While there are daily drops of new material on Netflix, everything from crazy reality shows to classic rom-coms, there’s also a constant churn of content dropping off the global streaming service.
So although you might think a movie or TV show will be available to watch on there forever, the truth is that’s very much not the case, some only available for a few months at a time.
In order to assist those keen to get the most out of their subscription, and in order to help with your weekend viewing priorities, Stuff to Watch has come up with a list of 10 terrific movies that won’t be around come Friday morning – so catch them while you can.
Gandhi (1992)
If you only know Sir Ben Kingsley as Marvel’s Trevor Slattery or Sexy Beast’s Don Logan, then Richard Attenborough’s lovingly crafted biopic of influential Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi is going to blow your mind.
The Yorkshire-born actor, born Krishna Pandit Bhanji, is simply mesmerising at the heart of this more than three-hour long tale that spans 55 years, from a significant incident in 1890s South Africa to Gandhi’s tragic death in 1948. Candice Bergen, Edward Fox, Martin Sheen and John Gielgud also feature.
Glory (1989)
Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman and Cary Elwes are among the impressive ensemble gathered together for this Oscar-winning biopic about the US Civil War’s first all-black volunteer company. Under the command of Robert Gould Shaw, they faced prejudice from both the opposing Confederates and their own Union Army forces.
“The film’s chief virtue is its spectacular choreography. The final battle. is a striking combination of dynamism and clarity,” wrote Sight Sound’s John Pym.
In This Corner of the World (2016)
Set in Hiroshima during World War II, this Japanese anime is the story of 18-year-old girl who not only finds herself married, but also charged with organising food for her family despite dwindling supplies and ever-growing losses of life’s little amenities.
Despite a slightly episodic feel, writer-director Sunao Katabuchi’s slow-burning intimate epic does a magnificent job of drawing the viewer in and delivering quietly devastating drama.
Meet Joe Black (1998)
Loosely based on the 1934 movie Death Takes a Holiday, this three-hour romantic-drama about an ageing businessman who makes a deal with the grim reaper himself – a few more days to live in exchange for an education on what it is like to be human. Anthony Hopkins, Brad Pitt and Claire Forlani star.
“It’s an elegiac love story from beyond the grave, as appealingly simple, as it is emotionally complex,” wrote Austin Chronicle’s Marc Savlov.
The Missing (2003)
Cate Blanchett is joined by Tommy Lee Jones, Val Kilmer, Aaron Eckhart and a young Evan Rachel Wood for this 1885-set thriller about a woman of medicine who forms an uneasy alliance with her estranged father when her daughter is kidnapped by Apaches. Ron Howard directs this adaptation of Thomas Eidson’s 1995 novel The Last Ride.
Miss You Already (2015)
Based on actress Morwenna Banks’ 2013 BBC radio play Goodbye, this does swipe inloggen, at times, feel like it’s hell-bent on wringing your tear ducts dry.
Banks, penning her own adaption, and director Catherine Hardwicke certainly throw a kitchen sink worth of emotionally manipulative set-ups , intimate, in- your-face close-ups and heartwarming scenes which will test even the most hardened movie-lover.
However, underneath that patina of predictability and preachiness, lies an anarchic BFF tale. One helped by the brilliant, complementary casting of Toni Collette and Drew Barrymore.
Peter Pan (2003)
Despite being a part of every childhood for a century, a live-action version J. M. Barrie’s story of the little boy who wouldn’t grow up had never been fully realised on the big screen until PJ Hogan tackled it here.
Filmed in the former Flying Doctors writer’s native Queensland, this Pan is far removed from the cheerful mayhem of the Disney version and the ocean of sentimentality dished by Spielberg in Hook.
Remaining remarkably faithful to the original play, Hogan’s masterstroke was assembling a quality cast who included luminous Olivia Williams and Ludivine Sagnier and the scene-stealing Jason Isaacs in the dual roles of Mr Darling and Captain Hook.
Scoob! (2020)
Despite reimagining the inhabitants of the Mystery Machine as a group of disparate millennials, this origin story is still a bright and breezy, slightly scary and endearingly self-deprecating animated adventure.
Fans of Saturday morning cartoons will love all the overt and more subtle references to other characters and shows, while the impressive vocal cast includes Zac Efron, anda Seyfried, Will Forte, Gina Rodriguez, Jason Isaacs and Tracy Morgan.
Shaun of the Dead (2004)
This distinctly British take on the zombie genre, not only gave the world a new acting star in Simon Pegg, but also invented a new genre – the zom-rom-com. Joined by his slovenly best mate Ed (Nick Frost), Pegg’s electronics store worker is forced to use whatever he can to stay alive when his town is overrun by the undead.
“It’s no easy task combining comedy and horror into a neat little package, but Edgar Wright provides a taut homage and self-aware parody, without ever falling into spoof territory,” wrote NME’s Howard Gorman.
War of the Worlds (2005)
Despite Resetting the Victorian England source erica, director Steven Spielberg and writers Josh Friedman and display a strong intention to stick to H.G. Wells’ 1898 template.
All the touchstones are there, with the major addition of Tom Cruise’s New York port worker having a couple of estranged children tagging along. They also manage to cleverly capture America’s post-9/11 paranoia, as this time Spielberg’s aliens aren’t here to play an intergalactic version of Simon, or eat our lollies.
Using hand-held cameras and natural light wherever possible, and aided by inski’s superb cinematography, Spielberg’s War is a dark, gritty and absorbing disaster movie.