HBO Max to Add 98 New Releases This Week: The 3 to Watch

By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man – Buy Me a Coffee!

HBO Max this week (December 28, 2025-January 3, 2026) plans to add 98 new TV shows and movies to its streaming lineup. Here are the three to watch, in my humble opinion:

A Most Violent Year (2014)
When to Watch: Thursday, January 1
Who’s In It: Oscar Isaac, Jessica Chastain
Oscar Isaac stars as a 1980s New York heating oil executive whose business is overrun by criminal elements, and a ruthless prosecutor looking for high-profile scalps. His wife, played with panache by Jessica Chastain, implores him to fight fire with fire, figuratively if not literally, but he resists until he can resist no more. And that’s when it becomes…a most violent year. The film, directed and written by J. C. Chandor (Margin Call, All Is Lost), is a throwback to the great gritty dramas of the 1970s that made stars out of Pacino, Hoffman, De Niro and others. Isaac is perfect for the role and it’s a shame he doesn’t get a chance to do more films like A Most Violent Year instead of yet another Star Wars clone.

Fargo (1996)
When to Watch: Thursday, January 1
Who’s In It: Frances McDormand, William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi
The Oscar-winning film from the Coen Brothers stars William H. Macy and Frances McDormand (wife to Joel Coen) who both turn in career performances as a bumpkin car salesman and pregnant police chief respectively. Steve Buscemi and Peter Stomare are equal parts funny and creepy as two kidnappers who bungle the job. This is comedy as black as a 6 a.m. 7-Eleven coffee and no film buff should wait another day before seeing it. Brilliant, brilliant stuff from all involved. You betcha!

Blazing Saddles (1974)
When to Watch: Thursday, January 1
Who’s In It: Cleavon Little, Gene Wilder, Harvey Korman
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.

Movies & Shows Coming to HBO Max This Week

Sunday, December 28
Home Reimagined, Season 1B (Magnolia Network)
My Pet Ate What!?, Season 1 (Animal Planet)

Monday, December 29
Celebrity IOU, Season 11 (HGTV)
Two Guys Garage, Season 24

Wednesday, December 31
Building Outside the Lines, Season 3 (Magnolia Network)

Thursday, January 1
A Most Violent Year (A24) 
All This and Heaven Too
Almost Christmas 
April in Paris
Baby Face
Batkid Begins: The Wish Heard Around the World
Blazing Saddles
Bodies Bodies Bodies (A24) 
Catwoman (2004)
Constantine
Deception (1946)
Desire Me
Double Wedding
Ex Machina (A24)
Faithless
Fargo (1996)
Fifth Avenue Girl
Frankenstein 1970
Getaway 
Glass 
Going the Distance
Goodbye, My Fancy
Green Lantern: Beware My Power
Green Lantern: Emerald Knights
Green Lantern: First Flight
Green Mansions
HGTV Dream Home 2026 (HGTV)
High Anxiety
History of the World: Part 1
Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard
It All Came True
It’s Love I’m After
John Wick
John Wick: Chapter 2
John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum
June Bride
Legend of the Guardians The Owls of Ga’hoole
Lili
Love Crazy
Lullaby of Broadway
Margaret
Margaret: Extended Version
Mike Wallace is Here
Mogambo
Moonlight (A24)
My Favorite Wife
My Reputation
Neptune’s Daughter
Nine Lives
Panama Hattie
Possessed (1931)
Presenting Lily Mars
Pride and Prejudice (1940)
Raise Hell: The Life and Times of Molly Ivins
Reunion in France
Rocket Science
Royal Wedding
Sadie McKee
Spaceballs
Task Force
Taxi Driver
Teen Titans Go! vs. Teen Titans
The Americanization of Emily
The Bride Came C.O.D.
The Courtship of Eddie’s Father
The Curse of Frankenstein
The Desert Song
The Enchanted Cottage
The Hitman’s Bodyguard
The Last Time I Saw Paris
The Narrow Margin
The Red Badge of Courage
The Student Prince
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn (Part 1)
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn (Part 2)
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
The Twilight Saga: New Moon
The Working Man
This Modern Age
To Please a Lady
Today We Live
Twilight
Vivacious Lady
While We’re Young (A24)
Wife vs. Secretary
Wild Boys of the Road
World Without End
Zabriskie Point

Friday, January 2
House Hunters: Volume 10, Season 249 (HGTV)
Lakefront Bargain Hunt Renovation, Season 4 (Magnolia Network)
Lakefront Bargain Hunt Renovation, Season 5 (Magnolia Network)
The Cult of the Real Housewife, Season 1 (TLC)

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