This is Super Bowl 2023 weekend, so that means football, Rihanna, and a ton of new and hilarious commercials are getting all of our attention.
But before Sunday comes around, there is a wide range of TV and movie releases this week to keep you entertained. Valentine’s Day is this upcoming Tuesday, which means movie theaters and streaming services are setting the mood this week with plenty of rom-coms and movies geared toward those who love love. For those who just want to have a good time, Magic Mike’s Last Dance is hitting theaters this Friday. For those looking for romance, James Cameron's Titanic will be returning to theaters to celebrate the 25th anniversary of its ground and record-breaking release.
On the rom-com side, new releases like Prime Video’s Somebody I Used to Know and Netflix’s Your Place or Mine are attempting to give us the rebirth of the film genre we’ve been waiting for. Netflix is also releasing Part 1 of the last season of their hit series You. Are they saying the show about a serial killer has something to do with love? We’re not quite sure, but it also works for those who aren’t in a celebratory mood. This is one of the best weekends of the year for entertainment so we hope you get the chance to sit back and enjoy. Check back next week for more of February’s best releases.
'Magic Mike’s Last Dance'
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When: Friday, Feb. 10
Where: In Theaters
Director Steven Soderbergh knows there shouldn’t be a third Magic Mike movie. In a conversation this week, my favorite working auteur stated, “There was no compelling reason to make a third film” before creating the Magic Mike Live show in Las Vegas. And yet, Soderbergh and the rest of the Magic Mike crew—which includes series lead Channing Tatum and screenwriter Reid Carolin—found a way to bring Mike Lane (Tatum) back for one last dance.
What unfolds throughout Magic Mike’s Last Dance is, ostensibly, a dramatization of how Tatum made Live a reality. Picking up in real time after the end of XXL, the pandemic wiped Mike’s burgeoning furniture business off the map, and the former stripper is now bartending and borrowing money to make ends meet. While serving at a charity event, he encounters wealthy socialite Maxandra (Salma Hayek Pinault) and dances for her, after which she convinces him to fly with her to London to produce a stage play that leverages Mike’s specific set of skills.
It would always take a lot of work to follow up XXL, especially by my estimations. Last Dance takes a step back by being less of an ensemble movie but is a far more technically interesting one thanks to Soderbergh, who returns to direct after sitting out XXL (although he still served as editor and cinematographer on the sequel). As a result, the movie looks beautiful. Whether it’s the reflection of neon in a puddle in London, the Miami skyline, or the buzzing neon lights inside a nightclub—every frame is exquisite. That’s not to mention how Soderbergh moves the camera; an active shooting style can sometimes draw attention to itself in a bad way, but that’s never the case in Last Dance, where it glides and dips like Mike’s movement.
The story, which combines the character study of the first film with the feminist overtones of the sequel, evokes a bevy of different touch points—Pretty Woman and Jane Austen novels to name two—and even serves as a process film about filmmaking (there’s one scene where Mike and Maxandra go back and forth about casting in what very much feels like a studio executive trying to shoehorn an upcoming star into a bold production). Last Dance is a romantic comedy filtered through Soderbergh’s unique perspective. Your mileage may vary on the romance between Mike and Maxandra, but I found it very effective, thanks to compelling and naturalistic performances from Tatum and Pinault.
Last Dance is already divisive, but I feel it will age gracefully and end up beloved further down the line, like the recent reclamation of Ocean’s 12. But, even if it’s not, watching Soderbergh's work throughout this film is cause enough to get excited—and worth it to me to watch this final performance of Mike’s magic. — William Goodman
'Somebody That I Used to Know'
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When: Friday, Feb. 10
Where: Prime Video
Prime Video has delivered some of my favorite romcoms in recent years. As someone who is desperate and thirsty for the genre to have a resurgence, movies like 2022’s I Want You Back made me hopeful that maybe someone out there was getting close. Add Somebody That I Used to Know to that list as it finds the perfect balance of being hopeful about love and being hilarious, all while giving us performances from actors who actually have good chemistry. Somebody That I Used to Know features stellar performances from Alison Brie and Jay Ellis, with help from Danny Pudi, Olga Merediz, and Haley Joel Osment.
Brie, who wrote the film alongside her husband and the film’s director Dave Franco, plays a workaholic named Ally who makes a humbling trip back to her hometown and finds herself reminiscing about her relationship with her ex, Sean (Ellis.) Ally left him behind years ago to pursue her dreams of being a filmmaker, but now that her career hasn’t panned out the way she imagined, she starts to question everything about the person she’s become. Things only get more confusing when she finds out Sean is about to be married to a woman that is similar to the girl she used to be. It’s an all-around good time and balances the modern world we live in with a heartfelt story about love lost and the people we are meant to be. —Karla Rodriguez.
'You' Season 4
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When: Thursday, Feb. 9
Where: Netflix
Joe Goldberg is taking his stalking talents overseas in the fourth and final season of You. More menacing, threatening, and charming than ever, Season 4 finds Joe (Penn Badgley) in London attempting to run away from his past and the havoc he left behind in California by reinventing himself by taking in a new persona and new career as a college professor named Jonathan Moore. With a new city, a new cast, new twists, and a new obsession, Joe will quickly realize that no matter where he goes, he can’t escape who he really is. —Karla Rodriguez.
'Sharper'
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When: Friday, Feb. 10.
Where: In Select Theaters (and on Apple TV+ Feb. 17)
If you like movies that keep you guessing and on edge until the final moments, Sharper is what you need to watch this week. The film is a neo-noir thriller that Apple TV+ describes as a web of secrets and lies set in New York City where the characters compete for wealth and power in a high-stakes game of ambition, greed, lust, and jealousy. No one knows who to trust as a con artist named Max (Sebastian Stan) concocts a plan to steal money from his mom's billionaire boyfriend as she tries to stop him. The film, from Apple Original Films and A24, is directed by Benjamin Caron and features a star-studded ensemble cast led by Julianne Moore, Sebastian Stan, Justice Smith, and John Lithgow. Check out the trailer above to see what’s in store. —Karla Rodriguez
