Best new movies on HBO Max in January 2022

HBO Max is quietly the largest streaming service, and every month they release a flood of new quality content, both items from the extensive Warner Bros. library. and also new titles designed exclusively for the streamer.

With “The Matrix Resurrections” releasing in late December, most of what’s coming to HBO Max in January are library titles, but that’s okay (because they’re really, really good). So without further ado, check out our picks for the best new movies on HBO Max this month.

2001: A Space Odyssey

How about we kick things off with one of the greatest movies ever made? Stanley Kubrick’s sci-fi masterpiece “2001: A Space Odyssey” (about, among other things, evolutionary leaps in technology, a spiritual journey to the far reaches of space, and killer computers) is making its way to HBO Max this month, so why not watch again? The film that initially baffled audiences, but made an impact with more open-minded views and (let’s be real) stoners, doesn’t quite pack the same big punch when viewed. on your Samsung 55 inch, but a good movie is a great movie in any format and in any size. “2001: A Space Odyssey” impresses whichever way you look at it.

batman begins

The beginning of what might be the greatest superhero saga of the modern era is arguably back on the platform yet again. There’s a solid argument to be made that Christopher Nolan’s inaugural outing starring Christian Bale as Batman is also the best of the bunch. It’s stylish and funny in a way that the other two (also available on HBO Max) can get big and serious and the last act, with the runaway monorail, is pure thrill in a way that the last two have refused to become.

Gremlins 2: The New Batch

Perhaps the most meta studio sequel until at least last month’s “Matrix Resurrections” (which is still on HBO Max until January 21), “Gremlins 2: The New Batch” took on the formula of the original classic. by Joe Dante (basically that Mogwai can’t get wet, sunbathe or eat after midnight) and turn it into an orgiastic pop show. The gremlins take over a New York skyrise (led by a very Trumpian character played by the great John Glover), which is really an excuse for Dante and his collaborators to send 90s culture, colorization of classic old yogurt movies. It’s a non-stop explosion.

Mad Max: Fury Road

Another chilling masterpiece on the list, “Mad Max: Fury Road” is a classic that blows your hair back, following the titular warrior of the road (now played by Tom Hardy, taking over from Mel Gibson ) as he joins Furiosa (Charlize Theron) to save humanity from the abyss. If you’ve never seen “Mad Max: Fury Road,” brace yourself. It’s almost indescribably wonderful, the type of audacious artistic vision that studios rarely fund. Perhaps a great time to review too, if you’re a fan, ahead of New York Times writer Kyle Buchanan’s column on the production of the film, which will be released next month. Grab your warboys and let’s go!

magic mike

This one is for the ladies. The conclusion to the “Magic Mike” saga, again starring Channing Tatum and directed by the brilliant Steven Soderbergh, is set to drop later this year on HBO Max, so why not go back to the start? Soderbergh’s film is so funny and full of life (and also happens to be one of the best films made about the economic crash of 2008), it should have been advertised even more than it was. (“Magic Mike XXL,” which Soderbergh didn’t direct but produced, edited, and shot; and “Finding Magic Mike,” a recent reality TV spinoff, are also available.) Hope you brought singles .

Loan player one

Guess what? “Ready Player One” is one of Steven Spielberg’s most underrated and entertaining films of the past decade. Set in a futuristic world where humanity is largely housebound and addicted to a VR world called the Oasis (it’s a world that increasingly resembles our own), a child named Wade (Tye Sheridan ) is in search of a series of magic eggs that will give him dominance over this synthetic landscape. It sounds goofy, sure, but it’s also Spielberg working at the peak of his blockbuster, crowd-pleasing powers, engaging some of his best film sets (helped by dazzling visual effects from Industrial Light). & Magic). What, are you gonna watch “Lincoln” instead?

The Teen Titans Go! At the movie theater

Perhaps the best of DC’s recent crop of movies is actually this incredibly silly animated feature, where younger versions of your favorite heroes (led by a bratty Robin) attempt to make their own movie about them. . “Teen Titans Go! To the Movies” is irreverent and often funny, especially in a sequence (to Huey Lewis’s song from “Back to the Future”) where they travel back in time to make sure the other super- heroes don’t actually become superheroes. What movie. Also, somewhat related: “The LEGO Batman Movie,” another terrific animated take on DC characters, is also new to HBO Max this month. Why not make it double?