By Phillip Swann
TV Answer Man, @tvanswerman

HBO Max over the weekend added 77 new films to its streaming lineup. Here are the three best, in my humble opinion. (You can offer your opinions in the Comments section below.)

* Clean and Sober, the 1988 drama starring Michael Keaton as a real estate agent trying to overcome substance abuse. At the time, Keaton was best known for comedy (Mr. Mom, Beetlejuice), but this film gave an early peek to his deeper talents as a dramatic actor. His portrayal of a drug addict is bone chillingly real and a precursor to his role as an addicted physician in Hulu’s excellent dramatic series, Dopesick. The Clean and Sober supporting cast is also great with early Morgan Freeman, Kathy Baker and Tate Donovan particularly memorable.

* Talladega Nights: The Legend of Ricky Bobby, Adam McKay’s hilarious send-up of the NASCAR circuit starring Will Ferrell as a witless but winning driver. Sacha Baron Cohen is Peter Sellers-like funny as a French driver and rival to Ferrell’s Ricky Bobby and the rest of the supporting cast includes Amy Adams, John C. Reilly and Leslie Bibb. Rev your engines and prepare to laugh.

* Knowing, the 2009 sci-fi/drama film starring an unusually subdued Nicolas Cage as a teacher who stumbles upon a mathematical formula to predict disasters. The burden of knowledge is overwhelming as Cage’s character desperately tries to warn loved ones and others to change their behaviors and plans. Knowing is an intelligent look at the human condition and our need to live freely and without fear.

Here is the complete list of movies just added to HBO Max:

The Blue Lagoon, 1980
Breathe, 2017 (HBO)
The Brother’s Warner, 2007
The Circle, 2017 (HBO)
Clean and Sober, 1988 (HBO)

The Cold Light of Day, 2012 (HBO)
Coraline, 2009 (HBO)
City by the Sea, 2002 (HBO)
Dark Blue, 2002 (HBO)
Drive Angry, 2011 (HBO)

Click Amazon: Today’s Deals of the Day.

Dumb & Dumber To, 2014 (HBO)
Enter the Warrior’s Gate, 2016 (HBO)
Entertainment, 2015 (HBO)
Evan Almighty, 2007 (HBO)
Experimenter, 2015 (HBO)

Ghost, 1990 (HBO)
The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard, 2009 (HBO)
Harriet The Spy, 1996 (HBO)
Hit & Run, 2012 (HBO)
Homegrown, Season 3

The Host, 2007 (HBO)
House at the End of the Street, 2012 (HBO)
The House Bunny, 2008
Hunter Killer, 2018 (HBO)
I Am Love, 2009 (HBO)

Iris, 2014 (HBO)
The Kid, 2019 (HBO)
Kiss the Girls, 1997 (HBO)
Knowing, 2009 (HBO)
Land of the Pharaohs, 1955

Click Amazon: Today’s Deals of the Day.

The Last Circus, 2010 (HBO)
The Last Days on Mars, 2013 (HBO)
Lemon, 2017 (HBO)
Let’s Be Cops, 2014 (HBO)
Letters To Juliet, 2010 (HBO)

A Lion is in the Streets, 1953
The Long Riders, 1980 (HBO)
Lucy, 2014 (HBO)
Monos, 2019 (HBO)
Mud, 2013 (HBO)

 

Music Within, 2007 (HBO)
Mystic Pizza, 1988 (HBO)
Noma: My Perfect Storm, 2015 (HBO)
No Way Out, 1987 (HBO)
One Missed Call, 2008 (HBO)

Outlaws, 2017 (HBO)
Outrage, 2009 (HBO)
The Piece Maker, Season 1 (Magnolia)
Push, 2009 (HBO)
Rachel, Rachel, 1968

Results, 2015 (HBO)
Safe Haven, 2013 (HBO)
Safe in Hell, 1931
School Life, 2016 (HBO)
Smokin’ Aces, 2006 (HBO)

The Smurfs 2, 2013
The Smurfs Movie, 2011
The Soloist, 2009 (HBO)
Spring Breakers, 2012 (HBO)
Storm Warning, 1951

 

The Strawberry Blonde, 1941
Taken 3, 2014 (HBO)
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, 2006
Tangerine, 2015 (HBO)
Trespass Against Us, 2016 (HBO)

Un Gallo Con Muchos Huevos (Aka A Brave Little Rooster), 2015 (HBO)
Valkyrie, 2008 (HBO)
Walker: Independence, 2023
The Wave, 2016 (HBO)
We Are The Best!, 2014 (HBO)
White God, 2014 (HBO)
Whitey: United States Of America V. James J. Bulger, 2014 (HBO)

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— Phillip Swann
@tvanswerman