The 9 Things You Gotta Watch Before They Leave Netflix
All the movies and shows you need to stuff into your brain (through your eyeballs, of course) before they disappear from Netflix starting next month.
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Over the past few months, Netflix's strategy of ramping up its original content has meant the loss of many films in its content library. That's slowed down a bit—the list of films and television series departing Netflix at the end of April isn't nearly as dire as other months so far this year—but there are still a number of classics that merit catching up on in the next week. We've collected together nine essentials, from sci-fi touchstones and political satire to anime and a medical sitcom. Watch now, or...well, or be prepared to add Amazon Prime to your monthly budget.
Blade Runner: Theatrical Cut (1982)
With *Sicario* director Denis Villenueve’s sequel coming next year, now's the perfect time to rewatch Ridley Scott's classic. Based on Philip K. Dick’s novel *Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep*, the neo-noir science-fiction film takes place in a futuristic Los Angeles, where genetically engineered androids called replicants are hunted down by figures known as Blade Runners, including Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford). The cult classic has been recut so many times that there's confusion about which version is best for a new viewer —ignore the furor with this theatrical version, and revel in watching Ford in his untouchable prime as an action and genre star.
Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989)
A third installment in the *Bill & Ted* franchise is on the horizon, so what better time to get caught up on an ’80s classic? The original tells the mythic story of high school metalheads Bill Preston (Alex Winter) and Ted Logan (Keanu Reeves), who must ace a final history report in order to avoid military school. Enter a stranger from the future (George Carlin), who provides them with a time machine so they can travel back to learn about Napoleon Bonaparte, Genghis Khan, and Socrates (pronounced "so-crates"). Hilarity ensues, dude.
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
Based on the 1979 Gustav Hasford novel *The Short-Timers*, Stanley Kubrick’s penultimate film follows a group of U.S. Marines through training, and then follows two soldiers into the Tet Offensive during the Vietnam War. By the late stages of Kubrick’s career, he was even more meticulous than usual about planning his films and only released about one every six years—but all that planning shows, with indelible performances from Lee Ermey and Vincent D’Onofrio helping this complete Kubrick’s war triptych alongside *Dr. Strangelove* and *Paths of Glory.*
Election (1999)
Jim McAllister (Matthew Broderick), the most popular teacher at a suburban Omaha high school, oversees the school's election for student body president, and may or may not find himself in a precarious position with one candidate, notorious overachiever Tracy Flick (Reese Witherspoon). The original Tom Perrotta novel was a scathing and still eerily relevant political and social satire, and Alexander Payne's adaptation preserved all of its energy, with a career-making performance from Witherspoon.
Training Day (2001)
Denzel Washington won an Oscar for his portrayal of Alonzo Harris, a corrupt narcotics detective evaluating LAPD officer Jake Hoyt (Ethan Hawke). The iconic performance earned Washington plenty of accolades, but it also features some fantastic supporting performances from Evan Mendes and Macy Grey, tense scenes with Ethan Hawke that turned into [*Chappelle's Show* classics](https://vimeo.com/92071732), and a script by David Ayer (who directs this year’s *Suicide Squad*) that rightfully turned "King Kong ain't got shit on me!" into a catchphrase.
Scrubs (2001-2010)
The series that launched Zach Braff to stardom, Bill Lawrence's hospital sitcom centers on a group of interns as they learn the lay of the land in modern medicine. While the later seasons got by on increasingly contrived hijinks, the show's early years deftly skewered modern for-profit hospitals—and features some stellar comedy work from an ensemble that includes Donald Faison, Judy Reyes, Sarah Chalke, and John C. McGinley in his greatest performance.
The Animatrix (2003)
Released just after *The Matrix Reloaded* in 2003, this animated anthology provides some wonderful backstory for the film universe. The film contains nine shorts, directed by such luminaries as Shinichiro Watanabe (*Cowboy Bebop*), Kazuto Nakazawa (the anime sequence in *Kill Bill Vol. 1*), and Peter Chung (*Æon Flux*). Some of the stories center on Trinity and Neo—with voices provided by Carrie Ann Moss and Keanu Reeves—but other fill in the lore of the original war between man and machine that led to the creation of The Matrix.
Samurai Champloo (2004)
This anime collaboration between the aforementioned Shinichiro Watanabe and Kazuto Nakazawa is a mashup masterpiece: it takes place in an alternate Edo-era Japan (roughly 1603-1868), against sonic backdrop of hip-hop. It may have a familiar premise—two fighters, one vagrant and one ronin, accompany a young woman on a quest—but its style and anachronisms loomed large as anime began to cultivate a wider audience outside Japan.
Computer Chess (2013)
Set in 1980, *Computer Chess* takes place at a California hotel during a chess tournament...between computer programs. Mumblecore all-star Andrew Bujalksi directs his second black-and-white feature here, this time on ancient analog videocameras to capture the look of the era. It also features a virtually unrecognizable [Wiley Wiggins](http://more-deals.info/2016/04/every-dazed-confused-character-ranked-coolness/) (*Dazed and Confused*, *Waking Life*) in a leading role.
