If you’re looking for something new to watch on HBO Max, you’ve come to the right place. Below, we’ve assembled a curated selection of some of the best new movies streaming this month, from artful family films to smart monster movies to goofy comedies and beyond. So eliminate the need to scroll through HBO Max’s library and check out one of these fine films below.
“Coraline”
Spooky, sweet and wholly unique, “Coraline” is a stop-motion animated gem that marked the beginning of the road for animation studio Laika. Hailing from “Nightmare Before Christmas” director Henry Selick, the film is an adaptation of the Neil Gaiman novella of the same name and follows a young girl who discovers a parallel universe with sinister versions of her parents. Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher and Keith David lead the voice cast. This one’s a treat for kids and adults alike, and genuinely creepy!
“The Host”
Before Bong Joon-ho won a bevy of Oscars for his stellar drama “Parasite,” he made a full-on monster movie. “The Host” was released in 2006 and concerns a monster that appears in the Han River and subsequently kidnaps a young girl. Her family and others set out to rescue her, and Director Bong captures the entire proceeding in a way that’s funny, thrilling and poignant all at once. It’s a sci-fi monster movie with a brain.
“Kiss the Girls”
If you’re in the mood for a solid paperback thriller, “Kiss the Girls” fits the bill. The 1997 film is based on the James Patterson novel of the same name and stars Morgan Freeman as Washington D.C. detective Alex Cross who joins forces with a woman (Ashley Judd) who was drugged and abducted by a serial killer to try and hunt him down. It’s the kind of solid, murder-mystery thriller that was so prevalent throughout the ‘90s.
“Mud”
Filmmaker Jeff Nichols’ soulful Southern epic “Mud” is a delightful underrated gem. The drama is told from the point of view of a young teen boy played by Tye Sheridan who, along with his friend, stumbles upon a man named Mud (Matthew McConaughey) living on an island in the Mississippi River in Arkansas. Their chance meeting sets in motion a series of events that will force the young boy to grow up faster than he had planned, but also may potentially carve a way toward redemption for the titular Mud. The film came out around the time of the “McConaissance” and while “Wolf of Wall Street” and “Magic Mike” are flashier movies, “Mud” is great and not to be missed.
“Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby”
Writer/director Adam McKay’s masterful hold over tone and subject matter in his Oscar-winning film “The Big Short” was simply an extension of something he’d been doing for years in his goofy comedies – “Talladega Nights” included. On the surface, it’s a silly comedy starring Will Ferrell as a goofy race car driver. But at its heart, “Talladega Nights” is a searing takedown of corporate culture and “Southern pride.” It’s wildly effective, with hilarious supporting turns by John C. Reilly and Molly Shannon upping the goof factor exponentially and the late Michael Clarke Duncan showing a side of himself audiences had never seen before.
“Tangerine”
Before “The Florida Project” or “Red Rocket,” filmmaker Sean Baker burst onto the scene with his 2015 comedy “Tangerine” – shot entirely on an iPhone. Kitana Kiki Rodriguez stars as a trans sex worker living in Los Angeles who finds out that her boyfriend and pimp has been cheating on her. While it looks like an indie and tackles some heavy material at times, the film has the tone and pacing of a raucous comedy, and is all the better for it.
“Valkyrie”
The first collaboration between Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie – who together have given us everything from “Jack Reacher” to “Edge of Tomorrow” to the last two “Mission: Impossible” movies (and the next two as well) – was the 2008 historical drama “Valkyrie.” While director Bryan Singer doesn’t quite nail this one, McQuarrie’s script and Cruise’s commitment onscreen make it worthwhile as the film tells the true story of a group of German army officers who plotted to assassinate Hitler.
