January has historically been a dumping ground for bad films or movies that the studios didn’t really believe in.
That’s why it’s so rare when a film released in January turned out to be one of the best of the year. Or at least a movie that endures.
Watch With Us has taken a look back at the last five decades of cinema history to find the five best movies released in January.
One of these films even went on to win Best Picture at the Oscars, while another is an influential genre flick starring George Clooney.
5. ‘Cloverfield’ (2008)
Release date: January 18, 2008
If you lived through Cloverfield-mania in 2007, you may recall that the teasers for the film were actually more exciting than the movie itself. The secrecy and the brief glimpses of the movie captured the collective imaginations of fans, some of whom believed it to be a Godzilla flick.
It turned out to be a found-footage monster movie that was filmed by one of the main characters, Hud Platt (T.J. Miller). As Rob Hawkins (Michael Stahl-David) spends his last night in New York, the city comes under attack by a massive creature. Rob, Hud, Jason (Mike Vogel), Marlena (Lizzy Caplan) and Lily (Jessica Lucas) narrowly survive the first strike. But across town, Rob’s girlfriend, Beth McIntyre (Odette Yustman), is trapped. And the group has to save her before the army bombs the city to kill the creature.
Cloverfield is available to rent and buy on Prime Video.
4. ‘From Dusk Till Dawn’ (1996)
Release date: January 19, 1996
Younger movie fans may not remember this, but there was a time when Quentin Tarantino had greater acting aspirations than just cameos. Tarantino wrote the script for From Dusk till Dawn, which fuses a crime thriller with a horror story. George Clooney leads the cast as bank robber Seth Gecko, with Tarantino as his mentally ill brother, Richie Gecko.
After their latest robbery, the Gecko brothers are forced to flee the United States by taking Jacob Fuller (Harvey Keitel) and his two children, Kate (Juliette Lewis) and Scott (Ernest Liu), as their hostages. Once they make it to Mexico, all hell breaks loose when they enter a den of vampires led by the irresistible Santanico Pandemonium (Salma Hayek). To get out alive, the Geckos and the Fullers will need to work together.
From Dusk till Dawn is streaming on Paramount+.
3. ‘The Gentlemen’ (2020)
Release date: January 24, 2020
Guy Ritchie‘s The Gentlemen had the good fortune to arrive in theaters two months before the pandemic shut them down for over a year. This crime comedy features Matthew McConaughey as Mickey Pearson, an American living in London who made a fortune selling weed. Mickey and his wife, Rosalind (Michelle Dockery), want to leave the drug business behind and sell it to a businessman, Matthew Berger (Jeremy Strong).
Berger turns out to be a greedy jerk who sabotages Mickey’s business in an attempt to drive the price down. At the same time, a journalist named Fletcher (Hugh Grant) threatens to expose Mickey’s entire empire. Mickey’s a civilized man, but these are uncivilized times and he reacts accordingly.
The Gentlemen is available to rent or buy on Prime Video.
2. ‘Before Sunrise’ (1995)
Release date: January 19, 1995
February may have been a better release date for Before Sunrise, because this romantic film is for lovers. Richard Linklater directed and cowrote the story of Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Céline (Julie Delpy), who meet on a train and impulsively decide to spend an evening together just walking around Vienna and slowly falling in love with each other.
Most of the film is powered by the frank and emotionally open conversations that flow between Jesse and Céline. The tension that may keep them from consummating their connection is that they know they may never see each other again. Without spoiling the ending of this movie, we’ll tell you now that Hawk and Delpy re-teamed with Linklater for two sequels. But you’ll have to watch those films to discover what became of these young lovers.
Before Sunrise is available to rent or buy on Prime Video.
1. ‘Nomadland’ (2021)
Release date: January 29, 2021
Nomadland had a limited run in IMAX theaters near the end of January 2021, before it debuted on Hulu the next month. That was enough to qualify it for the Academy Awards, where it won Best Picture as well as Best Actress for Frances McDormand and Best Director for Chloé Zhao. That makes a pretty strong case for this as the best January release of all time.
The story follows Fern (McDormand), a woman who is living out of a van while searching for work. Fern is also dealing with her grief for her late husband, as well as the loss of her longtime job. Life on the road may sound appealing to some, but it’s a hard way to live, and Fern isn’t the only one struggling to survive. This is a character-driven film that has enough power to stay with viewers long after they’ve seen it.
Nomadland is available to rent or buy on Prime Video.
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