10 January gems that came out in Hollywood's worst movie month
Brian TruittIf new movie possibilities like a weepy dog film and a weirdo Keanu Reeves sci-fi flick have you scampering back to see “Aquaman” again, it might just be January.
Welcome to Hollywood’s dump month, where your favorite studios slate the odd horror flick or occasional awards-season also-ran that probably is not going to make any money. In the average year, most of January and the last week of August makes Netflix an attractive alternative movie-watching option.
There are some gems, though, and here are 10 noteworthy flicks you can stream right now that arrived during a mostly forgettable time at the cineplex.
‘American Sniper’ (2015)
Every year, awards-worthy films quietly debut in December for Oscar consideration before a proper release in January. And after appearing on four screens at Christmas, Clint Eastwood's Iraq War drama “American Sniper” became a full-on phenomenon the next month, racking up $350 million and making a best-picture nominee out of Bradley Cooper’s captivating portrayal of military marksman Chris Kyle.
Stream it: iTunes, Vudu, Amazon
‘Before Sunrise’ (1995)
The beginning of director Richard Linklater’s talky romantic trilogy was released soon after its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, with Ethan Hawke’s Jesse and Julie Delpy’s Celine having a chance meeting and falling in love over the course of a Budapest train ride and a revelatory day spent tooling around Paris. If you dig this one, you can also dive into all the feels of 2004’s “Before Sunset” and 2013’s “Before Midnight” – both of which were summer releases.
‘Cloverfield’ (2008)
Outside of a couple of teaser trailers and a viral marketing campaign, no one knew anything about the J.J. Abrams-produced found-footage monster movie. But audiences flocked to the film that unleashed a huge creature on New York City, totally fouling up a party attended by a bunch of 20-somethings. The flick proved so popular it created an unconventional franchise that has spawned the 2016 kidnapping thriller “10 Cloverfield Lane” and last year’s outer-space mystery “The Cloverfield Paradox” (which had a surprise release on Netflix after the Super Bowl).
Stream it: iTunes, Vudu, Amazon
‘Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb’ (1964)
The best film to ever come out in January is also one of the best movies, period. Stanley Kubrick’s darkly comic political satire, nominated for four Oscars and one of the National Film Registry's inaugural inductees, took on the Cold War with a nuclear crisis needing to be averted after a kooky Air Force general orders a bomb dropped on the Soviets. Come for Peter Sellers playing three roles (including the president), stay for the iconic image of Slim Pickens riding a nuke like a bucking bronco.
Stream it: iTunes, Vudu, Amazon
‘From Dusk Till Dawn’ (1996)
There’s no schlock like A-list schlock. In Robert Rodriguez’s crazy vampire flick, George Clooney and Quentin Tarantino team up to play criminal brothers who take a family hostage, head for the border and end up at a Mexican strip club run by undead bloodsuckers. Sure, you can also binge three seasons of a remake series on Netflix, but there’s nothing like the cult-classic original with Salma Hayek table-dancing with a very large snake.
Stream it: Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, Vudu
‘Great Expectations’ (1998)
Ethan Hawke, apparently the patron saint of January movies that aren’t terrible, stars in this modern-day take on the Charles Dickens classic as a New York artist caught in a love triangle with a childhood love (Gwyneth Paltrow) and her wealthy boyfriend (Hank Azaria). Maybe not the greatest of the “Great” adaptations – that would be the 1946 one with Alec Guinness – but an intriguing watch considering it’s an early film from Oscar-winning director Alfonso Cuaron.
Stream it: iTunes, Starz, Vudu, Amazon
‘Paddington 2’ (2018)
Both British “Paddington” films – the 2015 original and last year’s sequel – are great little family-friendly January jams. Ben Whishaw voices the good-hearted, marmalade-loving bear who runs into a variety of shenanigans in both movies, but the second adventure is the best mainly because of the supporting cast: Hugh Grant plays a washed-up actor who steals a valuable pop-up book and frames Paddington for it, and Brendan Gleeson is a grumpy prison cook with a heart of gold.
Stream it: HBO, iTunes, Vudu, Amazon
‘Scanners’ (1981)
Today’s generation of film fans are probably introduced to the David Cronenberg sci-fi horror film via the GIF of its infamous head-explosion scene. Memes aside, it’s a pretty interesting, socially relevant story about a bunch of people with telepathic, telekinetic and other abilities (aka “scanners”) who are weaponized by a shady security firm and the inevitable revolt that results.
‘Split’ (2017)
M. Night Shyamalan’s thriller about a troubled dude (James McAvoy) with 23 personalities, and the clever teenage girl (Anya Taylor-Joy) who has to escape his villainous clutches, is a neat psychological tale. The fact that it’s a surprise and very satisfying sequel to Shyamalan’s own superhero flick “Unbreakable” – and the must-see setup to the upcoming “Glass” (in theaters Jan. 18) – just makes “Split” that much cooler.
Stream it: iTunes, Vudu, Amazon
‘Taken’ (2009)
It’s the hit project that made Liam Neeson a middle-age action-movie icon. The Irishman plays an ex-CIA operative “with a very particular set of skills” who gets tossed back in the thick of it when Albanian sex traffickers make the really dumb mistake of kidnapping his teenage daughter during a jaunt to France to follow U2 on tour. The action stuff is good, but his threats to the bad guys (“I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you”) are truly epic.
Stream it: iTunes, Vudu, Amazon
