Some people spend their days arguing over the merits of Netflix and how it’s “killing cinema” as we know it, but the rest of us know better. It’s just one more way to re-watch the movies we already love and find new ones to cherish. This month sees plenty of both hitting the service.
The complete list of movies and shows hitting Netflix this month — December 2018 — is below, but first I’m going to highlight a few that stand apart from the bunch.
Netflix Pick of the Month
Richard Adams’ The Plague Dogs remains my favorite of his novels and films, it’s his tale of a rabbit warren struggling to survive that captured the world’s attention best. A stellar feature adaptation arrived in 1978, and now a new one is hitting screens. Watership Down: Limited Series (12/23) is a four-part animated mini-series that updates the animation but hopefully retains the heart and ferocity of Adams’ book and previous film. I’ve heard the bloodletting may have been toned down, which is unfortunate if true as it drove home the intense nature of nature itself, but I’m still looking forward to a more in-depth look at the lives and deaths of talking bunnies.
High-Profile Originals!
Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity, Children of Men) returns with his first feature in five years, the highly acclaimed personal drama Roma (12/14), and while it lacks big effects and genre conventions it’s reportedly one of the year’s finest films. Bird Box (12/21) is an adaptation of a best-selling post-apocalyptic novel and features Academy Award winners both on screen (Sandra Bullock) and off (director Susanne Bier). Fans of underdog stories, child beauty competitions, and Jennifer Aniston should keep an eye out for Dumplin’ (12/7). Andy Serkis’ Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle (12/7) traded the big screen for Netflix, but it promises good fun for fans of the Rudyard Kipling tale. And finally, Netflix’s popular new series gets a Christmas special with Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: A Midwinter’s Tale (12/14) to make the wait for season two a bit easier.
Relax With Some Modern Gems
Want to see absurd comedy done to perfection? Watch The Big Lebowski (1998). Guillermo del Toro’s Hellboy (2004) remains a fun genre romp blending horror, action, and fantasy into something wholly unique. Yorgos Lanthimos’ latest film is currently burning up the end of year awards circuit, but The Lobster (2015) remains his best and hits Netflix on the 2nd. If you want to end the year with an utterly creepy experience, and why wouldn’t you really, you can’t go wrong with The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016) which arrives on the 3oth.
The Oldest Movie Coming to Netflix
One of the many cliches about Netflix is its lack of older films, and in an effort to combat that idea each month I like highlighting the oldest movie hitting the service. This month’s relic is, unsurprisingly, not actually all that old. Happily, though, it’s at least a pretty great movie. John Carpenter’s adaptation of Stephen King’s Christine (1983) is a thrilling rock n roll-fueled tale of possession, loneliness, and metalwork. Sure it’s familiar horror at times, but Carpenter finds beauty and terror in the image of the car driving itself aflame and “fixing” itself from within. Crank it up loud and give it a spin.
The Complete List
December 1st
8 Mile (2002)
Astro Boy (2009)
Battle — NETFLIX FILM
Bride of Chucky (1998)
Christine (1983)
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009)
Crossroads: One Two Jaga — NETFLIX FILM
Friday (1995)
Friday After Next (2002)
Hellboy (2004)
Man vs Wild with Sunny Leone: Season 1
Meet Joe Black (1998)
Memories of the Alhambra (Streaming Every Saturday) — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
My Bloody Valentine (2009)
Next Friday (2000)
Reindeer Games (2000)
Seven Pounds (2008)
Shaun of the Dead (2004)
Terminator Salvation (2009)
The Big Lebowski (1998)
The Great British Baking Show: Masterclass – Season 5
The Last Dragon (1985)
The Man Who Knew Too Little (1997)
December 2nd
The Lobster (2015)
December 3rd
Blue Planet II: Season 1
Hero Mask– NETFLIX ORIGINAL
The Sound of Your Heart: Reboot Season 2– NETFLIX ORIGINAL
December 4th
District 9 (2009)
December 6th
Happy!: Season 1
December 7th
5 Star Christmas — NETFLIX FILM
Bad Blood — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Dogs of Berlin — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Dumplin’ — NETFLIX FILM
Free Rein: The Twelve Neighs of Christmas — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle — NETFLIX FILM
Nailed It! Holiday! — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Neo Yokio: Pink Christmas — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Pine Gap — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
ReMastered: Who Killed Jam Master Jay? — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Super Monsters and the Wish Star — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
The American Meme — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
The Hook Up Plan (Plan Coeur) — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
The Ranch: Part 6 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
December 9th
Sin senos sí hay paraíso: Season 3
December 10th
Michael Jackson’s This Is It (2009)
December 11th
Vir Das: Losing It — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
December 12th
Back Street Girls: Gokudols — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Out of Many, One — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
December 13th
Wanted: Season 3 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
December 14th
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: A Midwinter’s Tale — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Cuckoo: Season 4 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Dance & Sing with True: Songs — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Fuller House: Season 4 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Inside the Real Narcos — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Inside the World’s Toughest Prisons: Season 3 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Prince of Peoria: A Christmas Moose Miracle — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Roma — NETFLIX FILM
Sunderland Til I Die — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
The Fix — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
The Innocent Man — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
The Protector — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Tidelands — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Travelers: Season 3 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Voltron: Legendary Defender: Season 8 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
December 16th
Baby Mama (2008)
Kill the Messenger (2014)
One Day (2011)
Springsteen on Broadway — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
The Theory of Everything (2014)
December 18th
Baki — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Ellen DeGeneres: Relatable — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Terrace House: Opening New Doors: Part 5 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
December 21st
3Below: Tales of Arcadia — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
7 Days Out — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Back With the Ex — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Bad Seeds — NETFLIX FILM
Bird Box — NETFLIX FILM
Derry Girls — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Diablero — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Greenleaf: Season 3
Last Hope: Part 2 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Perfume — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Sirius the Jaeger — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Struggle: The Life and Lost Art of Szukalski — NETFLIX FILM
Tales by Light: Season 3 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
The Casketeers — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Wolf (BÖRÜ) — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
December 23rd
Watership Down: Limited Series — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
December 24th
Hi Score Girl — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
The Magicians: Season 3
December 25th
Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown: Season 11
Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
December 26th
Alexa & Katie: Season 2 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
December 28th
Instant Hotel — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
La noche de 12 años — NETFLIX FILM
Selection Day — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
When Angels Sleep — NETFLIX FILM
Yummy Mummies — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
December 30th
The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016)
December 31st
The Bill Murray Stories: Life Lessons Learned From a Mythical Man (2018)