Watching is The New York Times’s TV and film recommendation website. Sign up for our thrice-weekly newsletter here.Every month, subscription streaming services add a new batch of movies and TV shows to their libraries. Here are the titles we think are most interesting for December, broken down by service and release date. Streaming services occasionally change schedules without giving notice.New to NetflixEminem (Jimmy Smith Jr., called Rabbit) in “8 Mile.”Eli Reed/Universal Studios‘8 Mile’Starts streaming: Dec. 1Everything from the ’90s is cool again. Apparently. That includes the rapper Eminem, who’s back on the airwaves with a new single. His Oscar-winning movie from 2002 is back, too, available to stream on Netflix. Loosely based on Eminem’s origin story, “8 Mile” was his “Purple Rain” for the early 2000s: Like that ’80s film starring Prince, this semi-autobiographical movie played in theaters around the world and won an Academy Award for its chart-topping original music (in Eminem’s case, for the song “Lose Yourself”). Pretty cool for a guy who rapped about his mom’s spaghetti.—Will Smith, left, and Kevin James in “Hitch.”Barry Wetcher/Columbia Pictures‘Hitch’Starts streaming: Dec. 1“Hitch” is probably the funniest movie I’ve seen featuring Kevin James. And he’s not even the star. That would be Will Smith, who was riding high at the time this was made with hit after hit after … we don’t need to talk about “Wild Wild West.” In “Hitch” (2005), Smith plays an impossibly charming if slightly annoying pickup artist, who teaches men to woo women. His relationship with a journalist complicates things for one of his most challenging clients (James). It’s like a time capsule from the days before dating apps.—Hugo Weaving as V in “V for Vendetta.”David Appleby/Warner Bros. Pictures‘V for Vendetta’ Starts streaming: Dec. 1 Couldn’t Netflix have secured this movie in time for the Fiftth of November? If you’d ever wondered over the past decade or so why so many people wear goateed Guy Fawkes masks for Halloween (or for computer hacking), this is one reason why. Hugo Weaving stars in this dystopian tale as a masked avenger fighting against an Orwellian British government. “Vendetta” is one of the better gritty superhero movies released before the current Marvel/D.C. wave. Supporting actors John Hurt, Stephen Fry and Stephen Rea are all very good, and Natalie Portman does her best with an English accent. —Emily Blunt in “The Young Victoria.”Liam Daniel/Apparition Films‘The Young Victoria’Starts streaming: Dec. 1I had no idea people were still so obsessed with the British royal family until I woke up to find my newsfeed had exploded over Prince Harry’s engagement. Well, since you’re so interested, check out this period costume drama, one of the many about Harry’s great-great-great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria. Emily Blunt gives an exquisite performance as Victoria in her early years, before the queen went into mourning and killed everyone’s buzz.—Chris Pratt in “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.”Marvel Studios/Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’Starts streaming: Dec. 5I’m not the biggest fan of Marvel’s merry band of space misfits, but I can’t deny that this sequel delivers plenty of fan service. There are cute baby Groot (Vin Diesel) moments, comedic Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) scenes and a handful of fight sequences for Gamora (Zoe Saldana) to show off her battle skills. But this movie let me down in how it misused Kurt Russell. Too many daddy issues, not enough of Russell being an interstellar Lothario.—0Also of interest: “Easy” Season 2 (Dec. 1), “Full Metal Jacket” (Dec. 1), “The Magicians” Season 2 (Dec. 11), “Halt and Catch Fire” Season 4 (Dec. 14), “Peaky Blinders” Season 4 (Dec. 21) and “Planet Earth II” (Dec. 25).—Netflix Original TV SeriesLouis Hofmann in “Dark.”Julia Terjung/Netflix‘Dark’ Season 1 Starts streaming: Dec. 1This German-language TV production, Netflix’s first, is a twisty criminal procedural crossed with a sensitive domestic melodrama, exploring how a missing-persons case exposes the long-held secrets of four families — and their small town’s troubled history. Created by Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese (who together made the acclaimed big-screen cyber thriller “Who Am I”), this series promises to be as moody and spooky as it is shocking.—Claire Foy in “The Crown.”Alex Bailey/Netflix‘The Crown’ Season 2 Starts streaming: Dec. 8A recent surge of interest in all things royal should provide a boost to this pricey prestige bio-drama from Netflix. After a first season that covered Queen Elizabeth II’s ascension to the throne and the last days of her governing partnership with Winston Churchill, “The Crown” returns with 10 more episodes, stretching from the mid-1950s to the mid-60s. Claire Foy is back as the Queen, striving to hold her empire together in an era when youthful revolution and anticolonial fervor hung heavy in the air.—Jim Lake (voiced by Anton Yelchin) in Season 2 of “Trollhunters.”Netflix‘Trollhunters’ Part 2Starts streaming: Dec. 15Before he died last year, the actor Anton Yelchin recorded enough material for this animated fantasy series that his voice work as its monster-fighting protagonist, Jim Lake, will still be heard in Season 2. Created by Guillermo del Toro, the series is an adaptation of del Toro’s own young adult novel (written with Daniel Kraus) about a human who allies himself with good trolls against evil trolls, investigating the truth about a supernatural conflict that’s been waged underground for generations.—Peter Sarsgaard in “Wormwood.”Zach Dilgard/Netflix‘Wormwood’ Starts streaming: Dec. 15The award-winning documentarian Errol Morris tries something new with this six-part, four-hour docuseries, casting the accomplished actors Peter Sarsgaard, Bob Balaban and Molly Parker for extensive re-enactments of anecdotes taken from its central interview. The series is a deep dive into the personal experiences and wild conspiracy theories of a man who’s spent the past 60 years trying to find out who killed his C.I.A.-affiliated father. Morris and Netflix are already positioning “Wormwood” for an Oscar run, making this a major event for both television and cinema.—Netflix Original FilmsMerab Ninidze and Ia Shugliashvili in “My Happy Family.”Netflix‘My Happy Family’ Starts streaming: Dec. 1Don’t make a “Best Movies of 2017” list without first checking out this rich Georgian drama, which drew raves at the Sundance and Berlin film festivals at the start of the year. Ia Shughliashvili stars as an exhausted middle-aged wife and mother who one day decides to move out of her family’s cramped, noisy apartment and try living alone for a while — despite the scandal it causes in her conservative community. “My Happy Family” is a well-observed salute to the courage it takes to pursue a path that nurtures the soul, regardless of whom that offends.—Gerald Foos, left, and Gay Talese in the documentary “Voyeur.”Cris Moris/Neflix‘Voyeur’ Starts streaming: Dec. 1The venerable journalist Gay Talese has generated a lot of controversy over the past few years, including when his book “The Voyeur’s Motel” was said by critics to contain factual inaccuracies and sympathy for its subject: a motel-owner who claimed he illegally videotaped his guests. This documentary by Myles Kane and Josh Koury revisits the original story and its aftermath, in a layered consideration of how in-depth reporting can sometimes border on the perverse.—Will Smith, top, and Joel Edgerton in “Bright.”Matt Kennedy/Netflix‘Bright’ Starts streaming: Dec. 22David Ayer, who wrote and directed “Suicide Squad,” and Max Landis, who wrote “American Ultra,” collaborate on this, Netflix’s biggest attempt yet at a blockbuster movie, which stars Will Smith as a gruff cop whose new partner is an Orc. Yes, an Orc — the folkloric beastie popularized in “The Lord of the Rings.” Joel Edgerton plays the well-meaning monster in a star-studded production that mixes a tough urban crime story with wild fantasy.—New to AmazonGizmo in “Gremlins 2: The New Batch.”Warner Bros.‘Gremlins 2: The New Batch’Starts streaming: Dec. 1Joe Dante’s follow-up to his 1984 horror movie, “Gremlins,” reunites that film’s heroes (Zach Galligan and Phoebe Cates) with their fluffy high-maintenance pet, Gizmo. As strange as he looks (like a Furby with limbs), at least he’s not one of the bigger, meaner, greener gremlins, who in this outing act more like Looney Tunes than killer monsters. They dress up in ridiculous costumes and terrorize everyone in a TV-network high rise.—Cher and Nicolas Cage in “Moonstruck.”MGM‘Moonstruck’Starts streaming: Dec. 1If you don’t mind a little schmaltz in your romantic drama (and why would you?), “Moonstruck” is a delight. Cher plays a gorgeous widow on the way to marrying a new man when she falls in love with the guy’s one-handed brother (Nicolas Cage). I loved Cher in “Silkwood,” and she’s wonderful to watch in this performance, for which she won an Oscar.—Adam Driver, left, and Andrew Garfield in “Silence.”Kerry Brown/Paramount Pictures‘Silence’Starts streaming: Dec. 1It saddens me that so few people saw Martin Scorsese’s most recent film. In fairness, “Silence” was released during the holiday season, and it wasn’t really the kind of movie you could take the whole family to. Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver play two 17th-century Jesuit priests in search of a lost mentor in Japan, where Western evangelists are not welcome. The movie is a slow burning, soul-searching meditation on faith, religion and forgiveness.—Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in “Titantic.”Paramount Pictures — 20th Century Fox‘Titanic’Starts streaming: Dec. 1Some time ago, a friend joked that James Cameron doesn’t know how to use pronouns in his scripts. Since then, I haven’t watched this movie without noticing Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet saying their characters’ lovers’ names way too often to sound natural. Jack! Rose! Jack! Rose!—Carmen Ejogo and Kelvin Harrison Jr. in “It Comes at Night.”Eric McNatt/A24‘It Comes at Night’Starts streaming: Dec. 9Some critics say that this horror movie from this summer is too slow or too predictable, but “It Comes at Night” kept me in suspense until the very end. That could also stem from the fact that I’m terribly afraid of any story involving a remote cabin in the woods. Here, that cabin is meant to be a refuge against a deadly viral menace. Later, it turns into a trap, pitting one family against another in a desperate standoff for survival.—Jake Gyllenhaal in “Nightcrawler.”Chuck Zlotnick/Open Road Films‘Nightcrawler’Starts streaming: Dec. 10Jake Gyllenhaal plays a freelance videographer who becomes obsessed with finding the next big story for the “if it bleeds, it leads” market. Like “Network” and “Ace in the Hole,” “Nightcrawler” casts a cynical eye on the media and its obsession with sensational crime stories. The movie’s main character is practically a sociopath. Are we just as unhinged as that guy for wanting to watch those kinds of stories?—Also of Interest (all from Dec. 1): “Apocalypse Now,” “Rocky” and “The Silence of the Lambs.”—New to HuluThe Headless Horseman in “The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad.”Walt Disney Productions‘The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad’Starts streaming: Dec. 1In this 1949 movie, Disney combined two stories — “The Wind in the Willows” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” — into one colorful animated movie. Today, “The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad” is perhaps best known for one of the scariest versions of the Headless Horseman and for inspiring the Disneyland ride, “Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride.”—Meryl Streep in “The French Lieutenant’s Woman.”United Artists‘The French Lieutenant’s Woman’Starts streaming: Dec. 1No Meryl Streep retrospective would be complete without this passionate romantic drama. There are two love stories that play out in this movie, each heartbreaking in its own way. In one, Streep plays an actress carrying on an on-set affair with her co-star (a young and dashing Jeremy Irons). The other story line is the movie within this movie. In that version, Irons is a gentleman from polite society who becomes enamored with Streep’s ostracized “fallen woman.” —Isabelle Huppert and Kris Kristofferson in “Heaven’s Gate.”MGM‘Heaven’s Gate’Starts streaming: Dec. 1Don’t let this movie’s infamous reputation as a box-office flop scare you away. At over three hours long with goodness knows how many extras, this epic western from Michael Cimino, about rich cattle barons who subvert the law and terrorize poor immigrants, was made on a scale that’s rarely seen today. In the middle of all this frontier madness is an emotional love story between an ambitious sheriff (Kris Kristofferson), a local madam (Isabelle Huppert) and a violent mercenary (Christopher Walken) who’s desperate for the madam’s attention. —Brandon Lee in “The Crow.”Miramax Films‘The Crow’Starts streaming: Dec. 15This dark and brooding comic-book adaptation may have been a small footnote in the history of superhero movies were it not for the on-set accident that killed its star, Brandon Lee. Which is only more affecting in light of the movie’s story, about a murdered rock musician who returns from the dead for revenge. If you’re curious to learn more about the dual tragedies in the Lee family (Brandon’s father, Bruce Lee, also died young), the film critic Karina Longworth has an excellent podcast episode for you.—Meg Ryan and Hugh Jackman in ”Kate and Leopold.”Miramax Films‘Kate and Leopold’Starts streaming: Dec. 15I don’t care if this makes you lose respect for me. I love cheesy rom-com fantasies that feature tailcoats. There aren’t nearly enough movies that pair single people from different eras through a rip through the space-time continuum. And there’s something to be said for the way endless cable reruns force you to fall in love with these movies whether they’re actually very good or not, like a cinematic version of Stockholm syndrome.—Also of interest (from Dec. 1 unless stated): “Apocalypse Now,” “Chicago,” “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” “Evita,” “Mississippi Burning,” “Moonstruck,” “One from the Heart,” “RoboCop,” “Rocky,” “Searching for Sugar Man,” “Serpico,” “Silence,” “The Silence of the Lambs,” “Space Jam,” “Total Recall,” “Superbad,” (Dec. 4), “Legion” Season 1 (Dec. 8), “Younger” Season 4 (Dec. 12) and “Bunheads” Season 1 (Dec. 14).—New to HBOJon Voight, left, and Dustin Hoffman in “Midnight Cowboy.”United Artists‘Midnight Cowboy’Starts streaming: Dec. 1It’s the movie that gave us something to yell at New York City cabs. (“I’m walking here!”) It’s also a tragic, cynical look at hard-knock city life from the perspective of a naïve Texan (Jon Voight) who thinks he hustle New York City as a prostitute. Instead, the city ends up hustling him out of his money. On the bright side, he befriends a guy who calls himself Ratso (Dustin Hoffman).—Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson in “Something’s Gotta Give.”Bob Marshak/Columbia Pictures‘Something’s Gotta Give’Starts streaming: Dec. 1This movie is about a love triangle of sorts between a flustered playwright (Diane Keaton), her daughter (Amanda Peet) and her daughter’s cradle-robbing boyfriend (Jack Nicholson), who begins to fall in love with his more age-appropriate counterpart. While Nancy Meyers deserves credit for this lovable script with flawed characters, the real M.V.P. is Diane Keaton, whose earnest performance is on par with (if not better than) her role in “Annie Hall.” —Hugh Jackman as the title character (a.k.a. the Wolverine) in “Logan.”Ben Rothstein/20th Century Fox‘Logan’Starts streaming: Dec. 9This wasn’t the Wolverine movie I was expecting. I came prepared to watch another terrible X-Men spinoff starring an increasingly muscular Hugh Jackman. Those earlier sequels have all been forgettable, but this one had a far better story and style. “Logan” mixes cartoonishly grotesque violence, a story about heroic sacrifice and a subplot about undocumented mutants for a movie that’s very different from the average superhero release. Another welcome change is the overhaul of Jackman’s character from a broody, beclawed jerk with an attitude to the grizzled, reluctant caretaker of Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and Laura, a young mutant cloned from Logan’s D.N.A. (the scene-stealing Dafne Keen).—Also of interest (all from Dec. 1): “All the President’s Men,” “The Cotton Club,” “The Exorcist,” “Hoosiers” and “The War of the Roses.” —Noel Murray contributed reporting.
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