The Third Monday In October

Big Year Productions. 91 minutes.<br /> Billed as a mash-up of Election and Spellbound, this film is a charming portrait of four middle-school presidential elections.

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Billed as a mash-up of Election and Spellbound, this film is a charming portrait of four middle-school presidential elections. You know the drill: There are the popular kids, such as the Marin County, California, girl who admits that she’ll win votes because she’s pretty, “But that’s just the way things go.” Then there are the overachievers, like the self-described “politically obsessed dynamo” from Austin. Yet the one to root for is Mick Del Rosario, an utterly winning kid from San Francisco, who runs on a platform of “More fun! Pure democracy!!!” Adolescent drama abounds, but the real story here—as in adult politics—is about money. Mick, whose immigrant dad works two jobs, makes do with a hand-lettered poster, while his suburban peers and their parents print up stickers and T-shirts. At Mick’s inner-city school, crummy used textbooks are a hot-button issue; across the San Francisco Bay, candidates promise better flavors of Jamba Juice in the cafeteria. Unfortunately, this divide is one of several questions left unexplored as the filmmakers opt for sound bites over substance.

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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