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| Stallone. Stone. Boom. |
For classic film fans there's 1975's controversial-for-its-time Mandingo, not to mention the restored version of David Lean's 1962 Lawrence of Arabia, which is as classic as "classic" gets. Not a bad month for family films, meanwhile, with the arrival of Jon Favreau's Zathura, Robert Rodriquez's The Adventures of Sharkboy & Lavagirl, last year's reboot of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Volume 1 of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. Oh, and if you're a Star Trek or William Shatner fan, be sure to check out his Captains docs, which are surprisingly enjoyable (reviewed here). Other standout titles are listed in bold (and yes, that includes guilty pleasure The Specialist—so sue me).
As I said, many of these titles fall under the Epix contract, which means they're due to expire at the end of the month. Any you don't get to, however, are already on Amazon Prime, and all are expected to appear in October on the increasingly formidable Hulu—which today announced its new ad-free tier. To paraphrase a famous movie character: Now that's an offer I won't refuse!
New Releases
Area 51 (2015)Black or White (2014)
The Detectives: Season 1 (2015)
The Harvest (2013)
Heather McDonald: I Don't Mean to Brag (2014)
The League: Season 6 (2014)
Miss Julie (2014)
Ride (2015) - late August
Roboshark (2015)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014) - late August
You and I (2014)
2000s
The Adventures of Sharkboy & Lavagirl (2005)Hardball (2001)
Marfa Girl (2012)
Person of Interest: Seasons 1-3 (2011-2013)
Up in the Air (2009)
Zathura (2005)
RETURNED:
Big Fish (2003)
Fido (2006)
Flame and Citron (2008)
Hachi: A Dog's Tale (2009)
Hart's War (2002)
Hitch (2005)
Insomnia (2002)
Mostly Martha (2002)
The Patriot (2000)
Spanglish (2004)
1990s
Anywhere but Here (1999)The Crucible (1996)
Hackers (1995)
The Specialist (1994)
RETURNED:
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Days of Thunder (1990)
Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights (1992)
Hamlet (1990)
Private Parts (1997)
Sleepy Hollow (1999)
1980s
The Monster Squad (1987)Rambo: First Blood (1982) / Rambo II (1985) / Rambo III (1988)
RETURNED:
Masters of the Universe (1987)
Popeye (1980)
Classics
Do Not Disturb (1965)Hannie Caulder (1971)
Lawrence of Arabia: Restored Version (1962)
Mandingo (1975)
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood: Volume 1 (1968)
RETURNED:
Julia (1977)
The River's Edge (1957)
The Robe (1953)
Documentaries
Above and Beyond (2014)Divorce Corp. (2014)
Exporting Raymond (2010)
Just About Famous (2015)
RETURNED:
The Captains (2011) / The Captains Close-Up (2013) - Review
William Shatner's Get a Life! (2012)
COMING SOON
September 4
Bad Night (2015)Madame Secretary: Season 1
September 9
Longmire: Season 4September 11
About Elly (2009)God Bless the Child (2015)
Madame Bovary (2014)
September 12
It Happened Here (2015)Portlandia: Season 5
The Roughnecks (2014)
Why Did I Get Married? (2007)
September 14
The Bank Job (2008)The Road Within (2015)
September 15
Moonrise Kingdom (2012)Reservation Road (2007)
The Blacklist: Season 2
September 17
The Mysteries of Laura: Season 1September 18
Keith Richards: Under the Influence (2015)September 21
Gotham: Season 1The Following: Season 3
September 22
Philomena (2013)September 23
The Loft (2015)September 24
Iris (2014)September 25
Blue Bloods: Season 5Hawaii Five-0: Season 5
Parenthood: Season 6
September 26
The Canyons (2013)September 27
The Walking Dead: Season 5September 29
Bones: Season 10Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (2013)
David - You neglected to mention the restored version of Lawrence of Arabia.
ReplyDeleteJust that alone is worth this month's price!
Darn, Jim, you're right. Don't know how I missed that (even though I remember seeing it was coming up). Will add that to the list, thanks!
ReplyDeleteAdded mentions of Lawrence of Arabia and Mandingo (which I feel like is a return but can't confirm it), added Julia to classics, and moved Spanglish to its proper category.
ReplyDeleteIt should be a crime to watch Lawrence of Arabia other than on a very large theater screen. I have the DVD and it really loses something in the translation on a TV.
ReplyDeleteWes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom is very quirky/funny and is well worth watching. Film Prof had a brief discussion at the local theater when it was shown and pointed out Anderson's control of detail.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. A wonderful film, and one of Anderson's best, IMO.
ReplyDeleteThey've added "Dear White People" (2014), but it's an Epix title.
ReplyDeleteThink there is any chance they will get some British TV to replace Epix?
ReplyDelete@Starchild. I think they are making an effort but they have some obstacles in their way. Some of the older British content seems to be exclusive to Hulu. Hulu also just signed an output agreement with AMC networks, which manages BBC America. Hulu has exclusive streaming rights to any BBC America content that is co-produced by AMC, most of which is also going to be shown by BBC in the U.K. Amazon Prime has exclusives on some new Masterpiece content, a lot of which is also shown on British TV. Finally, there is a streaming site called Acorn TV, which specializes in British (plus some Canadian and Australian) TV, a lot of which they claim is exclusive to them although I have found some of their "exclusive" content on Hulu. Their price is $4.99/mo. Or $49/year, with a free 30-day trial. For foreign (non-English, subtitled) mysteries, plus a few comedies and straight drama, look for MHZ Choice launching in September. They had a prior launch last spring which was a total disaster--they promised apps they couldn't produce, their content was limited, etc. and they finally shut the site down until they could produce a site that worked. They have been sending me e-mails saying their relaunch will be in October at $7.99/mo. With a 1-month free trial. The price seems steep but it is content that I have been unable to find anywhere else in the U.S. I may subscribe on and off. I had hoped that Netflix could pick up some of this content as they expanded in Europe but so far I haven't seen anything.
ReplyDeleteWellesley, I would love to get Acorn, but it doesn't work with my Playstation 3. At least not yet. I checked out Hulu. Unfortunately they do not carry the shows I am most interested in. Not that crazy about the really popular British comedies. The mysteries and dramas are what I like. Fortunately, I can still get them on disk and from the libray. Thanks for the info. It is all so complicated. I just was hoping that Netflix would come up with a great new source.
ReplyDelete@Starchild. You can also watch Acorn TV on your computer or iOS device. Don't know about Android devices. I watch most streaming services on my iPad, which may be antisocial, but the rest of my family doesn't share my taste in British mysteries, and the picture on my iPad is even better than on my TV. (I also have several Rokus for TV watching.). If you have Hulu, watch both seasons of Line of Duty and also Silk and Inside Men.
ReplyDeleteI highly recommend Above and Beyond, about US pilots who flew for Israel in the 1948 War of Independence. Not many people know that the Israeli Air Force consisted mainly of World War I planes left by the British when they opted to leave Palestine. The U.S. would not sell planes to the new state of Israel. The French did but almost no one in Israel knew how to fly a military plane.
ReplyDeleteI feel like I missed a major change, what happened to the list of expiring titles?
ReplyDeleteMoonrise Kingdom did not come to Netflix today - anyone have an update regarding its arrival?
ReplyDeleteWhat did show up, to my utter delight, is Season 3 of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. Oh Happy Day!
In response to Lee K: Expiring titles are now listed on the home page. See the post below this one: September Departures, posted on August 31.
@Carol. Moonrise Kingdom should be coming tomorrow, September 16.
ReplyDeleteThank You, for your work with this site.
ReplyDeleteI noticed today that a full 20% of my to-do list is now marked as expiring on October 1st. Dear White People, Shatner's Get A Life!, Fido, Star Trek: Into Darkness, Maverick, Zapped!, An Affair to Remember, Cool World, Carrie, I Frankenstein, Pee-wee's Big Adventure, Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins, The Dead Zone, Clockstoppers, Tapeheads, Much Ado About Nothing, The Expendables 3, Popeye, and Up In The Air.
ReplyDeleteYep, pretty much all of those are being tracked in my 8/31 post and in the ensuing comments. A sad month indeed.
ReplyDeleteAh hah! I was looking in the wrong post. I'm a little worried about Netflix's future prospects. The hemorrhaging is kind of scary.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I can tell, the FOX show "The Following" season 3 was not released... yet.
ReplyDeleteNor was the 4th season of Person of Interest, the 6th (and final) season of Parenthood or the first season of The Mysteries of Laura. Netflix claims Season 6 of Parenthood is coming soon. On the good news side, the first four seasons of Spiral, a great French cop show, are fact. Season 5 will be streaming on MHZ Choice when it comes back on line in October.
ReplyDeleteKing Kong (1976) and The Odd Couple (1968) have returned, as of this morning.
ReplyDeleteYou're right about the constant removal and re-uploading of movies like Big Fish that are broadcast on television just as often, they needn't be plaguing Netflix all the time as well. It is good to see a lot more new content, I feel it's providing a much needed revival to the site.
ReplyDelete