Netflix Update: What's New in November

In which I report on the upcoming changes to Netflix.

Since we have already gone over what Netflix removed from their streaming options this month, I thought that it was worth mentioning what they have added for our viewing pleasure.  Sadly, what's being added on this month hardly seem to make up for what's leaving: For a Few Dollars More, The Good the Bad and the Ugly, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Apocalypse Now making way for Adams Family Values, Road Trip: Beer Pong and Scream 4.  The times they are a-changin'.

But maybe I'm giving Netflix a harder time than they really deserve here.  Good movies are actually on the horizon, notably Braveheart, Airplane and Cleopatra.  Edge of Tomorrow, a Tom Cruise sci-fi action vehicle that came out earlier this year, is one that I definitely plan on tuning in for while it's available.  For those who didn't check out 22 Jump Street, the sequel to 2012's 21 Jump Street, when it was in theaters this summer could do far worse than watching the meta-humor driven action comedy film.  The Giver, Earth to Echo and even Expendables 3 are all recent films that I missed during its theatrical run that looks like they could warrant attention in the months to come.

There's Star Trek VI for fans of that franchise, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back for Kevin Smith fans and Yu-Gi-Oh for anime fans (although I imagine that that show's appeal is based on nostalgia, rather than quality).  Horror fans will be strangely treated to some post-Halloween terror with Scream 4 and Bram Stoker's Dracula.  And those already looking ahead to the Christmas season have a broad selection of holiday-themed films to choose from, although I think that I will opt to pass on Merry Friggin' Christmas, which as a posthumous Robin Williams comedy seems like it would be more depressing than funny.

The full list of added films (along with when exactly they're being added) is listed below.  Which films are you most looking forward to seeing?  Are you pleased or disappointed with the new additions overall?  Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Nov. 1

Addams Family Values  

Airplane! 

The Blind Swordman: Zataoichi  

Bram Stoker’s Dracula  

Braveheart  

Breakheart Pass 

Cleopatra  

Cold Storage  

The Core  

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels 

Fatal Attraction  

Hart’s War 

The Haunting  

Heartburn 

How to Steal a Million 

Internal Affairs  

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back  

The Preacher’s Wife 

The Quick and the Dead 

Road Trip: Beer Pong  

The Rocketeer  

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country 

Yu-Gi-Oh  

Nov. 3

The Christmas Candle

Edge of Tomorrow

Hercules

Land Ho!

Premature

Step Up: All In

Nov. 7

Scream 4

Virunga

Nov. 10

36 Saints

Drive Hard

Happy Christmas 

I Am Ali

Mood Indigo

Nov. 13

You're So Cupid

Nov. 17

22 Jump Street

Autobahn

Automata 

Earth to Echo

The One I Love

Ragnarok

Nov. 19

Donald Glover: Weirdo

Nov. 21

Lilyhammer (season 3)

Nov. 24

The Expendables 3

The Giver

Merry Friggin' Christmas

Tyler Perry's A Madea Christmas

What If

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Netflix Update: What's Leaving Us on November 1st

In which I report on the upcoming changes to Netflix.

Well, it's that time of the month again: time for the changing of the guard.  All told, fifty-eight films and tv shows will be leaving Netflix at the end of the month, so this week is your last chance to fit it all of those movies you've put off until later because you always thought that they were going to be there.

It seems to me that there's a higher-than-average turnover of really good movies this month.  American Psycho is basically Wall Street meets The Texas Chainsaw Massacre - the perfect blend of 80s excess, 70s violence and a contemporary comedic aesthetic.  The Big Chill is a remarkably powerful film about a group of friends who reunite at a friend's funeral after years of growing apart from one another.  Les Miserables is an incredibly underrated drama based on Hugo's celebrated novel that sadly loses out to the staggering popularity of its musical adaptations.  La Bamba and The Buddy Holly Story are twin portrayals of the infamous "day the music died," depicting the lives of Ritchie Valence and Buddy Holly.  If not for Guardians of the Galaxy, Serenity would be hands-down the single best sci-fi film about a dysfunctional band of space-faring outlaws ever produced.  Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Candyman, Footloose, Single White Female and even the incredibly flawed Red State will all be missed.

Ultimately, though, there are three films that I am definitely making a concerted effort to watch before they disappear from the streaming service: Apocalypse Now, For a Few Dollars More and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.  All three are movies scheduled to appear on future Date Night reviews.  Apocalypse Now is one of my favorite movies and one that I'm sure Becky will enjoy.  We've held off on the latter two Dollars films because of our inability to locate the first one (and I will not watch sequential films out of order).  I actually spent a Barnes & Noble gift card to buy a severely discounted BluRay of A Fistful of Dollars this last weekend (thanks Grandma!) and will be damned if I miss out on watching its sequels now.

I might try to show a few more to Becky if there's time between now and when they go poof (The Big Chill is one that I think she'd particularly enjoy), but those would just be icing on the cake.  If I get the above three done in the next week, I'll be happy.

So which movies are you all going to try to cram in before November 1st?  Which movies are you going to be especially sad to see go?  Let me know in the comments section.  The full list of titles that will no longer be available are listed below.

101 Dalmatians (1996)

American Psycho (2000)

Apocalypse Now (1979)

Apocalypse Now Redux (2001)

Balibo (2009)

The Big Chill (1983)

Blown Away (1992)

Bob the Builder (1999-2012)

Breezy (1973)

Brighton Beach Memoirs (1986)

Broadcast News (1987)

The Buddy Holly Story (1978)

Bullet Proof Monk (2003)

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

Candyman (1992)

Caveman (1981)

Cheech & Chong’s Next Movie (1980)

Cloak & Dagger (1984)

The Conqueror Worm (1968)

The Dogs of War (1980)

Elvis ’56 (1987)

The Escape Artist (1982)

Footloose (1984)

For a Few Dollars More (1965)

Fire in Babylon (2010)

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)

The Great Outdoors (1988)

Hammett (1982)

Hannibal (2001)

He Said, She Said (1991)

Heat Wave (2011)

Iceman (1984)

King Solomon’s Mines (1985)

Allan Quartermain and the Lost City of Gold(1987)

La Bamba (1987)

Les Miserables (1998)

The Ninth Gate (1999)

The Odessa File (1974)

One from the Heart (1982)

Orca: The Killer Whale (1977)

The Prince of Tides (1991)

A Raisin in the Sun (2008)

Red State (2011)

Say Anything (1989)

Serenity (2005)

Silent Running (1971)

Single White Female (1992)

Small, Beautifully Moving Parts (2011)

St. Elmo’s Fire (1985)

Starman (1984)

Steel Magnolias (1989)

Tetro (2009)

Thelma & Louise (1991)

Thomas & Friends (2005-2012)

Tortilla Soup (2001)

Trees Lounge (1996)

Under the Tuscan Sun (2003)

Up at the Villa (2000)

Vigilante Force (1976)

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