Five movies to catch in the month of February. As always, no spoilers ahead.

By Daniel Loy

The Lego Movie
Scheduled release: 6 February
Director: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller
Cast: Chris Pratt, Will Ferrell, Elizabeth Banks 

Most of us have played with Lego as a child, heck, some of us collect Lego as adults. The constant release of new Lego sets and mini-figures modeled after pop culture characters has contributed to Lego’s enduring appeal. Now, with the release of The Lego Movie, Lego proves just how unwilling it is to become but a forgotten childhood plaything. 

In The Lego Movie, an ordinary mini-figure by the name of Emmet (Chris Pratt) is mistaken as the MasterBuilder and is tasked to stop the evil Lord Business (Will Ferrell) from gluing the universe together. Popular real and reel life characters such as Batman, Gandalf and even Abraham Lincoln even make their appearances in full Lego-ed form! What a build-up, we truly can’t wait to catch this one on the big screen.

Lone Survivor
Scheduled release: 13 February
Director: Peter Berg
Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsch

Marky Mark is back, and this time not as a BFF (Bear’s Friend Forever). In Lone Survivor, Mark Wahlberg takes on the war film genre, not just as its lead actor, but also as one of its producers. You could say the stakes have been raised.

Marcus Luttrell (Wahlberg) and his team of Navy Seals are on a mission to capture or dispose of al Qaeda leader Ahmad Shahd. Like all war movies, things go horribly wrong and the team is forced to fend for their lives. Expect nothing less than lots of action.

Out of the Furnace
Scheduled release: 20 February
Director: Scott Cooper
Cast: Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Zoey Saldana

Christian Bale, ever the method actor, puts on various accents and tailors his physique to fit each role. Remember Bale as overweight Irving Rosenfeld from American Hustle? That came after the filming of Out of the Furnace, in which he plays Russell, an ex-convict/worker at a local steel mill in western Pennsylvania.

In the movie, Russell’s brother, Rodney (Casey Affleck), struggles with a life of normalcy after returning from the Iraqi war. After spending time in prison, Russell returns home to find that things have changed for the worst. Rodney has gone into the underground world of street fighting and has seemingly vanished. Russell must do all it takes to fight for justice, even if it means taking on the crime rings.

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
Scheduled release: 20 February
Director: Adam McKay
Cast: Will Ferrell, Steve Carell, Paul Rudd

A decade after the original Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy was released, funnyman Will Ferrell returns to play the titular character Ron Burgundy, who’s the top rated anchorman in San Diego. Things seem to be smooth sailing for Ron and his team, until a new anchorwoman by the name of Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate) arrives and kicks Ron off the throne. With his job now gone, Ron has to figure a way to climb back up and take back the position that’s rightfully his.

Non-stop
Scheduled release: 27 February
Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
Cast: Liam Neeson, Julianne Moore, Michelle Dockery

At 62, Liam Neeson ought to be playing grandfather roles, instead, the Irish actor has been upstaging all other ambassadors of active aging, kicking ass in action films like Taken, Taken 2 and Unknown.

In Non-stop, Neeson plays an air marshal on board a transatlantic flight. He soon receives text messages from an unknown source containing threats to kill off passengers one by one unless $150 million is transferred to an off-shore account. The confined setting and suspense of this thriller is very similar to Jodie Foster’s Flightplan, so don’t buy a drink at the popcorn stand, or be prepared to hold your pee.