Netflix Is Revisiting One Of The Craziest Best Picture Races Ever With December Releases

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Next month, Netflix will add a variety of titles, including popular family movies and critically acclaimed Oscar winners. Plus, all of Netflix’s original films from this year that qualified for awards will be available to stream by the end of the year, after a short run in select theaters.

Netflix is adding some classic films this December! You can already find titles like Train Dreams, A House of Dynamite, and Frankenstein, and Jay Kelly and Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery are on their way. These additions will bring a lot of important movies to the platform, though it’s unclear how long they’ll be available.

According to What’s on Netflix, Pulp Fiction will be available to stream on Netflix starting December 1st, and Forrest Gump will be added on December 4th. Both of these classic films were released in 1994, making them rivals during awards season. Forrest Gump ultimately won the Best Picture Oscar, beating out Pulp Fiction and The Shawshank Redemption.

Movie lovers, particularly those too young to remember, often romanticize the fall of 1994. That October saw the release of iconic films like Pulp Fiction and The Shawshank Redemption, while Forrest Gump was still playing in theaters after its summer debut. Plus, blockbusters like The Lion King and Jurassic Park from the previous year were still popular, creating an unusually rich cinematic landscape.

The simultaneous release of these films created a Best Picture contest that people still discuss today. While all three were epic in scope and technically impressive, Forrest Gump likely won because it was the most uplifting and featured a career-defining performance by Tom Hanks.

After achieving success with 1992’s Reservoir Dogs, Quentin Tarantino released Pulp Fiction, a groundbreaking gangster film that solidified his reputation as a director. The movie features memorable performances from Samuel L. Jackson, John Travolta, Uma Thurman, and a talented ensemble cast, all delivering Tarantino’s signature clever and engaging dialogue in uniquely satisfying scenes, ultimately exploring themes of subtle redemption.

As a film lover, I’ve always been struck by how Forrest Gump cleverly uses the life of a genuinely good person to let us experience key moments in American history. Speaking of great films, The Shawshank Redemption isn’t on Netflix, and it doesn’t look like it will be anytime soon. But if you can find it – along with Forrest Gump and The Shawshank Redemption – it really makes you think. Watching all three, I found myself wondering: if I’d been a voter in that pivotal election year, which candidate would I have chosen?

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2025-11-28 18:39