The year-end holidays are here and what better way than taking a load off than by kicking up your feet and enjoying some screen time. A catch up year for Hollywood, there were many great movies to help escape. Here are some of the better ones, available to stream via Showmax.
TOP GUN: MAVERICK
Maverick (Oscar nominee Tom Cruise) is still pushing the boundaries as a top naval aviator after thirty years, but he must confront ghosts from his past when he leads TOP GUN’s elite graduates on a mission that requires the ultimate sacrifice from those chosen to fly it.
Top Gun: Maverick is the biggest box office hit of 2022 globally, and it’s also one of the best reviewed films of the year, with the Independent calling it “as thrilling as blockbusters get,” the Daily Telegraph calling it “unquestionably the best studio action film since 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road,” and Time/Out saying, “You will want to high five someone on the way out.”
Top Gun: Maverick co-stars Miles Teller (The Offer), Oscar winner Jennifer Connelly (A Beautiful Mind, Requiem for a Dream), Val Kilmer (Heat), and Emmy winner Jon Hamm are up for the People’s Choice Award for The Movie of 2022. (Mad Men).
DUNE
Winner of six Oscars and five BAFTAs, Dune is now streaming on Showmax.
Directed by Oscar nominee Denis Villeneuve (Arrival, Blade Runner 2049) from Frank Herbert’s classic bestseller, Dune tells the story of Paul Atreides (Oscar nominee Timothée Chalamet). Paul must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of his family and his people – as conflict grows over the planet’s exclusive supply of the most precious resource in existence.
As Lady Jessica Atreides, Rebecca Ferguson (The Greatest Showman) won a Critics Choice Super Award for Best Actress In Science Fiction/Fantasy Movie. Oscar winner Javier Bardem, Emmy winner Zendaya, Oscar nominees Charlotte Rampling and Josh Brolin, Emmy nominees Oscar Isaac and Stellan Skarsgård, and the likes of Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista co-star.
Dune has an 83% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes. In their five-star review, The Guardian praises Dune as “blockbuster cinema at its dizzying, dazzling best… Dune reminds us what a Hollywood blockbuster can be.”
LICORICE PIZZA
Licorice Pizza, which was nominated for three Oscars this year – Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay – follows Alana Kane, a 25-year-old photography assistant, and 15-year-old actor Gary Valentine as they navigate first love in the 1970s.
Paul Thomas Anderson, an 11-time Oscar nominee, writer, producer, and director, won a BAFTA for Best Original Screenplay for Licorice Pizza in 2022. (Boogie Nights, Phantom Thread, Hard Eight). Alana Haim, a Grammy-nominated singer, received a BAFTA nomination for Best Actress for her debut film role, while her co-star Cooper Hoffman (son of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman) was nominated for Best Young Actor at the Critics Choice Awards, where Licorice Pizza won Best Comedy.
Licorice Pizza has a 91% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes and has received widespread critical acclaim for both its director – with Empire Magazine calling Anderson “a master at work” – and its young leads, who hold their own alongside a supporting cast that includes Oscar winner Sean Penn, nine-time Oscar nominee Bradley Cooper, and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Tom Waits.
“There are two courtships unfolding in Licorice Pizza,” says Rolling Stone, “and only one of them is happening on the screen. The other stands between us and the film. “Can you guess who gets punch-drunk and smitten?”
HOUSE OF GUCCI
House of Gucci follows Patrizia Reggiani, an outsider from humble beginnings who marries into the Gucci family, and is inspired by the shocking true story of the family behind the Italian fashion empire. Her unbridled ambition, however, begins to unravel their legacy, triggering a reckless spiral of betrayal, decadence, revenge, and, eventually, murder.
Lady Gaga (A Star Is Born) and two-time Oscar nominee Adam Driver lead the all-star cast (Marriage Story). Al Pacino (The Godfather), Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club), and Jeremy Irons (Munich: The Edge of War) co-star, as do Oscar nominees Salma Hayek (Frida, Desperado), and Jack Huston (The Irishman, American Hustle, Boardwalk Empire).
House of Gucci was nominated for British Film of the Year at the BAFTAs, best female actor (Lady Gaga) at the Screen Actors Guild Awards and Critics Choice Awards, and best makeup and hairstyling at the Oscars this year, among other honors. It was directed by four-time Oscar nominee Ridley Scott (Gladiator).
THE WOLF OF SNOW HOLLOW
Terror grips a small mountain town in The Wolf of Snow Hollow as bodies are discovered after each full moon. Officer Marshall struggles to remember that there are no werewolves while losing sleep, raising a teenage daughter, and caring for his ailing father.
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an 89% critics’ rating, with nominations for two 2021 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards – Best Limited Release Film and Best Lead Performance for Sundance and SXSW winner Jim Cummings (who also wrote and directed the film), as well as a Fright Meter Award for the late Oscar-nominated Robert Forster (The Descendants, Jackie Brown). Critics’ Choice nominee Jimmy Tatro (American Vandal) and Emmy nominee Riki Lindhome round out the cast (Wednesday, Knives Out).
RESPECT
Respect, a music biopic about Aretha Franklin, is directed by South African Liesl Tommy (Mrs. Fletcher, The Walking Dead, Jessica Jones). Jennifer Hudson plays the lead role after being recommended by Aretha Franklin after seeing Dreamgirls.
At the People’s Choice Awards, Respect was nominated for Drama Movie of 2021, and Hudson was nominated for Favourite Female Movie Star. The soundtrack was also nominated for a Grammy. Tommy was nominated for Breakthrough Creative at the 2022 Image Awards, among many other honors, and fellow South African Avril Beukes (Peabody winner David Makes Man, Queen Sugar, Yesterday) was nominated for Best Editor at the 2022 Black Reel Awards.
Oscar winner Forest Whitaker (Godfather of Harlem) and Emmy winner Audra McDonald (The Help) are among the cast members.
Oscar winner Forest Whitaker (Godfather of Harlem) leads the cast, which also includes Emmy winners Audra McDonald (The Good Fight, The Gilded Age) and Tate Donovan (Argo, Rocketman), BET Comedy Award winner Marlon Wayans (White Chicks), Critics Choice nominee Marc Maron (GLOW), and nine-time Grammy winner Mary J Blige.
“Jennifer Hudson as Aretha Franklin is the whole package,” says The Observer, while The Hollywood Reporter calls Respect “an intimate gift of love, rich in complexity, spirituality, Black pride, and feminist grit.”
DOWNTON ABBEY: THE MOVIE
The film Downton Abbey follows the story of the beloved, multi-award-winning historical drama series as the Crawleys and their intrepid staff prepare for the most important event of their lives: a royal visit from the king and queen of England. However, the auspicious occasion soon sparks scandal, romance, and intrigue, leaving the future of Downton Abbey in jeopardy.
The film, directed by Emmy nominee Michael Engler (The Gilded Age) and written by series creator and Oscar winner Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park), sees the return of much of the original cast, including Emmy nominees Hugh Bonneville, Michelle Dockery, and Jim Carter, Oscar nominee Imelda Staunton, and Oscar winner Maggie Smith, with BAFTA nominee Geraldine James and Simon Jones joining the cast as Queen Mary and King George V.
The film has an 84% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes and has been nominated for two Critics Choice Awards, with the Times (UK) calling it “utterly, ineffably, and often fabulously, Downton.”