The Best TV Shows And Movies Leaving Max In September 2023
The world is changed. I feel it in the water. I feel it in the earth. I smell it in the air. That's right — it's officially pumpkin spice season, which means we've drawn near to the end of August and have well and truly reached the last third of 2023. (The popular Progress Bar account on Twitter provides a more visually satisfying way to look at it, if you're so inclined.) But more than reminding us of the fleetingness of life and the unstoppable ravages of time, the beginning of September also ushers in the fall movie season and, of course, another round of streaming service shuffling as various movies and shows get kicked around in a never-ending digital dance.
That's why we're here. For those who tend to rely on these streaming platforms to re-watch their favorites or (hopefully) explore previously unknown corners of cinema and television, well, the end of each month and beginning of the next are easily the busiest times of the year. And for that, it helps to have a handy guide for everything that's coming and going from your subscription model of choice. With the added wrinkle of both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA unions fighting for the most basic and fundamental rights that the studios and streamers owe them, consider this yet another way to support the talented artists and creators who make our entertainment possible in the first place. As much as certain streamers were trying to downplay the importance of writers, directors, and others through the most underhanded means, it's clear to everyone else who really makes up the lifeblood of the industry.
So without further to do, here are the best movies and shows — written and directed by living, breathing, pumpkin spice-loving artists — leaving Max in September.
District 9
Ah, 2009, a time when everything seemed so much more optimistic. Barack Obama had just taken office in the United States, the New York Yankees were well on their way to winning a much-deserved World Series championship (he wrote, knowing full well this would probably be the most controversial statement in this paragraph), and director Neill Blomkamp might as well have had the entire world at his fingertips upon the universal acclaim that followed the release of "District 9."
Boosted by "The Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson's support, Blomkamp burst onto the scene with a feature film debut to conquer all debuts. As it turns out, the breakthrough film helped lend further evidence that even the grungiest and most off-putting sci-fi story could find an audience thanks to the unique alchemy at its heart, mixing a culturally specific metaphor about South African apartheid with a universally recognizable story of humanity's oftentimes prejudiced treatment of anyone we consider an "other."
Here, in 2023, things have certainly turned out a bit different than we might have expected. Obama's presidency eventually would give way to Donald Trump's spectacularly ruinous single-term run, the Yankees are now at the bottom of the barrel in their division with no real hope in sight (can you tell this is written by a bitter New Yorker?), and Blomkamp, once looked upon as the next great original filmmaker of our time, had to resort to helming an IP-friendly "Gran Turismo" movie that continued his struggle to recapture the magic from his very first effort. But don't despair! September provides yet another chance to revisit "District 9" and, in a weird way, revel in some optimistic nostalgia for a not-too-distant past when everything seemed much simpler and brighter.
Ingrid Goes West
Cringe comedies are a dying art, and that goes double for ones that manage to tell thoroughly modern stories without lecturing its intended audience. Director Matt Spicer's "Ingrid Goes West" walks that impossibly fine line through the slow-motion car crash of Aubrey Plaza's Ingrid Thorburn, a mentally unbalanced cyber-stalker who escalates things to the next level when she moves across the country to Los Angeles, purposefully sets up shop within voyeuristic distance of a social media influencer named Taylor Sloane (Elizabeth Olsen), and manufactures a series of run-ins that helps ingratiate herself in the eyes of her newest target. What follows is a darkly comedic, deeply disturbing, and constantly insightful look at the extremes that people go to in order to chase the high of internet validation and the distinctly online experience of reshaping our identity in whichever way we want to be perceived by the masses.
Released to critical acclaim in 2017 and making a modest box office return in its woefully limited theatrical run, "Ingrid Goes West" might surprise newcomers by just how strong of a cast Spicer managed to wrangle together. In addition to Plaza and Olsen, a pair of real-life friends who perfectly recreated their explosive chemistry on the screen, the film stars an impressive supporting ensemble that includes O'Shea Jackson Jr., Wyatt Russell, Billy Magnussen, and even a then-unknown Pom Klementieff. Of course, Plaza and Olsen are the undisputed stars of the show and even when the overall direction of the script verges on conventionality, the two stars keep things on the right track through sheer force of will. If you haven't had the chance to experience "Ingrid Goes West" just yet, do yourself a favor and catch it before it's gone.
Klute
If you've ever caught yourself looking at the state of modern filmmaking and thought, "They don't make 'em like they used to," well, all I'll say is you better be speaking from the perspective of someone who's seen the classic thriller "Klute." Directed by the legendary director Alan J. Pakula ("The Parallax View," "All the President's Men," "Sophie's Choice"), the 1971 film kickstarted Pakula's "paranoia trilogy" of sorts that took the rampant political uneasiness and mistrust of the time and channeled such pervasive suspicions into some of the greatest films of that decade (and, indeed, many of the decades to follow). Though the other two films tend to take up most of the oxygen in discussions about Pakula, there remains something irresistible about the moody, shadow-drenched, hard-boiled grime of Klute."
The film centers on its namesake John Klute, a detective (played by a young Donald Sutherland) hired to solve the mysterious disappearance of a bigwig company executive. The only lead Klute has to go on comes from a letter found in the missing man's office, revealing his apparent habit of seeking the company of a New York City call girl named Bree Daniels (Jane Fonda). With no other recourse than to tail her, Klute finds himself drawn further and further into a romantic entanglement with the free-spirited but severely depressed woman, even as his investigation begins to unravel a much darker web of conspiracies. To say anything more would threaten to give away the paranoid joys of discovering the film's twists and turns for the first time, but rest assured that "Klute" remains a fascinating and uncomfortably grim time capsule.
Last Night in Soho
Is there anything more thrilling for movie-lovers than when an established filmmaker, one who many assumed they had fully figured out, suddenly zigs when expected to zag and unveils a new project utterly unlike anything they've made before? Edgar Wright carved out a fantastic niche for himself with his Cornetto trilogy, typically considered a nonstop laugh riot that nonetheless contained surprisingly dark and mature thematic underpinnings amid all the comedy. Yet even after branching out with the more straightforward action/thriller "Baby Driver," few could've expected something as bold, uncompromising, and divisive as "Last Night in Soho."
Co-written by Wright and "1917" co-writer Krysty Wilson-Cairns, the film stars Thomasin McKenzie as the nostalgia-driven Eloise. Incessantly fantasizing of the (seemingly) glamorous life of 1960s Soho, the aspiring fashion designer soon sees her dreams steadily turn into a waking nightmare when she finds herself transported to the time period and living in the shoes of an up-and-coming singer/actor, Sandie (Anya Taylor-Joy). When the present begins to blend further and further with the past, the film takes on a much darker tone as Sandie descends further and further into the seedy underbelly of show business (with Eloise forced to watch practically every step of the way). While many gravitated towards this fresh change of pace from Wright, others found themselves alienated by many of the choices made in the script.
Either way, it's a shame to see the film being removed from Max and it remains well worth a watch — if only to see which side of the fence you land on.
300
Must movies include things like historical accuracy, good taste, and a modicum of self-awareness to be considered "good"? If yes, then director Zack Snyder himself would probably disagree with you. Nobody seems to have more fun shooting speed-ramping, blood-soaked, and utterly ridiculous movies and every inch of that passion ends up on the screen, to his credit. Even with a film as obviously heightened as "300," fans can look to the smallest details and find Snyder's unmistakable fingerprints all over it. The film that launched a thousand memes (before audiences even really had a concept of memes), "300" helped rewrite the entire visual language of action for several hopeful imitators that followed in its wake throughout the early 2000s.
No, it's hard to dispute that the film (based on a Frank Miller graphic novel and co-written by Snyder, Kurt Johnstad, and Michael B. Gordon) contains plenty of elements that haven't aged all that well. From depictions of disabled characters to depictions of Persians (honestly, you can throw a dart at its depiction of any demographic and hit something wildly offensive) to even a running thread that seems to endorse xenophobia, "300" is very much a product of its time. But whether you hold it up as a historical artifact that we've moved on from or a fascinating entry to Snyder's oh-so-distinctive filmography, the hyper-stylized action epic offers plenty of entertainment value.
Movies and shows leaving Max in September 2023
September 8
Too Beautiful: Our Right To Fight (2018)
The Tourist (Max Original)
September 13
Ghosts, Season 1-3 (CBS Original)
Tammy (2014)
September 30
300 (2007)
17 Again (2009)
Alfie (2004)
Along Came a Spider (2001)
Another Me (2014)
Armageddon (1998)
Beatriz at Dinner (2017)
Because I Said So (2007)
Big Game (2015)
Bloodsport (1988)
Boyz N The Hood (1991)
Braveheart (1995)
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
Caddyshack (1980)
Can't Hardly Wait (1998)
Chicago (2003)
Clash of the Titans (1981)
The Crying Game (1993)
The Dirty Dozen (1967)
District 9 (2009)
Divergent (2014)
The Divergent Series: Insurgent (2015)
The Divergent Series: Allegiant (2016)
Downton Abbey (2019)
Dumb and Dumber (1994)
Entertainment (2015)
Experimenter (2015)
The Family (2013)
Get Hard (2015)
The Getaway(1972)
Ghost Ship (2002)
Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (2009)
Girl Happy (1965)
The Good Lie (2014)
Good News (1947)
The Goodbye Girl (1977)
The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard (2009)
Harriet (2019)
Head Full of Honey (2018)
Horrible Bosses (2011)
The Host (2007)
Hot Shots! (1991)
Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993)
Hot Summer Nights (2018)
Hotel Mumbai (2019)
Ice Station Zebra (1968)
Ingrid Goes West (2017)
The Invisible War (2012)
The Iron Giant (1999)
The Jacket (2005)
JFK (1991)
Jonah Hex (2010)
Juno (2007)
The Kid (2019)
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017)
Kiss The Girls (1997)
Klute (1971)
The Last Circus (2011)
The Last Days on Mars (2013)
Last Night In Soho (2021)
Let's Be Cops (2014)
Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
Little Woods (2019)
Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1983)
Maid in Manhattan (2002)
The Meg (2018)
Miss Congeniality (2000)
Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous (2005)
Moneyball (2011)
Mortal Kombat (1995)
Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms (2021)
Nancy Drew (2007)
Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (2019)
Night Moves (1975)
Noma: My Perfect Storm (2015)
Ocean's Twelve (2004)
Ocean's Thirteen (2007)
Ocean's Eight (2018)
Oliver! (1968)
The Omega Man (1971)
One Missed Call (2008)
The Perfect Storm (2000)
Poseidon (2006)
Push (2009)
Rampage (2018)
Rising Sun (1993)
Sex and the City (2008)
Sex and the City 2 (2010)
Sherlock Holmes and the Great Escape (2019)
Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
Smokin' Aces (2007)
Spawn (1997)
Stage Fright (1950)
Star 80 (1983)
Steel (1997)
Steven Universe: The Movie (2020)
Steven Universe The Movie Sing-a-Long (2020)
Sublet (2020)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)
Tenacious D In The Pick of Destiny (2006)
Terms of Endearment (1983)
They Died With Their Boots On (1941)
Thir13en Ghosts (2001)
This Is Elvis (1981)
Till the End of Time (1946)
To Be or Not To Be (1983)
Torpedo Run (1958)
Travels with My Aunt (1972)
Tu Me Manques (2019)
Twister (1996)
Under the Cherry Moon (1986)
Valkyrie (2008)
The Vanishing (1993)
The Wave (2016)
We Are The Best! (2014)
Wild Wild West (1999)
You've Got Mail (1998)