What makes something classic? What makes something cold? Well, December is cold and that which is classic is considered to be of the highest quality (retrospectively). 2020 certainly won’t be referred to as a classic year but December could be a classic month—it all depends upon what we decide to stream, right? As the weather outside becomes frightful, there are plenty of movies and TV shows to watch from the comfort of your couch once you finish The Mandalorian. Here is our streaming guide featuring 14 of the most notable, entertainment courtesy of all your favorite subscriptions that should help make the cold weather season classic.
Cover Photo: Netflix
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December streaming guide
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'Sound of Metal,' December 4th, Amazon
Darius Marder’s Sound of Metal follows a heavy-metal drummer, Ruben Stone (Riz Ahmed) who begins to lose his hearing. The film is being praised for its look at the deaf community as well as Ahmed’s passionate performance—he’s a shoo-in for the Best Actor Oscar.
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'Mank,' December 4th, Netflix
David Fincher’s (Fight Club, The Social Network, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) latest film follows alcoholic writer, Herman J. Mankiewicz (Gary Oldman) as he tries to finish Citizen Kane in 1930s Hollywood. Fincher basically hasn’t made a bad film since Alien 3 (1992)—which was his directorial debut and wasn’t his fault—critics are already raving about the direction and performances in this based on a true story film.
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'Big Mouth' Season 4, December 4th, Netflix
If you’re unfamiliar with Big Mouth, it’s an animated series about going through puberty geared towards adults. Actors the likes of John Mulaney, Nick Kroll, Maya Rudolph, and Jordan Peele lend their explicit voices to teenagers discussing masturbation, sex with soup-filled pillows (yeah), menstruation, and bodily fluids. The show gives audiences an unrelenting, optimistic, and shameless look at a shame-filled time in everyone’s life. It’s hilarious, necessary, and back for a fourth season.
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'The Hardy Boys,' December 4th, Hulu
Inspired by Franklin W. Dixon’s large volume and the 1970s’ The Hardy Boys, this adaptation con temporizes (and de-ages one of) The Hardy Boys. The new series, in the vein of Stranger Things, follows Frank and Joe Hardy after being forced to move from the big city to their parents’ hometown of Bridgeport. While staying with their Aunt Trudy, the two brothers become involved in a mysterious investigation led by their dad, detective Fenton Hardy.
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'Shameless' Season 11, December 6th, Showtime
In its decade-long run, William H. Macy’s Frank Gallagher drank away his liver, got a new one, and then kept on being shitty. His offspring haven’t been much better. If there’s one show that’s made audiences feel better about themselves while simultaneously worried about the state of families living on the South Side of Chicago, it’s Shameless. The beloved dramedy is returning for its eleventh and final season. Fingers crossed that Emmy Rossum shows up as Fiona one last time.
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'Your Honor,' December 6th, Showtime
You’ve no doubt seen the ads for this limited series repeatedly interrupt your YouTube viewing. You win Showtime. Adapted from the Israeli TV series Kvodo, Your Honor stars Bryan Cranston as a New Orleans judge whose son (Hunter Doohan) kills someone in a hit-and-run. So, in Breaking Bad-esque fashion, Cranston covers it up. Quite frankly, this show is either going to be the shit or just shit.
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'Euphoria' Special, December 6th, HBO (Dropped early)
The upcoming episode, “Trouble Don’t Last Always,” takes place between the events of season 1 and 2. Season 1 ended with Rue’s (Zendaya) relapse in the wake of her love interest/friend, Jules (Hunter Schafer) leaving town. The episode was written and directed by series creator, Sam Levinson, and will see Colman Domingo will reprise his role as Ali. No word yet on when the second special or season 2 will premiere.
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'Wolfwalkers,' December 11th, Apple TV+
A young apprentice hunter, Robyn befriends a wild native girl, Mebh, who’s actually a member of a mysterious tribe known as the Wolfwalkers—people who transform into wolves by night. Unfourantely, inside Robyn’s city, wolves are viewed as demonic and nature evil—something her father seeks to essentially destroy. Wolfwalkers is the go-to animated film this year.
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'The Prom,' December 11th, Netflix
In yet another musical starring James Corden, Ryan Murphy’s The Prom follows a group of Broadway stars (also including Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, and Kerry Washington) who rally behind a teen who wants to take her girlfriend to prom after her school/Indiana town denies her the right.
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'The Expanse' Season 5, December 16th, Amazon
Taking place hundreds of years in the future, The Expanse (hailed by many as “Game of Thrones in space”) follows humanity, spread throughout the solar system, and at odds with itself. Tensions between the people of Earth, Mars, and the Asteroid Belt (AKA Belters) are at an all-time high. The introduction of a mysterious alien substance changes everything, ultimately opening a gateway to a new, unexplored galaxy (among other things). The show is returning for its fifth season.
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'Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,' December 18th, Netfix
Tensions rise when trailblazing blues singer Ma Rainey and her band gather at a recording studio in Chicago in 1927. Viola Davis and the late Chadwick Boseman churn out powerhouse performances in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
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'The Midnight Sky,' December 23th, Netflix
In George Clooney’s first role in what feels like forever, he plays a lonely scientist, hanging out in the Arctic, racing to stop Sully (Felicity Jones) and a group of astronauts from returning home to some mysterious catastrophe. The Midnight Sky is based on Lily Brooks-Dalton’s acclaimed novel, Good Morning, Midnight and, if it’s anything like the novel, is set to be one of the best flicks of 2020.
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'Wonder Woman 1984,' December 25th, HBO Max
After being delayed for the umpteenth time, Wonder Woman 1984 is finally set to release on HBO Max (maybe). In it, the titular Amazonian faces off against Maxwell Lord (Pedro Pascal) and the Cheetah (Kristen Wiig).
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'News of the World,' December 25th, Netflix
Based on Paulette Jiles’ novel of the same name, Paul Greengrass’ News of the World sees Tom Hanks' ex-Civil War Capt. Jefferson Kyle Kidd tasked with returning a 10-year-old girl (Helena Zengel) to her aunt and uncle. To do so, the pair must overcome a language barrier (so was taken and raised by the Kiowa people) and the harsh plains of Texas, filled with dangers human and otherwise.
