Movies Update: Romance of the comedic, dramatic and horrific variety.

Plus, a new Oscar for casting directors.

View in browser|nytimes.com Continue reading the main story February 9, 2024 By Stephanie Goodman Film Editor Hi, movie fans! It's an unusual time right now on the film desk. Sundance has wrapped, the big releases are a few weeks away as are the Oscars. So what are we doing during this lull? Catching up on titles like "Anyone But You." That rom-com, starring Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney, debuted to mixed reviews like the one Amy Nicholson wrote for The Times, and landed at No. 4 at the box office, with a $6 million haul. And that would seem to be that. Except that in the next weeks its take at the box office steadily ticked up and now, more than a month later, as they say in Hollywood, it has legs! My colleagues and I have debated the reasons it's a bona fide hit — a hunger for rom-coms? stars who have chemistry? counterprogramming in dreary January? — but I find it heartening that it was able to stick around for awhile in theaters and find an audience. It's how movies used to be released decades ago and it's nice to see that strategy work. (For the record, I really enjoyed it.) What are our critics talking about? Alissa Wilkinson recommends, among other films, "The Taste of Things," with Juliette Binoche and Benoît Magimel in a "magnificent culinary romance," while Manohla Dargis heartily endorses "Ennio," a documentary about the "composer and arranger who helped define films as we know and hear them." Whatever you decide to watch, enjoy the movies! Carole Bethuel/IFC Films Critic's Pick 'The Taste of Things' Review: Love, Loss and Loins of Veal Juliette Binoche stars in an instant culinary classic that exquisitely captures the kitchen's bittersweet blessing. By Alissa Wilkinson Music Box Critic's Pick 'Ennio' Review: Morricone and His Mastery of Film Scores A lively, absorbing documentary about the Italian composer whose music is featured in hundreds of movies, from "A Fistful of Dollars" to "Kill Bill." By Manohla Dargis Neon Critic's Pick 'Perfect Days' Review: Hanging On Directed by Wim Wenders, this Oscar-nominated Japanese drama gently excavates the life of a toilet cleaner, and the shadows that lurk inside. By Alissa Wilkinson Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT CRITICS' PICKS Kris Dewitte/Cinema Guild Critic's Pick 'Here' Review: A Celebration of Connection In Bas Devos's muted and luminous Belgian drama, two lonely souls repeatedly encounter each other. By Lisa Kennedy Laura Radford/Bleecker Street Critic's Pick 'Out of Darkness' Review: Prime Evil A Stone Age tribe is hunted by an unseen entity in this wondrously atmospheric survival thriller, which unfolds in a fictional language. By Jeannette Catsoulis Zach Stoltzfus/Level33 Entertainment Critic's Pick 'Molli and Max in the Future' Review: Love, Interplanetary Style This rom-com brings futuristic absurdity and nimble timing to a comfort-food story line of friends turned soul mates. By Nicolas Rapold MOVIE REVIEWS Michele K. Short/Focus Features 'Lisa Frankenstein' Review: When Mom Finds Out, You're So Dead A little too enamored of its own references, this teen horror-comedy feels a bit misshapen but still delivers some light fun. By Alissa Wilkinson Roadside Attractions 'The Monk and the Gun' Review: A Political Fable in a Faraway Land This feature follows two monks in Bhutan, often portrayed as a Shangri-La, as the country readies for its first democratic elections. By Manohla Dargis HBO 'They Called Him Mostly Harmless' Review: Digital Sleuthing In this schematic Max true-crime documentary, amateur detectives take the lead in the quest to identify the body of a male hiker. By Beatrice Loayza Cho Wonjin//Samuel Goldwyn Films 'Cobweb' Review: A Film Within a Director's Cinematic Ego Trip Kim Jee-woon toys with the absurdity of filmmaking itself in this story of a director compelled to take his cast and crew captive to shoot one more scene. By Brandon Yu Nikos Nikolopoulos/Utopia 'Drift' Review: Keeping a Breakdown at Bay Anthony Chen's quiet character study follows a traumatized Liberian woman (Cynthia Erivo) on a Greek island who befriends an American tour guide (Alia Shawkat). By Natalia Winkelman Brainstorm Media and Signature Entertainment 'Marmalade' Review: Getting Out of a Jam Joe Keery plays a seeming dupe in a crime movie that plays dumb, then tries to play smart, but only becomes dumber. By Ben Kenigsberg Netflix 'Lover, Stalker, Killer' Review: True Crime With Lots of Twists This documentary directed by Sam Hobkinson focuses on a jump back into the dating pool that soon turns horrific. By Glenn Kenny Eric Zachanowich/Searchlight Pictures 'Suncoast' Review: How to Act When Your Brother Has Brain Cancer Laura Chinn's promising feature debut fictionalizes an excruciating experience: her brother's slow death at the same time as Terri Schiavo's ordeal. By Amy Nicholson Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT NEWS & FEATURES Yuki Iwamura/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Jonathan Majors Had a History of Abuse in Relationships, Women Say The actor denied physical abuse. Separately, he said he wasn't told of accusations of misbehavior on the set of "Lovecraft Country." By Melena Ryzik Todd Heisler/The New York Times The First New Oscar in More Than 20 Years Goes to Casting Directors After decades of lobbying from the casting field, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is adding its first new award category since 2001. By Julia Jacobs Carole Bethuel/IFC Films When the Food Is Lovingly Prepared by the Actors (and the Chef) "The Taste of Things" didn't use cooking doubles, but a pro offscreen helped guide the stars. Getting the meals right was everything to the director Tran Anh Hung. By Ben Kenigsberg Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times How Toilets Got a Starring Role in a Wim Wenders Movie A behind-the-scenes look at "Perfect Days," which features Koji Yakusho as a cleaner of public bathrooms in Tokyo. By Motoko Rich Erik Carter for The New York Times The Projectionist Da'Vine Joy Randolph: Major Prizes, Major Attention, Major Unease The "Holdovers" star sometimes feels overwhelmed by the glare of the spotlight. "In a very otherworldly way, my entire world has changed." By Kyle Buchanan Disney Taylor Swift Heading to Disney+ and 'Moana' Sequel to Theaters The pop star's hit "Eras Tour" concert film hits the streaming service next month, part of the company's attempt to revitalize its entertainment lineup. By Brooks Barnes STREAMING RECOMMENDATIONS Michael Ginsberg/Universal Pictures Five Black Romantic Movies to Stream For Valentine's Day and Black History Month, watch these selections that brim with Black love, heartache and desire from across the diaspora. By Robert Daniels Film Publicity Archive/United Archives, via Getty Images Watch These Memorable Carl Weathers Performances Whether dressed in American flag shorts or dirty fatigues, the versatile actor, best known as Apollo Creed in the "Rocky" movies, always made an impression. By Esther Zuckerman Mubi Five International Movies to Stream Now This month's picks include a decades-spanning Chinese drama, a thriller about a teenage immigrant in Canada, an absurdist French crime comedy and more. By Devika Girish HBO Documentary Download True-Crime Documentaries That Tell More About Us Than the Victims Two new movies reflect the range of quality in the booming genre. They also raise questions about why we are drawn to such stories. By Alissa Wilkinson Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT How are we doing? We'd love your feedback on this newsletter. Please email thoughts and suggestions to moviesupdate@nytimes.com. Like this email? 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