Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Entertainment
  3. Guides

3 best Max (formerly HBO Max) movies to watch for Thanksgiving

Dan Girolamo
By

For many of us, Thanksgiving is a time to sit down with family and friends, share a delicious meal, and reflect on the blessings in our lives. Thanksgiving serves as a bridge between Halloween and Christmas, with the holiday season ramping up after Turkey Day.

Since many of us will be gathering with others for the holiday, Thanksgiving is the perfect time to watch a movie. Max has a mix of holiday classics and family-friendly staples to stream over the long weekend. Below, check out three of the best Max movies to watch for Thanksgiving, including a magical snowman comedy, a chocolate lover’s dream, and a legendary Christmas adventure.

Recommended Videos

Jack Frost (1998)

A boy goes down a hill on a sled with a snowman.
Warner Bros.

You’ve never seen Jack Frost like this before. Before becoming a snowman, Jack Frost (Batman’s Michael Keaton) was a musician and band leader for The Jack Frost Band. Jack is on the precipice of acheiving stardom, but his sacrifices have led to declining relationships with his wife, Gabby (Kelly Preston), and 11-year-old son, Charlie (Joseph Cross).

Related

For Christmas, Jack finally puts his family first and leaves a gig to be with his wife and son, but he crashes his car in a blizzard on the way home and dies. One year later, Jack is resurrected as a snowman after Charlie plays a magical harmonica. It’s not how he drew it up, but Jack gets a second chance to be the father his son deserves. That is if the cold weather keeps him from melting.

Watch Jack Frost on Max.

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)

Willy Wonka sits next to a young boy.
Paramount Pictures

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory has nothing to do with Thanksgiving. However, many of us will have dessert on Thanksgiving night, and there’s no better place to indulge our sweet tooth than Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. Charlie Bucket (Peter Ostrum) is a poor boy who dreams of finding one of the five golden tickets inside a chocolate bar wrapper. A golden ticket wins a lifetime supply of chocolate and admission into Willy Wonka’s factory.

As fate would have it, Charlie finds the final ticket and heads to the factory with Grandpa Joe (Jack Albertson). Inside, Charlie meets Willy Wonka (Gene Wilder) and explores his magical factory. Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory is a delightful family movie that will bring out the dreamer inside all of us. And fans of this film should make sure to check out Timothée Chalamet as the iconic candymaker in Wonka this December.

Watch Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory on Max.

Elf (2003)

An elf looks at a man and woman at a desk in Elf.
New Line Cinema

Elf remains one of the best Christmas movies of all time. There’s no better time to watch it than now as Elf celebrates its 20th anniversary. Will Ferrell stars as Buddy the Elf, a human raised by Santa’s elves in the North Pole. Now an adult, Buddy realizes he does not fit in with the other elves because of his large stature and toymaking deficiencies.

Looking for answers, Buddy heads to New York City to find his biological father, Walter Hobbs (James Caan), a selfish businessman who finds himself on the Naughty List. Upon reuniting with his father, Buddy uses unorthodox methods – making spaghetti with syrup and cutting down a tree in Central Park – to bring some holiday cheer to Walter and his family.

Watch Elf on Max.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Dan Girolamo
Dan Girolamo
Entertainment Writer
Dan is a passionate and multitalented content creator with experience in pop culture, entertainment, and sports. Throughout…
Don’t miss these 5 movies leaving Max in March that you have to watch right now
Gene Wilder standing and tilting his head slightly in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory

March is winding down as we head into spring. But as the end of the month draws near, Max is set to lose some of its very best movies. Fortunately, March is also one of the months that has 31 days, so that's going to give you extra time to catch some of your favorite movies before they depart.

Our choices for the five movies leaving Max in March that you have to watch right now include three classic films that rank among the all-time greats, a ghostly romance, and an unlikely toy movie adaptation.
A Clockwork Orange (1971)

Read more
Everything coming to Max (formerly HBO Max) in April 2024
Two men talk in a restaurant in The Sympathizer.

It's only the end of March, but Max has been killing it in 2024. The last season of Curb Your Enthusiasm has been pretty, pretty, pre-tay good so far, and returning shows like True Detective: Night Country and Tokyo Vice, the Michael Mann-produced series starring Ansel Elgort and Ken Watanabe, have been rock-solid entertainment.

April promises even more quality content at a reasonable price. Recent 2024 Oscar-winner Robert Downey Jr. makes his limited series debut with The Sympathizer, while the controversial Holocaust movie The Zone of Interest makes its streaming debut at the beginning of the month. A little less serious is Conan O'Brien Must Go, a new travel series starring everyone's favorite red-haired ex-Simpsons writer. There are more of them than you think!

Read more
3 great action movies on Tubi you need to watch in March 2024
Two women sit down next to each other on the ground.

While many streaming services continue raising prices, Tubi remains free for all customers. As a FAST service, subscribers gain access to Tubi's enormous library, home to 50,000 movies and TV shows. All of these programs are available for free. The only caveat is that Tubi runs ads. Think of these ads like watching commercials on cable television. Unlike cable, Tubi does not require a subscription fee.

Explore movies and TV shows in genres from comedies and sci-fi to dramas and romance. In March, the genre we've zeroed in on is action. Below, you'll find three action movies to watch on Tubi. Our selections include a hilarious buddy cop action comedy, an underrated crime thriller, and a 1980s gem starring Sylvester Stallone.
The Heat (2013)

Read more