Movies to watch in February, from 'Argylle' to 'Drive-Away Dolls'

Just in time for Valentine's movie dates, February brings everything from a controversial spy flick, a Sony Spider-verse entry, and a musical experience from J.Lo. Here are some movies to look forward to this February. 

'Argylle' (Feb. 2)

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The buzz around Matthew Vaughn's forthcoming spy adventure has largely surrounded one still unanswered question: Who wrote the book on which the movie is based? The "Kingsman" director said the film is supposed to be based on the fourth volume of a spy series written by the elusive first-time author Elly Conway. The problem is that the book has yet to be published, and no one can find a trace of Conway. The first book came earlier this year, so at least that book is real. But rumors have swirled around about the book. At one point, there was speculation that Taylor Swift wrote the book; Vaughn shut those down. "I am begging Elly Conway to come out of the shadows because this Taylor Swift thing freaked me out," Vaughn told Variety. 

The conspiracy theories spiked when Apple Original Films released the trailer, revealing that Conway shared a name and a profession with the main character. Bryce Dallas Howard stars as Elly Conway, the best-selling spy-novel writer, who is thrust into the world of espionage after her books start to mirror the actions of a real-life spy syndicate. Howard is joined by Henry Cavill, John Cena, Dua Lipa and Samuel L. Jackson, among others. 

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'Madame Web' (Feb. 14)

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Sony is taking another foray into its Spider-Man Universe with an ancillary character, the typically elderly clairvoyant hero "Madame Web." It remains to be seen "whether or not it will break the Sony Spider-Man Universe's hot streak of bad movies," Charlotte Simmons wrote for The Mary Sue. "New revelations about its place in the continuity make for as good a sign as any."

Madame Web is set in a part of Sony's "spider-centric multiverse" where "neither Peter Parker nor Miles Morales are a big deal," The Verge noted. The movie follows the origin story of Cassandra Webb, played by Dakota Johnson, a paramedic who gains the ability to see the future after a near- death experience on the job. The trailer teases how "each of the women in Cassandra's orbit, like Julia Carpenter (Sydney Sweeney), Mattie Franklin (Celeste O'Connor), and Anya Corazon (Isabela Merced), are destined to become various spider-themed heroes like in Marvel's comics," the outlet added. 

'This is Me…Now: A Love Story' (Feb. 16)

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Jennifer Lopez is bringing her fans her love story "in the only dazzling way that a pop superstar can," People wrote. The Bronx icon recently released the trailer for her new film, an Amazon Prime Video exclusive, which "arrives in tandem with her highly anticipated new album and first release in a decade," the outlet added. The "captivating" preview of the 65-minute project "finds the singer/actress on a journey through both dreamscapes and challenges grounded in reality in order to find love." 

The movie debuts on the streaming platform the day her ninth studio album comes out. The project, which Lopez created with Grammy-winning director Dave Meyers, was described as a "narrative-driven cinematic odyssey, steeped in mythological storytelling and personal healing," in a press release, per People.  

'Drive-Away Dolls' (Feb. 23)

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After his brother Joel went solo with "The Tragedy of Macbeth," the other half of the Coen brothers, Ethan, is set to make his solo directorial debut with a film that "sounds like the tonal opposite of his sibling's spare Shakespeare adaptation," Alison Willmore wrote for Vulture. "Drive Away Dolls" is a comedy thriller that stars Margaret Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan as "stuck-in-a-rut friends" on a road trip to Tallahassee who end up crossing paths with some criminals. Willmore added, "The trailer makes the film look like a quirky lark of a thing, and who doesn't like that?"

In an interview alongside co-writer Tricia Cooke, Coen told Collider that in terms of his previous work, his solo debut is most comparable to classics like "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" and "The Big Lebowski," and is "filthy fun."