7 Movies To Watch This Week Before They Leave Netflix For Good

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Talking bears. Terrifying aliens. Adorable aliens. Kids on wild adventures for buried treasure, and commandos out hunting Nazis in occupied France. There are so many great movies about to leave Netflix at the end of November. It would be a shame not to add at least a couple to your watchlist this week.

Thanksgiving is almost here, so a lot of the following list is a little more family-friendly, though I include a couple for older audiences as well. I figure a lot of people will be spending time with their kids or grandkids, so a few of these are aimed at a wider audience. But don’t worry, each of them is great for all ages (and we should all strive to remain young at heart). Each of the following movies departs Netflix on December 1st, so you have exactly one week to check these off your list.

Be sure to also check out my TV streaming guide for Thanksgiving week. There are so many great shows out at the moment, from Pluribus to The Chair Company to The Mighty Nein – it’s hard to keep up! For new TV shows and movies, take a gander at my latest weekend streaming guide as well. Okay, onto the list!

Edge Of Tomorrow (2014)

“Come find me when you wake up!”

Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt star in this action-packed sci-fi flick that somehow manages to be the lovechild of Starship Troopers and Groundhog Day. The 91% Rotten Tomatoes movie is from director Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity) and is adapted from the popular Japanese light novel, All You Need Is Kill. I haven’t seen this one since it came out, but it’s a really entertaining movie with a great supporting cast that includes Bill Paxton and Brendan Gleeson among others.

E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

“Be good.”

I place E.T. in my top 5 Steven Spielberg movies and honestly it probably makes my top 5 kids movies as well. That’s true of a lot of people: The film has a 99% Rotten Tomatoes score, though surprisingly only a 72% audience score. Curiouser and curiouser. The story of Elliot (Henry Thomas), Gertie (Drew Barrymore) and the little lost alien who they discover stranded near their home is genuinely one of the best American family films of all time. This is another one I haven’t seen in years, and I’m sorely tempted to watch it myself this week.

Inglourious Basterds (2009)

“Oooh, that’s a bingo!”

Quentin Tarantino entered something of a new phase of filmmaking with his 2009 revisionist World War 2 movie, Inglourious Basterds, which I think gets better with every viewing. Christoph Waltz’s villainous Hans Landa, the notorious “Jew-hunter,” quickly became one of the best bad guys of the 2000’s and Waltz became a household name. Brad Pitt, Eli Roth, Diane Kruger, Michael Fassbender, Melanie Laurent and more round out the excellent cast.

The Goonies (1985)

“Down here, it’s our time. It’s our time down here.”

It’s kind of wild that two of my favorite childhood films are leaving Netflix this week. E.T. and The Goonies disappear from the streaming service on the same day – though I should point out: Goonies never say die. Richard Donner’s coming-of-age movie really helped define the genre and the decade. It’s a great adventure about a group of kids who find themselves in way over their heads, achieving the impossible to save their families from eviction. A true underdog story with a palpable sense of magic. I actually had the great fortune of interviewing Sean Astin (who plays Mikey) recently which was really neat. The Goonies only has a 77% Rotten Tomatoes score, but critics were harsher toward family movies back then. 91% of audience members give it a thumbs-up (the other 9% probably hate kittens).

Paddington (2014)

“This family needed that wee bear every bit as much as he needed you.”

While I’m always telling everyone that Paddington 2 is an absolute masterpiece and one of the greatest movies ever made, it’s worth noting that the first Paddington is also a charming adventure that’s very much worth watching. You certainly don’t have to watch it before Paddington 2, but you might as well! Actually, watch it this week because Paddington 2 isn’t leaving yet, but this one is. Paddington’s Rotten Tomatoes score is just three percentage points shy of the sequel, at 96%. (Some book purists do not like these movies at all).

Wonka (2023)

“The greedy beat the needy, Willy. It’s just the way of the world.”

Speaking of Paddington, 2023’s Wonka is from the same writer-director team that made Paddington 2, which is a real mark in its favor. Yes, I know, Timothee Chalamet is in everything these days – like Pedro Pascal, he’s been over-cast and familiarity breeds contempt – but that’s no reason to miss this Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory prequel. Paddington 2’s very own Hugh Grant also stars (in a very different role). The film has an 82% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Midnight Run (1988)

“You two are the dumbest bounty hunters I have ever seen! You couldn’t even deliver a bottle of milk!”

Another classic ‘80s movie, Midnight Run is the story of a bounty hunter tracking down – and then trying to keep hold of – a white collar criminal on the run from both the feds and the criminals trying to kill him. Robert De Niro plays bounty hunter, Jack Walsh, and Charles Grodin plays the man he’s sent to find, Jonathan Mardukas. The comedy thriller has a 95% on Rotten Tomatoes and is one of my favorite ’80s odd couple flicks, right up there with Planes, Trains and Automobiles and Throw Mama from the Train. De Niro and Grodin are hilarious in this one.

Here’s the full list of movies leaving Netflix on December 1st: