As we see with each passing purge of Netflix's streaming library, old favorites, movies we've always wanted to see, and even the odd random selection tend to disappear at random intervals. Ours is not to try and make sense of what's leaving, but rather to tell you what you should really check out before finding it's too late. So, with that spirit in mind, we've got yet another month's worth of titles to catch up on before they exit stage left.
Don't fret though, as Netflix does giveth just as soon as it taketh away! So if you're all caught up with these titles, or just want to see what's coming to your streaming window to the world in the month to come, head over here to our list of titles coming online in the month of April. Now that we've squared away the formalities, break out your notepads and your hankies, as the following movies are leaving with the April showers.
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Any movie fan worth their salt has seen Ferris Bueller's Day Off at least a handful of times. How many times they've seen the film in its entirety, though, is a completely different question. Most folks will flip it on, no matter what point it's at, when airing on TV, but ask yourself, "When was the last time I saw Ferris and his antics from start to finish?" Well, if you don't already have a copy, this is your last chance to get acquainted through Netflix. Maybe call out sick from school or work, and make a day out of it. After all, live moves pretty fast.
Hero
15 years before The Great Wall ever hit the silver screen, director Zhang Yimou made a film about another hero who would perform gravity-defying feats in the name of China. That hero, in the case of Hero, is played by martial artist Jet Li, in a film that was brought to audiences in the U.S. after it impressed its biggest fan -- Quentin Tarantino. Surely, if Tarantino loved this film so much to help secure it an American release, it's worth a watch, isn't it? Find out for yourself, before it's too late.
The Superman Series
If you're the furthest thing from a fan of Zack Snyder's portrayal of the Man of Steel, then Superman: The Movie through Superman Returns are more than likely your thing. Which is good, because Netflix is getting rid of those movies in April, and now's as good a time as any to visit Christopher Reeve's and Brandon Routh's incarnations of the classic comic character. Also, it's good to keep things in perspective, as it's now hard to believe that we once took the last three Superman films as the "worst" of the bunch.
The Agony And The Ecstasy
The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is still one of the most widely regarded masterpieces in Renaissance art, all thanks to the unique vision of Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simon. But it wasn't always going to be the beautiful vision that he had intended, as he had to fight The Vatican and their more conservative tastes, which is the focus of director Carol Reed's The Agony and the Ecstasy. Based off of Irving Stone's book of the same name, this Charlton Heston classic is a prime example of the sort of grand sweeping historical epics they hardly make anymore. If you're looking for some Easter Sunday entertainment, and are tired of watching The Ten Commandments every year, make sure you've got this film on your list.
The Princess Bride
Another '80s classic on Netflix's chopping block is director Rob Reiner's The Princess Bride. Part love story, part fairy tale, all comedic genius, this film is one of those stories that could bridge the gap between fans of swashbuckling action, high brow word play, and films involving "kissing scenes." It's hard not to love Wesley and Princess Buttercup's romantic adventure, and it'll be even harder if the only way you've been watching it is through your Netflix queue.
Chaplin
In between the days of his feature film debuts and his renaissance as a leading man, Robert Downey Jr. made a movie that could, and should, stand among his finest career performances. Chaplin is a biopic of comedy legend Charlie Chaplin, the life he led, and all of its ups and downs. While its historical accuracy could be debated, as with any biopic ever made, it's certainly an enlightening experience as it shows the range that we've always known Downey to have in such an early phase of his career. Most impressively, the man transforms into the older Chaplin as easily as he does with the younger version, leaving a performance for the ages.
The Boys from Brazil
Are you ready to hear something that sounds so crazy, it could have only existed in the '70s? The Boys from Brazil is a movie where all-American actor Gregory Peck plays infamous Nazi doctor Josef Mengele, and Steve Guttenberg (yes, that Steve Guttenberg) plays the man uncovering a conspiracy involving the not-so-good doctor and a cloning program intending to create little Hitlers. However, don't let that description fool you into writing this tense thriller off, as it's somewhat of a hidden classical gem.
The Usual Suspects
Sometimes your movie has such a surprisingly powerful ending, it sticks with the world and ends up parodied so much that it kind of spoils the movie for people that haven't seen it. Psycho had one of those endings. Seven also had one of those endings. But one of the endings that has that misfortune to a certain enough degree that you can still watch it unfettered is The Usual Suspects. If you've ever seen a comedy mock a shocking reveal with a coffee cup being dropped, only to shatter on the floor, this is the movie that inspired that gag. But the reason why is the center of this film's mystery, and to say anything else would be absolutely criminal.
Vanilla Sky
Odds are you've never seen writer/director Cameron Crowe's Vanilla Sky, and why would you have? Well, despite the film being a box office write-off consigned to discovery on home video and cable TV, it has a small but vocal following. A mind-bending mystery involving a mostly masked Tom Cruise, this remake of a Spanish language thriller still holds up to this day. At least, it holds up way better than Aloha. Watch this one when you're wide awake though, as it's a bit of a rabbit hole.
A Fantastic Fear of Everything
Simon Pegg is usually a man in control of his destiny, or at the very least extremely self assured with most of his characters. Yet his most insecure, and possibly his most insane, character yet is that of Jack, a children's author who thinks that a business associate of his is a serial killer. While Pegg acting bonkers takes center stage, there's still plenty of visual excitement and surprises to enhance his protagonist's delusions.
