Happy Saturday From Glamorous Glendale

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Happy Saturday, all. As you read this, I’m heading to our annual FilmWeek Oscar Preview. This time, we’re doing it at The Alex Theatre, a richly ornate, 100-year-old landmark in Glendale. My fellow critics and I will debate which movies we think will win in the top categories; I also dipped into this week’s episode on LAist 89.3 to chat about the international feature category with my good friends Lael Loewenstein and Manuel Betancourt. It’s always a treat when we all get together on stage — I’m reminded of how lucky I am to be surrounded by such smart, insightful folks.

As for new movies, it’s a random assortment as we head into the home stretch before the Academy Awards. Here’s what Alonso and I discussed on our Breakfast All Day YouTube channel and podcast, in case you’d like to listen and share a quick review:

• THE MONKEY. Everything you’ve heard is true: This horror comedy is insane in all the best possible ways. Writer-director Osgood Perkins follows up last summer’s “Longlegs” with this adaptation of a Stephen King story about a toy monkey that likes to kill people. The violence is wildly over-the-top in the spirit of “Itchy and Scratchy” cartoons, but Perkins’ film also legitimately explores the lasting effects of shared trauma.

I had the pleasure of moderating a Q&A with Perkins on Thursday night after a sold-out showing at the Vista Theater. He’s a sharp guy with a quick wit and intense opinions. This was so fun, and “The Monkey” is definitely the kind of movie you want to see with an enthusiastic audience. In theaters now.

• FLOW. This beautiful, wordless Latvian film has been nominated for best animated feature and best international feature. It has a much better shot at winning the former category than the latter. “Flow” tells the story of a cat teaming up with several other animals to survive a catastrophic flood. I found myself screaming at the screen, “Oh no, kitty, look out!” and I feel like that helped somehow. In theaters and available for online rental.

• SEPTEMBER 5. I’d wanted to catch up with this movie for a while, and I wanted to watch it with Chris, since he’s been a TV news producer for so long. So I’m glad we finally found time for this fast-paced thriller about the ABC Sports coverage of the Israeli hostage crisis that rocked the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. “September 5” received an Oscar nomination for best original screenplay; it also won best editing from us at LA Film Critics. It’s rentable and available on DVD/Blu-ray.

• MOVIE NEWS LIVE! This ran longer than usual because we had so much to discuss: this weekend’s Spirit Awards and SAG Awards, “The Last of Us” season 2, and Amazon buying the James Bond franchise (which is a terrible idea). Join us every Friday at Noon Pacific on our YouTube channel.

And if you’re thinking about catching up with all the best-picture nominees this weekend and next, you can do that at several of the major movie theater chains (in the U.S., at least). Cinemark is offering a $40 pass to see all 10 nominees over the week of Feb. 24-March 2, plus you get the animated and live-action short nominees. Regal also has all of the best-picture contenders back on its screens now through Oscar Sunday. And AMC is doing a 24-hour marathon of 9 of the 10 films, starting at Noon Saturday, March 1 with “The Brutalist” and ending at 10:10am Sunday, March 2 with “Wicked.” (The only one they’re not showing is “Emilia Pérez,” because it’s a Netflix movie.) This challenge is only for the most dedicated moviegoers — it would be impossible even for me, since most of these films are well over 2 hours long — so AMC also has broken them into a two-day schedule. If you go, I’d love to hear about it. And it’s OK to take a little nap here or there. We’re all friends. Just don’t fall asleep during the last shot of “Anora.”

Over at our Patreon, we’ve started recapping season 3 of “The White Lotus.” I was totally prepared for this, having spent much of last weekend binging seasons 1 and 2. I swear, I was only going to dip a toe to get a feel for the series, and got totally sucked in by Mike White’s biting satire of the ridiculously rich. The new season takes place at a luxurious wellness retreat in Thailand (but was actually shot at four different resorts, pieced together to look like one) and features Walton Goggins, Parkey Posey, Carrie Coon, Michelle Monaghan, Natasha Rothwell and a deeply creepy Patrick Schwarzenegger. New episodes air Sunday nights on Max, and we’ll recap the following Tuesdays. Join us!

Looking ahead to the next week, we’ll have our February Lunch Date for our Patreon friends at that level at Noon Pacific time Monday. Lots to talk about always, but especially now with the Academy Awards a week away. You can find out more about the perks at this level at our Membership tab.

On Tuesday at Noon Pacific, we’re doing our annual Oscar Predictions Live Chat over at our YouTube channel. The brilliant Glenn Whipp will join me once again to share his insights and dry wit. Bring your ballot, because we’re going category by category and picking the winners in each one. Win your Oscar pool (or at least sound smart talking about the live-action shorts over movie-themed snacks). Last year, I only got two wrong thanks to Glenn, and one of those was my own damn fault for defying him and picking Lily Gladstone over Emma Stone in best actress. This is always fun.

Then on Oscar night, Alonso and I will be going LIVE on our YouTube channel for the entirety of the show. You may recall that I did this solo last year and ended up talking for 3 ½ hours straight. No one needs to see that again. Keep an eye out for details as we head into the big night — we have some fun plans in store including trivia, prizes and various other surprises. Literally anything could happen, so curl up on the couch in something cozy and come hang out with us.

And next month, I have the honor of leading a discussion after a South Bay Film Society screening of the documentary “Janis Ian: Breaking Silence.” This awesome local group brings arthouse and international films to the AMC Rolling Hills 20 in Torrance, which is much more convenient than schlepping up to L.A. It’s a loyal, engaged audience, and I’m excited to be involved with them. If you’re in the area and would like to join us on March 19, tickets are available here.

Thanks as always for starting off your weekend with me. There’s so much going on in the world, so hopefully this has been a helpful distraction for a little while. Movies are always here for us, no matter what. If you’ve enjoyed my Saturday Matinee newsletter and think the film fans in your life would, too, I’d be honored if you passed it along. Have a fantastic week, and I’ll see you back here next Saturday.