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The 5 Best Movies That Are Back on Netflix in February

Outside of seeing Fifty Shades of Grey and maybe celebrating Valentine’s Day next weekend, there is absolutely no reason to leave the house during the month of February. It’s cold, it’s dark outside, and Netflix has brought back some excellent movies for you to stream from the warmth of your home.

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Nicolas Cage in Leaving Las Vegas

Leaving Las Vegas (1995): It seems like every month brings another low-budget Nicolas Cage camp-fest, the newest of which is Friday’s Outcast, a Medieval clunker that co-stars Hayden Christensen. Once upon a time though, Cage was one of our finest actors. This searing 1995 drama, in which he starred as an alcoholic screenwriter determined to drink himself to death, won him an Oscar for Best Actor.

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Nicolas Cage choking a guy in Joe

Joe (2013): While you’ve got Cage on the brain: Every once in a while, he shows glimpses of his past greatness. His most recent critical success was Joe, where he played a contractor with a violent past for director David Gordon Green. It didn’t get a huge release, but it featured some of Cage’s most quiet, considered, and effective work in years.

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Will Smith and Eva Mendes in Hitch

Hitch (2005): With the crime caper Focus headed to theaters later in February, audiences will hopefully get to witness a return of the suave, charming Will Smith that they came to love in the late ’90s and early ’00s. Hitch marked the absolute zenith of his big screen charisma, and if you don’t believe us, allow Aziz Ansari to persuade you.

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Mark Ruffalo and Adrien Brody in The Brothers Bloom

The Brothers Bloom (2008): It’s time to get familiar with the work of writer-director Rian Johnson, who will be directing the next two Star Wars movies after J.J. Abrams. This fun little period drama, starring Mark Ruffalo and Adrien Brody as grifter brothers and Rachel Weisz as an eccentric millionaire, generally gets forgotten in favor of Johnson’s teen noir Brick and sci-fi fave Looper. But it’s still definitely worth your time.

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John Leguizamo, Emjay Anthony, and Jon Favreau in Chef

Chef (2014): Writer-director-star Jon Favreau got his creative frustrations out in what is perhaps the most delicious way possible: with this simple, feel-good comedy about a food truck. Casting himself as a frustrated chef on a self-actualizing cross-country road trip, he’s joined by famous pals like John Leguizamo, Sofia Vergara, and Scarlett Johansson. Watch it and then submit to your intense craving for a Cuban sandwich.

Image credits: Everett