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 platform also has a dense catalog of movies streaming on the service, from newer films like The Florida Project and The Peanut Butter Falcon to classics like A.I. Artificial Intelligence and License to Kill.
Here are some of the best movies you can find playing on Paramount+ right now.
Updated: February 22.
Drama: The Florida Project
On the outskirts of Orlando just outside Walt Disney World’s property, an unemployed single mother (Bria Vinaite) tries to raise her six-year-old daughter (Brooklynn Kimberly Prince), the two of them just barely avoiding homelessness as they do their best to survive.
As the theme park capital of the world, a picturesque image likely springs to mind when you think of Orlando, Florida — whether it’s Cinderella’s Castle, Hogwarts, or giant Lego-themed roller coasters.
However, there’s also the less affluent side of the city as well, a loose-knit community of people trying to eke out a living in decrepit motels. This is the world of The Florida Project, a startlingly minimalist film that juxtaposes the glamor and beauty of Disney World with the harsh reality of outer Orlando.
Action: The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension
One of the most-paced, cartoonish, imaginative, over the top, and enjoyable movies ever made; The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai literally feels like the creative results of a teenage writer who binge watched a bunch of ‘40s serial films and vintage cartoons and then penned the movie in a Cap’n Crunch-induced sugar haze (all in the best way possible, of course).
Dr. Buckaroo Banzai (Peter Weller) is an ingenious scientist, surgeon, test pilot, and rock star who discovers a pathway to alternate universes. Together with his best friends and deceased wife’s sister (Ellen Barkin), Banzai works to stop the sinister Dr. Lizardo (John Lithgow) from releasing an army of hostile aliens imprisoned in the eighth dimension.
If the title alone doesn’t hook you, it's probable that kitschy-sounding premise will. Never for a moment stopping to take itself seriously, Buckaroo Banzai spends its time delivering line after line of hilarious jokes or setting up its exciting action scenes. It's capable of delighting adult viewers as much as it will kids, leaving no mystery as to why it’s become the ardent cult classic it is.
Comedy: The Peanut Butter Falcon
He may not always be in the public eye, but Shia LaBeouf has done some great things in recent years, starring in a string of lesser-known but still incredibly well-done indie films, such as his 2019 comedy drama, The Peanut Butter Falcon.
Fleeing from his assisted living facility, a young man with Down syndrome (Zack Gottsagen) travels with a recently unemployed fisherman (LaBeouf) to meet his idol, a professional wrestler (Thomas Haden Church) who he hopes will take him under his wing.
A modern take on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Peanut Butter Falcon is the kind of film that leaves you with a renewed appreciation for life and all its wondrous possibilities. It's a movie where you exit the credits wanting to go out on an adventure, meeting different people, learning about new subjects, and actually have fun instead of being restrained by crushing adult responsibilities.
Horror: Paranormal Activity
Years before the series and found footage genre itself became watered-down by gradually worsening additions, Paranormal Activity shocked and horrified the world. Like its dramatic precursor, The Blair Witch Project, the film opened a variety of possibilities for modern horror films, making clever use of its found footage concept to terrorize audience members.
Sensing a disturbing presence in their home, a couple set up a series of surveillance cameras around their house, documenting evidence of an increasingly violent, demonic entity.
Continuously building an atmosphere of suspense, Paranormal Activity is capable of eliciting chills by simply showing a door opening on its own or a dark shadow moving in an ill-lit hallway. It's one of the rare horror films where little actually happens, getting under your skin and forcing you on edge by the time something finally does occur.
Thriller: License to Kill
Before the Daniel Craig Bond films of the 2000s onward, License to Kill was predominantly seen as the grittiest and most brutal of the James Bond movies. Deliberately distancing itself from the tongue-in-cheek nature of the Roger Moore era, License to Kill proved almost too dark for hardcore Bond aficionados at the time, even if it remains a largely entertaining entry in the 007 saga.
After his friend (David Hedison) is left severely injured and his wife is killed, James Bond (Timothy Dalton) opts to go rogue, leaving MI6 to hunt down a ruthless drug lord (Robert Davi) in South America.
Don’t expect to see many of the usual characteristics you associate with James Bond in License to Kill. There’s no slew of ridiculous-yet-awesome gadgets, no innuendo-centric names or gimmick-heavy villains. Instead, you’re presented with a mature tale of revenge and almost shocking violence, the whole film seeming closer to an episode of Breaking Bad than to a James Bond film.
Family: The Monster Squad
A movie that very much falls into the same category as The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai, The Monster Squad belongs to that same breed of lighthearted ‘80s action comedy that only gets better with time.
Seeking to take over the world using various monsters (such as the Mummy, the Gill-man, the Wolf Man, and Frankenstein’s Monster), the vampiric lord Dracula (Duncan Regehr) has his plans unravel when a group of horror-obsessed pre-teens set out to stop him.
Resembling in tone the campy ‘80s horror films of Romero, Carpenter, and Craven, as well as Steven Spielberg’s earliest movies, The Monster Squad can be best described as a cross between The Goonies and Universal’s classic horror films. Striking a fine balance between comedy and light horror, it's a brilliant and imaginatively fun movie that’s bound to leave the whole family pleased.
Crime: Road to Perdition
If you’re a fan of Boardwalk Empire, The Sopranos, or Peaky Blinders, it’s a safe bet you’ll like Road to Perdition. A hauntingly beautiful view of life in the 1930s, it’s a film focused on organized crime in its historical setting, as well the complex bonds that exist between fathers and sons.
After his young son (Tyler Hoechlin) witnesses his unhinged associate (Daniel Craig) murder someone, a professional hitman (Tom Hanks) flees with the boy across the American Midwest during the Great Depression.
A Shakespearean revenge story set in the Golden Age of American crime, Road to Perdition relates the consequences of cyclical violence, demonstrating how one’s quest for vengeance can ultimately deprive them of their prospective future. It's a poignant message that’s never shoved in your face, delivered with gusto by its impressive cast (Hoechlin, Hanks, Craig, Paul Newman, and a bone-chilling Jude Law).
Sci-Fi: A.I. Artificial Intelligence
In the 22nd century, climate change has negatively influenced mankind’s growth, necessitating human surrogates in the form of highly realistic androids. Adopting an android son (Haley Joel Osment) as their own, a family does their best to integrate the robot into their household, leading to the family’s human son (Jake Thomas) lashing out against his new brother.
In 1999, the world lost a genius when legendary filmmaker Stanley Kubrick (The Shining, Full Metal Jacket, 2001: A Space Odyssey) passed away. A giant in the film industry, Kubrick had long planned to develop a film built around the subject of A.I., dying before he could ever see his creative vision fulfilled.
Taking up the reins of Kubrick’s long-gestating A.I. Artificial Intelligence was Kubrick’s disciple and dear friend, Steven Spielberg, who managed to craft a film we could only imagine would’ve made Kubrick proud. Bursting with astounding images and crafting a weighty narrative around its subject matter, it's an underrated gem among Spielberg’s extensive filmography.
Romance: Cold Mountain
Few movies are as epic in scope as Cold Mountain, a historical romance film that acts as a loose retelling of The Odyssey. A major contender at the 2003 Academy Awards, the film provides an unflinching portrait of the American Civil War, staying as horrifically true to life and authentic as possible.
Abandoning his post during the latter days of the Civil War, a Confederate deserter (Jude Law) embarks on a lengthy journey through the South to return to the arms of his beloved (Nicole Kidman).
The Civil War battles alone in this film make Cold Mountain well worth watching, the opening Battle of the Crater presented as a scene straight out of a Bosch painting (full of screaming, bloodshed, and brutal hand-to-hand fighting). No aspect of the Civil War is glorified or romanticized here, making the tenderness between Law and Kidman’s character that much sweeter and more affecting.
Underrated: Confess, Fletch
Framed for the murder of a Boston barista, freelance writer Fletch (Jon Hamm) investigates the case to prove his innocence, discovering a series of uncanny connections to several priceless European paintings that have since gone missing.
In the 1980s, Chevy Chase was living it up in Hollywood. Typecast as the mouthy, dry-witted, sarcastic hero, he was a natural fit for roles such as Fletch, the 1985 cult comedy starring Chase as the disguise-reliant investigative reporter.
After a disappointing sequel (Fletch Lives) and several failed attempts to continue the series, the franchise was rebooted with 2022’s Confess, Fletch. More subtly humorous and noir-focused than its predecessor, Confess, Fletch was nonetheless a supremely entertaining film, Hamm making a surprisingly ideal successor to Chase’s sharp-tongued, quick-on-his-feet journalist-for-hire.
This article was produced and syndicated by Wealth of Geeks.
source https://wealthofgeeks.com/the-best-movies-streaming-on-paramount-plus/
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