Paramount Plus: 5 GREAT Movies to Watch This Weekend

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

Paramount Plus, the streaming service with plans starting at $7.99 a month, is the home to a large library of recent and classic movies. With the extended Easter weekend upon us, let’s look at five GREAT films that are now available on the streamer, in my humble opinion. Note that some films may require the $12.99 a month Paramount Plus with Showtime plan.

5 Great Films to Watch On Paramount Plus This Weekend

Babylon (2022)
Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt star in this sensational epic drama on the silent film industry in the 1920s and the difficulties that some actors faced making the transition to sound. Directed with great panache by Damien Chazelle (Whiplash, La La Land), Babylon’s greater thesis is that Hollywood, in any era, can be a cruel mistress, quick to seduce but impossible to love. Through the eyes of Robbie and Pitt, the film explores how industry execs and their minions manufacture and manipulate their stars only to cut them loose when their appeal begins to wane. For Chazelle, still a relatively young director at 40 (then 37), it was a bold statement and perhaps one that has set back his career; he hasn’t made a film since. And that is a terrible shame. Babylon is a dazzling 189 minutes (feels like 89 minutes, it moves so fast) overflowing with memorable images and incredible acting, particularly from Robbie and Pitt who put vanity on the shelf for this one. It’s a beautiful film and one I cannot recommend more highly.

There Will Be Blood (2007)
Daniel Day-Lewis puts on an actor’s master class as Daniel Plainview, a 19th Century oilman who will stop at nothing to achieve wealth and power. The film, directed with perfection by Paul Thomas Anderson, is a snapshot of our nation as it begins its transition from a frontier land to a highly developed capitalist empire. And what a snapshot it is. PTA’s use of the camera is characteristically magnificent with some of the most beautiful and gripping shots you’ll ever see. Great acting. Great direction. Great movie.

Saving Private Ryan (1998) 
Directed by Steven Spielberg, Saving Private Ryan stars Tom Hanks as the captain of a World War II unit which must find a single soldier (Matt Damon) while navigating the horrors of war. There’s never been a better film on the sacrifice and unselfishness of America’s military and Hanks is especially good in lead. And the first 15 minutes, which depicts the D-Day invasion, immerses the viewer in battle unlike any scene before or since.

Hell Or High Water (2016)
Written by Taylor Sheridan (Yellowstone) and directed by David Mackenzie, this neo noir Western stars Chris Pine and Ben Foster as two bank robbing brothers in modern day Texas who are pursued by two Texas Rangers (Jeff Bridges and Gil Birmingham). The film is basically Michael Mann’s Heat set in the dusty plains of the New West and that’s a good thing. Hell or High Water offers a fascinating portrait of the meticulous methods of the good guys and bad and Pine and Bridges are fantastic in the Pacino/De Niro roles. A real hidden gem here.

The Ring (2002)
The horror film directed by Gore Verbinski stars Naomi Watts as a Seattle newspaper reporter who investigates why several teenagers have died after watching a videotape. (Another good reason why videotape was replaced by discs and streaming.) The Ring is a truly scary film and Watts is perfect in the damsel in distress role when she gets a little too close to the secret behind the deaths.

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The TV Answer Man is veteran journalist Phillip Swann who has covered television 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.