When Oscar's big movies are coming home
Most of this year's best picture nominees are still playing in theaters, but you can watch five of them at home before the big night.
Two of the films vying for the top Oscar Feb. 28 are already out on DVD, Blu-ray and all digital platforms, and they're also the two biggest hits in the field: "Mad Max: Fury Road" and "The Martian."
Next up is Steven Spielberg's "Bridge of Spies," arriving Feb. 2 on disc formats and digital HD. Also Feb. 2, the journalism drama "Spotlight" will be available for purchase only on digital formats; digital rentals and discs arrive Feb. 23.
"Room," starring best-actress favorite Brie Larson, comes to digital formats on Feb. 23, followed by a March 1 disc release.
After the Oscars: March 15 brings the DVD/Blu-ray release of "The Big Short," and no home video plans have yet been announced for "Brooklyn" and "The Revenant."
Mulder mulligan
Last week I correctly guessed that Fox's "X-Files" revival miniseries would improve upon its frustrating premiere.
Last Monday's second episode, "Founder's Mutation," gave us all the staples of a midseason mystery: a nefarious doctor conducting nefarious experiments, Scully (Gillian Anderson) conducting an icky autopsy, Mulder (David Duchovny) bending the rules with a sly grin and a creepily ambiguous ending. It even threw in heart-wrenching visions of what life with their son would have been like had Mulder and Scully not given him up for adoption in Season 9.
The third episode, airing at 7 p.m. Monday, is the one you don't want to miss. "Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster" is one of writer Darin Morgan's strangely profound and downright wacky episodes, and features guest appearances by Rhys Darby ("Flight of the Conchords"), Kumail Nanjiani ("Silicon Valley") and Tyler Labine ("Reaper"). After two episodes of dirge-like exposition and deadly encounters, Duchovny and Anderson spring to life with a script that includes playful banter and a lizard man wearing briefs.
If Fox orders another "X-Files" miniseries, perhaps creator Chris Carter should ditch the aliens for good.
• Sean Stangland is a Daily Herald multiplatform editor. You can follow him on Twitter at @SeanStanglandDH.