Roofman (2025)

Jack and I quite enjoyed this based-on-a-true-story about a North Carolina thief who breaks into stores through their roofs after hours and later has to hide out in a Toys R Us in 2004. Channing Tatum is charming (name change?) in the title role, and Kirsten Dunst is also adorable as his love interest in the second act. Support comes from Peter Dinklage as the detestable store manager and Lakeith Stanfield and Juno Temple as the roofman's friends.

Director Derek Cianfrance spent many hours interviewing the actual roofman Jeffrey Manchester to contribute to the script Cianfrance co-wrote with Kirt Gunn.

The music by Christopher Bear, available on Apple Music, swings between soothing and mildly unsettling.

Tatum was last blogged for Fly Me to the Moon, Dunst for The Power of the Dog, Dinklage for Wicked, Stanfield for Judas and the Black Messiah, Temple for Wonder Wheel (three years before her 34 episodes of Ted Lasso as Keely), Cianfrance for Sound of Metal, and Bear for Past Lives. This is the second feature for Gunn, sixteen years after his first.

28 producers is no longer enough to land a spot on my Producers Plethora Prize list, but I thought I'd mention the number anyway. Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences aren't raising the ceiling at 86 and 85% averages, but they're still pretty high. We rented it on November 20.

Bugonia (2025)

We were captivated by this intense story of a madman and his autistic cousin who kidnap a pharmaceutical company CEO, convinced that she is an evil alien. Jesse Plemons and Emma Stone are terrific as brainy Teddy and shrewd Michelle, and Aiden Delbis is quite good as cousin Don. Alicia Silverstone has a cameo as Teddy's mother (I had to look her up because I knew she looked familiar).

Yorgos Lanthimos directs from a script by Will Tracy, based on the movie Save the Green Planet! (Jigureul jikyeora! - 2003), written by Jang Joon-Hwan. There is some violence and blood. Do not let anyone give you spoilers--the end was quite a twist for Jack and me. Apple Music describes Jerskin Fendrix's soundtrack as haunting, and they're not wrong.

Turns out that bugonia was an ancient Greek belief that bees spontaneously generated from the carcasses of cows. The character Teddy is a beekeeper.

You may have seen photos of Stone with a shaved head. She really did consent to that and said having a bald head was freeing, as well as feeling "amazing" in the shower. That explains her cute pixie cut early this year.

Plemons, Stone, Lanthimos, and Fendrix were all last blogged for Kinds of Kindness, Tracy for The Menu, and Silverstone for Book Club. Delbis, who chooses to be described as autistic, makes his acting debut after an open casting call.

Rotten Tomatoes critics are somewhat sweet on this, with averages of 87 and 84%, respectively. We rented it yesterday, December 4.

A Big Bold Beautiful Journey (2025)

I loved this trippy time-bending romance with stunning photography, chosen because of its stars Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell and particularly for its director Kogonada, though, like his last movie After Yang, it's a bit too dreamy for Jack's taste. The cast includes Kevin Kline, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Jennifer Grant, Hamish Linklater, the voice of Jodie Turner-Smith, and many more.

Seth Reiss wrote the original screenplay, Joe Hisaishi composed the lovely score, now playing on my computer from Apple Music. We have Benjamin Loeb to thank for the beautiful cinematography.

Robbie was last blogged for Barbie, Farrell for The Banshees of Inisherin, Kogonada, Turner-Smith, and Loeb for After Yang, Kline for the live action version of Beauty and the Beast, Waller-Bridge for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Linklater for Nickel Boys, Reiss for The Menu, and Hisaishi for The Wind Rises. Grant, the daughter of Cary Grant and Dyan Cannon, is new to me, though she's worked a fair amount.

Critics from Rotten Tomatoes do not want the journey, with an ugly average of 37%, and its audiences aren't much prettier at 58. We rented it on November 4. If you choose to trust me over the aforementioned critics, stay and listen for an audio bonus at the end.

Companion (2025)

Jack and I both liked a lot this story of a weekend getaway with millennial friends. I was uncomfortable in the first act until the big reveal and then we settled in for some sci-fi mayhem. Jack Quaid and Sophie Thatcher star as Josh and Iris, with support from Lukas Gage, Harvey Guillén, and Rupert Friend as Sergey. You may learn elsewhere about the big reveal but I'm not saying.

Director/writer Drew Hancock keeps it moving, with an exciting score by Hrishikesh Hirway, available on Apple Music.

Quaid was last blogged for Logan Lucky and Friend for At Eternity's Gate. I haven't seen Yellowjackets nor any of her other work so Thatcher is new to me. Gage has dozens of credits but is best known to me for season 1 of The White Lotus, Guillén didn't look familiar despite nearly 100 roles. This is Hancock's feature directing and writing debut after doing some of both for TV and Hirway has scored two other features.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are good buddies with a 93% average, as are its audiences at 88. We streamed it on Prime with our subscription on November 12. It's also on HBO/Max for subscribers and for rent elsewhere for less than $4.

The Intern (2015)

On one of Marc Maron's podcasts, he mentioned that this is a movie he likes to rewatch and Jack and I understand why--it's comforting and sweet, about a bored 70-year old retired widower who gets an intern job at a New York fashion house. Robert De Niro is great in the title role, as are the rest of the cast: Anne Hathaway as his tightly wound boss, Rene Russo the on-call massage therapist, and Andrew Rannells, Anders Holm, and Zack Pearlman as other employees, among many in the cast. You will also see Linda Lavin (in one of her final roles) and Celia Weston and hear the voice of Mary Kay Place.

Director/writer Nancy Meyers is known for this kind of soothing picture, aided by the nice soundtrack by Theodore Shapiro, which Jack has compared to Beeman’s gum, a flavor from our childhood. I'm streaming the soundtrack on Apple Music right now.

The movie won the AARP Best Comedy Movie for Grownups award and earned a handful of nominations

De Niro was last blogged for Ezra, Hathaway for Eileen, Russo for Fly Me to the Moon, Rannells for The Prom, Meyers for Father of the Bride 3, and Shapiro for Jackpot! Lavin was most recently in these pages for Wanderlust and had plenty of work in the years following, including 32 episodes of B Positive and nine of Mid Century Modern, and Place for providing a voice in Downsizing.

Holm and Pearlman were familiar faces, due to nine episodes of Inventing Anna for the former and eleven of Shameless for the latter. Some of my favorites of Weston's work are Unstrung Heroes (1995), Flirting with Disaster (1996), Igby Goes Down (1998), five episodes of Modern Family from 2010-2016, and eleven, so far, of Leanne this year.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are ready to quit with their 59% average but its audiences, at 73, are enjoying the gig a little more. We streamed it on Peacock with our subscription on November 6, but it can also be rented for less than $4.

Materialists (2025)

Amy recommended and we really liked this glossy story of a successful high-price Manhattan matchmaker. I don't want to give away as much as everyone else does. The main stars Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, and Pedro Pascal are joined by Zoë Winters, Marin Ireland, Louisa Jacobson, John Magaro, and Sawyer Spielberg, just to name a few.

Director/writer Celine Song worked at a New York matchmaking agency years ago, so this had been brewing in her head for a while. This is her second feature and the first, Past Lives, earned an Oscar nomination for her Best Original Screenplay and the movie for Best Picture.

I'm currently enjoying Daniel Pemberton's score on Apple Music as I type. Apparently cinematographer Shabier Kirchner shot the movie in 35mm, but I don't remember the resolution so well, since we watched it over a month ago. I do, however, remember that it had high production values. with beautiful sets (production design by Anthony Gasparro) and costumes (by Katina Danabassis).

Johnson was last blogged for Am I OK?, Evans for Deadpool & Wolverine, Pascal for Drive-Away Dolls, Winters for Jules, Ireland for Eileen, Magaro for September 5, Song and Kirchner for Past Lives, and Pemberton for Fly Me to the Moon. Jacobson, who is one of Meryl Streep's daughters, is best known for 25 episodes of The Gilded Age as Marian Brook and Spielberg, son of Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw, is new to me. Gasparro's design work includes Certain Women and First Cow and Danabassis's includes C'mon C'mon and Sharp Stick.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics aren't very greedy, averaging 78%, while its audiences seem almost thrifty at 66. Jack and I rented it on October 17, but now it's available on HBO/Max or whatever it's called this week, with a subscription.

Do stay for the end credits. 

The Baltimorons (2025)

Jack and I really liked this rom-com about a hapless 30-something comedian and a disillusioned 50-something dentist hanging out on Christmas eve. Michael Strassner stars as Cliff and Liz Larsen as Didi. This is Jay Duplass' first time directing solo, as he usually shares the job with his brother Mark (the latter does co-produce here), and Jay co-wrote the script with Strassner. You'll find out the meaning of the title around the middle of the story. I'm familiar with only a few Baltimore locations, some of which are shown, but I'm sure there are many.

Jordan Seigel's sprightly and sweet soundtrack can be streamed on Apple Music.

There are only three trivia items and they're all good so I'll list them: the opening scene is based on a true event in Strassner's life, the team spent only $45 on permits, despite shooting exclusively in Baltimore, and they shot a sequence (without a permit?) during a yearly Christmas lighting event called Miracle on 34th Street.

Jay Duplass was last blogged for co-writing Outside In, which also features a relationship with an age gap. Strassner has dozens of acting credits and this is his feature screenwriting debut. Larsen, too, is no stranger to acting, but is new to me, as is Siegel, after a handful of credits.

Rotten Tomatoes's critics are clever, with a 94% average, while its audiences slightly less so at 84. We rented it on October 10, 2025. It will make a nice Christmas movie for adults, not because it's dirty, but because kids would be bored.