Catch them before they go
While there are constant arrivals of fresh movies and TV shows on Neon, there is also a regular churn of content dropping off the Kiwi-owned and curated streaming service.
So although you might think a film or programme will be available to watch on there in perpetuity, the truth is licencing deals mean they are usually only around for a few months – or years – at a time.
In a bid to assist those keen to get the most out of their subscription, and to help with your viewing priorities, Stuff to Watch has come up with a list of six superb movies that won’t be around come January 1.
Make sure you catch them while you can.
Book Of Love (2022)
Sam Claflin and Veronica Echegui team up for this tale about an uptight English author who is delighted to discover that he has become an unlikely hit in Mexico. However, it’s only when he goes on a promotional tour there that he discovers the real reason why – his Spanish translator has rewritten his “dull book” as an erotic novel.
What could have been a cringeworthy cross-cultural comedy is actually a surprisingly entertaining romp. Sure, you can see the seams, anticipate the traditional tropes and brace yourself for both the power ballad-backed late lament and farcical finale of Spanish film-maker Analeine Cal y Mayor and co-writer David Quantick’s rom-com, but leads Claflin and Echegui winningly sell the premise and punchlines.
Dark Waters (2019)
Based on the brilliantly titled 2016 New York Times Magazine article The Lawyer Who Became DuPont’s Worst Nightmare, Todd Haynes (Carol, Far From Heaven) delivered a stunning and rage-inducing real-life environmental courtroom drama. This Erin Brockovichmeets-JohnGrishamesque drama will make you look at your Teflon cookware in a whole new, chilling, light. Playing it with the same understated compellingness he brought to 2015 Oscar-winner Spotlight, Mark Ruffalo is outstanding as a man willing to risk his career and life to expose the truth about perfluorooctanoic acids and the ongoing effects they can have on livestock and human health.
Dazed And Confused (1993)
Ben Affleck, Matthew McConaughey, Parker Posey and Renee Zellweger star in writer-director Richard Linklater’s dramedy chronicling the last day for a group of senior
students at a Texas high school in 1976. The evocative, provocative soundtrack included classic tracks by Bob Dylan, Aerosmith, Alice Cooper, The Runaways, Kiss and Deep Purple. “Smart, funny and wonderfully crafted and performed,” wrote Austin Chronicle’s Marjorie Baumgarten.
From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)
On the run from a deadly bank robbery, Seth Gecko (George Clooney) and his paranoid, loose-cannon brother Richard (Quentin Tarantino) hightail it to the Mexican border in Robert Rodriguez’s wild action-horror. Kidnapping preacher Jacob Fuller (Harvey Keitel) and his kids, the siblings hole up in a topless bar – one that, unfortunately, also happens to be home to a gang of vampires. “A deliriously trashy, exuberantly vulgar, lavishly appointed exploitation picture,” wrote Variety’s Todd McCarthy.
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Despite barely registering at the box office, Frank Darabont’s adaptation of Stephen King’s short story regularly tops “favourite movie” lists and with good reason. Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins make for an unlikely but endearing double act and the against-the-odds story is at once uplifting and beautifully subversive. “If you don’t love Shawshank, chances are you’re beyond redemption,” wrote Empire magazine’s Ian Nathan.