Week of February 14 – 20

The Super Bowl is over and the Oscars aren't for a few more weeks, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t plenty of exciting stuff to watch. This week sees the return of John Oliver on HBO, just when we need him most, along with a new two-part true crime mystery on HBO (“Murder in Glitterball City”), an Oscar-nominated Richard Linklater movie on Netflix (“Blue Moon”) and the return of “Dark Winds” (on AMC), “The Night Agent” (on Netflix) and “The Last Thing He Told Me” (on Apple TV). Oh – and happy Valentine’s Day!

On with the television! 

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

Sunday, February 15 at 11 p.m., HBO

Source: HBO

“Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” returns for its 13th (!) season on HBO Sunday. And the show, which began airing while Jon Stewart was still hosting “The Daily Show” (for the first time), is entering into a tumultuous time, politically and culturally, when it’s hard to joke about just about anything. But what has made the series so powerful – and so singularly watchable – is the mixture of genuine outrage and societal critiques, with Oliver tackling an issue or problem in lengthy detail and then suggesting ways to remedy said problem.

The problem has been, in the last few years, that the despair has often outweighed the hope and that even when he’s, say, purchasing the naming rights to a low-level baseball team or offering a corrupt Supreme Court justice a new Winnebago to leave the bench, there is still a darkness that tends to taint the comedy. And with the series returning amidst ICE shootings and a widespread, pedophilic sex ring being both exposed and ignored, it’ll be fascinating to see how Oliver tackles such unsavory topics. Something tells us that he’ll still find a place to eke out a few giggles. But we don’t envy his job this year. [TRAILER] 

The Simpsons

Sunday, February 15 at 8 p.m., Fox

Source: Disney

“The Simpsons” concludes its 37th season on Sunday, with two episodes – “Irrational Treasure” and “Homer? A Cracker Bro?" The long-running series, created by Matt Groening, celebrated its 800th (!!!) episode earlier in the season and was renewed for four more seasons last year, meaning it will run through the 2028/2029 season at least. Add to that a new theatrical feature film, slated for September 3, 2027, and everything is coming up “Simpsons.” And it always will. [TRAILER]

Blue Moon

Saturday, February 14, Netflix

Source: Sony Pictures Classics

Yes, “Blue Moon,” is currently celebrating two Academy Award nominations (one for its sparkling screenplay and the other for Ethan Hawke’s wonderful, tender lead performance). But that doesn’t mean that you’ve ever heard about it. It had a very small release in 2025 from Sony Pictures Classics, which used to cultivate the kind of word-of-mouth sleepers that would dominate awards season. Now is your time to catch up with Richard Linklater’s wonderful little film – one of two that he released last year (see below). “Blue Moon” takes place on the opening night of “Oklahoma!,” with Lorenz Hart (Hawke) waiting to greet his former partner Richard Rodgers (Andrew Scott) and Rodgers’ new partner, Oscar Hammerstein II (Simon Delaney) at Sardi’s.

While he’s waiting in the bar, he chats up the bartender (Bobby Cannavale), trades stories with E.B. White (Patrick Kennedy) and attempts to woo a young woman (Margaret Qualley). The whole thing is beautiful and touching and sad – the real-life Hart would die a few months later after contracting pneumonia during a drinking binge. It gives the frivolity of “Blue Moon” an unexpected, melancholic power. It’s a delight. [INTERVIEW]

Murder in Glitterball City

Thursday, February 19 at 9 p.m., HBO

Source: HBO

This two-part true crime documentary is based on the non-fiction book “A Dark Room in Glitter Ball City” by David Dominé, and is set in Louisville, Kentucky, the birthplace of the mirrored glitterball. According to HBO, the documentary “chronicles a 2010 murder case that starts with a 911 phone call that leads police to the gruesome discovery of a body buried in the basement of a Victorian mansion. As two men face police interrogators, a story emerges of twisted liaisons. Each partner points an accusatory finger at the other and their respective accounts brim with glaring inconsistencies and false allegations. As two separate murder trials unfold, key pieces of video evidence emerge, subverting expectations about suspects Joey Banis and Jeffrey Mundt.” Sounds absolutely gripping and you don’t have to wait – both parts are airing on the same night. [TRAILER]

Nouvelle Vague

Netflix

Source: Netflix

If “Blue Moon” has you jonesing for more based-on-a-true-story Richard Linklater-directed fun, why not follow it up with “Nouvelle Vague?” This black-and-white charmer, which debuted at last year’s Cannes Film Festival (where Quentin Tarantino reportedly watched it twice in one day) follows the filming of Jean-Luc Godard’s “Breathless” and the birth of what would be known as the French New Wave. Clearly, Linklater has a reverence for the period and the movies that came out of this movement, but he doesn’t put any undue importance on the actual production of the movie. There’s an easygoing charm to the movie, with the characters both sure of their importance and totally unprepared for what would follow. And you don’t have to be a Criterion Channel subscriber to understand the movie and have fun with its depiction of some of France’s greatest filmmakers. “Nouvelle Vague,” like “Breathless,” feels like a lark. It’s only later that you realize just how special it is. [WATCH]

Source: Prime Video

“Dark Winds”