A new month means a new collection of films streaming on Netflix. The service has plenty of new movies to watch, whether you’re in the mood for something to stream for President’s Day, Valentine’s Day or even a non-February holiday. Action, fantasy, sci-fi, drama, rom com, biopic — any movie fan can surely find something worth queuing up this month.
“The American President”
Across Rob Reiner’s acclaimed filmography, “The American President” is probably among the relative lesser-known films. The late filmmaker directed this script based on a screenplay by Aaron Sorkin, becoming something of a prototype for the writer’s later White House adventures in “The West Wing” (and borrowing some of the same cast members).
The political rom com follows Michael Douglas as President Andrew Shepherd, a Democrat/widower who juggles running for re-election and starting up a new romance with environmentalist Sydney Ellen Wade (Annette Bening). It’s a solid, sturdy and sometimes swoony romance film well worth the watch.
“Crazy, Stupid, Love”
Speaking of rom coms, “Crazy, Stupid, Love” probably stands among the best of the century so far. Steve Carell stars as Cal Weaver, a man who, after being separated from his wife (Julianne Moore), turns to perpetual flirt Jacob Palmer (Ryan Gosling) for some pick-up advice. Also in the mix are Hannah (Emma Stone), who catches Jacob’s eye in a pre-“La La Land” romance, and Robbie (Jonah Bobo) Cal’s son who is in love with his babysitter (Lio Tipton) — who, in turn, happens to be in love with Cal.
The whole film (directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, and written by Dan Fogelman) carries a fun energy, but one sequence in particular stands out as a pure masterpiece. If you’ve seen the movie, you’ll know the one.
“Ex Machina”
Before directing films like “Annihilation” and “Civil War,” and after writing movies like “28 Days Later” and “Never Let Me Go,” Alex Garland made his directorial debut with “Ex Machina” — probably still the best film where he’s in the director’s chair. This quiet and small sci-fi film explores artificial intelligence through a fascinating narrative and a collection of stellar performances. The film picked up a Best Original Screenplay nomination and a Best Visual Effects win at the Oscars — both inspired choices from the Academy.
“Hell or High Water”
Before he started a television empire, Taylor Sheridan was damn good at writing movies. Just look at David Mackenzie’s “Hell or High Water,” a modern western of cops (Jeff Bridges and Gil Birmingham) and robbers (Chris Pine and Ben Foster). It’s an excellent film that fits nicely into Sheridan’s loose modern-day “American Frontier” trilogy (after “Sicario” and before “Wind River”). The film picked up four Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. How a Best Supporting Actor nod for Foster wasn’t among them is beyond me.
“How to Train Your Dragon” (2010)
Fans of the “How to Train Your Dragon” franchise will have plenty of options on Netflix this month, between the original animated film, its 2014 sequel and, soon, the 2025 live-action remake. A slew of follow-ups and television continuations later, the original still remains pretty tough to beat. Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois created a magical family film with a strong leading performance by Jay Baruchel, a phenomenal score by John Powell and an all-time adorable animated character in Toothless. There’s a reason we keep returning to this well.
“Independence Day”
It may only be February, but it’s never a bad time to watch “Independence Day” (maybe this Fourth of July-set season of “The Pitt” has you in the mood).
Roland Emmerich’s sci-fi disaster film is a wonderful and engaging blockbuster, telling a sprawling story about human resistance on the day of an alien invasion. The movie features a number of memorable performance, with a classic movie speech by Bill Pullman and some wonderful chemistry between Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum. Hopefully Steven Spielberg will bring us a new classic of the alien invasion canon this summer with “Disclosure Day.” In the meantime, I’m happy rewatching this.
“The Iron Claw”
You should know what you’re signing up for before queuing up Sean Durkin’s “The Iron Claw.” This 2023 sports drama, based on the real-life Von Erich family, is somehow both one of the decade’s most emotionally devastating films and a sanitized version of the true story. Durkin writes and directs this with class and compassion in a film that features a number of great performances (especially Holt McCallany’s).
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