We examine the January 2021 Crave schedule to identify the most anticipated titles coming to the streaming platform this month.
RuPaul’s Drag Race (season 13) & RuPaul’s Drag Race UK (season 2)
Drag Race fans are getting a double dose in January with the premieres of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 13 and RuPaul’s Drag Race UK season 2. Shot during the pandemic, season 13 will open with 13 contestants squaring off in six lip syncs for their lives. Then, half way through the month, the second season of the British version kicks off. The cast is much bigger than in season one and RuPaul, Michelle Visage, Graham Norton and Alan Carr return as judges. The shot-in-quarantine finale of season 12 was pragmatic but also a creative shakeup the show needed. Here’s hoping pandemic measures lead to similar bouts of creativity in the new seasons. January 1 & January 14
Los Espookys (season 1)
Crave added the first season of HBO’s eccentric quasi-supernatural comedy without any fanfare, but we think it deserved fireworks: Co-created by Julio Torres (My Favorite Shapes), Ana Fabrega and Fred Armisen – who all appear in the show as well – the half-hour series follows the antics of a group of horror fans in an unspecified Latin American nation who offer a unique service, manufacturing “real” nightmares for the people who need them. Exorcisms, alien abductions, sea monsters, cursed mirrors – it’s all re-created with loving, eccentric care. And the occasional pratfall. Now streaming.
Locked Down
Filmed last fall in London, this HBO Max project from director Doug Liman (Mr. & Mrs. Smith) and screenwriter Steven Knight (Locke) pairs Chiwetel Ejiofor and Anne Hathaway as exes – quarantined just before they could work out their separation – who find themselves in the unique position to carry out a small-stakes, high-yield heist. The circumstances are preposterous, but – as we’re constantly being reminded – these are unprecedented times. Read our full review here. Now streaming.
Two Weeks To Live
This six-part limited series – a co-production between Sky and HBO Max – stars Maisie Williams as a 21-year-old living with her survivalist mother (Fleabag’s Sian Clifford) in rural Scotland. Convinced that all life on earth will end in two weeks’ time (it’s a long story), she sets out to use her remaining days to find the man who killed her father (which is a longer story). Also, it’s a comedy. January 7
Monkey Beach
Fresh from its Toronto premiere at the imagineNATIVE film festival in October, Loretta S. Todd’s adaptation of Eden Robinson’s novel stars The Revenant’s Grace Dove as a Vancouver woman drawn back home to Kitamaat Village, where she discovers she’s a key player in a supernatural drama that stretches back for generations – and might claim the life of her brother. And said brother is played by Joel Oulette, who stars in 2020’s other big Robinson adaptation, CBC’s Trickster. So there’s a whole synergy thing going on. January 6
Painting With John
Three decades ago, the six-part television series Fishing With John gave indie actor John Lurie the chance to hang out with his pals Jim Jarmusch, Willem Dafoe, Dennis Hopper, Matt Dillon, Tom Waits… and just talk. In this new HBO series, Lurie – who’s been tweeting out his watercolour art for the last few years – invites us to his island home for an unscripted show about his life and his creative process. And right now, that sounds awfully appealing. January 22
The Sister
Nobody does moody, brooding, efficient crime shows like the Brits. The latest by Luther creator Neil Cross is The Sister, a four-part miniseries based on his own novel, Burial. Russell Tovey (Being Human, Years And Years) plays a man whose life is suddenly altered when a man from his past (Bertie Carvel) shows up on his doorstep with some unwelcome news. The series already aired in the UK in the fall, making it appropriate Halloween viewing (there are some supernatural thrills and chills). January 29
30 Coins
Cult director Álex de la Iglesia’s horror series is coming to HBO Max and Crave after winning over both audiences and critics in Spain earlier this year. Expect a mix of dark humour and Catholic terrors in this story of a priest, a veterinarian and a politician who take on the forces of hell. The title is a reference to the amount the apostle Judas reportedly received to betray Jesus. January 4
The full list of new titles available on Crave in January 2021 by date is below. The + symbol indicates a TV show or movie that is only available on Crave+ . The * symbol indicates a TV show or movie that is only available with the Starz add-on.
TV shows
January 1
RuPaul’s Drag Race (season 13, episode 1)
Star Trek: Discovery (season 3, episode 12)
Teen Mom 2 (season 10)
January 3
Power Book II: Ghost (season 1, episode 10)*
Shameless (season 11, episode 5)+
Your Honor (season 1, episode 5)
January 4
30 Coins (season 1, episodes 1-2)+
January 5
The Bold And The Beautiful (season 34, episodes 69-73)
January 7
Two Weeks To Live (season 1, Episode 1)+
January 8
Catfish (seasons 4-7)
RuPaul’s Drag Race (season 13, episode 2)
Star Trek: Discovery (season 3, episode 13)
W5 (season 55, episode 11)
January 10
The Circus (season 6, episode 1)
No Man’s Land (season 1, episode 1)*
Shameless (season 11, episode 6)+
Tiger (part 1)+
Your Honor (season 1, episode 6)
January 11
30 Coins (season 1, episode 3)+
January 14
Los Espookys (season 1)+
RuPaul’s Drag Race UK (season 2, episode 1)
Two Weeks To Live (season 1, episode 2)+
January 15
Catfish (season 8)
Real Time With Bill Maher (season 19, episode 1)+
RuPaul’s Drag Race (season 13, episode 3)
Supermarket Sweep (season 1)
January 17
The Circus (season 6, episode 2)
No Man’s Land (season 1, episode 2)*
Shameless (season 11, episode 7)+
Tiger (part 2)+
Your Honor (season 1, episode 7)
January 18
30 Coins (season 1, episode 4)+
The Bold And The Beautiful (season 34, episodes 74-78)
January 19
The Bold And The Beautiful (season 34, episodes 79-83)
January 20
C.B. Strike: Lethal White (season 1, episode 1)+
January 21
RuPaul’s Drag Race UK (season 1, episode 2)
Selena + Chef (season 2)
Two Weeks To Live (season 1, Episode 3)+
January 22
Painting With John (season 1, episode 1)+
Real Time With Bill Maher (season 19, episode 2)+
RuPaul’s Drag Race (season 13, episode 4)
January 24
The Circus (season 6, episode 3)
Euphoria Special Part 2: Jules+
No Man’s Land (season 1, episode 3)*
Shameless (season 11, episode 8)+
Your Honor (season 1, episode 8)
January 25
30 Coins (season 1, episode 5)+
Pairings
January 26
The Bold And The Beautiful (season 34, episodes 84-88)
January 27
C.B. Strike: Lethal White (season 1, episode 2)+
January 28
RuPaul’s Drag Race UK (season 1, episode 3)
Two Weeks To Live (season 1, Episode 4)+
January 29
MTV Cribs International (season 1)
Painting With John (season 1, episode 2)+
Real Time With Bill Maher (season 19, episode 3)+
RuPaul’s Drag Race (season 13, episode 5)
The Sister (season 1, episodes 1-2)+
Teen Mom OG (seasons 4-5)
January 31
The Circus (season 6, episode 4)
Desus & Mero (season 3, episode 1)
No Man’s Land (season 1, episode 4)*
Shameless (season 11, episode 9)+
Your Honor (season 1, episode 9)
Movies
January 1
Akeelah And The Bee*
Crank*
Crank 2*
The High Note+
Identity Thief*
The King Of Staten Island+
Les Miserables (2012)*
Taken*
Taken 2*
Tammy*
Turbo*
January 4
I Am Jackie O
January 5
Billy Madison*
Caddyshack*
Happy Gilmore*
January 6
Field Of Dreams*
Fried Green Tomatoes*
Great Outdoors*
Monkey Beach+
January 7
Career Opportunities*
Mallrats*
National Lampoon’s Animal House*
January 8
50/50*
Dragon Nest: Warrior’s Dawn*
Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind*
Gangs Of New York*
In The Name Of The Father*
Looper*
Radioactive+
Scorpion King*
Shaun Of The Dead*
The Turning+
Twelve Monkeys*
January 11
I Am Burt Reynolds
January 13
Maps To The Stars*
January 14
January 15
3:10 To Yuma*
Bad Words*
The Last Full Measure+
Ray*
Ride Like A Girl+
Slap Shot*
Teething+
Traffic*
January 20
Rush: Time Machine Tour*
January 22
Conan The Barbarian*
Earth Girls Are Easy*
Greed+
Hacksaw Ridge+
Ides Of March*
Magnolia*
Martha Marcy May Marlene*
Neighbours*
Notting Hill*
January 29
Eastern Promises*
Into The Storm*
Lord Of War*
The Ghost Writer*
The Mechanic*
You Should Have Left+
Last Chance
Movies and TV shows leaving Crave in January 2021.
January 1
U2 Live In London: Director’s Cut
January 2
60 Minutes Sports (season 5, episode 1)
Macho: The Hector Camacho Story
January 3
Batman Returns
Die Hard
Die Hard 2
Edward Scissorhands
The Family Stone
Gremlins
Lethal Weapon
Little Women
Love Actually
Santa Fake
Santa’s Little Helper
Serendipity
Sleepless In Seattle
You’ve Got Mail
January 4
Underground (seasons 1-2)
January 5
Hard Sun (season 1)
January 6
Escape Room
Long Hot Summers: The Story Of The Style Council
January 10
Silent Night: A Song For The World
January 13
Disco
Jallikattu
Our Lady Of The Nile
Lina From Lima
Sole
The County
Stories From The Chestnut Moods
The Antenna
January 14
Miss Bala
January 17
Howie Mandel Presents Howie Mandel At The Howie Mandel Comedy Club
January 21
The Princess Bride
January 25
Greta
January 26
The Wrong Patient
January 28
Awareness, Acceptance, And Action: Bell Let’s Talk
January 31
Cold Water Cowboys (season 3)
The Company Men
Ethel & Ernest
Get Smart
Head Full Of Honey
Killer Joe
Love Jack Ed
Mountain Men
My Best Friend’s Wedding
On The Basis Of Sex
R.I.P.D
Slaughterhouse Rulez
The Ugly Truth
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Walk The Line
The Whitsleblower
Woman In Gold
This story was updated on January 14 to add new titles Locked Down and Los Espookys.