Around this time every month, the powers that be at Netflix release their list of what’s coming to and leaving the platform in the month to follow. It’s a time to reflect. A time of mourning. A time of hope.
To help you wade through that emotional soup, and help you decide what to watch in the weeks to come, we’re putting together the Monthly Netflix Report Card, a highly scientific, yet mostly arbitrary, very subjective assessment of the streaming giant’s gains and losses.
The final grade will take into account the three biggest gains in the Netflix original movies and shows/comedy specials, as well as the three biggest gains and losses in standard movies and shows/comedy specials. As months go on, we’ll look to improve our criteria as much as possible. And keep in mind: Netflix is a fickle beast, meaning they could always drop something out of the blue. So don't get mad at us.
(Check out the full list of what's coming to and leaving the platform here.)
Top Three Netflix Original Movies/Comedy Specials Coming to Netflix in November
-Outlaw King, a pretty down-the-middle historical war movie about the underdog rebel King of Scots waging battle against the English army for his country's independence, starring Chris Pine, who has teamed up once more with his Hell or High Water director, David Mackenzie. (Nov 9)
-The Other Side of the Wind and They'll Love Me When I'm Dead. The first is the decidedly meta, unfinished-til-now final film of famed director Orson Welles, starring fellow director John Huston as a director struggling to make a wildly ambitious and artistic film within the Hollywood system; the second is a documentary of Welles, focusing primarily on the comeback he undertook in the final 15 years of his life—which involved the making of The Other Side of the Wind—from director Morgan Neville (who made this year's uber-successful Mr. Rogers doc, Won't You Be My Neighbor?). (Nov 2)
A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding, which is the follow-up to last year's runaway holiday rom-com hit, A Christmas Prince. You know you kind of want to...(Nov 29)
Top Three Netflix Original Series Coming to Netflix in November
-The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, the Coen brothers' six-part anthology film about the American frontier, featuring James Franco, Liam Neeson, whiskey, guns and cowboy hats.
-House of Cards, season six. The final season picks up after the death of President Frank Underwood (given the ouster of star Kevin Spacey, amidst sexual assault allegations), and finds his wife Claire (Robin Wright) taking up the throne. Greg Kinnear and Diane Lane join the cast, alongside Patricia Clarkson and Constance Zimmer, as sibling oligarchs threatening to usurp her power. Chaos in well-tailored suits and hushed tones ensues. (Nov 2)
-Narcos: Mexico, wherein the popular Pablo Escobar show shifts the action and scheming and all that entertaining stuff to the drug trade in Mexico. (Nov 16)
Aggregate Grade of Netflix Originals: A+. This is one of the most exciting months for originals in some time, in part because we didn't even have space to mention the Nashville-by-way-of-The-Hills reality series, Westside, or the Kurt Russell Santa Claus movie. And who doesn't want to see a Kurt Russell Santa Claus movie?
Top Three Movies/Comedy Specials Coming to Netflix in November
-Animal House, because you can never not enjoy watching Animal House, again. (Nov 1)
-Jiro Dreams of Sushi. The acclaimed doc about a master sushi chef and his son will soothe your soul. And also make you hungry. (Nov 22)
-Green Room, a too-little-seen skinhead thriller from up-and-coming director Jeremy Saulnier. (Nov 12)
Top Three Series Coming to Netflix in November
-To Build or Not to Build, season 2, a BBC show about people who build their own homes. Maybe this is your thing...? (Nov 22)
Aggregate Grade of Non-Originals: B-. Not a great showing on the series front, but that's nothing particularly new.
Top Three Movies Leaving Netflix in November
-Cruel Intentions, the classic Ryan Phillippe-Sarah Michelle Gellar psychosexual teen drama, as well as its much-less-classic sequels Cruel Intentions 2 and Cruel Intentions 3. (Nov 1)
-Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III. If you were planning a Jurassic Park marathon, better do it this weekend. (Nov 1)
-Up in the Air, the George Clooney-Vera Farmiga drama that saw Jason Reitman at the peak of his powers (at least in this humble moviegoer's opinion). (Nov 1)
Top Three Series Leaving Netflix in November
-Undercover Boss, seasons 1-5. The whole premise of this series—where high-powered CEOs go undercover to work with their employees—makes me queasy. (Nov 17)
Aggregate Grade of Non-Originals Leaving: B-. If only because we'll consider the loss of Undercover Boss a good thing.
The Final Grade
A. Actual math be damned, this is one of the strongest months of the year for original movies and shows, from the Coen brothers' interesting first Netflix experiment, to the much-anticipated eight-episode finale of the OG Netflix series, House of Cards. Thanksgiving break, here you come...
