The titles leaving Netflix for U.S. subscribers in November are some of the most frequently added and subtracted movies and shows on the service, including such standbys as “Jaws,” “Jurassic Park,” “Shrek” and “The Fast and the Furious.” Rather than reprise those recommendations here, we’ve selected five worthwhile titles that we haven’t boosted in this space before or written about extensively elsewhere. (Dates reflect the first day titles are unavailable and are subject to change.)
‘The Running Man’ (Nov. 1)
With a new adaptation, by Edgar Wright, hitting theaters next month, now is a fine to revisit the first cinematic version of the 1982 novel by Stephen King (written as Richard Bachman). Set in a 2019 in which America has become a fascist state, the story takes its title from the country’s most popular television program, a deadly game show in which a convicted criminal is hunted for sport. But said convict is played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, so things go a bit haywire. The screenplay by Steven E. de Souza (who co-wrote “Die Hard” and “48 HRS”) is a well-proportioned mixture of “They Live”-style science-fiction satire and muscular ’80s action and quips, orchestrated with panache by the director Paul Michael Glaser (also known as Starsky of the TV series “Starsky and Hutch”).
‘Six Feet Under’: Seasons 1-5 (Nov. 1)
This HBO series ran from 2001 to 2005 and has always felt a bit like a stepchild of that era for the network — not as culturally ubiquitous as “The Sopranos” nor as critically acclaimed as “The Wire.” But it offers plenty of its own pleasures. Peter Krause and a pre-“Dexter” Michael C. Hall star as the sons of a funeral director (Richard Jenkins) who dies in the first episode. (Don’t worry, he returns as a ghost throughout the series.) The particulars of the family business and the many difficulties of the family’s complex relationships are brought to vivid life; every performance is a standout while the writing staff (led by the Oscar winner Alan Ball) brings unexpected angles to the familial drama.
‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ (Nov. 6)
Tim Burton’s recent directorial output has been (to put it mildly) uneven, so this 36-years-later follow-up to his early career triumph “Beetlejuice” wasn’t a sure thing. But the result was his best picture in years, a frequently funny and occasionally poignant mixture of supernatural slapstick and a generation-gap comedy of manners. As with the original, the comic champions are Michael Keaton as the title character, a wacky “bio-exorcist” who is more trouble than he’s worth, and Catherine O’Hara as a pretentious artist type. Winona Ryder also returns, her characterization of the Goth teen Lydia deepening as she battles a Goth teen of her own (played with eye-rolling verve by Burton’s “Wednesday” star Jenna Ortega).
‘A Star Is Born’ (Nov. 8)
The fourth screen iteration of the venerable love story between a rising star and a falling one had a long and convoluted road to the screen, with Bradley Cooper originally attached only to star, with his “American Sniper” director, Clint Eastwood, behind the camera. But when that fell through, Cooper took the directorial reins (for the first time), devising a stripped-down approach to the material that tamped down the melodrama of earlier versions and kept its focus on the intimacy of the central relationship. This is particularly true of the marvelous first act, in which the country-rock musician Jackson Maine (Cooper) and the would-be pop diva Ally Campana (Lady Gaga) meet, write a song and fall in love in the space of about 24 hours.
‘Smile’ (Nov. 14)
Sometimes, the best horror movies are the simplest, rooting out a basic truth or fear and squeezing it like a vice. The base observation of this 2022 hit by the writer-director Parker Finn is that it’s just creepy when someone is smiling at you too much, for too long. Out of that nightmare image, Finn builds this story of a free-floating evil that passes from person to person, as in “It Follows” or “The Ring.” He also finds a sympathetic, charismatic star in Sosie Bacon, who plays a clinical psychiatrist attempting to understand this creeping terror — and to avoid it. The atmosphere is dripping with dread, the camerawork is inventive, and the kills are quite memorable. (Take that as either an endorsement or a warning.)
Also leaving:
“Blow,” “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” the “Fast and the Furious” series, “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” “Happy Gilmore,” “Horrible Bosses,” “Jurassic Park,” “She’s All That,” “Sherlock Holmes,” the “Shrek” series, “Starship Troopers,” “Thirteen,” “Weird Science,” “Wet Hot American Summer,” “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” (Nov. 1); “Past Lives” (Nov. 2); “Archer”: Seasons 1-13 (Nov. 13); ‘A.P. Bio’: Seasons 1-4, the “Jaws” series (Nov. 15); “Mamma Mia!” (Nov. 16); “San Andreas” (Nov. 22).
The post Stream These 5 Titles Before They Leave Netflix in November appeared first on New York Times.
