What To Stream In December
Netflix
Spectral – December 9th
It was just announced a few weeks ago that Netflix acquired this promising sci-fi film from Legendary Pictures. In it, a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency scientist joins a Special Ops team, as they take on a mysterious enemy code-named Spectral that’s killing people in a war-ravaged city.
Lucky Number Slevin – December 10th
One of our favorite underrated movies hits Netflix this month. Lucky Number Slevin, a must-see dark comedy released in 2006, brought together a stellar cast for a story of intertwining plotlines: Slevin Kelevra (Josh Hartnett) is kidnapped by mob guys when he is mistaken for his missing friend, Nick (Sam Jaeger); The Boss (Morgan Freeman), the guy who ordered the kidnapping, wants the son of his rival The Rabbi (Ben Kingsley) killed; The Rabbi wants the money Nick owes him; there’s also Mr. Goodkat (Bruce Willis), a hit man who is playing both sides; and Lindsey, Nick’s neighbor who gets caught up in all of it like Slevin.
Captain America: Civil War – December 25th
The best of the Marvel cinematic universe arrives on Netflix on Christmas Day. 2016’s Captain America: Civil War pits Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.) against Cap (Chris Evans) after an Avengers mission results in mass civilian deaths; the Secretary of State informs the team that the United Nations is preparing to vote whether a UN panel should oversee the team. Iron Man’s a yay and Cap is a nay, and the Avengers break between them. The introduction of Spiderman (Tom Holland) and Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman)—who will both get movies—is an added bonus.
More To Watch: Pacific Heat: Season 1 (December 2nd), Hannibal (December 1st), National Lampoon’s Animal House (December 1st)
Amazon
The Fighter – December 1st
The Fighter is a 2010 sports drama about a New England family heavily involved in the world of boxing. It stars Mark Wahlberg as a welterweight fighter trying to make a name for himself, and Christian Bale as his former boxer brother and trainer who is now struggling with drug addiction. Bale scored a Best Supporting Actor award for his role.
Blood Diamond – December 1st
Set during the real-life civil war in Sierra Leone, 2006’s Blood Diamond is about the unlikely alliance between gunrunner and diamond smuggler Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou), a fisherman, after Vandy uncovers a pink diamond while forced to harvest diamonds under a warlord’s control. Both actors were nominated for Oscars.
More To Watch: The Expanse: Season 1 (December 14th), The Man in the High Castle: Season 2 (December 16th)
HBO Go/ HBO Now
Redemption - December 1st
If it’s a Jason Statham movie, then we know a lot of people are going to die and/or get their asses kicked. In Redemption, a film from 2013, Statham plays Joseph Smith, an ex-Special Forces guy living on the streets. While trying to escape the criminals who harass homeless people in the area, he hides in the apartment of a traveling photographer and assumes his life. As he tries to get his own life together, he becomes a vigilante and hunts down the people who killed a friend of his.
Any Given Sunday – December 1st
Any Given Sunday won’t be the best sports movie you’ll see but it’s definitely entertaining. In it, the fictional Miami Sharks football team deals with some setbacks as it tries to make the playoffs. Al Pacino stars as the team’s coach hoping to turn the third-string QB (Jamie Foxx) into the star the Sharks need, as he battles the team’s owner (Cameron Diaz) and the offensive coordinator (Aaron Eckhart) for control. It was released in 1999 and directed by Oliver Stone.
More To Watch: Assassins (December 1st), Self/Less (December 9th), Criminal (December 31st)
Hulu
Pulp Fiction – December 1st
Quentin Tarantino’s most popular work joins the Hulu catalogue this month. The legendary 1994 flick follows interconnected stories surrounding the lives of hit man Vincent Vega (John Travolta), fighter Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis), and Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson), Vega’s partner. It’s considered by many to be one of the best movies of all time so if you haven't seen this amazing flick, now's the time.
Apocalypse Now – December 1st
Hulu is bringing a war classic around for the holiday season. Taking place during the Vietnam War, 1979’s Apocalypse Now follows U.S. Army Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) as he tries to assassinate a colonel (Marlon Brando) gone rogue. The stellar cast rounds out with veteran actors Robert Duvall and Laurence Fishburne, and the late Dennis Hopper. The legendary Francis Ford Coppola directed it.
Iron Man – December 27th
It’s been eight years since Robert Downey, Jr. made his debut as one of the best characters in Marvel’s universe: Tony Stark. Iron Man was actually the film that kicked off the series. Billionaire Stark, the owner of Stark Industries, a weapons and defense development company, is gravely injured in Afghanistan during an ambush of his convoy. A terrorist group imprisons him and one of their other captives grafts an electromagnet on his chest to keep the shrapnel in his body from reaching his heart. Stark secretly begins building a suit of armor to help him escape. The film has grossed more than $10 billion at the box office.
More To Watch: The Friday the 13th series (December 1st), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (December 1st), Never Back Down (December 1st), No Country For Old Men, (December 1st), Reservoir Dogs (December 1st), The Usual Suspects (December 1st), Spiderman 3 (December 31st)