The Best Movies on HBO Max

HBO Max may be one of the newest platforms to enter the streaming world, but already it’s one of the best. Not only does the service offer a ton of exclusive content related to its hit properties — like Game of Thrones, The Wire, and The Sopranos — it also has a ton of fantastic films strengthening its online catalog.

Thanks to HBO’s partnerships with standout companies and networks like TCM, Studio Ghibli, and DC, the service has an absolutely stacked selection of films you’re able to choose from.

Whether you’re in the mood for a classic black and white monster movie from the ‘30s, a beloved anime film from Hayao Miyazaki, or a recent blockbuster from this past summer, there’s no end to the number of great films you’re able to choose from.

From universally praised films like A Christmas Story and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation to celebrated modern films like Nightmare Alley and Room, here are some of the best films you can find currently streaming on HBO Max.

Updated: December 23.

Comedy: National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation

As he awaits a large Christmas bonus from work, Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) prepares to have the best Christmas imaginable, only to be met with constant failure and setbacks whenever he tries to rein in the holiday spirit.

For this week’s list, we decided to place a heavy emphasis on Christmas movies — seeing as how there’s only one week left you’re able to enjoy them before the holiday season is officially over.

With that being said, what better Christmas movie is there than National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation? Retaining the irreverent brand of comedy that made the first Vacation film so successful in the first place, it’s got everything you know and love about a Griswolds family reunion: fires, explosions, electrocutions, and the perpetually unhinged Cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid).

Family: A Christmas Story

For many, A Christmas Story is the definitive Christmas movie, trumping other holiday favorites like The Grinch, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, and Miracle on 34th Street. For those people, a Christmas spent without watching A Christmas Story feels like an incomplete holiday — that’s how universally loved this 1983 comedy classic is.

In 1940s suburban Indiana, young Ralphie (Peter Billingsley) eagerly prepares for the arrival of Christmas, even as his family’s continuous plans for the holiday routinely end in disaster.

Containing an endless supply of quotable lines from start to finish, there’s no mystery as to why A Christmas Story has become so popular as the years have gone by. At its heart, it's all about the chaos that comes with the holiday season and the tremendous pressure families feel to enjoy it.

But more than that, it's also about embracing what you have, regardless of whether your tree is bare, your turkey’s ruined, or you don’t happen to see a brand new Red Ryder Carbine Action 200-shot Range Model air rifle underneath the tree.

Horror: Gremlins

It’s debatable whether to call Gremlins a dark comedy horror (like Evil Dead II) or a self-mocking horror spoof (like Army of Darkness). Either way, the finished product remains an outside-the-box option when it comes to potential Christmas viewing experiences, existing right alongside other borderline Christmas movies like Die Hard and Black Christmas.

Returning home with a gift for his son, an inventor (Hoyt Axton) inadvertently lets loose a strange invasive species that run rampant in a small town on Christmas Eve.

The movie that helped usher in the PG-13 rating, Gremlins might not be as scary or out and out funny like other dark comedy horror movies like the Evil Dead series. But between its impressive practical effects and general storyline, it’s never boring either, commanding viewers’ attention throughout its relatively slim runtime (an hour and forty-five minutes).

Romance: The Shop Around the Corner

Alfred (James Stewart) is a hopeless young romantic employed at a small gift shop in Budapest. Maintaining a romantic correspondence with a woman by mail, what Alfred doesn’t know is that his pen pal is actually a colleague (Margaret Sullavan) who he personally can’t stand.

Nowadays, most people tend to gravitate towards the 1998 Thanksgiving classic, You’ve Got Mail, over its earlier 1940 counterpart, The Shop Around the Corner (both movies were based on the same play).

However, if you’re up for revisiting a Golden Age marvel, we highly recommend checking out this feelgood rom com, which also happens to be one of the most enjoyable Christmas movies of its era.

Superhero: Batman Returns

Like Gremlins, it may seem a stretch to label Batman Returns a Christmas movie. However, as the setting of the story does take place around the holiday season, we’re going to go ahead and take the liberty of describing it as such.

As Christmas draws near, a sewer-dwelling eccentric dubbed the Penguin (Danny DeVito) emerges in Gotham City, planning to run for the city’s mayoral seat with the backing of a corrupt businessman (Christopher Walken). The only thing standing in his way is Gotham’s resident detective, Batman (Michael Keaton), aided by a mysterious vigilante (Michelle Pfeiffer) whose motives remain ambiguous.

Far darker and stranger than 1989’s Batman (which is definitely saying something), Tim Burton’s Batman Returns may be a bit much for some viewers. Its unique stylistic approach to the superhero genre might not appeal to audiences more familiar with the lighter tone of the MCU, but no matter what, you can certainly say Burton created a film unlike any other superhero movie before or after it.

Thriller: Room

Moving away from Christmas for the duration of this list, next up we have Room. One of the major mainstream films that exposed A24 to a larger worldwide audience, Room was one of the most accoladed movies of 2015, receiving Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Actress (Brie Larson).

Having been kidnapped and imprisoned in a single room for the past seven years, 24-year-old Joy (Larson) finds solace raising her son, Jack (Jacob Tremblay), a 5-year-old boy who has never seen the outside world.

The central premise of Room is a strong one, but the movie’s actors propel it into the superior film it is. Larson is the picture of motherhood in her role as Joy, with young Jacob Tremblay exceptional in his portrayal of Jack. Seeing the world from his eyes for the first time provides an almost transitory experience, everything Jack sees once he’s out of the room coming across as new, exciting, and slightly terrifying in its own specific way.

Sci-Fi: Moon

A movie very much in the same mold as Room, Moon was also one of the first movies that started Sam Rockwell down the path to critical success that he’s enjoying today. It might not be the first movie that featured him as a main star, but it did lead to critics taking further notice of Rockwell, propelling him from an underrated character actor to a leading man in Hollywood.

Sam Bell (Rockwell) is an astronaut preparing to finish a three year stint working in isolation on the moon. After a serious accident, Sam discovers evidence that his employers have been using clones to man the space station — forcing him to wonder if he’s really Sam Bell, or just another duplicate tricked into working for the company.

With a cast made up almost entirely of Rockwell, Moon gives the star plenty of time to shine as the stranded astronaut. Between the two versions of the character, we see alternative sides of the same man: one who is burnt out, tired, and at the end of his rope, and the other who is more inquisitive, cynical, and trying to find answers. Performing as two characters within the span of a single movie is likely a demanding feat for any actor, but Rockwell appears more than ready to handle such a challenge.

Fantasy: Stardust

At this point in time, Neil Gaiman is most well-known for spearheading television adaptations of his novels and comic books — Starz’s American Gods series and Netflix’s The Sandman both coming immediately to mind. Back in the mid to late 2000s, though, the number of Gaiman’s adaptations were limited to a handful of films, including the 2007 fantasy film, Stardust.

Journeying into a magical realm to collect a star he wishes to give to his intended (Sienna Miller), young Tristan (Charlie Cox) is shocked to learn that the star is actually a young woman (Claire Danes) on the run from witches and dastardly princes who want her for themselves.

A swashbuckling adventure film comparable to The Princess Bride, Stardust is an effortlessly fun movie that seems destined to one day become a cult classic. The cast (which includes Robert De Niro, Mark Strong, Ricky Gervais, and Ian McKellen) are all top-notch, the visuals are spectacular, and the screenplay is nothing short of extraordinary.

Mystery: Nightmare Alley

With his latest film, Netflix’s renowned Pinocchio, behind him, now seems like a great time to revisit some of director Guillermo del Toro’s previous award-winning films, like his steamy 2021 ode to the noir genre: Nightmare Alley.

Finding work in a dingy traveling carnival in the late ‘30s, a drifter (Bradley Cooper) decides to become a con man, using a magical act as the basis for his newfound career.

At two and a half hours, Nightmare Alley might run a bit long for some, but the superior quality of the movie makes its excessive length breeze by. Cooper and Blanchett are both astounding in their respective roles, del Toro filling the rest of the cast with amazing supporting players like Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Richard Jenkins, Rooney Mara, and Ron Perlman. It’s not del Toro’s best movie, but it is without a doubt one of his most ambitious and atmospheric.

Underrated: The Faculty

For the most part, hardcore sci-fi and horror fans are at least partially familiar with the concept of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, whether it’s the original novel, the 1956 adaptation, or its later cult classic 1978 remake. Decidedly less well-known is the stylistically-similar 1999 sci-fi horror film, The Faculty, a wholly underrated movie onto itself.

After noticing some strange behavior from their teachers, the students of an Ohio high school realize the staff have been taken over by a parasitic alien species seeking to take over the world.

A combination of Body Snatchers and The Breakfast Club, The Faculty is pure ‘90s horror at its best. Between a wonderful cast that includes Josh Hartnett, Elijah Wood, Clea DuVall, Salma Hayek, and Jon Stewart, it’s also one of the most criminally overlooked movies of the decade, as well as a film you can easily return to again and again.

This article was produced and syndicated by Wealth of Geeks.

source https://wealthofgeeks.com/the-best-movies-on-hbo-max-now/