January 2024 staff picks: The movies and series you can't miss

We love seeing "Academy Award Winner Michelle Yeoh" printed on a title card, and this Netflix action/comedy series looks to celebrate everything she’s brought to the screen for nearly 40 years. The streaming service is banking on Brad Fulchuck (the writer/producer who isn’t quite as well known as Ryan Murphy but has been instrumental in the success of "Pose," "AHS," "Glee," etc.) to carve out space for the show as their next big new series. Yeoh plays a mom whose husband and eldest son were living that triad life in Taipei until dad was offed, sending the prodigal son back to LA with gangsters in tow. As you might imagine, it’s up to mom to protect the family. Yeoh, let’s go.

Series premieres Thursday, Jan. 4 on Netflix

With "A Discovery of Witches," "Mayfair Witches," and "Interview With the Vampire" in its lineup, AMC is becoming the go-to network for supernatural dramas."Sanctuary" continues this trend, set in a contemporary world where witches have lived peacefully within society for centuries, until a teen's murder by magical means has everyone pointing fingers and wondering if the Salem witch trials weren't such a bad idea. This one looks like a solid mix of high school drama, sinister forces at play, and a commentary on how quick a community can turn on each other. Can't wait to see how it plays out.

Series premieres Thursday, Jan. 4 on AMC

There’s something in the water in the latest horror movie from nightmare factory Blumhouse and horror legend James Wan. Wyatt Russell and Kerry Condon play a couple whose idyllic new home holds a haunted secret in the backyard pool. First-time feature director Bryce McGuire and co-writer Rod Blackhurst initially unleashed this aquatic terror in 2014 as a short film on YouTube, but thanks to support from Wan and inspiration from classics like 'Poltergeist', 'Christine', and 'Jaws', the creative duo are about to take a dive into the deep end of horror filmmaking. We can’t wait to see the results.

In theaters Friday, Jan. 5

Daniel Levy made a difficult character easy to love in "Schitt’s Creek," and in his debut as a movie director and star, he’s going to put us through it with a story about losing a spouse, the grief that’s right there in the title of the movie, and the truths we sometimes have to confront of our own. At least he found a way to film in Paris, which we’re sure is one of 1000 reasons Ruth Negga and Himesh Patel signed on to be their friend’s support system abroad. Although everyone’s harboring some secrets in this script, an indication of Levy’s dedication to make space in his stories for his co-stars. Even if the trailer seems to leave few story details unturned, we will be on the sofa as the movie premieres on Netflix, phone on Do Not Disturb, delivery left at the door so no one sees us bawling.

Premieres Friday, Jan. 5 on Netflix

In theaters Friday, Jan. 5

They say whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, and anime fans will find out if that’s true when the highly anticipated adaptation of Chugong’s web novel hits Crunchyroll this month. Based on one of the most-read Korean manhwa of all time, "Solo Leveling" follows Sung Jinwoo (voiced by Taito Ban in the Japanese-language cast, and Aleks Le in the English-language cast) as he discovers new powers after a humiliating defeat, thanks to a program called the System only he can see. With animation from acclaimed A-1 Pictures ("Sword Art Online") and motion graphics by Production I.G ("Attack on Titan," "PSYCHO-PASS"), “Solo Leveling” is sure to keep fans tuned in week after week.

Series premieres Saturday, Jan. 6 on Crunchyroll

The familiest friendliest studio in the universe is taking a decidedly mature turn with their new miniseries "Echo," which will be the first M-rated series in the MCU. This spin-off of 2021’s "Hawkeye" follows Maya Lopez aka Echo (Alaqua Cox) as she flees back to her Oklahoma roots to evade Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) and his criminal organization. All five episodes are dropping on Disney+ at once, making this action-adventure the perfect binge watch for these cold winter nights.

Series premieres Tuesday, Jan. 9 on Disney+

Series premieres Thursday, Jan. 11 on Peacock

Series premieres Thursday, Jan. 11 on Netflix

Streaming Friday, Jan. 12 on Apple TV+

'The Harder They Fall' director Jeymes Samuel makes the jump from Westerns to satirical biblical epics in his second feature, 'The Book of Clarence.' Although the Monty Python classic 'Life of Brian' immediately comes to mind, Samuel looks to be leaning more towards 'Ben Hur' and 'Spartacus' for his inspiration. David Oyelowo, Benedict Cumberbatch, Omar Sy, James McAvoy, and Alfre Woodard round out the star-studded cast.

In theaters Friday, Jan. 12

Premieres Friday, Jan. 12 on Netflix

You can’t tell from the trailer, but this movie is an adaptation of the stage musical, not exactly a proper remake of the original movie some of us have loved for 20 years as we slowly turned into cool moms. Listen, anything that gets Tina Fey on screen, we’ll watch it (she also wrote the screenplay again). Plus, Tim Meadows will return as Principal Duvall, joining Angourie Rice as Cady Heron and Broadway’s Renée Rapp reprising her role as Regina George, head of the Plastics. Other stage stars will appear, and we’ll be gooped if Original Cady and at least one of the Plastics don’t at least make cameo appearances. Not doing so would be against the rules of feminism, though don’t bank on Rachel McAdams.

In theaters Friday, Jan. 12

David Ayer is at it again, and this time he’s taking Jason Statham along with him into a world of organized vengeance and global corruption. Statham stars as Adam Clay, a take-no-prisoners former operative who is pushed into action after a phishing scam leads to the death of his neighbor. If that plot isn’t enough to get you interested, the cast, which includes Josh Hutcherson, Jeremy Irons, and Minnie Driver, is sure to do the trick.

In theaters Friday, Jan. 12

May "True Detective" make like "Fargo" and prove there's still life in the aging crime anthology series. Four years after its most recent season, new showrunner Issa López pulls off a GOAT casting move by landing Jodie Foster to star alongside boxer-turned-actor Kali Reis (who we just realized will star in a 'Wind River' sequel that somehow wasn't on our radar). The new season is set in Alaska and the mystery kicks off with scientists who go missing from a research base. Foster and Reis play the cops who reunite after a case that went south years ago, but we're plotzing over the idea the show finally leans into supernatural themes it has flirted with in the past.

Season 4 premieres Sunday, Jan. 14 on Max

Hey, so, however you felt about "A Murder at the End of the World," hopefully you agree a true gift in 2024 is more Clive Owen on our screens. The man will we forever love for Children of Men is the new Sam Spade, the detective made immortal by Humphrey Bogart and Ricardo Cortez. Picture the storied detective living in retirement in the South of France until a brutal multiple murder stirs him into action. Then throw a kid with supernatural powers into the mix, plus "The Queen’s Gambit" director Scott Frank running the show!

Series premieres Sunday, Jan. 14 on AMC

Science fiction has long been a fertile playground to exorcise current fears, and director Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s latest film, 'I.S.S.,' looks to be doing just that. In the movie, astronauts on the International Space Station war with themselves and each other for control after an attack sends Russia and the US into red alert. The indie sci-fi thriller, which debuted to positive reviews at Tribeca Film Festival last June, boasts an impressive cast, including genre veterans John Gallagher Jr. ('10 Cloverfield Lane', "Westworld") and Pilou Asbæk ("Game of Thrones," 'Overlord').

In theaters Friday, Jan. 19

Definitely not for the kids, this animated musical comedy is full of sinners, demons, and all the bad behavior you’d imagine from a series set in Hell. Creator Vivienne Medrano financed her YouTube pilot for “Harbin Hotel” largely via Patreon, but was able to gain the backing of A24 and MGM for a full season on Prime Video.

Series premieres Friday, Jan. 19 on Prime Video

Creative minds behind "Narcos" and "Justified" team up to help Sofía Vergara shed aspects of her "Modern Family" image with a Netflix series that dramatizes the life of Griselda Blanco Restrepo, a drug lord who rose to prominence in 1970s Miami as cocaine became the city’s main currency. Restrepo's been immortalized in pop culture by documentarians and rappers alike, and Catherine Zeta-Jones played her in a TV movie a handful of years ago. The series, which does not have the endorsement of the Blanco family, is set for a single, 6-episode run, though we would totally watch a sequel series based on her son, Michael Corleone Blanco.

Series premieres Thursday, Jan. 25 on Netflix

The Apple TV+ limited series "Masters of the Air" completes the WWII trilogy that began with "Band of Brothers" (2001) and the "The Pacific" (2010). Based on Donald L. Miller's novel "Masters of the Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany," the series follows the Eighth Air Force’s 100th Bomb Group, which flew 8,630 missions between 1943 to 1945. Like the previous series, "Masters of the Air" sports an impressive ensemble cast of buzzy Hollywood talent including Austin Butler, Barry Keoghan, Ncuti Gatwa, Callum Turner, Bel Powley, and many more.

Series premieres Friday, Jan. 26 on Apple TV+

Not since the turn of the century have we seen such a wealth of domestic thrillers and morally complex dramas hit the screen. And yet, writer-director Jade Halley Bartlett seems to have set her sights on outdoing them all with her debut film 'Miller’s Girl.' Jenna Ortega stars as a student whose creative writing skills turn the eye of professor Jonathan Miller (Martin Freeman). As their relationship grows, and their power dynamic changes, the unorthodox duo find themselves entangled in a web that threatens to destroy their lives. Adapted from Bartlett’s original stage play, Miller’s Girl seems to be following in the grand tradition of films like 'The Crush' and 'Secretary,' but the true nature of the auteur’s thesis remains to be seen.

In theaters Friday, Jan. 26

Series premieres Friday, Jan. 26 on Prime Video

We were beginning to lose hope for a new chapter of Ryan Murphy's most underrated series. The creator/producer hands over Season 2 to director Gus Van Sant, who has only flirted with TV in the past. We kind of can’t even with a cast that includes Molly Ringwald, Naomi Watts, Diane Lane, Chloë Sevigny, Calista Flockhart, and Demi Moore as a circle of New York elites who are betrayed by their confidant Truman Capote in a short story that isn't a good look for anyone, including its author ultimately. We’ve loved Tom Hollander ever since we first saw him on "Ab Fab," and we hope this role that ultimately brings him to the awards podium with a cocktail in hand, in tribute to the hard-living author.

Season 2 premieres Wednesday, Jan. 31 on Hulu

In theaters