Most of the Instant Watches in this post snuck on last week with no advance warning, but no matter. The important thing is that they’re here now, and there are some really damn good ones. On DVD, the big release is Tron Legacy and the original Tron, which is getting a big blu-ray release for the first time. Although despite about a gazillion different editions of Legacy and original, the one I would buy with just Blu-rays of both films does not exist. Ah well. Of course, around here, I’m liable to take flak for wanting to buy them at all. Oh, the other big release is Little Fockers, but I couldn’t really care less about that if you paid me to care less. Although, if you would like to pay me to try, I will be glad to oblige. Gotta take any extra cash I can find, you know.

BUY

Tron: Legacy
Sue me, but I quite enjoyed the minimalist design here and even found some food for thought in the admittedly rather hamfisted allegorical story. Might not go down in the annals of great filmmaking, but it’s gonna be a killer Blu-ray demo disc. Tom’s Review | Cinecast Review
2010 USA. Director: Joseph Kosinski. Starring: Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund.
Amazon DVD | Amazon Blu-ray (includes DVD and digital copy) | Amazon Blu-ray 3D Combo w/Tron | Netflix

Tron
After the trouble I had to go through to find a copy of this to see before catching Tron Legacy in theatres, I’m not sure if I want to give Disney money for it or not. On the other hand, I’d love to see a restored version over the crappy copy I downloaded.
1982 USA. Director: Steven Lisberger. Starring: Jeff Bridges, Bruce Boxleitner.
Amazon DVD | Amazon Blu-ray | Netflix (Blu-ray only)

Friday Night Lights: Season Five
I lost track of this show when it moved to DirecTV for a couple of seasons, but my goodness was it surprisingly good up until then. Sure, it got soapy a time or two in various subplots, but Coach and Mrs. Coach are nothing less than the best married couple on TV. If the rest of the series is half as good as the first two seasons, this is worth buying sight unseen.
2010 USA. Creator: Peter Berg. Starring: Kyle Chandler, Connie Britton, Aimee Teegarden, Taylor Kitsch.
Amazon DVD | Netflix

RENT

The Taqwacores
A film about a Pakistani student studying in New York falling in with a group of Muslim punk rockers (Taqwacores) is definitely intriguing to me, combining aspects of religion, music, and national identity. I hope this pops on Instant Watch eventually.
2010 USA.Director: Eyad Zahra. Starring: Bobby Naderi, Noureen Dewulf.
Amazon DVD | Netflix

Eclipse Series 26: Silent Naruse (Criterion Collection)
Includes: Flunky, Work Hard, No Blood Relation, Apart from You, Every-Night Dreams, Street Without End
I’ll freely admit to not knowing any of these films and not really even being familiar with the director, though I have heard of his later film When a Woman Ascends the Stairs. But I’m fascinated by the Criterion Eclipse series, and would pretty much love to get my hands on all of them.
1931-1934 Japan. Director: Mikio Naruse. Starring: Shizue Akiyama, Seiichi Kato.
Amazon DVD | Netflix

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader [4/8]
I have little hope for this, but it is my favorite one of the books, and Apted is a pretty solid director. But yeah, my disappointment in the first, skipping of the second, and the general mediocre reviews for the whole series don’t bode well. Tom’s Review
2010 USA. Director: Michael Apted. Starring: Ben Barnes, Skandar Keynes.
Amazon DVD | Amazon Blu-ray (includes DVD) | Netflix

I Love You Phillip Morris
Jim Carrey as a gay conman trying to break his lover Ewan McGregor out of prison isn’t necessarily top of my list to see (mostly because I really dislike Carrey 90% of the time), but it was the DVD pick for a couple of the guys on this week’s Cinecast.
2011 USA. Director: John Requa, Glenn Ficarra. Starring: Jim Carrey, Ewan McGregor.
Amazon DVD | Amazon Blu-ray | Netflix

Casino Jack
Personally I have close to zero interest in a fictionalized biopic of one of Washington’s most successful lobbyists, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not a good movie. I actually heard very little about it when it was out, but that could be because my interest level was zero.
2010 USA. Director: George Hickenlooper. Starring: Kevin Spacey, Barry Pepper, Kelly Preston.
Amazon DVD | Amazon Blu-ray | Netflix (5/3)

SKIP

Little Fockers
There are two things that baffle me about this movie. One, that it got made. Two, that people went to see it. IN DROVES. Number two does explain number one, I suppose. But the film looks abysmal. Cinecast Review
2010 USA. Director: Paul Weitz. Starring: Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro.
Amazon DVD | Amazon Blu-ray | Netflix (5/3)

NEW ON BLU-RAY

BOX SETS AND COLLECTIONS

I don’t always single out box sets because most of the time, especially for older films, they don’t really seem worth it to me – there are usually individual editions that are much better. But TCM’s Greatest Classic Films series of sets are worth taking a look at – priced around $20 on Amazon, and you get four films. Usually at least two or three of those are worth paying full price for, so it’s like getting a film or two free along with the ones you really wanted. Of course, this differs by set, but I can’t scoff at that price, and though there aren’t really any extras on the discs, the transfer quality is good.

TCM Greatest Classic Legends Collection: Bette Davis
Includes: Now, Voyager, Dark Victory, Old Acquaintance, Jezebel.
Jezebel is one of Davis’ Oscar-winning roles, and Dark Victory and Now, Voyager are both top-notch melodramas. I haven’t seen Old Acquaintance, but it has a decent reputation among Davis fans. This is easily the best of the sets TCM is releasing today.
1938-1943 USA. Director: William Wyler, etc. Starring: Bette Davis, Henry Fonda, Paul Henreid, George Brent.
Amazon DVD

TCM Greatest Classic Legends Collection: Marlon Brando
Includes: A Streetcar Named Desire, Julius Caesar, The Teahouse of the August Moon, Reflections in a Golden Eye.
Even if you only get this for A Streetcar Named Desire, it’s likely worth it. The others aren’t nearly as acclaimed, but they have their moments and supporter, and I mean really. Where else are you going to see Marlon Brando play a Roman noble?
1951-1967 USA. Director: various. Starring: Marlon Brando.
Amazon DVD

TCM Greatest Classic Films Collection: Johnny Weissmuller as Tarzan, Vol. 1
Includes: Tarzan the Ape Man, Tarzan and His Mate, Tarzan Finds a Son, Tarzan Escapes.
This first set of Tarzan films includes the first two films, which are the best. Those two alone are worth the cost, plus you get a couple more programmers thrown in.
1932-1939 USA. Director: various. Starring: Johnny Weissmuller, Maureen O’Sullivan.
Amazon DVD

TCM Greatest Classic Films Collection: Johnny Weismuller as Tarzan, Vol. 2
Includes: Tarzan’s Secret Treasure, Tarzan and the Amazons, Tarzan’s New York Adventure, Tarzan and the Leopard Woman
I’ve seen none of these, and I doubt most of them are worth looking at unless you’re a particular fan of 1930s-1940s B adventure movies – I’d watch them all, but I probably wouldn’t buy them sight unseen.
1941-1946 USA. Director: various. Starring: Johnny Weismuller.
Amazon DVD

WATCH INSTANTLY

Toy Story 3
One of last year’s biggest hits and the Best Animated Feature Oscar winner hits Instant Watch and goes immediately to the top of the charts. Definitely worth a watch if you haven’t managed to see it yet. Andrew’s Review | Cinecast Review
2010 USA. Director: Lee Unkrich. Starring: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack.

The Terminator [4/8]
The iconic time-travel cyborg film that spawned a franchise and plenty of imitators – I kind of like Judgement Day a tiny bit better, but you gotta start with this one. Or watch it again, since you’ve almost certainly seen it at least once.
1984 USA. Director: James Cameron. Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton.

The Conversation
One of the best films about surveillance and eavesdropping ever made, as Hackman is an investigator who suspects a couple he’s surveilling may be murdered – his own paranoia and crisis of conscience threaten his very sanity. Probably my favorite Coppola film – yes, over The Godfather.
1974 USA. Director: Francis Ford Coppola. Starring: Gene Hackman, Teri Garr, John Cazale.

Le doulos
An understated crime drama from the king of French crime drama. Thanks to some clever play with doubling and a great performance by Belmondo, this one becomes far more moving by the end than you’d expect.
1962 France. Director: Jean-Pierre Melville. Starring: Jean-Paul Belmondo, Serge Reggiani.

Forbidden Games
World War II through the eyes of two French provincial children, a six-year-old girl who is orphaned by an air raid, and the boy whose family takes her in. The ways they try to assimilate the death they’ve experienced are sobering and at times disturbing.
1952 France. Director: René Clément. Starring: Georges Poujouly, Brigitte Fossey.

Pocket Money (aka Small Change)
There’s very little to this film beyond a slice-of-life approach to a group of French children – sort of a 400 Blows without the focus and narrative drive provided by Antoine Doinel – but Truffaut excels at working with children, and the film is charming.
1976 France. Director: François Truffaut. Starring: Richard Golfier, Geary Desmounceaux.

A Woman is a Woman
One of Godard’s most lighthearted and farcical films, with Karina a woman who wants a child and Brialy her boyfriend who does not, and Belmondo the friend who loves Karina from afar. Jonathan Rosenbaum calls this a musical that fails at being a musical and that’s fair enough, but it’s mostly just really fun.
1961 France. Director: Jean-Luc Godard. Starring: Anna Karina, Jean-Claude Brialy, Jean-Paul Belmondo.

The Three Musketeers and The Four Musketeers
Originally meant as one film but split into two for length (and greater profits), this is one of the best versions of Dumas’s book, with Lester’s great sense of fun and adventure livening things up mightily.
1973/1975 UK. Director: Richard Lester. Starring: Michael York, Raquel Welch, Oliver Reed.

The Graduate
Post-college drifting and cougar affairs combined into an iconic film of disaffection, set to some of Simon & Garfunkel’s best-known songs. Also, one of the few Mike Nichols films I actually like.
1967 USA. Director: Mike Nichols. Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft, Katharine Ross.

Kicking and Screaming
A perfect double-feature with The Graduate, hitting many of the same “we graduated from college, what now” notes, just thirty years later. Baumbach’s best film to me, but I also saw it when I saw square in the middle of my own quarter-life crisis.
1995 USA. Director: Noah Baumbach. Starring: Eric Stoltz, Josh Hamilton.

Dirty Money
I believe I have vaguely heard of this film under its French title “Un flic,” but whatever it’s called, it’s a crime drama from Melville, starring Delon and Deneuve. Why haven’t I heard more about this already? SOLD.
1972 France. Director: Jean-Pierre Melville. Starring: Alain Delon, Catherine Deneuve.

Passion of Anna
I must confess to not knowing much about this Bergman film, but the description makes it sound kind of like Through a Glass Darkly on steroids. Whatever, it’s Bergman, so it’s going in my queue.
1969 Sweden. Director: Ingmar Bergman. Starring: Liv Ullmann, Bibi Andersson, Max von Sydow.

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
An incisive satire on the bourgeois lifestyle, with a dinner party that can’t seem to get going, being continually interrupted by the surreal dreams (or are they dreams?) of one character or another. It’s been aaaaages since I saw this. Definitely due for a rewatch.
1972 France. Director: Luis Buñuel. Starring: Fernando Rey, Delphine Seyrig.

That Obscure Object of Desire
Never one to shy away from strangeness, here Buñuel has two actresses play the same role as a man tells of his obsession with this woman. Also could use a rewatch on this one. Surreal-type cinema usually takes me a while to warm up to.
1977 Spain. Director: Luis Buñuel. Starring: Fernando Rey, Carole Bouquet, Angela Molina.

Pauline at the Beach
I’ve so far only seen Rohmer’s Moral Tales films, but I’ve really liked almost all of those, so I’m close to ready to branch out into some of his later work; this one, about a summer at the beach for 15-year-old Pauline and her aunt Marion, might fit the bill.
1983 France. Director: Eric Rohmer. Starring: Arielle Dombasle, Feodor Atkine, Rosette.

Intacto
The Spanish-language film Fresnadillo made before 28 Weeks Later is an enjoyable thriller placed in a world run by luck – four people who have it have their stories intertwined as they seek out why, and how they can use it to their advantage.
2001 Spain. Director: Juan Carlos Fresnadillo. Starring: Leonardo Sbaraglia, Eusebio Poncela, Max von Sydow.

Live Flesh
So far I’ve loved pretty much every Almodovar film I’ve seen, but this isn’t one I’ve seen. Hoping to fix that soonish.
1997 Spain. Director: Pedro Almodovar. Starring: Francesca Neri, Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz.

Four Lions [4/7]
This has gotten really good press everywhere I’ve read – a farce about a bunch of British jihadists whose ideals get out of hand as they try to carry out a terrorist attack. Except they’re all idiots, and can’t agree on anything, and everything falls apart. David’s Review
2010 UK. Director: Christopher Morris. Starring: Kayvan Novak, Nigel Lindsay, Riz Ahmed.

Murder!
A very early Hitchcock film, with perhaps the most apropos title of any Hitchcock film ever. My experience has been that the early Hitchcocks on Instant have been pretty low picture quality, but still worth checking out.
1930 UK. Director: Alfred Hitchcock. Starring: Herbert Marshall, Norah Baring.

The Hunt for Red October
The first of the Jack Ryan films (based on the Tom Clancy character), the only one with Alec Baldwin as Ryan, and quite a good entry into the espionage genre, with Connery as a Russian (I know) sub commander defecting to the US.
1990 USA. Director: John McTiernan. Starring: Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin.

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
Three drag queens and their adventures going on tour in Priscilla, their fabulous tour bus – there are a lot of laughs here, and some tears, all more than earned by the solid cast.
1994 Australia. Director: Stephan Elliott. Starring: Hugo Weaving, Guy Pearce, Terence Stamp.

No Direction Home: Bob Dylan
I continue to be fascinated by number of music documentaries Martin Scorsese has directed, and I’m a decent-sized fan of Dylan, too, so I’m pretty excited to check this out.
2005 USA. Director: Martin Scorsese. Starring: Bob Dylan, Joan Baez.

Elizabethtown
A bit of a misfire for Cameron Crowe, but it’s still Cameron Crowe, and though I don’t think Bloom can really carry a film, there’s some charm to be had in this slight romantic comedy/drama.
2005 USA. Director: Cameron Crowe. Starring: Orlando Bloom, Kirsten Dunst.

Four Weddings and a Funeral
If “British ensemble romantic comedy” is a genre, this is right up there with the best of them – despite a bit of woodenness from Grant and McDowall, the supporting cast (especially John Hannah and Simon Cowell) come through in spades.
1994 UK. Director: Mike Newell. Starring: Hugh Grant, Andie McDowall, Kristen Scott Thomas.

The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones
Oh, wow. I’d almost forgotten this exists! I used to watch these whenever I could find them – there was a video set at one point with selected episodes. I’m sure they won’t live up to my childhood remembrances, but I can’t wait to find out.
1992-1993 USA. Director: Jim O’Brien. Starring: Sean Patrick Flanery, George Hall.
Volume One | Volume Two | Volume Three

The Guild: Season 4
The latest season of Felicia Day’s MMO gamer webseries hits Netflix; it’s been available online and on Xbox Live in individual episodes, but I actually find it easier to watch all in one chunk, so I’m glad to see it pop up on Instant.
2010 USA. Creator: Felicia Day. Starring: Felicia Day, Sandeep Parikh.

Glee: Season 1
Only the first season is hitting Instant so far, but that’s really okay, because the show went sharply downhill after that. But at least the first half-season is a solid guilty pleasure.
2009 USA. Creator: Ryan Murphy. Starring: Matthew Morrison, Lea Michele, Jane Lynch.

The Twilight Zone
Now, why Seasons One, Three, and Five, but not Two and Four? I don’t know. But I do enjoy the classic Twilight Zone episodes, and since they’re all standalone, I guess missing some seasons doesn’t matter SO much. (Seriously, though, anyone know why this would be?)
1959, 1961, 1963. Creator: Rod Sterling. Starring: various.
Season One | Season Two | Season Five

The Stand
I’m not a Stephen King fan, so I haven’t seen this TV miniseries adaptation of The Stand, but everyone I know who is a King fan says its pretty spiffy, so there you go.
1994 USA. Creator: Stephen King. Starring: Gary Sinise, Molly Ringwald, Rob Lowe.

Stargate: Universe, Season 2
I quit filling up my DVR with Stargate Universe after I heard it was canceled, but I did enjoy it while I was watching it – looking forward to finishing out the episodes on Instant.
2010 USA. Creator: Robert C. Cooper, Brad Wright. Starring: Robert Carlyle, Alaina Huffman.

Jericho
Almost better known now for its successful fan campaign for a second season, Jericho was actually quite a good post-apocalypse show, though I lost a bit of steam as it got more actiony and less contemplative.
2006-2008 USA. Creator: Stephen Chbosky, Josh Schaer, Jonathan E. Steinberg. Starring: Skeet Ulrich, Gerald McRaney.
Season One | Season Two

Ally McBeal
I’m actually kind of surprised to see Ally McBeal show up on Instant – it’s one that avoided DVD for a LONG time, at least in full season format. I watched a season in the middle somewhere and enjoyed it, though I never got fully invested in it.
1997-2001 USA. Creator: David E. Kelley. Starring: Calista Flockhart, Portia de Rossi, Jane Krakowski.
Season One | Season Two | Season Three | Season Four | Season Five

The Andy Griffith Show
My mom was a big fan of Andy Griffith (both his comedy routines and the show) so I sort of grew up with him second hand, even though I never saw much of the show itself. I’d like to check it out just for proxy nostalgia’s sake.
1960-1967 USA. Creator: Jack Elison. Starring: Andy Griffith, Don Knotts, Ron Howard.
Season One | Season Two | Season Three | Season Four | Season Five | Season Six | Season Seven | Season Eight

Most James Bond Movies
Several James Bond movies hit Instant Watch this week, basically the ones made from 1965 to 1989. So all of Connery except the good ones (Dr. No, From Russia With Love, and Goldfinger), and all of Lazenby, Moore, and Dalton, but no Brosnan or Craig. Of these, I’d recommend On Her Majesty’s Secret Service highest, and The Spy Who Loved Me. The others are varying degrees of fun if you’re a Bond fan, but not really that great.

EPIRING SOON FROM INSTANT WATCH

I’ve been warning that expiration data isn’t always accurate, and lo and behold, all those Fox shows (plus Rocky & Bullwinkle) didn’t expire – or, they became unavailable for a few hours in the middle of the night on April 1st, and then returned. Fox and Netflix must’ve come to a new agreement. In any case, everything else expired on schedule.

Other Releases

MOVIES AND MORE
Arabesque (1966 USA, dir Stanley Donen, stars Gregory Peck, Sophia Loren; Netflix)
Captain Newman MD (1963 USA, dir David Miller, stars Gregory Peck, Tony Curtis, Angie Dickinson; Netflix)
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Part 4 (2011 Japan, creator Hiromu Arakawa, stars Rie Kugimiya, Romi Park; Blu-ray, Netflix)
The Heroes of Telemark (1965 USA, dir Anthony Mann, stars Kirk Douglas, Richard Harris; Netflix)
iCarly: Season Two, Vol. 3 (2009 USA, creator Dan Schneider, stars Miranda Cosgrove; Netflix)
Mirage (1965 USA, dir Edward Dmytryk, stars Gregory Peck, Diane Baker, Walter Matthau; Netflix)
The Mountain (1956 USA, dir Edward Dmytryk, stars Spencer Tracy, Robert Wagner; Netflix)
The Night of the Generals (1967 USA, dir Anatole Litvak, stars Peter O’Toole, Omar Sharif; Netflix)
Rope of Sand (1949 USA, dir William Dieterle, stars Burt Lancaster, Claude Rains; Netflix)
The World in His Arms (1952 USA, dir Raoul Walsh, stars Gregory Peck, Ann Blyth; Netflix)

NEW ON BLU-RAY
…And Justice For All (1979 USA, dir Norman Jewison, stars Al Pacino, Jack Warden)
Benny & Joon (1993 USA, dir jeremiah S. Chechik, stars Johnny Depp, Mary Stuart Masterson)
De-Lovely (2004 USA, dir Irwin Winkler, stars Kevin Kline, Ashley Judd)
Jawbreaker (1999 USA, dir Darren Stein, stars Rose McGowan, Rebecca Gayheart)
Mystic Pizza (1988 USA, dir Donald Petrie, stars Annabeth Gish, Julia Roberts)
The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996 USA, dir Milos Forman, stars Woody Harrelson, Courtney Love, Edward Norton)
The Rules of Attraction (2002 USA, dir Roger Avary, stars James Van Der Beek, Shannyn Sossamon)
Taxi (2004 USA, dir Tom Story, stars Queen Latifah, Jimmy Fallon)

INSTANT WATCH
The Accused (1988 USA, dir Jonathan Kaplan, stars Jodie Foster, Kelly McGillis)
Addicted to Love (1997 USA, dir Griffin Dunne, stars Meg Ryan, Matthew Broderick)
Alice in Wonderland (1999 USA, dir Nick Willing, stars Tina Majorino, Whoopi Goldeberg, Robbie Coltrane; also Canada)
The Associate (1996 USA, dir Donald Petrie, stars Whoopi Goldberg, Tim Daly) [4/8]
Battlestar Galactica: The Complete Epic Series (1978 USA, creator Glen A. Larson, stars Lorne Green, Richard Hatch, Dirk Benedict; also Canada)
Beauty and the Beast: Seasons 1, 2, 3 (1987-1989 USA, creator Ron Koslow, stars Ron Perlman, Linda Hamilton)
Bite the Bullet (1975 USA, dir Richard Brooks, stars Gene Hackman, Candice Bergen)
Camille Claudel (1988 France, dir Bruno Nuytten, stars Isabelle Adjani)
Chop Shop (2007 USA, dir Ramin Bahrani, stars Alejandro Polanco, Isamar Gonzales)
The Day of the Dolphin (1973 USA, dir Mike Nichols, stars George C. Scott, Trish Van Devere)
Dead Alive (1992 New Zealand, dir Peter Jackson, stars Timothy Balme, Elizabeth Moody)
Die Hard With a Vengeance (1995 USA, dir John McTiernan, stars Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson)
Father of the Bride (1991 USA, dir Charles Shyer, stars Steve Martin, Diane Keaton)
The Fog (1980 USA, dir John Carpenter, stars Jamie Lee Curtis, Janet Leigh)
The Golden Bowl (2000 UK, dir James Ivory, stars Uma Thurman, Jeremy Northam)
Gregory’s Girl (1981 UK, dir Bill Forsyth, stars John Gordon Sinclair, Dee Hepburn)
Harper’s Island: Complete Series (2009 USA, creator Ari Schlossberg, stars Katie Cassidy, Christopher Gorham)
Hikaru No Go: Complete Series (2001 Japan, stars Brad Swaile, Samuel Vincent)
The Howling (1981 USA, dir Joe Dante, stars Dee Wallace, Patrick Macnee)
I’m Gonna Git You Sucka (1988 USA, dir Keenen Ivory Wayans, stars Keenen Ivory Wayans, Antonio Fargas, Isaac Hayes; also Canada)
The Incredible Shrinking Woman (1981 USA, dir Joel Schumacher, stars Lily Tomlin)
Ken Burns: Baseball (1994 USA, creator Ken Burns)
The Langoliers (1995 USA, dir Tom Holland, stars David Morse, Patricia Wettig, Dean Stockwell)
Little Man Tate (1991 USA, dir Jodie Foster, stars Jodie Foster, Dianne Wiest, Adam Hann-Byrd)
Marvin’s Room (1996 USA, dir Jerry Zaks, stars Meryl Streep, Leonardo diCaprio, Diane Keaton)
Melrose Place: Seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 (1992-1998, creator Darren Star, stars Courtney Thorne-Smith, Heather Locklear)
Melrose Place 2.0 (2009 USA, creator Darren Star, stars Katie Cassidy, Colin Egglesfield)
MI-5: Vol. 9 (2010 UK, creator David Wolstencroft, stars Richard Armitage, Peter Firth, Nicola Walker)
The Mirror Crack’d (1980 USA, dir Guy Hamilton, stars Angela Lansbury, Elizabeth Taylor, Kim Novak)
Mission: Impossible, Seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 (1966-1972, creator Bruce Geller, stars Steven Hill, Martin Landau, Barbara Bain)
Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr. (1999 USA, dir Errol Morris)
My Beautiful Laundrette (1986 USA, dir Stephen Frears, stars Gordon Warnecke, Daniel Day-Lewis)
Naruto: Seasons 1 and 2 (2005-2006 Japan, creator Mamashi Kishimoto, stars Junko Takeuchi, Noriaki Sugiyama)
Never on Sunday (1960 Greece, dir Jules Dassin, stars Melina Mercouri, Jules Dassin, Georges Foundas)
No Name on the Bullet (1959 USA, dir Jack Arnold, stars Audie Murphy, Charles Drake, Joan Evans) [4/8]
One False Move (1991 USA, dir Carl Franklin, stars Bill Paxton, Cynda Williams; also Canada)
Ponette (1996 France, dir Jaques Doillon, stars Xavier Beauvois, Victoire Thivisol)
Red Dragon (2002 USA, dir Brett Ratner, stars Anthony Hopkins, Edward Norton, Harvey Keitel; also Canada)
Saving Grace: Seasons 1, 2, 3 (2007-2009 USA, creator Nancy Miller, stars Holly Hunter, Leon Rippy; also Canada)
Sons of Anarchy: Seasons 1, 2 (2008-2009 USA, creator Kurt Sutter, stars Charlie Hunnam, Johnny Lewis)
The Swimming Pool (1969 France, dir Jacques Deray, stars Alain Delon, Romy Schneider)
Top Gear: Seasons 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 (2003-2010, starring Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond)
Up Close and Personal (1996 USA, dir Jon Avnet, stars Robert Redford, Michelle Pfeiffer)
Vera Drake (2004 UK, dir Mike Leigh, stars Imelda Staunton, Richard Graham)
Von Ryan’s Express (1965 USA, dir Mark Robson, stars Frank Sinatra, Trevor Howard; also Canada)
Wings: Seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 (1989-1996 USA, creator David Angell, Peter Casey, David Lee, stars Tony Shalhoub, Thomas Haden Church)
Young@Heart (2007 USA, dir Stephen Walker; also Canada)

EXPIRING SOON FROM INSTANT WATCH
Michael Collins (1996 UK, dir Neil Jordan, stars Liam Neeson, Alan Rickman) [4/6]
The Proposal (2009 USA, dir Anne Fletcher, stars Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds) [4/6]
Tears of the Sun (2003 USA, dir Antoine Fuqua, stars Bruce Willis, Monica Bellucci) [4/9]
Single White Female (1992 USA, dir Barbet Schroeder, stars Bridget Fonda, Steven Weber) [4/11]
The Missing Person (2008 USA, dir Noah Buschel, stars Michael Shannon, Amy Ryan) [4/13]
Mouth to Mouth (2005 Canada, dir Alison Murray, stars Ellen Page, Eric Thal) [4/14]
The Karate Kid Part II (1986 USA, dir John G. Avildsen, stars Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita) [4/15]
The Karate Kid Part III (1989 USA, dir John G. Avildsen, stars Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita) [4/15]
Ken Burns: The Civil War (2006 USA, creator Ken Burns) [4/15]
Eddie Izzard: Live from Madison Square Garden (2010 USA, stars Eddie Izzard) [4/16]
The Man Without a Face (1993 USA, dir Mel Gibson, stars Mel Gibson, Nick Stahl) [4/16]
The Witches of Eastwick (1987 USA, dir George Miller, stars Cher, Michelle Pfeiffer) [4/16]
Sister Act (1992 USA, dir Emile Ardolino, stars Whoopi Goldberg, Harvey Keitel) [4/18]

Disclaimers

• Amazon links use my affiliate account, and will kick a small percentage of your purchase back to me. You pay the same price you would anyway.
• Not all new releases are available on Netflix immediately. Some studio films have a 30-day release window before Netflix can rent them, and some smaller releases are not picked up by Netflix immediately. Add them to your “saved” queue if you’re interested; that tells Netflix there is demand for the disc.
• Not all new Blu-ray releases are available on Netflix – Netflix usually buys both DVD and Blu-ray editions of new releases, but if a DVD has already been released, they don’t always get the Blu-ray when it comes out later.
• Instant Watch releases are not always 100% accurate – often the data from the API is not fully accurate until the actual day of release. I always check on release day to make sure things actually do hit Instant Watch, but for things that come out later than Tuesday when I publish this post, I won’t be able to tell.
• Instant Watch expirations are not always 100% accurate – sometimes they don’t expire after all, sometimes things expire with little advance warning. I always check to make sure the data is accurate to the best of my knowledge when I publish the post, but things could still change, especially since I’m giving expiration warnings up to two weeks in advance.
• I rely on Box Office Mojo and InstantWatcher for the majority of the data for these posts, so thank you to them for the work they do.