Skip to main content

3 great (HBO) Max movies to watch instead of the 2024 Oscars

A knight on a horse looks at a council in The Green Knight.
A24

Here’s a hard truth: the Oscars aren’t for everyone. The speeches, the inane interviews, the chintzy dance numbers — it’s a bloated ceremony that is as off-putting to some people as it is appealing to others.

If you’re one of those people who isn’t going to be watching the 2024 Oscars, you probably need some suggestions for what to do instead. And you can do worse than watch some movies on Max. You should watch the three movies on the list below. One is a 2023 hit starring a Dune: Part Two lead actor, another is an underrated fantasy, and the last is a modern comedy classic.

Need more Oscar recommendations? Check out how to watch the 2024 Oscars for free, 2024 Oscar predictions, 10 biggest Oscar snubs ever, 10 best Oscar-winning movies ever, 10 most Oscar-nominated movies ever, and 5 great Oscar-winning movies on Amazon Prime Video.

In need of some more streaming recommendations? We also have guides to the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best movies on Amazon Prime Video, and the best movies on Disney+ that are worth looking through. 

Wonka (2023)

A man tips his hat in Wonka.
Warner Bros.

Just because Wonka wasn’t nominated for any Oscars doesn’t mean it’s not worth a watch. An all-ages hit from last December, Wonka stars Dune: Part Two star Timothée Chalamet as Willy Wonka, the iconic character from Roald Dahl’s children’s novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and its first movie adaptation, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. This prequel shows how Wonka became the world’s greatest inventor, magician, and chocolate maker.

Wonka has what you’d expect a movie like this to have: amusing musical performances, candy-colored visuals, and Hugh Grant as a grumpy Oompa Loompa. Wonka is a charming movie that will make you forget about the Oscars by reminding you of all those delicious sweets you could be consuming.

The Green Knight (2021)

A giant reaches to touch a man in The Green Knight.
A24

Craving a feast for the eyes? The Green Knight will do just fine then. Director David Lowery’s visually dazzling adaptation of the famous 14th-century poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight casts Dev Patel as King Arthur’s egotistical nephew Gawain, who must challenge the titular Green Knight and achieve glory for his kingdom.

The Green Knight boasts an impressive casts that includes Oscar winner Alicia Vikander and a pre-The Batman Barry Keoghan. More importantly, the movie incorporates surrealistic, breathtaking imagery to both update the millennia-old story and ground it in the ancient past. The Green Knight is unlike anything you have ever seen, and is perfect to watch on a night honoring the entertainment industry’s best and brightest.

The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

Meryl Streep sits at a desk in The Devil Wears Prada.
20th Century Fox

“That’s all.” With those two words, an iconic phrase was born, and a seemingly ordinary movie transformed into an enduring comedy classic. Adapted from Lauren Weisberger’s popular novel of the same name, director David Frankel’s The Devil Wears Prada chronicles recent college graduate Andy Sachs’ (Anne Hathaway) stressful tenure as a low-level assistant to Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep), the silver-haired editor in chief of Runaway Magazine and the titular devil who, yes, wears Prada.

Not much more can be said about this movie except that almost 18 years later, it’s just as sharp, clever, and entertaining as it was in 2006. Streep’s great, of course, as are Hathaway and Stanley Tucci, but it’s Emily Blunt (nominated at last for Oppenheimer) who steals every scene she’s in as the condescending co-assistant Emily. She views Andy and everyone else in the world with a contempt that’s not veiled in the slightest.

Editors' Recommendations

Jason Struss
Section Editor, Entertainment
Jason is a writer, editor, and pop culture enthusiast whose love for cinema, television, and cheap comic books has led him to…
The 50 best movies on Netflix right now (April 2024)
Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney in Anyone But You.

Netflix couldn't have asked for a better late April gift than the streaming premiere of Anyone But You. Thanks to Netflix's deal with Sony, 2024's blockbuster rom-com is already on top of the list of the most popular movies on Netflix, leaving Zack Snyder's Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver in second place. But things could be much worse for Rebel Moon – Part Two, which is performing well a week after its debut.

The other new addition for the week is King Richard, a sports drama starring Will Smith that's appearing on loan from Warner Bros. Discovery. It's also one of Netflix's top movies of the week, which suggests that the film may find sustained popularity on this platform that it didn't get on Max.

Read more
The best movies on Amazon Prime Video (April 2024)
Ritu Arya and Priya Kansara in Polite Society.

Things are admittedly slow on Amazon Prime Video during the final weekend of April. Fortunately, the martial arts action comedy Polite Society should be able to bring you some excitement this weekend. Romantic comedy fans can also check out How to Date Billy Walsh, a film that has entered the list of the top 10 most popular movies on Prime Video.

If neither of these films are for you, don't worry. This roundup of the best movies on Amazon Prime Video has something for just about everyone. And on May 1, a whole new batch of movies will arrive, with even more to come as we inch closer to summer.

Read more
The best horror movies on Amazon Prime right now
Mia Farrow in Rosemary's Baby.

Horror movies once had a reputation for being “dumb” films, but the world hasn’t viewed the genre that way for a long time. And whether you’re a fan of psychological thrills, slashers, ghost stories, or any other niche within the bigger pond, one of the best places to catch a horror flick is on Amazon Prime Video. 

Several times per year, we comb through the archives of Prime Video to handpick the best genre titles worth watching. Our criteria is pretty tough too, as we don’t want our readers watching the same cookie-cutter genre pics again and again. Still, we do our best to spotlight a handful of classics. 

Read more