The lineup of movies on HBO Max sometimes favors classic films over the modern movies.
That can complicate things if you want guidance from Rotten Tomatoes, since many of them predate that site by decades.
Regardless, the Watch With Us team has dived into this month’s additions to select three new HBO Max movies with at least 90 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
Our picks include a romantic drama, a crime thriller and an amazing monster flick that has withstood the test of time.
‘Dangerous Liaisons’ (1988)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94 percent
Dangerous Liaisons makes a lot more sense if you know going in that Marquise de Merteuil (Glenn Close) and her ex-lover, Vicomte de Valmont (John Malkovich) are terrible people who manipulate others to satisfy their own whims and desires. In 18th-century Paris, Merteuil wants Valmont to seduce a very young woman, Cécile de Volanges (Uma Thurman), to help her get revenge on another ex-lover.
Valmont actually has his eye on the pious Madame de Tourvel (Michelle Pfeiffer), which leads to a wager with Merteuil: She promises to sleep with him if he can provide proof that he’s seduced Tourvel. From there, it’s a tale of emotional blackmail and betrayal that leaves several lives in ruins.
Dangerous Liaisons is streaming on HBO Max.
‘The Town’ (2010)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 92 percent
Ben Affleck‘s Doug MacRay is playing with fire in The Town, a crime thriller that Affleck also cowrote and directed. Doug and a trio of his lifelong friends — James “Jem” Coughlin (Jeremy Renner), Albert “Gloansy” MacGloan (Slaine) and Desmond “Dez” Elden (Owen Burke) — are masked bank robbers who narrowly escaped their last heist. They also kidnapped the bank manager, Claire Keesey (Rebecca Hall), before releasing her.
Without telling the others, Doug introduces himself to Claire after the heist and strikes up a relationship with her. Claire may not recognize him, but she definitely has enough info to identify Jem. If Doug’s friends find out, they may kill her and possibly him as well. At the same time, the group’s final heist is complicated as FBI Special Agent Adam Frawley (Jon Hamm) closes in on them.
The Town is streaming on HBO Max.
‘Bride of Frankenstein’ (1935)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 98 percent
Even 90 years after its release, Bride of Frankenstein ranks as one of the greatest horror movies ever made and the crown jewel of the Universal Monster films. Boris Karloff reprises his role as Frankenstein’s Monster, and his iconic character is retconned to have survived the events of Frankenstein. However, the Monster has even more dangerous encounters with ordinary people, most of whom reject him on sight.
Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive) also emerges alive and badly shaken by his encounter with his creation in the previous film. Frankenstein wants to wash his hands of the entire affair and live happily with his wife, Elizabeth (Valerie Hobson). Unfortunately for Frankenstein, his mentor, Doctor Pretorius (Ernest Thesiger), wants to continue his work by creating a Bride (Elsa Lanchester) for the creature. And Pretorius is more than willing to use Elizabeth’s safety as leverage to blackmail Frankenstein into helping him.
Bride of Frankenstein is streaming on HBO Max.
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