Here's What's Leaving Netflix in June

Whereas only a handful of worthwhile titles are being added to Netflix throughout June, we're losing nearly a dozen classics or would-be classics in the bargain. Again, this does not particularly make me thrilled about the streaming service's realigning of focus from offering a large variety of unique titles to offering a small, if fruitful helping of original programming. And as good as that programming is (and it really is, for the most part), the fact that we're losing some good to great comedies, from Groundhog Day and Wayne's World to Bridget Jones's Diary and About a Boy, makes it hard to legitimize Netflix's reputation as a great movie library.

Add on major genre entertainments like Sam Raimi's Darkman, Clear and Present Danger, Ghost, and The Bank Job, and it becomes even more difficult, but this is ignoring the actual masterworks that are getting the boot. Just look at this sampling: Robert Zemeckis' wondrous Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, James Gray's intimate crime drama The Yards, Todd Field's tense, terrific In the Bedroom, The Others, and Paris is Burning, one of the best documentaries released in the 1990s. These are major works that deserve long, vibrant discussions, so get ye to your couch and get watching before June 1st is here and most of these will require the purchase of a DVD...or an iTunes file.