movies

10 Best January Releases of All Time

POSTED BY Fred Topel | WEDNESDAY JANUARY 20 AT 8:55 PST 
General - Movies

We all know January movies suck. That’s why it’s so surprising and notable when a decent one gets through the first month of the year, let alone a downright good one. So maybe this is like rating the top 10 dictators less evil than Hitler, but since we’re stuck in January for another two weeks it’s at least nice to remember that there’s still hope for good movies. And I’m not talking about the Oscar movies that go wide in January or foreign movies that happen to get their U.S. release in January. I’m talking about movies intended to open in January that somehow turned out well.

10. Hostel

When Eli Roth unleashed his original horror creation the first weekend of the year, no one was prepared for something so twisted. This movie caught audiences off guard, starting off with a tour of the debauchery of eastern Europe then plunging into the depths of torture chambers.

9. Final Destination 2

Just barely a January movie coming out on the 31st, but not only is it awesome, it’s arguably the best in the series. It’s got some of the wildest kills and a fun sense of doom building off the first one. But this is such a great series, any Final Destination released in January would be tops.

8. Cloverfield

By the second half of this decade, I guess producers caught on that good horror movies had an open field in January. Under the tutelage of J.J. Abrams, Cloverfield reinvented both the giant monster movie and the pseudo-documentary. They actually did it right, as opposed to Blair Witch, and buried hidden background details in a just plain awesome orgy of New York destruction.

7. Smokin’ Aces

Don’t let the straight to video sequel sour your memory of the original. Joe Carnahan’s five-years-later follow up to Narc is a super cool, stylish action caper. Full of wild characters, twisted connections between them and aggressive camera and editing, Smokin’ Aces could exist alongside the releases of any month of the year. In January, it stands out as downright awesome.

6. Rambo

Hard to believe the long awaited fourth part of one of the most seminal franchises in Hollywood history would be released in the dumping ground of January. Certainly Stallone didn’t scrimp on the violence and legitimate political statement and character arc of John Rambo’s return. Just being the most brutal Rambo of all would be noteworthy, but it’s arguably as poignant as First Blood. Not since Rambo single handedly won Vietnam has a sequel explored such controversial political ground as Burma and done it so entertainingly.

5. Tremors

Maybe the straight to video sequels seem like January fare, but the original Tremors is an awesome, landmark horror comedy. You totally get absorbed by the town and their irreverent reaction to underground monsters. The scene where they come up with the name “Graboids” is still classic.

4. Stomp the Yard

Beyond how a movie this good got released in January, how did it get produced by Screen Gems? Everyone knows Screen Gems is the B-movie arm of Sony Pictures, probably makes the most profit but no one respects. Stomp the Yard is not just an awesome display of dance moves, but it’s a legitimate story with well developed characters. Yeah, they triumph over adversity, but they do it with much more class than those Step Up kids.


3. The Book of Eli

The quality of this movie is actually what inspired this list in the first place. Maybe it’s a timely benefit to Warner Brothers’ new release but they had nothing to do with me. I truly believe this will be the best movie of the year, and it certainly tops anything I saw last year. Who would have expected that on January 15? I do love the post-apocalyptic survival stories and Eli has more interesting survival than even I Am Legend. Plus, what it’s about is so smart too. They tackle religion without debating scripture. It’s about the social power that can be wielded by religion. You can marvel at the massive destruction, explore the world that remains or imagine the ramifications of the tidbits of society that remain. We’d be lucky to have a movie this good over the summer or the holidays.

2. From Dusk Till Dawn 

It’s probably a little unfair to release a Tarantino movie in January and compare it to the other January movies. Maybe they didn’t think it counted because he starred in it. True, it was positioned as a B movie, but in these skilled hands (including Rodriguez, Clooney, Keitel and Lewis’s), From Dusk Till Dawn stands as an awesome cinematic ride at any time of year. Even though all the trailers gave away the vampires, they made us forget for the first 50 minutes so we were still shocked when it became a totally different movie.

1. Blood Simple

I’m too young to verify this, but according to websites, the Coen Brothers first movie was actually released January 18 1985. If only they’d known it wasn’t January dump material, but the beginning of a legendary film career. Blood Simple remains one of their best movies, a tense thriller that shows the seeds of their later Fargo and No Country for Old Men. Characters just quirky enough to captivate you and mundane situations that are just so deadly it’s breathless.
 

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  1. Says:
    January 20th, 2010 at 06:15 pm Yeah Buddy! Rambo was Da Shiz yo! No doubt! Jess www.web-privacy.pl.tc
  2. Says:
    January 20th, 2010 at 06:16 pm You have terrible taste in movies
  3. Says:
    January 20th, 2010 at 06:17 pm You leave out Breach?? Great film, great actors, all in the pre-Oscar doldrums.
  4. Says:
    January 20th, 2010 at 06:19 pm Rambo was awful. Stomp the Yard was awful. Tremors was awful. Hostel was awful. All the Final Destination movies were awful. Book of Eli wasn't terrible, but it wasn't good.
  5. Says:
    January 20th, 2010 at 06:39 pm tremors was awful? rambo was awful? your opinion is now void
  6. Says:
    January 20th, 2010 at 06:39 pm Silence Of The Lambs opened in NYC the 30th, and that movie is a million times better than the shit on this list.
  7. Says:
    January 20th, 2010 at 07:18 pm Stopped reading as soon as he declared that the "Final Destination" movies were actually good. "Awesome" even, to use his words. Is this article a joke? Like seriously, is he just being sarcastic through this whole thing? He can't be serious about this.
  8. Says:
    January 20th, 2010 at 08:09 pm EPIC FAIL
  9. Says:
    January 20th, 2010 at 08:16 pm Taken!
  10. Says:
    January 20th, 2010 at 09:06 pm You guys are being dicks. Most of the movies are wonderful! Just because you don't share the same taste in movies, doesn't make them bad movies. Be a little open minded! I thought that "Ray" was one of the worst movies I've ever seen and look at all the awards that got.
  11. Says:
    January 20th, 2010 at 10:13 pm These are bad movies. Are you serious?
  12. Says:
    January 20th, 2010 at 10:25 pm Instead of this crap how about: Gran Torino, 9 January 2009 Munich, 6 January 2006 Million Dollar Baby, 28 January 2005 Adaptation, 10 January 2003
  13. Says:
    January 21st, 2010 at 12:19 am You have, without question, the worst taste in movies I have ever seen.
  14. Says:
    January 21st, 2010 at 01:32 am Shhh, he posted it on the internet and I read it. In reading it, it becomes true. All hail the controller of the tubes.
  15. Says:
    January 21st, 2010 at 09:01 am WTF? Stomp the Yard?? Seriously??
  16. Says:
    January 21st, 2010 at 10:28 am I would add, Scanners, the David Cronenberg classic.
  17. Says:
    January 21st, 2010 at 12:06 pm I hated Smokin' Aces with a passion that borders on murderous fury. The beginning of the movie is so cool. It builds up every character to be completely badass. Then, not a single one of the characters manages to be even remotely cool for the entire rest of the movie! The one dude bit his fingertips off in prison, but he has a hard time with a hotel security guard? Ben Affleck gets taken out almost immediately. The worst part, though, was the way that every action sequence would start then CUT AWAY to something else then cut back AFTER everything interesting has happened. Even the good actors in that movie came out looking like shit. The plot made no sense, the action scenes were ten seconds apiece, the characters were a massive let-down, the "aggressive" editing was basically done with a rusty hatchet, and the whole thing was one of the worst messes I've ever seen on film. Cloverfield was fun.
  18. Says:
    January 21st, 2010 at 05:26 pm This is meant to be ironic, right? Cause wtf otherwise.
  19. Says:
    January 21st, 2010 at 06:53 pm this is the worst list ever... smoking aces was the biggest pile of shit i ever saw in my life... step your game up you stupid idiot
  20. Says:
    January 22nd, 2010 at 06:50 am wow this is bad. Just goes to show any schmuck can start a website and be an "expert". Goodbye screen junkies.
  21. Says:
    January 22nd, 2010 at 08:03 am I would like Fred Topel to hang himself.
  22. Says:
    January 22nd, 2010 at 08:34 am Wow. This is a joke, right? Somehow Stomp the Yard made this list but Silence of the Lambs didn't?
  23. Says:
    January 22nd, 2010 at 10:50 am black people are stupid.
  24. Says:
    January 22nd, 2010 at 10:55 am Quit your whining... Bitchs
  25. Says:
    January 22nd, 2010 at 02:15 pm Are you fucking kidding me? Book of Eli sucks dick.
  26. Says:
    January 22nd, 2010 at 02:58 pm This list has got to be sarcastic or compiled by the guy who played Corky on Life Goes On.
  27. Says:
    January 22nd, 2010 at 06:22 pm this is bad man
  28. Says:
    January 23rd, 2010 at 08:34 am this is proof that nothin good comes out in january. smokin aces was one of the worst movies ive ever seen!!!
  29. Says:
    January 23rd, 2010 at 03:43 pm Someone should stuff fire ants down Fred Topel's pee hole. What a cock nozzle.
  30. Says:
    January 23rd, 2010 at 09:05 pm so what movie is the hot chick with the big gun from ? Help me here.
  31. Says:
    January 24th, 2010 at 06:38 pm i agree with most of these but i say the book of eli should be #1. by far the best movie i' ve ever seen. including avatar, silence of the lambs, and raising cloverfield on the list would be things to change
  32. Says:
    January 25th, 2010 at 12:01 pm the only one worth seeing of your top 10 is From Dusk to Dawn. get serious about the other 9
  33. Says:
    January 25th, 2010 at 02:40 pm Aside from From Dusk till Dawn and maybe Blood Simple, this is a pretty piss poor selection. Calling the Final Destination movies awesome just took away any credibility you had regarding taste in movies.
  34. Says:
    January 25th, 2010 at 03:05 pm rambo was a good movie showed a look as how blessed we are and what a lot of suffering goes on elsewhere .
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