True North Streaming is a semi-regular column highlighting some of the best new additions to Netflix’s Canadian service. Like many of you, every so often I get a pleasant surprise when I discover a cool movie or TV show that’s just popped up on Netflix’s often-maligned sister platform. These posts will help you filter through the often quirky mix of Netflix Canada’s offerings and find the most valuable ways to waste some time.

And with that, in no particular order…

Velvet Buzzsaw

I actually have conflicted feelings about recommending the new movie from Dan Gilroy (Nightcrawler), because it’s such a mixed bag of fascinating performances, yet underwhelming character development and narrative. The story follows a handful of vain Los Angeles art world denizens, who happen across a trove of works by a previously unknown and reclusive man who dies in mysterious circumstances. The man requested that his work be destroyed after his death, but the art appears to place a supernatural hold on people, and it brutally kills anyone who profits from its sale or promotion.

Buoyed by a perfectly idiosyncratic performance by Jake Gyllenhaal (as well as welcome appearances by Toni Collette, John Malkovich, Rene Russo and Billy Magnussen), this Netflix Original could be a lot better, but the freshness of the concept is just enough to distract you. I’m probably not the first to think that the story might have been better approached as a six-episode limited series - just to open up the characters and delve into the mythology a bit more - but it’s one of the better Originals to premiere in the past few weeks (a low bar to clear, admittedly).

The Lego Batman Movie

Clearly hitting the service in time to coincide with the theatrical release of The Lego Movie sequel, Lego Batman was a critical and financial success when it originally came out in 2017. Will Arnett returns as a the gravelly-voiced plastic version of the DC superhero, who must contend with his rogues’ gallery escaping once again from Arkham Asylum and the training of a new Robin (Michael Cera).

Rather than tell a straightforward Batman story, though, the Lego version takes advantage of its jokier version of the Dark Knight and kid-friendly setting. It pokes fun at the characters and tropes of the series, more so than a live-action film might. And as Jason pointed out in his original review, it uses its connection to the broader Lego universe to open up some truly surreal cameos from other pop culture properties.

Russian Doll

We’ve yet to get a zeitgeist-defining new Netflix show for 2019 - on the level of Stranger Things, say - but Russian Doll seems poised to get there. The series follows Nadia (Natasha Lyonne), a young game developer living in New York who gets stuck in a Groundhog Day-style time loop, or more accurately, an Edge of Tomorrow-style death loop. No matter what Nadia does, she dies in each iteration of the loop, only to be sent back to the same point during her birthday party.

Reviews of the show are overwhelmingly positive, with critics highlighting Lyonne’s performance and the compelling emotional range in the storytelling. Better yet, in an era where we all struggle to stay on top of new shows, the first season of Russian Doll consists of just eight 30-minute episodes.

Nocturnal Animals

Time to continue the Jake Gyllenhaal/psychological horror party. There are undeniably some Nocturnal Animals haters out there; for them, there’s a certain perfume-commercial pretentiousness suffusing this 2016 release. Maybe this is due to the pedigree of the writer-director Tom Ford, perhaps better known for his eponymous fashion label. But for me, the cast and the neo-noir story structure are more than enough to sustain at least one viewing.

Nocturnal Animals arranges itself into a nested arrangement: it follows a gallery owner named Susan (Amy Adams) who is sent a manuscript of a novel written by her ex-husband Edward (Jake Gyllenhaal). The novel is allegedly inspired by their relationship, but it depicts a cycle of violent crime and revenge in West Texas, with the connective tissue of a second performance by Gyllenhaal as the innocent man caught up in the ordeal. It’s a stark, lonely piece of work, but well worth it if you’re in the right mood.

Won't You Be My Neighbor?

Possibly sensing the disappointment that Morgan Neville’s documentary didn’t get a nomination at the Oscars this year, Netflix Canada has released the film that many expected to run away with the category. The film charts the radical approach of legendary children’s TV personality Fred Rogers, serving as a potent reminder (especially to anyone too young to appreciate it at the time) of Rogers’ bravery in discussing topics that were thought to be beyond what children’s programming could cover.

Neville’s film combines new interviews with archival conversations with Rogers, as well as animated sequences and previously-unseen footage. The result simultaneously amazes you with the breadth of Rogers’ talent and makes your heart ache for someone like Rogers to help us through our turbulent times.

Brooklyn

There are a handful of “matter of time” actors out there who are basically lined up, waiting for Oscars to drop into their hands, even if it takes six nominations to get there. Saorise Ronan is one of them - with three nominations at the age of 24, no one questions that Ronan will eventually take home the gold. One of those nominations is for the 2015 film Brooklyn, which has just made its way to the streaming service.

Charting the arrival of a young Irish immigrant in New York in the 1950s, Brooklyn offers a charming and relatable story of finding one’s calling and balancing family obligations. It has forever made me self-conscious about my technique for eating spaghetti, and is well worth a watch, if only to feel better informed when Ronan does eventually approach the stage for the film that nets her the trophy.

Traffic

Staying on the topic of past and future Oscar contests, we have an addition to a new category Netflix has dusted off to link up with the upcoming telecast: a selection of past Oscar winners. The addition in question is Steven Soderbergh’s Traffic, a 2.5-hour drug smuggling epic that picked up four trophies in 2001: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Film Editing, and Best Supporting Actor.

Despite a filmography that I personally love, Traffic is the only Soderbergh film to win him an Oscar, and somehow I’ve always managed to overlook the film during my past attempts to catch up on the overflow of great filmmaking at the turn of the century. Perhaps I can do a Soderbergh double feature with his new Netflix Original, the shot-on-iPhone sports film High Flying Bird.

What did you think of this list of Netflix recommendations? Are there any notable recent uploads on the Canadian service that I missed? Join the discussion in the comments section, and if you liked this post, share it with your friends and followers!

True North Streaming: The Best New Titles on Netflix Canada, February 12/19