Is there a better way to spend Independence Day than holed up in a dark, air-conditioned cave, frantically watching every Lethal Weapon movie before they disappear from Netflix? We don’t think so! Read on to learn the best of what the streaming service is bringing to the screen next month—as well as what to catch now, before it fades into the black hole of the Internet.

Movies

What’s Arriving . . .

Interview with the Vampire (7/1)

Finally, summer! And what better way to get in the mood than watching this lugubrious, high-camp 1994 gothic horror-drama, directed by Neil Jordan? The film spends most of its first half in the sweaty heat of New Orleans, so you can really immerse yourself in all the humid thickness of the season. And speaking of humid thickness, you gotta see Tom Cruise’s borderline insane performance as Anne Rice’s most famous vampire, the foppish, moody murderous Lestat. He and Brad Pitt’s character, rueful bloodsucker Louis, have a romance that’s never quite called a romance, while Kirsten Dunst plays a child vampire in a terrific star-making turn that should have gotten her an Oscar nomination that year. Deeply silly and gay as hell, Interview with the Vampire will soothe your post-Pride blues.

Spanglish (7/1)

While we’re on the topic of insane performances: the aughts perhaps saw no wilder, more teeth-clenchingly committed—nor more doomed—piece of acting than the great Téa Leoni’s go-for-broke turn in James L. Brooks’s misguided mess about race and class in Los Angeles. As a real harridan of a mother and wife who is still sort of supposed to be sympathetic, Leoni tears into the role, hoping to locate the syncopated sweet spot found by Holly Hunter and Helen Hunt in past Brooks films. Instead, she spins off into space. It’s fascinating to watch, as is one of cinema’s most bizarre sex scenes, between Leoni and Adam Sandler. Plus Cloris Leachman is in it, and she’s funny. If you watch the movie and then want to think about it more, you can listen to yours truly talk all about it here.

Scream 4 (7/7)

I knew I’d gotten old when I went to go see this in the theater opening weekend. I thought I’d recapture some of that giddy-teen excitement of the original Scream, but instead, I spent the whole time thinking, “Oh my god, these poor kids. Their poor parents!” Oh well; age comes for us all. If you are still young enough to find it fun to watch teenagers being murdered, this return to Woodsboro has much to offer, from reliable old Neve Campbell to a scrappy turn by Hayden Panettiere to the goddess Mary McDonnell. I’m gonna give this one a try again, because maybe I’ve arrived at a place where I can be a bit more rational about fiction vs. reality. Won’t you watch with me?

An Education (7/22)

Carey Mulligan’s breakthrough performance remains one of her best, playing a smart but naive London high-schooler in 1961 who’s whisked into a world of money, culture, and compromised scruples by an older man. Mulligan is sharp and winning throughout Lone Scherfig’s sweet and rueful film. If you just graduated from high school or college, this the perfect movie to watch at the moment; it’s encouraging about what lies outside the comforting confines of adolescence, while gently acknowledging that some perils undoubtedly await. Also Rosamund Pike and Emma Thompson are in it, so that helps.

What’s Leaving . . .