Well deserving of its hype, "Citizenfour," Laura Poitras' cinematic collaboration with notorious whistleblower Edward Snowden, dares to do away with documentary objectivity altogether. Conspiring with her media-savvy subject as he clicks "send" in a Hong Kong hotel room, Poitras not only influences major world events as they unfold, but works intrepidly to facilitate them.

Not unlike Snowden, whose dramatic exposure of U.S. government surveillance resembles a multimedia installation on a global scale, Poitras brings political activism thrillingly close to performance art with this epic doc, which opened Friday at the Uptown Theatre in Minneapolis. Even so, it may not be the best movie by the fearless filmmaker, whose work got her placed near the top of the Department of Homeland Security's "secret watch list" in 2006.

"Citizenfour" caps what Poitras has called her "post-9/11 trilogy." Streamable on demand via Fandor are the first two installments: "My Country, My Country," an immersive study of U.S.-occupied Iraq in the run-up to the nation's enforced democratic elections of 2005; and the filmmaker's masterpiece, "The Oath" (2010), which follows an Al-Qaida member-turned-cabbie in Yemen.

Sensitively portraying Abu Jandal, who drives a hack in the Yemeni capital of Sana'a, "The Oath" defies U.S. television news traditions by humanizing the "enemy," even as it plays like a narrative thriller about the U.S. war on terror. In the 1990s, Jandal was Osama bin-Laden's bodyguard as well as a close colleague of Salim Hamdan, who stood trial for terrorism in the case of Hamdan vs. Rumsfeld.

Poitras approaches her subject without caution or prejudice, letting him talk at length about his conflicted views of jihadism and his recent rehabilitation by the Yemen government. Surely the major networks wouldn't dream of giving this man the time of day except to villainize him. But why shouldn't someone this fascinating be worth getting to know? That Jandal happens to be a mesmerizing screen presence only adds to the myriad complications that Poitras trusts us to sort out for ourselves.

In "My Country, My Country" (which can also be streamed for free via SundanceNow Doc Club), Poitras — unembedded and working completely alone — trails Dr. Riyadh, an Iraqi medic and Sunni political candidate. All around him lie the bloody consequences of the U.S. occupation, designed to enforce Middle Eastern democracy at any cost.

Punctuated by the mournful music of Iraqi singer-composer Kadhum Al Sahir, "My Country, My Country" stands as one of the key documentaries of the war in Iraq. It remains as timely now as it was nearly a decade ago.

Also notable on VOD

From the monumental to the merely entertaining: Miles Teller, whose electric turns in "The Spectacular Now" and "Whiplash" have put him on the shortlist of serious young film actors, stars opposite Minneapolis-born "America's Next Top Model" finalist Analeigh Tipton in "Two Night Stand," a formulaic but enjoyable R-rated indie rom-com that's newly streamable via iTunes and Amazon on Demand, et al.

Amiably channeling the "Say Anything"-era John Cusack (and sporting a Twins T-shirt), Teller plays Alec, a Brooklyn bank employee in his early 20s whose online booty call from Tipton's unemployed Manhattanite doubles in duration when a snowstorm shuts them in his cramped apartment.

Albeit contrived, "Two Night Stand" could be considered a work of cinema verite compared with slick Hollywood hookups like "Friends With Benefits" and "No Strings Attached"; it's vibrantly shot in widescreen by indie vet Bobby Bukowski and written to emphasize awkward honesty as the pair's conversation runs the wide gamut from toilet plungers and orgasms to breath that "tastes like prison."

Teller fans should jump on the film before his role as Mr. Fantastic in Marvel's upcoming "Fantastic Four" series makes him completely uncool.

Send questions or comments to Rob Nelson at VODcolumn@gmail.com.

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