The Invite (2026)

Jack and I loved this cringey, profane story of a tense couple, whose marriage is on the rocks, and their dinner party with a couple in their building. Several others of our friends loved it, too. Olivia Wilde directs and stars as the tightly wound wife in couple #1 with Seth Rogen as her baffled husband. When gorgeous couple #2, Penelope Cruz and Edward Norton, enters the picture it gets even more crazy.

Will McCormack and Rashida Jones adapted the screenplay from the Spanish movie 2020 movie Sentimental AKA The People Upstairs. Devonté Hynes' jittery original score can be streamed on Apple Music. Wikipedia says he plays cello, among other instruments, and that is primary in this score.

A few fun trivia tidbits: Wilde dedicated the movie to her mentor Diane Keaton, who died three months before the movie's Sundance Film Festival release; it opens with a quotation from Oscar Wilde, who is no relation to the director (her birth name is Olivia Jane Cockburn); and this is the seventh adaptation of Sentimental (I counted more than the imdb trivia), all in other languages.

Wilde was last blogged for directing and acting in Don't Worry Darling, Rogen for Dumb Money, Cruz for Ferrari, Norton for A Complete Unknown, the writing team of McCormack and Jones for Celeste and Jesse Forever, and Hynes for Passing. 

Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences have RSVPed yes, please, with averages of 96 and 89%, respectively. We rented it on August 11.

The Devil Wears Prada 2 (2026)

Not great but we're not sorry we watched it. Glamorous wardrobe, artwork, production design, and locations power this glossy sequel despite the squandering of the talents of Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep, Stanley, Tucci, and Emily Blunt, all reprising their roles of Andy, Miranda, Nigel, and Emily from the 2006 original, which I remember loving. This one takes place, appropriately, twenty years later and some of the gags are about people being scolded for their outdated (i.e. politically incorrect) language and actions as Streep's character's magazine takes its place in the 21st century. The rest of the enormous cast includes Justin Theroux, Kenneth Branagh, Lucy Liu, Simone Ashley, Rachel Bloom, and B.J. Novak.

Director David Frankel, screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna, director of photography Florian Ballhaus, and composer Theodore Shapiro also return for this outing. Shapiro's high energy score is available on all the usual platforms. Today I'm listening on Spotify for a change (my Apple Music is crunching something else at the moment). Lady Gaga has a cameo and contributes several songs, my favorites of which are Runway and Shape of a Woman. Of course Madonna's Vogue is featured as well as at least fifteen other songs.

Molly Rogers deserves a shout out for the costumes and Ballhaus' cinematography is important to the high production values.

Hathaway and Shapiro were last blogged for The Intern (in which Hathaway's character was not unlike Miranda from these two movies), Streep for Death Becomes Her, Tucci for Conclave, Blunt for The Fall Guy, Theroux for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Branagh for Tenet, Bloom for the TV series Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (created, as it happens, by McKenna), Novak for Inglourious Basterds, Frankel for Jerry & Marge Go Large, and McKenna for Cruella. 

Of her over a hundred credits, Liu is best known for Kill Bill:Vol. 1 (2003) and Vol. 2 (2004), and one of the Charlie's Angels (2000). And I recognized Ashley from the two British series Sex Education (2019-21) and Bridgerton (2022-26). Ballhaus has shot a bunch of things I've seen but this is his first mention in these pages.

Rotten Tomatoes' audiences are buying the trends at 84% more than its critics at 78. Jack and I streamed it on Hulu on August 7.

The Choral (2025)

You don't have to sing in a chorus, as I do, to love this movie, as I did, but it certainly doesn't hurt. Jack loved it, too, and he is not a singer. Set in England against the brutalities of World War I in 1916, the movie is about a community choir, led eventually by Ralph Fiennes, a brilliant, idiosyncratic, and demanding director. Three of the singing voices are dubbed by professionals, that of Roger Allam as tenor Bernard Duxbury, Amara Okereke as soprano Mary, and Jacob Dudman as tenor Clyde. The acting is quite wonderful all around and the music uplifting.

Nicholas Hytner directs from the marvelous script by Alan Bennett, with the original score by George Fenton, which is sadly not available to stream. Here's an interesting article about the Royal College of Music singers who participated.

Fiennes was last blogged for Conclave, Hytner and Bennett for The Lady in the Van, and Fenton for The Duke. Allam looked familiar to me, perhaps because his nearly a hundred credits include The Queen (2006), The Iron Lady, and The Lady in the Van. I don't believe I've seen Okereke before, but Dudman has been in nine episodes of the Scrubs reboot.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics, with a 66% average, are not singing its praises as much as its audiences at 78. We watched it on Netflix on July 29.

Project Hail Mary (2026)

Despite its excessive length of 2:36, Jack and I enjoyed this sci-fi thriller about a middle school science teacher who awakens from a coma on a spaceship and has to figure out why he is there and what to do. Ryan Gosling is good as the teacher Ryland Grace and there are some unexpected laughs here and there. The character Rocky is voiced by lead puppeteer James Ortiz. The large cast includes Sandra Hüller appearing in many flashbacks as the head of the task force that sent him to space and Lionel Boyce in a pivotal part as a security guy. 

The movie was co-directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller from the screenplay by Drew Goddard, based on Andy Weir's 2021 novel. As usual, I'm streaming on Apple Music the original score as I write, this one by Daniel Pemberton.

A vast number of trivia points include that, speaking of excessive length, the original cut was a staggering 3:45.

Gosling was last blogged for The Fall Guy, Hüller for Zone of Interest, Goddard for Bad Times at the El Royale, Weir for the novel on which Goddard based the screenplay for The Martian, and Pemberton for Materialists. Ortiz's credits include three previous movies as an actor and two as a puppeteer. Boyce is best known to us as Carl, the pastry chef in 47 episodes of The Bear. This is the fifth feature co-directed by Lord and Miller and they have various wins and nominations for their writing and producing.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are full of Grace (like the spaceship) and tied at 95% approval. We streamed it on Amazon Prime on July 14.

I Love Boosters (2026)

This insane, loud, fever dream is not for everyone but Jack and I didn't hate it. Taylour Paige, Keke Palmer, and Naomi Ackie are shoplifters (boosters) of high end fashion in San Francisco, focusing on the work of one designer, played hilariously by Demi Moore. Support comes from Poppy Liu, LaKeith Stanfield, and more, with a cameo by Don Cheadle.

Director/writer Boots Riley keeps the madcap pace going throughout. Do not turn this off when the credits roll, because there is another scene at the very end. The crazy original score by Tune-Yards (Merrill Garbus and Nate Brenner) is streaming on Apple Music as I type. Palmer has also released five songs from the soundtrack as a separate album.

I must mention the colorful costumes designed by Shirley Kurata.

Paige was last blogged for Sharp Stick, Palmer for One of Them Days, Moore for The Substance, Stanfield for Roofman, Cheadle for White Noise, and Riley and Tune-Yards for Sorry to Bother You. Ackie is new to me but not to her craft and Liu has appeared in episodes of Better Call Saul, The Afterparty,  and Hacks, to name a few. Kurata was recognized many times for her work in Everything Everywhere All at Once, including an Oscar nominations and a win from her peers in the Costume Designers Guild. This is her sixth feature heading the wardrobe department.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics love these folks with a 92% average, though its audiences' average needs a boost from 75. We rented it on July 24.

The Sheep Detectives (2026)

Everyone we talked to said they loved this comedic mystery wherein a herd of anthropomorphic sheep solve the murder of their beloved shepherd, and Jack and I loved it, too. Hugh Jackman is the sweet shepherd, and the sheep who talk to each other but not to humans are voiced by Julia Louis-Dreyfus (she plays the smart one), Brett Goldstein (both of the dumb twins), Patrick Stewart (the old one), Chris O'Dowd (with the good memory), Bryan Cranston (the fighter), and more.

The live action cast also includes Emma Thompson as the solicitor (looking gorgeous, I must say), Nicholas Braun as the hapless policeman, Nicholas Galitzine as a reporter, and Molly Gordon makes an appearance in the second act but I think it's a mild spoiler to tell you her character.

Kyle Balda directs from Craig Mazin's screenplay, based on the 2005 novel Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann. Christophe Beck's lilting soundtrack is streaming from Apple Music as I type.

Jackman was last blogged for Song Sung Blue, Louis-Dreyfus for You Hurt My Feelings, Stewart for Logan, O'Dowd for Juliet, Naked, Cranston for Asteroid City, Thompson for Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, Braun for Saturday Night, Galitzine for The Idea of You, Gordon for Oh, Hi!, and Beck for Unfrosted.

Goldstein is best known as Roy Kent in 34 episodes (so far) of Ted Lasso, which he wrote many of, and then he played Louis in 33 episodes (so far) of Shrinking, which he co-created and wrote even more of. Balda has directed some animated features, none of which I've seen, and this is Mazin's ninth feature.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences have all the clues with averages of 95 and 96%. We streamed it on Prime on July 6. Oh, and I was that many years old when I learned that lamb and sheep are the same species, just at different ages!

No Other Choice (Eo-jjeol su-ga eop-da - 2025)

I didn't love, despite its rave reviews, this story of a Korean man whose perfect life unravels when he gets fired from his job and takes extreme measures to get another. No accounting for taste. Lee Byung-hun plays the lead and Son Ye-jin plays his wife.

Director/co-writer Park Chan-Wook is much revered for his previous work but I've watched only one (see below). The script was co-written by Lee Kyoung-mi, Don McKellar, and Jahye Lee, and based on Donald Westlake's 1997 novel The Ax. The movie is dedicated to Costa-Gavras, revered Greek director/writer, who adapted the same novel into The Axe (2005), which I have not seen, but I have seen some of that director's work.

Cho Young-wuk's soundtrack is available for streaming on Apple Music.

Lee Byung-hun was last blogged for The Good, The Bad, The Weird, Park and Cho for Decision to Leave, and McKellar for Blindness. Son is new to me but not to the business. Lee Kyoung-mi has co-written two other features with Park, both directed by her. Jahye Lee co-wrote one other feature, also co-written by Park, but not directed by either one.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences enthusiastically choose this, averaging 97 and 93%, respectively. I downloaded it from Hulu and watched it on a long plane ride on July 2.