Photo: Sony Pictures

At the beginning of (and throughout) every month, Netflix Streaming adds new movies and TV shows to its library. Here is a quick list of several that you might be interested in. Some of these were added halfway through or near the end of April, but we’re going to include them in this roundup anyway, since you may have missed them. Some may also have previously been on Netflix, only to have been removed and then added back. Feel free to note anything we’ve left out in the comments below.

Godzilla vs. Mothra

Just in time for Hollywood’s latest stab at the King of Monsters, many of Toho Company’s “Shōwa”-era Godzilla movies, from the defining 1954–75 run, are now available for your binge-watching preparation. Those looking for the reptilian behemoth in his purest, most metaphorical form should turn to Godzilla: King of Monsters, the Americanized version (now with more Raymond Burr!) of Ishiro Hond’s original film. But for kaiju vs. kaiju throwdowns, Godzilla vs. Mothra ranks among the best. Beefed up with bizarre sci-fi/fantasy plot hooks — Mothra’s “keepers” are a pair of Thumbalina twins — the movie helped Godzilla take a huge step forward into becoming Japan’s biggest family-friendly franchise. It is a pinnacle of Man-in-Suit destruction.

Hook

Cited as one of Steven Spielberg’s worst films by critics and one of his best by nostalgic children of the ’90s, the Robin Williams–starring Peter Pan epic arrives on Netflix for your definitive judgment. Does it capture the whimsy of childhood playtime? Or is it a bloated excuse for Dustin Hoffman (and the recently deceased Bob Hoskins) to go hog wild with an over-enunciated English accent? Rufio wonders if the naysayers are just too grown up to understand.

The Selfish Giant

Clio Barnard followed up her riveting, 2010 documentary/narrative hybrid The Arbor with this coarse bit of modern-day Dickens. Teetering on the edge of miserablism, The Selfish Giant follows two 13-year-old working-class boys as they roam their small British town looking for junk to sell to a scrap dealer. When they stiff the guy, who turns out to be involved in some shady business on the side, hell breaks loose. Not every coming-of-age story can be picture-perfect. Barnard’s portrait is unflinching.

Don Jon

Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s directorial debut explores porn addiction, gives Scarlett Johansson a Jersey accent, and draws Tony Danza out from wherever Tony Danza was hiding the past decade. A scene where Johansson erotically convinces Gordon-Levitt to take night classes proves the actor turned director learned a thing or two hanging around Seth Rogen on the set of 50/50.

The Living Daylights

Like the Godzilla movies, Netflix earned a smattering of 007 missions this month, including Timothy Dalton’s underappreciated first outing, The Living Daylights. After the Roger Moore–led installments devolved into pure buffoonery (looking at you, Moonraker), the franchise took its first gamble at a grittier, deadlier James Bond.

Instructions Not Included

This Spanish-language comedy turned heads last September when it took third place at the U.S. box-office charts in its debut weekend and earned over $44 million by the end of its run. Starring Eugenio Derbez as an Acapulco playboy thrust into the world of parenthood, Instructions Not Included is a for-all-ages comedy aimed at Latino families, who, much to Hollywood’s surprise, are in search of entertainment as well.

Maximum Overdrive

Stephen King’s sole directorial effort pits Emilio Estevez against killer machines (including an evil truck, an evil arcade machine, an evil lawnmower, and an evil soda machine). It’s every bit as campy — and fun — as it sounds.

New seasons of TV:

American Dad! (Season 8, available May 11)

Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown (Season 1, 2)

Derek (Nnw Episodes, available May 30)

The Inbetweeners (Season 3)

Psych (Season 7)

Royal Pains (Season 5, available May 8)

Scandal (Season 3, available May 17)

Other movies available:

Adventures in Babysitting

All I Want

Annie Hall (available May 31)

Backdraft

Beethoven

The Benchwarmers

The Big Chill

The Big Hit

Boys Don’t Cry

Bram Stoker’s Dracula

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason

The Buddy Holly Storytellers

Bullet

Candyman

Charlie Countryman

The City of Lost Children

Cursed

Danny Deckchair

Eddie Murphy: Delirious (available May 15)

Encounters at the End of the World

Escape from Tomorrow (available May 27)

Exit Through the Gift Shop

Federal Hill

Fido

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children

For Your Eyes Only

Forrest Gump

Free Birds (available May 13)

Freedomland

Friday the 13th, Part 7: The New Blood

From Dusk Till Dawn

From Russia with Love

Ghidorah, The Three Headed Monster

Godzilla Raids Again

Godzilla: King of the Monsters

Godzilla’s Revenge

Godzilla vs. Monster Zero

Goldfinger

Heavy Metal

Here Comes the Devil

The Human Stain

Ichi the Killer

The Jewel of the Nile

The Juror

Kill Bill: Volume 1

Kill Bill: Volume 2

Knucklehead

La Bamba

The Legend of Bagger Vance

The Legend of Drunken Master

Leviathan (available May 27)

Live and Let Die

The Living Daylights

Machete Kills (available May 22)

Metallica Through the Never

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (available May 15)

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Much Ado About Nothing (available May 9)

Muscle Shoals

Never Say Never Again

Odd Thomas

The Odessa File

Pain and Gain (available May 10)

Paper Moon

The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology

The Prince of Tides

Revenge

Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip

Rodan

Romancing the Stone

School Daze

Shopping

Single White Female

Sneakers

St. Elmo’s Fire

Starman

Star Trek Into Darkness (available May 17)

Terror of Mechagodzilla

That’s What I Am

These Birds Walk (available May 29)

Top Secret!

Tortilla Soup

Urban Legends: Bloody Mary

Vanishing of the Bees (available May 27)

A View to a Kill

Wicker Park (available May 30)

Winged Migration

You Only Live Twice

Get New on Netflix delivered every month. Email This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Terms & Privacy Notice By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice and to receive email correspondence from us.