Remember when TV networks basically took the summer off?
Netflix would never do that to you.
Like every other month, all year round, the streaming service will refresh in July with
an impressive batch of original titles and blockbuster movies.
Let's start with the streaming giant's own crop of films and series ...
Friends from College
Life doesn't get any easier after you earn that undergraduate degree.
In the comedy series Friends from College, six college pals reunite in their mid-forties
and learn something no professor can teach: friendship and adulthood are way more complicated
than they realized.
"It's the middle of the week.
We're not doing drugs.
Not at my age.
Not at our age.
While it's a comedy, the trailer shows that the series will also have a strong emotional
core—which isn't all that surprising: Friends from College comes from creator Nicholas Stoller,
the director of Forgetting Sarah Marshall and other comedies that have a lot of heart
to go with the laughs.
Stoller directed all eight episodes of the first season of Friends from College, which
drops July 14th.
Castlevania
The classic Nintendo ghoul-whipping video game has come a long way since its 8-bit origins.
Now, for the first time ever, the horror-inspired backstory of the long running game series
will make its way to TV.
Loosely based on the 1989 game Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, Castlevania follows
the last surviving member of the disgraced Belmont clan on his quest to save Eastern
Europe from the villainous Vlad the Impaler.
The trailer looks scary good; we'll find out for sure when Season 1 arrives on July 7th.
Ozark
In a stark departure from Arrested Development, Jason Bateman takes the lead in Ozark, a dark
drama from the same studio behind House of Cards.
Bateman stars as an embattled father who finds himself dangerously in debt to a powerful
and ruthless drug lord.
In an attempt to escape, he moves his wife, played by Laura Linney, and their two kids
from the suburbs of Chicago to a summer resort community in the Missouri Ozarks.
Bateman also directs and executive produces the series, which looks like Breaking Bad
meets Bloodline.
The 10-episode first season premieres July 21st.
To the Bone
Lily Collins stars as an unruly 20-year-old anorexic girl sent to a group home in To the
Bone, a bittersweet film Netflix picked up at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this
year.
"People say they love you, but what they mean is they love how loving you makes them feel
about themselves."
Collins is already earning acclaim for her performance; she's joined in the cast by Keanu
Reeves and Lili Taylor.
To the Bone debuts July 14th.
Chasing Coral
If you're still on the fence about climate change and its potentially catastrophic effects,
this critically acclaimed documentary wants to sway you.
The winner of this year's Audience Award for documentaries at the Sundance Film Festival,
Chasing Coral centers on the destruction of coral reefs due to drastic changes in the
world's temperature.
Look for the doc when it premieres July 14th.
Ari Shaffir: Double Negative
A stand-up special from comedian and podcast host Ari Shaffir taped last November at Cap
City Comedy Club in Austin, Texas, Double Negative is a rare two-parter: The first hour-long
installment focuses on comedy about kids, while the second part will focus on the life
you can't have if you marry and have kids.
Both parts drop on July 18th.
And speaking of comedians...
The Standups
Netflix has put an increased emphasis on big-name comedy specials in recent years, and now the
streaming service is shining the spotlight on a batch of lesser-known names.
The first season of The Standups features six half-hour specials dedicated to some of
the brightest rising stars in comedy.
Check the series out on July 4th.
The Worst Witch
13-year-old British actress Bella Ramsey stars in The Worst Witch, the latest adaptation
of Jill Murphy's hugely popular children's book series from the 1970s.
Ramsey plays Mildred Hubble, a bumbling young witch at Cackle's Academy, a school for magic.
However, she wasn't actually born into a family of witches, making her an outsider.
Originally airing on the BBC, the first season premieres on Netflix on July 21st.
The Incredible Jessica James
A vehicle for charming former Daily Show correspondent Jessica Williams, The Incredible Jessica James
is a thoroughly Millennial romantic comedy about a young, aspiring playwright in New
York City who's still getting over a recent breakup.
Netflix snagged the movie after a bidding war following a screening on the first day
of this year's Sundance Film Festival.
The film will be ready for streaming on July 28th.
New Movies
Plenty of great flicks hit the streaming service in July, including the well-received prequel
juggernaut Star Wars: Rogue One, which hits Netflix July 18th.
It doesn't get much more dramatic than Titanic, James Cameron's world conquering mega-blockbuster.
Look for it July 1st, but don't watch it during your luxury cruise.
On July 9th, Netflix will add another widely acclaimed — but much smaller scale — drama:
2016's Lion, the Oscar-nominated true story of a man who uses Google Earth to find his
way back home after being lost as a child.
If you're looking for laugh, Christopher Guest's hilarious dog show mockumentary Best in Show
is available July 1st.
"Yeah, we both have so much in common.
We both love soup."
You could also embrace Christmas in July with Billy Bob Thornton in Bad Santa 2, available
July 8th.
With the kids out of school, Netflix is giving parents a lot of classic options for summer
viewing.
You can start with Steven Spielberg's E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, available July 1st.
If the kids are craving a movie marathon, the first three films in the prehistoric Land
Before Time franchise will also be available the same day.
After the kids are asleep, check out Here Alone, a zombie flick about a young woman
who's forced deep into the woods after a mysterious epidemic wipes out most of society.
It's also available July 1st.
Starting July 6th, you can also stream The Void, a sci-fi horror film that follows a
group of people trapped in a hospital crawling with grotesque creatures.
If that's all a little too frightening, starting July 1st, you can try Taking Lives, an underrated
2004 psychological thriller starring Angelina Jolie and Ethan Hawke.
New TV
If you're craving a binge this summer, you could do a whole lot worse than the third
season of the CW's iZombie, about a young zombie who needs brains to keep her true self
at bay — and to help the police solve murders.
Check it out July 5th.
If brain munching murder mysteries just aren't your thing, new episodes of the zombie-free
teen mystery thriller Pretty Little Liars hit the service on July 20th.
And if you're more of a basic cable reality show type binger, Season 4 of the car customizing
hit West Coast Customs is available July 15th.
With all new things to watch on Netflix, we can almost forgive them for dropping the first
six seasons of Futurama.
Almost.
"If anyone needs me, I'll be in the angry dome!"
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