lord Black Mask (Ewan McGregor).
Horse Girl
WINTER FILM PREVIEW
By Lori Vernon
Directed by Jeff Baena
Rated R - February 7
Alison Brie plays Sara, a socially awk-
ward craft store worker who is more con-
tent in the company of horses and super-
natural crime shows than people. An unex-
pected gift shakes things up, causing her to
have a series of surreal dreams. Sarah
struggles to distinguish her visions from
reality in this darkly, humorous psycho-
logical thriller. John Ortiz, Debby Ryan,
and Molly Shannon co-star.
The Lodge
Fantasy Island
T
he awards shows are nearly over
(The Academy Awards take place on
Sunday, February 9th), spring is
nowhere in sight, and we’re all going a bit
stir crazy in the dead of winter. What bet-
ter way to ease the winter blues than by
heading to the theater to see a movie just
for the fun of it, and start picking our 2021
award season favorites. February has a
surprising array of films to get you off the
sofa, so put down the remote, grab an
extra-large popcorn, and enjoy one of
these new releases.
Birds of Prey
Directed by Cathy Yan
Rated R - February 7
DC Comics’ spin-off of Suicide Squad is
the 8th in the series in the DC Extended
Universe. After splitting from The Joker,
Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), and three
other female superheroes - Black Canary
(Jurnee Smollett-Bell), Huntress (Mary
Elizabeth Winstead) and Question a.k.a.
Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez) - come togeth-
er to save the life of a little girl, Cassandra
Cain (Ella Jay Basco), from the evil crime
12 illinoisentertainer.com february 2020
Directed by Severin Fiala &
Veronica Franz
Rated - February 7
Soon-to-be-stepmom Grace (Riley
Keough) becomes snowed in at a remote
cabin over the holidays with her fiance's
two children when he is called in for a
work emergency. But just as relations final-
ly begin to thaw between the trio, strange
and frightening events threaten to sum-
mon psychological demons from Grace’s
troubled past.
Fantasy Island
Directed by Jeff Wadlow
Rated PG-13 - February 14
The enigmatic Mr. Roarke (Michael
Pena) makes the secret dreams of his lucky
guests come true at a luxurious but remote
tropical resort in this remake of the 1970’s
classic TV series. When the fantasies turn
into nightmares, the guests have to solve
the island's mystery to escape with their
lives.
Sonic The Hedgehog
Directed by Jeff Fowler
Rated PG - February 14
The bright blue alien hedgehog Sonic
(voice of Ben Schwartz) navigates the com-
plexities of life on Earth with his human
best friend, Tom Wachowski (James
Marsden). They must join forces to stop
the villainous Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey)
from capturing Sonic and using his
immense powers for world domination.
Downhill
Directed by Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
Rated R - February 14
After barely escaping an avalanche in
the Alps, Pete (Will Ferrell) and his wife
Billie (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) reevaluate their
lives and how they feel about each other in
this remake of Ruben Östlund’s black com-
edy, **Force Majeure.**
The Call of The Wild
Directed by Chris Sanders
Rated PG - February 21
Based on Jack London’s 1903 novel The
Call of the Wild, the film follows Buck, a
big-hearted dog whose blissful life is
changed when he is sold to freight haulers
in the Yukon Territory during the 1890’s
Gold Rush. As the newest rookie on a mail
delivery dog-sled team, Buck experiences
the adventure of a lifetime, ultimately
finding his true place in the world. Also
starring Harrison Ford.
Emma.
Directed by Autumn de Wilde
Rated PG - February 21
A reimagined version of the classic Jane
Austin novel Emma stars Anya Taylor Joy
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