3 standout Paramount+ movies to stream this week (March 16

Looking for a good movie to watch this week? I think I can help. Paramount+ has a library of around 2,500 films, from Paramount Pictures, CBS, Showtime and other studios. Some are hits, some aren’t, but there’s a wide selection, from blockbusters, biopics and classics to dramas, comedies, action films and everything in between.

For the week of March 16-22, I went a little old school with the jet fighter movie to end all jet fighter movies, a biopic of a true rock legend, and a math drama about a band of Boston boys. On the way, friends.

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Top Gun

An excellent beach volleyball film

Maybe you like fighter jets. Maybe you just want to rewatch the original movie before watching the sequel, Top Gun: Maverick (also streaming on Paramount+). Or maybe you just feel the need…the need for speed. Top Gun is the fighter jet movie that started it all, and it’s hard to believe that this high-flying action film that brought us so much was released 40 years ago. You owe it to yourself and Tom Cruise to deliver this Oscar-winning gem (for the song Take my breath away), a birthday viewing.

Not that you need a reminder, but Top Gun is the story of fighter pilot Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) and his wingman Nick “Goose” Bradshaw (Anthony Edwards), who are sent to train at the Navy’s titular elite flight school and compete with other top pilots, including the arrogant Tom “Iceman” Kazansky (Val Kilmer), to prove who is the best of the best. But Maverick is a maverick and his own worst enemy, dogged by the murky death of his pilot father. He’ll have to get his act together if he wants to win Top Gun and the heart of the school’s sexy instructor (Kelly McGillis). Highway to the danger zone, baby.

Don’t pay attention to the 59% reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, Top Gun is a pop culture classic with an 83% rating on the popcorn meter – critics be damned.

Top Gun

Release date

May 16, 1986

Runtime

110 minutes

Director

Tony Scott

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Rocket Man

Taron Egerton shines in this Elton John biopic

I know I have to be in a specific mood to watch musical movies, but Rocket Man isn’t your standard music biopic, it’s about Elton John. Elton big, moving, funny, sad and unapologetic, it works whether you’re a long-time fan or not.

Part fantasy music, part biopic, by Dexter Fletcher Rocket Man launches Taron Egerton (Tetris, Smoke) as an inimitable performer and chronicles his evolution from a small-town prodigy known as Reginald Dwight, to the international superstar responsible for life anthems such as Tiny Dancer, Benny and the Jets, I’m still standing, and of course, The rocket man. Filled with fantastic musical interludes based on some of Elton’s most popular songs, performed by Egerton, the film also features Jamie Bell as Elton’s longtime lyricist and writing partner, Bernie Taupin, and Richard Madden as John’s first manager, John Reid.

What makes Rocket Man What stands out is that it embraces Elton’s star-struck persona instead of normalizing it into a boring, linear timeline. And it worked. Egerton’s performance is on point, earning him praise and a win at the Golden Globes. The film holds an 89% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Rocket Man

Release date

May 31, 2019

Runtime

121 minutes

Director

Dexter Fletcher

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Goodwill Hunt

The film that launched the careers of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck

Sincerely, make room on your watchlist this week for Goodwill Hunt while it streams on Paramount+. I watched it for the first time in years recently, and it’s a perfect movie. Not only is it the film that put young Matt Damon and Ben Affleck on the map, winning the writing duo their first Oscars (and Robin Williams his first and only Oscar), but it’s a smart underdog story full of redemption and real emotion and endlessly quotable moments. If you have a heart, you will ​​​​​​We need tissues.

Damon plays Will Hunting, a troubled young man from South Boston with a dark history of abuse who grew up in the foster system. But even though Will is content to clean the floors of MIT and brawl with his best friend, Chuckie (Affleck), Will has a secret: he’s a math prodigy, which is his ticket to a better life he doesn’t know he wants. When Will is caught solving an impossible math problem on a hallway board by brilliant MIT professor Gerald Lambeau (Stellan Skarsgard), Will makes a deal to avoid prison: develop his skills and meet with brilliant therapist Sean Maguire (Williams) every week. Cut from the same Southern cloth and with his own demons, Sean may be the only one who can reach Will – their relationship is the emotional heart of the film.

Minni Driver is also brilliant as Skylar, Will’s Harvard girlfriend. Good Will Hunting is a must-see Damon/Affleck film that holds a deserved 97% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Goodwill Hunt

Release date

December 5, 1997

Runtime

126 minutes

Director

Gus Van Sant

Sometimes you don’t want to bother with movie night by simply revisiting films that have stood the test of time. And as Paramount+ and other streamers continue to raise prices, value is more important than ever.

Subscription with advertisements

Yes, $8/month

Concurrent streams

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If you enjoy CBS offerings, you’ll want to subscribe to Paramount+. You have access to hit shows like Star Trek And Yellow stoneas well as a variety of SHOWTIME content.