The 20 Best Latest Movies Streaming on Max Right Now
HBO has been the home of cable movies for at least several generations. No one else could compete. So the arrival of HBO Max looked like it could very well be the perfect streaming destination for movie lovers – a definition that is still undecided, especially given the decision to drop the “Home Box Office” part of the name in favor of HBO Max. simpler, but more general, Max. However, Max maintains a relationship with TCM, providing it with a wide range of classic American and foreign films, as well as much of its catalog from HBO itself. It’s the main streaming home for Studio Ghibli and A24, so while Max hasn’t made original films, it still has a solid selection of films you won’t find anywhere else.
With all that in mind, here are some of the best of Max’s latest exclusive deals.
The Color Purple (2023)
It was no easy task following the beloved 1985 Pulitzer Prize-winning version of the novel, but this adaptation of the subsequent Broadway musical removes those hurdles and then some. While it may not completely replace previous versions, it offers a unique, lively and colorful vision of the story of hard-working, struggling Miss Celie (Fantasia Barrino) surviving and ultimately thriving despite being “poor.” . “Black… and ugly” in the rural south of the early 20th century. Danielle Brooks as Sophia was nominated for an Academy Award.
Dicks: The Musical (2023)
You have no idea what you’re in for if you haven’t seen this truly raucous musical about a pair of twins separated at birth (Josh Sharp and Aaron Jackson), misogynistic jerks who begin impersonating each other in order to reconcile their long-separated parents (Nathan Lane and Megan Mullally). It’s a simple and silly premise, but things quickly get wilder and wilder. Mom Evelyn’s vagina fell off years ago, and her recently departed father Harrison keeps a pair of mutant “sewer boys” in a giant birdcage in his apartment. It’s all wonderfully, amazingly strange.
Cool Action Park (2020)
The dark and darkly comical true story of Vernon, a once popular amusement park in New Jersey, is amazing. In 1978, stockbroker Eugene Mulvihill set out to create a theme park with as few restrictions as possible and as cheaply as possible. The result was a local attraction that lured teenagers with promises of no-holds-barred fun; the hint of danger in the park’s squalor probably made it even more attractive – at least until shady deals with local authorities made it clear that not only injuries but also deaths were being kept under wraps.
Barbie (2023)
What more can be said about the 2023 film ? Oppenheimer might have won an Oscar, but Barbie owned the conversation and the box office, and the candy-pink pro-feminist made more money than any other film. Margot Robbie is perfect as a fish doll washed ashore in the real world, Ryan Gosling is more than Kenof, and this is director Greta Gerwig’s third success in a row.
Wonka (2023)
The terrifying Willy Wonka The Chocolate Experience may have taken the spotlight away from Timothée Chalamet as our favorite chocolatier, but that’s no reason to sleep on Wonka . An old-school musical with modern production values, Wonka feels like an entirely refreshing throwback to a less cynical time, with some catchy songs and emotional beats that really hit the mark.
Dream Scenario (2023)
One of A24’s latest efforts didn’t make as much of a splash as other recent distributor offerings, but it still received very good reviews, as well as a couple of awards and nominations for its lead character, Nicolas Cage. Here he plays college professor Paul Matthews, who begins appearing in the dreams of dozens of unrelated people, but in the role of a dull and passive observer. Until he disappears and his appearance begins to take on a more menacing, nightmarish quality. The whole thing ends up being an impressively frantic A24-style meditation on fame.
Priscilla (2023)
The great Sofia Coppola wrote and directed this biopic based on Priscilla Presley’s own memoir about her young life and troubled, suspenseful romance with the older Elvis Presley. Cailee Spaeny and Jacob Elordi give superb performances, and the result is a portrayal of a relationship that is tender in its own way, but also complex and deeply imbalanced.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023)
I’m not here to argue that Aquaman 2 is high art or that it’s even entirely memorable, but it is a charmingly goofy slice of superhero fun, pairing Jason Momoa and Patrick Wilson as a pair of mismatched super-siblings. going on a quest. save the planet from the evildoers who emit greenhouse gases. The stakes are high enough to keep things interesting, but the film lacks the self-seriousness of many other super movies, especially DC-adjacent films.
Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)
The second and final Wonder Woman film, helped by Patty Jenkins (after breaking away from the Zack Snyder-era DC Universe), takes Diana from the trenches of World War I to the malls of the 1980s. With all the technology-based villains in films like this, it’s nice to see antagonists Kristen Wiig and Pedro Pascal attack our heroine with mythological magic as a nod to WW history. However, it’s a little sad that there’s a post-credits cameo that we won’t see again.
Unpregnant (2020)
Travel back to 2020, when a young pregnant woman might have to travel across several states to obtain an abortion. This, of course, could never happen in modern America, in our more enlightened era, when the right to bodily autonomy is boldly and irrevocably entrenched among our inalienable rights. Hmm. In Unpregnant , Haley Lu Richardson plays Veronica, a young woman who must leave her home state of Missouri so her parents won’t stop her from having an abortion, and is joined by childhood friend Bailey (Barbie Ferreira). If that sounds heavy, but at its core, this film is a light-hearted journey featuring a pair of very different friends. It is very nice.
Everything That Breathes (2022)
For some Muslims in New Delhi, it has long been a tradition to feed black kites (a type of predator), believing that such a good deed will help ward off trouble. Except that it is becoming increasingly difficult for birds to survive in the modern city, as birds fall prey to all sorts of dangers – with pollution and overpopulation being the main culprits. The documentary All That Breathes follows brothers Saud and Nadeem, who run a bird sanctuary that has saved tens of thousands of raptors over the past two decades, and talks about the interconnectedness of our ecosystems, and the importance of preventing what seems inevitable . reject.
Zone of Interest (2023)
Oscar-winner Jonathan Glazer’s film explores the banality of evil in the story of Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss (Christian Friedel) and his wife Hedwig (the always brilliant Sandra Hüller), who live supposedly ordinary lives but are complicit in the extraordinary evil happening just off-screen. . It is very specific in its approach to the Holocaust and the real-life figures depicted in it, but also suggests, in a broader sense, that we are all capable of becoming blind to the horrors to which we are complicit.
Good Time (2017)
This stylish, suspenseful crime drama follows Robert Pattinson’s Connie as he tries to free his disabled brother from police custody after a botched bank robbery while trying to avoid his own arrest for the same crime. This is one of those great neo-noirs where everything that can go wrong with our protagonists does; Pattinson delivers an impressive performance.
The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019)
Co-creator Jimmy Fails plays the title role here under his own name, a black San Franciscan with long roots whose old family home (built by his grandfather) is now in a gentrifying neighborhood and worth millions. Unable to buy the house even though it is empty, Jimmy turns the empty Victorian house into a base of sorts to explore his place in the modern, changing city. The beautifully shot and acted film enjoyed Oscar success for a time, but was ultimately ignored. It’s very worth a first or second look.
Parasite (2019)
One of the most clearly deserving Best Picture Oscar winners of recent years (if not decades), Bong Joon-ho’s dark satire is a searing indictment of modern capitalism, but also a very funny comedy of manners. Plus a horror movie. Get a movie that can do it all.
Judas and the Black Messiah (2021)
Daniel Kaluuya won an Oscar for his portrayal of Fred Hampton in this searing biographical drama about the FBI’s infiltration of the Black Panther Party’s Illinois chapter in late 1960s Chicago. LaKeith Stanfield plays FBI informant William O’Neal in the film, which was also nominated for Best Picture.
On top (2021)
Before Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote the book, music and lyrics for this musical set over three days in the predominantly Dominican American neighborhood of Upper Manhattan. The film version captures all the joy of the stage version, but adds location shooting, which is based on singing and dancing. It’s a gorgeous, moving celebration of life, change and community.
Green Knight (2021)
David Lowry’s medieval pastiche, loosely (but faithfully) based on the 14th-century chivalric romance Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, is a visual feast as well as a dark, sensual journey into an imagined past. Dev Patel plays the titular knight in a film that adheres more closely to the traditions of middle-aged storytelling than any other film I’ve ever seen. The result is something akin to a fever dream, but it’s an experience for anyone willing to immerse themselves in it.
Albert Brooks: Defending My Life (2023)
Rob Reiner directs this delightful documentary about actor, comedian, director and screenwriter Albert Brooks, covering his early life as well as a decades-long career that includes SNL, Scorsese films, The Voice of The Simpsons and an Academy Award nomination. It’s mostly just conversation between Brooks and Reiner, but it’s all pretty entertaining whether you’re a longtime fan or not.
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (2022)
A fascinating portrait of photographer, artist and activist Nan Goldin, whose work documents the HIV/AIDS crisis and the recent opioid epidemic following her own death from a fentanyl overdose. The film centers on a moral conflict: Goldin’s tireless work against the Sackler family’s companies for their role in the relentless marketing of OxyContin puts her in a difficult position when it comes to showing her work. As she calls on the art community to divest itself from these pharmaceutical giants, she is also beginning to question the value of showing her work in museums, many of which are heavily funded by the Sacklers. How much should an uncompromising artist compromise for the greater good?