January Movie Preview: A Haunted Resolution
The ball is dropped, the Christmas trees are down (or it will be soon if you are procrastinating like me). So let’s get into a new year of movies. A number of the movies that will be in the award show conversations will be expanding this month. But in terms of the wide release titles, the January movie list is noticeably devoid of superheroes, space battles and all the geeky fare we spend our days counting down to. Don’t fret, however. We get Robert Downey Jr.’s first role post Avengers: Endgame and there’s also some big action comedy courtesy of Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. Here’s our full breakdown in the January movie preview.
January 3rd– The Grudge
The Grudge was a successful horror film released in 2004 starring Sarah Michelle Gellar. A second installment was then released followed by a straight-to-video third film. Too soon for a reboot? “Nah,” says Hollywood. Like its predecessor, the story has a creepy ghost attempting to kill everyone who enters a certain haunted house.
January 10th– Like a Boss, Underwater
Tiffany Haddish and Rose Byrne star in the R rated comedy Like a Boss. The pair play best friends who are struggling with debt after starting their own beauty company. When help comes in the form of an investment from a mogul, played by Selma Hayek, they think they have been saved. But that quickly proves too good to be true.
Underwater takes place in space. I’m joking. It, of course, takes place where the very on the nose title suggests. A team of researchers travel to unexplored ocean depths for scientific purposes. They then must attempt a daring escape when a massive sea monster turns up. Kristen Stewart, TJ Miller and Jessica Henwick star in the film.
January 17th– Bad Boys for Life, Dolittle
The long-awaited third Bad Boys film, Bad Boys for Life, has arrived. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence are back as Mike Lowrey and Marcus Bennet respectively. But as the pair approach retirement, their jobs have become less glamorous. That is until a cartel boss seeks revenge against them.
While a certain age of person may think exclusively of Eddie Murphy when they hear the name of Doctor Dolittle, the character has been around for 100 years. So we shouldn’t be surprised to see a new adaptation in the works. Robert Downey Jr. portrays the latest version of Dolittle set in Victorian England. That doesn’t mean the talking animals will be any less sarcastic though. A team of award winning and comedic actors make up the voice cast. There is Emma Thompson, Rami Malek, Kumail Nanjiani, Tom Holland and many more. I’ll reserve a full judgement until I see the film, but the trailers look a bit like RDJ’s performance is similar to his version of Sherlock Holmes… but now he can talk to animals. By the way, I would watch that movie too.
January 24th– The Last Full Measure, The Gentlemen, The Turning
The Last Full Measure tells the story of real-life war hero William H. Pitsenbarger, a US Air Force Pararescueman who saved more than 60 lives during the Vietnam War before sacrificing himself for his fellow soldiers. Decades later, a Pentagon worker played by Sebastian Stan is investigating a request to award Pitsenbarger the Medal of Honor. Beyond interviewing family members and retired soldiers, a far-reaching conspiracy is uncovered. Christopher Plummer and Samuel L. Jackson co-star.
Writer/ director Guy Ritchie returns to his crime movie roots with The Gentlemen. A violent struggle erupts for a drug lord’s (Matthew McConaughey) business. Charlie Hunnam, Hugh Grant, Michelle Dockery and Henry Golding co-star. Oh and don’t forget Jeremy Strong and Colin Farrell. Fans of Ritchie’s cult classics will see his brand of ultra-violent comedy on display here.
It is unclear what stuff of nightmares we’re dealing with in The Turning. I can tell you that it looks very scary though. We know Finn Wolfhard can play an annoying teenager well. But now he’s an annoying teenager who also seems to be haunted and evil in some way. Mackenzie Davis plays a governess hired to take care of a brother and sister after the mysterious deaths of their parents. It doesn’t take long before she is terrorized by an evil entity that is linked to the children.
January 31st– The Rhythm Section, Gretel & Hansel
In The Rhythm Section, Blake Lively plays a woman grieving after her family died in a plane crash. When she learns that it wasn’t an accident, but a planned bombing, she goes on a mission to avenge her family and bring the perpetrators to justice. Jude Law and Sterling K. Brown co-star.
Maybe I’m the only one waiting for a sequel to the 2013 action film Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters. While that remains unlikely, a new fantasy horror film takes on the fairytale siblings. Gretel & Hansel emphasizes all of the scariest parts of the Grimm fairytale. It’s fair to say you won’t be telling your kids this story.
I may have to wait and watch this one at home with my 55″ and corner tv mount.
In the past I have always been neutral regarding the Bad Boys films, but the trailers for Bad Boys for Life has convinced me to make it my pick from the January movie bunch. It looks like a lot of fun. That’s not something we usually say about January movies after studios have unleashed their best releases on holiday audiences in November and December. It will also be fun to see RDJ take on another eccentric protagonist to add to his resume in Dolittle. A staggering five out of the 11 movies listed above are horror movies. I didn’t make a New Year’s resolution to sleep less, but that’s what would happen if I watched all these films. Happy New Year from Geek Insider! I’m going to go sleep with the lights on.