If I had to select my favorite streaming service, I’d pick HBO Max. (Sorry, Netflix.)
Why? It has the most diverse selection of movies and TV shows around.
Even if you take away all the compelling new releases like Weapons and The Substance, you’d still have some pretty great flicks to watch.
Watch With Us has compiled a list of the three best new HBO movies to stream this weekend: the fantasy Red Riding Hood, the sci-fi prequel Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and the action sequel Kingsman: The Golden Circle.
‘Red Riding Hood’ (2011)
Contemporary remakes of classic fairy tales are all the rage these days, but one of the more underrated ones is Catherine Hardwicke’s feminist take on Little Red Riding Hood. In this imaginative revision, “Little Red” is Valerie (Amanda Seyfried), a young woman in love with her childhood friend, Peter (Shiloh Fernandez), while engaged to the wealthier Henry (Max Irons). When a werewolf begins to attack her village, Valerie becomes determined to figure out why — especially when she finds out she’s the only one who can communicate with the creature. But the truth about the wolf’s motives and identity might hit closer to home than Valerie realizes. Can she kill a wolf who has been hiding in sheep’s clothing all along?
When it was released in 2011, Red Riding Hood was massacred by the critics, who didn’t like the cliched script and wooden male leads. They aren’t wrong, but the film has some striking visuals, some clever narrative twists you don’t see coming and a great star turn by Seyfried. As the not-so-little Red Riding Hood, her Valerie is a bad ass heroine who would make Buffy proud.
Red Riding Hood is streaming on HBO Max.
‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’ (2011)
When Tim Burton’s remake of Planet of the Apes flopped with critics in 2001, I didn’t think there was life left in the franchise. Boy, was I wrong. Beginning with Rise of the Planet of the Apes, the sci-fi series about intelligent apes taking over Earth has been one of the most consistently enjoyable franchises in Hollywood.
In Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, 10 years have passed since the last movie, with a Simian flu wiping out most of humanity. Those that remain must fight over diminishing resources and a growing army of smart apes led by Caesar (Andy Serkis). The now-militant ape doesn’t want war — he just wants humans to stay in their territory and leave them alone. But when Malcolm, the leader of a small band of humans who live nearby, needs to enter the ape’s territory to turn on a generator for electricity, he sets off a chain of events that pit man against ape in a brutal, take-no-prisoners war.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes could’ve been silly hokum like the original sequels were, but it’s a surprisingly serious sci-fi action flick that doesn’t skimp on characterization — or the explosions. Serkis’ Caesar emerges as one of the most complex antiheroes of the modern age, a leader of a revolution who is pushed more and more to violence. Dawn makes you empathize with him, even if you grimace at some of the things he does to humans to protect his people.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is streaming on HBO Max.
‘Kingsman: The Golden Circle’ (2017)
In Kingsman: The Golden Circle, one year has passed since the events of the first film, The Kingsman, and our hero Eggsy (Taron Egerton) has become a full-fledged spy for the Kingsman. Eggsy has his hands full when he uncovers a plot to kill all of Kingsman’s agents by Poppy Adams (Julianne Moore), the leader of the international drug cartel, the Golden Circle. With too much on the line, Eggsy will have to team up with the Statesman, the American counterpart to the Kingsman, and his deceased mentor, Harry Hart (Colin Firth), who is actually still alive but suffering from amnesia, to stop Poppy. But the Statesman has a traitor in their ranks, and Eggsy will have to find out who it is before it’s too late.
HBO Max is gearing up for the holiday season in November by adding tons of new content that makes it a streamer worth subscribing to. At the top of Watch With Us‘ list is the streaming debut of Materialists, the critically acclaimed rom-com starring Dakota Johnson, Pedro Pascal and Chris Evans. Other notable premieres include […]
Kingsman has always been a B-level franchise, but the Golden Circle has enough A-list stars to make it entertaining. Halle Berry, Pedro Pascal and Channing Tatum appear as Statesman agents, and it’s clear they’re having fun spy games with Egerton and Firth. The action sequences are over the top, even for a spy film, but that’s all part of why Kingsman works. It’s deliberately outlandish, but it’s too irresistible not to join in on all the fun.
Kingsman: The Golden Circle is streaming on HBO Max.