James R | On 31, Jan 2015

Ah, February. The month when everything returns to NOW. There’s The Walking Dead Season 5, Arrow and The Flash back for the final half of their seasons. There’s Looking back for a new, second run. There’s Lisa Kudrow having a comeback in, rem, The Comeback. There’s even Woody Allen back in front of the camera in John Turturro’s Fading Gigolo.

NOW is Sky’s subscription VOD service for the cord-cutting age: for £9.99 (NOW Cinema Membership) a month, you get on-demand access to the Sky Movies catalogue, and for £6.99 (Entertainment Membership) a month, you get live streaming of Sky TV channels (including Sky Atlantic, Sky Arts, FOX UK and Sky 1) and the option to catch up with programmes on-demand. Both have no minimum contract.

Whether it’s animated family sequels you’re after, Scandi drama or Tom Hiddleston as a vampire, here are the big things heading to NOW in February 2015:

TV

Looking Season 2 – Thursday 5th February (Sky Atlantic)

Dubbed as the “gay Girls”, Michael Lannan and Andrew Haigh’s series is an engagingly subtle exploration of men and their relationships. As Patrick, Dom and Agustin head off to Russian River for a weekend away, the ins and outs (ahem) of human life continue.

The Comeback – Thursday 5th February (Sky Atlantic)

Lisa Kudrow stars as the embattled Valerie Cherish, a fading TV ‘It Girl’ who was once so desperate to stay in the spotlight that she allowed cameras to follow her every move as she appeared on a new sitcom – with disastrous results.

The Walking Dead Season 5 Part 2 – Monday 9th February (FOX UK)

“Surviving together is all that matters.” Our band of merry – yeah, right – humans regroup from the shocking mid-season finale to continue their fight for survival.

The Flash Season 1 Part 2 – Tuesday 10th February (Sky 1)

The CW has a simple formula for The Flash Season 1’s second half: continue throwing bad guys at Barry. “So many villains, nothing but time”, promises the trailer, which is even dubbed “Revenge of the Rogues”. The most exciting of all, though, is surely Mark Hamill, who continues his welcome return to screen acting (after years of top-notch animated superhero turns) as a copy-cat of The Trickster, a role his once played in a short-lived Flash TV show years ago.

Grey’s Anatomy Season 11 Part 2 – Wednesday 11th February (Sky Living)

Shonda Rhimes’ long-running medical drama returns for its eleventh outing on February 11th, after a mid-season break.

Arrow Season 3 Part 2 – Thursday 12th February (Sky 1)

Arrow Season 3 Part 2 finally gives us the conclusion to a literal cliffhanger featuring Ra’s al Ghul. If that episode was the best of the series yet, then Arrow only plans to get bigger, with a three-part trilogy featuring Danny ‘Brick’ Brickwell – a showcase for their recently announced casting of Vinnie Jones as the tough guy. “Together, we are going to take over the glades,” he promises. Black Canary, meanwhile, is waiting in the wings…

30 Degrees in February – Friday 13th February (Sky Arts)

The latest Scandi drama to hit Sky Arts comes hot on the heels of The Legacy. Nominated for an International Emmy Award in 2014, 30 Degrees in February is one of Scandinavian TV’s biggest public successes, and asks whether anyone can really leave their past behind…

Elementary Season 3 Part 2 – Tuesday 17th February (Sky Living)

New Holmes. New Watson. New York. Jonny Lee Miller is Sherlock alongside Lucy Liu as Dr ‘Joan’ Watson.

The Blacklist Season 2 Part 2 – Friday 27th February (Sky Living)

A criminal joins the FBI in James Spader’s drama, returning soon for the rest of the second series after a mid-season break.

 

Movies

Fading Gigolo – Friday 6th February

John Turturro writes, directs and stars in this comedy drama that sees him (a part-time florist) become a lover-for-hire with lots of attractive women. While he beds the likes of Sharon Stone and Sofia Vergara, Woody Allen plays his buddy cheering him on. It’s male-written, shallow stuff – until he strikes up a platonic bond with Vanessa Paradis’ lonely Hasidic widow…

Rio 2 – Friday 13th February

It’s fiesta time again as we rejoin city parrot Blu (voiced by Jesse Eisenberg) and his free-spirited other half, Jewel (Anne Hathaway), for their second South American escapade. In Rio 2, Blu takes his fledgling family to the Amazon for a taste of the great outdoors – and, inevitably, a beak-to-beak showdown with Jemaine Clement’s scene-stealing evil cockatoo, Nigel.

Mr. Peabody & Sherman – Friday 13th February

Talking dog Mr Peabody (Ty Burrell) – a business hound, scientist, gourmand and double Olympic Gold medallist – adopts orphan Sherman (Max Charles), only to find that life is anything but a walk in the park. When the youngster bites a brattish schoolmate on the arm, Mr Peabody must convince the authorities he’s a fit father. However, he doesn’t bargain on his mischievous charge whisking his victim back thousands of years in their time machine. Amusing and, crucially, never condescending, this is enjoyable family fun.

Only Lovers Left Alive – TBC

Adam (Tom Hiddleston) and Eve (Tilda Swinton) are two vampires whose love affair has lasted centuries. She’s living in Tangier; he’s in Detroit. But when Adam gets lonely and depressed, Eve makes her way across the world to snap him out of his stupor. Director Jim Jarmusch switches gears once more to tell this entrancing outing, which manages to be part stoner comedy, part horror and part examination of contemporary culture.

Knights of Badassdom – Friday 27th February

Steve Zahn, True Blood’s Ryan Kwanten and Game Of Thrones legend Peter Dinklage lead this comedy fantasy. They play a trio of LARPers – that’s live action role players – who accidentally summon up an actual demon from Hell in the shape of one of their ex-girlfriends (Margarita Levieva). Assisted by the only damsel in the troupe (Summer Glau), the ersatz knights must draw their swords for real before the ‘Beth’ monster eats all their unsuspecting battlemates.

The film, which was famously butchered from director Joe Lynch’s original cut, was never released in UK cinemas, instead arriving straight on VOD last November.

Other movies coming soon to NOW (February 2015)

Friday 6th February
Deception
The Last Days on Mars
Blended

Friday 13th February
My Man Is a Loser
Dinosaur Island

Friday 20th February
The Perfect Summer
Plastic
Catch .44
Bad Neighbours

Friday 27th February
The Art of the Steal
The Big Bang
Brick Mansions

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