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The holidays are nearly over, and 2023 is finally here. To celebrate the new year, HBO Max has all the goodies to make this weekend as entertaining as possible. Whether you’re hosting a New Year’s party or setting resolutions to watch as many shows and movies as possible, HBO Max is prepared.
While many movies, including the sci-fi film Voyagers, are leaving HBO Max, new ones, such as Hereditary and the John Wick franchise, are here to stay. While there aren’t many new shows premiering this weekend, His Dark Materials concluded its third and final season, and there’s plenty of time to catch up on other prestige shows before The Last of Us. With all this and more, here are the movies and TV shows to look out for this New Year’s weekend.
Voyagers Takes Lord of the Flies to Space
Leaving HBO Max this month is the 2021 science fiction film Voyagers, starring Tye Sheridan, Lily-Rose Depp and Colin Farrell. Described as Lord of the Flies, but in space, the film takes place in 2063 when Earth has become uninhabitable because of climate change, drought and disease — pretty much the reason why astronauts travel to another planet in almost every space movie. Given it takes 86 years to get there, a group of teenagers is sent in the hopes that they will procreate and have their grandchildren take the lead in the new world they plan to colonize. However, the decades-long mission weighs on them more than expected, as the teenagers realize their emotions have been artificially suppressed with a vitamin called “The Blue.” With a cast led by teenagers (or people in their 20s trying to be teenagers), it’s nice to have a seasoned actor like Farrell on board, whose job is to raise the astronauts in their earliest days.
Hereditary Arrives on HBO Max This January
HBO Max is seeing new movies arriving in January, and one of the most anticipated is Hereditary. In his directorial debut, Ari Aster is a force to be reckoned with, with the creepy and psychological fears paying off in a big way. The movie may be hard to stomach for some people, but there’s no denying how much the film changed the game for the horror genre. Toni Collette’s performance is also a highlight, and many considered her portrayal of a grieving mother to have been snubbed in the following Academy Awards ceremony.
Starring Collette, Alex Wolff, Milly Shapiro and Gabriel Byrne, the film follows a family haunted by an unnerving presence after the death of their grandmother. Visually stunning and beyond startling, Hereditary stays in viewers’ heads even after the credits roll. While it has been divisive between critics and fans, the bold execution of the film makes it culturally significant in the film industry.
Stream the John Wick Film Series Before Chapter 4 Hits Theaters
Nobody can get enough of Keanu Reeves, and he’s heading to HBO Max this weekend just ahead of the fourth John Wick movie’s premiere in 2023. HBO Max now has the first three John Wick films on HBO Max for everyone to binge-watch, making this weekend an action-packed one. The franchise centers around John Wick, a hitman forced back into the criminal underworld he had previously abandoned.
The first film follows Wick as he hunts down the men who broke into his home, stole his car and killed his puppy and is considered one of the best action films of all time. John Wick: Chapter 2 takes the hitman on a different journey that involves him fulfilling a blood oath to an Italian crime lord. Finally, John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum sees the character on the run after a bounty is placed on him.
The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Reboots the 1964 Spy Thriller Series
Henry Cavill has been in the news quite a lot recently. First, he announced his departure from Netflix’s The Witcher before announcing his return as Superman to the DC Universe. However, it turned out he actually wouldn’t be returning as Superman. The actor has had a tough break in 2022, but HBO Max still recognizes him as one of the greatest action stars of his generation by releasing the 2015 film The Man from U.N.C.L.E. The film is based on the 1964 television series of the same name and stars Cavill, Armie Hammer, Alicia Vikander, Elizabeth Debicki and Hugh Grant. Set in the early 1960s, Cavill portrays CIA agent Napoleon Solo who is on a mission against a criminal organization working to create its own nuclear bomb. The film received mixed reviews from critics, but Rolling Stone did cite it as one of the best action movies of all time.
Chernobyl Carefully Explores a Deadly True Story
One of the biggest shows to premiere on HBO Max in January is The Last of Us, which is being adapted by the original game’s co-creator Neil Druckmann and esteemed television writer Craig Mazin. Mazin is most known for creating the HBO limited series Chernobyl, which won multiple Emmy Awards. So, before jumping into the long premiere episode of The Last of Us, it might be worth the time to check out the previous works of Mazin that made him the right choice for the video game adaptation.
Chernobyl is a dramatic miniseries revolving around the Chernobyl disaster of 1986 and the cleanup efforts that followed. The series is meticulous about the details, from the science behind the incident to the deadly effects people would have from the explosion years after it occurred. Chernobyl also highlights the lesser-known stories of the disaster, such as the firefighters who responded to the scene and the teams of miners instrumental in the cleanup.
His Dark Materials Has Reached Its End
The third season of His Dark Materials is already over, and it seemed incredibly short, considering all that led to the series finale. Regardless, now all three seasons of the fantasy series are available to stream, so those who haven’t seen the show can watch His Dark Materials in its entirety. And those who waited until this weekend to watch the series finale will find some of the magic that was once lost in the confusing series as the show wraps up in a bittersweet way.
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