The midlife women have the new Bridget Jones movie, but the men get their own second act rom-com for Valentine’s Day with this gum-achingly-sweet Netflix drop. Scott Foley leads as a dad who heads to Italy to stop his grown daughter from embarking on the (real-life inspired) $1 villa deal — only to discover some “reno potential” in his own life. As corny and predictable as a Hallmark movie, but tempered by Foley and worth the escape to the Italian countryside.

After her mom marries a filthy rich Brit, an 18-year-old American moves to London to join her and meets her troublemaker stepbrother — and a hate-love-hate relationship blossoms, just as her estranged father is released from prison and tracks them down. A remake of the hit 2023 Spanish film, My Fault, which is based on the novel, Culpa mía by Mercedes Ron. Higher octane than most teen romances, it’s sexy escapism rated 16+.

In the wake of his Oscar-winning Summer of Soul, Questlove turns his focus to shed fresh light on the largely overlooked  Sly and the Family Stone, challenging the usual music doc tropes to create something unexpectedly riveting and revealing.
From San Francisco Chronicle‘s Chris Vognar:  “Sly Lives! may not provide definitive answers, but the fact that it even asks those questions puts it a cut above most films in its genre.”  (Read the review)

Nearly a quarter century after the original, Renee Zellweger reprises her role as the (still) hapless Brit who is once again single — widowed after her husband, Darcy (Colin Firth), died on a humanitarian mission — leaving her to take care of their two small kids with the help of her same trusted friends and even her ex (Hugh Grant).  The only-on-streaming film sees her back out there with a younger man (Leo Woodall), and the female critics are mostly on board with the fun and added depth (a few notable male critics seem to have missed the appeal).  Emma Thompson, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jim Broadbent, Gemma Jones, and Isla Fisher co-star.  Streaming only on Peacock.

Nominated for the Best Picture Oscar and Best Adapted Screenplay, Nickel Boys tells the true story of two teens in the Jim Crow-era south who managed to form a bond in a notorious Florida reform school where boys were beaten and sexually abused. Adapted from Colson Whithead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, the film is “a mesmerizing, uniquely told story — of memory, of injustice, of friendship, of survival.” — Moira McDonald, The Seattle Times (Read the review)   Stream it on Apple TV ($19.99)

With cancer on the rise among younger generations, this ultimately uplifting documentary strikes a chord as it captures the journey of 20-year-old Isabella Strahan, who was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor during her freshman year of college. It reveals what she learned about early detection and treatment, and how she’s coped with the emotional impact at such a young age — including the impact it’s had on her father, GMA anchor Michael Strahan.