Dear friends,
Today’s newsflash has a quick dive into HBO Max (which is really an “AT&T Max”), and whether you should get it or not. The new service launches this Wednesday.
Meanwhile, here is an award-winning TV show and a heartfelt new documentary, both on Netflix.
THE TOP TV SHOW OF THE WEEK
Spotless
On Netflix almost everywhere. Mostly in English, some French.
Spotless is like Breaking Bad or The Sopranos but with the gore and darkness turned up. It might actually be closer to Dexter, or CSI, which has the same creator. It’s one big mash-up of a lot of edgy, dark sagas, and it works.
A French man leads a quiet existence with his family in London, where he runs a crime-cleaning business. His lost brother reappears and with him a crime that needs hiding and a pull towards the London criminal underworld.
📰 The Guardian: “It has a lot of hallmarks of what we consider “prestige TV” these days – male anti-heroes, existential crises, far too much gore, an obsession with crime and violence, a family falling apart – but it doesn’t come off as derivative while managing to be compulsively watchable. It is tremendously straightforward in a very polished and unfussy way. ”
📺 on Netflix; 🍅 rating: 100%
THE TOP MOVIE OF THE WEEK
A Secret Love
New on Netflix this month.
“You kinda broke the rules your whole life?” someone asks Terry Donahue in A Secret Love. She replies “Yes I have, and that’s why I’m happy”.
A Secret Love is the heartfelt story of one of the professional baseball players who inspired the 1992 hit movie A League of Their Own (starring Madonna). Terry Donahue had one secret that she kept from the writers of the movie, her family, and the world: a 65-year relationship with a woman.
📰 The New York Times: “It is a compliment that "A Secret Love," which runs under an hour and a half, could stand to be longer, with an expanded portrait of Terry and Pat's early life as a couple.”
📺 on Netflix everywhere; 🍅 rating: 100%
Readers’ top picks
The Half of It on Netflix is our readers’ favorite movie. It’s an atmospheric coming-of-age romance.
Unorthodox also on Netflix is our readers’ top series this week. It’s about a girl who escapes an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in New York and seeks refuge in Berlin.
New titles worth your time
Trumbo with Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston is now available to stream on Netflix. He plays a top Hollywood screenwriter who is accused of supporting Communism in the 50s.
The Amazon Prime Original Homecoming comes back for season two today. Singer Janelle Monae replaces Julia Roberts as the main role, but the storyline and the bleak atmosphere remain the same.
The 2019 Elton John biopic Rocketman with Taron Egerton has been added to Amazon Prime today as well.
Great titles that will soon expire
The Last Man on the Moon leaves Netflix this Monday, May 25th. It’s about the little-known story of astronaut Don Davis who will become just that, the last person to step on the moon.
Survivors Guide to Prison is another great documentary that leaves tomorrow, Saturday 23rd. It’s about the U.S. prison system through the eyes of two wrongly convicted men. Narrated by Susan Sarandon in part and featuring many recognizable faces such as Danny Glover, Quincy Jones, and Danny Trejo.
No noteworthy titles are leaving Amazon Prime this week.
The Newsflash: everything you need to know about HBO Max
HBO, owned by Warner, itself owned by AT&T, will be launching HBO Max this Wednesday, May 27th.
The difference between HBO Max, GO, and NOW
It’s confusing, I know. Basically, HBO Max is exactly like Netflix: it has both HBO content and other content that they have acquired.
HBO Now and Go are only for HBO content, kind of like Apple TV+ (although Apple announced they’ll soon start acquiring catalog).
The Price
An expensive $15/month, but if you “pre-order” before the launch date, you can get $3 off for the first year. It comes down to (a still expensive) $12/month.
The impact of quarantine
It’s not exactly clear how much the pandemic has impacted HBO’s ongoing productions. The Friends reunion special was canceled because of it, but they also booked new shows such as a quarantine cooking show with Selena Gomez. Just don’t tell Alison Roman.
What’s in it
(The?) Max will be premiering 6 new shows on launch day, including a comedy series with Anna Kendrick called Love Life and a documentary series on the underground ballroom community called Legendary.
As mentioned before, it will also include every HBO show, as well as some non-HBO content such as Rick and Morty, Doctor Who, Friends, Gossip Girl, etc. HBO Max has deals with:
DC Entertainment, BBC Studios, Warner Bros. (of course), Cartoon Network, Comedy Central, CNN, The Criterion Collection, New Line Cinema, TBS, TNT, TruTV, The CW, Turner Classic Movies, Crunchyroll, Rooster Teeth, Adult Swim, Studio Ghibli….
AT&T has also not ruled out streaming live Warner-owned sports on HBO Max such as the NBA and Major League Baseball (this is not yet available or probably even in the works).
Worth noting that you can download movies and shows on Max and that there are parental control features.
So, should you get it?
Tough question. If you had or wanted to have HBO Go or Now, definitely get it. HBO Max will have the content of both plus a lot more for the same fee. It’s called HBO Max but it really is AT&T Max.
At the same time, it’s a lot of American content and little from elsewhere in the world. And it’s expensive. You can get both Netflix ($8.99) and ad-supported Hulu ($5.99) for the same price.
In any case, I highly recommend against having more than one active subscription at a time. Either cancel Netflix (Prime, Hulu, etc), and try HBO for a couple of months, or wait until you finish your ongoing shows on Netflix.
I calculated in this e-mail last year how much you can lose from having more than one streaming subscription at a time (a lot of money and a lot of frustration). If you’re interested in a streaming service, cancel Netflix and get it. When you’re tired of it, cancel it and get Netflix back. Netflix will keep your account and history intact for 10 months.
HBO Max isn’t going anywhere, and it’s always tricky to judge a platform before it launches). Still, in terms of the sheer volume that AT&T launching with, it sounds like it is the most serious competitor to Netflix yet.
That’s it for today, I hope there is something in there for you.
If you can, please support us by subscribing or giving it as a gift:
The next edition will be in your inbox on Friday, May 29th.
Until then,
Bilal Zou, founder [bilal@agoodmovietowatch.com]
Carried with the support of the Creative Europe Program – MEDIA.
Just watched The Last Man on the Moon before it disappears! Such a fascinating look at not only the events that occurred, but how his personal life changed during and especially afterwards . . .