Britt Hayes is a writer, movie lover, and sensible sweater enthusiast living in Austin, Texas. She watches too much TV and never eats her vegetables.
Britt Hayes
New Netflix Instant Releases: January 2017
Look, a lot of bad things happened in 2016 (so much so that the entire year has become a meme), but it’s time to look forward to all the promising things 2017 might bring — and your streaming BFF Netflix is already on top of it. There’s plenty of good stuff hitting the service in January, including premieres of Netflix Originals like A Series of Unfortunate Events and the YA film Coin Heist, as well as classics like Boogie Nights and The Shining.
What’s Leaving Netflix Instant: January 2017
Just as Netflix Instant giveth, so must Netflix Instant taketh away, and while there are plenty of great new titles coming to the streaming giant’s service in January, there’s almost just as many that will expire. Now’s a good time to stop procrastinating and finally get around to checking out some of those 30 For 30 specials, or maybe binge-watch every season Murder, She Wrote (you can knock out 12 seasons of Jessica Fletcher in two weeks, right?). January also sees the exit of teen classics like Bring It On and Sixteen Candles, which sounds like a great Saturday night double feature — but you only have a few more weeks to make that happen.
That ‘Escape From New York’ Remake Doesn’t Sound Like Much of a Remake at All
A remake of Escape From New York has been in development for years, but when Fox hired Luther creator Neil Cross to write the screenplay last fall, it seemed like the project was finally picking up some legitimate steam. It’s been over a year since we last heard anything about the remake of John Carpenter’s cult classic, but a new report has revealed several key plot details from the film — which doesn’t sound like much of a remake at all.
‘Passengers’ Trailer: How Upset Is James Cameron For Not Thinking of ‘Space Titanic’?
Somewhere, James Cameron is shaking his head and chuckling to himself, wondering why the heck he didn’t think of setting Titanic in space because it seems so obvious now — especially with this new trailer for Passengers, the Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence sci-fi romance that looks like it was made with an algorithm. Take the two most beloved actors on the planet, put them in a shiny, futuristic sci-fi movie and smoosh their faces together while making kissy noises. Cha-ching.
New Amazon Prime Instant Video Releases: November 2016
Amazon is giving you plenty of things to be thankful for in November, adding dozens of new film and television titles to their streaming library — would it be too much to ask for an add-on program that takes the agony out of deciding what to watch, though? For instance, it’s a heavy first world burden to choose between the first season of AMC’s The Night Manager and binge-watching all of the Rocky movies (yes, even Creed). Before you know it, you’ve already wasted half of your Saturday browsing before you end up rewatching The Addams Family for the billionth time.
‘Split’ Review: M. Night Shyamalan’s Best Film in Years Is a Surprisingly Poignant Thriller
The Visit was a fun, kooky and simple little horror flick that reminded audiences that M. Night Shyamalan still has the capacity to surprise and entertain us — but more than anything, it inspired optimism with the promise of more good things to come. Shyamalan has fully delivered on that promise with Split, an incredibly thoughtful and thought-provoking thriller. Although occasionally heavy-handed, Shyamalan’s latest is his most considerate and effective film in years, with a startling emotional core.
‘Fifty Shades Darker’ Trailer Promises Fireworks and Stalkers, Apparently
Uh, wait — is Fifty Shades Darker a ’90s thriller? That certainly seems to be the case based on the first full trailer for the upcoming sequel to Fifty Shades of Grey, in which Dakota Johnson’s Anastasia Steele reunites with Jamie Dornan’s Christian Grey for another quasi-erotic outing. This time there are no rules (or any humor that we can see), but there are lots of fireworks, a masquerade party, a new beau and a stalker…or two?
Jon Favreau’s ‘Iron Man’ Character Will Return in ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’
Just when we thought there wouldn’t be anymore Spider-Man: Homecoming casting news, here comes a bit of an unexpected — but pleasant — surprise: Jon Favreau will reprise his Iron Man role in Sony and Marvel’s upcoming reboot, joining MCU star Robert Downey Jr. for Tom Holland’s first solo outing as the iconic web-slinging hero. It’s news that should make several fans, uh, happy?
New ‘Blair Witch’ TV Spots Take You Back Into the Woods
2016 has been the year of pop culture surprise releases — some, like Lemonade and 10 Cloverfield Lane, have been pretty great, which makes us even more hopeful for Blair Witch. Originally marketed as The Woods, the sneaky sequel to the found footage horror classic is set to hit theaters next month, taking audiences back to where it all began…but judging by these new TV spots, heading back into the woods of Burkittsville seems like a pretty terrible idea (in a good, spooky way, of course).
First Look at the New ‘Star Wars’ Ship From ‘Rogue One’
Although Rogue One takes place shortly before the events of A New Hope, it does feature some tech and vehicles that we haven’t previously seen in the Star Wars universe. That’s already inspired a bit of nitpicking among fans, but we can all probably agree that this new addition is pretty cool: It’s called a U-Wing, and we’re going to be seeing a lot more of it when Rogue One hits theaters in December.
‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’ Reveals Yondu’s New Look
Those who attended Marvel’s panel at Comic-Con last month were treated to the first footage from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, which featured some exciting reveals — including a little bit of an upgrade for Michael Rooker’s Yondu. Marvel isn’t releasing any of that footage anytime soon, so if you weren’t at Comic-Con, then you might be interested in this new image of everyone’s favorite Ravager.
What’s Leaving Netflix Instant: August 2016
There’s a lot of great new stuff coming to Netflix Instant next month, but just as we prepare to load up our queues with the latest additions, so must we prepare to say goodbye to a handful of expiring titles. Now would be a good time to stop procrastinating and stop watching before these movies and TV shows disappear — possibly for a long, long time. Read on for our complete guide to everything that’s expiring from Netflix Instant in August.