Gone by Thursday: Ten terrific movies leaving Netflix this week

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 viewing priorities, Stuff to Watch has come up with a list of 10 terrific movies that won’t be around come Thursday morning – so catch them while you can.

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Batman (1989)

The movie that not only helped redefine people’s perceptions of Gotham City and its inhabitants, it also arguably birthed the modern superhero blockbuster.

Michael Keaton more than made up for his slightly diminutive size with THAT voice and a gravitas that even gave Jack Nicholson’s maniacal mercurial Joker pause for thought. Helping sell Tim Burton’s sizzle and style, was a wild and crazy soundtrack by Prince.

Bridesmaids (2011)

Kristen Wiig, Maya Ruldolph, Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy, Ellie Kemper and Wendi McLendon-Covey team up for this hilarious comedy about a woman who suffers a series of misfortunes after being asked to serve as maid of honour for her best friend.

Featuring sharp writing, plenty of laugh-out-loud moments and a supporting cast that also includes Rebel Wilson, Chris O’Dowd and Matt Lucas this promises – and delivers – a terrific time.

“Through a combination of smart performances and scurrilous gags, Bridesmaids yanks the buddy comedy from the hands of its traditional owners,” wrote The Independent’s Anthony Quinn.

42 (2013)

The film that introduced the US – if not the world – to the impressive talent that was Chadwick Boseman.

He plays Jackie Robinson, the first Black athlete to play Major League Baseball during the modern era, in Brian Helgeland’s impressive biopic. The title comes from the Brooklyn Dodgers’ star’s jersey number, which was retired across all MLB teams when he stopped playing the game in 1956.

“An inspiring, old-school biopic that doesn’t pull any punches in depicting the ugly racism that Jackie Robinson faced on a daily basis,” wrote the New York Post’s Lou Lumenick.

The Manchurian Candidate (2004)

Jonathan Demme directs this surprisingly impressive second-stab at Rob Condon’s 1959 novel about the son of a prominent US political family who is brainwashed into being an unwitting assassin.

Updating the original Cold War setting to the Gulf War (Manchurian is now a company name, rather than a reference to the Chinese province), this is a chilling political thriller expert sold by a fabulous ensemble headlined by Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep and Liev Schreiber.

“[This is] a gourmet-popcorn movie – a hugely entertaining thriller shot through with dark shards of agony and paranoia. It takes nothing away from the [1962] original, while delivering pleasures all its own,” wrote Newsweek’s David Ansen.

Moonrise Kingdom (2012)

Director Wes Anderson’s wondrous sense of whimsy reached new heights with this tale of two 12-year-olds who fall in love, make a secret pact and run away together into the wilderness.

As always with an Anderson production the delights are in the details, as well as the truly impressive acting ensemble which here includes everyone from Bruce Willis to Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton and Frances McDormand.

“Literate, melancholy and magical, Kingdom is quintessential Anderson, infused with his brand of daffy wit,” wrote USA Today’s Claudia Puig.

Panic Room (2002)

One of the greatest single-night-setting tales of all-time, David Fincher’s home invasion cross between the best Hitchcock and Home Alone essentially unspools in real time.

Jodie Foster and Kristen Stewart are the mother-and-daughter forced to hide out from a trio of burglars who expected the property to be empty.

Twenty years on, mainstream Hollywood thrillers have never quite reached these compelling, creepy and claustrophobia-inducing heights again.

The Sapphires (2012)

With a toe-tapping soundtrack, bright visuals and colourful characters, director Wayne Blair’s debut about a real-life, late-1960s “girl group” is one of the best feel good films to come out of Australia in the past decade.

Virtually unheard of until Tony Briggs brought the story of this Aboriginal quartet to life for a musical, it’s easy to see why he felt this tale deserved to be told. A mix of drama and dance, triumph and tragedy. Deborah Mailman, Miranda Tapsell, Jessica Mauboy, Shari Sebbens and Chris O’Dowd star.

Serenity (2005)

The movie that completed the resurrection of the much-loved, but little-watched TV series Firefly.

Writer-director Joss Whedon (then best known for Buffy the Vampire Slayer rather than The Avengers), sticks to his successful formula of strong characters (especially females), a solid plot, plenty of action, dodgy Chinese dialogue (to fool the censors) and great one-liners. Up there with Starship Troopers or The Matrix as one of the most enjoyable science-fiction movies of the last 25 years.

Featuring Nathan Fillion at his charismatic best, the plot revolves around a 17-year-old psychic (Summer Glau) who has escaped from the clutches of the ruling Alliance – and they desperately want her back.

Sudden Death (1995)

The perfect ‘90s popcorn movie for when you want something high-octane and low maintenance.

Jean-Claude Van Damme plays a still-traumatised-from-a-previous-incident French Canadian-born firefighter who is serving as a fire marshal at the Stanley Cup Finals when a group of terrorists take the US Vice President and several other VIPs hostage. Cue Die Hard in a hockey arena.

“Offers above-average pyrotechnics, a body count that steadily mounts, and plenty of hand-to-hand combat,” wrote The New York Times’ Stephen Holden.

Twister (1996)

“Night of horrors,” proclaims a billboard advertising a double-feature at a drive-in theatre that’s about to be devastated by a tornado.

It’s an apt summation of director Jan de Bont’s tempestuous blockbuster.

This is a film where the characters play second fiddle to the carnage – a disaster movie played out in America’s wide-open spaces, rather than the usual confined quarters. Helen Hunt, Bill Paxton and Carey Elwes star.