If you need a palate cleanser after all the usual Christmas-themed movies and end-of-year TV specials, our streaming picks could hit the spot.
Shelves burdened with tinsel, mounds of left-over turkey and multigenerational tussles over what to watch on TV can mean only one thing – it’s Christmas time! If you need some entertainment ideas this festive season, then read on for our picks on what to watch with Amazon Prime Video this December. Best of all, Vodafone Pay Monthly subscribers can add Amazon Prime Video to their plans for a low monthly fee.
Premier League football
Football fixtures after Christmas Day are as traditional as a long walk on Boxing Day and window shopping at the winter sales. Amazon Prime Video will have a gaggle of matches to watch from 28-30 December, including Leicester vs Liverpool and Everton vs Newcastle.
Clarkson’s Farm
Love him or loathe him, there’s no denying that Jeremy Clarkson is an engaging TV presenter who throws himself into his onscreen projects. Clarkson’s onscreen persona as an ignorant buffoon plays especially well here as he takes on the task of farming grain and lamb near his Oxfordshire home, only to discover that he’s bitten off far more than he can chew.
If nothing else, Clarkson’s Farm will help give you a renewed appreciation for the UK’s farmers just as we all gather round the table to feast this festive season.
The Big Short
Explaining the monetary manipulations that led to the seismic financial crisis of 2007-8 doesn’t sound like cinematic material. But The Big Short takes on this task and runs with it. Stuffed to the hilt with A-listers such as Christian Bale, Brad Pitt and Ryan Gosling, the film uses cracking dialogue – which sometimes breaks the fourth wall – to dramatise and explain the event that has shaped so much of the past two decades.
What We Do In The Shadows
If you’ve grown tired of the cinematic fad for vampires following films like The Twilight Saga, then this quirky comic gem from Taika Waititi will perk you right up. This cult flick follows an eccentric gaggle of ancient vampires who share a flat in modern day Wellington, New Zealand. The oddball weirdos not only have to contend with each other and the occasional bloodthirsty impulse, but the disorienting ways of 21st Century life.
If What We Do In The Shadows leaves you panting for more, the first season of a US-set TV version is also available on Amazon Prime Video for an extra fee.
Whiplash
Whiplash is both mesmerising and deeply uncomfortable to watch. This film chronicles the life of a drumming student striving to live up to the demands of his music teacher whose ruthlessly strict regimen quickly boils over into outright abuse.
The intense performances from Miles Teller and JK Simmons are accompanied by a jazz score that’s brimming with just as much energy and drama.
Superbad
For something more light-hearted, try Superbad. This cult comedy follows two misfit teenagers as they attempt to sneak into the party of their fevered testosterone-fuelled dreams. Superbad’s brand of zany vulgarity won’t be to everyone’s taste, but it’s as earnest about adolescent awkwardness as it is prolific with winking innuendos.
Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle
If your funny bone needs further tickling, try Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle. Six episodes of this stand-up comic’s routines, originally broadcast on BBC Two, are available to stream. Lee’s deadpan delivery, highbrow references and quiet fury combine to form comic sets that are highly distinctive. If you’re still hankering after more chuckles and guffaws, Amazon Prime Video has boxsets and specials from other stand-up comedians such as Dara Ó Briain, Ed Byrne and Al Murray.
The Notebook
There’s nothing special storywise about this romantic period melodrama, so much so that you’ll be able to spot the plot ‘twist’ coming from a mile away. But The Notebook still tugs at the all the right heart strings, helped along by winsome performances from Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams. If you’re not at least slightly teary-eyed by the time the end credits roll, you’re truly made of sterner stuff than we are.
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