Paramount Plus to Remove 41 Movies In 6 Days – Here’s the 3 to Watch Before They Leave

By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man –Follow me on X.

Paramount Plus with Showtime, the streaming service, plans to remove 41 movies from its lineup after July 31, 2024. Here are the three you should watch before they leave, in my humble opinion:

American Beauty (1999)
American Beauty, director Sam Mendes’ twisted but painfully accurate 1999 satire of suburban life with Kevin Spacey starring as a Dad who comes down with a serious case of arrested development in his late 30s. The film has arguably not aged as well as you might hope thanks to various sexual misconduct allegations against Spacey and a Lolita-like subplot. But it’s still an insightful and entertaining look at mid-life crisis.

Blazing Saddles (1974)
Mel Brooks’ brilliant and delightfully politically incorrect 1974 spoof of Westerns stars Cleavon Little as Sheriff Bart but the real stars are Gene Wilder as the sheriff’s alcoholic, fast-drawing sidekick and Harvey Korman as the snidely Hedley Lamarr, a wealthy land-grabbing businessman. Both are as funny as it gets. Trivia: Brooks wanted Richard Pryor for the Sheriff Bart role, but the studio vetoed it, concerned that Pryor’s reputation for on-set (and off set) mischief would be trouble for the production. Pryor, one of the writers of the screenplay, would later get his chance to team with Wilder in four films, including 1976’s Silver Streak.

The King of Comedy (1983)
Robert De Niro stars in this black comedy from director Martin Scorsese about a nobody who obsesses of landing a stand-up spot on a late-night talk show. Jerry Lewis plays the talk show host with low-key charisma and De Niro is fascinating as the psycho comedian wannbe, Rupert Pupkin. The film received mixed reviews upon release but The King of Comedy was ahead of its time in portraying the dangerous lure of fame, something quite apparent in the era of Tik Tok.

Complete List of Movies Leaving Paramount Plus/Showtime After July 31, 2024
Chicago
The Fighter
AI: Artificial Intelligence
Blazing Saddles
Deep Impact

Annihilation
What’s Your Number
Like a Boss
Cloud Atlas
Young Sherlock Holmes

The King of Comedy
Get Rich or Die Tryin’
Vantage Point
The Prince of Tides
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider

Event Horizon
Pretty In Pink
Black Sheep
Juice
Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion

Hellraiser IV
Clockstoppers
The Woman in Black
Sonic the Hedgehog
Varsity Blues

Harriet the Spy
American Beauty
Cold Mountain
Suspect Zero
The Uninvited

Hellraiser III
The Big Night
Everybody Wants Some!
The Raid 2
Honey Badger Grit

Hellraiser: Hellseeker
Hellraiser: Deader
Bad Grandpa.5
The Raid: Redemption
Hellraiser: Inferno

Hellraiser: Hellworld

The TV Answer Man is veteran journalist Phillip Swann who has covered the TV technology scene for more than three decades. He will report on the latest news and answer your questions regarding new devices and services that are changing the way you watch television. See the bio for Phillip Swann here.

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