It’s not every day that we come across a new streaming deal, but this exciting new Paramount+ offer is all we can think about right now. It won’t be around forever, though – you have until September 18 to claim it but since the service is adding 127 new movies this month, we couldn’t think of a better time to sign up.
One of the best streaming services is giving you the chance to snag a year’s ad-supported subscription for just $29.99, down from the usual annual price of $59.99, which works out to be just $2.50 a month. Alternatively, you can also get 50% off the Paramount+ Premium tier, bringing the price down to $59.99 instead of its usual $119.99 price tag. The more premium plan gives you added benefits such as 4K UHD streaming, Dolby Vision or HDR10 viewing, offline downloads, and more.
This deal is perfect for first-time subscribers who have been toying with the idea of signing up to Paramount+, but have never caved to the temptation. If you decide to take advantage of this deal, we’ve listed five movies with over 90% on Rotten Tomatoes from the critics below, which we think are perfect to get you started with your venture into the Paramount+ library of titles.
Today’s best Paramount+ deal
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RT score: 90%
Age rating: R
Runtime: 116 minutes
Director: Stanley Kubrick
If you’ve never seen a Stanley Kubrick movie, you’ve probably been told that The Shining (1980) and 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) are the ones you need to watch first. While I love both of those titles, I must urge you to watch Full Metal Jacket, which I feel doesn’t get enough attention. It’s a powerful war film with even more powerful combat scenes and depiction of masculinity.
Set during the Vietnam War, Full Metal Jacket is split into two segments. The first half of the movie begins at a US Marine Corps bootcamp where recruits J.T. ‘Joker’ Davis (Matthew Modine) and others arrive to begin training under the strict commands of Gunnery Sergeant Hartman (R. Lee Ermey).
After a series of intense training practices, combined with a constant flow of verbal abuse from Hartman, the movie’s second segment begins in Vietnam – and now the troops must face the brutal realities of war and conflict.
School of Rock (2003)
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RT score: 92%
Age rating: PG-13
Runtime: 109 minutes
Director: Richard Linklater
I’m a little biased because it’s one of my favorite comfort movies, but School of Rock is one of the best movies to stream when you sign up to Paramount+. It’s an easy watch of just 109 minutes, and the opposing energies of Jack Black and Joan Cusack’s characters is comedy gold. It’s also one of the movies that fueled my love for music.
Guitarist and unemployed slacker Dewey Finn (Black) is kicked out of his rock band, and replaced by a ‘serious’ musician. This leaves him overdue on rent payments and desperate for money, but when his teacher roommate Ned (Mike White) gets a call for a substitute teaching position at an elite elementary school, Dewey poses as Ned and accepts the job.
When he meets his class, he quickly learns that they’re skilled classical musicians, and Dewey gets a major lightbulb moment – deciding to form a rock band with the young kids and enter them into a battle of the ands contest for a grand prize of $20,000.
Almost Famous (2000)
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RT score: 91%
Age rating: R
Runtime: 122 minutes
Director: Cameron Crowe
Like School of Rock, Almost Famous is another highly praised music movie and a romantic rock ‘n’ roll story with an ensemble cast of some of Hollywood’s greatest talents; Frances McDormand, Philip Seymour Hoffmann, just to name-drop a few.
Set in the early 1970s rock scene, Almost Famous is a semi-autobiographical film based on director Cameron Crowe. It follows aspiring music journalist William Miller (Patrick Fugit), who lands a writing assignment at Rolling Stone to write a feature on the upcoming band Stillwater.
When he joins the band on the road to write his feature, he becomes engrossed in the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle of sex and drugs, and falls for a groupie named Penny (Kate Hudson). Though living the rocker life is all fun and games, William must uphold his professionalism as a journalist, all while navigating his feelings for Penny and his growing bond with the band.
Pulp Fiction (1994)
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RT score: 92%
Age rating: R
Runtime: 154 minutes
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Although Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs (1992) and Kill Bill (2003) are my personal favorite Quentin Tarantino films, there’s no doubt that Pulp Fiction is his most-talked about feature and one you need to watch if you’re new to his work – and Paramount+. It’s quite a long watch, but you’ll be far from bored.
Pulp Fiction isn’t your standard crime movie. Though it’s set in the present day, its environment is very reminiscent of 1950s pop culture from its costumes, music, set, and even dialogue.
Jumping between timelines, the movie tells the story of four sets of characters that includes two hitmen, a gangster boss and his actress wife, a boxer, and a pair of nervous armed robbers. Each story is intertwined to create a series of dramatic sequences with a balance of black comedy elements and bloody action scenes.
Past Lives (2023)
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RT score: 95%
Age rating: PG-13
Runtime: 106 minutes
Director: Celine Song
Celine Song’s Oscar-nominated directorial debut is a modern romance story that, despite adopting the tropes of a traditional romance story, leans into the realism of estranged relationships and whether these can be fixed – or if they’re simply a thing of the past.
Tapping into her own experiences, Song’s movie follows Nora (Greta Lee) who emigrated from South Korea as a child. As a result, she’s forced to leave her childhood best friend Hae Sung (Teo Yoo) behind, with whom she shares a very special bond.
Over two decades later, the two are reunited for the first time in New York City for one week only. With them being in different stages of their lives and Nora now being married, the two confront their past relationship and surface the thoughts of their 12-year-old selves.
