Netflix Update: What's Leaving Us in January 2015

In which I report on the upcoming changes to Netflix.

Along with a new year comes a new crop of movies on Netflix.  And while it is varyingly hard or easy to see some films go, this month's outgoing streaming options are a bit more of a mixed bag.  For every Batman, there's a Brady Bunch movie.  For every movie that I own on DVD (like 12 Angry Men), there's another that I don't (like The Grapes of Wrath).  When all is said and done, I'll survive this particular changing of the guard.

And although there is precious little time left to make good on watching these films, one that I am going to try to make time for is The Grapes of Wrath: the 1940 classic set in the Great Depression's iconic Dust Bowl.  Well regarded among the cinematic elite and well remembered by the well-viewed lay person, it's one that's perplexingly escaped me until now.  And what better way is there to ring in the new year than by taking in an exceptional film?

Beyond that, however, there are a few films (and shows) in particular that I will be sorry to see go.  Batman is an obvious choice, between its surreal set design and iconic pro and antagonists.  Despite its troublingly racist undertones, Big Trouble in Little China was as incredibly fun of a movie as Beverly Hills Cop and Gladiator, both of which are also getting the axe.  Braveheart was one that I would have loved to show to Becky (who, oddly enough, has never seen it), although we'll have to track down a copy elsewhere.  Those who have been around for a while will also remember how much fun I had watching Carrie.  Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Stargate and all four seasons of Transformers - even Michael Bay's Bad Boys - will be sad things to see leave.

So which films will you be saddest to see leave at the end of the year?  What are you planning on sneaking in just under the wire?  Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section.  The full list of outgoing films are listed below.

12 Angry Men (1957)
A Mighty Heart (2007)
A River Runs Through It (1992)
Backdraft (1991)
Bad Boys (1995)
Batman (1989)
Beethoven (1992)
Beethoven's 2nd (1993)
Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
Big Trouble in Little China (1986)
Boyz n the Hood (1991)
Braveheart (1995)
Can't Buy Me Love (1987)
Carrie (1976)
D3: The Mighty Ducks (1996)
Duck Soup (1933)
Far and Away (1992)
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero; Seasons 1-2 (1983­ and 1986)
Girls Just Want to Have Fun (1985)
Gladiator (2000)
Good Burger (1997)
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)
Happy Gilmore (1996)
Hitch (2005)
Hotel Rwanda (2004)
Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959)
Kiss the Girls (1997)
Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
Love Actually (2003)
Manhattan (1979)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
My Girl (1991)
My Girl 2 (1994)
Red Dawn (1984)
Rocky I­V (1985)
Roman Holiday (1953)
Saved! (2004)
Scary Movie 2 (2001)
Spaceballs (1987)
Stargate (1994)
Taylor Swift: Journey to Fearless (2010)
The Bad News Bears Go to Japan! (1978)
The Brady Bunch Movie (1995)
The Breakfast Club (1985)
The Chronicles of Riddick (2004)
The Company Men (2010)
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
The Longest Yard (1974)
The Mighty Ducks (1992)
The Original Kings of Comedy (2000)
The Parent Trap (1998)
The Phantom of the Opera (1989)
The Usual Suspects (1995)
The Wedding Planner (2001)
Titanic (1997)
Tombstone (1993)
Transformers: Generation 1; Seasons 1­-4 (1984­-1987)
Turner and Hooch (1989)
You've Got Mail (1998)

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