The Best Movies Leaving Netflix at the End of August
Streaming viewers have become all-too-familiar with the concept of churning content. Essentially, it means that many of your favorite streaming services don’t actually own the movies that they provide you. And once the contracts are up, those films are departing, usually for a competing streamer. Not even Netflix is immune to this phenomenon. As a matter of fact, Netflix is losing a lot of great movies at the end of this month. There are some legitimate cinematic classics that are going away. The good news is that you still have time to catch these flicks before they leave. So, feel free to go over our list of the best movies leaving Netflix at the end of August and plan your movie nights accordingly.
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The Big Lebowski (1998)
One of the delightful jokes from The Big Lebowski is that its title character isn’t Jeff Bridges’ beloved iconic role, The Dude. Instead, it’s Jeffrey “The Big” Lebowski (David Huddleston), an extremely wealthy man. Thanks to a bad case of mistaken identity, The Dude finds himself wrapped up in Lebowski’s sordid world when Jeffrey’s trophy wife, Bunny (Tara Reid), is kidnapped for ransom. Despite The Dude’s attempts to extract himself from the situation, his life becomes increasingly absurd as multiple factions come after him in the mistaken belief that he has the money intended for Bunny’s kidnappers.
Rotten Tomatoes: 83%
Stars: Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi, David Huddleston
Director: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Rating: R
Runtime: 117 minutes
Watch now on Netflix
Chinatown (1974)
“Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown.” Those words are not only a famous line from Chinatown; they are also very devastating within the context of the film. In one of his greatest roles, Jack Nicholson headlines the film as private investigator J.J. “Jake” Gittes. After getting conned into providing compromising pictures of Hollis I. Mulwray (Darrell Zwerling), Jake finds himself aligned with Hollis’ widow, Evelyn Cross Mulwray (Faye Dunaway). Evelyn’s father, Noah Cross (John Huston), is a powerful man in Los Angeles who has plans that Jake can barely comprehend. Regardless, Jake tries to oppose Noah’s ambitions even though the price for his defiance is heartbreaking and tragic.
Rotten Tomatoes: 99%
Stars: Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Hillerman, Perry Lopez, Burt Young, John Huston
Director: Roman Polanski
Rating: R
Runtime: 131 minutes
Watch now on Netflix
The Departed (2006)
Director Martin Scorsese was long denied cinema’s greatest prize until taking home the Best Director Academy Award for The Departed. In this English-language remake of the Hong Kong flick Internal Affairs, Leonardo DiCaprio’s Billy Costigan Jr. and Matt Damon’s Colin Sullivan are undercover operatives who are unaware that they are hunting each other. Billy was recruited by police captain Oliver “Charlie” Queenan (Martin Sheen) to infiltrate the crime family led by Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson). However, Frank has guided Colin’s career for decades so that he can have a man on the inside of the police. Neither Billy nor Colin can hide their divided loyalties forever. But which man will crack first?
Rotten Tomatoes: 90%
Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Ray Winstone
Director: Martin Scorsese
Rating: R
Runtime: 151 minutes
Watch now on Netflix
Election (1999)
Many of Reese Witherspoon’s early roles were very wholesome characters, which is why her deliciously amoral turn as Tracy Enid Flick made Election such a great film. High school teacher Jim McAllister (Matthew Broderick) is seemingly the only one who realizes that Tracy is a monster in the making. Jim is also bitter that Tracy’s affair with his friend, Dave Novotny (Mark Harelik), destroyed Dave’s career and marriage. To derail Tracy’s unchallenged election as class president, Jim recruits a popular jock, Paul Metzler (Chris Klein), to run against her. Unfortunately for Jim, his plans are upended by Paul’s sister, Tammy Metzler (Jessica Campbell). Tammy’s anti-student government campaign for class president threatens to defeat both Tracy and Paul.
Rotten Tomatoes: 92%
Stars: Matthew Broderick, Reese Witherspoon, Chris Klein, Jessica Campbell, Phil Reeves
Director: Alexander Payne
Rating: R
Runtime: 103 minutes
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The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
It has to be said that the original version of The Manchurian Candidate is still the best. However, the 2004 remake is also very good. Denzel Washington headlines the film as Major Bennett Marco, a Gulf War veteran who is plagued by confusing dreams about his unit and his former teammate, Raymond Prentiss Shaw (Liev Schreiber). In the present, Raymond is a Congressman and Vice Presidential candidate who is on the cusp of taking the White House. As Raymond’s political career nears its peak, Bennett suspects that both he and Raymond were victims of a mind-control conspiracy linked to Raymond’s mother, Senator Eleanor Prentiss Shaw (Meryl Streep).
Rotten Tomatoes: 80%
Stars: Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep, Liev Schreiber, Jon Voight, Kimberly Elise
Director: Jonathan Demme
Rating: R
Runtime: 130 minutes
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The Muppets (2011)
Do the Muppets still have a place in our cynical world? Even Disney has struggled at times to figure out what to do with the late Jim Henson’s signature creations. Fortunately, The Muppets movie answers that question with a terrific tale of Gary (Jason Segel) and his adopted Muppet brother, Walter (Peter Linz). The brothers grew up as big fans of The Muppet Show, and they are dismayed to learn that Tex Richman (Chris Cooper) wants to destroy the Muppet Theater. That’s why it’s up to Walter, Gary, and Gary’s girlfriend, Mary (Amy Adams), to bring the classic Muppets together one more time to put on a show to save their legacy.
Rotten Tomatoes: 95%
Stars: Jason Segel, Amy Adams, Chris Cooper, Rashida Jones
Director: James Bobin
Rating: PG
Runtime: 103 minutes
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Road to Perdition (2002)
Road to Perdition is based on a crime noir comic book that shares its name, and it has an absolutely amazing cast that includes Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Jude Law, Daniel Craig, Stanley Tucci, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and TV’s current Superman, Tyler Hoechlin. Michael Sullivan (Hanks) is one of the top hitmen of crime boss John Rooney (Newman). But when Michael Sullivan Jr. (Hoechlin) witnesses his father and Cooper Rooney (Craig) on the job, Michael’s entire family is targeted by Cooper to ensure their silence. When Michael’s wife and youngest son are killed, he takes Michael Jr. on an intense journey of revenge and redemption.
Rotten Tomatoes: 81%
Stars: Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Jude Law, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Stanley Tucci, Daniel Craig
Director: Sam Mendes
Rating: R
Runtime: 117 minutes
Watch now on Netflix
The Ring (2002)
After nearly two decades, The Ring’s premise of a cursed videotape is admittedly dated. Regardless, this is a top-notch horror film with one of cinema’s scariest little girls: Samara Morgan (Daveigh Chase). While investigating the death of her niece, Katherine “Katie” Embry ( Amber Tamblyn), Rachel Keller (Naomi Watts) discovers an urban legend about a disturbing videotape that dooms its viewers to a gruesome death seven days later. As Rachel and her ex-boyfriend, Noah Clay (Martin Henderson), race to uncover the facts beyond the tape’s creation, Samara’s vengeful ghost places them both in danger.
Rotten Tomatoes: 71%
Stars: Naomi Watts, Martin Henderson, David Dorfman, Jane Alexander, Daveigh Chase
Director: Gore Verbinski
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 115 minutes
Watch now on Netflix
The Social Network (2010)
In The Social Network, Jesse Eisenberg’s Mark Zuckerberg is an incredible jerk who seems to be bereft of empathy and basic human emotions. This is the story about the creation of Facebook as we know it. At each step of Facebook’s evolution, Mark finds new ways to betray his partners: Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss (Armie Hammer), Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake), and even Mark’s best friend, Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield). Director David Fincher presents Mark’s ensuing loneliness as a tragedy, and yet we’re all living in the aftermath of the social media that the real Zuckerberg created.
Rotten Tomatoes: 96%
Stars: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, Armie Hammer, Max Minghella
Director: David Fincher
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 120 minutes
Watch now on Netflix
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
The Terminator was just about the perfect blend of sci-fi and horror. But for the sequel, Terminator 2, director James Cameron leaned far more heavily on action. He also couldn’t resist bringing Arnold Schwarzenegger back as a more heroic T-800 Terminator. Unfortunately, the old school Terminator has his hands full with the T-1000 (Robert Patrick), a more advanced model that was sent back in time to kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) and her son, John Connor (Edward Furlong). If the Connors want to live, then they will have to learn to trust a machine.
Rotten Tomatoes: 93%
Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Edward Furlong, Robert Patrick, Joe Morton
Director: James Cameron
Rating: R
Runtime: 137 minutes
Watch now on Netflix
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