The Academy Awards arrive at the end of March, and the titles leaving Netflix in the United States this month are steeped in Oscar glory, including multiple nominees and winners for best picture, actor, actress and more. They also include hit comedies, erotic thrillers and family favorites. Queue up these 13 movies before they’re gone. (Dates reflect the final day a title is available.)
‘Howards End’ (March 15)
This 1992 adaptation of the E.M. Forster novel was directed by James Ivory and produced by Ismail Merchant, and is a quintessential example of the “Merchant-Ivory film”: a period literary adaptation of impeccable design and intelligent craft. But Merchant-Ivory productions were too often inaccurately dismissed as airless, stuffy, overly intellectual affairs; “Howards End” is a robust, energetic picture, rife with familial betrayal, long-simmering attractions and class resentment. Anthony Hopkins, Vanessa Redgrave and Helena Bonham-Carter are all excellent, but the standout is Emma Thompson, who won her first Oscar for her searing work as the protagonist Margaret Schlegel.
Stream it here.
‘Philomena’ (March 21)
The British comic actor Steve Coogan — best known for his long-running turns as Alan Partridge and as a fictionalized version of himself in the “Trip” movies and BBC series — did a surprising shift to the serious when he co-wrote and co-starred in Stephen Frears’s adaptation of the nonfiction book “The Lost Child of Philomena Lee.” Judi Dench received an Oscar nomination for best actress for her heart-wrenching performance as the title character, an Irishwoman who sought out the son she was forced to give up for adoption a half-century earlier. Coogan (nominated for best screenplay) is the journalist who assists her and uncovers a horrifying story of religious hypocrisy.
Stream it here.
‘Lawless’ (March 27)
The director John Hillcoat and the musician and screenwriter Nick Cave, who first collaborated on the unforgettable outback Western “The Proposition,” re-teamed for this story of bootlegging brothers in Depression Era Virginia. The cast is jaw-dropping: Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, Tom Hardy, Shia LaBeouf, Gary Oldman, Guy Pearce, Noah Taylor and Mia Wasikowska all get a chance to shine, and if nothing else, “Lawless” is a priceless opportunity to watch some of our finest thespians rub elbows. But it’s thoughtful and entertaining besides; its Australian auteurs might seem an odd fit for such an inherently American tale, but their outsider perspective keeps them from overly romanticizing this criminal family’s “entrepreneurial” exploits.
Stream it here.
‘Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom’ (March 28)
The “Wire” star Idris Elba is in top form in this handsome biopic of Nelson Mandela, tracking his journey from childhood in Apartheid-era South Africa through his protest, imprisonment, release and triumphant election as the nation’s first democratically elected president. The film is plagued by the issues of brevity so common to the biopic form, but the electrifying performances of Elba and Naomie Harris as Mandela’s wife, Winnie, give the picture its forward momentum and a sense of urgency.
Stream it here.
‘Blood Diamond’ (March 31)
Leonardo DiCaprio snagged his third Academy Award nomination for his quicksilver turn as Danny Archer, a morally slippery smuggler and mercenary. Archer will do just about anything for a payday, so his initial presence in Sierra Leone circa 1999 is purely financial, but the more he learns about the struggles of civilians and the barbarism of loyalists, the less he can shrug off what he sees as the price of doing business. The director Edward Zwick is particularly proficient at personalizing stories of political and historical conflict (his earlier films include “Glory,” “The Siege” and “The Last Samurai”), and he is, as ever, a fine actor’s director, stewarding solid work from not only DiCaprio but also his co-star Djimon Hounsou, an Oscar nominee for best supporting actor.
Stream it here.
‘Bright Star’ (March 31)
Jane Campion is heavily favored to win this year’s Oscar for best director for her stunning navigation of “The Power of the Dog.” Her masterful direction is rendered even more impressive by her long absence from the big screen; “Dog” was her first feature film since this fact-based romance, released in 2009. She tells the story of the poet John Keats (Ben Whishaw) and his late-in-life romance with his muse, Fanny Brawne (Abbie Cornish). Other filmmakers might have focused on Keats and viewed Brawne as a mere passing fancy. But as she has throughout her career, Campion is fascinated by the emotional push-pull of romantic entanglements and the unexpected ways women find their power in these encounters.
Stream it here.
‘Gremlins’ (March 31)
The rules have become part of pop culture consciousness: Don’t give them water; keep them way from bright light; and whatever you do, never, ever feed them after midnight. Of course, rules are made to be broken, and one of the purest pleasures of Joe Dante’s giddily entertaining 1984 smash is his winking acknowledgment that we’re waiting for all hell to break loose. Dante’s gift for barely-controlled chaos gives just enough discipline to Chris Columbus’s witty screenplay, while its cheerful disemboweling of twinkly, small-town values feels particularly subversive for a Reagan-era movie.
Stream it here.
‘I Love You, Man’ (March 31)
The best Judd Apatow comedy that Apatow had nothing to do with, this shaggily charming 2009 comedy finds newly engaged (and likably uptight) Paul Rudd seeking out an adult male pal for the first time, and finding himself pulled into the orbit of goofy man-child Jason Segel. The writer and director John Hamburg (“Along Came Polly”) never quite builds up much in the way of stakes, but it’s such a pleasure to watch his stars play — as well as such welcome supporting players as Rashida Jones, Andy Samberg, J.K. Simmons and Jane Curtin – that you likely won’t mind.
Stream it here.
‘Interview With the Vampire’ (March 31)
Anne Rice’s best-selling, long-running “Vampire Chronicles” finally made it to the silver screen in 1994, with Tom Cruise in the leading role of the vampire Lestat, a role whose sexual fluidity and camp theatricality seemed to many (including Rice herself) out of the actor’s reach. Yet Cruise acquits himself nicely, conveying the character’s charisma and menace, while Brad Pitt captures the hopelessness of the narrator, Louis. But the show stealer is Kirsten Dunst in a haunting performance as Claudia, a vampire who is “turned” as a child and remains locked at that age. The director Neil Jordan beautifully mixes the story’s Gothic horror and dark comedy elements, ladling on the Bayou atmosphere for extra spice.
Stream it here.
Five Movies to Watch This Winter
1. “The Power of the Dog”: Benedict Cumberbatch is earning high praise for his performance in Jane Campion’s new psychodrama. Here’s what it took for the actor to become a seething alpha-male cowboy.
2. “Don’t Look Up” : Meryl Streep plays a self-centered scoundrel in Adam McKay’s apocalyptic satire. She turned to the “Real Housewives” franchise for inspiration.
3. “King Richard”: Aunjanue Ellis, who plays Venus and Serena Williams’s mother in the biopic, shares how she turned the supporting role into a talker.
4. “Tick, Tick … Boom!”: Lin-Manuel Miranda’s directorial debut is an adaptation of a show by Jonathan Larson, creator of “Rent.” This guide can help you unpack its many layers.
5. “The Tragedy of Macbeth”: Several upcoming movies are in black and white, including Joel Coen’s new spin on Shakespeare’s “Macbeth.”
‘In the Cut’ (March 31)
Campion’s second appearance on this month’s list is for one of her most controversial films, an unapologetically raw and thorny erotic thriller that committed what seemed an unforgivable sin back in 2003: It sexualized America’s sweetheart, Meg Ryan. With its hyperventilating hype far in the rearview, we can finally appreciate “In the Cut” for what it is, a scorching exploration of feminine desire, a harrowing meditation on the resistance to female sexual agency and a showcase for atypical but affecting performances by Ryan, Jennifer Jason Leigh and an up-and-coming Mark Ruffalo.
Stream it here.
‘Jumanji’ (March 31)
The first film adaptation of the beloved 1981 children’s book, this 1995 family adventure stars Robin Williams as a child trapped for decades in a board game, Bonnie Hunt as a friend who barely made it out and Dunst and Bradley Pierce as the contemporary children who help him escape — and must then finish the game. Joe Johnston (“Captain America: The First Avenger”) directs with the proper mixture of childlike enthusiasm and wide-eyed terror, and the special effects (of wild animals and swarms of insects descending on suburban enclaves) remain startlingly convincing.
Stream it here.
‘The NeverEnding Story’ (March 31)
The German director Wolfgang Petersen followed up the worldwide success of his tense, Oscar-nominated submarine thriller, “Das Boot,” with an unexpected left turn: He directed a family fantasy. Adapting the novel by Michael Ende, Petersen tells the story of Bastian (Barret Oliver), a shy young outcast who finds he can escape the misery of his everyday life by disappearing into a magical book and its tales of princesses, warriors, fantastical beasts and dark forces. Like “Jumanji,” this is a longtime family favorite that has lost none of its power or magic, still enchanting generation after generation.
Stream it here.
‘A River Runs Through It’ (March 31)
Brad Pitt was still a rising young actor — only one year out from his breakthrough role in “Thelma and Louise” — when he starred in this lyrical adaptation by Robert Redford of the novella by Norman Maclean. Pitt and Craig Sheffer star as the sons of a Montana minister (Tom Skerritt) as they come of age, and come apart, in the early 20th century. It’s one of the best-looking films of the 1990s (Philippe Rousselot’s cinematography won an Oscar and deserved it), and it was a cable standby for years after. But it is more than comfort food. Redford’s subtle direction resists empty nostalgia and good-old-days grandstanding in favor of a nuanced portrait of shifting values and mores.
Stream it here.
Also leaving: “300,” “As Good As It Gets,” “Braveheart,” “The Hangover,” “The Holiday,” “Paranormal Activity” (all March 31).
