It seems like we could say this every week, but Netflix has made its biggest acquisition yet. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the streaming service has purchased the rights for Will Smith vehicle, Bright. With David Ayer (End of Watch, Suicide Squad) attached to direct, the film is known to be a gritty cop movie and sci-fi/fantasy mash-up, with human Smith teaming up with orc Joel Edgerton to work a case involving a powerful wand. The film was written by Max Landis, so it is sure to be divisive, if nothing else. After a mega deal with international star Adam Sandler and a number of awards contenders and festival favorites, Netflix has now expanded their original film into the bigger budget action territory. We are probably a long ways away from the release of Bright, but it certainly shows that business is picking up for Netflix. They are showing off their deep pockets, which could keep growing if films like Bright become streaming successes.

Netflix

Victoria (Sebastian Schipper, 2015)

It’s easy to be especially cautious about films that have a unique and specific filmmaking hook—in the case of Sebastian Schipper’s Victoria, it’s the 140 minutes taking place in one shot, a single take. Whenever a gimmick like this is used, you have to wonder if there is anything deeper than the bravura filmmaking, that a competent and entertaining story will unfold, as well. Victoria is the perfect marriage of technical skill, unique filmmaking and rich narrative experience. The truest mark is that Victoria‘s kinetic storytelling would still be compelling without the presentation. It even becomes enhanced by it, as the character and narrative arcs change in real-time while taking cues in the beats of never cutting to something else. An invigorating, purely cinematic adventure, Victoria is now available to stream on Netflix. For a different take on the film, see our TIFF review.

Other titles new to Netflix this week:
The Blue Hour (Anucha Boonyawatana, 2015)
Flaked (Series, Season 1)
The Forbidden Room (Guy Maddin & Evan Johnson, 2015)
Hateship Loveship (Liza Johnson, 2013)
The Returned (Series, Season 1)

Fandor

River of Grass (Kelly Reichardt, 1994)

With Kelly Reichardt’s debut film getting a limited re-release this weekend, Fandor allows a wider audience to check out the nearly unseen indie. Set in the southern Florida Everglades, the film is a mix of comedy and crime with many of the auteur’s narrative and thematic fingerprints. River of Grass debuted at the Sundance Film Festival alongside Clerks and Spanking the Monkey, two other debuts that launched the careers of major filmmakers, but it took Reichardt a little longer to catch on. If you are a fan of Reichardt’s work or ’90s indie film, River of Grass is a must watch. For more on the film, check out our full review.

Other titles new to Fandor this week:
Boyhood (Keisuke Kinoshita, 1952)
Forbidden Zone (Richard Elfman, 1980)
Les hautes solitudes (Philippe Garrel, 1974)
On the Way to School (Pascal Plisson, 2012)
Ratcatcher (Lynne Ramsay, 1999)

MUBI

Our Nixon (Penny Lane, 2013)

As we are fully in the presidential primary season, MUBI is offering an interesting look at one of the country’s most controversial presidents. Using only archival footage taken from video recorded by Nixon’s aides during the early years of his presidency, Our Nixon delves deep into his personal and political life, revealing perhaps a more complicated character than the one history has remembered. If you were captivated by the way Amy pushed the documentary form, Our Nixon works in a very similar way with a more relevant and tricky profile. And because all of the film’s footage comes from private sources, it has a much more intimate feeling—unique access for any government official, let alone a man who has become either reviled or a punchline over time. You can watch Our Nixon on MUBI until April 9.

Other titles new to MUBI this week:
A Band Called Death (Mark Christopher Covino & Jeff Howlett, 2012)
City of God (Fernando Meirelles, 2002)
Elite Squad: The Enemy Within (José Padilha, 2010)
Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994)
Two Drifters (João Pedro Rodrigues, 2005)

iTunes & Video On-Demand

Macbeth (Justin Kurzel, 2015)

It may not have been the critical or awards favorite that it projected to be, but there weren’t many more striking films from 2015 than Macbeth. Cold and dark, the film challenges the viewer with difficult Shakespearean dialogue spoken in thick accents, never holding hands through the narrative. It’s the strong look and tone of the film, however, that is likely to captivate. Second-time filmmaker Justin Kurzel (The Snowtown Murders) shows an incredible amount of skill and confidence in making a film with a big cast completely uncompromising, unlike any Shakespeare adaptation you’ve ever seen. Michael Fassbender delivers a chilling performance as the title character, with Marion Cotillard, Paddy Considine, David Thewlis and others all doing great, austere work.

Other titles new to VOD this week:
Camino (Josh C. Waller, 2015)
Coming Home (Zhang Yimou, 2014)
Daddy’s Home (Sean Anders, 2015)
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 (Francis Lawrence, 2015)
Paris Belongs to Us (Jacques Rivette, 1961)

Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles created possibly the most compelling foreign crime drama to date with City of God. It is based on actual events of the life of Paulo Lins, the author of the novel the film is based from. The storyline is comprised of many subplots that follows a young boy’s journey into adulthood from a ghetto filled with crime. Complex character development is present amongst the many characters we are introduced to. The story is told and unfolds beautifully with each passing chapter.

The film takes place in the slums of Rio de Janerio where they do not have electricity or paved roads. City of God is a ghetto for the homeless and poor where crime and drugs frequent the streets. But miracles still happen in the City Of God.

The opening scene begins with members of a gang chasing an escaped chicken down the street. Chasing the same chicken is our narrator named Rocket (Alexandre Rodrigues). The chicken stops as it is trapped in the middle between Rocket and the gang. But just like the chicken, Rocket finds himself in the middle between the gang and the police.

City of God is a film told through flashbacks so the beginning of the film is really the end. The camera pans around Rocket and we are taken to when he was just a little boy playing soccer with his friends. This begins the first chapter of the story where Rocket tells us about the Tender Trio.

The Tender Trio was a group of hoodlum thieves formed by Shaggy, Clipper and Goose that holds up local businesses. Goose is Rocket’s older brother and even though most of the younger boys idolized the trio, Rocket admitted he never had the courage to follow his brother’s footsteps.

A young boy named Lil Dice tags along with the Trio in a motel robbery but they tell the boy he is far too young to do anything but serve as a look out for the police. This ended up being their last heist even though they managed to escape with lots of money. Following the chase from the cops a couple of the members had a change of heart. Clipper went a religious route, Goose started a real job, Lil Dice disappeared, leaving Shaggy as the only one that still had interest in continuing on.

The film states, “Hoods never stop, they just take a break” which rings true when Lil Dice shows up later after hiding for a while and eventually gets what he wanted since a child, to become the boss of the City of God. In order to achieve the rise in power he must kill off his rivals, which is obviously not a problem for him.

Lil Dice changes his nickname to Lil Ze as his power ascends to one of the most feared and dangerous gangster in the City of God. His childhood sidekick, Benny, has never left his side. Even though the two were always close together their personalities could not be further apart. Lil Ze held no remorse from his trigger-happy finger where Benny was as kind as any hoodlum could possibly be.

In the 70’s Rocket finally got his first camera that he so desperately wanted all of his life. He fell in love with a girl who was currently dating someone else. He went as far as scoring drugs for her and one day Angelica broke up with her boyfriend. Rocket had a chance to make his move but ultimately she went for Benny.

Rocket went to work long hours in the supermarket to pay off a newer camera. He called it the sucker’s life. That did not last long though because his boss thought he was in a gang and fired him. He began to wonder if it did not pay to be honest. Like his brother before him, he began to flirt with crime but he was never successful at it. He was too nice to ever go through with it.

Rocket never wanted to be a hoodlum or a policeman when he grew up because he was afraid of getting shot. Goose always told him to study and the only reason he is a hoodlum is because he has no brains. Rocket wanted to be a photographer and would soon get his chance to become one. Although he did not escape the getting shot at part.

Rocket gets a job with a newspaper as a delivery man. He slowly begins to make friends in the photo department. Lil Ze asked Rocket to take a photo of him and his gang however the pictures get into the wrong hands at the newspaper and eventually ends up on the front page. He fears that the gang will want to kill him as the picture was meant only for the gang to have.

On one hand he is fears his life from the gang on the other hand he is happy that he is finally the photographer he has always wanted to be. The story comes full circle to the beginning of the film where Lil Ze’s gang and Rocket meet again after chasing a chicken. When the police show up it presents an opportunity of a life time to snap photos of the situation.

The cinematography was breathtaking. From the opening shot of chasing a chicken throughout the small city roads to the film turned to stills from a camera near the end. The way it used orange and brown filters during the 70’s era was brilliant and fitting. City of God received a well-deserved Best Cinematography Oscar nomination at the 2004 Academy Awards, although somehow Master and Commander took home the award. The film was also up for Best Director, Best Editing and Best Adapted Screenplay.

In what I thought originally might be a downfall of the film, the abundance of subplots and characters that enter the story as fast as they leave, ends up being the purpose and main theme of the film. For every person that dies, there is another to take their place. There will always be something to fight about and always someone to kill.

City of God is both a shocking and inspiring story about life in the crime filled slums of Rio de Janerio. It is often compared to some of the best mob films out there and it can easily hang with, if not surpass them. It is a powerful film that at times you may want to look away but it is so compelling your eyes cannot.