One of HBO Max's advantages over other mainstream streaming services is that it has the most extensive library of movies made before the 20th century. All seven movies recommended on this month's list are classics from the 1960s through the '90s. Who knows when or where some of these films will be streaming after they leave HBO Max on Sept. 31, so definitely make sure to watch any that catch your interest before the start of October.
For high-quality new releases, it's also worth noting that The Suicide Squad's 30-day run on HBO Max will be ending on Sept. 5; the DCEU film will still be playing in theaters after that, though probably not on many screens given its rapidly declining box office.
When adapting the 1966 musical Cabaret for his 1972 film, director Bob Fosse made one big change: instead of having characters burst into song in typical musical fashion, all but one of the musical numbers would be presented as stage performances, with the Nazi anthem "Tomorrow Belongs to Me" being the one exception.
The result is a musical that even people who normally struggle with the genre can appreciate, and its story about Weimar-era entertainers trying to go about their sexually liberated lives against the backdrop of rising fascism might very well be more powerful today than it was in 1972. Cabaret won eight Oscars, a record for a film that didn't win Best Picture (its competition was a little movie called The Godfather).
In the dystopian future of... 1997, New York City is a prison, and terrorists have kidnapped the President. Soldier-turned-outlaw Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell) has to save the President within a day in exchange for not being killed by Suicide Squad-esque explosives in his blood.
A heavy influence on Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear Solid games and like the Suicide Squad films and comics, the 1981 film Escape from New York is an example of director John Carpenter's skill at combining trashy B-movie thrills with political subversion, using Russell's independent-minded anti-hero to deliver a big cynical middle finger to post-Watergate America. Isaac Hayes' "Duke of New York" makes for a charismatic and weirdly likable villain.
Alongside the likes of Bonnie and Clyde and In the Heat of Night, Mike Nichols' 1967 romantic comedy The Graduate is one of the movies that signaled the end of the old studio system and the birth of a hipper, edgier New Hollywood.
From its unconventional leading man (a young Dustin Hoffman as the aimless college grad Benjamin Braddock) to its use of pop music (repurposing hits by Simon and Garfunkel), The Graduate became one of the biggest hits of all time by offering up a story that young adults found relatable. Though whether you should relate to Braddock -- a creep who's basically doomed to make the same bad choices as his parents -- is questionable.
Is Alan J. Pakula's 1971 neo-noir Klute the most interesting movie with the most boring title character? Klute, a detective played by Donald Sutherland, is so square and inexpressive he might as well be a robot, but the film's not really about him or even about the murder mystery he's hired to solve. Instead, Klute is most successful as a sensitive character study of Bree Daniels, a high-end call girl played with depth and sex-positivity by a scene-stealing, Oscar-winning Jane Fonda.
Pakula also does an excellent job at building an atmosphere of paranoia through dark cinematography and sound design; it's unofficially the start of a "paranoia trilogy" with The Parallax View and All the President's Men.
A collaboration between Jim Henson, David Bowie, Terry Jones, and George Lucas was destined to be a cult classic from its very conception. Labyrinth was a box office disappointment when it was first released in 1986, but its gorgeous puppetry, catchy music, fairy tale darkness, and David Bowie's mesmerizing performance as Jareth the Goblin King made a powerful impression on the Gen X kids who saw it in theaters -- and upon subsequent generations of artists and dreamers who've continued to find inspiration in this weird, Muppet-filled musical.
Doctor Strange's Scott Derrickson is reportedly at work on a sequel. Now sing along: You remind me of the babe. (What babe?)
The Disney+/National Geographic streaming series of The Right Stuff came and went with a whimper, but Philip Kaufman's 1983 film adaptation of Tom Wolfe's 1979 book still holds up as one of the best movies about the early Space Race, with a particular focus on Chuck Yeager, the pilot who first broke the sound barrier and trained the Mercury Seven astronauts.
Not necessarily the most accurate in terms of characterization (many astronauts took issue with their portrayals in the film), but it makes for highly compelling drama with absolutely stunning flight sequences. Running over three hours, you'll need to carve out a large chunk of your day to watch The Right Stuff, but that will be time well spent.
HBO Max losing the streaming rights to the first three Scream movies right in October makes it seem very likely another channel or streaming service will be showing the films for Halloween month (and the first movie is getting a theatrical re-release), but those who like to start the spooky season early might want to watch Wes Craven's original 1996 Scream film now.
Having already made one of the definitive slasher films and introduced Freddy Krueger to the world in 1984's A Nightmare on Elm Street, Craven would use Scream to deconstruct and satirize the genre he helped define, presenting a scary yet comedic slasher movie wherein the characters know the rules of how slasher films work.
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