Time really does fly, with the final week of January 2023 already here and winter about to enter its last full month of the year. Netflix only continues to gain momentum as the year continues, unveiling the long-awaited second season of Record of Ragnarok, while hit movies from the past year, like Minions: The Rise of Gru, have made their debut on the streaming service. Meanwhile, classics like the Rambo and Addams Family films are about to depart, making this weekend the last chance to catch them on Netflix.
Here are all the biggest and best films and television series to binge on Netflix this weekend, from family-friendly animated comedies to bloody horror movies that have stood the test of time.
Minions: The Rise of Gru Reveals Despicable Me’s Roots
The viral movie hit of last year wasn't Morbius, despite what all the memes may have implied, but rather the animated film Minions: The Rise of Gru. Serving as both a prequel to the Despicable Me series and a sequel to 2015's spinoff movie Minions, The Rise of Gru showcases the eponymous mastermind's ascent as a supervillain. The animated film arrived on Netflix this past week for audiences that may have missed it in theaters last summer.
Set in 1976, a young Gru tries to impress the supervillain cabal, the Vicious Six, to allow him to join them in their criminal activities around the globe. After Gru humiliates the fearsome team, he must locate a rare artifact to appease them lest he faces the full fury for the perceived slight. Featuring an all-star voice cast and the goofy Minions front and center with fresh antics, The Rise of Gru underscores what has made the Despicable Me franchise so successful in the first place.
Record of Ragnarok Doubles the Stakes in Season 2
The popular manga series Record of Ragnarok, by Shinya Umemura, Takumi Fukui and Ajichika, was adapted into a Netflix original anime series in 2021. After two years, the hit anime series is back for its second season, with the first 10 of a 15-episode order available to stream. With a tournament between humanity and the gods for the fate of the world continuing, Record of Ragnarok is poised to double down on divine action.
Featuring pantheons of deities from all over the world, humanity must justify its continued existence after the gods deem the species unworthy after living in cruelty for millions of years. Season 2 escalates the proceedings, with Jack the Ripper taking a surprise role in defending humanity from the gods in the ensuing conflict. For those looking to see gods like Poseidon and Thor take on Nikola Tesla and Buddha, Record of Ragnarok is an over-the-top dream come true.
Rambo’s Double Feature Gets Its Last Ride
While January kicked off with the arrival of the Rocky series on Netflix, the month ends with action hero Sylvester Stallone's other musclebound iconic role departing from the streaming service. 2008's Rambo and 2021's Rambo: Last Blood, the two final installments of the Rambo franchise, are both leaving Netflix at the end of January. Though perhaps not as beloved as the trilogy that launched the franchise in the '80s, the two movies offer some bloody thrills while bringing Stallone back to his classic role.
Rambo finds an older John Rambo working as a ferryman in Thailand before he gets drawn back into action when missionaries he transported into Myanmar are taken prisoner by a military junta. Last Blood places Rambo back on his family ranch in Arizona, where he takes on a Mexican cartel when his friend's granddaughter is kidnapped. Both delivering viscerally unflinching action and a world-weary performance from Stallone, the two movies make up Rambo's swan song double feature.
The Addams Family Values Offer Some Classic Wednesday
One of Netflix's biggest original series last year was Wednesday, a reimagining of The Addams Family from the perspective of the family's eponymous daughter. As work begins on Season 2, the classic film Addams Family Values is set to leave Netflix at the end of January. For those looking for a dose of The Addams Family to help tide over the wait until Wednesday makes its eagerly anticipated return, this is the last weekend to catch the 1993 movie before it leaves Netflix for the foreseeable future.
Darker and much more macabre in its humor and story than its 1991 predecessor Addams Family Values separates the family and puts a murderous threat among them. As Wednesday and Pugsley are sent away to summer camp, Uncle Fester marries a woman who plans to murder him for his sizable inheritance. As hilariously morbid as ever, Addams Family Values remains perhaps the biggest cinematic iteration of the fan-favorite family 30 years since its debut.
I Know What You Did Last Summer Revels in Seasonal Slashers
With Scream VI opening in theaters this March and a Friday the 13th reboot in development, the slasher genre looks alive and well. Netflix has been quietly adding to its library of horror films for some time now, including some classics brought to the streaming service this month. Among the most notable slasher movies added to Netflix in January is the 1997 horror flick I Know What You Did Last Summer.
Boasting an impressive cast led by Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze, Jr., I Know What You Did Last Summer has a group of teenagers accidentally kill a pedestrian during their summer vacation. One year later, the group and their friends are menaced by a serial killer wielding a nasty hook in revenge for the past crime. Part of the slasher movie revival wave that began with the original Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer is both a time capsule to a bygone era and the perfect antidote to all this unpleasant winter weather.