Paramount Plus may not be one of the best streaming services out there, but it’s not because it lacks great movies. The streaming service has a deep library and adds even more each month. And if you opt for Paramount Plus with Showtime you get some truly excellent movies to watch — especially this month.
All seven of the options below have critics scores of 90% or higher on the review-aggregating site Rotten Tomatoes and all are “Certified Fresh.” So you can choose any one of these movies and know that you’re going to get something worth watching. And there’s a wide variety of options, from animated family movies to a pair of great Tom Hanks performances. If you have Paramount Plus with Showtime, you even get access to The Godfather — an all-time great.
So without further ado, here are our picks for the seven best movies that are new to Paramount Plus in November 2023.
A Boy Named Charlie Brown
If you’re like me, you cannot stand holiday movies for the most part. But growing up, the Peanuts movies were a rare and beloved exception. It also led to a childhood-long habit of grabbing the paper and reaching for the funny pages to read Peanuts daily.
And for a lot of people, it all starts with this film — A Boy Named Charlie Brown. This was the first Peanuts animated movie and it follows Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy, Snoopy and the gang as Charlie Brown tries to win the National Spelling Bee. While this Peanuts movie isn’t holiday-focused, it’s still a great option for a family-friendly movie this holiday season, or if you just need a blast of nostalgia.
Genre: Animated comedy
Rotten Tomatoes score: 95%
Stream on Paramount Plus
Catch Me If You Can
Catch Me If You Can is a crime drama (though with plenty of light-hearted humor) that follows the life of real-life con man Frank Abagnale Jr. It stars Leo DiCaprio as the young Abagnale and Tom Hanks as Carl Hanratty, the FBI agent tasked with bringing him in. And while there’s since been a lot of talk of the film’s accuracy and its subject’s penchant for lying, just throw that all out. It’s still a great movie even if a lot of it is dubious.
In fact, this may honestly be my favorite performance from DiCaprio and Hanks, particularly Hanks. His portrayal of Hanratty is excellent and it’s a great example of him firing on all cylinders as an actor. Christopher Walken is also great as Frank Abagnale Sr. in what is an incredibly deep ensemble cast for a movie that’s essentially about the relationship between two people. Definitely don’t skip Catch Me If You Can when you're looking for something to watch this month.
Genre: Biopic
Rotten Tomatoes score: 96%
Stream on Paramount Plus
Roman Holiday
Roman Holiday may be getting up there in age, but luckily this romantic comedy is a timeless classic that still holds up today. It stars Audrey Hepburn as Princess Ann and Gregory Peck as Joe Bradley, the American expat reporter who is unexpectedly thrown into her path.
What follows is an excellently written, charming comedy filled with laughs. Hepburn’s performance is particularly excellent. So it should be no surprise that the movie went on to be nominated for several Academy Awards, with Hepburn winning Best Actress and the legendary writer Dalton Trumbo winning for Best Story, though at the time he was on the Hollywood blacklist and was not credited on the film until the DVD was released in 2003.
Genre: Romantic comedy
Rotten Tomatoes score: 95%
Stream on Paramount Plus
Saving Private Ryan
About a year ago, I was stuck on an airport tarmac waiting for my plane to be fixed and was unable to leave. Thankfully, I had the in-flight entertainment to peruse, including Saving Private Ryan. While I admittedly was a bit annoyed to finish all 170 minutes of Stephen Speilberg’s World War II epic while still stuck at the gate, at least having one of the best movies to come out in my lifetime to watch while I was stuck was some comfort.
Starring Tom Hanks as Captain John Miller, Saving Private Ryan is loosely based on the story of the Niland brothers from the European theater in World War II. In the movie, three of the four Ryan brothers have been killed in action during the Normandy invasion and the fourth (Matt Damon) is missing in action. Captain Miller is then ordered to bring Private Ryan home at all costs.
The movie is incredibly shot and deeply moving, with a star performance from Hanks as Captain Miller. But what may be its best attribute is the truly incredible and deep ensemble cast that makes up the men tasked with bringing Private Ryan home. I can’t promise you won’t get choked up watching Saving Private Ryan, but I can promise you’ll be glad you watched it.
Genre: Historical drama
Rotten Tomatoes score: 94%
Stream on Paramount Plus
The Truman Show
“What if your world was make believe?” Starring Jim Carrey as Truman Burbank, this comedy is frankly, brilliant. Truman lives an ordinary life but there’s a dark secret behind all of it. He has no idea that his life is secretly a TV show for everyone to watch.
The combination of an original story idea — what if your life was actually a reality TV show — and a balanced performance from the hilarious Carrey that still showcases his comedic talents is a recipe for success from the first moment. It also delves into some serious topics despite its comedic trappings, such as our thirst for celebrity culture and the philosophical question of whether or not anything we experience is truly real. If you want a comedy that isn’t typical sophomoric fare, The Truman Show is a must-watch.
Genre: Science-fiction comedy
Rotten Tomatoes score: 94%
Stream on Paramount Plus
Reservoir Dogs
Reservoir Dogs is Quentin Tarantino’s first full-length feature film, and I’m firmly of the opinion that it’s still his best. While Pulp Fiction would shoot Tarantino into stardom a few years later, Reservoir Dogs remains a perfect expression of his movie-making and at just 99 minutes no part of it is unnecessary filler.
It’s also surprisingly funny. While parts of the movie certainly get intense, violent, and even bloody — by no means is Reservoir Dogs a comedy — it has one of the funniest scenes in any movie when Mr. Pink (Steve Buscemi) refuses to tip after a meal. But no matter the mood of the scene, the cast is what makes this movie special. Starring Harvey Keitel as Mr. White, Tim Roth as Mr. Orange, Michael Madsen as Mr. Blonde and Chris Penn as "Nice Guy" Eddie Cabot alongside Buscemi’s Mr. Pink, there are scenes where the acting talent is tough to contain within the screen. If you have Paramount Plus with Showtime, Reservoir Dogs should be the first thing you watch this month.
Genre: Neo-noir crime
Rotten Tomatoes score: 90%
Stream on Paramount Plus with Showtime
The Godfather
I’m sure there are plenty of you reading this that don’t need me to tell you twice that The Godfather is incredible. But just in case some of you haven’t seen it, let me tell you why you need to watch it. In fact, between this and Reservoir Dogs, I’d even argue that these two movies make it worth upgrading to Paramount Plus with Showtime just so you can watch them.
Starring Marlon Brando as Don Vito Corleone, The Godfather is a dramatic crime epic that follows the Corleone crime as it tries to keep control of its slice of organized crime, and as the film progresses, how the family transitions from Vito’s leadership. Also starring Al Pacino as Michael Corleone, Vito’s youngest son, James Caan as Sonny Corleone, the eldest son and heir apparent and Robert Duvall as Tom Hagen, the family’s advisor and lawyer, the acting talent alone would be reason enough to watch The Godfather. Add in Francis Ford Coppola’s masterful direction, and you get one of the greatest movies of all time.
Genre: Crime
Rotten Tomatoes score: 97%
Stream on Paramount Plus with Showtime
