Finally, it’s no longer January. But, as is perhaps fitting, seeing as it’s Groundhog Day today, it seems like we might still be stuck in a loop of middling movie releases for a while. The big-screen offerings continue to be slight this weekend (and for the rest of the month), though there are far worse things to watch than a self-referential action romp and a documentary about the biggest one-night-only supergroup of all time. And, hey! Speaking of groups of musicians gathering together, the Grammys are back this weekend. Perhaps most importantly, there are quite a few good new TV shows premiering, too. So being stuck in the January movie dregs isn’t all that bad. We got you, babe. —James Grebey
Featured Presentations
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The 66th Annual Grammy Awards
SZA leads with nine nominations, and she’s among several women dominating in the major categories. Album of the Year is an eight-way race between SZA, Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, boygenius, Janelle Monáe, Miley Cyrus, and Lana Del Rey — and Jon Batiste. Trevor Noah returns as host, and Rodrigo, Billie Eilish, and Dua Lipa are slated to sing. —Jen Chaney
➽ I know what you’re thinking, but no: Barbie does not get any points in the Vulture Movies Fantasy League, even if the soundtrack wins Grammys. Nice to be nominated, though!
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Argylle
Bryce Dallas Howard plays an author who gets brought into a very dangerous, very meta world of spycraft and espionage when it turns out that all of the books she was writing about a fictional secret agent named Argylle were, in fact, nonfiction, and the Bond-esque villains she’s unwittingly exposed are none too happy. There’s a conspiracy theory alleging that Taylor Swift wrote Argylle that’s too insane to get into. She didn’t. She’s too busy going to the Super Bowl. —J.G.
➽ Hope’s on the dusty theatrical horizon. Dune: Part Two tickets are on sale.
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Curb Your Enthusiasm season 12
This season will be the show’s last, which means you only have a few more opportunities to watch Larry David playing Larry David and finding new ways to irritate the hell out of everyone around him. Never change, Larry. —J.C.
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How to Have Sex
Cinematographer Molly Manning Walker makes her directorial debut with How to Have Sex, a drama about a group of teenage girls on a summer holiday. While the holiday seems to be partying as usual, one of the girls, Tara (beautifully acted by Mia McKenna-Bruce), is separated from the group and sends the holiday into a downward spiral. —Savannah Salazar
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Feud: Capote vs. the Swans
Yes, it’s another Ryan Murphy show bringing together incredible women to dress up in delectable fashions and act out a scandalous feud in Hollywood history, with mixed results. This season of Feud tackles author Truman Capote’s (Tom Hollander) relationship with his high-society ladies, dubbed “the Swans,” played by Naomi Watts, Diane Lane, Chloë Sevigny, Calista Flockhart, and Molly Ringwald, and their fallout after Capote revealed the group’s dirtiest laundry in Esquire. —S.S.
➽ Would you rather fight one Capote-size Swan or six Swan-size Capotes?How ’bout reading about the scandal that erupted around one of the author’s stories? Two archival New York pieces worth your time:
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Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Nearly 20 years after Brangelina was born, Francesca Sloane and Donald Glover adapt the film for the small screen. Glover and PEN15’s Maya Erskine star as John and Jane Smith, strangers who impersonate a married couple for a hit job. Parker Posey, Michaela Coel, John Turturro, Paul Dano, and Alexander Skarsgård are among the murderers’-row supporting cast. —Roxana Hadadi
Animation Station
Orion and the Dark
Charlie Kaufman (yes, that Charlie Kaufman) wrote this children’s-book adaptation about a kid who is scared of everything — especially the dark. That prompts the Dark, a friendly supernatural entity, to visit in an attempt to help him overcome his fears. It’s a funny, uplifting, DreamWorks-y movie with perhaps just a slight pinch of Kaufman’s trademark psychological drama. Just a little, little bit. Synecdoche, New York, this ain’t. —J.G.
They Were the World
The Greatest Night in Pop
Quincy Jones, Lionel Richie, Michael Jackson, Willie Nelson, Bruce Springsteen, Tina Turner, Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, Cyndi Lauper, Ray Charles, and more — a shocking number of people more — gathered one night in 1985 to record the charity single “We Are the World.” It was for a great cause, but as anyone who has ever done a group project in school can tell you, these things are nightmares, and this Netflix documentary shows how hectic the star-studded recording process was. —J.G.
By Popular (On) Demand
Wonka
There’s movie theaters, and there’s watching at home. At last, Wonka is giving you the latter option, if you feel like shelling out cash for chocolate VOD. —S.S.
Want more? Read our recommendations from the weekend of January 26.
