13 perfect movies and series to launch HBO Max and that should not go unnoticed

HBO Max has reached the Spanish streaming scene with better audio and video quality (in part), some explosive offers for new customers and a promise of improved video and audio with 4K For now, it will have to be put on hold because it only affects a couple of films in the catalog. The promise of a landing of a good number of Warner productions has not meant an avalanche of films, and the catalog fund has increased timidly.

Still, there's a lot to dig into on HBO Max, and within it nestle a few gems that in the heat of the moment can go unnoticed. We have selected 13 films and series from the platform's catalogue, some of them new arrivals, others that have not been duly celebrated, to start off as it deserves with this new platform.

'Counterpart'

One of the best series on the platform, never celebrated enough, with a superb performance by J.K. Simmons and that hides a pure science fiction plot under a layer of apparent seventies-style political thriller. It introduces us to a quiet office worker who has worked for years in an agency, exchanging encrypted messages, who discovers that he really is at a meeting point between two identical versions of Earth, whose destinies began to drift apart after a pandemic, evolving in different directions. .

'Beforeigners'

An intriguing Norwegian series that has already commissioned a second season and that starts from an irresistible approach: people from the past begin to appear inexplicably at sea. Years after the event, a detective teams up with the first agent of Viking origin to solve a murder. Influenced by series like 'The Leftovers', its creators stated that they wanted to explore the idea of ​​refugees, but in this case not from another country, but from another era.

'Time Travel FAQ'

Two impeccable casting decisions (Chris O'Dowd, whom we remember from 'The Computer Guys,' and the ever-hilarious Anna Faris) headline the cast of this friendly time-travel comedy set at a typical British pub. . Crazy and fast-paced, it overflows with nods to science-fiction cinema and makes an approach to the fourth dimension completely meta and aware that it is talking about a cliché of the genre.

'2001: A Space Odyssey'

Yeah, yeah, '2001' can hardly be described as a rarity or a film that can go unnoticed. But first, it is worth celebrating that it has arrived on HBO Max together with the channel's premiere, with other Kubrick films such as 'A Clockwork Orange', 'The Shining' or 'Eyes Wide Shut'. And second, what excuses do we need to see one of the most important and influential science fiction movies in history again. A pity, yes, that it does not arrive in its revised version by Christopher Nolan in high definition.

'The Fall: Alexandria's Dream'

Lost in the depths of the HBO catalogue, it is worth recovering this splendid perverse fantasy imagined by Tarsem Singh, the director of the equally wild 'The Cell'. Here, in the twenties, in a hospital, an injured stuntman tells a recovering girl a story of adventure and friendship in a remote country, a story that perhaps has a lot to do with themselves.

'Avenue 5'

There was a lot of talk about it in its day because it was signed by Armando Ianucci, creator of 'Veep', but it seems that this comedy set on a space cruise went somewhat unnoticed when it ended up arriving on HBO (although, yes , its second season is in production process). It's a perfect time to win it back and enjoy its splendid casting, headed by a Hugh Laurie as the beleaguered captain of the cruise ship and having to deal with a crisis situation when the ship has an accident.

'Beyond the Garden'

Animation is one of HBO Max's strong points, especially thanks to its catalog of classics, the fact that Warner is the owner of Cartoon Network (although both aspects could be used more) and the presence of the Adult Swim seal of animation for adults (much more party). 'Más allá del jardín', which had disappeared from the platforms for a while, is, however, for all audiences, but it will dazzle children and adults alike thanks to its overwhelming vision of a fantasy world and its perverse, pure touch. Alice in Wonderland', injected by its creator, Patrick McHale.

'Byzantium'

Neil Jordan, director of 'Interview with the Vampire', returned to the vampire theme in 2012 with a dramatic and aesthetic story about two young women, alone and penniless, who leave behind dried-up corpses after their constant changes of residence. The oldest will have to resort to prostitution to get ahead in a film that does not renounce violence or fangs to tell a story of remarkable drama and that gives an interesting twist to the iconic bloodsuckers. Great performances by Saoirse Ronan and Gemma Arterton.

'Pickle in Time'

A delightful, thoughtful comedy that's more folksy than sci-fi, with a superb Seth Rogen as an emigrant in 1920s America who falls into a pickle jar and remains in brine for a hundred years . When he wakes up he will meet his great-granddaughter, a computer programmer with whom he will share a few lessons about family, inheritance and of course, the passage of time.

'The Knick'

An HBO classic that never really took off from being considered an excellently kept secret among the most gourmet viewers. Steve Soderbergh directed all the episodes of this series with a cast led by Clive Owen where the first steps of surgery and other branches of medicine are explored at the beginning of the 20th century, at the Knickerbocker Hospital in New York, where he begins to experiment with techniques that are not equally well received by all the staff.

'Chapelwaite'

It has gone somewhat unnoticed between the news of the landing of HBO Max in Spain and other more flashy premieres, but this very recent series (in fact, it ends this October 31 in the United States) is well worth a look. It is based on 'Jerusalem's Lot', a short story by Stephen King that serves as a prequel to his famous vampire novel 'The Mystery of Salem's Lot' and tells how in 1850, a widower and father of three children (Adrian Brody) He moves to an inherited mansion where the supernatural is unleashed.

'Matrix' in 4K

HBO Max promised a few novelties in 4K and in the end it hasn't been that way and only a few movies and series, such as 'Zack Snyder's Justice League', plus what will come from recent theatrical releases, have sure of this feature. But it's been a joy to see that Neo's adventures are in 4K and with Dolby ATMOS, so you can finally throw away your old DVDs and enjoy the trilogy in all its original retreaded glory.

'Banshee'

Don't ask us why, but this series drives us crazy, produced by Cinemax in the middle of the last decade and co-created by Jonathan Tropper, who for a few seasons has had the wonderful and also very forceful 'Warrior' on HBO . It tells the story of an ex-con who poses as a sheriff and settles in the town of Banshee, near an Amish community, and is embellished with terrific action sequences and borderline characters straight out of the best noir series.