Netflix has announced its “lineup change” for next month. After starting out a monthly series previewing the coming change to the world’s biggest streaming site (read May’s here: http://bit.ly/1Qen7hE), here are some of the best movies coming and going from Netflix in June.
It’s Here:
The Aviator (2004)
Best of Me (2014)
Nightcrawler (2014)
(TV) Marvel Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D: Season Two
(TV) Orange is the New Black: Season Three
Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014)
Lee Daniel’s The Butler (2013)
Cake (2014)
From that impressive list, three must-see movies stand out Nightcrawler, The Aviator, and The Butler.
Nightcrawler was one of the biggest snubs at this year’s Academy Awards. Jake Gyllenhaal (Donnie Darko, Source Code, Brokeback Mountain) wasn’t even nominated for a Best Actor award that should have clearly gone to him (I love you Eddie Redmayne, but he outplayed you this year). The movie itself was robbed of a Best Picture nomination; even if it wasn’t the BEST, Nightcrawler still should have been named one of the top movies of the year.
The movie focuses on Lou Bloom (Gyllenhaal). Bloom seems to be a sociopath that doesn’t care about ethics as he tries to climb the ladder of success as a nightcrawler reporter. Imagine if Donnie Darko had grown up in Los Angeles: that’s Lou Bloom. The movie calls out the 24/7 news reel and desperate means that reporters will go to just to be the first reporter to announce something.
The Aviator is one of Leonardo DiCaprio’s and Martin Scorsese’s many great movies together. In the biopic of one of the most interesting and talented Americans ever, DiCaprio plays business mogul Howard Hughes. Filmmaker, pilot, WWII engineer, professional director, inventor, and brilliant entrepreneur are only some of the titles Hughes went by, and DiCaprio does a great job portraying all of it in The Aviator. Raking in 11 Oscar nominations and winning five of them makes this one of the best movies to be added to Netflix in a long time.
Lee Daniel’s The Butler is a loose biopic of the life of longtime White House butler Eugene Allen, named Cecil Gaines (Forest Whitaker). We watch one man’s perspective through one of the biggest socially turbulent moments in the United States: the 1960s-1980s. While not 100% factually correct, The Butler is still an amazing movie that everybody should check out whenever they get the chance. The movie was nominated for multiple Screen Actors Guild awards;however, it surprisingly didn’t get any Oscar nominations.
It’s Outta Here:
Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)
Last Action Hero (1993)
Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Crash (2004)
Jack Reacher (2012)
Godzilla (1998)
Taxi Driver (1976)
While we are gaining a lot of great movies next month, there are a few highlights that will be tough to deal with.
Silence of the Lambs is the famous movie that landed Hannibal Lecter the spot as Number One Movie Villain of All-Time according to the American Film Institute. Starring Anthony Hopkins, this movie made it cool to root for the bad guy again. While we are all disgusted by the monstrous Lecter, there is a part of us that is equally captivated as we try to psychoanalyze the cannibalistic sociopath while watching the movie. Winner of the 1992 Best Picture Oscar and four others, Silence of the Lambs is a movie you have to find time to squeeze in this weekend before it is gone.
Another classic movie that is leaving us is Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver. This 1976 classic starring Robert De Niro was nominated for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress in a Supporting Role, and Best Music. Fortunately, the movie does not leave until June 30th, so there is still plenty of time to watch the movie sometime after you finish Silence of the Lambs.
Despite losing a few classics, we are gaining the classics of tomorrow this June on Netflix. Hulu and Amazon Video are far behind Netflix and the month of June will not see them gain any ground.
CinemaStickler 