This week in the magazine, David Denby writes about the coming-of-age story “Adventureland.” Another recent film of that sort that I particularly enjoyed, and find distinctive in its style, its substance, and its context is “Napoleon Dynamite,” the director Jared Hess’s first feature. I wrote about it when it came out on DVD, and was fascinated by the absence of popular culture, which I assumed at the time to be a sign of a religious milieu, which is, however, also unexpressed in the film. I was interested to learn, soon thereafter, that Hess is a Mormon, and that some of his artistic choices (such as the absence of curse words and kissing) were determined by religious principle. I wondered whether his future work would reflect this context more clearly—and, lo and behold, he then made “Nacho Libre,” the strangest American religious film since “The Last Temptation of Christ,” in which he presents a case for nothing less than Catholic-Protestant reconciliation. Regardless of doctrine, “Napoleon Dynamite” is both a quietly strong satire and a loopy delight. I present it in the clip below.
Goings On
What we’re watching, listening to, and doing this week, online, in N.Y.C., and beyond. Paid subscribers also receive book picks.
Our Local Correspondents
Why You Can’t Get a Restaurant Reservation
How bots, mercenaries, and table scalpers have turned the restaurant reservation system inside out.
By Adam Iscoe
Profiles
Padma Lakshmi Walks Into a Bar
Since leaving “Top Chef,” Lakshmi has found herself in a period of professional uncertainty. What better time to try standup comedy?
By Helen Rosner
Annals of Gastronomy
A Martini Tour of New York City
My month of vermouth-rinsing and fat-washing.
By Gary Shteyngart
Our Local Correspondents
Donald Trump Is Being Ritually Humiliated in Court
At his criminal trial, the ex-President has to sit there while potential jurors, prosecutors, the judge, witnesses, and even his own lawyers talk about him as a defective, impossible person.
By Eric Lach