Happy Spirit Awards Saturday!

Lots of big awards season stuff going on this weekend! Tonight, it’s the Screen Actors Guild awards, which are always fun for those “I am an actor” intros that start off the show. Tomorrow, it’s the Spirit Awards, the Oscars of independent film, which are always fun because the ceremony takes place in a giant tent on the beach. Alonso and I will be at the Spirits again with some of our favorite folks in the film business. Here’s a photo of us from 2018. I’ll report back on all the winners in next Saturday’s newsletter.

As for this week’s movies, it is an incredibly mixed bag of arthouse films and absolute schlock — otherwise known as February. Here’s what we reviewed on our Breakfast All Day YouTube channel. Hope you’ll subscribe if you haven’t already!

We posted a super-early, spoiler-free review of DUNE: PART TWO. The film doesn’t open until March 1, although there are IMAX sneaks nationwide on Sunday night if you can still find a ticket that isn’t in the first couple of rows. But we wanted to review it as early as possible because we were blown away by Denis Villeneuve’s epic sequel. Live spoiler chat coming your way soon after the movie comes out — I’ll keep you posted on details for that right here.

Also this week:

• DRIVE-AWAY DOLLS. Ethan Coen directs his first feature without brother Joel, but his wacky lesbian road-trip comedy feels like a watered-down, greatest hits collection of some of the Coens’ previous work. It’s funny here and there but ends up feeling like a real disappointment and a waste of a terrific cast. In theaters.

• TYLER PERRY’S MEA CULPA. That’s the movie’s title because Kelly Rowland plays a lawyer named … Mea. Four stars for that alone. We are Tyler Perry completists around here, in case you didn’t know. This is his take on the steamy erotic thrillers of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, but it’s almost not insane enough. Streaming on Netflix.

  

  There literally are … hundreds of beavers.

• HUNDREDS OF BEAVERS. One of the most original films we’ve ever seen: a black-and-white, silent slapstick comedy that’s equal parts Looney Tunes and Guy Maddin, with a healthy sprinkling of Tim and Eric’s absurdism. We don’t agree on whether it works the whole way through, but we do think it’s worth checking out when this roadshow release plays near you. Check here for cities and dates.

• DRIFT. From “The Breaking Ice” director Anthony Chen comes another drama about folks in flux who connect thanks to a tour guide. This one stars Cynthia Erivo and Alia Shawkat, and it takes place on a picturesque Greek island. We’re mixed on it. In theaters.

• MOVIE NEWS LIVE! We enjoyed a great turnout this time of folks who wanted to discuss “Dune: Part Two,” awards season, Tom Cruise and so much more. Join us at our YouTube channel every Friday at Noon Pacific time!

I also wanted to mention a great documentary I watched for the latest episode of FilmWeek on LAist 89.3. (You can listen here to the smooth radio stylings of me, Manuel Betancourt and Larry Mantle.) “The Arc of Oblivion” follows the director, Ian Cheney, as he builds an arc to hold all his stuff in the field behind his parents’ house in Maine. It’s about the literal nuts and bolts of construction, but Cheney uses the project as a launching pad to explore larger ideas about why we as humans feel compelled to keep, record and leave traces of our lives. He travels from the Arctic to the Sahara, touching on everything from tree rings to filmmaking itself. And while the movie ponders weighty, existential notions, it does so with an inventive, playful tone. The film is platforming out to various cities over the next few months, so check here to see when it’s playing near you.

Gonna keep it shorter than usual this week because Chris and I have to run 20 miles today — our last long run before the LA Marathon on March 17. Then we start to taper. But I wanted to make sure you knew that our monthly Lunch Date live chat is coming up at Noon PST Monday for our Patreon subscribers at that level. This is one of my favorite things we do because it’s really given us a chance to get to know our viewers and listeners. We feel like we’ve made good friends out there in the ether. You can find out more about our various levels on the Membership tab. It’s a lovely group — hope you’ll join us.

Thanks again for sharing some of your time with me. It means the world. And if you’ve enjoyed this, I hope you’ll pass it along to a friend. Have a great week and I’ll see you back here next Saturday.