The Lovebirds

In Michael Showalter’s romantic comedy THE LOVEBIRDS Kumail Nanjiani and Issa Rae star as a longtime couple on the verge of breaking up when they get mixed up in a murder and citywide conspiracy that compels them to run around New Orleans looking for answers and to clear their names. In recommendations, Mark Pfeiffer highlights the second season of the film-adapted TV series WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS. Paul Markoff picks the French romantic comedy PRICELESS (HORS DE PRIX) starring Audrey Tautou.

The Half of It

High school senior Ellie accepts payments from second-string football player Paul to write love letters for him to popular girl Aster he has a crush on in THE HALF OF IT. Although their relationship starts out as just business, a friendship forms between them and is threatened when it becomes apparent that both are pining for Aster in writer-director Alice Wu’s twist on CYRANO DE BERGERAC. Mark Pfeiffer and Paul Markoff also discuss their histories with drive-in movie theaters.

The Vast of Night

In Andrew Patterson’s THE VAST OF NIGHT a 16-year-old switchboard operator and a young radio announcer in small-town New Mexico in the 1950s search for answers about the unidentified sound transmission she hears interrupting his broadcast. In recommendations, Mark Pfeiffer picks David Wain’s romantic comedy spoof THEY CAME TOGETHER starring Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler. Paul Markoff chooses Nanette Burstein’s AMERICAN TEEN, a documentary about high school seniors in small-town Indiana.

This Is Not a Film (In film nist)

While director Jafar Panahi appeals his 20-year filmmaking ban and potential incarceration by the Iranian government, he uses the time under house arrest to begin staging what his most recent film would have been in THIS IS NOT A FILM (IN FILM NIST). The 2011 non-fiction work is co-directed by Mojtaba Mirtahmasb. Also, Mark Pfeiffer and Paul Markoff discuss the effect of the coronavirus pandemic on their current movie watching and how it may change the future of the movies.

The Rookie

In John Lee Hancock’s fact-based, inspirational sports drama THE ROOKIE, Dennis Quaid stars as a high school science teacher and former pitching prospect who gets one last unexpected chance to become a Major League Baseball player. In recommendations, Mark Pfeiffer selects Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck’s SUGAR about the challenges for a pitcher from the Dominican Republic as a minor leaguer in middle America. Paul Markoff picks Robert Zemeckis’ CAST AWAY featuring Tom Hanks stranded alone on an island.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom | The Last Starfighter

It’s a 1984 double feature as Mark Pfeiffer and Paul Markoff look back at another adventure featuring Harrison Ford’s whip-wielding archaeologist in Steven Spielberg’s INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM and the story of a teenager whose arcade game skills get him recruited to be an elite interstellar war pilot in THE LAST STARFIGHTER.

Onward

Elfin brothers voiced by Tom Holland and Chris Pratt embark on a quest to find a stone that will help them bring their deceased father back for a day in ONWARD. In recommendations, Mark Pfeiffer reports on the best films he saw at this year’s True/False Film Festival, including CITY SO REAL, DICK JOHNSON IS DEAD, MAYOR, and COLLECTIVE. Paul Markoff picks PITCH PERFECT, the a cappella competition comedy starring Anna Kendrick.

A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon

In the stop-motion animated comedy A SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE: FARMAGEDDON, the woolly protagonist tries to help an alien return home while Farmer John turns his property into a extraterrestrial-themed tourist attraction for those fascinated by local rumors of outer space creatures being in the area. Also, Mark Pfeiffer and Paul Markoff discuss actors playing themselves on screen and what to make of such meta performances.

#108: To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You

Lana Condor's Lara Jean is now in a real relationship with Noah Centineo's Peter in TO ALL THE BOYS: P.S. I STILL LOVE YOU, but another boy who received one of her love letters responds positively and complicates matters. In recommendations, Mark Pfeiffer picks Gus Van Sant’s meditative drama GERRY, in which Matt Damon and Casey Affleck get lost in the wilderness. Paul Markoff chooses Joe Wright’s HANNA starring Saoirse Ronan as a highly trained teenage assassin pursued by Cate Blanchett.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Portrait de la jeune fille en feu) | Downhill

In Céline Sciamma’s PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE (PORTRAIT DE LA JEUNE FILLE EN FEU), Noémie Merlant is brought to an island in the late 1800s under the guise of being a companion for Adèle Haenel when she has really been hired to paint the young woman’s wedding portrait for which she refuses to sit. Also, Will Ferrell makes a split-second decision during a family ski vacation that exposes the fault lines in his marriage to Julia Louis-Dreyfus in DOWNHILL, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash’s FORCE MAJEURE re