While the newly merged Warner Bros Discovery has resulted in the absolute gutting of much of their animation and family-centered content (as well as a lot of other original programs, like Westworld?), the company is still sprinkling HBO Max and HBO with some good stuff in January 2023. Some of the new releases seem like an effort to keep investors at bay, though other projects were years in the making and ultimately deemed “valuable.” (I’m not arguing that this is inherently a bad thing, it’s just that deciding who or what is important has become a trend.)
In the first month of 2023, we’re getting two highly anticipated adaptions: The Last of Us, based on the hit video game of the same name, and Mindy Kaling’s animated Velma series, based on the character from Scooby-Doo. While both have their critics online, these titles are what’s going to get us through the winter and the long Game of Thrones (and all of Westeros/Essos, really) drought. In addition to a few other series, the platform will be flushed with many movies released in the last forty years.
January 1
20 Feet From Stardom (2013)
American Hustle (2013)
American Ultra (2015)
At Middleton (2013)
Back to School (1986)
Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons (2022)
Black Butterfly (2017)
Captain Phillips (2013)
Catch a Fire (2006)
Child’s Play (2019): After you’ve recovered from watching Aubrey Plaza call Drew Barrymore “mommy” a few times, you can see Plaza play the mother of a child with a Chucky doll (voiced by Mark Hamill) in this 2019 reboot of the Child’s Play franchise.
Cold Pursuit (2019)
Cops and Robbersons (1994)
Coup de torchon (1981)
Crocodile Dundee (1986), Crocodile Dundee II (1988), and Crocodile Dundee In Los Angeles (2001)
Cruising (1980)
Death Warrant (1990)
Dim Sum Funeral (2008)
Dom Hemingway (2013)
Every Secret Thing (2014)
Extortion (2017)
Fool’s Gold (2008)
Flashpoint (2007)
From Here to Eternity (1953)
Geronimo: An American Legend (1993): While most “big-money” Hollywood depictions of Native Americans tend to be absolutely terrible, this movie piques my interest because, at the time of release, it was praised by many advocacy groups. This film stars Cherokee actor and producer Wes Studi as the famous Apache leader Geronimo and follows his final days before becoming a prisoner of war at the hands of the U.S. government.
Gemini (2017)
Ghostbusters (1984) and Ghostbusters II (1989)
Hereditary (2018)
Hoodlum (1997)
Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013)
Jennifer Eight (1992)
John Wick (2014), John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017), and John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019)
Jumping the Broom (2011)
Jury Duty (1995)
Kill the Irishman (2011)
Kusama: Infinity (2018)
Law Abiding Citizen (2009)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962): In studies about media representation of people of color, this is one example that’s always brought up (second only to Birth of a Nation). From the Blackface and brownface to the stereotypes steeped in orientalism and white-savior themes, this might be worth watching just to better understand the criticism and its legacy in film. Or not—because it is super racist.
Line of Duty (2019)
Marley & Me (2008)
Matilda (1996)
Nine (2009)
Oasis: Supersonic (2016)
Our Idiot Brother (2011)
Piranha 3D (2010) and Piranha 3DD (2012)
Planet 51 (2009)
Precious Cargo (2016)
Quartet (2012)
Regression (2015)
Rememory (2017)
Sarah’s Key (2010)
Skate Kitchen (2018)
Stephen King’s Graveyard Shift (1990) and Silver Bullet (1985)
Support the Girls (2018)
Teen Wolf (1985) and Teen Wolf Too (1987)
The Artist (2011)
The Book of Life (2014): Even though it came out a few years before Disney’s Coco, I think this movie kind of slipped under the radar. It made its money back, but it didn’t have the kind of runaway success or get all the flowers this film deserved (especially for legendary creative Jorge R. Gutierrez). The story follows a group of friends that venture off into different places as adults, but the tension of the love triangle formed within the group remains intact. Further complicating the situation are gods who are betting on specific outcomes of this friendship.
The Brink (2019)
The Cabin in the Woods (2012)
The Company Men (2010)
The Cookout (2004)
The Crying Game (1992)
The Guilty (2021)
The Haunting (1999)
The Homesman (2014)
The Hunter (2011)
The Iron Lady (2011): After season 4 of The Crown, with Gillian Anderson playing a very convincing Margaret Thatcher, I’m definitely itching to watch Meryl Streep in this role. I’ve already rewatched this clip three times in preparation.
The Last Face (2016)
The Lobster (2015)
The Master (2012)
The Perfect Score (2004)
The Promise (2016): I really wish Oscar Issac would stop being cast as anything vaguely brown, however, I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out this important movie. The Promise stars Issac, Christian Bale, and Angela Sarafyan and is set in 1914 at the end of the Ottoman Empire. While two lovers (Issac and Sarafyan) find comfort in one another, the government begins executing the Armenian genocide (an atrocity Turkey still doesn’t recognize today, and the U.S. didn’t acknowledge until 2021). Bale plays an Associated Press reporter following the events as they unfold.
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)
The Unborn (2009)
The Whole Ten Yards (2004)
This Boy’s Life (1993)
This One’s for the Ladies (2018)
Urge (2016)
USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage (2016)
Vendetta (2022)
When We Were Kings (1996)
White Chicks (2004)
Wild Rose (2018)
Woman at War (2018)
Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
January 3
The Menu (2022)
January 6
DC’s Stargirl (season 3)
The Nun (2018)
January 8
We Baby Bears (season 1F)
January 10
Horrible Bosses 2 (2014)
January 11
In With the Old (season 3)
January 12
Blended (2014)
Velma (series premiere, new episodes out on Thursdays): This adult-animation take (which is not pornography because there’s plenty of that) on Velma Dinkley stars Sam Richardson, Constance Wu, Glenn Howerton, and Mindy Kaling, and it has me so excited—even as someone who isn’t into true crime. I mean, I was already interested, but that cast is fantastic. No notes.
The Climb (series premiere, new episodes on Thursdays)
January 13
The Big Soirée (El Gran Sarao) (series premiere, new episodes on Fridays)
I Don’t Like Driving w/t (No Me Gusta Conducir) (series premiere, new episodes on Fridays)
January 15
The Last of Us (series premiere, new episodes on Sundays): Based on the video game series of the same name, this is probably one of the most highly anticipated series coming to HBO in 2023, and we’re getting it in the first month! Joel (Pedro Pascal) joins up with a young child named Ellie (Bella Ramsey) on a trek across a post-apocalyptic U.S.
January 17
​​Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons (2022)
Sesame Street Mecha Builders, Season 1
January 20
The Cabin Chronicles (season 3)
January 20
YOLO: Silver Destiny (season two)
(featured image: HBO Max)
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