The Best TV Shows And Movies Leaving Netflix In July 2024
It's that time again! Time to say goodbye to a bunch of great movies and TV shows that are leaving Netflix. Summer has just started, and June is drawing to a close to make room for warm July. A new month always brings new titles to Netflix, but it also means several other titles will be departing — that's the nature of streaming. It's a fleeting thing; deals only last so long, and then it's time to say goodbye. So let's take a look at some of the best movies leaving Netflix in July, shall we? Act quickly, because soon, these titles will be gone, and who knows where they might end up next? Maybe nowhere!
The Matrix
While some of not-so-great "The Matrix" sequels have diluted things (although I will go to my grave insisting "The Matrix Resurrections" is good, actually), you just can't beat the original "Matrix." I can distinctly remember seeing the film opening weekend, and how the audience collectively lost their minds during the first scene as Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) levitates in the air while the camera spins halfway around her. It was electric, and we all proceeded to go bonkers as the film continued on its epic journey. You know the story by now: Keanu Reeves is Neo, a hacker who finds out the world we're all living in is actually a simulation. Lots of gunfire, fighting, gravity-defying, and cool goth fashion follows. "The Matrix" is 25 years old at this point and still holds up better than most modern blockbusters.
Hulk
Ang Lee's "Hulk" has a strange legacy. While I think most people consider it to be a failure, box office-wise, it was actually one of the biggest hits of 2003. But box office doesn't determine a film's quality. And when people talk about this movie at all, they seem to talk about the weird comic book transitions, the big melodrama, and the surreal mix of serious and silly. And yet, I say all of these things are a feature, not a bug. Before the MCU came in and pumped out a series of unimaginative blockbusters, Ang Lee was given the chance to go wild and make this strange, soulful, over-the-top extravaganza. I love every second of this huge, weird movie, and the superhero movie landscape would be a lot more interesting if filmmakers were given the freedom Lee seemingly had here to do something so odd. It's time for "Hulk" to receive the appraisal it deserves.
Moneyball
I'm not much of a sports fan, but I love movies about sports — especially baseball. And one of the very best baseball movies is "Moneyball." Based on a true story, "Moneyball" is all about how Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) used analytics in an attempt to build a winning team. "Moneyball" isn't so much about gameplay as it is about the behind-the-scenes work that goes into putting together a team, and the results are fascinating, bolstered by a dynamite script from Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin. I don't know how accurate the film is to the true story, and I also don't really care that much. I just know the film is wonderful, and endlessly rewatchable. How can you not be romantic about baseball?
Anaconda
Some films understand the assignment, and "Anaconda" is one of them. This 1997 thriller stars Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube, and Jon Voight doing a terrible accent. But the real star is the giant snake that gives the movie its title. A combination of not-so-great CGI and a wonderfully corny giant puppet (see above), the anaconda is a big, mean monster that targets a documentary film crew in the Amazon rainforest. Is this a smart movie? Is it clever? Is it original? I dunno, not really. But gosh, it's fun to watch. There's something delightfully uncynical about the whole affair. The filmmakers set out to make an entertaining monster movie, and that's exactly what they did. They don't really make 'em like this anymore, and that's a darn shame.
Traffic
"Traffic" feels like a film time forgot, which is wild since it won a bunch of Oscars, including a Best Director award for Steven Soderbergh. Perhaps folks think the film's "war on drugs" subject matter has been dated, and maybe it has. But having recently revisited the film for the first time in years, I can attest to the fact that this is a solid, crackling, excellent adult drama. Adapted from a British TV series, "Traffic" is a sprawling narrative that follows several characters and their connection to the illegal drug trade. Michael Douglas is a tough-on-drugs politician whose daughter becomes addicted to meth, Benicio del Toro (in an Oscar-winning role) is a Mexican cop, Catherine Zeta-Jones is a pregnant woman who gets mixed up in dirty deeds once she learns her husband is a drug lord. Soderberg and screenwriter Stephen Gaghan cut in and out of these stories, forming one big narrative that showcases not just the insidiousness of drug addiction but also the powerlessness of government agencies to really do anything about it.
TV shows and movies leaving Netflix in July 2024
Leaving 7/7/24
War Dogs
Leaving 7/14/24
Abducted in Plain Sight
Leaving 7/15/24
The Beguiled
Leaving 7/23/24
Big Eyes
Leaving 7/31/24
American Graffiti
Anaconda
Enough
Fatal Attraction
Glass
Hulk
King Richard
Knocked Up
Lucy
Moneyball
Public Enemies
Resident Evil
Resident Evil: Retribution
Role Models
Shrek
Smokey and the Bandit
Smokey and the Bandit II
Something's Gotta Give
The Great Wall
The Matrix
The Matrix Reloaded
The Matrix Revolutions
The Other Boleyn Girl
The Theory of Everything
Top Gear: Seasons 29-30
Traffic