by Daniel Lucas

We all know the classics to watch with your Valentine, but what about you Palentine and Galentine?
Here’s a list of some great films and shows to watch and share with your friends, from new releases
to cult classics and nostalgic favourites, we’ve got plenty for you to watch this month!

THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN

Disney+ / Starring: Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson

15 / 1h 54m / Dir. Martin McDonagh

A lifelong friendship between Padraic and Colm comes to an abrupt end, with Padraic setting out to repair their relationship and Colm’s resolve strengthening against a reunion. Set on a remote fictional island off the Irish coast, The Banshees of Inisherin is a pendulum of a film, swinging smoothly from the miserable to the hilarious. Imagine a cross between In Bruges and Father Ted with some Shakespearean tragedy. Or don’t, it’s up to you.

THE IRON GIANT

Prime Video / Starring: Eli Marienthal, Jennifer Aniston

U / 1h 26m / Dir. Brad Bird

A fable for the Cold War, The Iron Giant follows the story of a giant robot that crash lands on Earth and is discovered and befriended by nine-year-old Hogarth. With enough references to Superman to make Lex Luthor pull his hair out, this 1999 animated classic is an excellent story of friendship between a boy and man’s best friend (a 50-foot robotic killing machine with the voice of Vin Diesel sent from outer space). 

ISLE OF DOGS

Disney + / Starring: Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton

PG / 1h 42m / Dir. Wes Anderson

When the government of Megasaki City exiles all dogs to Trash Island, the 12-year-old Atari sets off in a prop-plane to find his old dog Spots. On the island he meets a pack of celebrity-voiced furry friends, and begins the journey to stopping the mass dog-exile. Packed with big names like Bryan Corgiston, Edwoof Norton, Bill Furray, Scarlett Johoundsson, Ruff Goldblum, Tailda Swinton, and Barko Ono, it’s a film paw the ages.

O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?

Netflix / Starring: George Clooney,
John Turturro, Time Blake Nelson
12 / 1h 47m / Dir. Coen Brothers

With nothing to lose and everything to gain, three prisoners escape their hard-labour sentences and set out to find fortune in buried treasure with their shackles still on. Set in 1930’s Mississippi, O Brother, Where Art Thou? is loosely based on Homer’s epic, the Odyssey, with appearances from Sirens, a Cyclopes, and the main character’s name, Ulysses (the Roman name for Odysseus). With a mixture of the American South and Hellenistic Greece, it’s a wonder there was no appearance from the Texan Horse, the Colossus of Kentucky, or the Underworld (Florida).

WHITE LOTUS

Sky Go / Starring: Jennifer Coolidge

15 / 2 Series

Wealthy holidaymakers take up residence at the White Lotus for a week, bathing in the sun, exploring the country, lounging on the beach, and wrapping themselves up in the mess of each other’s lives, all with the promise to the audience that by the end of it, someone will be dead. Drenched in so much glamour and entitlement it would make a Kardashian feel unwell, White Lotus explores what happens when rich and powerful members of society have their worldviews tested. 

Spoiler: they try to kill each other.

BLACK BOOKS

All4 / Starring: Dylan Moran, Bill Bailey, Tamsin Greig

15 / 3 Series

Bernard Black runs a bookshop, named Black Books, where he employs Manny Bianco and gets regular visits from his old friend Fran Katzenjammer. Most episodes follow the running of the bookshop, with Manny seeking to make improvements and Bernard doing his best to keep the shop closed, whilst Fran goes from one messy attempt to better herself to another. With appearances from Nick Frost, Johnny Vegas and some bees on a windowsill, it’s a comedy cult-classic for a reason.

PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES

Prime Video / Starring: Steve Martin, John Candy

15 / 1h 33m / Dir. John Hughes

High-strung Neal Page is trying to get home for Thanksgiving, but his plane is rerouted to a city far away and is forced to travel back home with the talkative Del Griffith. Neal, driven nearly to insanity by the over-friendly Del, can hardly believe the ways that their trip back is messed up and diverted, whilst Del just seems happy to have someone to talk to. Planes, Trains and Automobiles is a warm film, one to watch wrapped up in blankets, your hands nuzzled between some pillows.