Since its debut in 2021, Paramount+ has quickly risen to become one of the greatest subscription-based streaming platforms you can currently find online. Combining a range of properties from CBS, Paramount, Nickelodeon, and Comedy Central, it boasts a rich library of beloved movies, TV series, and documentaries.
Like all the most noteworthy streaming platforms, Paramount+ also has a ton of exclusive content at its disposal, such as Star Trek: Picard, 1883, and The Good Fight.
Along with those exclusive titles,the plat also has a dense catalog of movies streaming on the service, from newer films like Licorice Pizza to classics like Scream and Dr. No.
Here are some of the best movies you can find playing on Paramount+ right now.
Updated: November 3.
Drama: Forrest Gump
One of the most famous films of the modern era, Forrest Gump is (along with The Shawshank Redemption) the definitive film of the 1990s. Moving and humorous at once, it’s perhaps the greatest film Tom Hanks has ever starred in, as well as being among the best movies ever put out by director Robert Zemeckis (aside for, maybe, Back to the Future).
Born in the South in the late 1940s, Forrest Gump (Hanks) goes on to have an extraordinary life in spite of his low IQ. The movie follows Gump’s exploits from a star football player in college to his service in the Vietnam War, through to his Olympic ping pong career and successful business ventures.
Touching upon every important event of the ‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s, and ‘80s, Forrest Gump is a wonderful illustration of following your dreams and living a full life, no matter the setbacks that come your way.
Romance: Licorice Pizza
Having earned dozens of awards and nominations last year, it’s safe to say that Licorice Pizza was one of the most praised films of 2021. Tender, warm, and frequently humorous, it’s a wondrous romcom made all the better by the career-defining performances of its young actors.
Gary Valentine (Cooper Hoffman) is a precocious child actor who forms a crush on the older photographer’s assistant, Alana (Alana Haim). As they spend more time together, their feelings for each other only grow, leading to several episodic stories set in the early 1970s San Fernando Valley.
A love letter to the 1970s and Californian culture in general, Licorice Pizza is perhaps the most personal project ever put to film by acclaimed director, Paul Thomas Anderson. More of an anthology film than your traditional linear narrative, it’s as off-kilter a romantic comedy as you can get.
Sci-Fi: Starship Troopers
The final chapter in director Paul Verhoeven’s sci-fi trilogy (which also includes RoboCop and Total Recall), Starship Troopers is an engaging and surprisingly poignant political satire disguised as a space opera.
In the near future, Earth has established a fascist regime that unites all the world’s governments under a single militaristic society. After hostilities mount between mankind and a distant alien race, Earth launches an all-out war to wipe out the giant bug-like creatures threatening their existence.
Based on Robert Heinlein’s well-loved book of the same name, Starship Troopers ditches most of the book’s original narrative, doubling down on the inherent political messages Heinlein explores in his novel. What you’re left with is a sharp illustration of fascism at its most extreme, brilliantly wrapped around an action-filled sci-fi epic.
Horror: Scream
One of the best and most universally recognized slashers of all time, Scream changed the game when it came to horror films. Adopting a more meta and self-referential approach, it knowingly skewered the stereotypes surrounding slasher films, all the while delivering one of the most iconic horror movies of all time.
One year after her mother’s murder, teenager Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) and her friends are stalked by a serial killer dressed in a ghost-like costume. As Sidney dodges the killer’s attempts to murder her, she begins to suspect that someone she knows is actually behind the murderer’s mask.
As tongue-in-cheek as Scream is in its depiction of the slasher genre, the most remarkable thing about it is how fully it embraces its horror roots. Containing references to numerous horror films before it, Wes Craven managed to reignite the then-waning horror subgenre, giving rise to a mini slasher resurgence in the late ‘90s and early 2000s.
Family: Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events
A dramatically underrated dark comedy film, A Series of Unfortunate Events can make for an extremely unsettling viewing experience for some audience members (namely younger children). For preteens and older audience members, though, it can be a fun, outside-the-box movie that the entire family can enjoy.
After a mysterious house fire leaves them orphaned, the wealthy and intelligent Baudelaire children are adopted by their enigmatic relative, Count Olaf (Jim Carrey). Noticing Olaf’s strange habits, the children soon learn that the Count is more interested in obtaining the family’s vast fortune than caring for the children — using whatever nefarious means available in order to do so.
With a narrative tone that can be best directed as Tim Burton-esque, A Series of Unfortunate Events is a fantastic adaptation of Lemony Snicket's Gothic children’s book series. Stylistically different from Netflix’s TV adaptation of the books, the film is headlined by a drastically underappreciated performance from Carrey in a rare antagonistic role.
Comedy: Clueless
If Fast Times at Ridgemont High was the big teen movie of the 1980s, the same can be said for Clueless and the 1990s. Incorporating the general plotline of Jane Austen’s Emma and transposing it to ‘90s California, it’s a fresh and lighthearted comedy with a fun, fast-moving pace and incredibly likable characters.
Cher (Alicia Silverstone) is the most popular girl at her Beverly Hills high school. Vapid but generally kind-natured, she resolves to use her high social standing to help her fellow classmates and teachers.
Compared to most teen movies, Clueless is one of those rare movies where you’re able to empathize with and even root for most of the characters who appear in the film. It’s this unique quality that perhaps best explains its continued popularity and current cult status today.
Thriller: Dr. No
Dr. No certainly isn’t the greatest James Bond movie, but its importance on the trajectory of the 007 franchise cannot be overstated. Introducing the world to that charismatic gentleman spy, it informed the entire direction of the entire Bond series, paving the way for the dozens of 007 movies that followed.
James Bond (Sean Connery) is a dashing British secret agent employed by MI6. Sent to Jamaica on a mission, Bond must thwart the villainous Dr. No (Joseph Wiseman), who plans on sabotaging a NASA shuttle mission in the middle of takeoff.
A more faithful take on Ian Fleming’s Bond books, Dr. No can be a little campy for some, with Bond himself a bit more cruel and condescending than his usual cinematic self. However, it’s worth acknowledging just how greatly Dr. No impacted the entirety of the espionage genre, its influence seen on everything from Mission: Impossible to Indiana Jones.
Crime: Basic Instinct
There’s plenty to love about Basic Instinct, as well as plenty to criticize. On the one hand, it can be viewed as a poorly-written ode to classic noir; on the other, it’s a seminal thriller that contains superb direction, editing, music, and acting from Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone, the latter in her most famous onscreen role.
Nick Curran (Douglas) is a San Francisco police detective assigned to investigate the death of a celebrity rock star. Before long, his investigation leads him to the rock’s star girlfriend, the mysterious novelist Catherine Tramell (Stone), who Curran believes to be the killer — despite not having evidence to prove it.
Arguably the one reason to watch Basic Instinct is to witness Stone’s performance as Catherine. Cleverly invoking many of the stereotypes around Hitchcock’s morally ambiguous blonde leads, Catherine is as crafty, manipulative, and dangerous femme fatales as they come.
Musical: Footloose
Footloose is one of those strange movies that — despite not being very good — has still managed to secure a respected place in pop culture. Indeed, so much about the movie — from Kevin Bacon’s leading performance, the film’s soundtrack, and its numerous dance sequences — continues to be celebrated, referenced, and often parodied in the world today.
Chicago teenager Ren (Bacon) moves to a small town where rock and roll and dancing has been completely banned. Trying to lift the ban and show that the stigma around dancing is without merit, Ren’s efforts are complicated after he falls for the conservative preacher’s daughter (Lori Singer).
Earning mixed reception upon its 1984 release and middling reviews to this day, most of Footloose remains a clunky, confused mess. However, when the occasional dance scenes roll around and Bacon’s feet get a-hopping, it suddenly transforms into a better than average musical film.
Underrated: Seven Psychopaths
Just in time for the release of his new movie, The Banshees of Inisherin, Paramount+ has begun streaming director Martin McDonagh’s side-splittingly funny crime comedy, Seven Psychopaths.
Marty (Colin Farrell) is a successful Hollywood screenwriter struggling to come up with an idea for his next project. After becoming involved in his friends’ (Sam Rockwell and Christopher Walken) dognapping scheme, the trio are soon hunted by a notorious, unstable gangster (Woody Harrelson) with a homicidal love for his missing pet Shih Tzu, Bonny.
A Tarantino-esque crime romp, Seven Psychopaths is the perfect narrative successor to In Bruges and a fitting preamble to McDonagh’s later Oscar-nominated film, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Featuring McDonagh’s predictably sharp writing, it’s one of the best crime movies you’ve never seen, benefiting greatly from Farrell, Rockwell, and Walken’s performances.
This post was produced and syndicated by Wealth of Geeks.
source https://wealthofgeeks.com/the-best-movies-streaming-on-paramount-plus/
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