December is here, and Paramount Plus just added a whopping 108 new movies to the streaming service. That’s more movies than you’ll be able to get through in a month; you’ll be lucky to stream them all in a year. Lucky for you, I’m doing my best Santa Claus impression ahead of Christmas, and I’ve made a list of the five movies to start streaming right now, before checking out the rest. And yes, I even checked it twice.
I’ll admit, narrowing down this list to just five movies was tough. Some all-time greats didn’t make the cut, including “No Country for Old Men,” inarguably one of the best movies of the century so far. Ultimately, though, I simply went with the five movies that jumped out at me the most. I promise, all five are very much worth watching.
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Malcolm McMillan
Streaming Editor
Malcolm has been covering the latest in streaming shows and movies since 2023. Every week, he hunts down the top shows and movies to watch on Netflix, Paramount Plus and all the best streaming services.
My top picks
‘Inglorious Basterds’
Inglourious Basterds Official Trailer #1 – Brad Pitt Movie (2009) HD – YouTube
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“Inglourious Basterds” is Quentin Tarantino’s iconic black comedy World War II movie. While I think that “Reservoir Dogs” is still his best movie, this might be my favorite. Is that because I’m Jewish and this movie is the ultimate act of catharsis? Perhaps. Do I cheer when Hugo Sitglitz (Til Schweiger) says “Say auf wiedersehen to your Nazi balls”? You better believe it.
Set across five chapters and 153 minutes, “Inglorious Basterds” tells the story of Shosanna (Mélanie Laurent), a French Jewish woman who escapes from the clutches of Nazi SS Standartenführer Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz) to become a cinema owner in Nazi-occupied Paris. It also tells the story of “the Basterds,” a group of U.S. soldiers led by Aldo the Apache (Brad Pitt), a lieutenant hellbent on scalping every Nazi he comes across. Eventually, these two stories, along with a third centered around Michael Fassbender and Diane Kruger, come together in explosive fashion, and you won’t want to miss it.
Stream “Inglourious Basterds” on Paramount Plus now
‘Ocean’s Eleven’ (2001)
Ocean’s Eleven (2001) Trailer #1 | Movieclips Classic Trailers – YouTube
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“Ocean’s Eleven” is still my favorite heist movie to this day. It features a deep ensemble cast that includes Matt Damon, Bernie Mac, Don Cheadle and Carl Reiner, but it all starts with just professional thief (and con-man) Danny Ocean (George Clooney), freshly released from prison and looking for his next score.
Danny already knows what he wants to do: rob three Las Vegas casinos owned by Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia). To do it, he needs a team, and he needs his former partner Rusty (Brad Pitt). He also needs Reuben (Elliott Gould), the one guy who hates Benedict more than anyone else and will pay good money to take him down.
Stream “Ocean’s Eleven” on Paramount Plus now
‘Shutter Island’
Shutter Island (2010) Trailer #1 | Movieclips Classic Trailers – YouTube
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At the end of this list, we’ll get to one of Martin Scorsese’s best movies, but let’s start here with what might be his most underrated film. “Shutter Island” stars Leonardo DiCaprio as U.S. Marshal Edward “Teddy” Daniels. He and his new partner, Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo), arrive at the Ashecliffe Hospital for the Criminally Insane on Shutter Island to investigate the disappearance of Rachel Solando (Emily Mortimer), a patient of the facility.
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Once they start their investigation, it’s clear things are not as they seem. Psychiatrists Drs. Cawley (Ben Kingsley) and Naehring (Max von Sydow) run the institution and are uncooperative with Teddy’s investigation. Further complicating things, it’s revealed that Dr. Lester Sheehan disappeared from the island right after Solando.
But that’s not the only twist to come. As the movie progresses, Teddy starts experiencing intense migraines and flashbacks, as well as vivid dreams of his wife, Dolores (Michelle Williams). But she’s long dead, killed in a fire set by arsonist Andrew Laeddis, who Teddy thinks is also on Shutter Island.
Stream “Shutter Island” on Paramount Plus now
The Fighter
The Fighter (2010) Trailer #1 | Movieclips Classic Trailers – YouTube
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“The Fighter” stars Mark Wahlberg as Micky Ward, a boxer from Lowell, Massachusetts. He’s a “stepping stone” boxer — the guy you beat to take your career to the next level and get better fights.
Now, Micky doesn’t want to be a stepping stone. But he’s managed by his mother, Alice (Melissa Leo), and trained by his brother Dicky (Christian Bale), and their dynamic is toxic. Alice arranges bad fights for Micky, and Dicky is a crack addict who can’t be relied on. As Micky develops a new relationship with local bartender Charlene (Amy Adams), he realises he needs to move his family out of his professional life if he wants a shot at being a champ.
“The Fighter” is an incredibly well-made movie, but it’s a must-watch for two reasons. First, Christian Bale gives an Oscar-winning performance that might be the best of his career. Second, the final climactic fight might be the best fight in a boxing movie, period. Stream it now and judge for yourself.
Stream “The Fighter” on Paramount Plus now
‘The Wolf of Wall Street’
The Wolf of Wall Street Official Trailer – YouTube
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As I hinted at earlier, this movie might be one of the best Martin Scorsese has ever made. It’s probably still “Goodfellas” (also freshly arrived on Paramount Plus), but I’d be lying if I said “The Wolf of Wall Street” wasn’t more fun to watch.
Like “Shutter Island,” this Scorsese movie stars Leonardo DiCaprio. Unlike the aforementioned psychological thriller, though, this black comedy is based on real events. It stars DiCaprio as notorious stockbroker Jordan Belfort, who, after losing his job and pushing penny stocks, starts his own firm: Stratton Oakmont. Unfortunately, his fortune is built on illegal pump and dump schemes, which ultimately gets him sent to a cushy minimum security prison.
“The Wolf of Wall Street” is incredible. It’s not considered one of the best movies of the 2010s by numerous critics and features what might be the best performance of DiCaprio’s career. It also features killer performances from Margo Robbie as Belfort’s wife and Jonah Hill as the drug-addled neurotic Donnie Azoff, though I think Hill’s best performance is probably still “Moneyball.” There’s a reason I also included it on a recent list of new movies and shows on Netflix to stream.
Stream “The Wolf of Wall Street” on Paramount Plus now
All recent arrivals on Paramount Plus
Here’s the full list of all 108 movies that were just added to Paramount Plus:
- “22 Jump Street”
- “A Christmas Blessing”
- “A Christmas Carol” (1984)
- “A Night At The Roxbury”
- “A Single Man”*
- “A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas”
- “Adam Sandler’s Eight Crazy Nights”
- “Addams Family Values” (1993)
- “American Hustle”
- “American Renegades”*
- “American Sniper”
- “Angel Falls Christmas”
- “Annihilation”
- “Batman” (1989)
- “Batman & Robin” (1997)
- “Batman Forever” (1995)
- “Batman Returns” (1992)
- “Beverly Hills Cop” (1984)
- “Beverly Hills Cop II” (1987)
- “Beverly Hills Cop III” (1994)
- “Boomerang”
- “Braveheart”
- “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” (2005)
- “Chicago”
- “Christmas Cupid”
- “Christmas on Windmill Way”
- “Coneheads”
- “Disturbia”
- “Django Unchained”
- “Downsizing”
- “Ella Enchanted”
- “Ernest Saves Christmas”
- “Extract”
- “Failure to Launch”
- “Fargo”
- “Father of the Bride” (1991)
- “Fences”
- “Footloose” (2011)
- “Forrest Gump”
- “From Dusk Till Dawn”
- “Get Him Back for Christmas”
- “Gone Baby Gone”
- “Goodfellas”
- “Head of State”
- “Hotel for Dogs”
- “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days”
- “Hustle & Flow”
- “I See You”
- “Ida Red”
- “Inglourious Basterds”
- “Interstellar”
- “Jungleland”
- “Miracle on 34th Street” (1947)
- “Miracle on 34th Street” (1994)
- “Monster Trucks”
- “Mr. Popper’s Penguins”
- “My Little Pony: The Movie”
- “No Country for Old Men”
- “Nobody’s Fool”*
- “Norbit”
- “Ocean’s Eleven” (2001)
- “Ocean’s Thirteen” (2007)
- “Ocean’s Twelve” (2004)
- “Once Upon a Christmas Wish”
- “Paddington”
- “Peanuts: Bon Voyage Charlie Brown (And Don’t Come Back)”
- “Pulp Fiction”
- “Raging Bull”
- “Rain Man”
- “Rounders”
- “Safe”
- “Save the Last Dance”
- “Scary Movie 2”
- “Selma”
- “Serendipity”
- “Shaft” (2000)
- “She’s the Man”
- “Shutter Island”
- “Smallfoot”
- “Snatch”
- “Something’s Gotta Give”
- “Southside With You”
- “Sunset Boulevard”
- “Taxi Driver”
- “The Addams Family” (1991)
- “The Angry Birds Movie”
- “The Aviator”
- “The Doors”
- “The Equalizer” (2014)
- “The Equalizer 2” (2018)
- “The Fighter”
- “The Hateful Eight”
- “The Hunt for Red October”
- “The Island”
- “The Italian Job” (2003)
- “The Last Airbender”
- “The Mexican”
- “The Natural”
- “The Ring” (2002)
- “The Romantics”
- “The Talented Mr. Ripley”
- “The Truman Show”
- “The Untouchables”
- “The Wolf of Wall Street”
- “This Christmas”
- “Tooth Fairy”
- “True Grit” (2010)
- “Virtuosity”
- “We Are Marshall”
* exclusive to Paramount Plus Premium subscribers
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