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DOCUMENTARY PICK:
Clearly and unobtrusively, documentarian Alexandra Pelosi captures 14 years in the life of her mother, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in Pelosi in the House (2022). Following the senior Pelosi’s career from becoming the first female House speaker in 2007 to Joe Biden’s inauguration in 2021, the film is a compelling chronicle of a woman shaping American politics far more than any MSNBC-fêted firebrand. It’s a testament to a most radical act: showing up and doing your job. HBO Max.
HOLLYWOOD PICK:
Most mainstream American films cower in fear of directly confronting the A word (atheism) and the R word (religion). Not Robert Zemeckis’ Contact (1997), about a scorned scientist (Jodie Foster) and a Christian pop philosopher (Matthew McConaughey) who has the president’s ear. An extraterrestrial invitation brings the two together, but the film, based on Carl Sagan’s 1985 novel, is at its best when it’s ruminating on how skepticism can be an act of faith in its own right. Tubi.
INDIE PICK:
In Extract (2009), Mike Judge whips up a soufflé of corporate idiocy with a deliciously nasty aftertaste. Jason Bateman stars as the head of a flavoring company, but that’s a small part of a story that involves an ingenious grifter (Mila Kunis), a naive gigolo (Dustin Milligan) and a bartender with a fondness for horse tranquilizers (Ben Affleck). Also, the scene where affluent Bateman practically licks his lips when referring to Kunis as “working class” is one of the savviest and most sickening bits of satire in a 21st century American comedy. Cinemax.