This Is The End

Those of you who have been following this blog in recent months know I've grown increasingly disenchanted with Netflix Instant. It began with what seemed a more-dramatic-than-usual purging at the beginning of the year, followed by the Great BBC Scare, more purges in June, a sneak attack in July, then a complete overhaul of the website's user interface�making it increasingly difficult to navigate beyond basic selection and playing. This was complemented by the introduction of the awful pre-play function to many streaming devices, followed by last month's announcement of nearly 700 EPIX (i.e., popular and classic) movies being dropped for good.

Remember when you could do this?

Then, last week, yet another insulting blow was struck: the removal of the information box that popped up when hovering your cursor over a title in My List (or in accompanying search results). This was a crucial feature for anyone seeking at-a-glance info about a movie or show before playing it or adding it to your queue. It was also a great way to discover if that title was marked to expire (especially TV titles, which often displayed a full month's notice).

But now that's gone, and the only way to see more than basic titles in My List is to switch to the mostly useless Netflix Suggests view (via account settings)�which trounces your carefully ordered queue and eliminates any expiration notices. In other words, just when I thought it couldn't get worse, Netflix snatched yet more control from users.

I'd intended to continue this blog through late November (when I'll be canceling my subscription), but I simply don't have the stomach to stay invested in a service that so blatantly disregards customers who want more than indiscriminate content forced down their throats. As such, I'm sad to say this will be my last post for WoNN, at least for the foreseeable future.

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September's Departures: Of Epix Proportions

Take a final look at High Fidelity

[Updated 9/15: Many titles added, all forthcoming titles now linked. Big thanks to LarryG for compiling list from comments and providing links.]

That's right, August isn't even over�with a lot of great titles set to expire tonight at midnight�but there's enough going on to warrant an early look at September's upcoming losses.

The news continues to be bad for anyone who enjoys Netflix for its back catalog and older titles. The recent announcement of the company's decision not to renew its licensing agreement with Epix only affirms Netflix's reluctance to pay for content it doesn't exclusively own. That means more original shows and movies, fewer classic titles, and (in the long run) more Disney, Marvel, and Weinstein titles. The latter, the result of more recent contracts, isn't necessarily a bad thing�who doesn't like Disney and Marvel movies?�but for those of us who still go see such fare in theaters (quaint, I know), that's hardly the kind of content we crave for home viewing�where the older, more intimate, and more obscure can shine. And is there anyone besides Netflix content honcho Ted Sarandos who thinks striking a threefour-picture deal with Adam Sandler was a good idea? Ugh.

There's no denying this makes good long-term business sense for the company given the outrageous (and escalating) costs of studio licensing fees. But by the same token it represents another huge nail in the coffin of the Netflix I once cared about. Will I miss the latest Star Trek, Transformers, and Hunger Games movies? Not at all. But there are more than enough older, better, and more interesting Epix titles getting the axe (not to mention those yet to come) to make this a true cause for mourning. Combined with everything else that's been taking the fun out of Netflix lately, I've pretty much decided to cancel my subscription before the year is out�in fact, as soon as I finish streaming Breaking Bad, which I finally started watching this month (a latecomer as always).

Ironically, even before I heard the Epix titles were being picked up by Hulu (arriving on October 1), I was already planning on keeping that service for its Criterion films and recent TV shows. But now there's yet another reason. At least the movies there (unlike the TV shows) don't have ad breaks. And there's none of Netflix's awful pre-play. Or post-play. Or, worst of all: the looming threat of new Adam Sandler movies.

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New in August: Movies, Blog Features

In keeping with this site's new format (at least for now), below is a fairly straightforward listing of Netflix's August arrivals. This replaces the standalone NEW TITLES page, and includes revised categorizations to make it easier to see the breakdown of titles across decades. (In keeping with recent trends, the pickings from before 1990 are pretty slim.) Note that all of these titles are recommended, but those in bold seem especially worth a look. Feel free to list any other new and upcoming titles in the comments below.

Also worth noting: the new Recommendations and WoNN TALK pages! The former lets you easily find any WoNN review from since the blog began (and there are way more than I realized), while the latter provides a forum-like space for everyone to sound off on Netflix- or blog-related topics. It seemed like there have been enough general discussions and questions in the past to warrant such a page. How it will actually work remains to be seen, but let's try it, shall we? I know you guys aren't shy!

New Releases

Dr. Who: Season 8 (2014)
The Look of Love (2013)
The Skeleton Twins (2014)
Two Days, One Night (2014)
Welcome to Me (2015)
Wet Hot American Summer: Season 1 (2015)

2000s

Asylum (2005)
Blue Crush (2002)
Bride and Prejudice (2004)
Dear Frankie (2004)
Happy Endings (2005)
The Hurt Locker (2008)
The Man from Nowhere (2010)
RETURNED:
Elizabethtown (2005)
Lassie (2005)
Quills (2000)
Shanghai Noon (2000)
Strictly Sexual (2008)

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August 2015 Expirations

Adventuring thru August 10

Due to popular demand, here's the most current list of what's expiring from Netflix this month. Note that this comprises everything currently known to be leaving in August, with bold denoting titles I've enjoyed or that seem worth a look. (Unfortunately, that includes at least three more BBC titles that are wandering off into the night.) As always, feel free to add further titles below as you find them.

Special thanks to reader LarryG, who generously compiled much of this information from existing comments.

August 1

Concussion (2013)
So Much, So Fast (2006)
The Cold Lands (2013)
Troublesome Creek: A Midwestern (1995)
Wave Twisters (2001)
Wu Dang (2012)

August 2

Ed's Next Move (1996)
It's a Disaster (2012)
N-Secure (2010)

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What To Do About Netflix?

Since well before starting this blog, I've been a great supporter of Netflix Instant. As I originally wrote in my About page, the streaming service is probably the best entertainment value for your dollar there is. Even when its new prices kick in over the next couple years, it'll still be a great deal.

But in recent months the company seems to be trying its best to alienate all but the most indifferent of customers. Continuing its trend of deemphasizing classic content for new and original programming, it not only axed over a thousand titles last month, but added insult to injury by giving little or no warning beforehand. It's now considering dropping expiration notices altogether. Given that the original purpose of this blog was to highlight more obscure and classic titles while providing a heads-up on when those (and other) titles were leaving, this effectively constitutes a double whammy.

New isn't always better

Then there was the recent website redesign, which was lauded as adding a fresh new look that makes it easier to view basic info for each title without leaving the main screen. Except, for those of us who want more than basic info, we now have to click through three partial screens instead of finding everything (overview, details, comments) on one. We're also now missing any on-screen expiration dates as well as the ability to copy and paste a title for further researching on the web.

Meanwhile, the interface for streaming players (in my case, the Roku Stick) gets more problematic with each new update. Originally you were able to see at a glance the number of items in a row and where you stood within it�an important point of reference when scrolling forward or back, especially in your queue. You could also see the total number of episodes in a TV show's season, which made for a handy indicator before committing to a new series; and once you selected a show, you could see immediately how long the upcoming episode was�great to know when starting a double-length pilot or special extended episode. But now, finding an episode's length takes an extra click, while there's no way at all to see the total episode count without scrolling through each season and adding them up yourself.

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July's Massive Housecleaning Continues

Just so no one thinks the number of movies expiring from Netflix this month represents business as usual, here's a tally of how many titles left the service each month since December of last year (as tracked by the enormously helpful site, New on Netflix USA):

December (2014) - 281 titles removed
January - 352
February - 224
March - 218
April - 307
May - 246
June - 212

That averages out to 307 departing titles per month, for the last six months. By comparison, July's total is (drum roll, please)...996. And counting. By the end of this month, given what we already know is set to expire, the toll will easily surpass 1,000.*

Making this number even worse is the fact that, as reported in my July 3 post (also picked up by many news outlets), the majority of these titles left with little to no warning�going against Netflix's historic practice of providing at least one week's notice prior to expiration.

That means you went to bed on the 19th with, say, 164 titles in your queue, and in the morning you woke up to find that 18 of them had disappeared. Poof�gone. Without any chance to reorder or prioritize based on Need To Watch. Thought you'd get a chance to bone up on some Mario Bava giallos or classic silents? Or one of those TV movies of the 1970s you were always curious about? Too bad. Netflix had other plans. And if reports of recent customer service calls are correct, the company plans to eliminate its expiration warnings altogether (because, why bother keeping your customers informed?).

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July Expirations: Let's Call It a Massacre

Well, this was unexpected. After June's list of more-than-could-be-processed expiring titles, it was natural to assume the bulk of the damage was done and we could go ahead and discuss July's new arrivals. But Netflix had other ideas. Perhaps trying to keep everyone from noticing exactly how many titles it's eliminating, the service saved a large chunk of its vanishing catalog for July 5�giving no prior notice until the last couple of days (the fact that it's July 4th weekend may also have been part of their plan, if you're conspiracy-minded).

Thanks to all the eagle-eyed readers out there who have been diligently posting their findings (and making my humble Expirations page look like a sub-Reddit forum!), we can gauge just how much will be gone as of Sunday at midnight. Granted, much of it is obscure genre fare and some is downright crappy, but there are also a few genuinely notable older titles�including the early John Boorman flick, Leo the Last (1970), and Jim McBride's seminal David Holzman's Diary (1967)�not to mention a whole slew of silents, many by that era's most distinguished filmmakers. There are too many for me to provide links, but here are all the silent films and pre-1982 titles (so far) that are viewable through July 5:

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June Expiration Watch: Too Many to Tally

Impossible mission, indeed

Well, Netflix has gone and done it: there are officially more titles expiring this month than I have the capacity to process. A good number of these arrived within the last six months, many as recently as April, which makes them even more disheartening to tabulate. Plus, with a large batch of very familiar titles scheduled to return next month, I'm feeling beyond burnt-out in trying to track every coming and going (and coming...and going...). Add to that Netflix's steady stream of original content, mid-month announcements, and the ubiquity of news stories on the company's every move, and this blog has now outgrown one (unpaid) person's ability to manage it.

On a personal level, I'm also finding it increasingly difficult to balance the needs of this site with my own creative work, especially given the number of hours now required to simply update these lists and moderate the comments from all the many helpful contributors out there. Since I don't like the idea of shutting the blog down completely�something I'd been considering�I'm going to instead attempt some streamlining.

A change in approach

My plan, as of now, is to continue to post updates on what's new and what's expiring, but with a few key changes:

1. Updates such as this will consist mainly of lists, with a minimum of editorial comment.
2. Lists will narrow their focus to titles I can personally recommend, in keeping with the blog's original intent.
3. These semi-monthly posts will replace the standalone Expiring and What's New pages.
4. The current Expiring page will be converted into a discussion area, since the increasingly general nature of the comments there seems to dictate such a space is necessary (plus I'm not quite ready to start an actual forum).

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New Features

You may or may not have noticed that I have added two more pages underneath my blog header: Anniversaries and TCM Schedule.

The Anniversaries page has upcoming 100th birthdays of actors both living and passed on, 10th, 25th, and 50th anniversaries of death, deaths so far this year, and films celebrating their 50th anniversary.

The TCM Schedule page gives the dates and times for movies showing on TCM that I think are worth watching. Many I have already seen but some of them are ones that I will be watching. I will be updating it every month. On those that I can find trailers to, I will link them in the title.

I will also be adding a new feature: Netflix Monthly Movies, where I will review a classic movie currently on Netflix Instant. Most of the movies on Netflix seem to be one's that aren't well known and have actors with names no one really remembers anymore. This doesn't always mean the movie is bad however. And a lot of times, there is no trailer on YouTube either, so the only way to know if the movie is good or not is to watch it. My first review will be this coming Monday: The Flight That Disappeared (1961). The Blonde at the Film also posts about the more famous classic movies currently on Netflix Instant.

I started a Facebook Page where I will be posting random photos, quotes, and interesting tidbits about Classic Hollywood, as well as letting you know when there is a new post on this blog. Please go "like" it!!!!

Thanks for looking!

Since It Was Good Enough for Netflix...

Introducing the new standalone blog for Amazon Prime subscribers: What's On PRIME Now? (catchy name, no?). Just like this site, WoPN will maintain running tallies of the service's streaming titles to help you decide what's worth watching. This replaces the single Prime page that debuted here last month, with a direct link now taking its place in the tab above�letting you essentially toggle between the two sites.

Go ahead and take a look around. Even if you're not a Prime user, you may find it useful to compare the two service's offerings. I hope you like what you see! And feel free to let me know if I've forgotten something or if anything seems goofy.

New commenting style

On an unrelated note: For some time, technical issues have prevented certain readers from commenting on this site, so I'm changing the commenting style to allow greater access. The trade-off is that now each new comment opens a pop-up window for you to write in, instead of letting you comment inline. It also, for some reason, removes the Reply option, which I'm not happy about but which we'll all just have to get used to�unless someone out there is more fluent in Blogger than I am, and can suggest a more elegant solution.

BBC Fallout: What's Staying, What's Going

My, my. Who knew there would be such a media firestorm surrounding those BBC titles marked to expire from Netflix Instant? I was pretty surprised to see a record number of news sites citing this blog as a source, resulting in a record number of hits�numbers which continue to boggle (thank you all).

But here's the thing: even with all the attention this story received, so many news sites got�and continue to get�their facts wrong. In one story after another I've read that "all" of the BBC titles were on the chopping block. Or, if not all, then shows like The Office and Sherlock were among them (which they never were). I've also seen claims that the mass expiration was "rumored"�which was pretty rich considering Netflix itself was responsible for slapping on all those expiration labels. And now that a good chunk of the most popular series have been renewed, I'm seeing stories claim that "all" or "most" of the titles have been renewed and, Whew! we needn't have been so worried after all, it's just business as usual, move along, nothing to see here, etc.

Well, I hate to stick my thumb in the (black) pudding, but that's just not the case. As you can see from the lists below, 24 titles were renewed, while another 52 are still marked for 2/1 (actually 1/31) departures. Granted, many of those staying are among the most popular and headline-worthy (hello, Dr. Who and Top Gear), but there are equally important series still getting the axe, among them such stalwarts as Fawlty Towers, Coupling, Black Adder, Red Dwarf, A Bit of Fry & Laurie, and not one but two Diana Rigg miniseries.

Is it possible Netflix will still renew some or all of these shows in the months to come? We can certainly hope. But for now, they're wearing the scarlet letter E. So I'll leave it to the Anglophiles and the nature- and history buffs to sift through the list and decide which are worth bingeing into the wee hours of January's remaining days. All I can say is: Godspeed. And I do mean 'speed'...

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On Those (Possibly) Expiring BBC Titles

(1/16 update: Many of these titles have now been renewed, including all of Dr. Who. See next post for the full rundown.)

There's been a lot of buzz in the last 24 hours regarding the large block of BBC shows scheduled to expire from Netflix Instant on the 31st (and which have been listed here for over a week). Sources as diverse as The Huffington Post, CNN, MTV News, and Vulture have all referenced this site's expiration list, which has been awesome, but it's also led to some minor confusion. So, to address any questions some of you might have:

If you don't see it listed, it's probably safe

Not every streaming BBC show is marked to expire. Programs such as Sherlock, Doc Martin, Merlin, and Ripper Street, for example, look to be safe (for now). If there's a specific title you're worried about that you don't see here, just search for it on Netflix's website, then hover your cursor over the thumbnail like so:

See that availability date? It will also be listed on the show's main info page, down on the right beneath Streaming Details:

If there's no availability date, then you're okay (again�for now!). As longtime readers know, this isn't always a foolproof test, since Netflix can be cagey about revealing such dates. But for this block of shows (and TV series in general), it's usually accurate. (Movies, of course, are another matter...)

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2014: A Year in Review

It was an eventful year both on Netflix and here at What's On NETFLIX Now?, with lots of choice movies coming and going (many of them more than once). For less thorough readers and those who only discovered this blog in recent months, I thought it would be fun to recount some of 2014's highlights, not only to give an idea of what you missed but to show what's still available to explore�both on Netflix and on the backpages of this site. I'll also try to provide some insight into what's ahead in 2015 (depressing though it may seem)...

Altman's 3 Women

JANUARY 2014 saw an impressive influx of new titles following a pretty dismal December, including rarities like Robert Altman's 3 Women and indispensable classics like Billy Wilder's Some Like It Hot and The Apartment�both of which have unfortunately expired (though I'm happy to report the latter is set to return in January 2015). Standalone reviews covered an obscure, oddly charming 1972 comedy, The Public Eye, from director Carol Reed, and Megan Griffith's effective, low-key thriller, Abduction of Eden, loosely based on the true story of a woman kidnapped into a human trafficking ring.

FEBRUARY marked the site's first significant bump in readership thanks to a highly ranked post on Reddit, with monthly hits more than tripling. This prompted a look back on the blog's philosophy and some of what had come before (a post I may need to revisit myself, since I feel I may be wandering a bit from my original purpose). The month was also notable for an influx of excellent 1970s flicks, four of which received short reviews, although three of those later expired�as is so often the case on Netflix these days. Another film, 1974's Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry, merited its own full review, mostly because I've always had a soft spot for car chase movies of the early 1970s. February also saw the passing of writer/director Harold Ramis, a true mensch of 1980s and '90s comedy, along with the loss of a number of notable French films, including two starring French heartthrobs Alain Delon and Jean-Paul Belmondo. One of those, 1962's A Woman Is a Woman, represented Jean-Luc Godard's lone entry on Netflix.

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A-Tweeting We Will Go

For those of you who occasionally dip a toe (or even a whole leg) into the Twitterverse, I've just started a WoNN-only account that you might be interested in, @NetflixNow1. I'd previously used my personal handle for announcing new blog posts, but I was feeling more and more limited in what I could tweet without seeming schizophrenic.

The truth is, over the course of any week there are all sorts of Netflix-related tidbits I'd like to share with all of you, but they aren't usually deserving of the time needed to write (or read) a full blog post. You know�updates to the new and expiring lists, links to pertinent news stories, brief announcements about titles to watch out for, thoughts on movies good and bad, etc.�the kinds of things that are perfect in short bursts. And, as regular Twitter users know, it's also an easy way to exchange thoughts and ideas, especially with those of you too shy to leave comments here (or who have weird browsers that won't let them).

So if that sounds like your kind of thing, and you'd like a bit of added value to your WoNN experience beyond a simple subscription, by all means click on that inviting-looking Follow button below. Then, tweet your friends.

Or as henchman Harry Wilson said to Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis, in Some Like It Hot:

"Join us..."

Follow @NetflixNow1
#followme #itseasy #orelse

More Expirations, Netflix Gets Sneaky

Not to keep sounding notes of expirational doom, but when a film as brilliant as Memento (2000, reviewed here) is poised to leave Instant in a few short days�even if it's not at the traditional end-of-month�I'm happy to be called a Netflix nag. It's not the only movie worth checking out that will be expiring on August 14 (11:59 P.M., to be exact). Also getting a premature burial are three history-centric titles, not to mention those that vanished mysteriously on August 1 (addressed after the jump).

Agora (2009)

Although taking place in Alexandria in the 4th century A.D., Agora's not really a sword-and-sandals flick (though there are plenty of both). It's more an intelligent study of religious intolerance and the passing of Classical Antiquity into the first flowering of Christianity, featuring an excellent Rachel Weiss as the enlightened pagan-philosopher Hypatia. Director Alejandro Amenabar (Open Your Eyes, The Hours) brings a jaundiced view to the Christian hordes sacking and stoning everything in sight, but it's refreshing to see a period film of this scale not caught up in empty-headed spectacle and obligatory CGI nonsense, and with such a strong female at its center. As usual in such an undertaking, the history tends to get fudged, but that doesn't detract from the overall message or the gist of what actually went down�and what continues to transpire even in our own, apparently enlightened, age.

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September Expiration Watch (2013)

I may not have time for my monthly expiration roundup (it's been a busy month), but I at least wanted to call attention to what's expiring from Netflix Instant in the coming days�a list that includes such significant titles as Robert Altman's Gosford Park, the steamy French classic Betty Blue, Wong Kar-Wai's melancholy In the Mood for Love, and important films by Alfred Hitchcock, Nicholas Roeg, John Sayles, and Peter Weir. Also biting the dust: Warren Beatty, Steve Martin, Jane Fonda, and John Cusack. Check out the updated Expiring Soon list, above, to see what you'll soon be missing.

September 27

Rango (2011) 

September 28

Gosford Park (2001)

September 29

Betty Blue (1986)
The Moon in the Gutter (1983)
Mortal Transfer (2001)

September 30

Barefoot in the Park (1967)
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982)
Don't Look Now (1973) - Review
Eight Men Out (1988)
Frenzy (1972)
Heaven Can Wait (1978) - Review
Identity (2003)
In the Mood for Love (2001)
Next Stop Wonderland (1998)
The Parallax View (1974) - Review
Saved! (2004)
Witness (1985) - Review

Some Big Titles Going Away, Expiration List Returns

While there's still no scientific way to identify every soon-to-expire title since Netflix retired its public database in May (see post), I have found a more limited approach that should yield some of the more significant departing titles each month.

Among the bigger ones to be pulled from Instant on August 1 are Chinatown, Broadway Danny Rose, the acclaimed Helen Mirren series, Prime Suspect, and a couple of classics with Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn. Check out my full list in the tab above (which will come and go as needed). And if any others show up in your queue, please feel free to share them in the comments below.

8/1 UPDATE: I've since discovered a few other titles that expired, probably back on 7/1: Richard Lester's The Three Musketeers, Coppola's Tucker: The Man and His Dream, Play It Again, Sam, and Another Day in Paradise. And the hits just keep on goin'...

Expiration Dates Expired

Well, as I wrote last week, Netflix's public list of expiration dates for streaming titles seems gone for good. An official announcement was made Monday on the company's blog:

Starting today, we will no longer provide expiration dates for any of our titles in the public API... We are making this change because the expiration date can be inaccurate as a result of frequent, often last minute, changes in content flow. Netflix members will still be able to see the listed title expirations on Netflix.com on each individual title page.

That means even sites like Instantwatcher.com will no longer have advance notice of what's expiring. The best we can now expect is a one-week notice for any titles already in our queues. Other titles, i.e., ones we may not know about or whose title page we haven't recently visited, will just disappear.

I'm hoping there will eventually be another alternative, but until then my plan is to spotlight any noteworthy titles that I discover are expiring in the last few days before they're gone. This will be more hit and miss than picking from a compiled list--and with shorter notice--but I should still catch a few good ones that would otherwise have gotten away. In other words, stay tuned...

Avoiding the Axe

As some of you may already know, the Netflix database has never been 100% accurate. A title that was marked for expiration might easily return to the service a day or a month later. And now that the company has closed down its public list of upcoming/expiring titles (see previous post), this information remains even more subject to inaccuracy. As such, I plan to regularly follow up on titles I've written about whose status may have changed. Here are a few I wrote about last month that actually survived the Great Purge of 5/1/13:

The Apple
Bad Timing
Doctor at Sea
Gregory's Girl 
Passion of Anna
Y Tu Mam� Tambi�n

That's not to say these won't disappear tomorrow. But if they do, I'll do my best to update you.