David Farnor | On 15, Dec 2018

As the end of 2018 looms, it’s time to look back and reflect upon the best things you saw this year, and what you’ve still got to catch up on. But it’s also time to count down until a whole flood of titles leave your favourite subscription services, as licences expire on New Year’s Eve and aren’t renewed for the immediate future. This December, that means now’s the time to catch The Road and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, if you’ve never seen them before – or, presuming that Netflix doesn’t extend its rights once again, Rick and Morty.

Watch this space for updates on any of the below dates. But as it currently stands, this month is your last chance to stream the following:

The Road – 19th December

“Soon all the trees in the world will have fallen… I think it’s October, but I can’t be sure. I haven’t kept a calendar for years.”

The post-apocalyptic world is a grey place. Drowned in decaying ash, it sits in ruins, foraged by the few who survived. Among them are a father (Viggo Mortensen) and his boy (Kodi Smit-McPhee). Shot in a morbid monochrome, the film’s depressing palette only lifts in the flashbacks, showing us the life that was destroyed by the fire. Glowing off-screen in threatening flickers, we never see the destruction first-hand – John Hillcoat’s framing is perfect throughout, unflinching yet resolutely enigmatic. Despite its weighty content, the result is a precise and poignant piece of film-making. One that demands to be seen, even if you won’t enjoy it.

Him & Her – 23rd December

Russell Tovey and Sarah Solemani are television’s most believable flatmate couple in this BBC Three sitcom. They don’t do much each episode, but their chemistry is a hilarious, adorable joy to watch.

Chef – 30th December

Sincerity, affection and sandwiches. Jon Favreau’s comedy-drama about a cook frustrated with the artistic restrictions of his success, who takes to the road in a truck of his own, independent design has everything you need for a hearty cinematic meal – just don’t watch it when you’re hungry.

The Shallows – 30th December

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air – 31st December

Now this is a story all about how my life got flipped, turned upside down…

Rick and Morty -No longer being removed

Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon’s irreverent, dark, twisted, dark, hilarious, dark, disturbing, dark animated comedy follows the misadventures of an alcoholic scientist and his grandson – think Back to the Future, but with more time-travelling, universe-hopping portals, aliens and rude jokes.

Cowboy Bebop – 1st January

This 1998 anime from director Shinichirō Watanabe manages the impressive, stylish task of fusing Westerns, film noir and jazz together into one tale. A landmark series that introduced a large number of Western viewers to anime, it’s an undoubted classic.

Fast Five – 1st January

The first five films in the Fast & Furious franchise race off Netflix this January, with the fifth – and best – film effectively rebooting the series as action movies that happen to feature cars. Don’t miss the chance to see a bank heist unlike any other.

Pride! – 12th January

Lesbians and gays support the miners in this heartwarming take on a true story, which sees one group of social outcasts stand side-by-side with another during the 1984 miners strike. Simply lovely.

Les Miserables (2012) – 13th January

Do you hear the people sing? You soon will do after Tom Hooper’s fabulously heart-breaking adaptation of the stage musical. The decision to record the cast singing live on set made headlines when the movie was first released – and you’ll understand why when you hear Anne Hathaway’s understated I Dreamed A Dream. Once you’ve stopped crying, that is.

 

Other titles leaving Netflix UK in December 2018 and January 2019:

 

15th December
The Ex
Sharknado
This Is the Life
Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning
Universal Soldier, Regeneration

16th December
Big Fish
No Second Chance
Vampire Knight

17th December
Lockup: Chain Linked
The Stranger Within
Would You Rather

18th December
The Great Train Robbery

19th December
The Contestant
Naked Among Wolves
Nayok Jamai

19th December
Total Frat Movie
Waking Ned

20th December
The Benchwarmers

21st December
Deck the Halls
The Pink Panther 2
The Pink Panther

22nd December
Don’t Blame the Kid

23rd December
The Care Bears Movie
The Fighting Seabees
How She Move
Jennifer 8
Sleuth
Twisted

24th December
American Heist
The Boss

25th December
Black Mass
Vengeance

26th December
Don’t Breathe
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit
Sausage Party

30th December
The 9th Life of Louis Drax
Be Afraid
Burning Blue
Central Intelligence
East Side Sushie
Liberal Arts
Miss Meadows
Mountain Men
Plan Z
The Shallows
Stephen King’s A Good Marriage
Urban Hymn
The Wannabe
The Weekend

31st December
Big In Bollywood
The Fighting Season
Ip Ma
Ip Man 2

1st January
Adult Beginners
Agent Cody Banks
Aileen Wuornos: Te Selling of a Serial Killer
Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer
Allan Quartermain and the Lost City of Gold
American Masters: Althea
Antz
Birdman of Alcatraz
Black Knight
The Black Stallion Returns
Boomerang
Chauranga
Cries from Syria
Detective Conan
Die Hard 4.0
The Fast and the Furious
2 Fast 2 Furious
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
Fast & Furious
Fast Five
The Frog Prince
The Holcroft Covenant
Hot Shots! Part Deux
I’ll See You in My Dreams
Imba Means Sing
Infinity Chamber
Intramural
Joseph: King of Dreams
Lady Chatterley’s Lover
Marci X
Misconduct
Missing in Action 2: The Beginning
Over the Top
Pacific Warriors
Paranormal Activity 2
The Perfect Physique
The Pope of Greenwich
PopPixie
The Prince of Egypt
The Road to El Dorado
Rob Roy
Sahara
Shrek
Sinbad of the Seven Seas
Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas
Southside with You
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron
The Stanford Prison Experiment
Street Smart
Tayo the Little Bus
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2
The Time of Their Lives
Women vs. Men

2nd January
I Am Not Madame Bovary
The Koala Brothers

3rd January
Attack on Titan
Blue Exorcist

5th January
Outsiders
Underground

6th January
Battleship
Blue Mountain State
Golden Years
Green Street
Immortals
Inglourious Basterds
Kicking & Screaming
Peter Pan
Pitch Black
Plane Resurrection
Robin Hood (2010)
Scarface (1983)
The Tale of Despereaux
Vinnie Jones’ Toughest Cops

9th January
The Watcher

10th January
The Karma Killings

12th January
Hostel Part II
The Jane Austen Book Club
No Good Deed

13th January
Chiro
Pororo: The Little Penguin

14th January
Demon Inside
The Dirty Picture

15th January
Boj
The Candidate
Earth to Luna!
In My Dreams
The Inexplicable Universe with Neil deGrasse Tyson
Inssaei
The Lava Field

19th January
Madeline
Out of My Hand
Shrooms
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot
The Zero Theorem

20th January
Gato Negro
Precious Puppies

 

With thanks to uk.newonnetflix.info for some of the information.
 

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