A new year is upon us and I’ve just barely been keeping this site alive. But like I’ve always said, it’s been more for me to dip my toes back into the writing waters rather than to reclaim my former accomplishments. I’ve been on a different track lately, but that doesn’t mean I don’t see films and read books and have the desire to communicate anymore. So one of my resolutions this year is to write more and, more specifically, comment on every film or book or whatever art or media I consume this year. And that means TheAverageJoes.Net will be updating a little more frequently. Wish me luck.

Moving on…

If you need a vampire fix, “Daybreakers” is the sophomore offering from the Spierig Brothers, which focuses on the now dominant species having to confront a dwindling blood supply. But the Spierigs aren’t the only siblings with a genre offering this month: Albert and Allen Hughes are back after a nine-year break between “From Hell” and “The Book of Eli,” which centers on Denzel Washington and his quest in a post-apocalyptic wasteland to…ah screw it. Is there anything out this month that is at all original?

Writer/director Michael Haneke is an interesting figure. He remade his own meta-torture film, “Funny Games,” for U.S. audiences as a followup to his even more intriguing “Caché,” and now his latest, “The White Ribbon,” follows the generations of German families living during the time of WWI, especially those odd children. And don’t forget there are plenty of wonderful films being screened in revival houses this month, so keep an eye on your local cinema. Here’s what’s coming for the month of January.

January 1

• The White Ribbon [limited]
• The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond [LA/NY]

January 8

• Daybreakers
• Leap Year
• Youth in Revolt
• Crazy on the Outside [limited]
• Bitch Slap [LA/NY/SF]
• Wonderful World [LA/NY]

January 15

• The Book of Eli
• The Spy Next Door

January 22

• Extraordinary Measures
• Legion
• Tooth Fairy

January 29

• Edge of Darkness
• When in Rome