5 Best New Movies On Netflix Instant Streaming

The best of what's new on Netflix this month, including Goodbye to All That, and something new from killed-off Downton Abbey star Dan Stevens.

This is officially the dead zone for most sports fans. Unless, you know, you are seriously in to golf or the WNBA, you find yourself with all sorts of extra time sitting in front of a TV and not knowing what to do with yourself. Might we suggest some streaming-film entertainment on the world’s most comprehensive cinematic streaming site? Splendid, let’s get to it, then. Here are some of our picks for the best and most interesting offerings from Netflix streaming in July.

An Honest Liar (2014)
The Amazing Randi (James Randi) is a magician of some professional renown, a title he is happy to embrace, now entering into old age. He has used slight-of-hand and misdirection to produce fantastic illusions throughout his career. Where he directs his ire is toward members of the guild who suggest what they are doing is actual conjuring, be it seances with the dead or bending spoons with their minds. To them, Randi is their worst nightmare: A professional skeptic with the trained eye and the skills to debunk the nonsense they’re pitching to a gullible public. A fascinating doc.

Goodbye to All That (2014)
Amidst a tumultuous time in his life, newly divorced Otto (Paul Schnieder) finds himself thrown in the chaotic laundry-spin of singledom in his mid-40s, all while navigating his relationship with his young daughter. Angus MacLachlan’s film sounds like it might be a dreary and bland sort of comedy about middle-age, but powered by a brilliant performance from Schneider and clever writing, it becomes something else entirely: A bittersweet comedy about finally taking the time to figure out what you’re doing with your life.

The Secret of Roan Inish (1994)
John Sayles loves stories and characters the way a plant loves sunlight. The venerable writer/director of nearly two dozen features leaps from one project to the next with what you can imagine is a gleeful giggle and a blank slate. This charming family film concerns a young girl moved to a seaside village in Ireland, and learning about the legend of one of her distant relatives falling in love with a Selkie. Sayles is far too good a writer to drape himself with sentiment, but the film is heartwarming nonetheless.

The Guest (2014)
Downton Abbey fans might choke on their watercress sandwiches if they check out their man Dan Stevens in this balls-out action thriller. He plays a psychopath named David who suddenly appears at the doorstep of a grieving family, mourning the loss of their soldier son. Claiming to be great friends with their child, David ingratiates himself with the parents, until it becomes clear he’s extremely dangerous and highly unstable. Adam Wingard’s twisty romp goes so far over the top by the end, you have to see it as a loving satirical look at the genre, but that doesn’t take anything away from the mayhem on screen, or Stevens’ inspired, bloodthirsty performance.

The Wrecking Crew (2008)
A fascinating doc about the infamous group of young studio musicians (feared by their elders they would “wreck” the industry) who provided the music for an enormous number of mega-hits in the ’60s and ’70s. Used ubiquitously by everyone from the Beach Boys to Dean Martin to Nat King Cole, the story of the Wrecking Crew is more or less the story of American music during a particularly fertile and vibrant time. (Available July 30th).