February, oh February, what a tragic month you are.  The cold grows bitter and the new classes we started in January are actually getting a little difficult. What could possibly save us when it comes to this frozen-but-not-snowy month?

We look not to poetry, though it often rhymes with February’s motif.  Instead, we look to the distant horizon of cinema.  Here are six of the best movies to be released this month  The list counts from six being my least-anticipated film and one being my most.  Enjoy!

6. Zoolander Two – Feb. 12

“Zoolander” (2001) was one strange and funny movie.  It followed the adventure of Derek Zoolander (Ben Stiller), a dimwitted model with an extremely photogenic gaze.  “Zoolander Two” brings Derek and his partner, Hansel (Owen Wilson), back into the world of high fashion.  Somebody is killing all of the world’s most beautiful people and they believe it is the criminal mastermind Mugatu (Will Ferrell). Now it is up to Derek and Hansel to stop him and save all the beautiful people — perhaps even fashion itself.

5. Deadpool – Feb. 15

Faced with cancer, Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) ends up taking part in an experimental treatment program to make him invincible.  The result is Deadpool, the gun-toting, loud-mouthing anti-hero who is making his modern cinematic debut. After his treatment, Wade has superhuman powers, and with those great powers comes the whole responsibility nonsense. Before he has much time to decide which side of the moral compass he might march toward, his girlfriend is snatched up by an evil organization. Deadpool to the rescue, baby. He is funny, vulgar and usually a little less than noble, which is a nice break from the norm of morally justified superheroes. “Deadpool” is sure to be an entertaining ride and unconventional superhero movie.  

4. Race – Feb. 19

The year is 1939 and Adolf Hitler is in control of Germany. The Nazi regime is well known and disliked across the world.  Even still, the 1936 Olympics will be taking place in Berlin. Enter Jesse Owens, a young African-American track and field rising star. Once his talents are discovered, it is clear that he should make his way to the Olympics.  Now, Jesse is racing not only for victory but to defy Hitler’s definition of a superior race. When it comes to the title of this film, “Race” is a double-edged sword and this symbolism and storytelling has earned it a place on this list.

3. The Witch – Feb. 19

A Puritan family moves away from society in the early 17th century to live on its own farm.  The story gets dangerously interesting when the family’s infant child goes missing and the oldest daughter is blamed for witchcraft. The family begins tearing itself apart through fear as the witch-like events begin to escalate.  Is there actually a witch among the family or does she reside in the woods just past the farm? Is there even a witch at all? “The Witch” looks like blood-chilling, unnerving terror, and for some of us, that’s fun.

2. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies – Feb. 5

The world has reached an age where people get excited for “The Walking Dead” less and less every day.  Zombies were once on the forefront of our imagination, but now they seem to sit on the benches, all their interesting stories already told. At least that is what I thought, until I saw the trailer for “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.” The story is actually a film adaption of a book by the same name written by Seth Grahame-Smith, which itself is a parody novel of Jane Austen’s classic. Can love defeat the class system and a horde of hungry flesh-eating zombies? I guess we’ll see.

1.  Hail, Caesar! – Feb. 5

Of all the interesting movies that I’ve compiled onto this list, “Hail, Caesar!” is the movie I am most excited for. In terms of big names on a cast list, this film has some real somebodies with actors like Jonah Hill, Scarlett Johansson, George Clooney and many more. In the movie, the star of a film studio’s biggest movie has been kidnapped by a group that calls itself “The Future.” The movie looks like comedy in its best form.  That is to say that it doesn’t look cheap, overly raunchy (looking at you “Bad Grandpa”), or uninspired. It is too often that I see comedy films that are released with such lack of effort that it makes the genre just seem like cash grab. As a result, “Hail, Caesar!’s” atmosphere, wit and originality have pulled me in, and I really cannot wait to see it.

Junior Mack Doebler can be reached at doeblerma0930@daretolearn.org.