Gone by Thursday: The best 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 12 terrific movies that won’t be around come Thursday – so catch them while you can.

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgandy (2004)

Will Ferrell, Christina Applegate, Paul Rudd, and Steve Carell star in this cult 2004 comedy about a top-rating 1970s newsman whose career is threatened by the arrival of a new female employee.

A film filled with endlessly quotable dialogue and memorable scenes, it helped propel many of its actors onto even greater things.

“Anchorman gave me more stupid giggles than I’d care to admit, ” wrote Boston Globe’s Ty Burr.

Burn After Reading (2008)

Featuring one of the finest ensembles in cinema history (everyone from Brad Pitt to George Clooney, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton and John Malkovich), this Coen Brothers crime comedy’s delights are in the details.

The plot, involving two gym employees who may have stumbled onto some state secrets, has the usual McGuffins and red herrings, as the action segues into rants on cosmetic surgery, the fitness industry, internet dating and automated phone lines.

It’s an offbeat world, populated by bizarrely monikered and coiffured characters, where gum-chewing, smoothy-drinking personal trainers cross paths with flooring-obsessed officials who also insist on post-coital jogs.

Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan (2019)

While much has been written and dramatised about Anzac exploits at Gallipoli, little is known about those trans-Tasman soldiers who served their countries almost half a century later in Vietnam. Kriv Stenders powerful and poignant drama aims to put that right. At least, when it comes to sharing one against-the-odds survival story.

Intense, emotional and, at times, harrowing, director Stenders and a screenwriting quintet headed by Stuart Beattie do a terrific job, both with the film’s pacing (time is taken to establish the characters before all hell breaks loose) and placing the audience in the centre of the action.

The impressive cast includes Travis Fimmel, Luke Bracey and Richard Roxburgh.

Duplicity (2009)

Closer couple Clive Owen and Julia Roberts reunite as a pair of opposing corporate spies with a romantic history in this engaging caper from Michael Clayton writer-director Tony Gilroy.

“Watching Duplicity brings pleasures all too rare: gorgeous actors speaking smart, funny dialogue in beautiful settings,” wrote Seattle Times’ Moira MacDonald.

Game Night (2018)

Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams headline this 2018 action-comedy about a group of friends who find themselves entangled in a real-life mystery when one of the number’s siblings is apparently kidnapped by dangerous gangsters.

Look out for Michael C. Hall, Danny Huston, Jesse Plemons, Kyle Chandler and Sharon Horgan amongst the supporting cast.

“This surprisingly zingy, throwback studio comedy is witty and observant on the dynamics between couples,” wrote The Observer’s Simran Hans.

The Guns of Navarone (1961)

Based on Alistair MacLean’s 1957 novel of the same name, this World War II-drama follows an Allied commando unit’s mission to destroy a seemingly impregnable German fortress that is taking out Allied ships in the Aegean Sea. Gregory Peck, David Niven and Anthony Quinn lead the charge.

“Beautifully paced, this 156-minute classic allows enough time for character development, plot complications and several exciting set-pieces,” wrote Film Frenzy’s Matt Brunson.

I Love You, Man (2009)

Paul Rudd, Jason Segel and Rashida Jones star in this bromantic comedy about a friendless bloke who goes on a series of man-dates in order to find a best-man for his wedding.

What could have been just another You, Me and Dupree or My Best Friend’s Girl is lifted onto a higher plain by a witty script and an entertaining cast of genuinely funny people that also include Jane Curtain, J.K. Simmons, Jon Favreau and Jaime Pressly.

“It’s a one-joke pony, but director John Hamburg and his screenwriters manage to stretch it to nearly two hours of hilarity and quasi-profundity,” wrote Toronto Star’s Peter Howell.

Inception (2010)

Can we dream of dreaming about dreams? That’s the central conundrum at the heart of this truly mind-bending thriller about a thief, who steals corporate secrets through use of dream-sharing technology, who is now given the inverse task of planting an idea into the mind of a chief executive.

Like The Matrix a decade before it, this was the movie that made jaws-drop and spines tingle with its spectacular visuals and audacious conceit.

All that high-mindedness didn’t stop it being a damn fine action movie though, with Tom Hardy, Ellen Page, Leonardo DiCaprio and Joseph Gordon-Levitt leading the way.

Little Boxes (2016)

New Zealand’s own Melanie Lynskey headlines this dramedy about an inter-racial family who struggle to adjust when they move from New York’s Brooklyn to a small town in Washington State.

“Writer Annie J. Howell and director Rob Meyer stack up their woes without making them feel contrived, so when the breakdown comes, it’s real, and it’s heartbreaking,” wrote Flavorwire’s Jason Bailey.

O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)

George Clooney, John Turturro and Tim Blake Nelson star in this hilarious crime comedy about three escaped convicts looking for buried treasure in the 1930s deep south. While the story is loosely based on Homer’s epic Greek poem the Odyssey, it was T Bone Burnett’s period soundtrack that became not only an unexpected hit, it also took out the Grammy for Album of the Year. “It’s a wild, whacked-out wonder,” wrote Rolling Stone’s Peter Travers.

Shutter Island (2010)

Martin Scorsese directs this haunting mystery-thriller about two US marshals (Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo) who are sent to an isolated asylum in order to investigate the disappearance of a patient.

However, when they begin digging, they discover the institution is harbouring a shocking secret. Based on the 2003 novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane, the cast also includes Ben Kingsley, Max von Sydow and Michelle Williams.

“Offers sumptuous, enthralling, shivery gothic filmmaking with a hard-boiled heart and a sly line in asylum humour,” wrote Empire magazine’s Kim Newman.

Snatch (2000)

Guy Ritchie went multi-national in this entertaining follow-up to Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Benicio Del Toro, Dennis Farina and Brad Pitt are amongst those who find themselves caught up with dogs, diamonds, mobile homes, boxers and assorted weaponry in an, at-times, chaotic and compelling tale.

“Manages the trick of keeping the viewer entertained – and aware of exactly who is where – even when the movie is going in three directions at the same time,” wrote Variety’s Derek Elley.