Cobra Kai and More: Best Of What’s Coming to Netflix in January 2021

Stephen Silver

Entertainment,

Beginning in January, the streaming service is looking to keep the momentum going. Here are some highlights of what’s to come from Netflix in the first month of the new year.

Netflix had a huge year in 2020, cranking out talked-about hits from Tiger King to The Queen’s Gambit, as the coronavirus pandemic kept people home more than ever before. The company also added lots of subscribers, even as competition from new streaming services increased.

Beginning in January, the streaming service is looking to keep the momentum going. Here are some highlights of what’s to come from Netflix in the first month of the new year:

- Cobra Kai Season 3 (January 1.) One of the bigger hits for Netflix was Cobra Kai, the Karate Kid sequel series that originated as part of the now-defunct streaming content initiative on YouTube. Netflix debuted the first two seasons this fall, with the promise of a new one, and that’s finally set to arrive, on an undetermined date in January.

- Catch Me If You Can (January 1.) Steven Spielberg’s 2002 movie told the story of Frank Abagnale (Leonardo DiCaprio), a famous con man who was chased for years by an FBI agent (Tom Hanks), and was later hired by the FBI to catch other criminals.

- Bonnie and Clyde (January 1.) One of the more important films of the 1960s, this 1967 film directed by Arthur Penn starred Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway as the titular bank robbers. The film helped kick off the New Hollywood era of the 1970s and becomes a rare classic film from before 1970 to appear on Netflix.

- Eddie Murphy: Raw (January 1.) Eddie Murphy, back in 2019, reportedly signed with Netflix to make his first standup comedy special in decades. While those plans have presumably been delayed by the pandemic, one of his 1980s specials, RAW, heads to Netflix in the new year. In the meantime, Murphy’s Coming to America sequel is headed to Amazon Prime in March.

- Sex and the City: The Movie (2008) and Sex and the City 2 (2010) (January 1). The Sex and the City TV series is available on HBO Max, which is reportedly pushing for a reboot of the original series. But the two “Sex” movies aren’t to be found there and are instead headed to Netflix at the start of January.

- The Departed (January 1). The 2006 crime drama directed by Martin Scorsese featured a star-studded cast that included Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Wahlberg, Jack Nicholson, Alec Baldwin and many others, in a story of crime and betrayal between the Massachusetts State Police and the mob. The film finally won Scorsese his first Oscar.

- The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad (January 1). And for a lighter look at policing, this 1989 comedy classic starred Leslie Nielsen as Lt. Frank Drebin, an inept but somehow heroic cop. The film is famous for many things, from the supporting role by O. J. Simpson to the third act in a baseball stadium that leads to an assassination attempt on Queen Elizabeth II by brainwashed Baseball Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson.

- History of Swear Words (January 5.) This six-episode original series is exactly what it sounds like: An examination of the origins of everyone’s favorite swear words. The host is who else, but Oscar-winning actor and frequent on-screen curser Nicolas Cage.

- Tony Parker: The Final Shot (January 6.) A documentary about recently retired NBA star Tony Parker, which explores the point guard's entire career, including his famous shot in 2013 that won a playoff game for the Spurs against Lebron James and the Miami Heat.

- Crack: Cocaine, Corruption & Conspiracy (January 11). A documentary examination of the crack cocaine epidemic, and how much truth there is to conspiracy theories that the CIA was responsible for it.

Stephen Silver, a technology writer for the National Interest, is a journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to Philly Voice, Philadelphia Weekly, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Living Life Fearless, Backstage magazine, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.

Image: Reuters.