23 Movies I Watched in January 2022

Many of you know by now that 23 is my favorite number, which is why most of the lists on my blog consist of 23 items. However, I promise you I did not plan ahead to watch 23 movies this January. It just happened that way! (Maybe listing "Eternals" twice is cheating a bit, but since I watched it twice in January, I'm counting it twice for this list.)

I started the month with a movie I had already seen in December, but since I loved it so much I decided to begin this year with it. It's interesting to note I began and ended the month with two train movies. I do love train movies, but I did not plan it that way. Those two also happen to be my two favorite movies from this month. The only other one I gave the maximum of five stars to (snowflakes, for the purpose of this list), was "North to Home", a new original Hallmark movie. It's quite a departure from the typical Hallmark romance and I appreciated that change.

All three of my five star/snowflake movies won me over with the spot-on cast and engaging storyline, but "The Christmas Train" also won me over with the unexpected twist at the end. Without that element of surprise, I would have given it four stars. 

My least favorite was Hallmark's first new movie of 2022, "Where Your Heart Belongs". It was just okay and I'm glad I watched it early in the month.

Most of these movies had some sort of winter theme, with the exception of a small handful. I'll probably always watch Marvel movies as soon as they are available to stream at no extra charge, so that's why I watched "Eternals" in January. I watched all of the "Crossword Mysteries" movies because January is National  Puzzle Month. I watched "Christopher Robin" in honor of Winnie the Pooh Day. "North to Home", "The Birthday Wish", and "Don't Forget I Love You" all had a birthday theme, which I watched the week of Stephanie's birthday.

Note that a movie did not have to earn the maximum of five stars/snowflakes in order for me to consider it a favorite. A favorite means there was some element of it that moved me in a way the others didn't. I am very likely to revisit my favorites at some point.

The number to the left of each movie is the date on which I watched it. The snowflakes take the place of star ratings, with five snowflakes being the best. Half stars are used for some of them. A heart indicates that it is one of my favorites from the month. 

So without further ado, here is my January 2022 list of movies I watched:

2 "The Christmas Train"❄❄❄❄❄💖

3 "Where Your Heart Belongs"❄❄

3 "The Christmas Promise"❄❄❄❄💖

4 "A Timeless Christmas"❄❄❄💖

5 "Sugar Plum Twist"❄❄❄❄💖

6 "Christmas Under Wraps"❄❄❄

7 "One Winter Weekend"❄❄❄💖

10 "Crossword Mysteries: A Puzzle to Die For"❄❄❄

11 "Crossword Mysteries: Proposing Murder"❄❄❄

12 "Eternals"❄❄❄

12 "Crossword Mysteries: Abracadaver"❄❄❄❄💖

13 "Eternals"❄❄❄

17 "The Lost Valentine"❄❄❄❄

18 "Christopher Robin"❄❄❄ ½💖

19 "Taking a Shot at Love"❄❄❄ ½💖

20 "One Winter Proposal"❄❄❄💖

21 "Crossword Mysteries: Terminal Descent"❄❄❄ ½

22 "Murder on the Orient Express" (1974)❄❄ ½

24 "Crossword Mysteries: Riddle Me Dead"❄❄❄ ½💖

25 "North to Home"❄❄❄❄❄💖

26 "The Birthday Wish"❄❄ ½

28 "Don't Forget I Love You"❄❄❄ ½

31 "Murder on the Orient Express" (2017)❄❄❄❄❄💖

It was a fun month of movie-watching and I'm looking forward to February films. Of course, with Valentine's Day being in February, there will be some movies with love as the theme. (That shouldn't be too difficult to find with Hallmark. LOL.) However, February is also National Library Lovers Month, so I'll also watch all or most of the "Aurora Teagarden Mysteries". The main character, who is also the amateur sleuth, is a librarian. There are 17 of those movies, none of which I have seen, with the 18th set to be released in February. I have my work cut out for me. :-)