Black Friday is here, and chances are, you’re either tired from all the shopping or skipping it altogether. I can’t blame you; who wants all that hassle to save a couple of bucks? Besides, I’d rather stay in and watch a good movie (or three).
If you’re like me, then the following list is for you. All you need is an active HBO or Max subscription and a willingness to watch some movies that are a bit underrated in 2024. This is a no-holiday movie zone, so the movies below are free of any elves, mistletoe, or a hot Frosty the Snowman. (Yes, that’s actually a thing on Netflix, and it’s one of the streamer’s most popular titles.)
We also have guides to the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best movies on Amazon Prime Video, the best movies on Max, and the best movies on Disney+.
Sisters (2015)
It’s safe to assume that Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are two of the funniest women alive today. Anyone who watched them while they were on Saturday Night Live in the 2000s witnessed two comedians at the height of their powers. Their movies together, however, haven’t replicated what makes them so funny and appealing on the small screen. The best of them is Sisters, a 2015 comedy written by Paula Pell and featuring Maya Rudolph, Dianne Wiest, John Leguizamo, John Cena, and James Brolin.
In a reversal of roles, Poehler is Maura, the responsible one of the two, while Fey’s Kate is the wild child. Both star as grown-up sisters who must return to their childhood home to empty it before it’s sold to a new buyer. With only the weekend to relive their childhood, the two siblings decide to throw one last party as a way to say goodbye. Not surprisingly, the party gets out of control, and the two sisters must rely on each other to get out of trouble.
Sisters is streaming on Max.
Knight and Day (2010)
Sometimes, we take for granted certain things: a good turkey on Thanksgiving; a good night’s rest; and that Christmas bonus that will fund that long-planned vacation. Add Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz to that list. The two stars have been effortlessly entertaining audiences for decades (in Cruise’s case, five!), and their big star vehicle together was a bit overlooked, even if it was successful at the box office. Since they don’t make action movies this easy, breezy, and romantic anymore, the 2010 film’s reputation has improved over time.
June Havens (Diaz) is just your average gal preparing for her sister’s wedding when she gets wrapped up in an international spy plot involving Roy Miller, who also goes by Jonathan Knight (Cruise). Knight saves June from being killed by people looking to eliminate him and take back the Zephyr, a perpetual energy battery. Now June must team up with Knight to get her normal life back while preventing the battery from falling into the clutches of some very bad men.
Yes, Knight and Day is as ridiculous as it sounds, but it’s also tons of fun, with Cruise clearly in on the joke as an exaggerated action hero. The director, A Complete Unknown‘s James Mangold, knows how to stage an action sequence, and he’s assembled a crackerjack supporting cast consisting of Viola Davis, Paul Dano, and Peter Sarsgaard to populate his kinetic action world.
Knight and Day is streaming on Max.
The Full Monty (1997)
The year 1997 was a great one for movies. L.A. Confidential, Titanic, The Ice Storm, and Face/Off are just some of the movies that truly shined in very different ways, but there was one film that was the underdog success story of the year. That was The Full Monty, a small British comedy about working-class blokes in Sheffield who decide to strip and bare it all to gain make extra cash.
The big joke of the movie is that these men are all middle-aged and have less-than-appealing bodies. But what made The Full Monty connect with people, and what’s given the property life as a stage musical and 2023 TV show on Disney+, is its good nature and warmth. The audience doesn’t laugh at these six men, but rather with them, and the whole town rallies around their wish to do better and make their partners and families proud of them. Does the movie live up to its title and show the full monty? You’ll just have to see for yourself.
The Full Monty is streaming on Max.
