They say the only two certainties in life are death and taxes. Well, certainly these days, you can add “and an ever-updating list of movies available on Netflix” to that age-old piece of wisdom. April sees a whole bunch of great films leave the service including Leon: The Professional, Pride and Prejudice, Let the Right One In and Half Baked (it’s last day is, of course, 4/20). If you binge The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’s second season, though, you’ll still have plenty of time to watch all the new stuff on offer.
Leaving: Nine to Five (Leaving 4/1/2016) | Arriving: Best in Show (Arriving 4/1/2016)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeifMjqpsg0
From one comedy classic famed for its wonderful acting ensemble to another. It will be sad to see the iconic 1980 feminist workplace comedy Nine to Five (with the greatest theme song in all the land) leave instant-watch. It’s proven, time and time again, to be a hilarious and — still, 36 years later — biting piece of social commentary, led by that wonderful trio of Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, and Dolly Parton. Alas, if it has to go, then why not replace it with Best in Show, a riotous film by Christopher Guest set among the intense world of competitive dog shows. Heavily improvised and with stand-out performances by Parker Posey, Jane Lynch and Jennifer Coolidge among many others. Bust a gut at Best in Show.
Leaving: Space Dogs (Leaving 4/3/2016) | Arriving: The Right Stuff (Arriving 4/1/2016)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElzIPn1pXWE
As sad as I’m sure we all are to see Space Dogs leave the air, let us use this as a time to remember that The Right Stuff is one of the best movies ever made. Granted, the small television screen – and worse, the even-smaller laptop screen – is not the ideal place to view this 1983 film. We’ll have to make due, though, since not that many places are going to be playing Philip Kaufman’s space epic (which won four Academy Awards), least of all not on 70mm — which is how I saw it several years ago and which remains one of the great cinematic experiences of my life. If you’re unlikely to ever get the chance to see it on a big screen (so, basically, if you don’t live in NYC), then this will have to do. It’s such a great film that you will no doubt get swept up in it anyway.
Leaving: House of Wax (Leaving 4/1/2016) | Arriving: Hush (Arriving 4/8/2016)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_P8WCbhC6s
Released to a flurry of negativity because of the casting of Paris Hilton – it’s okay, she dies a pretty gruesome death thanks to a very large pole (make of that what you will) – this remake of the famed 1950s film of the same name, which starred Vincent Price, is actually not that bad. It’s worth watching for the production design alone, which is suitably impressive long before it literally starts to melt around the actors. Arriving in its place is Hush, which comes to Netflix from the Blumhouse production house. Much like Mockingbird – another great horror flick that the producers didn’t know what to do with and so got dumped on Netflix – it’s getting its first screening to the world on the home platform. Fine by us since it looks to be a well-done exercise in fright that is also getting better reviews than most wide-release horror titles in recent times.
Leaving: On the Town (Leaving 4/2/2016) | Arriving: Begin Again (Arriving 4/1/2016)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTRCxOE7Xzc
A whole swag of Frank Sinatra musicals are departing Netflix on April the 2nd including On the Town, Anchors Aweigh (that’s the one with the Tom and Jerry musical number), Pal Joey and High Society. The only musical to take their place is Begin Again, a charming 2014 romance starring Keira Knightley and Mark Ruffalo as singer and protégé attempting to record an album on the streets of New York City. One of the songs, “Lost Stars,” performed in the movie by Knightley and co-star Adam Levine (yes, the one from Maroon 5), was Oscar-nominated and the film itself is a pleasant delight (if someone derivative of Irish hit Once). Still worth checking out, though.
Leaving: Bill Cunningham New York (Leaving 4/15/2016) | Arriving: Jeremy Scott: The People’s Designer (Arriving 4/1/2016)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6XQewqZkxc
Nothing can quite top the delightful glee that comes from spending 84 minutes in the company of The New York Times fashion photographer Bill Cunningham in Richard Press’ acclaimed and award-winning documentary. Top-shelf fashion designer Jeremy Scott gives that wonderful 87-year-old a run for his money, though. Jeremy Scott: The People’s Designer is a documentary about his rise from Missouri farm boy to celebrated creative director of Moschino and famed designer who frequently links arms with the biggest celebrities in the world on red carpets and runways. Fans of fashion shouldn’t miss, either.
Leaving: Starship Troopers (Leaving 4/1/2016) | Arriving: The Running Man (Arriving 4/1/2016)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ceegnWSENQ
Without a doubt, Paul Verhoeven’s Starship Troopers is one of the greatest action films of the last few decades. Thankfully in the years since its release, the genius of its satire has finally been accepted by the world who thought it was little more than a bunch of lunkheads in space shooting giant bugs. While not as deep in its critical aims, The Running Man certainly has its fair share of social messages to impart, and did the televised blood-sport thing long before Battle Royale and The Hunger Games.
Here’s the entire list of movies leaving Netflix in April:
Leaving 04/01/2016
- 101 Dalmatians (1996)
- 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)
- Along Came a Spider (2001)
- Along Came Polly (2004)
- Amistad (1997)
- Bad Johnson (2014)
- Bandslam (2009)
- Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basic Collection
- Berkeley in the Sixties (1990)
- The Butcher’s Wife (1991)
- Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle (2003)
- Chuck’s Eat the Street Collection
- Craigslist Joe (2012)
- Dear Genevieve Collection (2011)
- Eureka Season 4
- Flashdance (1983)
- Hook (1991)
- Hotel Rwanda (2004)
- House of Wax (2005)
- I’ll Be Home for Christmas (1989)
- The Inexplicable Universe with Neil deGrasse Tyson (2013)
- M*A*S*H Seasons 1-11
- Nanny McPhee (2005)
- Naked Gun 2 1/2 (1991)
- Nine to Five, aka 9 to 5 (1980)
- Pride & Prejudice (2005)
- Remember Me (2010)
- Rock Star (2001)
- The Rundown (2003)
- Smokin Aces 2: Assassins’ Ball (2010)
- Something New (2006)
- Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)
- Starship Troopers (1997)
- The Tale of Despereaux (2008)
- Throwdown with Bobby Flay
- Vanilla Ice Goes Amish
- The Vanilla Ice Project
- The Wedding Date (2005)
- The Whole Ten Yards
Leaving 4/2/2016
- Anchors Aweigh (1945)
- Around the World in 80 Days (1956)
- The Devil at 4 o’clock (1961)
- High Society (1956)
- On the Town (1949)
- Pal Joey (1957)
- Some Came Running (1958)
- Take Me Out to the Ball Game (1949)
Leaving 4/3/2016
- Short Poppies, season 1
- Space Dogs (2010)
Leaving 4/6/2016
- Passion of the Christ (2004)
Leaving 4/10/2016
- Let the Right One In (2008)
Leaving 4/15/2016
- All American Christmas Carol (2013)
- Bill Cunningham New York (2010)
- New York, I Love You (2008)
Leaving 4/16/2016
- Mr. Bean’s Holiday (2007)
Leaving 4/17/2016
- Lord of War (2005)
Leaving 4/20/2016
- Half Baked (1998)
Leaving 4/30/2016
- Sordid Lives (2000)
Here’s the entire list of movies arriving on Netflix in March:
Available 4/1/2016
- 16 Blocks (2006)
- 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
- A Clockwork Orange (1971)
- Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, season 5
- The Ascent of Woman: A 10,000 Year Story
- Beat Bobby Flay, season 1
- Best in Show (2000)
- Bob’s Burgers, season 5
- Boogie Nights (1997)
- Breathe (2014)
- Chaplin (1992)
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
- Codegirl (2015)
- Colegas (2012)
- Cujo (1983)
- Cutthroat Kitchen, seasons 3-4
- Deep Impact (1998)
- Dennis Rodman’s Big Bang in Pyongyang (2015)
- Dolphin Tale (2011)
- Erin Brockovich (2000)
- Explorers (1985)
- Fixer Upper, season 2
- Frank and Cindy (2015)
- Giada at Home, season 7
- The Great Food Truck Race, seasons 1-2
- House Hunters Collection: Collection 3
- House Hunters International Collection, collection 3
- House Hunters International Renovation, season 1
- Jeremy Scott: The People’s Designer (2015)
- Kids Baking Championship, season 1
- Looking for Richard (1996)
- Lost & Found Music Studios, season 1
- Love It or List It, Too, season 4
- The Mask You Live In (2015)
- Morituri (1965)
- My Girl (1991)
- Mystic River (2003)
- The Next Best Thing (2000)
- The Perfect Storm (2000)
- The Phantom (1996)
- The Princess Bride (1987)
- Property Brothers at Home, season 1
- The Ranch, part 1
- Rev Run’s Sunday Suppers (2014)
- The Right Stuff (1983)
- Rising Sun (1993)
- The Running Man (1987)
- Say It Isn’t So (2001)
- The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
- Scrooged (1988)
- Something’s Gotta Give (2003)
- Sunset Boulevard (1950)
- Transporter 3 (2008)
- Uncommon Valor (1983)
- Under the Same Moon (2007)
- V for Vendetta (2005)
Available 4/5/2016
- Walt Before Mickey (2015)
Available 4/8/2016
- God’s Pocket (2014)
- Hush (2016)
Available 4/9/2016
- Look Who’s Back (2015)
Available 4/10/2016
- Girl Meets World, season 2
Available 4/11/2016
- Turn: Washington’s Spies, season 2
Available 4/12/2016
- Ajin, season 1
Available 4/14/2016
- Moonwalkers (2015)
- Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine (2015)
Available 4/15/2016
- Belgica (2016)
- Cuckoo, season 3
- Kong: King of the Apes (Film & Series)
- Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, season 2
Available 4/16/2016
- How to Get Away with Murder, season 2
Available 4/17/2016
- Lost Girl, season 5
- Messengers, season 1
Available 4/22/2016
- Catching the Sun (2015)
- Patton Oswalt: Talking for Clapping (2016)
Available 4/24/2016
- Minions (2015)
Available 4/27/2016
- Begin Again (2014)
- The Fosters, season 3
Available 4/29/2016
- Danger Mouse, season 1
- Hellion (2014)
- Special Correspondents (2016)
- Team Foxcatcher (2016)
Available 4/30/2016
- Sensitive Skin, season 2