The Best Movies And Shows That Max Has To Offer

UPDATED Jan. 21: A streaming guide through the Warner Bros. Discovery library!

We’re not quite to Dumpuary yet, but it appears January is going to come and pass without a single significant release at the box office (survive to ‘25! they said). That gives you plenty of time to catch up on some movies you wouldn’t otherwise have found time for.

That’s not exactly a ringing endorsement of Max, a streaming service that felt less essential toward the back half of 2024 as the HBO Sunday night shows ran dry and there were no big Warner Bros. movies to debut on the service. Those new shows/movies are the billboards that bring viewers into the ecosystem (especially for Max, since people don’t default to it).

So it’s easy to forget Warners has a great library — especially because they don’t have a snazzy algorithm that shoves things down your throat like The Big Red Machine. Instead you need…dare I say…a guide??

Utilizing all of the 1000+ movie suggestions I’ve made over the past six years in my Friday edition of the newsletter, I’ve hand-picked the best of the best on each platform (updated on a rolling basis).

Much like my Cinephile Bucket List, I’ve broken these down into categories that should help you to browse depending on the vibe you’re looking for on a given night, with blurbs both new and old like a sales pitch to convince you to try out movies you’ve hopefully never seen before. Let’s get into it!

Hidden Gems