Sure, you’ve got mashed ‘taters for Thanksgiving, and probably for a few days after. But if you want some of them French-fried ‘taters a la Sling Blade on the Netflix, you’re running out of time. MMMM-hmmm.
That movie, featuring a mentally challenged adult man fascinatingly portrayed by Billy Bob Thornton, has an impressive 96 percent “Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Your writer highly recommends it, but stream it before it vanishes at the end of November. Bonus: See if you can find the original short, called Some Call It a Sling Blade featuring Thornton with J.T. Walsh and Molly Ringwald, who did not appear in the full-length feature. Thornton wrote the short, and the full-length adapted screenplay that the short pitched to Hollywood. He took home an Oscar for his writing and a nomination for his acting.
As Karl might say: “Aight, den” … on to a couple more highlights from December’s comings and goings in Netflix’s video treasure trove (full list below):
Love Kevin Spacey? You’ll cringe with his character in American Beauty (88 percent Fresh) but hurry because it’s gone Dec. 1. If you’re into extreme sports, athletes who take incredible risks and/or need a good cry before the end of the month, might we suggest McConkey, a critically acclaimed documentary on extreme sports pioneer Shane McConkey. Try to figure out who’s on top in “Top Gun” before it runs out of fuel on Dec. 1.
With the family all home to argue about the election, you might consider The In-Lawsa good distraction from the inevitable. Think again. This isn’t the 1979 versionstarring Peter Falk and Alan Arkin. There’s never enough Falk and Arkin – ever. The remake does have Albert Brooks, so there’s that. After Dec. 1, you won’t have to worry about it any more – on Netflix, anyway.
If you just KNOW the government is hiding something really big via coded messages known only to the Illuminati, you have until Dec. 14 to find out – that’s when The Da Vinci Code disappears like so much invisible continental congressional ink.
Don’t fret the losses … a lot of cool new stuff is being added starting Dec. 1, including TOGA!!!! – National Lampoon’s Animal House. And you’ll be able to Netflix and Chill with Bob Ross to a greater degree than ever before … featuring a collection of the big-haired painter’s best, plus more than a few happy little trees starting bright and early Dec. 1.
A slew of Netflix Originals are being added as well in December. Top of that list to watch with your Facebook-fake-news-sharing uncle is Barry, a biopic about Barack Obama that arrives on Dec. 16. Perhaps not. Possible alternatives from the newly arriving list include The Way of the Dragon, the awesome 1972 kung fu flick that features Bruce Lee denuding Chuck Norris‘ chest of hair before dispatching him … or perhaps Hitler: A Career? Both arrive on Dec. 1. There’s always America’s biggest patriot beating up bad dudes in Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War – arriving as a big present from Netflix on Christmas Day. Maybe just put your uncle on a filter and play it safe with My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: Season 6, arriving Dec. 20.
Here’s the full rundown:
December 1 50 First Dates (2004) American Beauty (1999) Black Ops: Series 2 Camp Takota (2014) Carmen Jones (1954) Cats & Dogs (2001) Curious George: Swings Into Spring (2013) Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood (1996) Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007) Event Horizon (1997) Frequencies (2013) McConkey Medora (2013) Monkey Business (1952) Myth Hunters: Series 1 Myth Hunters: Series 2 Neil Young: Heart of Gold (2006) Paycheck (2003) Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie (2008) River of No Return (1954) Sling Blade (1996) Thor: Hammer of the Gods (2009) The Great War Diary: Season 1 The In-Laws (2003) The Out-of-Towners (1999) Top Gun (1986) Valley of the Dolls (1967) World Trade Center (2006)
December 2 Legends of the Knight (2013) The Red Baron (2008)
December 3 The Best of Me (2014)
December 5 Holes (2003)
December 14 The Da Vinci Code (2006)
December 15 High Profits: Season 1 World War II in Colour (2009)
December 16 Beyond the Hills (2012)
December 22 Dark Skies (2013)
December 26 Just Friends (2005)
December 27 Spy Kids (2001)
December 31 Hercules: The Legendary Journeys: Seasons 1-6
December 1 Always (1989) Angels in the Snow (2015) Beverly Hills Cop (1984) Beyond Bollywood (2014) Black Snake Moan (2007) Chill with Bob Ross: Collection (1990) Compulsion (1959) D2: The Mighty Ducks (1994) David Blaine: Street Magic (1997) Dreamland (2010) For the Love of Spock (2016) Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce: Season 2 (2015) Glory Daze: The Life and Time of Michael Alig (2016) Harry and the Hendersons (1987) Hitler: A Career (1977) Holiday Engagement (2011) Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989) House of Wax (2006) Hannibal (2001) Merli: Season 1 – NETFLIX ORIGINAL Merry Kissmas (2015) National Lampoon’s Animal House (1978) Picture Perfect (1997) Rainbow Time (2016) Rodeo & Juliet (2015) Swept Under (2016) Switchback (1997) The Angry Birds Movie (2016) The Crucible (1996) The Little Rascals (1994) The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000) The Rock (1996) The Spirit of Christmas (2015) The Way of the Dragon (1972) Toys (1992) Uncle Nick (2015) Waking Life (2001) We’re Back! A Dinosaur’s Story (1993) White Girl (2016) Wildflower (2016) Zero Point (2014)
December 2 Fauda: Season 1—NETFLIX ORIGINAL Hip Hop Evolution: Season 1—NETFLIX ORIGINAL Pacific Heat: Season 1 –NETFLIX ORIGINAL
December 3 Lost & Found Music Studios: Season 2 – NETFLIX ORIGINAL
December 5 Mad (2016) The Good Neighbor (2016)
December 6 Blue Jay Homeland (Iraq Year Zero): Season 1 Reggie Watts: Spatial—NETFLIX ORIGINAL The Devil Dolls (2016) The Model (2016)
December 8 The Cuba Libre Story: Season 1—NETFLIX ORIGINAL
December 9 Captive: Season 1—NETFLIX ORIGINAL Cirque du Soleil Junior – Luna Petunia: Season 1 NETFLIX ORIGINAL Club de Cuervos: Season 1—NETFLIX ORIGINAL Fuller House: Season 2—NETFLIX ORIGINAL Four Seasons in Havana: Season 1—NETFLIX ORIGINAL Medici: Masters of Florence: Season 1—NETFLIX ORIGINAL Spectral—NETFLIX ORIGINAL White Rabbit Project: Season 1—NETFLIX ORIGINAL
December 10 Lucky Number Slevin (2006) Phantom of the Theater (2016)
December 11 Breaking a Monster (2016)
December 12 Ricardo O’Farrill: Christmas Special—NETFLIX ORIGINAL
December 13 Colony: Season 1 Killswitch (2016) I Am Not a Serial Killer (2016) Nobel: Season 1—NETFLIX ORIGINAL
December 14 Versailles: Season 1 (2015)
December 16 Barry—NETFLIX ORIGINAL Call Me Francis: Season 1—NETFLIX ORIGINAL Crazyhead: Season 1—NETFLIX ORIGINAL No Second Chance: Season 1—NETFLIX ORIGINAL Rats (2016) The Adventures of Puss in Boots: Season 4 —NETFLIX ORIGINAL
December 19 Miss Stevens (2016)
December 20 Disorder (2015) Gabriel Iglesias: Sorry For What I Said When I Was Hungry—NETFLIX ORIGINAL My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: Season 6 (2016) Ten Percent: Season 1—NETFLIX ORIGINAL The Break: Season 1—NETFLIX ORIGINAL
December 23 Travelers: Season 1—NETFLIX ORIGINAL Trollhunters: Season 1—NETFLIX ORIGINAL
December 25 Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War (2016) When Hari Got Married (2013)
December 27 Ajin: Season 2—NETFLIX ORIGINAL Chasing Cameron: Season 1—NETFLIX ORIGINAL
December 28 Comedy Bang! Bang!: Season 5 (2016)
December 29 The Hollywood Shorties (2016)
December 30 The Eighties: Season 1 (2016)
December 31 Big in Bollywood (2011)
See you next month!
