Beyond Wednesday: Seven great movies are leaving Netflix this week

While new content arrives on Netflix daily, from crazy reality shows to classic rom-coms, there’s also a constant stream of content coming off the global streaming service.

So while you may think that a movie or TV show will be out there to watch forever, the truth is that it isn’t at all, some only for a few months at a time.

To help those who want to get the most out of their subscription and help with your viewing priorities, Things to watch has compiled a list of 10 great movies that won’t be there Wednesday morning – so watch them while you still can.

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* Gone in February: Eight Great Movies Leaving Neon This Month

An American Pickle (2020)

Seth Rogen plays a dual role in this comedy centering on an Orthodox Jewish factory worker. Kept in brine for 100 years, he wakes up in New York City trying to track down his great-grandson. Sarah Snook from Succession also features.

“Adequately both salty and sweet, with plenty of wry jokes about our modern condition, balanced by the characters’ poignant sense of loneliness,” wrote David Sims of The Atlantic.

Collateral (2004)

Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx star in this Michael Mann-directed thriller about a cab driver who is taken hostage one night in Los Angeles by an endearing assassin. He must find a way to save both himself and one last victim.

“A rare thriller that is character study as well as sound and fury,” wrote Roger Ebert of the Chicago SunTimes.

District 9 (2009)

Sir Peter Jackson produced this 2009 South African documentary style sci-fi story about an alien invasion that doesn’t go well for the visitors.

Adapted from writer-director Neil Blomkamp’s 2006 short film Alive in Joburg, it made its human protagonist Sharlto Copley a star.

“Very clever sci-fi, but it’s also a scathing social satire hidden in a great action thriller that’s teeming with gross aliens and deplorable conflicts between species. And it’s fantastic,” wrote Betsy Sharkey from the Los Angeles Times.

Legends of Autumn (1994)

Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, Aidan Quinn, Julia Ormond and Henry Thomas teamed up for this epic Western based on Jim Harrison’s 1979 novella.

Set in early 20th century Montana, the story revolves around three William Ludlow and his three sons and their lives are influenced by nature, war, history and love.

“Although the admirable Quinn has the heaviest role, Pitt carries the picture. [He] proves he’s a bona fide movie star and steals every scene he’s in,” wrote Peter Travers of Rolling Stone magazine.

The Story Without End (1984)

Wolfgang Petersen’s adaptation of Michael Ende’s popular 1979 book, the film that has marked a generation of Kiwi children, is full of memorable moments.

The haunting escape of bullied Bastian Balthazar Bux (Barret Oliver) into the magical world of Fantasia is a delightful blend of Princess Bride-esque storytelling, Narnia-esque fantasy and Flash Gordon-style heroics (complete with a Giorgio Moroder synth- infused score).

There are narcoleptic hanglider bats, running slugs and a “childlike” Empress, all of which sound like spurned characters from a Lewis Carroll adventure, while the all-consuming “Nothing” and its herald, the wolfish Gmork, feel very Tolkien. -ish.

Rocks (2019)

Bafta-winning coming-of-age story about a London teenager who is forced to fend for herself and her younger brother when their single mother abandons them.

Director Sarah Gavron (Suffragette) collaborated throughout the story with her young cast of unknowns and the result, with the further collaboration of screenwriters Theresa Ikoko and Claire Wilson, is a sense of authenticity that really lets the sometimes emotional subject matter unfold.

It feels like the modern successor to the films of Ken Loach – films like Kes and Sweet Sixteen – or the American Larry Clark, without the deliberately provocative or censoring action.

Wonder Woman (2017)

The ailing DC Extended Universe was revived, and Patty Jenkin’s roaring Diana Prince origin story was boosted by solid storytelling, solid effects, and two stellar performances from Gal Gadot and Chris Pine.

For some, it was the best superhero movie since the original Superman nearly 40 years earlier.

“Like Diana, a real miracle is at work here. We rediscover the tropes of the genre through her questioning eyes. And for once, the comic book almost seems fresh again,” wrote Wendy Ide of The Observer.