Best Movies to Stream on HBO Max This Month

This sweeping romantic drama remains the highest-grossing film of all time when adjusted for inflation. It takes place in the South throughout the Civil War era and follows a spoiled young woman (Vivien Leigh) as she comes of age. Some viewers may find the ethnocentric depiction of plantation life patently offensive.

Everyone’s favorite CGI bear returns for this beloved sequel, in which Paddington unwittingly lands himself in a British prison. The movie held a perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes until a critic took it down a notch in 2021. At least one more negative review has appeared in the time since.

Based on Tom Wolfe’s non-fiction novel, this three-plus-hour drama centers on a group of fearless pilots turned heroic astronauts. It originally underperformed in theaters but has since become regarded as an outright classic.

Bette Davis and Joan Crawford famously feuded behind the scenes of this horror classic, in which a former child star (Davis) torments her parapalegic sister (Crawford). At the root of their psychological warfare is a tragic Hollywood backstory involving jealousy and sabotage.

Welcome to Jurassic Park, where dinosaurs have been brought back to life through the use of preserved DNA. The film’s groundbreaking use of CGI technology still holds its own nearly three decades later. Multiple sequels would follow, including the newly released “Jurassic World: Dominion.”

Director David Fincher announced himself as a visionary talent with this gloomy and unforgettable thriller. Set in an unnamed city, it follows two detectives (Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman) as they try to stop a methodical serial killer from completing his twisted plan.

An FBI informant (LaKeith Stanfield) infiltrates the Black Panther party in this heralded drama, which culls from actual events. It won two Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actor for Daniel Kaluuya.

Japanese animation wizard Hayao Miyazaki presents this delightful fantasy tale with coming-of-age themes. It sends a resourceful young witch to a small seaside community, where she launches (pun intended) an air courier service.

A comeback for virtually all those involved, this gripping drama centers on former pro wrestler Randy ‘The Ram’ Robinson (Mickey Rourke). Well past his prime, Robinson puts everything on the line by competing in a rematch against his former arch-nemesis.

Kubrick’s seminal sci-fi drama redefined special effects and influenced a legion of subsequent directors, including George Lucas and Ridley Scott. As relevant today as ever before, it pits a crew of astronauts against their rogue computer. But the real story is one of mankind’s evolution being ushered forward by an unseen alien race.

Jim Carrey plays happy-go-lucky everyman Truman Burbank in this brilliant dramedy from director Peter Weir. What appears to be normal suburban life is actually a 24/7 reality show, in which Truman is the unwitting star. It’s a premise so prescient that there’s now a psychological condition named after it.

This powerful drama follows a Black Philadelphia detective (Sidney Poitier) to a brutally racist Southern town, where he helps solve a murder. Poitier insisted on shooting the film in the North due to a previous experience in Mississippi, where he was nearly killed by the Ku Klux Klan. It won five Academy Awards and inspired a long-running TV series of the same name.

Director Alan J. Pakula’s political thriller tracks reporters Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) and Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) as they crack open the Watergate scandal. Not just a benchmark for its sub-genre, the film helped redefine attitudes toward American journalism. It won four Academy Awards.

Al Pacino re-teamed with “The Godfather” co-star John Cazale for this classic heist dramedy, in which three hapless amateurs hold up a bank. The story culls from real-life events and examines themes of mental health and American media culture.

Before creating “The Incredibles,” Brad Bird helmed this animated adventure about a young boy and his giant robot alien friend. It tanked at the box office during its theatrical release but has since become a modern cult classic.

This harrowing drama takes place in the midst of an ethnic cleansing campaign, later known as the Rwandan genocide. Don Cheadle delivers a masterful performance as real-life hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina, who provides shelter for thousands of hunted Tutsi refugees. (Ironically, Rusesabagina was arrested in Rwanda in 2020 on terrorism charges related to his later support for an anti-government group and sentenced to 25 years in prison.)

This Oscar-winning historical drama comes straight from the pages of Solomon Northup’s own memoir. A free Black man in the North during the antebellum era, Northrup (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor) is brutally kidnapped and then sold into Southern slavery. The events that follow are unbearable to witness but far too important to ignore.

Based on Raymond Chandler’s timeless novel, this noirish thriller is as quintessential as they come. Humphrey Bogart plays private investigator Philip Marlowe, who plunges head-first into a dangerous web of blackmail, murder, and seduction.

This influential Miyazaki effort follows a young boy and girl on their perilous search for a floating castle. It features signature hand-drawn animation and borrows story elements from the director’s previous work. A retro-futuristic design language makes this an early example of the steampunk sub-genre.

The modern era of romantic comedy arguably begins with this iconic Oscar winner, about the relationship between two quirky urbanites (Woody Allen and Diane Keaton). With its narrative diversions and relatable themes, the film also marked a turning point for Allen’s career.

A troubled woman (Vivien Leigh) moves in with her sister (Kim Hunter) and upsets an already volatile marriage in this Southern drama. Marlon Brando plays brutish husband Stanley Kowalski in one of his most iconic performances. The film is based on a famous Tennessee Williams play, in which Brando and Kim Hunter had also starred.

A timeless classic if there ever was one, this family adventure follows young Dorothy (Judy Garland) into the colorful land of Oz. Unforgettable characters and enduring songs help bring the story to life. It won two Academy Awards.

Christopher Nolan’s mind-bending thriller takes place in a world where hired professionals can hack into dreams. After training his latest recruit (Elliot Page), a master thief (Leonardo DiCaprio) embarks on his most dangerous mission to date. The film earned over $828 million worldwide on a reported budget of $160 million.

One of the most impressive debuts in movie history, this crime drama rocked the 1992 Sundance Film Festival and announced Tarantino as a major new talent. Follow a group of ruthless criminals as they grapple with the fallout of a heist gone awry. The story draws inspiration from previous films such as 1987’s “City on Fire” and 1974’s “The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3.”

Director Martin Scorsese won a long-overdue Oscar for this Boston-based gangster epic, loosely adapted from the Hong Kong thriller “Infernal Affairs.” It centers around a cop (Leonardo DiCaprio) and a criminal (Matt Damon) who go undercover on opposite sides of the law.

Based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s beloved book series, Peter Jackson’s blockbuster trilogy closed out with its most epic installment. As hobbits Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) reach the last leg of their journey, the forces of good and evil engage in one final battle. The film swept at the Oscars, where it won a record-tying 11 Academy Awards.

A priceless statuette lies at the heart of this classic mystery, starring Humphrey Bogart as private detective Sam Spade. The film’s morally ambigious characters, sharp dialogue, femme fatale, and shadowy tone would quickly become staples of the noir sub-genre.

Director, producer, and star Clint Eastwood brought his career as a Western icon full circle with this modern masterpiece. He plays former gunslinger William Munny, who’s wrangled out of retirement for one last job. It won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director.

A divorced socialite (Katharine Hepburn) finds suitors on all sides in this acclaimed romantic comedy. “Katharine Hepburn gives the finest performance of her career,” wrote critic Kate Cameron for the New York Daily News. Co-star James Stewart won an Academy Award for his turn as nosy reporter Macaulay ‘Mike’ Connor.

Before 2001’s “Spirited Away,” Hayao Miyazaki created this vivid fantasy about the war between forest gods and local villagers. Its themes of man versus nature play out in an epic fashion and recur various times throughout the director’s career.

Christopher Nolan’s sophomore feature employed a radical narrative device and turned the British director into a household name. It tells the story of a desperate man (Guy Pearce), who must contend with his own short-term memory loss while hunting down his wife’s killer. To best capture its protagonist’s state of mind, the main storyline plays out in reverse.

Drawing inspiration from William Randolph Hearst, director and star Orson Welles paints a multi-faceted and yet elusive portrait of newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane. The film underperformed in theaters during its initial run but went on to become the 20th century’s quintessential masterpiece. A number of its creative aspects were lightyears ahead of their time.

Arriving well into the talkie era, Chaplin’s first true sound film finds him playing both a poor Jewish barber and a Hitler-like dictator. The striking visual resemblance of these starkly different characters plays out of the course of the story. Its climactic speech has beenhailed as the most important monologue in the history of cinema.

This sci-fi sequel was an absolute benchmark in special effects and budding CGI technology. Sent back in time, a cyborg (Arnold Schwarzenegger) must protect the future resistance leader (Edward Furlong) in the war between man and machine. A full-blown franchise would follow.

This noirish thriller takes place in the 1930s and features one of the bleakest endings in movie history. Hired to track an adulterer, private detective J.J. Gittes (Jack Nicholson) uncovers a murderous scheme involving the supplying of water to Los Angeles.

With its double-crossing characters and propulsive set pieces, Hitchcock’s classic spy thriller helped redefine the entire action genre. Mistaken for a government agent, an ad executive (Cary Grant) gets swept up in a dangerous cross-country adventure.

Former boxer Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando) takes up the life of a longshoreman and squares off against union corruption in this gripping drama. “I coulda been a contender!” Brando famously shouts during a key scene. The film won eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Director.

Two rugged American drifters (Humphrey Bogart and Tim Holt) and a prospector (Walter Huston) dig up more than they bargained for in this first-rate adventure. With the discovery of buried treasure comes a deadly tale of greed and mistrust among men. The concept has been revisited in various films and shows, including a “Simpsons” parody called “Three Men and a Comic Book.”

Chaplin’s Little Tramp joins the 1890s Klondike Gold Rush in this slapstick adventure, which finds the filmmaker playing to all his many strengths. “The first comedy of epic proportions has reached the screen,” wrote critic Edwin Schallert for the Los Angeles Times.

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck originally conceived their breakthrough script as a spy thriller before workshopping it into final dramatic form. Witness the story of Will Hunting (Damon), an M.I.T. janitor who’s secretly a math genius. Robin Williams delivers an Oscar-winning performance as therapist Dr. Sean Maguire.

Peter Jackson’s fantasy trilogy kicks off with this sprawling adventure, which sends two hobbits on their quest to destroy an all-powerful ring. It currently ranks #9 on IMDb’s list of the Top 250 Movies. An extended DVD edition adds approximately 30 minutes of footage.

Actress Debbie Reynolds once described childbirth and the making of this musical as the two most difficult experiences of her lifetime. Set in the late 1920s, it follows the major stars of a Hollywood studio as they stumble into the talkie era.

This Oscar-winning adaptation of Ken Kesey’s classic novel spent years in development before arriving on the big screen. Actors such as Gene Hackman and Marlon Brando reportedly turned down the lead role of R.P. McMurphy, which eventually went to Jack Nicholson. The newest arrival at a mental institution, McMurphy stirs up a minor revolution.

Hobbits Frodo and Sam continue their journey and contend with a shifty creature named Gollum (Andy Serkis) in the second installment of this epic trilogy. Its famous battle at Helm’s Deep required 20,000 extras and took 120 days to film.

Chaplin’s first full-length feature puts his iconic alter-ego – aka the Little Tramp – in charge of an abandoned child. Its balance of brilliant slapstick comedy and empathic drama would remain a signature throughout the filmmaker’s distinguished career.

Chaplin takes on industrial society as only he can in his last “silent” film (it employs occasional sound effects, but no dialogue). After being literally chewed up and spit out by factory machinery, the Little Tramp struggles to make ends meet in the modern world.

Hoping to raise money for a blind flower girl, the Little Tramp (Chaplin) undergoes a series of humiliating misadventures. As if writing, directing, editing, producing, and starring in the film weren’t enough, Chaplin also scored the music. “This is one of those rare creatures, the work of a master craftsman in full control of his craft,” wrote critic Dan Jardine for Slant Magazine.

Widely considered the greatest superhero movie ever made, Nolan’s blockbuster sequel pits Batman (Christian Bale) against the nihilistic Joker (Heath Ledger). When prepping for his role, Ledger reportedly isolated himself for six weeks and studied figures such as punk rocker Sid Vicious. He tragically passed away before the film’s release.

With the recent passing of actor Ray Liotta, now is the perfect time to revisit his career-defining performance in this epochal gangster flick. He plays real-life mobster Henry Hill, whose life of crime spans decades before it all comes crashing down. Director Martin Scorsese’s kinetic storytelling represented a new chapter in his own evolution and for American cinema at large.

Director Frank Darabont’s timeless prison drama culls from a Stephen King novella and tells the story of Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins). Falsely accused of murder, Dufresne enters the Shawshank State Penitentiary and changes the lives of all those around him. Once a theatrical underperformer, it now sits at #1 on IMDb’s list of the Top 250 Movies.