3 HBO Max Shows to Binge This Weekend (September 10

What I love most HBO Max is that even though I've been watching his shows and movies for over 25 years, when I start digging through his library I'm surprised to find things I've never heard of or had almost forgotten about. Of course, it also continues to produce great new shows, but the breadth of features it provides is still impressive.

Speaking of impressive (see what I did there?), I have three marvels for you to watch this weekend – monster waves, stupid music and John Cena. Let's go.

Big wave surfer Garrett McNamara is a legend in the sport. Not only has he ridden the biggest waves the planet has to offer, but, perhaps most importantly, he is the pioneer who brought the surfing world's attention to the tiny Portuguese town of Nazare, home of the world's biggest surfing waves.

HBO Max documentary series 100 foot wave tells the story of McNamara's obsessive search. From the first surfer to conquer the incredibly big waves of Nazaré in 2011, to putting the quiet coastal fishing town on the big wave surfing map and attracting the sport's elite to its waters, the series centers around McNamara, his tenacious and supportive wife, and their chosen family of the greatest big wave surfers to ever ride the big wave. waves.

If you're like me and can watch surf videos all day, 100 foot wave's amazing photo and the aerial footage will simply amaze you. I won't lie – it's a nail-biter when you watch surfing's elite like McNamara, Kai Lenny, Lucas “Chambo” Chianca, Justine Dupont and many more push themselves to the limit as Nazaré's unforgiving waves punish and reward them – however, none other than McNamara himself. Over the course of the show's three seasons, the series' drama shifts to an injury-plagued Garrett as he ages and comes to terms with the fact that he may never achieve his dream of riding a 100-foot wave.

2

Flight of the Concordes

If you haven't caught it before my weekend review where I swooned over comedy pioneers Tenacious D, then consider this another love letter to a close second, Flight of the Concordes.

Created and written by then unknown comedian and musician Jemaine Clement (What are we doing in the shadows) and Brett McKenzie (Muppets), Flight of the Concordes aired on HBO from 2007 to 2009 and follows fictionalized versions of the couple as their titular two-person group struggles to make it big in New York City. It's a hilarious story of how the New Zealanders and their well-meaning but idiotic manager Murray (Rhys Darby) get into all sorts of misadventures, strange romances and failed gigs.

Of course, the best part of the show is that their bizarre trials and tribulations are dramatized through the duo's insanely fun original music that parodies everything from hip-hop (Behemoth vs Rimenoceros) and Pet Shop Boys West End Girls (Pressure inside the city) to a brilliant electro-folk number People are deada song about a post-apocalyptic world where robots are rising.

Kristen Schaal (ur.The last man on Earth) also appears on the show as Mel, the band's weird superfan (and only fan, really). Flight of the Concordes is one of the funniest shows I've ever seen on HBO, with short half-hour episodes that are easy to binge-watch. I also highly recommend watching band's self-titled albumwhich included many of the songs from the show, polished and recorded.

3

Peacemaker

ok now this PeacemakerSeason 2 is complete on HBO Max, if you've yet to dive into James Gunn's epically corny series. Suicide Squad spin-off, now is the perfect time to enjoy all this weird and wonderful DC series.

John Cena is great as the painfully self-aware, narcissistic and cruel anti-hero Peacemaker, who, after nearly dying in Suicide Squadis released from prison and joins the secret team of the secret government agency ARGUS. A ragtag team of ARGUS agents Clemson Murn (Chukwudi Iwuji), Amelia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland), John Economos (Steve Agee) and Leota Adebayo (Danielle Brooks), as well as merry assassin Vigilante (Freddie Stroma) come together to stop a global network of aliens. parasites known as “Butterflies” who have taken over the minds and bodies of world leaders.

But none of this matters. You'll like it Peacemaker for several reasons: it has perhaps the best opening song and dance scene of any show ever; its soundtrack consists of incredible 80s metal; the fight scenes are superbly choreographed and full of outrageous blood and comedic cruelty; and finally, Peacemaker's stunning pet bald eagle, Igali.

HBO Max is home to a wide variety of series and movies that have been head and shoulders above the rest for decades. And while the service still maintains those high standards today, I'm still impressed by the sheer number of old classics, many of which I've somehow never heard of, which is always a pleasant surprise.