‘Tis the season to be streaming, and we’ve got a selection of great new movies to watch on Max this month. Just in time for Christmas break, the Max streaming service is adding one of the biggest films of the year, a courtroom drama from director Clint Eastwood, a documentary on “Superman” actor Christopher Reeve and more.
Check out our picks for the best new movies on Max in December below.
The juice is loose (again). Tim Burton’s “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” the long-awaited sequel to his 1988 classic, sees an adult Lydia (Winona Ryder) returning to Winter River, Connecticut, following the death of her father Charles (Jeffrey Jones, who doesn’t return for, um, reasons). While there, her daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega) falls in love with a local boy and, inevitably, Lydia and her stepmother Delia (Catherine O’Hara, stealing the show) are forced to call on the supernatural prankster Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton) for help. A sequel to “Beetlejuice” had been in the works since the early 1990’s, most infamously with a script that involved the action being relocated to Hawaii (in the climax Betelgeuse entered a surfing competition), so it’s a miracle that this movie exists at all. Maybe most surprising of all is how entertaining the movie turned out to be – it’s weird and funny and heartfelt and features a ton of practical creatures and stop-motion monsters. Basically, it’s everything that a sequel to “Beetlejuice” should have been. Now we patiently wait for the inevitable third movie.
Bring tissues for the acclaimed documentary “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story.” The documentary charts the life of the “Superman” actor, both before and after the 1995 horse-riding accident that made him a quadriplegic, with a focus on his advocacy for disability rights and care and close friendship with Robin Williams. The film — which was picked up by Warner Bros. Discovery and DC out of Sundance — boasts a bevy of archival footage and interviews with Reeve and new interviews with family members and those who knew him, like Glenn Close and Susan Sarandon.
At 94, Clint Eastwood keeps bringing the hits. “Juror #2,” a taut legal thriller and equally gripping morality play, is as effortlessly entertaining as any of the filmmaker’s earlier films. Nicholas Hoult plays a journalist who is drafted into a jury for a high-profile murder case. The problem? Hoult slowly realizes that he might have been responsible for the murdered woman’s death. It leads to a fascinating moral conundrum, especially because of the political implications – the prosecutor on the case (Toni Collette) is running for district attorney, mostly on the back of the case. (Chris Messina plays the dogged defense attorney.) There are some very sharp twists and turns in “Juror #2” but what the movie does best is put you in the shoes of Hoult’s character, as he wrestles with the moral implications of his decision – whether or not he will come forward and how that will impact his young wife (Zoey Deutch), pregnant with their first child. Throw in some killer supporting performances from J.K. Simmons, Leslie Bibb and Keifer Sutherland, who plays Hoult’s AA sponsor, and you’ve got a wonderful movie night at home. “Juror #2” will be found guilty … of being great.
1944’s “Meet Me in St. Louis” is a delightful musical that features a scene in which a young girl violently murders several snowmen. Set at the turn of the 20th century, the story takes place over vignettes set during different seasons in St. Louis, with Judy Garland playing the daughter in a family that’s leading the charge in the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. The songs are great, it looks incredible and it’s a terrific Christmas movie.
A classic through and through. Many movies and shows have tried to capture the magic of Richard Donner’s 1985 adventure film, from “Stranger Things” to “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew,” but there’s nothing quite like the original. The story follows a group of kids who go in search of a lost treasure, all while a trio of thieves/murderers are hot on their trail. The touch of magic really makes this one sing.
Tremendously silly. Must be seen to be believed. “Jupiter Ascending” marked the sci-fi blockbuster return of The Wachowskis after their “Matrix” trilogy, and it is a wild ride. The original epic stars Channing Tatum as a werewolf hybrid with rocket boots, Mila Kunis as a human who turns out to be an intergalactic princess and Eddie Redmayne as… well just wait and see. One thing everyone can agree on about this huge swing: “Jupiter Ascending” is not lacking for imagination.
This HBO documentary chronicles the U.S. parole system as it follows two men convicted of murder in New York when they were teens, their attorneys, and their family members, as they prepare for their upcoming parole interviews, reflecting on their crimes, their rehabilitation, and the criteria for decisions about their potential release. The film also follows another incarcerated man going through the parole process in Connecticut, a state that recently reformed its process to allow for public observation and additional legal protections.
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