Not Valentine's Day 

Some might say I am not a romantic. I don't think it a fair criticism, nor do I think it's true. At the same time, though, I don't intend to write anything here about Valentine's Day movies. And even though I'm sure there is something in Lisa Frankenstein — a neon-tinged reanimation teen rom-com — for even me, I skipped it; life occasionally intervenes. Anyone But You is back, apparently, but I found that to be a pallid iteration on a form that could use a radical restoration.

Despite the manufactured holiday squarely situated in the middle of this month, February is known more in cineastic circles as a repository for misbegotten projects that have received a vote of no-confidence from the studios. Some nerds call it Dumpuary. And while I'm loath to cast aspersions on the hard work of so many, especially on the heels of a hard-fought battle for workers' rights down in the dream factory, I have seen a great amount of truly forgettable stuff in Februarys past.

In the midst of the spasmodic, maybe-hopeful rebirth (could be death throes) of the movie industry, though, the new model seems to be simply to not release things. We've got our own problems with local distribution, of course, but even nationwide it would seem to be a dry season.

Which presents its own clearing-house opportunity, here on the nerd-front.

I'll start by shilling a bit, with the caveat that these are not paid endorsements (if only) and, like everything else I've ever recommended, are not likely to please everyone.

In the depths of the pandemic, we enjoyed a brief, glorious growth in the streaming space (italicized due to overuse), when the money people were faced with a crisis of conventional wisdom and pushed everything to dispersed streaming platforms. Not enough profit there, apparently, so even as theaters continue struggling, fewer and fewer prestige releases make it to home-screens in a timely fashion. However, the niche services seem to be finding their footing, remastering and rereleasing classics and cult oddities while also providing farther-flung distribution for some of the noteworthy but less noisy international and domestic releases of last year.

One of the worst named but most reliable of these, MUBI, has too many movies from too many genres and eras to enumerate, and for the nerd-set may be among the highest returns on investment. In 2022 the service released Park Chan-Wook's Decision to Leave concurrently (I think) with its theatrical debut. And now it has made available Aki Kaurismäki's Fallen Leaves, a darkly delightful genre pastiche about lonely people in Finland. (Here I am endorsing a romance after all).

I've been aware of Kaurismäki's name for a long time, without ever having explored the work. If memory serves, Leningrad Cowboys Go America (1989) was in heavy rotation on the Independent Film Channel, 20-some years ago. And IMDb informs that he and his brother Mika are responsible for fully one-fifth of the Finnish film industry's output since the 1980s. Anyway, Fallen Leaves was met with great approbation last year and the ability to watch it without leaving the house was, as always, an enticement. Further, even from the briefest of descriptions, it didn't seem like the kind of spectacle that would necessarily suffer from airing on a slightly smaller screen. And indeed it did not, although it is a more visually compelling work than I had anticipated.

In brief, the narrative follows two lonely laborers, Ansa (Alma Grönholm) and Holappa (Jussi Vatanen), as they navigate mildly tragi-comic lives in contemporary Helsinki. She barely makes ends meet with a terrible job in a supermarket. He, an unskilled workman with a drinking problem, drifts through his days as aimlessly as she. Gradually their orbits come to intersect — their first date is, hilariously, to see Jim Jarmusch's The Dead Don't Die (2019) — but circumstances intervene.

Fallen Leaves harkens back to a bygone era of American independent cinema, with its modest narrative ambitions enlarged and enlivened with deadpan wit, a touch of fatalism and an unexpectedly lush visual style that suggests '70s crime movies, '50s melodramas and a touch of German Expressionism in each gorgeously lit frame. Its balance of humor and existential angst dips favorably to the former so as to surprise with hopefulness in the midst of dire circumstances and droll resignation. The irony of the piece (itself perhaps a throwback to the '90s) might distance some viewers, but I found it refreshing in its obtuseness and appropriately offset by hope.

And since I'm talking nerd-stuff and, despite my intentions, wandered back into love stories, the Criterion Channel has curated a collection of Interdimensional Romances that includes some popular favorites and some esoterica. I watched John Carpenter's Starman (1984) for the first time and even my calcified heart was softened.

John J. Bennett (he/him) is a movie nerd who loves a good car chase.

NOW PLAYING

AMERICAN FICTION. A Black novelist (Jeffrey Wright) finds publishing success with a book he's facetiously filled with the racist stereotypes and tropes he despises. R. 117M. BROADWAY.

ANATOMY OF A FALL. A woman (Sandra Hüller) is under suspicion when her husband is found dead and her son is the only witness. R. 152M. MINOR.

ANYONE BUT YOU. Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell try to make their exes jealous in a destination wedding rom-com. R. 103M. BROADWAY.

AQUAMAN AND THE LOST KINGDOM. Jason Momoa dons his trunks for his last dip in the DC franchise. 115M. PG13. BROADWAY.

ARGYLLE. Action comedy about a spy novelist (Bryce Dallas Howard) embroiled in espionage involving a cat. PG13. 139M. BROADWAY, MILL CREEK.

THE BEEKEEPER. Apiary actioner starring Jason Statham as a secret agent bent on revenge. R. 105M. BROADWAY.

BOB MARLEY: ONE LOVE. Biopic on the life of the legendary musician. Starring Kingsley Ben-Adir and Lashana Lynch. PG13. 105M. BROADWAY, MILL CREEK, MINOR.

THE CHOSEN. Season 4, episodes 1-3. BROADWAY, MILL CREEK.

DUNE: PART ONE (2021). The first leg of the epic sci-fi adaptation on the cusp of its sequel. 156M. PG13. BROADWAY, MILL CREEK.

KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE. Animated witch's coming-of-age adventure. G. 103M. MINOR.

LISA FRANKENSTEIN. Horror-comedy in which girl meets corpse, corpse is reanimated. Starring Kathryn Newton and Cole Sprouse. PG13. 101M. BROADWAY, MILL CREEK.

MADAME WEB. Dakota Johnson stars as a paramedic with spider vibes who can see the future and teams up with a trio of young women against a villain. PG13 117M. BROADWAY, MILL CREEK.

MEAN GIRLS (2024). Tina Fey's iconic comedy about girl-on-girl violence gets an update. PG13. 112M. MILL CREEK.

MIGRATION. Animated duck adventure voiced by Elizabeth Banks, Awkwafina and Keegan-Michael Key. PG. 92M. BROADWAY, MILL CREEK.

OSCAR-NOMINATED SHORTS. This year's documentary, animation and live-action entries. NR. MINOR.

WONKA. Timothée Chalamet brings his bone structure to the candy man's origin story. With Hugh Grant in Oompa-Loompa mode. PG. 112M. BROADWAY, MILL CREEK.

Fortuna Theatre is temporarily closed. For showtimes call: Broadway Cinema (707) 443-3456; Mill Creek Cinema 839-3456; Minor Theatre (707) 822-3456.