8 Best Movies To Stream On Showmax This Month

8 Best Movies To Stream On Showmax This Month


ROCKETMAN
Rocketman, the fantastical musical biopic on Sir Elton John, scooped this year’s Oscar for Best Original Song for I’m Gonna Love Me Again, co-written by Elton and his long-time lyricist Bernie Taupin.   
 
Rock biopic meets musical fantasy in this fabulous rollercoaster of a movie about a little boy called Reginald Kenneth Dwight, who grew up to be one of the greatest musical icons of all time. It’s a celebration of the music, the dreams, and the larger-than-life persona that’s made Elton a legend. But it’s also the story of his struggle with addiction, and of his friendship with Bernie, which helped him through. 
 
As Elton, Taron Egerton won a Golden Globe and was nominated for BAFTA, Screen Actors Guild, People’s Choice and Teen Choice awards. The movie also stars BAFTA winner Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot, Film Stars Don’t Die In Liverpool), Golden Globe winner Richard Madden (Bodyguard, Game of Thrones), Golden Globe nominee Bryce Dallas Howard (Jurassic World) and BAFTA winner Gemma Jones (Bridget Jones’ Diary).
 
Rocketman was penned by Billy Elliot writer Lee Hall and directed by double-BAFTA Award nominee Dexter Fletcher (who took Bohemian Rhapsody to completion after Bryan Singer was fired).
 
As the Rotten Tomatoes critics consensus puts it, “It's going to be a long, long time before a rock biopic manages to capture the highs and lows of an artist's life like Rocketman.”
 
:: 2020 Oscar, Golden Globe and Critics Choice Award winner for Best Original Song for I’m Gonna Love Me Again 
:: Rocketman was nominated for a Golden Globe, a People’s Choice Award and four BAFTAs
:: 89% critics score, Rotten Tomatoes
:: The 39th biggest box office hit of 2019 globally, raking in over $195m 

THE WIFE
Celebrated author Joe Castleman is about to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature. As he travels to Stockholm, he’s accompanied to the event by his wife Joan. Through almost forty years, Joan has played her role as the Great Man’s Wife with grace and diplomacy, supporting his career, championing his work, overlooking his indiscretions, and ultimately, herself. The Wife is a simmering, intimate study of a marriage, of compromise, betrayal and devotion. 
 
Glenn Close received her seventh Oscar nomination, won a Golden Globe and was nominated for a BAFTA for her portrayal of Joan, with the London Evening Standard saying, “If ever a film belonged to an actor... this one belongs to Close.”
 
Oscar nominee Jonathan Pryce (The Two Popes), Golden Globe winner Christian Slater (Mr. Robot), BAFTA nominee Harry Lloyd (The Theory of Everything, and Game of Thrones’ Viserys Targaryen) and Max Irons (Condor) also star, along with Close’s daughter, Annie Starke, who plays the younger Joan. 
 
:: 2019 Golden Globe winner for Best Actress (Glenn Close)
:: Nominated for an Oscar and a BAFTA for Best Actress (Glenn Close) 
:: 85% critics rating, Rotten Tomatoes

AQUAMAN
Jason Momoa. There, we said it. What more do you need to know?
Seriously though, Aquaman tells the origin story of DC comic book hero Arthur Curry, who we saw in 2017’s Justice League. Born to Atlantean-queen mother Atlanna and a human father, Arthur has lived his whole life on land. But when his undersea half-brother, King Orm, threatens war on the surface dwellers, Arthur is called upon to fulfil his destiny and claim his rightful throne. 
 
The cast includes Oscar winner Nicole Kidman (Dr. Chase Meridian in Batman Forever), Oscar nominee Willem Dafoe (Green Goblin in 2002’s Spider-Man), Golden Globe nominee Patrick Wilson (Nite Owl in 2009’s Watchmen), Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Cal Abar in the new Watchmen), action legend Dolph Lundgren (Konstantin Kovar in Arrow), and Amber Heard (who - spoiler alert! - shared the MTV Movie + TV Best Kiss Award with Jason Momoa), reprising her role as Justice League’s Mera.  
 
The movie is directed by James Wan, who helmed Fast & Furious 7 (the Guinness World Record holder for grossing $1bn at the global box office in just 17 days) and is slated to direct Aquaman 2, announced for 2022.  
 
“Momoa’s Aquaman isn’t tortured and conflicted; he’s a badass, and he digs it,” says Slate. “Wan not only embraces the inherent silliness of a hero whose signature power is talking to fish; he revels in it, finding the childlike awesomeness at its core.”
 
:: 2019 Teen Choice, Kids Choice, MTV Movie Awards, and Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films nominee
:: #5, highest grossing films of 2018 worldwide
 
FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD 
Dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald (Oscar nominee Johnny Depp) has escaped and is gathering followers, most unsuspecting of his true agenda: to raise pure-blood wizards up to rule over all non-magical beings. In an effort to thwart Grindelwald’s plans, Albus Dumbledore (Oscar nominee Jude Law) enlists his former student Newt Scamander (Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne). Lines are drawn as love and loyalty are tested, even among the truest friends and family, in an increasingly divided wizarding world. 
 
The movie is directed by David Yates (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows), from a screenplay by J.K. Rowling, who is also a producer. The cast also includes Zoë Kravitz (Big Little Lies), Carmen Ejogo (Selma, True Detective) and Ezra Miller (The Perks of Being a Wallflower).
 
Crimes of Grindelwald “feels like an upgrade from its predecessor, one that adds star power, introduces key characters and lays the foundation for a genuine ‘Wizarding World’ franchise,” says CNN, while Associated Press called it “often dazzling, occasionally wondrous and always atmospheric”.
 
:: #10, highest grossing films of 2018 worldwide
:: 2019 BAFTA, Teen Choice, European Film Awards, and Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films nominee
 
I, TONYA
This Oscar-winning comedy drama is based on the life of figure skater Tonya Harding and the scandal that ended her career. Harding was the first American woman to pull off a triple axel in competition, but her success was overshadowed by her implication in the attack on rival skater Nancy Kerrigan in 1994. 
 
Margot Robbie (Harley Quinn in Birds of Prey, and a second-time Oscar nominee for Bombshell) was nominated for an Oscar for her performance as Harding, who never fitted the stereotype of what a ballerina was expected to be, and Sebastian Stan (Bucky Barnes from the Avengers movies) plays her dodgy ex-husband Jeff. But it’s Allison Janney (The Help, Hairspray, The West Wing), who skates away with all the glory in an Oscar-winning performance as Harding’s viciously ambitious mother, LaVona. 
 
NPR calls I, Tonya “the triple axel of based-on-true-story movies,” while the Wall Street Journal says it’s “an antidote to those feel-good films about innately noble athletes who manage to triumph over impossible odds.”
 
:: Allison Janney won an Oscar, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Supporting Actress, with Margot Robbie nominated for all these for her lead role
:: Nominated for a 2018 Oscar for Best Editing
:: 89% critics rating, Rotten Tomatoes

MOLLY’S GAME
Molly’s Game is based on the true story of former Olympic-class skier Molly Bloom, who ran the world’s most exclusive high-stakes poker game on little more than her wits until the FBI arrested her in a high-profile, middle-of-the-night sting that threatened everyone from Hollywood stars to the Russian mob.  
 
Molly’s Game stars two-time Oscar nominee Jessica Chastain (The Help, Interstellar), Golden Globe winner Idris Elba (Luther, Avengers), MTV Movie Award nominee Michael Cera (Juno), Oscar winner Kevin Costner (Dances With Wolves), Critics Choice winner Jeremy Strong (Succession), and Emmy winner Chris O’Dowd (Bridesmaids).
 
Molly’s Game is the directorial debut of Aaron Sorkin, who created The West Wing and won an Oscar for The Social Network. He also wrote the script, which was nominated for an Oscar, a Golden Globe and a BAFTA for Best Adapted Screenplay.
 
IndieWire calls Molly’s Game a “staccato and silver-tongued drama that boasts a zillion killer lines, at least two of the year's most exciting performances, and a rare understanding of the difference between power and pride.” The Los Angeles Times says, “Chastain draws us so deeply into Molly's lightning-speed thought processes that you can almost see her synapses firing, making Molly's Game not just a biographical portrait but a genuine thriller of the mind.” And Time Out praised Molly’s portrayal “as a complex and razor-sharp character in a world dominated by entitled mansplainers,” saying, “Forget Rounders -- here's a poker movie to go all-in on.” 
 
:: Nominated for Best Adapted screenplay at the 2018 Oscars, Golden Globes and BAFTAs
:: Jessica Chastain was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress
:: 82% critics score, Rotten Tomatoes


ALL ABOUT NINA
Nina Geld has attitude, a brilliant stand-up routine, and the makings of what just might be about to turn into a decent career. Then her love life blows up, complicating everything. Looking to change her life (and escape her ex), she makes the move to LA and encounters a challenge she didn’t see coming in Rafe. 
 
The comedy-drama stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who’s in Birds of Prey, Fargo and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and won an Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films award for 10 Cloverfield Lane. “Winstead shines,” says Screen Daily, “She’s electric.”
 
Oscar winner Common (Selma) plays Rafe, and look out for Nailed it! star Nicole Byer, Golden Globe nominee Beau Bridges, Emmy nominees Jay Mohr and Mindy Sterling, and Veep star Clea DuVall.
 
All About Nina was the break-out first feature from writer-director Eva Vives, with The Hollywood Reporter calling her “a filmmaker to watch” and the critics’ consensus on Rotten Tomatoes saying, “Led by an outstanding central performance from Mary Elizabeth Winstead and brilliantly held together by writer-director Eva Vives, All About Nina is a delightfully raw dramedy.”
 
:: Nominated for Best Narrative Feature at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival 
:: Mary Elizabeth Winstead was nominated for Bravest Performance at the 2019 Alliance of Women Film Journalists  Awards           
:: 86% Rotten Tomatoes
 
A SIMPLE FAVOR
When Connecticut small town mommy-vlogger Stephanie meets fellow mom Emily, she’s instantly beguiled. Emily is beautiful, funny, worldly and mysterious. Then she disappears, and Stephanie takes it upon herself to find out what happened her. 
 
Oscar nominee Anna Kendrick (Up in the Air, Pitch Perfect) and People’s Choice winner Blake Lively (Gossip Girl) star in this twisty mommy-noir directed by four-time Emmy nominee Paul Feig (Bridesmaids, The Office). Teen Choice nominee Henry Golding (Crazy Rich Asians) plays Emily’s husband Sean, and keep your eyes peeled for Emmy winner Jean Smart (Laurie Blake in Watchmen).
 
“Twisty, twisted, and above all simply fun, A Simple Favor casts a stylish mommy noir spell strengthened by potent performances from Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively,” says the Rotten Tomatoes critics’ consensus.
 
The New York Times calls A Simple Favor, “Sly and sweet with an acid finish,” while Seattle Times praised its “near-Hitchcockian tone of slinky ominousness, cut with the driest of wit,” and Rolling Stone says the film “brings out the scrappy best in Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively… an unexpected take on the twists and turns of female friendship.”
 
:: 85% Rotten Tomatoes
:: Winner of three international awards, including the Dorian Award for Campy Flick of the Year by The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics