The Best Movies on HBO Go

Nowadays, HBO is synonymous with big-budget TV series and movies, but it hasn’t always been that way. The Home Box Office, aka HBO, burst onto television screens in 1972 as one of the first subscription channels; it enticed viewers by promising uncensored and commercial-free movies. In the 1980s, HBO created Cinemax, a second, movie-only channel under the HBO banner, and overtook its main competitor Showtime; with that dominance, HBO could now secure exclusive deals with movie studios for the right to air those movies on their channel. It’s important to keep that history in mind when searching through HBO’s catalog of movies, so you understand just why the channel has so much quality content. They’ve been in the game for over 40 years. They know what they’re doing.

Nowadays, while HBO still enjoys that special relationship with movie studios, it has grown into a major media empire. When it comes to TV, the channel somehow unlocked the secret to consistently producing award-winning series that audiences love, including but not limited to The Sopranos, The Wire, Game of Thrones, Westworld, Big Little Lies, Silicon Valley, Last Week Tonight, and Veep. At the same time, HBO’s background and expertise has always been the big screen, which is why films still make up the largest block of their programming.

In an attempt to join in the streaming fun, HBO announced their streaming service called HBO Go in 2010, where subscribers can watch all of their original content. While some viewers might be willing to overlook some programming overlap between the other streaming giants like Hulu, Amazon, or Netflix, HBO is more restrictive with its content. It’s the only platform where you’ll find up-to-date HBO content (other than HBO Now, launched in 2015 as a standalone service). However, because they can anticipate that the most likely reaction to such exclusivity is a long and drawn out eye roll, they make sure that monthly subscription pays off. HBO Go has no ads, most of the content is streamed in HD, and the selection of content goes beyond series and films to include sports, documentary series and documentaries. Take a look at some examples of the best movies on HBO Go.

It’s Kind of a Funny Story (2010)

Directors: Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden

Starring: Kier Gilchrist, Emma Roberts, Zach Galifinakis

Based on a book by the late Ned Vizzini, It’s Kind of a Funny Story follows 16-year-old Craig Gilner (Kier Gilchrist) during his week long in the adult wing of a mental health clinic. Upon his arrival Craig meets and bonds with Bobby (Zach Galifinakis), an adult patient who helps him build up the courage to ask out fellow teen patient Noelle (Emma Roberts). Though un unbridled teen romance is an element in the plot, it takes a backseat to the spotlight on navigating your life as a teen struggling with mental illness and earnestly depicts a positive outcome of seeking treatment.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (2017)

Director: George C. Wolfe

Starring: Oprah Winfrey, Rose Byrne, Renée Elise Goldsberry

This made for television movie follows the story of author Rebecca Skloot (Rose Byrne) as she dives into the history of Henrietta Lacks (Renée Elise Goldsberry), the African-American woman whose cancer cells are the source of the infinitely reproducing HeLa cell line used in important fields of medical research. As Skloot learns more about Henrietta’s life and previously ignored legacy she befriends her daughter, Deborah Lacks (Oprah Winfrey), who has lost hope in the idea of sharing her mother’s story. Winfrey’s performance may have been a standout aspect of the film, but turning Henrietta Lacks into a household name was the ultimate payoff.

The Hurt Locker (2009)

Director: Kathryn Bigelow

Starring: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie

The Hurt Locker is an American war drama depicting the tensions of a U.S. Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit deployed in Iraq. The film follows the tumultuous experience of a Sergeant (Jeremy Renner) joining the unit after the death of his predecessor and his relationship with the Sergeant in charge of his support team (Anthony Mackie). Forced to work together under stressful and exhausting conditions the two clash heads during the remainder of their deployment. The realistic depiction of the strain of the Iraq War earned acclaimed criticism and landed six Oscars in 2010, including Best Picture and Best Director.

How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003)----

Director: Donald Petrie

Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Kate Hudson

Some of history’s finest rom-coms came during the early 2000’s, and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days is no exception. When an advice columnist (Kate Hudson) seeks to go above and beyond in her journalism career, she turns her dating life into a social experiment to see if she can deter a man from dating her in ten days. Her plan goes awry when she meets and secretly begins falling for a romantic executive (Matthew McConaughey) who claims that he can make any woman love him in ten days. It’s the perfect option for movie night, whether you’re a true casanovas or a determined women trying to get ahead in your career.

Thoroughbreds (2017)

Director: Cory Finley

Starring: Olivia Cooke, Anya Taylor-Joy, Anton Yelchin

If you’ve been long searching for a sinister teen dramedy about murder and horses, your search has ended. Thoroughbreds is the story of childhood friends Amanda (Olivia Cooke) and Lily (Anya Taylor-Joy) reunited as teenagers after growing into a social outcast and a high-class prep. After rekindling their friendship and seeing how Lily is treated by her stepfather, Amanda proposes they enlist local small-time criminal Tim (Anton Yelchin) to kill him. While their plans don’t exactly go to plan, their devious ways are perfectly synchronized with a stellar soundtrack making for a thrilling movie-watching experience.

American Psycho (2000)

Director: Mary Harron

Stars: Christian Bale, Willem Dafoe, Jared Leto, Josh Lucas, Chloë Sevigny

Of all the great lines given to great fictional serial killers—Jack Torrance’s “Heeeeere’s Johnny!” from The Shining, Buffalo Bill’s “It rubs the lotion on the skin, or else it gets the hose again," from Silence of the Lambs, or even Norman Bates’ “A boy’s best friend is his mother,” from Psycho—​Patrick Bateman, the killer in American Psycho played by Christian Bale, has a particularly chilling murder pick-up line. In order to get out of any engagement that was keeping him from his bloody murders, he says, “I have to return some videotapes.” The apparent innocence of the phrase juxtaposed with Bateman’s violent murders speaks to the out-of-place, nonchalant tone that makes this movie all the more terrifying.

The Big Lebowski (1998)

Directors: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen

Stars: Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi, John Turturro

One year after the Coen brothers won an Oscar for Fargo’s screenplay, they came out with The Big Lebowski, a rather bizarre crime movie in which the hero is a lazy “Dude” who just wants to win his bowling tournament. The film makes no attempt to teach a lesson or even suggest any kind of morality; in fact, it is more of an homage to the art of filmmaking, with its memorable characters brought to life thanks to a unique script and memorable performances, as well as distinct directorial choices.

Do The Right Thing (1989)

Director: Spike Lee

Stars: Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson, Giancarlo Esposito

Set on one specific block of Bed-Stuy during the humid Brooklyn summer months in the late '80s, Do The Right Thing is one of the greatest cinematic depictions of the bubbling cauldron of racial tension that is America. As tensions rise, all hell breaks loose on the one hottest day of the summer. It’s often regarded as one of the best films of all time and is easily Spike Lee’s most famous film. If you like this one, also watch Crooklyn (which is also on HBO Go), another Spike Lee project released a few years later that deals with similar themes in more experimental ways.

Deadpool (2016)

Director: Tim Miller

Stars: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, Ed Skrein, T.J. Miller, Gina Carano

Ryan Reynold’s R-rated Deadpool is a hilarious postmodern subversion of every single superhero movie that came before it, which paradoxically enough makes it better than every single superhero movie that came before it. If for some insane reason you have yet to see this one, get to it quickly before watching Deadpool 2 and Donald Glover’s Deadpool animated TV series on FXX.

The Breakfast Club (1982)

Director: John Hughes

Stars: Emilio Estevez, Paul Gleason, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald

There were a lot of high school coming of age movies to come out of the 1980s (Sixteen Candles, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Pretty in Pink, Say Anything, Heathers, etc…). Most of them are perfectly fine movies, but at the end of the day, they’re all about a group of white kids learning about themselves. In that regard, The Breakfast Club is no different. With that said, though, if you could only watch one of these classic '80s stories, this one should be it, because it perfectly encompasses the era’s aesthetics. Moreover, the nature of the plot—five students from five different cliques stuck in Saturday detention together become unlikely friends—​means that you get all the general tropes about sex, drugs, obligations, and future plans in one. Hey, you might even find something in it to relate to. Who knows?

Funny Games (2007)

Director: Michael Haneke

Stars: Naomi Watts, Tim Roth, Michael Pitt, Brady Corbet, Devon Gearhart

If you’ve ever tried to get someone who hates scary movies to watch one with you, you’ve probably tried arguing that it’s just a movie and it could never happen in real life! And while it might be factually true that the odds of the psychological thriller Funny Games happening in “real life” are pretty low, the most twisted part of the movie is how often the film breaks the fourth wall, with the murderers looking directly at the camera or even rewinding the “tape” to alter the ending of the movie. The idea that you might be watching a documentary, or that the perverted killers are somehow more in control than you are with your remote control and stop button is what stays with you even after this movie ends.

Kicks (2016)

Director: Justin Tipping

Stars: Jahking Guillory, Christopher Jordan Wallace, Christopher Meyer, Kofi Siriboe, Mahershala Ali

Kicks, the story of three Bay Area kids and what a stolen pair of fresh Bred Air Jordan 1s can teach us about race relations, violence, and what it means to be a man, is also the ultimate sneakerhead movie. Even though this is only director Justin Tipping’s first movie, he shows an impressive amount of promise; the originality of the story, which is based on his own experience growing up obsessed with sneakers in the Bay Area, is a much needed salve for Hollywood's cookie cutter plots.

Miss Evers' Boys (1997)

Director: Joseph Sargent

Stars: Alfre Woodard, Laurence Fishburne, Joe Morton

Between 1932 and 1972, the U.S. government conducted secret medical experiments on poor African-American men in Alabama in an attempt to understand the effects of untreated syphilis. The experiments essentially consisted of injecting their illegally obtained medical subjects with the potentially life-threatening STD - without telling them they wouldn’t receive treatment - in exchange for free healthcare. This shameful moment in American medical history is dramatized with the proper amount of tact and delicacy in Miss Evers' Boys; it is an important, yet depressing HBO production that won an Emmy for Outstanding Made for Television Movie.

Rushmore (1998)

Director: Wes Anderson

Stars: Jason Schwartzman, Olivia Williams, Bill Murray, Seymour Cassel, Mason Gamble

This is the story of a gifted, yet scattered 15 year-old boy (Schartzman) and a bored rich businessman (Murray) who fall in love with the same woman and go from friends to sworn enemies. Filmed in that undeniably Wes Anderson style, Rushmore retains an odd yet charming quality, rendering it one of the director’s most enjoyable films.

Straight Outta Compton (2015)

Director: F. Gary Gray

Stars: O’Shea Jackson Jr., Corey Hawkins, Jason Mitchell, Paul Giamatti

Straight Outta Compton is the raw, enthralling story of the rise and fall of N.W.A and their specific, explosive brand of gangsta rap. Chronicling the lives and music careers of Eazy E, Ice Cube, and Dr. Dre and making the case for their place at the top of rap’s hall of fame, Straight Outta Compton is easily one of the greatest musical biopics in recent history. And it should go without saying that it has a dope soundtrack.