Happy New Year, Books on Screen lovers! Hopefully, your resolutions include getting better at managing your expectations; considering the mediocre crop of movies this month, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to flex those fledgling cognitive muscles.

It’s pretty well known at this point that major studios tend to bury their subpar movies in the post-holiday hangover of January. The good news is that indies get to have their moment in the cold winter sun. One such bright spot this month is Lamb --- based on Bonnie Nadzam’s provocative 2011 book of the same name --- a sensitive and difficult movie about a 47-year-old man’s friendship with a young girl. Shades of LOLITA; and although its protagonist is distinctly more self-aware and conflicted than H. H., his actions implicate him all the same.

If you like your morality less ambiguous, look no further than Michael Bay’s 13 Hours. Go for the explosions, stay for John Krasinski’s recently buff bod, if that’s the kind of thing you’re into. It’s hard to imagine the Transformers director handled the events of the 2012 Benghazi attack --- one of the most perplexing and tense events in recent history --- with the care they deserve, but stranger things have happened! And if you’re one of the brave souls who can stomach ocean disaster movies, check out The Finest Hours, starring Chris Pine, the better Affleck brother, Casey, and Ben Foster, my first imaginary boyfriend. Let me know how it is.

FYI, Alejandro González Iñárritu’s The Revenant is out in wide release this month. It's a film that is simultaneously stunning and hard to watch, and Leonardo DiCaprio is --- arguably undeservedly --- getting a ton of early Oscar buzz. The star certainly went to grueling lengths to bring dauntless frontiersman Hugh Glass to life, but yours truly was a bit distracted by Leo's undiminished dadbod, considering his character is starving for a Buca Di Beppo-sized portion of the movie. Christian Bale could teach him a thing or two about commitment to his craft.

On the other hand, it’s a great month for fans in the center of the scripted TV / YA fantasy Venn diagram. The 5th Wave --- based on the blockbuster Rick Yancey trilogy about a teenager trying to survive after Earth is decimated by an alien invasion --- will hit theaters toward the end of the month, starring actress and face of Coach, Chloë Grace Moretz. MTV and Freeform (so long, ABC Family!) are rolling out “The Shannara Chronicles” and “Shadowhunters,” respectively, which means lots of preternaturally attractive young people fighting all kinds of mythical creatures. And Syfy will finally premiere its long-anticipated adaptation of Lev Grossman’s THE MAGICIANS. If magic is a drug, then TV is an easygoing dealer this month --- the kind who hangs around your house maaaybe a few hours longer than necessary.

All to say, if movies were Hemsworth brothers, January movies would be the one that nobody’s ever heard of. And too bad metaphors aren’t literal, otherwise movies this month would be shorter, too. Here’s hoping 13 Hours is just a title, and not a suggested runtime. Welcome back! Here, have one more superfluous John Krasinski link, on me.

--- Written and compiled by Emily Hoenig

In Theaters:

Lamb
Cast: Ross Partridge, Oona Laurence, Jess Weixler
Director: Ross Partridge
Distributor: The Orchard
MPAA Rating: N/A
Release Date: January 8th
Based on: LAMB by Bonnie Nadzam

When a man meets a young girl in a parking lot he attempts to help her avoid a bleak destiny by initiating her into the beauty of the outside world. The journey shakes them in ways neither expects.

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi
Cast: John Krasinski, Pablo Schreiber, Max Martini, Freddie Stroma
Director: Michael Bay
Distributor: Paramount
MPAA Rating: R
Release Date: January 15th
Based on: THIRTEEN HOURS: A Firsthand Account of What Really Happened in Benghazi by Mitchell Zuckoff

An American Ambassador is killed during an attack at a U.S. compound in Libya as a security team struggles to make sense out of the chaos.

The 5th Wave
Cast: Chloë Grace Moretz, Nick Robinson, Alex Roe, Maika Monroe, Liev Schreiber, Ron Livingston
Director: J. Blakeson
Distributor: Columbia Pictures
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Release Date: January 22nd
Based on: THE 5TH WAVE by Rick Yancey

Sixteen-year-old Cassie Sullivan tries to survive in a world devastated by the waves of an alien invasion that has already decimated the population and knocked mankind back to the Stone Age.

The Finest Hours
Cast: Chris Pine, Casey Affleck, Graham McTavish, Holliday Grainger, Eric Bana
Director: Craig Gillespie
Distributor: Disney
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Release Date: January 29th
Based on: THE FINEST HOURS: The True Story of a Heroic Sea Rescue by Michael J. Tougias and Casey Sherman

In February of 1952, one of the worst storms to ever hit the East Coast struck New England, damaging an oil tanker off the coast of Cape Cod and literally ripping it in half. On a small lifeboat faced with frigid temperatures and 70-foot high waves, four members of the Coast Guard set out to rescue the more than 30 stranded sailors trapped aboard the rapidly-sinking vessel.

On TV:

The Breaks (TV movie)
Cast: Afton Williamson, David Call, Mack Tristan Wilds, Evan Handler, Russell Hornsby
Network: VH1
Air Dates: Premieres January 4th; Mondays at 9pm ET
Based On: THE BIG PAYBACK: The History of the Business of Hip-Hop by Dan Charnas

Three friends with a passion for hip-hop pursue their dreams to make it in the music industry in New York City during the 1990s, at a pivotal time in the emergence of the genre.

“The Shannara Chronicles” (limited series)
Cast: Poppy Drayton, Austin Butler, Manu Bennett, Aaron Jakubenko, Ivana Baquero, John Rhys-Davies 
Network: MTV
Air Dates: Premieres January 5th; Tuesdays at 10pm ET
Based On: ELFSTONES OF SHANNARA, Book 2 in the Shannara series by Terry Brooks

Two humans and a half-elf, half-human set out to stop a demon army from destroying the world in this fantasy drama adapted from the book series by Terry Brooks.

Murder She Baked: A Peach Cobbler Mystery (TV movie)
Cast: Alison Sweeney, Cameron Mathison
Network: Hallmark
Air Dates: Premieres Sunday, January 10th at 9pm ET
Based On: PEACH COBBLER MURDER: A Hannah Swensen Mystery by Joanne Fluke

With The Cookie Jar, Hannah Swensen has a mouthwatering monopoly on the bakery business of Lake Eden, Minnesota. But when a rival store opens, and one of the owners is found shot to death in the store, Hannah is determined to prove that she wasn't the only one who had an axe to grind with the Quinn sisters. Somebody wasn't fooled by the Georgia Peaches and their sweet-as-pie act --- and now it's up to Hannah to track down whoever had the right ingredients to whip up a murder. 

“Shadowhunters”
Cast: Katherine McNamara, Dominic Sherwood, Alberto Rosende, David Castro
Network: Freeform (formerly ABC Family)
Air Dates: Premieres January 12th, 2016; Tuesdays at 9pm ET
Based On: THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

On her 18^th birthday, a woman discovers that she's an angel-human hybrid who hunts demons. After her mother is kidnapped, Clary must venture into the dark world of demon hunting in order to find clues that can help her find her mother.

“War and Peace” (six-part miniseries)
Cast: Lily James, Paul Dano, James Norton
Network: A&E, Lifetime & History
Air Dates: January 18th; Mondays at 9pm ET
Based On: WAR AND PEACE by Leo Tolstoy

A story that revolves around five aristocratic families, set during the reign of Alexander I and centered on the love triangle between Natasha Rostova, Pierre Bezukhov, and Andrei Bolkonsky.

“The Magicians” (limited series)
Cast: Jason Ralph, Arjun Gupta, Stella Maeve, Olivia Taylor Dudley, Hale Appleman, Summer Bishil, Jade Tailor
Network: Syfy
Air Dates: Premieres January 25th; Mondays at 9pm ET
Based On: The Magicians fantasy trilogy by Lev Grossman

A group of 20somethings studying magic in New York discover a real-life fantasy world that poses a great threat to humanity in this drama adapted from Lev Grossman's book series.

“Lucifer”
Cast: Tom Ellis, Lauren German, Rachel Harris, D.B. Woodside, Lesley-Ann Brandt, Nicholas Gonzalez, Scarlett Estevez
Network: Fox
Air Dates: Premieres January 25th; Mondays at 9pm ET
Based On: LUCIFER by Mike Carey (spinoff of the character first introduced in SANDMAN by Neil Gaiman

When the devil tires of life in Hell, he materializes in the City of Angels, where he aids the LAPD in rounding up and punishing evildoers in this TV-adaptation of the comic book.

“The Flash”
Cast: Grant Gustin, Candice Patton, Rick Cosnett, Danielle Panabaker, Carlos Valdes, Tom Cavanagh, Jessie L. Martin
Network: The CW
Air Dates: Mid-season premiere January 19th; Tuesdays at 8pm ET
Based On: THE FLASH: DC Comics character created by Robert Kanigher, John Broome and Carmine Infantino

Following the defeat of Barry Allen's arch-nemesis Eobard Thawne (a.k.a. Reverse Flash), Team Flash quickly turned their attention to the singularity swirling high above Central City, which fans last saw consuming everything in its path. Armed with the heart of a hero and the ability to move at super speeds, Barry charged into the eye of the singularity, but will he actually be able to save his city from impending doom?

“Arrow”
Cast: Stephen Amell, Colin Donnell, Katie Cassidy, David Ramsey, Willa Holland, Susanna Thompson, Paul Blackthorne
Network: The CW
Air Dates: Mid-season premiere January 20th; Wednesdays at 8pm ET
Based On: DC Comics character Green Arrow created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp

After defeating his most formidable foe to date and riding off into the sunset with longtime flame Felicity Smoak, Oliver Queen (a.k.a. The Arrow) left Starling City with the hopes of beginning a new life. But will Oliver ever truly be able to leave behind his past as the Arrow, and, if so, what becomes of the team he has worked so hard to assemble? Will Diggle, Thea and Laurel be left to continue Oliver’s crusade without him? And with Malcolm Merlyn having ascended to the top of the League of Assassins as the new Ra's al Ghul, is anyone really safe?

The case of a missing heiress brings a hardened detective and a rogue ship's captain together to solve what turns out to be a conspiracy spanning the solar system in this thriller set 200 years in the future.

“Childhood's End” (miniseries)
Cast: Daisy Betts, Charles Dance, Osy Ikhile
Network: SyFy 
Air Dates: December 14th
Based On: CHILDHOOD'S END by Arthur C. Clarke

Benevolent aliens create a seeming utopia on Earth, but at a cost.

On DVD:

The Walk
Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Charlotte Le Bon, Guillaume Baillargeon
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Distributor: Sony
MPAA Rating: PG
DVD Release Date: January 5th
Based on: TO REACH THE CLOUDS by Philippe Petit

The Walk is the true story of a young dreamer, Philippe Petit, and a band of unlikely recruits who together achieve the impossible: an illegal wire walk in the immense void between the World Trade Center towers. With little more than nerve and blind ambition, Petit and his ragtag crew overcome daunting physical obstacles, betrayals, countless close calls and overwhelming odds to beat the system and execute their mad plan.

Everest
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Jason Clarke, Josh Brolin, John Hawkes, Elizabeth Debicki, Keira Knightley, Robin Wright
Director: Baltasar Kormakur
Distributor: Universal Pictures
MPAA Rating: PG-13
DVD Release Date: January 12th
Based on: INTO THIN AIR by Jon Krakauer, AFTER THE WIND by Lou Kasischke, and LEFT FOR DEAD by Beck Weathers

Inspired by the incredible events surrounding an attempt to reach the summit of the world’s highest mountain, Everest documents the awe-inspiring journey of two different expeditions challenged beyond their limits by one of the fiercest snowstorms ever encountered by mankind. Their mettle tested by the harshest elements found on the planet, the climbers will face nearly impossible obstacles as a lifelong obsession becomes a breathtaking struggle for survival.