Pacifiction — Mubi.com
Spanish director Albert Serra takes slow, visually evocative aim at the crumbling ruins of imperialism in this acclaimed drama from 2022. It contains a magnificently evil performance from Benoît Magimel as De Roller, the French high commissioner to the exoticised paradise of Tahiti and follows De Roller as he manipulates his way through the island’s elite and tries to squash rumours that a submarine spotted in the bay is a sign of the return of nefarious nuclear testing to the island. Inscrutable behind his mirrored sunglasses, Magimel’s De Roller is the complex, introspective and increasingly symbolic centre.
Point of Order — Rent or buy Apple TV +
Emile de Antonio’s 1965 indictment of the McCarthy anti-Communist witch hunts remains a powerful reminder of the dangers of mass hysteria and paranoia. It stars the great conservative 20th-century villain Roy Cohn and his briefly more famous maniacal boss Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin. It uses only archive footage edited from 187 hours filmed at the 1954 Army-Senate hearings conducted by McCarthy to paint a terrifying portrait of the corruption of power as the senator’s and his stooges’ claims are thoroughly debunked to reveal the true motivation for his grandstanding ― personal power and enrichment.
The Official Fifa channel — YouTube.com
The biggest sporting event in the world has once again kicked off, and this channel will keep you company between games and even during the four years until the next one, with highlights, nostalgia, titbits, player portraits, country overviews and fodder for the maintenance of the beautiful game.
The Rest is Football — Netflix
Gary Lineker’s pro-Palestine views saw the national treasure unceremoniously axed from his decades-long post as the host of BBC’s Match of the Day last year ahead of his agreed departure after this year’s World Cup. That’s not deterred Lineker; he and his rabble-rousing co-hosts, Alan Shearer and Micah Richards, bring their hugely popular The Rest is Football podcast to Netflix’s massive global audience for the duration of the tournament, with daily episodes and a slew of regular visitors and global football celebrity appearances already announced.
Garbo Talks ― Prime Video
Though he was rightfully acclaimed as one of New American Cinema’s leading directors of tense political dramas and sharply machine-gunning dialogue set pieces, Sidney Lumet wasn’t known for his comedy-handling skills. This uneven 1984 dramedy is about as close as Lumet got to doing something light; its premise is silly and its overwhelming tone a little too close to the sentimental sweet at times, but it has an engaging lead performance from Anne Bancroft as Estelle Rolfe, a middle-aged outspoken activist whose increasingly erratic behaviour concerns her devoted son Gilbert (Ron Silver). When Estelle receives a terrible diagnosis, Gilbert vows to make her final wish — a visit with the famously reclusive golden-era Hollywood star Greta Garbo — come true. With time running out and the quest taking over his life, will Gilbert finally do something his mother approves of?
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