I didn’t see many movies in January, but those I did watch packed a surprisingly satisfying punch; all three featured women defying the control of others to carve new paths for their lives, with most carving those paths straight through their captors with very sharp knives.
That was cool.
And while my favorite movie of the trio features a woman realizing that the VIP club she desperately wants to join is just a gilded cage, my favorite character was a woman suddenly released from her cage of conformity and quickly realizing her true talents lie in plotting revenge, not playing nice.
January’s movies:
1. Anora (On DVD rented from library, 1/10/2026) Grade: A
Last year I was disappointed that Demi Moore didn’t win an Oscar for her work in “The Substance,” but after finally seeing “Anora,” I full embrace the Best Actress win by Mikey Madison. Not only did I believe every moment of her portrayal, I would have given her the statue just for the screaming fit she throws to keep two men from containing her, as their response to her full-bodied revolt created one of the funniest scenes I have ever watched.
And that comedy came at just the right time, for I was about to give up on this movie that lifts bits of plot and dialog from “Pretty Woman,” but little else from that fairytale. Because while the 1990 movie was essentially a rom-com/Cinderella story with just a side of sex work ordered from the kids menu, “Anora” has our main character’s body being rented by a man with far more realistic demands than Richard Gere’s too-driven-to-date businessman.
The resulting debauchery and disrespect inflicted on our heroine in this movie almost had me turning it off, but I am very glad I stuck with this slow-burning love story, which I not only found more realistic, but far more satisfying, than the nearly squeaky clean “Pretty Woman.”
2. Blink Twice (On DVD rented from the library, 1/17/2026) Grade: B+
I’ll admit it, I picked “Blink Twice” off the shelves because Channing Tatum was on the DVD cover. And knowing really nothing else about this movie, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it despite Tatum playing almost a bit part.
To avoid giving away too much of the plot, I’ll just describe “Blink Twice” as a nice mix of Fantasy Island and Get Out (and did I detect a dash of that creepy movie in which director Zoe Kravitz’s mom starred called Angel Heart?) that delivered an impressively edited feast of sounds, music and visuals that kept my attention far more competently than “Him,” which failed to create even a fraction of the “what the heck is happening?!” ambiance this movie deftly maintains throughout.
3. Send Help (In the theater, 1/31/2026) Grade: C
The best thing about this movie was Rachel McAdams, which was another surprise because I’d never quite warmed to her before. But here she exudes the perfect mix of cheerful-yet-creepy as a ridiculed outcast who suddenly gains power and popularity when civilization collapses around her. The only actress I’ve seen doing that role better these days is Christina Ricci in “Yellowjackets.”
But overall, the movie felt like a mediocre mix of the two great movies “Cast Away” and “Misery,” since it pales in comparison to both. My favorite parts of “Cast Away” are watching Tom Hanks opening packages, learning to fish and build a fire, but this movie decides not to show us much of how Linda adapts to the island she is dropped on, preferring instead to linger on her punishing her former boss.
Yet unlike “Misery,” when it came time for any actual torture, “Send Help” shies away from Linda physically maiming her boss unlike Kathy Bates’ Annie does to her captive, instead deciding to linger far too long on our two main characters squabbling with decidedly uninteresting chemistry, and mysteriously having the most violent scene not even featuring a human victim.
As someone who can definitely identify with Linda's inability to adapt to “polite society,” I wanted this movie to get far more detailed and depraved that it dared, and wish a director like David Fincher had been hired to relish in showing us exactly how Linda realizes her full potential.
Finally, here are the movies my grandmother saw in January of 1996:
Thursday, Jan. 4
Up 6:30, tea, breakfast McDonald’s.
Debbie and I to show, “The City of Lost Children.” French, very weird!
Sunday, Jan. 7
Thought to have haircut, he not there. Home, watered houseplants.
To “Toy Story.” Good.
Tuesday, Jan. 9
Breakfast Carl’s Jr., walked mall, Lilly passed test at DMV.
To show, “Waiting to Exhale.” Stupid, I thought.
Thursday, Jan. 11
Longs, Xerox gone. Wrote Mina, to Kinkos to copy Stimson's letter.
To deli, got sandwich. To show, “12 Monkeys.” Brad Pitt is paranoid, good acting.
Saturday, Jan. 13
Played La Boheme, some TV.
Watched “All the Mornings of the World.” French. Lovely color!
Monday, Jan. 15
To show, “Tom and Huck.” Better than I thought.
Ate Wendy’s, brought home salad.
Friday, Jan. 19
To show, “Sense and Sensibility.”
Post office, mailed pictures to Justine.
Home to find letter from Justine, no email luck. She taking International Communications.
Saturday, Jan. 20, 1996
To mall, post office, library, returned two books + records. Read Newsweek.
To show, “From Dusk til Dawn.” Special effects!
Monday, Jan. 22, 1996
To show, “Dead Man Walking.” Sean Penn, Susan Sarandon. Good.
Mail: letter from Mina, $103.88 from Colonial Penn.
Friday, Jan. 26, 1996
To show, “12 Monkeys,” second time. Understood better, not completely.
Kmart Scotts Valley, got more chicken.
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