It’s summer, which usually means there’s a Marvel movie dominating multiplexes. This season, it’s Deadpool & Wolverine, a multiverse mashup directed at all those loyal MCU fanboys, and fangirls, who love cameos, cliffhangers, and wisecracks.
There’s nothing wrong with that, but some people might want to stay home and watch movies with less spandex and fighting. If you’re one of those people, then this list is for you. We’ve selected three underrated movies from HBO and Max’s impressive library that are guaranteed to entertain you throughout the weekend.
Game Change (2012)
This weekend, Kamala Harris will make one of the most important decisions of her career in picking her 2024 vice presidential running mate. There’s been a lot of drama about who made the final cut and who didn’t, but that nothing compared to when John McCain chose his candidate during his 2008 presidential campaign. The vetting of Sarah Palin, and her introduction to the world stage, is the focus of Game Change, director Jay Roach’s largely faithful and comedic adaptation of the bestselling nonfiction book.
Ed Harris stars as McCain, who is depicted here as a reasonable man who is losing a race he thought he would win. He picks Palin to revive his campaign, and for a few months, it seems to work. But as Palin, played here by May December‘s Julianne Moore in a performance that goes beyond simple caricature, fumbles in several high-profile interviews, McCain and his advisers are tasked to save a rapidly unravelling bid to go to the White House. Game Change is funny, but never mean-spirited, and it accomplishes the impossible: It actually makes you feel sorry for Palin.
Game Change is streaming on Max.
Wonderland (2003)
Another famous John, albeit for very different reasons, is the center of attention in Wonderland. James Cox’s 2003 film stars Top Gun: Maverick actor Val Kilmer as John Holmes, a real-life porn star who, by 1981, had reached both the pinnacle and nadir of his career. World famous for his, er, talents, Holmes at this point in his life was strung out on drugs, estranged from his wife, and involved with some shady characters.
On July 1, 1981, four people were murdered in a house in Laurel Canyon, and the film depicts Holmes’ possible involvement in the murders. Was he an accomplice? Or an innocent bystander? Wonderland explores these possibilities with assured direction from Cox and some great acting by Kilmer and co-stars Kate Bosworth, Dylan McDermott, Lisa Kudrow, Josh Lucas, Carrie Fisher, Tim Blake Nelson, and, yes, even Paris Hilton. Wonderland isn’t Boogie Nights, but it’s a nifty true crime movie of its own, and it’s worth checking out.
Wonderland is streaming on Max.
Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed (2023)
For years, Rock Hudson was a punchline. His name and image evoked an era, the 1950s, that was seen as square and boring, and he personified an American male ideal that was no longer in fashion. Then, in the wake of his death from AIDS in 1985, he unwillingly became the spokesperson for the Hollywood closet, and how the then-mysterious epidemic could claim even the rich and famous.
The documentary Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed looks to reclaim the star’s identity, first as a gay man who strategically advanced his career while also enjoying his private life, and second as an actor who, on occasion, could reveal depths and talents that were obscured by his manufactured persona.
By using never-before-seen home video and testimonials from his friends and co-stars, the documentary creates a fascinating and intimate portrait of a complex man who created a simple, desirable image that everyone, including him, could both worship or mock. Be warned; after watching this, you’ll want to watch some of Hudson’s movies like Seconds and Pillow Talk.
Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed is streaming on Max.
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