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PORTLAND PICK:
Filmed in both Portland and Washington, Matt Ross’ Captain Fantastic (2016) is a splendid showcase for the hardened charisma of Viggo Mortensen. As a father attempting to raise his kids in an off-the-grid home, he bristles with wounded revolutionary fervor, creating a haunting portrait of a progressive warrior reckoning with the limits of his convictions. Starz.
INDIE PICK:
It’s been almost 20 years since a purple raincoat-wearing Maggie Gyllenhaal walked into James Spader’s office in Secretary (2002), kicking off director Steven Shainberg’s kinky cinematic fairy tale. Since “sex positive” has become a fairly controversial term, the film’s provocations are starting to feel radical again. Plus, it features Spader at his best: using his creepiness as a layer to be peeled away to reveal the humanity beneath. Free on Tubi.
HOLLYWOOD PICK:
Before Joseph Kosinski made Top Gun: Maverick, he dazzled and baffled with TRON: Legacy (2010). While Garrett Hedlund is epically uninteresting in the lead role, an ultra-zen Jeff Bridges and a platinum-blond Michael Sheen blissfully bring on the weird (as does production designer Darren Gilford, whose mirrored black surfaces seem to extend into eternity). Disney+.
INTERNATIONAL PICK:
Julia Ducournau’s Titane (2021) isn’t for everyone—especially if you’re not in the mood for gruesome murders by hairpin—but it’s an undeniably compelling meditation on sex, violence and gender identity. Agathe Rousselle stars as the elusive Alexia, who is either a woman, a man, a cyborg, a human, a god, or all or none of the above. Hulu.