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PORTLAND PICK:
Contemporary cinema is packed with Peter Pan riffs, but none quite like The Lost Boys of Portlandia (2016), a short film inspired by the origins of the nonprofit Outside the Frame, which produces videos to educate and employ houseless Portland youth. Directed by Nili Yosha, Outside the Frame’s artistic and executive director and founder. Free on Vimeo.
INDIE PICK:
In Kitty Green’s The Assistant (2020), the depravity of an unnamed movie producer (clearly inspired by Harvey Weinstein) and a callous HR stooge (Matthew Macfadyen) torments Jane (Julia Garner), a quietly anguished aid. It’s a must-see film, especially since She Said (a more traditional-looking film about the 2017 New York Times investigation of Weinstein’s sex crimes) is on the way. Hulu.
HOLLYWOOD PICK:
Confined by the tropes of bank-robbery movies, Spike Lee unexpectedly found artistic liberation with Inside Man (2006), which combines a familiar heist plot with meditations on race, class and Nazism. The cast includes Denzel Washington (as a gifted hostage negotiator), Jodie Foster (as a slick power broker), and Clive Owen (as a wise thief). HBO Max.
INTERNATIONAL PICK:
In Lee Chang-dong’s Burning (2018), a wannabe novelist (Yoo Ah-in) is perplexed by the disappearance of a former classmate (Jeon Jong-seo). A wealthy and mysterious friend (Steven Yeun) might be responsible, but the question of his guilt or innocence matters less than Lee’s mastery of deliciously subtle suspense. Based on a short story by Haruki Murakami. Free on Amazon Prime and Tubi.