Depending on when you come across this guide, happy holidays or happy Christmas to New Year limbo. Either way, it’s the perfect time of year to burrow as deep as you can into the sofa cushions and watch some movies. And to watch some of the best Christmas, and non-Christmas movies out there, you don't need to be subscribed to one of the best streaming services. It really is the season that keeps on giving.
Given the time of year, you’ll notice the first few movies on our lists are some of the best free streaming services soon, because who wants to watch a Christmas movie once the season is over anyway? So, catch them while you can. From Tubi, to Pluto TV to Plex, and more, these platforms are quickly establishing themselves as competitive in the already incredibly busy streaming landscape. And for this week, we’ve picked out five of the best free movies to watch, including one of the best Christmas movies ever.
Die Hard (Tubi - leaving soon)
Release date: July 1988
RT score: 94%
Length: 132 minutes
Director: John McTiernan
Main cast: Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Alexander Godunov, Bonnie Bedelia
You can’t really mention Die Hard, especially around Christmas, without getting into a heated debate about whether it should be considered a Christmas movie. Let’s save some time, yes it should be. It’s set during Christmas, John McClane (Bruce Willis) famously wears a Santa hat, and what can be considered more Christmassy than saving the woman you love from a terrorist attack in her office building? Okay, well for that last one there’s probably a lot more festive fun we can think of that doesn’t involve guns and rooftop brawls.
Either way, when McClane, a New York cop, turns up at his wife’s Christmas party in the now-iconic Nakatomi Plaza, he has to go back on duty real fast when the building is locked down by terrorists. It’s full of action and easy to watch, and at Christmas time, that’s a real win.
Scrooged (Pluto TV - leaving soon)
Release date: November 1988
RT score: 71%
Length: 101 minutes
Director: Richard Donner
Main cast: Bill Murray, Karen Allen, John Forsythe, Bobcat Goldthwait
With mere days left on the platform, it wouldn’t be Christmas without watching at least one adaptation of Charles Dickens’ famed, A Christmas Carol. And, the best one out there in our opinion, is Scrooged. Frank Cross (Bill Murray) is a truly terrible boss, reigning over the live Christmas coverage of the television company he runs. But, his spirit is anything but festive.
In true Christmas Carol fashion, Frank is visited by three ghosts who want to teach him how to be a better man and bring joy to his employees, rather than evoke fear. It’s not a kid-friendly Christmas movie with adult jokes and the creepy Ghost of Christmas Future if you're hoping to settle down with all the family, but nonetheless, Murray is fantastically cast and his final speech will leave you feeling all warm and fuzzy inside.
Planes, Trains and Automobiles (Pluto TV - leaving soon)
Release date: November 1987
RT score: 93%
Length: 93 minutes
Director: John Hughes
Main cast: Steve Martin, John Candy, Laila Robins, Michael McKean
Our next suggestion of the best free movies to stream is another not-quite-a-Christmas movie. In fact, Planes, Trains and Automobiles is widely considered a Thanksgiving movie. Either way, a string of travelling mishaps leaves both Neal Page (Steve Martin) and Del Griffith (John Candy) unsure whether they’ll reach their homes in time for their turkey feast. But, they have very different ways of handling the situation. As they pair up to give it their best shot, they teach each other a thing or two about dealing with a tricky circumstances.
Martin plays Neal, an uptight businessman and Candy becomes Del, a relentlessly chirpy salesman, and the pair bring whimsy and wit to their respective roles. Plus, director John Hughes, aka the man of the 80s movie landscape turned his hand to this title after bringing out The Breakfast Club, Ferrari Bueller’s Day Off, and Sixteen Candles.
Donnie Darko (Plex, Kanopy, Tubi, Pluto TV)
![Donnie Darko - TRAILER (2001) [HD] - YouTube](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ZZyBaFYFySk/maxresdefault.jpg)
Release date: October 2001
RT score: 87%
Length: 113 minutes
Director: Richard Kelly
Main cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, Drew Barrymore, Patrick Swayze
Stepping away from Christmas, if you consider the time between now and the end of the year as a perfect opportunity to descend into a psychological abyss, then this one’s for you. Donnie Darko is one of Jake Gyllenhaal’s most prolific roles and an unlikely leap into the sci-fi genre for the actor.
After Donnie suffers an accident, he finds himself accosted by a new friend, a bunny named Frank. Unfortunately, Frank comes bearing bad news in the form of the world’s impending doom. As the complex story unfolds, the troubled teenager is somehow influenced into criminal acts. This famed sci-fi flick questions morality, explores mental health, and in a truly sci-fi spectacle, there’s even time travel.
Interstellar (Pluto TV - leaving soon)
Release date: November 2014
RT score: 73%
Length: 169 minutes
Director: Christopher Nolan
Main cast: Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Michael Caine
There’s only around a week left to catch this epic space adventure crafted by the genius mind of Christopher Nolan (Inception, Tenet). Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) is tasked with leading a group of astronauts on an intrepid mission to find humanity a new home. In a future where Earth is now uninhabitable, it’s mankind’s only hope, but the search for a new planet sends the team down a wormhole and deep into the unknown.
It’s visually breathtaking and in its near three-hour runtime, it captivates across time and space. Even a decade on, its complex themes are deciphered in a multitude of ways and if you’re new or returning to the movie, no doubt you’ll still be left with profound questions about the events that unfolded. It’s arguably the best Christopher Nolan movie in the 12 that we ranked, and we continue to stand by that statement.
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