10 greatest films to observe on Netflix, HBO Max earlier than they depart (August 2022)

This month’s checklist of streaming departures contains some outdated classics, new favorites, and a few underseen gems in between.

To begin issues off, Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s trilogy leaves HBO Max — it’s a very good time to meet up with these films once more (except you might be one of many few individuals who haven’t seen them, wherein case I’ve excellent news — you get to observe the Ocean’s films for the primary time!).

There’s additionally Spike Lee’s masterful Do the Proper Factor, the traditional thriller thriller Klute, and a authorized thriller from the showrunner of Andor, in addition to an action-horror DTV grasp class and a lot extra.

Let’s get into it.

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Do the Proper Factor

Set over the course of a swelteringly sizzling day in Mattress-Stuy, Spike Lee’s Do the Proper Factor is a masterful drama that traces the simmering racial tensions between a neighborhood Italian American pizzeria and the African American group dwelling beside them. With spectacular performances by Danny Aiello, Invoice Nunn, John Turturro, and Lee himself, to not point out a implausible opening sequence that includes none apart from the Rosie Perez — in her debut movie position, no much less — dancing and shadowboxing to Public Enemy’s “Struggle the Energy,” Do the Proper Factor is a necessary milestone of American filmmaking that can not be missed. —Toussaint Egan

Do the Proper Factor leaves Peacock Aug. 31.

Gattaca

Ethan Hawke stars in Andrew Niccol’s 1997 debut Gattaca as Vincent Freeman, a genetically “inferior” man born in a eugenic caste society who yearns to develop into an astronaut. Assuming the identification of Jerome (Jude Regulation), a bodily gifted athlete who’s paralyzed from the waist down following an automotive accident, Vincent’s dream is sort of inside his attain — that’s, till the administrator of the Gattaca Aerospace program is murdered, inflicting a swarm of presidency brokers and detectives to descend en masse of their try and nab the perpetrator. With an inimitable retro futuristic type, scenes shot in and round a number of the most iconic minimalist structure of San Francisco, a stirring rating by composer Michael Nyman, and trio of terrific supporting performances by Jude Regulation, Uma Thurman, and the late, nice Gore Vidal, Gattaca is an absolute sci-fi treasure. —TE

Gattaca leaves Netflix on Sept. 1.

Klute

Among the finest thrillers from an period completely full of them, Klute is the primary of Alan J. Pakula’s thematic “paranoia trilogy,” adopted by the additionally glorious The Parallax View and All of the President’s Males (which resulted in one in every of three Oscar nominations for Pakula).

In Klute, Jane Fonda provides an all-time nice efficiency as Bree Daniels, a name lady who will get pulled right into a detective’s (Donald Sutherland) investigation into an govt’s disappearance. A tense thriller with beautiful cinematography from Gordon Willis (the Godfather films) and an appropriately eerie rating from frequent Pakula collaborator Michael Small, Klute is just too good to overlook out on. —Pete Volk

Klute leaves HBO Max Aug. 31.

Michael Clayton

Excited for Andor? Showrunner Tony Gilroy, who co-wrote Rogue One, wrote and directed one of many best legal thrillers of the twenty first century in his directorial debut. George Clooney is Michael Clayton, a company fixer who is shipped to straighten out a lawyer affected by an episode. When Clayton discovers a a lot deeper scheme at play, it threatens the whole lot he is aware of.

One in all Clooney’s greatest performances, the film additionally options nice supporting turns by Tom Wilkinson (taking part in the aforementioned troubled lawyer), Tilda Swinton, and the nice Sydney Pollack. It’s a good, tense conspiracy thriller, harking back to the work of Alan J. Pakula and different titans of the style. —PV

Michael Clayton leaves Netflix Sept. 1.

Midnight Run

Ah, the straightforward joys of a buddy comedy street journey film.

In Midnight Run, Robert De Niro is an ex-cop who has turned to the lifetime of bounty looking after being chased out of a corrupt police division. When he’s despatched to fetch an accountant (Charles Grodin) who embezzled cash from the mob, he has to cope with gangsters, cops, and basic hijinks.

A hilarious journey with two very completely different individuals who annoy the piss out of one another, De Niro and Grodin’s unbelievable odd-couple chemistry elevates the film to a pleasant, memorable romp. De Niro is nice as at all times as a cantankerous ex-cop, however Grodin steals the present because the delicate, straight-faced accountant attempting to persuade his new buddy to let him go.

Midnight Run additionally has extra depth than your common buddy comedy. De Niro’s ex-cop stop the power due to an ethical battle, and the film’s scenario forces him to confront his values once more. Add a playful, energetic rating from Danny Elfman, and you’ve got an exquisite time on the films. —PV

Midnight Run leaves Peacock and the Criterion Channel Aug. 31.

The Ocean’s trilogy

Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s films are lots of issues: nice hangout films with a terrific ensemble solid, enjoyable capers with daring heists, and laugh-out-loud humorous comedies. Your mileage could fluctuate with every installment because the profitable franchise balloons, however all three are stable popcorn leisure. —PV

The Ocean’s trilogy leaves HBO Max Aug. 31.

Common Soldier: Day of Reckoning

Common Polygon readers will know that is one in every of my favourite films of all time (significantly, high 10-type stuff). Should you’ve delayed checking it out, now’s your likelihood.

As I wrote when it was added to HBO Max in July:

Common Soldier: Day of Reckoning was an awakening for me. I had not (and nonetheless haven’t) seen any of the opposite films within the franchise, and on the time I used to be unfamiliar with its younger star, Scott Adkins. However one thing about John Hyams’ twisted sci-fi/horror/motion story received its hooks into me and by no means let go.

A soldier (Scott Adkins) wakes up from a coma, haunted by reminiscences of the brutal homicide of his spouse and daughter. He desires nothing greater than to search out the person accountable… Luc Deveraux (Jean-Claude Van Damme), the protagonist from the unique movies of the Common Soldier franchise. With influences from filmmakers like Gaspar Noé mixed with the dirty aesthetic of a direct-to-video action-horror flick, Day of Reckoning is a singular mixture of genres and skills and one in every of my favourite films ever made. A be aware: This can be a notably violent film, and isn’t for the squeamish. —PV

Common Soldier: Day of Reckoning leaves HBO Max Aug. 31.

Unstoppable

Tony Scott’s closing movie can be one in every of his greatest, a down-to-earth blue collar drama ripped from the headlines and dramatized simply sufficient to make a hard-to-believe true story an exhilarating cinematic occasion.

Unstoppable retells the story of the CSX 8888 incident, when a runaway practice carrying hazardous supplies was stopped by a crew in a second practice. Within the film’s model, Denzel Washington is veteran engineer Frank Barnes, whereas Chris Pine is the rookie practice conductor Will Colson. Unstoppable rapidly units up the strain between the 2 characters — Frank and his buddies see Will for instance of younger new hires given senior positions in order to not pay the skilled workers larger wages.

The connection between Frank and Will, and the depth given to those characters by Washington and Pine, is a serious motive why the film works. You get to see these two males determine one another out in actual time, particularly once they’re in disaster mode. The practice sequences are additionally electrifying — Scott borrowed trains from three completely different railroads for the film, and the strain is palpably gripping. —PV

Unstoppable leaves Hulu Aug. 31.