HBO Max just added some fantastic new additions to its movie library in February, and Watch With Us is excited to dig into them this weekend.
It was hard to pick only three favorites from the expansive list. From iconic comedies to beloved romance dramas and Old Hollywood classics, there’s a lot of great stuff to choose from.
Thankfully, we narrowed it down. Our first choice is Marie Antoinette, Sofia Coppola‘s ravishing biographical drama starring Kirsten Dunst as the eponymous French royal.
Read on for all three of our recommendations.
‘Marie Antoinette’ (2006)
Fourteen-year-old Austrian archduchess Marie Antoinette (Dunst) marries the Dauphin of France, the future King Louis XVI (Jason Schwartzman), to ally with the two rival countries. Marie Antoinette thus follows Antoinette throughout her formative years, leading up to her ascension as the queen consort following the death of King Louis XV (Rip Torn) and the French Revolution. But at thePalace of Versailles, Antoinette is insistent on defying conventions and living a life of hedonistic pleasures, all while her marriage remains unconsummated, the people of France struggle and her public image deteriorates.
Marie Antoinette polarized critics upon release, some of whom felt that the depiction of Antoinette’s life as more like a pop video than a crucial piece of history diminished its significance. However, savvy viewers understood that it was meant to feel hyperactively unreal, that this lent itself to eventual cathartic reality and, of course, infamous tragedy. Sofia Coppola’s film is also, at its core, another of the director’s films about female isolation and loneliness. In the end, the film is more clever than you might think; at the very least, that soundtrack is outstanding.
‘The Shape of Water’ (2017)
In a covert government facility in 1960s Baltimore, mute, lonely Elisa (Sally Hawkins) works as a cleaning lady, whose only friends are her coworker Zelda (Octavia Spencer) and her closeted neighbor, Giles (Richard Jenkins). But Elisa finds unexpected companionship in the form of a new arrival at her workplace — a strange, humanoid amphibious creature (Doug Jones) from South America who is mostly bound to a water tank. Through their wordless communications, Elisa and the creature form a strong bond, but her new friend is being sought out for recapture by a ruthless colonel (Michael Shannon).
Guillermo del Toro‘s Best Picture-winning fantasy drama is an unconventional love story for the ages. Combining distinctive visuals with an emotional narrative and a fantastic ensemble cast, The Shape of Water sees the director firing on all cylinders. Of course, the real stars of the show are Hawkins and Jones, who manage a genuinely moving and even erotic relationship despite the intermingling of species and lack of language. But as The Shape of Water affectingly proves, love is something beyond language.
‘Malcolm X’ (1992)
Spike Lee‘s epic biographical drama charts the life of the controversial black activist Malcolm X, played by Denzel Washington in a career-best performance. The film sees Malcolm from childhood through his rise to power as a leading figure in the struggle for black liberation, touching on a number of key periods in Malcolm’s life. After hitting bottom in prison during the 1950s, Malcolm reemerges as a Black Muslim and a significant figure in the Nation of Islam. Though his career was tragically cut short after his assassination at Washington Heights’ Audubon Ballroom in 1965, he left behind a groundbreaking legacy.
With a runtime clocking at more than 200 minutes, Malcolm X may seem like a daunting experience to sit through. In reality, it is directed with such verve and tenacity that the runtime is finished before you know it. Lee gives the film an epic feel truly worth of its subject, and Washington portrays the man himself with both power and vulnerability — which ultimately landed him a nomination for Best Actor at the 65th Academy Awards. Ultimately, Malcolm X is a drama that is both artistically rewarding and loyal to its subject.
