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 like Mission: Impossible and Bend It Like Beckham to classics like Titanic and West Side Story.
Here are some of the best movies you can find playing on Paramount+ right now.
Updated: May 9.
Drama: Forrest Gump
Tom Hanks has starred in ‘80s romantic comedies, stirring ‘90s dramas, thrilling war films and thrillers, and has provided the voice for the first and perhaps most famous Pixar film of all time. As many successes as Hanks has experienced in his career, though, it’s likely his starring role in Forrest Gump will forever be the film the actor’s most remembered for.
In possession of an IQ of 75, the kind-hearted Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks) lives an extraordinary life, meeting numerous celebrities, serving in the Vietnam War, competing at the Olympics, starting a business chain, and pining after the girl of his dreams (Robin Wright).
A light-hearted analysis of American life from the mid 1950s until the start of 1980s, Forrest Gump is a roving look at the thirty-year period of its setting, from the counterculture of the 1960s to the AIDs crisis of the ‘80s. It’s also a tremendous celebration of life, emphasizing the idea that adventure awaits us all around every corner.
Comedy: School of Rock
With The Super Mario Bros. Movie continuing to do incredibly well at the box office, it’s only fair we look back at some of the past roles of Jack Black – seeing as how his vocal performance was easily one of the best things about the film, after all. And when you get right down to it, it’s hard to top Black’s starring role in 2003’s School of Rock, one of his most popular films to date.
Recently fired from his band and in need of cash, an amateur rock musician (Black) pretends to be a substitute teacher at an elite prep school, organizing a student band to participate in an upcoming musical competition.
It’s fascinating to see how many people involved in School of Rock would go on to unbelievably successful careers. Director Richard Linklater would later direct Oscar-nominated films like Boyhood while writer (and star) Mike White would go on to create the Emmy Award-winning series The White Lotus; and of course, Jack Black and a young Miranda Cosgrove would each go on to become massive celebrities themselves, Black as a comedian and musician, and Cosgrove as the star of Drake & Josh and iCarly. With a cast and crew as talented as that, how could you not expect School of Rock to be great?
Sports: Bend It Like Beckham
Sadly, in most cases, sports films can be geared a little too directly towards a specific audience (IE, sports fans alone), alienating all other viewers. Every once in a while, though, a sports movie comes along that finds a welcoming place among a wider audience demographic, as seen with 2002’s Bend It Like Beckham.
Defying their parents’ express wishes, two young women (Parminder Nagra and Keira Knightley) pursue a professional career playing football in Europe.
Mixing gut-busting laughs with eclectic emotional elements, Bend It Like Beckham is that rare sports comedy that gets you cheering for the sports sequences while knocking you back with its more dramatic scenes. Nagra and Knightley are absolutely joyous as the two leads, each of whom illustrate a deep commitment to fulfilling their dreams of playing football on a professional basis.
Sci-Fi: Attack the Block
Before he was portraying a stormtrooper-turned-Resistance war hero in Star Wars and before she was the 13th Doctor of Doctor Who, John Boyega and Jodie Whittaker got their start on the extremely underrated 2011 comedy sci-fi horror film, Attack the Block.
After several man-eating aliens land in their hometown, a gang of teenage delinquents take to the street to battle their would-be invaders the only way they know how.
A genre mash-up that easily transitions between laughs, scares, and action, Attack the Block is a well-made gem of a film that seems to owe plenty to ‘70s and ‘80s genre films like Alien, Night of the Creeps, and Night of the Comet. With a sequel possibly on the way that Boyega’s set to return in, it's well worth watching now that it’s streaming on Paramount+ to prepare ahead of time.
Action: Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol
We’re still some time off from the release of the latest installment in the Mission: Impossible franchise (the upcoming Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One), but it certainly doesn’t hurt revisiting the previous entries in this critically praised spy series ahead of time, starting with 2011’s explosive Ghost Protocol.
Framed for bombing the Kremlin, the IMF are effectively disavowed, leaving Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his team to stop a nuclear terrorist (Michael Nyqvist) on their own.
Before Ghost Protocol, Mission: Impossible was a middling spy series struggling to get out of the shadow of the James Bond films. Thankfully, Ghost Protocol changed all of that, though, setting a tone and high water mark for literally every Mission: Impossible film that came after.
Horror: Scream VI
The newest addition to the Scream series has finally arrived to Paramount+, joining the other five entries in the hit slasher franchise. Amazingly, too, the finished product is just as great as everything that came before it, if not better.
Attempting to move on with their lives and attend universities in New York City, the survivors of the previous Woodsboro Massacre are once again stalked by the latest serial killer to assume the Ghostface moniker.
Possibly the best Scream sequel so far, Scream VI serves up the series’ signature blend of laughs and scares, offering a well-rounded satirical take on the reboot sequel, er requel. It also ends with a refreshing plot twist that makes the film unlike any other Scream to date.
Crime: The Untouchables
The Untouchables usually doesn’t rank as highly on the spectrum of big-name crime films as The Godfather or Goodfellas, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t an excellent historical crime epic in its own right.
As underworld giant Al Capone (Robert De Niro) cements his hold over 1920s Chicago, Prohibition agent Eliot Ness (Kevin Costner) puts together a ragtag team of law enforcement officers to stop him.
A bold and vivid crime movie that feels like a postmodern spin on the vintage ‘30s Warner Bros. gangster films starring James Cagney, The Untouchables is as tough-as-nails a movie as they come. Costner is excellent as the Prohibition-era knight in shining armor Eliot Ness, with De Niro superbly cast as the unpredictable, thuggish, demonic Capone.
Mystery: Shutter Island
While he’s easily more well-known for his exploration of the crime genre, Martin Scorsese has ventured into other genres over the years as well, including religious epics (The Last Temptation of Christ), period dramas (The Age of Innocence), and mystery thrillers (Shutter Island).
In the early 1950s, a U.S. Marshal (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his partner (Mark Ruffalo) investigate a missing persons case at a remote island that houses a mental health facility.
A hard-boiled love letter to the classic noir films Scorsese loved growing up, Shutter Island also throws a liberal dose of psychological horror into its narrative, paving the way for a topsy-turvy mystery that leads to some shocking results.
Western: Heaven’s Gate
On the plains of Wyoming in 1890, a Harvard-educated lawman (Kris Kristofferson) protects the local residents of a small town from a contingent of powerful land barons trying to claim the territory as their own.
More so than other genres, Westerns aren’t for everyone, some viewing them as slow-paced, tedious, or filled with overdone cliches (all fair critiques). Fortunately, more modern Westerns have used these cliches to their advantage, telling new, interesting stories by subverting the same old tropes inherent throughout the genre.
Employing this technique expertly is a film like Heaven’s Gate. Despite its similar-sounding premise to Golden Age Westerns like Shane, director Michael Cimino creates a full-bodied portrait of life in the Old West with startling clarity and brutality.
Romance: Titanic
With the exception of Gone with the Wind or Casablanca, no movie is as famous an example of the American romance film as Titanic. Regardless of individual viewer critiques, it is objectively seen as one of the best romances of its era, further legitimizing the careers of its two main stars and director, James Cameron.
In 1912, the luxury ocean liner the R.M.S. Titanic leaves Southampton for its maiden voyage to New York, tragically sinking halfway through the crossing. In the days leading up to the ship’s demise, a young passenger from a privileged social background (Kate Winslet) meets and falls in love with an impoverished young artist (Leonardo DiCaprio).
As the on-screen couple that’s fated never to be, Winslet and DiCaprio are remarkable, establishing an emotional relationship with one another from their very first scene together. Similarly worthy of note are the amazing visuals Cameron employs in the film, especially in regards to his pioneering use of CGI for the Titanic’s sinking sequence.
Music: West Side Story (1961)
No disrespect to Steven Spielberg’s 2021 remake, but the original 1961 West Side Story remains an uncontested entry in the musical genre. Adapted from the hit Broadway production of the same name, it's a brilliant, vibrant, and wondrous film that set the standard for every musical film that came after.
In New York’s Upper West Side, two gangs compete for supremacy in the mid-1950s. As their conflict escalates, two young people from each gang (Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer) fall unequivocally in love with one another.
As the two star-crossed lovers, Wood and Beymer are utterly brilliant, demonstrating a genial connection with each other as the contemporary version of Romeo and Juliet. Regularly named one of the greatest musicals of all time, West Side Story is a timeless classic in its prospective genre, clearing the way for similarly large-scale musical adaptations in the decades to come.
Biopic: The Aviator
Nowadays, idiosyncratic millionaires (or more often than not billionaires) seem like the norm. Prior to the age of the Internet, though, where every aspect of celebrities’ lives are closely documented, colorful personalities in possession of vast fortunes seemed decidedly less common, reclusive business magnate Howard Hughes being a notable exception.
Using his family’s vast wealth, eccentric millionaire Howard Hughes (Leonardo DiCaprio) launches a career as a producer in the film industry before turning his attention to crafting state-of-the-art aircraft in the first half of the 20th century.
Shining a light on Hughes’ life, career, and numerous controversies and love affairs over the years, The Aviator is an epic journey into the extraordinary journey Hughes had from overly ambitious Hollywood producer to one of the world’s most powerful men. Between his voice and subtle mannerisms, DiCaprio hits it out of the park as the enigmatic shut-in, as does Cate Blanchett as his famed estranged lover, Katharine Hepburn.
Classic: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
Science fiction has always been a great way for contemporary writers, directors, and artists to address the worries and social state of their day. This characteristic can be seen most clearly with 1956’s sci-fi classic, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, an interesting allegory of political life in the early 1950s.
In a small town in California, a psychiatrist (Kevin McCarthy) and his ex-girlfriend believe their friends, family, and neighbors are being replaced by strange extraterrestrial creatures capable of duplicating a human’s physical appearance.
Simultaneously seen as a condemnation against both McCarthyism and communism, Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a film advocating for individuality first and foremost, dismantling the notion of political alignment that relegates people to being a mere number in a party. Its later 1978 remake is worthy of praise, yet the original remains an undisputed entry in American science fiction.
Underrated: True Lies
In the grand scheme of his career, True Lies will never rank as the universally best movie in James Cameron’s extensive filmography. Still, that’s not to say it isn’t a great adventure/thriller film, as well as a humorous tongue-in-cheek satire of the James Bond films it’s clearly inspired by.
Dedicating most of his time to thwarting international threats, a government super spy (Arnold Schwarzenegger) starts to worry about his relationship to his unhappy, estranged wife (Jamie Lee Curtis).
Surprisingly, Schwarzenegger and Curtis make an excellent on-screen couple as the dashing gentleman spy and his hapless, eager-to-learn spouse. With similarly great performances coming from Bill Paxton, Tom Arnold, and Charlton Heston, it’s a fairly decent and original action movie that seamlessly combines laughs with action.
This article was produced and syndicated by Wealth of Geeks.
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