This month’s selection of titles leaving Netflix in the United States are a typical esoteric assortment of big-budget studio flicks and indie dramas, but the comedies are what really make this one stand out — including an anticapitalist satire and one of the very first stand-up spotlights the service ever funded. Let’s start there. (Dates indicate the final day a title is available):
‘Zach Galifianakis: Live at the Purple Onion’ (Feb. 25)
There’s something vaguely end-of-an-era-ish about seeing Netflix finally bid farewell to this top-tier 2006 stand-up special from the magnificently absurd Galifianakis — one of a handful of original films and specials created at the time for its “Red Envelope Entertainment” imprint as exclusives for the service, which now rolls out an original comedy special nearly every week. So catch it while you can; it’s Galifianakis at his peak, and the special’s structure (interspersing his wildly funny live act with tortured interviews with his straight-arrow brother, also played by the comedian) is genuinely inspired.
‘Air Force One’ (Feb. 28)
Throughout the 1990s, multiplexes were positively deluged by “Like ‘Die Hard,’ but on a _____” movies, with airplane and airport settings proving especially popular (“Executive Decision,” “Passenger 57” and “Die Hard 2” among them). This 1997 thriller from the director Wolfgang Petersen got hyper-specific, imagining “Die Hard” on the president’s plane. And the venerable formula works: Harrison Ford is a credible man-of-action commander in chief, Gary Oldman chews plenty of scenery as the villain, and the silly but effective catchphrase “Get off my plane!” still demands cheers.
‘Cake’ (Feb. 28)
Back in 2014, Jennifer Aniston nearly snagged an Oscar nomination for her against-type turn in this indie drama, in which the typically light comedian went very heavy as a grieving mother attempting to piece back together her broken life. To be fair, she deserved the recognition; Aniston plays the breezy ingénue so well that it’s easy to underestimate her considerable gifts as an actor of genuine gravitas. And she’s in good company here — the stellar supporting cast includes Felicity Huffman, Anna Kendrick, William H. Macy and Sam Worthington.
‘Coach Carter’ (Feb. 28)
It’s forgivable if you assume you’ve already seen “Coach Carter,” even if you haven’t; the formula of the underdog sports movie is, to put it mildly, well-established. (Oh, so the tough-as-nails new coach meets resistance at first from the unruly, poorly performing team but slowly earns the players’ respect? And translates that camaraderie to the court? And it’s all based on a true story?!) But the filmmakers here know that you know how these movies are supposed to go, gracefully subverting those expectations, and Samuel L. Jackson is cast perfectly in the title role.
‘Margin Call’ (Feb. 28)
The writer and director J.C. Chandor’s 2011 feature debut was a high-profile affair — one of the first films to directly address the 2008 financial crisis — and it did so with offhand intelligence and admirable nuance. Chandor’s gripping script telescopes the action to a 24-hour period and the setting to a single Wall Street investment bank, as the implications and consequences of the impending crisis become clear, and the firm’s strong personalities bounce and collide. A tiptop ensemble cast brings verve to the key players, with fine performances Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Demi Moore, Zachary Quinto (who was also a producer), Kevin Spacey and Stanley Tucci.
‘Scream 4’ (Feb. 28)
The 2022 reboot of the “Scream” slasher-satire franchise was commercially successful enough to warrant a follow-up, due in theaters this March. But critically speaking, the magic simply wasn’t there — and probably couldn’t be, given the passing of the series’s original director, Wes Craven, and the noninvolvement of the original screenwriter, Kevin Williamson. From that perspective, the original series truly concluded with this 2011 installment, reuniting Craven, Williamson and the franchise stars Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette, alongside a host of new and noteworthy stars (including Kristen Bell, Alison Brie, Hayden Panettiere and Emma Roberts) for a typically self-referential bouillabaisse of horror, comedy and movie mania.
‘Shutter Island’ (Feb. 28)
Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio have released five feature films collaborations to date, but this 2010 thriller tends to be overlooked in that filmography — perhaps because it is the only one not nominated for the best picture Academy Award. That’s unsurprising, as this adaptation of the best-selling novel by Dennis Lehane is a thick slice of Gothic horror, and Oscar voters are famously adverse to honoring genre material. But it’s a crackerjack example of the form; DiCaprio is hauntingly good as a U.S. Marshal investigating a mysterious disappearance on the titular psychiatric facility.
‘Sorry to Bother You’ (Feb. 28)
The hip-hop provocateur Boots Riley, best known for his work fronting the politically conscious Oakland crew the Coup, made a loud splash in his crossover to feature filmmaking with this debut effort, starring Lakeith Stanfield as a telemarketer who discovers the secret to success in the corporate world. The satire is razor-sharp (Riley’s debt to “Putney Swope” is crystal clear), and the picture’s politics are delightfully unapologetic; it is exhilarating to watch a novice filmmaker marshal the tools of the medium to craft something genuinely, gleefully subversive.
