HBO Max
HBO Max Restores Gone With the Wind, With Historical Disclaimer
Two weeks after HBO Max pulled Gone With the Wind, the Oscar-winning film has returned to the platform, with a new historical disclaimer in tow. The 1939 film is the recipient of ten Academy Awards, and ranks as the highest-grossing motion picture in American history (adjusted to inflation). Yet, in the eyes of some, the film’s depiction of Black characters as racist stereotypes who are cheerfully and gratefully subservient to the white characters is untenable in modern day America. On June 10th, HBO Max announced it was temporarily removing Gone With the Wind until the film could be prefaced by “a discussion of its historical context and a denouncement” of its ethnic and racial prejudices.” Such a discussion has now been added in the form of a four-minute featurette w...
South Park Arrives to HBO Max, Minus Five Episodes Which Mock Religion
South Park has a new home. As of today, June 24th, all 23 seasons of Comedy Central’s beloved animated series are streaming on HBO Max. Well, with the exception of five episodes. The five episodes in question — “Super Best Friends” from season five, “Cartoon Wars Part I and Part II” from season ten, and “200” and “201” from season fourteen — either feature or reference a character based on the Prophet Muhammad. HBO Max agreed to exclude the episodes from its platform when it first acquired the series from Verizon, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The same five episodes were previously pulled from television syndication and South Park‘s previous streaming home at Hulu. The decision to remove the five episodes is due to “safety concerns,” as South Park creators Trey Parker and ...
Queen Latifah Wants ‘Gone with the Wind’ to be Gone Forever
While some have criticized HBO Max’s removal of Gone With the Wind from its streaming service — including those who wonder if it hurts the legacy of Hattie McDaniel, the first African American woman to win an Academy Award — Oscar nominee Queen Latifah says good riddance. “Let ‘Gone with the Wind’ be gone with the wind,” said the Emmy, Golden Globe and Grammy winner in an interview last week. Latifah, who portrays McDaniel in Ryan Murphy’s Netflix Hollywood series, says the story behind McDaniel’s Oscar win is not as shiny as the golden trophy. “They didn’t even let her in the theater until right before she got that award. Someone came outside and brought her into the auditorium. She wasn’t even allowed to sit in there. And then she had to read a speech that was written by a stud...
Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam Will No Longer Use Guns in New Looney Tunes Episodes
With the launch of HBO Max comes the return of Bugs Bunny and his furry friends as the streaming service commissioned 1,000 minutes of new Looney Tunes cartoons. As the New York Times notes in a new profile on the project, producers sought to harken back to the early glory days of Looney Tunes by emphasizing art direction and music over formal plots, with each episode running between one to six minutes in length. “We don’t do scripts,” Peter Browngardt, the series executive producer and showrunner, told the Times. “I hired cartoonists. So we get them together in a room and we just draw pictures and gags.” However, there is one notable difference between the new Looney Tunes and the episodes of yesteryear: Elmer Fudd and Yosemite Sam will be without guns. Instead, the show’s animators ...
Lil Nas X, Kacey Musgraves Sing Classic Sesame Street Songs on The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo: Watch
With the launch of HBO Max on Wednesday, the streamer debuted a number of new original series. Among them is the children’s answer to late night comedy programming, The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo. Just like the Jimmy Fallons and Stephen Colberts of the world, the Muppet’s new show features musical guests, and the first three episodes see Lil Nas X, Kacey Musgraves, and The Jonas Brothers stopping by Sesame Street. Each popular superstar tackle a different song from Sesame Street’s vast repertoire of kids’ classics. Lil Nas X actually gets to “la la la” right alongside Elmo for a smooth hip-hop take on “Elmo’s Song”, even switching up the lyrics at the end to “Lil Nas X’s song.” Musgraves, meanwhile, holds the stage alone backed by nothing but bubbles to sing an acoustic version of “Rubber...
Zack Snyder Reveals First Look at Darkseid in Justice League Director’s Cut
Today marks the launch of HBO Max, but one of the new streaming service’s most anticipated pieces of content won’t arrive for another year. As a reminder that Zack Snyder’s yet-unfinished director’s cut of Justice League will indeed be completed and debut on the platform in 2021, the filmmaker has revealed a tantalizing first look at the movie’s secondary antagonist, Darkseid. For the ungeeky, Darkseid is essentially the DC Extended Universe’s answer to Thanos (or, uh, other way around, since Darkseid was created first). He’s the Big Bad behind the scenes, laying the groundwork for a master plan to eliminate freewill across the universe. In the context of Justice League, he’s the uncle and master of Steppenwolf, the primary villain played by Ciarán Hinds in the film’s theatrical version. R...
HBO Max Officially Launches: Full List of Movies and TV Shows, How to Sign Up, and Everything Else to Know
Who’s ready to sign up for another streaming service? Today brings the launch of HBO Max, WarnerMedia’s new premium streaming service. With a $14.99/month price point, HBO Max offers 10,000 hours of premium content, including the entire HBO catalog, as well as new HBO Max Originals; hundreds of motion picture and TV series from Warner Bros.’s catalog; titles from New Line, DC, CNN, TNT, TBS, truTV, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Crunchyroll, Rooster Teeth, and Looney Tunes Cartoons; and a selection of classic films from TCM. Among the notable TV series currently available to stream: all 10 seasons of Friends; Rick and Morty; The Bachelor; Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown; and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air; plus existing HBO favorites like Curb Your Enthusiasm, Game of Thrones, Succes...
HBO Max Has Arrived, Find Out If You’re One of The Millions Who Can Use It For Free
Source: Presley Ann / Getty Another contender in the streaming wars has arrived. HBO Max officially launched today, and you could be one of the millions who could use the service for free 99. HBO’s new streaming service couldn’t have come at a better time as the country is currently binging and consuming movies at television shows at an alarming pace. Dubbed Netflix’s biggest competitor, the service hit the ground running thanks in large part to it having every show and movie from HBO’s current lineup. You can also throw in exclusive content from DC Comics and WarnerMedia as well as favorite shows like the Living Single ripoff, Friends, Big Bang Theory, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, The Boondocks, and Rick and Morty. Oh, and we can’t forget the recently announce “Snyder Cut” of that super wack ...
Ranking: Every Studio Ghibli Movie from Worst to Best
With the launch of HBO Max on Wednesday, May 27th, 21 of the 22 Studio Ghibli movies will be available for streaming in the United States for the first time ever in both original Japanese audio with subtitles and English dubs. Due to distribution and licensing rights, Grave of the Fireflies will be unavailable at the time of this writing. Odds are if you’ve ever watched an anime movie, it was probably one from Studio Ghibli. The brainchild of Hayao Miyazaki has always striven to animate its films by hand whenever possible and limit CGI to a minimum. Not only has this process created a distinct visual style, but it has also served as a rock-solid foundation for a legacy that’s unmatched by any other animation studio besides perhaps Disney. Suffice to say, it’s no surprise that Studio Ghibli...
Zack Snyder’s Justice League Director’s Cut to Debut on HBO Max in 2021
Calls from rabid fans and the film’s stars alike have been heard: Warner Bros. will #ReleaseTheSnyderCut of Justice League on HBO Max next year. The director’s cut has been rumored ever since the original film nearly tanked the entire DC Extended Universe back in 2017. Zack Snyder and his producer wife, Deborah, had left the project following the suicide of their 20-year-old daughter, Autumn. Joss Whedon, who’d led the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s massively successful superhero team-up adventure The Avengers was brought on to finish Justice League. In addition to handling all the post production work, Whedon shot numerous new scenes, many of which are some of the movie’s most lambasted. “You probably saw one-fourth of what I did,” Snyder told The Hollywood Reporter, adding that he...
Zack Snyder Director’s Cut Of Meh ‘Justice League’ Coming To HBO Max, Next Year #ReleaseTheSnyderCut
Source: Warner Bros. Pictures / HBO Max Zack Snyder’s Justice League was a flawed movie that never lived up to its potential. However, there have long been rumors of a director’s cut of the film that allegedly was exponentially better than what made it to theaters, and that version is coming to HBO Max. But, you’ll have to wait until 2021 to actually see it. Today (May 20), HBO Max and Warner Bros. Pictures announced that it will exclusively world premiere Zack Snyder’s director’s cut of Justice League on the streaming service in 2021. Snyder hipped fans to the news this morning during a live online commentary of Man of Steel, which starred Henry Cavill and was a pretty damn good Superman flick. “I want to thank HBO Max and Warner Brothers for this brave gesture of supporting artists and a...
HBO Max’s Love Life Feels Late to a Party That’s Already Ending: Review
The Pitch: HBO Max is arriving at the end of May with a slew of beloved classic films and TV shows, but like all streaming services, they have original content of their own. One of their first titles is the romantic dramedy Love Life, following a young woman in New York City trying to find The One, through plenty of unexpected twists, turns, and pitfalls. The Power of Kendrick: If the last six months have taught us anything about the world of streaming services, it should be this: Anna Kendrick’s presence is apparently a legal requirement. When Disney+ went live in November, one of its premiere original films was Noelle, a Christmas movie in which Kendrick played the daughter of Santa Claus. When Quibi went live in April (Remember Quibi? Trick question, no one does), one of its first strea...
