive dude ( Jamie Dornan) who digs middleaged women, a talking crab, a helpful water spirit and one super- trippy tropical cocktail.
h Where to watch: Apple TV, Vudu, Fandango NOW
If you’re an Allison Janney completist: ‘ Breaking News in Yuba County’
Directed by Tate Taylor (” The Help”), the woeful dark comedy stars Janney as an unappreciated suburban woman who catches her shady husband ( Matthew Modine) cheating, and he dies of a heart attack. She buries the body and proclaims he’s missing so she’ll have 15 minutes of fame in a daft narrative with way too many players, including Mila Kunis as her local TV news reporter sister, Regina Hall as a cop and Awkwafina as a gangster.
h Where to watch: Apple TV, Vudu, FandangoNOW
Say goodbye to the Year of the Rat and hello to the Year of the Ox.
Lunar New Year – also known as the Chinese New Year or Spring Festival – begins Friday, ushering in the second animal on the Zodiac with the second new moon after the winter solstice.
Though the occasion is meant to be spent with family and friends, the coronavirus pandemic means that celebrations around the world – from the United States to Britain to China – will look different this year for the 1.5 billion people who observe the occasion.
What does Lunar New Year signify?
The new year is a chance to start fresh, see loved ones and share in the hope of good things to come.
Vickie Lee, author of the children’s book “Ruby’s Chinese New Year,” told USA TODAY last year that Lunar New Year as “the most important and the most popular holiday for Chinese people and in the Chinese culture.”
“It’s a very joyful holiday ( when) you’re supposed to go home, see your family,” she said. “In China, they celebrate it for two full weeks, and people actually travel home and from far, far away.”
Zhaojin Zeng, a professor of East Asian history at the University of Pittsburgh, compared the occasion to Thanksgiving in America, emphasizing the importance of time spent with family.
When does Chinese New Year start?
Because the holiday is tied to the year’s first new moon, the timing will vary. It can fall in January or early February, Lee told USA TODAY.
In China, the festival lasts 15 days, starting with a feast the night of New Year’s Eve and ending this year with the Spring Lantern Festival on Feb. 26. Vietnam’s Tết Nguyên Dán goes for up to a week, and Lunar New Year in South Korea, known as Seollal, runs for three days.
Why does the Lunar New Year fall on different days?
There are differences between the solar- lunar and Gregorain calendar, which the United States follows. The Gregorian calendar is based on the Earth’s cycle orbiting the sun, while the solar- lunar combines that with the moon’s cycle orbiting the earth.
In major U. S. cities such as Los Angeles, New York City and San Francisco, events celebrating the new year take place in the weeks before and after the first day of the lunar year.
The Lunar New Year typically falls between Jan. 21 and Feb. 20. Next year, the celebration will begin Tuesday, Feb. 1.
How is the Lunar New Year celebrated?
In addition to cleaning one’s home and adorning it with red banners, artwork and flowers, a priority in preparing for the holiday is making meals, Lee said.
“This holiday, like so many holidays in other cultures, is centered around food. So there’s several days of preparation where you’re making ... very sort of symbolic dishes like a whole fish,” she said. “A whole fish symbolizes prosperity.”
2021 is the Year of the Ox. What does it represent?
Feb. 12 marks the first day of the xin chou year, or Year of the Metal Ox under the Lunar New Year sexagenary cycle. Hong Kong- based feng shui master Thierry Chow told CNN that the ox is a hardworking zodiac sign that signifies movement.
“So, hopefully, the world will be less static than last year and get moving again in the second half of the year,” she said.
She added that the metal element of the year represents an emphasis on metal industries in 2021, from jewelry to “the needle of a syringe.”
How are people celebrating Chinese New Year in a pandemic?
While celebrations typically vary around the world, they will be especially different this year as the pandemic forces people to stay at home. In New Jersey, where Asian Americans account for 10% of the state’s 8.9 million people, those who mark the day are arranging everything from drive- thru celebratory meals to Zoom performances to ensure that this year will be one to remember.
“We’re helping to bring normal to not a normal year,” said Yoon Kim, director of the Korean American Association of New Jersey. The organization will distribute food at a drive- by event and will host a food drive this weekend.
And in Arizona, organizers of Phoenix’s Chinese Week said last year that they would not go forward with any inperson celebrations for the Lunar New Year. Instead, elements of the festival will be accessible online.
At bus and train stations in China, there is no sign of the annual Lunar New Year rush. The government has called on the public to avoid travel because of new coronavirus outbreaks. The South China Morning Post reported that Hong Kong’s annual Lunar New Year night parade will be replaced by an online shopping event.
Despite that, the government says people will make 1.7 billion trips during the holiday, but that is down 40% from 2019.