Goodfellas, Gravity and Lion among nine great movies leaving Neon this month

While there are constant arrivals of fresh movies and TV shows on Neon, there’s also a regular churn of content dropping off the Kiwi owned and curated streaming service.

So although you might think a film or programme will be available to watch on there in perpetuity, the truth is licencing deals mean they are usually only there for a few months – or years – at a time.

In order to assist those keen to get the most out of their subscription, and to help with your viewing priorities, Stuff to Watch has come up with a list of nine superb movies that won’t be around come November 1 – so catch them while you can.

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City of Angels (1998)

It’s the romantic-drama that’s become most famous for introducing the world to The Goo Goo Dolls’ mega-hit Iris. The wild attempt to pair Nicolas Cage with Meg Ryan. A Hollywood remake of Wim Wenders’ beloved Wings of Desire that actually felt more like Ghost.

Then known as Hollywood’s sweetheart, Meg Ryan plays a brilliant heart surgeon, while Cage is the smitten angel transfixed by her misery and self-doubt.

Everything the over-the-top Ghost should have been – stylish, endearing and, watching it now 23 years on, enduring – City of Angels’ only disappointment is that it didn’t make even more of the Cannes-winning source material.

Goodfellas (1990)

While Joe Pesci stole most of the scenes and all the critical attention and Robert De Niro was considered the lead, Ray, the late, great, Liotta was the heart, soul and focus of Martin Scorsese’s peerless gangster movie.

After all, this is the story of his Henry Hill and his event-filled life in the mob. His rich, evocative and beautifully delivered narration is what helps set the scene and mood of this masterpiece and makes the viewer feel like they are part of the story: “Your murderers come with smiles, they come as your friends, the people who’ve cared for you all of your life. And they always seem to come at a time that you’re at your weakest and most in need of their help.”

Gravity (2013)

Such a simple premise, such an effective execution.

Alfonso Cuaron’s two-stars-in-space (Sandra Bullock, George Clooney) dazzles with its amazing imagery and ability to wring maximum emotion out of every scene as Bullock’s emotionally and physically broken astronaut battles to stay alive and somehow make it back home. Stephen Price’s score is stirring and chilling in equal measure.

The Last Boy Scout (1991)

Bruce Willis teams up with then red-hot African-American comedian Damon Wayans for this hilarious action crime-comedy co-penned by Lethal Weapon scribe Shane Black and directed by Top Gun’s Tony Scott.

A mix of pithy one-liners and high-octane pyrotechnics, this sees Willis’ cynical private detective (“Yeah, I believe in love; I also believe in cancer,” is his stated philosophy) join forces with Wayans’ ex-American footballer to try and solve the latter’s girlfriend’s murder – a crime that leads to a corrupt politician and a crooked businessman.

Lion (2016)

Adapted from his book A Long Way Home, this is the tale of Saroo Brierley (Sunny Pawar, Dev Patel) a young Indian-born, but Tasmanian-raised man desperate to find the original family he lost more than two decades earlier.

Both an incredible true story and shameless advert for the powers of Google Earth, that Lion is an emotional, compelling watch is down to some terrific performances and one key decision by director Garth Davis and screenwriter Luke Davies.

Many a filmmaker would have told this story as a fractured narrative, flitting back and forth between time periods as Saroo’s search intensifies. But Davis and Davies instead decide to focus the film’s first hour on the boy’s harrowing journey into India’s “heart of darkness” and eventual delivery to a new life.

Pale Rider (1985)

The highest-grossing Western of the 1980s, Clint Eastwood directed and stars in this American Frontier set tale about a mysterious preacher who protects a humble prospector village from a greedy mining company who are trying to encroach on their land.

The supporting cast includes Michael Moriarty, Carrie Snodgress, Chris Penn, Richard Dysart and Richard Kiel.

“It’s all been seen before, but Eastwood serves it up with authority, fine craftsmanship and a frequent sense of fun,” wrote Variety magazine.

Shadow in the Cloud (2020)

From the fabulous opening animated Air Force Public Service Announcement (created by Aotearoa studio Mukpuddy) on safety to the final montage of real-life war-time airwomen, Kiwi director Roseanne Liang’s action-thriller is a cinematic tour-de-force and terrific fun.

Even if you aren’t a big fan of horror movies, you’ll be swept along by Liang’s vibrant storytelling, clever framing and slick editing, which turns its single location into an asset, rather than a hindrance. Aside from some Wētā wizardry, Mahuia Bridgman-Cooper’s magnificent ‘80s-esque atmospheric soundtrack and a few fabulous one-liners, at its heart, Shadow’s success is the result of a superb performance by Chloe Grace Moretz.

The Witches (1990)

Anjelica Huston is both terrifying and sublime as Miss Ernst, the Grand High Witch in Nicolas Roeg’s nightmare-inducing take on Roald Dahl’s 1983 classic book.

It’s about a young boy and his grandmother whose seaside holiday takes an unexpected turn when they discover the hotel they are staying at is also playing host to a witches’ convention. The cast also includes Rowan Atkinson, Brenda Blethyn and Bill Paterson.

“Deliciously cruel to children, Roeg remains true to Dahl’s underlying sense of real horror,” wrote Empire magazine’s Ian Nathan.

The Witches (2020)

Robert Zemeckis’ CGI-heavy reimagining was met with some suspicion and derision by fans of Roeg’s version.

It’s true, it does lack some of the 1990 movie’s shaggy charm, a little of its visceral gut-punch and nightmarish qualities, and, that, try-as-she-might, Anne Hathaway’s grand high witch just seems a little cartoonish in comparison to Huston. But this was not the clunky disaster many will have you believe it is. Instead, it’s a vibrant, invigorating and slick production.

Despite an impressive supporting cast, Octavia Spencer is the real star of the show. Her Grandma is a tour de force, a woman who would “give you a spanking if you deserved it and a big, ol’ hug if you needed it”.