HBO Max January News and Upcoming Releases

HBO Max February Release Dates

February 1
A Vigilante
Acts of Vengeance
Another Country
Blair Witch
Birdman
Blame it on Rio
Bride Wars
Bull Durham
Can’t Hardly Wait
Casino Royale
Catch Me If You Can
Come and Find Me
Cooties
Diamonds Are Forever
Don’t Play Us Cheap
Dr. No
Eighth Grade
Factual: Love Off the Grid—Season 1
Food: Hungry for Answers
Footloose
Force Majeure
Girl with a Pearl Earring
Goldeneye
Good Boy!
Gossip
Graffiti Bridge
Hannibal
Heist
High Society
Honeyland
Hotel for Dogs
How I Live Now
I Am Wrath
Just Cause
Live Free or Die Hard
Luce
Mandabi
Mannequin Two: On the Move
Mermaids
Moonraker
Never Grow Old
Niaye
Nothing Like the Holidays
Octopussy
Own: The Great Soul Food Cook Off
Pens & Pencils
Person to Person
Platoon
Quantum of Solace
Red
Scary Movie
Scary Movie 2
Scary Movie 3
Superbad
Sleepy Hollow
So I Married an Axe Murderer
Space is the Place
Superbad
Suspect Zero
Swiss Army Man
Take This Waltz
Taxi Driver
Thanks For Sharing
The Art of Self-Defense
The Best of Blaxploitation
The Crazies
The Living Daylights
The Man with the Golden Gun
The Men Who Stare at Goats
The Mexican
The Miracle Worker
The Monster
The Music Man
The Show
The Silence of the Lambs
The Story of a Three Day Pass
The Terminator
The Vow
Throw Mama from the Train
Thunderball
TLC: The Culpo Sisters
Tommy Boy
Tomorrow Never Dies
Village of the Damned
War of the Worlds
Wayne’s World
Wayne’s World 2
White Bird in a Blizzard
You Only Live Twice

February 2
Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over (Max Original)
Super Villains, The Investigation (Max Original)
Flordelis: A Family Crime (Max Original)

February 3
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

February 6
C.B. Strike: Troubled Blood

February 7
All That Breathes
Edge of Tomorrow
Empire of Light

February 8
Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm

February 9
Harley Quinn: A Very Problematic Valentine’s Day Special—Season 3 (Max Original)

February 10
Marcella Arguello: Bitch, Grow Up!

February 11
Marc Maron: From Bleak to Dark

February 12
Puppy Bowl XIX

February 14
King Star King

February 17
Poor Devil—Season 1 (Max Original)

February 18
Family Restaurant

February 20
Ballmastrz: Rubicon

February 23
Gravity

HBO Renews A Show!

In what for HBO seems shocking news, the network has renewed a show. Even more surprising is HBO renewed  The Last of Us after only two weeks of airing. The news dropped just before the third episode of The Last of Us aired, which has been making a lot of waves throughout media sites with many social justice warriors rejoicing over the depiction of a major character’s sexuality. Meanwhile many heritage gamers who are protective of the game The Last of Us, are wrestling with the show making an entire backstory episode on the character. The make things even more interesting, the game creator has weighed in to give his stamp of approval stating that things that are not in the game but will enhance the game experience are added to the show and this character backstory enhances the game. 

Doom Patrol and Titans Unceremoniously Canceled

Warner Bros. Discovery recently announced it was done canceling shows and selling off Warner Bros. intellectual property licensing of long-standing content on HBO Max.

Now Warner Bros. Discovery has announced two more cancellations. Titans and Doom Patrol are being canceled with no word if even the second half of Titans season four and Doom Patrol’s current split season will air. Speculation over this decision ranges from more budget cuts to simply ending these two alternate universes in keeping with the new DCU initiative. For now, there is no leaked information to answer why these shows are being canceled.

Shooting Down The Last of Us Global Warming Plot Point

For some global warming is real. To others, it is still a question to confirm. What’s not a question is that HBO is a progressive network that promotes shows that serve its socio-political agenda. The Last of Us is an example of how the network influenced a video game’s story to serve the HBO narrative in fighting climate change (previously known as global warming). the premise of the video game The Last of Us revolves around a confusing and somewhat contradictory plot point of a zombie-making killer fungus that can only take over a host if the Earth’s temperature reaches and remains over a certain warm temperature.

This has given cause to many activist writers penning passionate and half-backed articles as if they spoke as scientific subject matter experts. If you live on this Earth long enough you know that science has swung from global cooling to global warming to both, (the safest claim), now known as climate change. The Last of Us fungus theory has quickly generated a storm of alarmist articles, being taken seriously and propagated as truth. Those articles arguing global warming is taking place and could cause a fungal outbreak contradicts the ‘climate change’ narrative. To be clear, this writer does NOT dispute the human race is trashing the Earth. There is no dispute we should stop pollution at every turn. Just be real and honest about what you are arguing and you’ll be taken more seriously. For the sake of those pressing that the HBO series The Last of Us zombie outbreak could happen to us is in the real — it can’t because you’re arguing the wrong point. The fact is in real life it is not the Earth’s temperature that dictates a fungus’s ability to survive in a human, it’s the human’s internal body temperature that must remain below 94 degrees. The normal temperature inside your mouth when measuring for a cold is 98.6 degrees. Well above the 94 degrees outlined in the series’ opening scene. In short, in both cases, the Earth’s temperature must fall or a human body must evolve to a lower standard body temperature that frankly would require a higher outdoor temperature to survive. Anyone arguing that global warming can cause a fungal outbreak needs to recognize that the fungus in question has to evolve to survive in warmer conditions. The entire argument of the fungus causing a zombie outbreak would be solved in the short term by humans fleeing to warmer temperature zones around the globe. Can the fungal out-break in The Last of Us take place? The real question is can any existing fungus that controls a host evolve and jump to humans? The short answer it is possible. Just know it has nothing to do with the outside temperature.

No Rumor, Gossip Girl Cancelled

Didn’t Warner Bros. Discovery announce they were done canceling? Don’t believe them. The very day Gossip Girl’s Season Two drops its last episode, the news is it is canceled. Gossip Girl is the latest show on HBO Max to be canceled.  It’s no rumor. Showrunner Josh Safran confirmed it. “So here’s the goss: it is with the heaviest of hearts that I have to announce Gossip Girl will not be continuing on HBO Max,” he continued at length, “The EPs and I will forever be grateful to the network and studio for their faith and support; the writers for their devious brains and dexterous talent; the superstar cast for being the greatest of collaborators and friends; and the crew for their hard work, dedication and love for the project. This was honestly the greatest set I ever worked on, top to bottom. We are currently looking for another home, but in this climate, that might prove an uphill battle, and so if this is the end, at least we went out on the highest of highs. Thank you all for watching, and I hope you’ll tune into the finale next Thursday to see how it all comes together. xoxo”

Gossip Girl moved from the CW to HBO Max in 2021. Perhaps it will find yet another new home. 

The Last of Us is HBO’s Second-Biggest Premiere Since House of the Dragon

Nielsen ratings and Warner Bros. Discovery’s own first-party data, the first episode of the Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey-led drama scored 4.7 million U.S. viewers across both the linear HBO channel and streamer HBO Max. Anticipation continues for one of the most popular video games, The Last of Us. Fans do not argue the casting but are wary of agenda-based writing that will veer from an authentic retelling of the game lore featuring Joel and Ellie. Both are survivors of a civilization-ending fungal pandemic. Twenty years after the event, the fatherly figure Joel must lead the fourteen-year-old Ellie through a dangerous quarantine zone and outlands of the US. 

From the Emmy award-winning Chernobyl creator and the acclaimed video game creator, the new HBO Original series premiered on Jan 15 on HBO Max.

Velma Official Trailer

Velma is an adult animated comedy series telling the origin story of Velma Dinkley, the unsung and under-appreciated brains of the Scooby-Doo Mystery Inc. gang. This original and humorous spin unmasks the complex and colorful past of one of America’s most beloved mystery solvers.

Developed by Charlie Grandy for HBO Max, it stars executive producer Mindy Kaling as the titular character’s voice, with Sam Richardson, Constance Wu, and Glenn Howerton in supporting roles.

HBO Doesn’t Attempt to Justify Less Content at a Higher Price

Both HBO and the stand-alone HBO Max streaming service are going up $1.00 per month in the wake of Discovery’s purchase of the Warner Bros. properties (Warner Media). One has to wonder who will keep the service with very little new original content.  

Effective Thursday, Jan. 12, the price of a new HBO Max no-ads monthly subscription in the U.S. will increase from $14.99 to $15.99 (plus applicable taxes). That’s a nearly 7% increase. Existing HBO Max subscribers who are currently paying $14.99/month will see their monthly rate increase to $15.99/month, effective their next billing cycle on or after Saturday, Feb. 11, 2023.

Warner Bros. Discovery only offered the following: “This price increase of one dollar will allow us to continue to invest in providing even more culture-defining programming and improving our customer experience for all users.”

Game of Thrones Prequel Wins

The HBO series Game of Thrones was too big to leave alone. Thanks to the new source material written in 2018, the George R.R. Martin book, Fire and Blood set roughly 200 years prior to Game of Thrones made for an enthralling viewing experience from palace intrigue to dragons. The Golden Globes awarded the series released in late 2022 with Best Drama Series. It’s worth noting that Fire and Blood was written as a historical account by fictional Westeros characters and has no dialogue between characters in the book.

The Bloodletting of HBO Max has Ended

According to various reports and sources, housecleaning by Discovery of HBO Max may have finally ended. In the past three months since Discovery took over the property a host of intellectual properties have been removed from HBO Max to be licensed out as a means to increase profits. From the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes library to HBO ending scripted shows, the network appeared to be ending shows without finishing them to canceling planned shows.  Subscribers to Redditors have commented on the insanity with memes and mockery such as the only thing left on HBO Max will be Game of Thrones. At present they are correct. 

Another Valuable Warner Bros. IP Axed from HBO Max Platform

Scores …in fact, hundreds of Warner Bros. Looney Toons have been removed from HBO Max. It may seem suicidal for the platform to continue making cuts, but for the new owners at Discovery, all the IPs have more value in earnings when licensed out instead of hoping viewers will pay for HBO Max to watch their library of entertainment. Some even speculate Discovery may soon sell to Apple. 

 

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