The good news: The Big Red Streaming Monolith must be feeling the love because there's not that much leaving Netflix in February. The bad news: That's mostly because there's not that much to lose anymore.
As Netflix has focused on original and exclusive content – and as every major studio has cracked open its own streaming service – the amount of acquired material available has dwindled. And it's not getting replaced at a particularly quick clip either. The first day of the month used to be a massive drop of notable Hollywood selections; now the line-up expected on the first of February is less than 15 options long. All your favorite movies and TV shows are moving to their studio silos now, which means Netflix pretty much just has Netflix Originals to count on – or very brief high-profile rentals, like "GoodFellas," which was just added last month and will bail already at the end of February. We'll see if that's enough over time to maintain its crown in the streaming wars.
Speaking of which, Netflix crossed 200 million global subscribers today, and the company believes it's finally on the cusp of breaking even. (Yes, Netflix has been in the negative pretty much this entire time.) So you just need 200 million people to subscribe in order to actually make a profit in streaming. Have fun trying to hit that mark, everyone else! Also: Apparently this might be bad news for Netflix's investors ... because now that they're out of the red and making money instead of debt, they're boring? Business is confusing.
But here's something that isn't: the full list of movies leaving Netflix next month.
Feb. 4
"Erased"
Feb. 5
"Lila & Eve"
"Woody Woodpecker"
Feb. 7
"Don't Knock Twice"
"Swiped"
Feb. 10
"A Bad Moms Christmas"
Feb. 11
"The Other Guys"
Feb. 14
"Alone in Berlin"
"Hostiles"
Feb. 16
"Brave Miss World" season 1
Feb. 19
"Bates Motel" seasons 1-5
Feb. 20
"A Haunted House"
Feb. 21
"Trespass Against Us"
Feb. 24
"Dolphin Tale 2"
Feb. 26
"The Frozen Ground"
Feb. 28
"A Walk to Remember"
"Basic Instinct"
"Easy A"
"The Gift"
"GoodFellas"
"Gran Torino"
"Haywire"
"LA 92"
"Little Nicky"
"My Little Pony Equestria Girls: Friendship Games Retribution"
"Saving Mr. Banks"
"Sleepover"
As much as it is a gigantic cliché to say that one has always had a passion for film, Matt Mueller has always had a passion for film. Whether it was bringing in the latest movie reviews for his first grade show-and-tell or writing film reviews for the St. Norbert College Times as a high school student, Matt is way too obsessed with movies for his own good.
When he's not writing about the latest blockbuster or talking much too glowingly about "Piranha 3D," Matt can probably be found watching literally any sport (minus cricket) or working at - get this - a local movie theater. Or watching a movie. Yeah, he's probably watching a movie.
