Prime Video’s final monthly catalog of 2024 delivers nothing less than a jam-packed schedule of brand new titles arriving in December 2024, so you can best believe my watchlist had a major reshuffle. But that’s what makes Prime Video one of the best streaming services.
For my December Prime Video recommendations, I’ve thrown together a mixed bag of movies with over 88% on Rotten Tomatoes to give you some guidance on what to watch when you get tried of Christmas movies. From a ’60s spaghetti western, a classic Roald Dahl family movie, and a Tom Cruise ’80s staple, Prime Video has it all this month – and I’ve even thrown in a music documentary to shake things up a little.
With each big streaming schedule, we are consistently keeping on top of our list of best Prime Video movies as well as the best Prime Video shows, so in case my recommendations below don’t quite sway you, there’s always more to streaming suggestions to choose from.
Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
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RT score: 96%
Age rating: PG-13
Length: 165 minutes
Director: Sergio Leone
Arriving on: December 1
I recall Once Upon a Time in the West being added to Prime Video’s movie catalog earlier this year, and now it appears that the classic spaghetti western is returning to the platform after a seemingly unannounced departure.
From the director of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (1968), Leone’s western drama follows rail baron Morton (Gabriele Ferzetti) who has his eye on a particular piece of land in Flagstone. To secure it, he orders henchman Frank (Henry Fonda) to frighten off the land’s current owner, only to kill him in the process. After he frames the murder on known outlaw Cheyenne (Jason Robards), a mysterious man with a harmonica (Charles Bronson) arrives in town with his wife Jill (Claudia Cardinale).
Witness (1985)
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RT score: 93%
Age rating: R
Length: 112 minutes
Director: Peter Weir
Arriving on: December 1
Peter Weir sat in the director’s chair for The Truman Show (1998) – one of my favorite movies of all time – so naturally, I had to add Witness to my December streaming schedule. I just wonder it it’ll make me cry as much as The Truman Show did.
Witness is a neo-noir crime drama with Harrison Ford starring as detective John Book who finds himself at the center of a drug-related murder case. He feels the pressure of his job become increasingly tense when he’s tasked with protecting an Amish lady Rachel Lapp (Kelly McGillis) and her young son Samuel (Lukas Haas) – who’s the only witness to the murder in the case. When things get dangerous for Book, he’s left with no option but to seek refuge within their community.
The Witches (1990)
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RT score: 94%
Age rating: PG
Length: 91 minutes
Director: Nicholas Roeg
Arriving on: December 1
When I was a kid, Roald Dahl book-to-movie adaptions were one of the many movies I had on repeat and The Witches is one that I remember both terrified me and entertained me at the same time – no one other than Angelica Houston could do the Grand High Witch justice (sorry, Anne Hathaway).
During a stay at a hotel with his grandmother, young boy Luke (Jasen Fisher) stumbles upon a group of witches posing as a ordinary women, overhearing their plan to eradicate all children by using a new potion that will turn them into mice. When Luke is caught by the witches, they force feed him the magic formula and he transforms into a mouse, but that doesn’t stop him and his grandmother from fighting back against them before they act on their mission.
Rain Man
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RT score: 88%
Age rating: R
Length: 133 minutes
Director: Barry Levinson
Arriving on: December 1
An ’80s classic that I’ve yet to tick off my watchlist, the story of Rain Man was inspired when the movie’s writer Barry Marrow met Kim Peek and used him as inspiration for the character of Raymond Babbitt (Dustin Hoffman).
Selfish LA-based car dealer Charlie Babbitt (Tom Cruise) returns to his family home in Cincinnati, Ohio after learning that his father has died. Not only must he deal with the death of his father, but he discovers that he has a long-lost brother Raymond (Hoffman) living with autism in an institution which their father left $3 million to. Fuelled with a determination to score his share of inheritance, Charlie checks Raymond out of the institution and flees back to LA – but their little road trip turns into something much more, and the two establish an unlikely bond.
The Last Waltz
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RT score: 98%
Age rating: PG
Length: 117 minutes
Director: Martin Scorsese
Arriving on: December 1
I’m no stranger to a good music movie or documentary, so when I saw The Last Waltz was coming to Prime Video in December 2024 I had to add it to my list because of its performances from Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, and more.
Filmed by Martin Scorsese, The Last Waltz recalls a farewell concert held by music group The Band in San Francisco on Thanksgiving in 1976. With featured performances from the biggest musicians of the era (Van Morrison, Eric Clapton, Muddy Waters, and more), the documentary weaves live performance with interviews that dissect the group’s foundation after serving as a backing band for Ronnie Hawkins, and delve into the group’s legacy.
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