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February 2015

Books on Screen

February 2015

Breaking news: Love is no longer the aggresive, beating heart of February! Or at least you wouldn’t know that it is just by considering the movies coming out this month. Whereas in past Februarys (Februaries?), we cinephiles have been bombarded with all manner of romantic films --- comedies, dramas, classics and otherwise --- this year Hollywood seems to have given us a much-needed break. So unless you consider Fifty Shades of Grey a love story for the ages (no judgment), there is neither a lovestruck heroine nor a grand romantic gesture in sight. It looks like we dodged a heart-shaped bullet this year...at least until March!

Speaking of Fifty Shades --- and disastrous press tours aside --- the adaptation of the megaseller E L James novel is clearly the Main Event this month. It stars Jamie Dornan as the titular tortured billionaire with decidedly dark sexual preferences, and Dakota Johnson as the girl who (literally; E L James is not known for her subtle use of metaphor) falls for him. Listen, say what you will about bickering co-stars and on-set tension between director and author, this book has sold over 100 million copies. Meaning, at the height of its popularity, a copy was being bought every second somewhere in the world. You can’t argue with those numbers. Personally, my inner goddess and I are definitely feeling appropriately acrobatic in anticipation of the movie.

If you don’t feel like being a statistic this month (or you’re just waiting to watch Fifty Shades on VOD --- the movie version of the more, er, discreet eBook), you can always catch Kingsman: The Secret Service, based on the similarly titled comic series by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons. If the trailer is any indication, it looks like a fun, irreverent take on the more buttoned-up Bond movies. And in case you get snowed in, there are plenty of past Books on Screen movies now available on DVD, including The Theory of Everything, Big Hero 6 and Dracula Untold. And iffff you absolutely insist on seeing something romantic this month, the Nicholas Sparks tearjerker, The Best of Me, is also available for at-home viewing.

Television remains consistent, with two new shows joining the fray: “The Slap” on NBC and “The Book of Negroes” on BET. Both are being broadcast in a limited capacity as miniseries, so get ‘em while they’re hot. And, of course, our usual menagerie of vampires, detectives and superheroes is still at large on small screens this month.

So whether you’re spending Valentine’s Day with your significant other or renewing your vows of forever to Netflix, there’s something for everyone this month. Go out there, Books on Screen readers, and spread the love!
 

--- Written and compiled by Emily Hoenig


 

In Theaters: 

Fifty Shades of Grey
Cast: Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan
Director: Sam Taylor-Johnson
Distributor: Universal Pictures/Focus Features
MPAA Rating: R
Release Date: February 13th
Based on: FIFTY SHADES OF GREY by E L James

When literature student Anastasia Steele goes to interview young entrepreneur Christian Grey, she encounters a man who is beautiful, brilliant and intimidating. The unworldly, innocent Ana is startled to realize she wants this man and, despite his enigmatic reserve, finds she is desperate to get close to him. Unable to resist Ana’s quiet beauty, wit and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her, too --- but on his own terms.

Shocked yet thrilled by Grey’s singular erotic tastes, Ana hesitates. For all the trappings of success --- his multinational businesses, his vast wealth, his loving family --- Grey is a man tormented by demons and consumed by the need to control. When the couple embarks on a daring, passionately physical affair, Ana discovers Christian Grey’s secrets and explores her own dark desires.

 

Kingsman: The Secret Service
Cast: Colin Firth, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Caine, Taron Egerton, Mark Strong
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
MPAA Rating: R
Release Date: February 13th
Based On: THE SECRET SERVICE: Kingsman by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons

Base upon the acclaimed comic book and directed by Matthew Vaughn, Kingsman: The Secret Service tells a story of a super-secret spy organization that recruits an unrefined, but promising street kid into the agency’s ultra-competitive training program just as a global threat emerges from a twisted tech genius.

 

The Duff
Cast: Mae Whitman, Bella Thorne, Robbie Amell, Allison Janney
Director: Ari Sandel
Distributor: Lionsgate Entertainment
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Release Date: February 20th 
Based On: THE DUFF (Designated Ugly Fat Friend) by Kody Keplinger

Frumpy high-school senior Bianca has a rude awakening when she learns that her classmates secretly know her as the DUFF --- designated ugly fat friend --- to her prettier and more popular pals. Desperate to reinvent herself, Bianca enlists the aid of Wesley, a charming jock. In order to save her senior year from becoming a complete disaster, Bianca must find the confidence to overthrow a judgmental student and revolutionize the school's social order.
 


 

On TV:

“The Slap”
Cast: Peter Sarsgaard, Uma Thurman, Zachary Quinto, Brian Cox, Makenzie Leigh
Network: NBC
Air Dates: Premieres February 12th; Thursdays at 8pm ET
Based On: THE SLAP by Christos Tsiolkas

Meet Hector, a public servant, husband, father and valued friend on the cusp of his 40th birthday. Meet Aisha, Hector's beautiful and intelligent wife who is planning his party filled with friends and his very boisterous Greek family. Sounds like the makings of a great day, right? Wrong. 

As Hector tries to navigate family politics, awkward friendships and the young woman he is dangerously captivated by, the built-up tension explodes when Hector's hotheaded cousin slaps another couple's misbehaving child. Everyone is understandably stunned, and the party abruptly ends with the child's parents vowing legal action. What the hosts and guests don't know, however, is that this moment will ignite a chain of events that will uncover long-buried secrets within this group of friends and family... and vigorously challenge the core values of everyone involved. 

 

“The Book of Negroes”
Cast: Aunjanue Ellis, Louis Gossett Jr., Cuba Gooding Jr., Lyriq Bent and Jane Alexander
Network: BET
Air Dates: Premieres February 16-18th at 8pm ET
Based On: SOMEONE KNOWS MY NAME by Lawrence Hill

Based on the award-winning novel by Lawrence Hill, “The Book of Negroes” tell the story of Aminata Diallo after her capture and the pain she endured as part of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.

 

“Eye Candy”
Cast: Victoria Justice, Harvey Guillen, Casey Jon Deidrick, John Garet Stoker
Network: MTV
Air Dates: Mondays at 10pm ET
Based On: EYE CANDY by R. L. Stine

Lindy is a 21-year-old hacker with a gift for seeing clues and connections in the digital world that others can't. Persuaded by her roommate to try online dating, Lindy begins to suspect that one of her suitors is a deadly cyber stalker. When the local cyber-crimes unit uncovers a potential serial killer in Manhattan, all signs point to this mysterious stalker. Teaming up with the cyber unit and some hacker friends, Lindy leads the charge to solve these murders while unleashing her own style of "justice" on the streets of New York City.

 

“Backstrom”
Cast: Rainn Wilson, Peter Niedermayer, Nicole Gravely, John Almond, Frank Moto, Nadia Paquet, Beatrice Rosen, Genevieve Angelson
Network: Fox
Air Date:Thursdays at 9pm ET
Based On: Series by G.W. Leif

BACKSTROM centers on an offensive, irascible detective, as he tries, and fails, to change his self-destructive behavior.

 

“About a Boy”
Cast: David Walton, Minnie Driver, Benjamin Stockham, Al Madrigal
Network: NBC
Air Dates: Tuesdays at 9pm ET
Based On: ABOUT A BOY by Nick Hornby

After writing a hit song, Will Freeman was granted a life of free time, free love and freedom from financial woes. He's single, unemployed and loving it. So imagine his surprise when Fiona, a needy single mom and her oddly charming 11-year-old son, Marcus, move in next door and disrupt his perfect world.

 

“Constantine”
Cast: Harold Perrineau, Charles Halford
Network: NBC
Air Dates:Fridays at 10pm ET
Based On: The Hellblazer series from DC Comics

Based on the wildly popular comic book series Hellblazer from DC Comics, seasoned demon hunter and master of the occult John Constantine (Matt Ryan, "Criminal Minds") is armed with a ferocious knowledge of the dark arts and a wickedly naughty wit. He fights the good fight --- or at least he did. With his soul already damned to hell, he's decided to abandon his campaign against evil until a series of events thrusts him back into the fray, and he'll do whatever it takes to protect the innocent. With the balance of good and evil on the line,Constantine will use his skills to travel the country, find the supernatural terrors that threaten our world and send them back where they belong. After that, who knows...maybe there's hope for him and his soul after all.

 

“The Flash”
Cast: Grant Gustin, Candice Patton, Rick Cosnett, Danielle Panabaker, Carlos Valdes, Tom Cavanagh, Jessie L. Martin
Network: The CW
Air Dates:Tuesdays at 8pm ET
Based On: The Flash: DC Comics character created by Robert Kanigher, John Broome and Carmine Infantino

“The Flash” follows the adventures of scientist Barry Allen, who is a superhero with incredible speed.

 

“Arrow”
Cast: Stephen Amell, Colin Donnell, Katie Cassidy, David Ramsey, Willa Holland, Susanna Thompson, Paul Blackthorne
Network: The CW
Air Dates:Wednesdays at 8pm ET
Based On: DC Comics character Green Arrow created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp

After a violent shipwreck, billionaire playboy Oliver Queen was missing and presumed dead for five years before being discovered alive on a remote island in the Pacific. When he returns home to Starling City, his devoted mother Moira, much-beloved sister Thea and best friend Tommy welcome him home, but they sense Oliver has been changed by his ordeal on the island. While Oliver hides the truth about the man he's become, he desperately wants to make amends for the actions he took as the boy he was. As Oliver reconnects with those closest to him, he secretly creates the persona of Arrow --- a vigilante --- to right the wrongs of his family, fight the ills of society and restore Starling City to its former glory.

 

“The Vampire Diaries”
Cast: Nina Dobrev, Ian Somerhalder, Paul Wesley, Steven R. McQueen, Kat Graham, Candice Accola
Network: The CW
Air Dates: Thursdays at 8pm ET
Based On: The Vampire Diaries series by L.J. Smith

Months after this devastating tragedy, everyone is dealing with the loss of their loved ones in different ways, some more destructively than others. What happened to Bonnie and Damon, and if they can even be saved, remains a mystery. Meanwhile, their beloved hometown of Mystic Falls continues to be a magic-free zone, protected by a mysterious new community watch program. If there’s any hope of salvaging their former lives, our heroes must find a way to push through their grief and band together. This season will explore themes of loss, denial and what it means to move on in the face of immortality, ultimately begging the age-old question --- can you ever really go home again?
 


 

On DVD:

Dracula Untold
Cast: Luke Evans, Dominic Cooper, Samantha Barks
Director: Gary Shore
Distributor: Universal Pictures
MPAA Rating: PG-13
DVD Release Date: February 3rd
Based on: DRACULA by Bram Stoker

Facing threats to his kingdom and his family, Vlad Tepes looks to make a deal with dangerous supernatural forces --- without succumbing to the darkness himself.

 

The Best of Me
Cast: James Marsden, Michelle Monaghan, Luke Bracey Liana Liberato,
Director: Michael Hoffman
MPAA Rating: PG-13
DVD Release Date: February 3rd
Based On: THE BEST OF ME by Nicholas Sparks

A pair of former high school sweethearts reunite after many years when they return to visit their small hometown.

 

Hector and the Search for Happiness
Cast: Simon Pegg, Toni Collette, Rosamund Pike, Stellan Skarsgård
Director: Peter Chelsom
MPAA Rating: R
DVD Release Date: February 3rd
Based On: HECTOR AND THE SEARCH FOR HAPPINESS by François Lelord

Hector is a quirky psychiatrist who has become increasingly tired of his humdrum life. As he tells his girlfriend, Clara, he feels like a fraud: He hasn't really tasted life, and yet he's offering advice to patients who are just not getting any happier. So Hector decides to break out of his deluded and routine-driven life. Armed with buckets of courage and child-like curiosity, he embarks on a global quest in hopes of uncovering the elusive secret formula for true happiness.

 

Kill the Messenger
Cast: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jeremy Renner, Michael Sheen
Director: Michael Cuesta
MPAA Rating: R
DVD Release Date: February 10th
Based On: KILL THE MESSENGER by Tami Hoag

Two-time Academy Award nominee Jeremy Renner (The Bourne Legacy) leads an all-star cast in a dramatic thriller based on the remarkable true story of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Gary Webb. Webb stumbles onto a story which leads to the shady origins of the men who started the crack epidemic on the nation’s streets…and further alleges that the CIA was aware of major dealers who were smuggling cocaine into the U.S. and using the profits to arm rebels fighting in Nicaragua. Despite warnings from drug kingpins and CIA operatives to stop his investigation, Webb keeps digging to uncover a conspiracy with explosive implications. His journey takes him from the prisons of California to the villages of Nicaragua to the highest corridors of power in Washington, D.C. --- and draws the kind of attention that threatens not just his career, but also his family and his life.

 

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Cast: Steve Carell, Jennifer Garner, Ed Oxenbould, Dylan Minnette, Kerris Dorsey, Bella Thorne
Director: Miguel Arteta
MPAA Rating: PG
DVD Release Date: February 10th
Based on: ALEXANDER AND THE TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD DAY by Judith Viorst

Disney's Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day follows the exploits of 11-year-old Alexander as he experiences the most terrible and horrible day of his young life --- a day that begins with gum stuck in his hair, followed by one calamity after another. But when Alexander tells his upbeat family about the misadventures of his disastrous day, he finds little sympathy and begins to wonder if bad things only happen to him. He soon learns he is not alone when his mom, dad, brother and sister all find themselves living through their own terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. Anyone who says there is no such thing as a bad day just hasn't had one.

 

Rosewater
Cast: Gael García Bernal, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Jason Jones
Director: Jon Stewart
MPAA Rating: Unrated
DVD Release Date: February 10th
Based on: THEN THEY CAME FOR ME by Maziar Bahari

Rosewater follows the Tehran-born Bahari, a broadcast journalist with Canadian citizenship. In June 2009, Bahari returned to Iran to interview Mir-Hossein Mousavi, who was the prime challenger to president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. As Mousavi's supporters rose up to protest Ahmadinejad's victory declaration hours before the polls closed, Bahari endured personal risk by sending footage of the street riots to the BBC. Bahari was arrested by police, led by a man identifying himself only as "Rosewater," who tortured and interrogated him over the next 118 days. With Bahari's wife leading an international campaign to have her husband freed, and Western media outlets keeping the story alive, Iranian authorities released Bahari on $300,000 bail and the promise he would act as a spy for the government.

 

The Homesman
Cast: Hilary Swank, Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones
Director: Tommy Lee Jones
MPAA Rating: R
DVD Release Date: February 17th
Based On: THE HOMESMAN by Glendon Swarthout

When three women living on the edge of the American frontier are driven mad by harsh pioneer life, the task of saving them falls to the pious, independent-minded Mary Bee Cuddy. Transporting the women by covered wagon to Iowa, she soon realizes just how daunting the journey will be, and employs a low-life drifter, George Briggs, to join her. The unlikely pair and the three women head east, where a waiting minister and his wife have offered to take the women in. But the group first must traverse the harsh Nebraska Territories marked by stark beauty, psychological peril and constant threat.

 

The Theory of Everything
Cast: Felicity Jones, Eddie Redmayne, Emily Watson
Director: James Marsh
MPAA Rating: PG-13
DVD Release Date: February 17th
Based on: TRAVELING TO INFINITY: My Life With Stephen by Alma Books

The Theory of Everything is the extraordinary story of one of the world's greatest living minds, the renowned astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, who falls deeply in love with fellow Cambridge student Jane Wilde. Once a healthy, active young man, Hawking received an earth-shattering diagnosis at 21 years of age. With Jane fighting tirelessly by his side, Stephen embarks on his most ambitious scientific work, studying the very thing he now has precious little of --- time. Together, they defy impossible odds, breaking new ground in medicine and science and achieving more than they could ever have dreamed.

 

Big Hero 6
Cast: [Voices of] Scott Adsit, Ryan Potter, Jamie Chung, Damon Wayans Jr.
Director: Don Hall and Chris Williams
MPAA Rating: PG
DVD Release Date: February 24th
Based On: Marvel comic characters by Steven T. Seagle and Duncan Rouleau

With all the heart and humor audiences expect from Walt Disney Animation Studios, Big Hero 6 is an action-packed comedy-adventure about robotics prodigy Hiro Hamada, who learns to harness his genius-thanks to his brilliant brother Tadashi and their like-minded friends: adrenaline junkie Go Go Tamago, neatnik Wasabi, chemistry whiz Honey Lemon and fanboy Fred. When a devastating turn of events catapults them into the midst of a dangerous plot unfolding in the streets of San Fransokyo, Hiro turns to his closest companion --- a robot named Baymax --- and transforms the group into a band of high-tech heroes determined to solve the mystery.