Everything New to Netflix in February 2016

Usually there’s something to say about the particular balance of a given month in Netflix releases. Usually we’re tilting in the direction of exclusives/originals or the opposite. Does it count to say that the balance on offer for Netflix in February 2016 is just right? Films of high to low quality spread out in release year from way back when to just about now and a nice dose of Netflix originals that further the service’s predominance  in the world of TV production are all on offer. Kids movies, adult movies and manboy movies are all there. Even a sequel to the much beloved Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon debuts in February. And who knows who that movie is even for?

Bottom line: Netflix is for everybody next month. As always, what follows are a select few featured items (chosen by an expert of superior taste) and then the entire list sectioned off by release date. Have fun and love life.

Full Metal Jacket

When Stanley Kubrick decides to do a Vietnam war movie, you know it’s not actually going to be a war movie. Kubrick does everything he can to subvert and overcome the jingoistic cliches of lesser films in the genre, allowing a young Vincent D’onofrio to instill terror on the level of Jack Nicholson in a certain other Kubrick film and the rest of the cast to be people inside soldier suits.

Sin City

No film has ever captured the essence of its source material, on both a visual and tonal level, better than the original Sin City. Somehow every actor shows up to deliver the perfect amount of pul-fiction camp, drab and droning narration include, while the team behind the camera (and especially those in post-production) accomplished a raising of the bar set by  300 before it. It’s a graphic novel on-screen, in three acts separated by their characters and plots but unified by an endlessly compelling vision.

Stardust

This is the first film on this month’s featured list that might actually need its introduction (but certainly not the last). A recreation of Neil Gaiman’s book of the same name (which he went on record saying it was deliberately written in the style of pre-Tolkein fantasy), Stardust also features a pre-Daredevil Charlie Cox in the primary role. The plot more-or-less flows from one fantasy device to another, though in beginning with a unique twist – that a fallen star is actually a beautiful woman with that naive fascination of human life like Joe Black himself – the interweaving of fantastic characters and tales comes across as charming and sincere.

I Love You Phillip Morris

As it becomes scarcer and scarcer, the opportunity to see Jim Carrey in a completely unhinged role is one that shouldn’t be missed. 2009’s I Love You Phillip Morris follows blue-collar criminal Steven Russel who, after coming out and turning from cop to con-man, falls in love with the titular character (Ewan McCregror), unseizing in the psychological exploitation of that love as a provider of infinite excuses to do crime and love it along the way. It is, of course, a comedy elevated in large part by Carrey’s carefree screen presence. Or you could just watch this instead:

Dope

My Dad describes this one as a modern-day John Hughes movie featuring an inner-city nerd, and modern day not just in the sense that it takes place in the year 2015, but also in its cultural sensibilities and relevance. Also, if you’re the type who enjoys bashing the Academy Awards for certain failings of late, you can point your finger in Dope’s direction. It deserved a lot more than it got.

Love: Season 1

Judd Apatow put this series together for Netflix exclusively, proving again (at least in the embedded trailer) that he’s far more interested in talking about the disappointments entangled with fairy-tales than actually depicting them. Still, he’s always on-point-to-the-point-of-on-the-nose, an effect that only wears off if you’ve got a chip on your shoulder about a guy whose name means more than his art. But that’s my problem. Love will probably be pretty good despite my objections.

February 1

A Picture of You (2014)
Armageddon (1998)
Better Call Saul: Season 1
Charlie’s Angels (2000)
Collateral Damage (2002)
Cruel Intentions (1999)
A Faster Horse (2015)
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
Game Face (2015)
Jennifer 8 (1992)
Johnny English (2003)
The Little Engine That Could (2011)
The Lizzie Borden Chronicles: Season 1
Losing Isaiah (1995)
Masha’s Tales: Season 1
My Side of the Mountain (1969)
Para Elisa (2012)
Pokemon the Movie: Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction (2014)
Pokemon: XY: Season 1
Scooby-Doo (2002)
Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004)
Sin City (2005)
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)
Stardust (2007)
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006)
Teen Witch (1989)
Tin Man: “Search for the Emerald” (2007)
The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom (2011)

February 2

Land Before Time: XIV: Journey of the Brave (2016)

February 3

I Love You Phillip Morris (2009)

February 4

Love (2015)

February 5

Care Bears & Cousins: Season 2 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Hannibal Buress: Comedy Camisado — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Mad Men: Season 7: Part 2
Turbo: F.A.S.T.: Season 3 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL

February 6

Lila & Eve (2015)

February 10

Dope (2015)
The Girl in the Book (2015)

February 13

The Face of Love (2013)

February 15

Open Season (2006)
XXY (2007)

February 17

The Returned: Season 2

February 19

Cooked: Season 1 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Love: Season 1 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL

February 22

3rd World Cops 2 (2015)

February 23

Bare (2015)

February 24

Marvel Super Hero Adventures: Frost Fight! (2015)

February 26

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny (2016)– NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Fuller House: Season 1 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Theo Von (2016) — NETFLIX ORIGINAL

February 27

Finding Vivian Maier (2013)

February 29

Ashes and Embers (1982)

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