3 Best New to HBO Max Movies to Watch This Weekend (February 13-15): ‘The Notebook’ and More

Have no one to spend Valentine’s Day weekend with? No problem — there are plenty of great movies to keep you company via streaming.

Or, maybe you do have a valentine and you’re just looking for a chill night in with takeout and a movie. Watch With Us can help you there as well.

We know just where to look to find the right movie for your viewing pleasure, whether you’re coupled up or not, and we have three top-tier recommendations from HBO Max.

Want a devastating romance? A silly farce? A charismatic crime caper? Then check these movies out.

‘The Notebook’ (2004)

In the 1940s American South, wealthy heiress Allie (Rachel McAdams) falls for humble lumber mill worker Noah (Ryan Gosling), but Allie’s judgmental parents don’t approve of their coupling. Caught being intimate together, Allie’s parents forbid her from ever seeing Noah again, and Noah goes off to serve in World War II. In the meantime, Allie becomes involved with a rich lawyer (James Marsden) with plans to marry him. But as their wedding looms, Noah returns home, and Allie realizes that her romantic feelings are far from gone.

The Notebook is the sappy romance of the 2000s, a movie so ubiquitous in pop culture that it likely feels as if you’ve already seen it even if you haven’t. And while The Notebook’s Nicholas Sparks melodrama claptrap might not be for everyone, for those of us who are hopeless romantics, it’ll tug on your heartstrings like a cello player. Featuring timeless performances from McAdams and Gosling, throw on this heartsick drama if you feel like nursing tissues all night.

‘Zola’ (2021)

Zola bears the unique distinction of being the first film to ever be based on a Twitter thread, and if you already knew the viral story going into the film, then you knew that it was a story worthy of a cinematic treatment. The film stars Taylor Russell as the eponymous Zola, a waitress and part-time exotic dancer from Detroit who meets an outgoing, charismatic fellow stripper named Stefani (Riley Keough). When Stefani promises they can make big bucks at a Tampa strip club, Zola joins her for a wild road trip. But she soon realizes she’s in way over her head, and Stefani hasn’t been exactly telling the truth.

About as funny, charismatic and strange as the character of Stefani (played to cringey, AAVE-using perfection by Keough), Zola manages to perfectly blend the zany, viral-worthy antics of the original Twitter thread with the genuinely dark situation that Zola ultimately finds herself in. With sex, violence, danger and betrayal, Zola keeps things entertaining and intriguing, while also being a thoughtful portrait of women in the sex work industry.

‘MacGruber’ (2010)

Will Forte brings his popular MacGyver parody character from SNL to the big screen with a feature-length film. MacGruber,  having retired from his life of action and violence following the tragic death of his fiancée, ultimately accepts a new mission involving the very man to blame for her death. Arms dealer Dieter Von Cunth (Val Kilmer) has returned to steal a nuclear warhead that could decimate Washington, D.C.  MacGruber jumps back into action, assembling a top-notch team with his old friends Vicki St. Elmo (Kristen Wiig) and police lieutenant Dixon Piper (Ryan Phillippe).

Though MacGyver received a mixed reception from critics upon release, it has developed a cult following in the years since. Featuring the same kind of comic tone you get from director Jorma Taccone‘s other Lonely Island-involved ventures like Hot Rod, MacGruber might similarly not be a crowd-pleaser, but it’s catnip for diehard comedy fans. It excels in moments of wacky humor and anti-comedy, creating an experience that is anything but expected.