■ Summer in February
Actor Dan Stevens isn’t the only link between “Downtown Abbey” and Summer in February. The setting is similar: England, 1913, where the young and wealthy could afford to break some rules. Stevens plays best friend to painter Alfred Munnings (Dominic Cooper); both are in love with Florence Carter-Wood (Emily Browning). Munnings was a real painter, portrayed here as a heroic rebel of the canvas and the life of every party, of which there were many.
■ Hateship Loveship
Liza Johnson directs SNL’s Kristen Wiig in her first dramatic role as the socially withdrawn, obsessively neat housekeeper Johanna. Wiig holds her own in this poignant story in a cast that includes Nick Nolte as Bill, patriarch of the family she works for, and Guy Pearce as Ken, his ex-con son-in-law. The naïve Johanna believes Ken is in love with her, the result of a hoax by his cruel teenage daughter and her friend.
■ “Prisoners of War: Season Two”
In the Israeli television program that inspired Showtime’s Emmy-winning “Homeland,” a trio of POWs held for years by Islamic terrorists are released in a prisoner exchange—to a hero’s welcome, family and psychological problems, and a suspicious Israeli intelligence service. Season Two, out on DVD, explores the POW left behind, who may have turned traitor. Believable acting, realistic settings and a sense of the price paid for a conflict without end are among the hallmarks.
■ Meteor
Meteor (1979) was a sci-fi disaster flick about a giant meteor hurtling toward Earth, triggering avalanches and tsunamis and spelling doom. Penny-pinching B-movie producer Samuel Z. Arkoff spent nickels on SFX, saving his money for an impressive cast headed by Sean Connery as a crusty astrophysicist and Brian Keith as his cranky Soviet counterpart. Meteor also stared Martin Landau, Natalie Wood, Karl Malden and Henry Fonda. Given real-life anxiety over space debris, a remake is in order.
