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.

Damn Yankees (1958)

Jack and I both loved this musical about a middle-aged frustrated baseball fan who makes a deal with the devil so his team can beat the New York Yankees. It's dear to my heart for a lot of reasons, including that the songs and dancing are brilliant. I was a child in a Yankees-loving Manhattan family when I saw it on Broadway and this version came out a few years later with Gwen Verdon as Lola, Ray Walston as Mr. Applegate, Robert Shafer–who has a great singing voice–as the older Joe Boyd, and Jean Stapleton can be seen and heard (her Edith Bunker voice is unmistakable to those of us of a certain age) as Sister Miller, reprising their Broadway roles. Tab Hunter, who was a "dreamy teen idol" of the time, steps into the film version as young Joe Hardy.

Bob Fosse, who choreographed, dances with Verdon in one number, Who's Got the Pain, and someone says, "That was terrific, Fosse," at the end of it. You don't need to rent the whole movie to watch that dance because it's on YouTube. They were married for a while and I have blogged about Fosse/Verdon, the series that was based on their relationship.

Stanley Donen co-directed with George Abbott, who wrote the screenplay, which was adapted from the book of the 1955 musical, co-written by Abbott and Douglas Wallop, and the show won Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Actor (Walston), Best Actress (Verdon), Best Choreography, and more. That musical's book was based on Wallop's 1954 novel The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant, which was, in turn, based on the 1808 book Faust: Part I by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. 

The original Broadway songs are by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross and I do love them. You can stream them on Apple Music and, no doubt, elsewhere, but you will find several other versions so take your pick!

Besides being fans of this score and of baseball in general, we reached so deep into movie archives for this selection because we had tickets to see the updated revival of the musical, which ran for a few months in Washington DC. It was spectacular and is, hopefully, headed to Broadway.

Besides her copious stage work (four Tonys and two other nominations) Verdon (1925-2000) is best known for The Cotton Club (1984), Cocoon (1985) and its sequel (1988), and Marvin's Room (1996). Walston's (1914-2001) long resume includes The Sting (1973), Popeye (1980), Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), 107 episodes of My Favorite Martian (1963-66), and 81 of Picket Fences (1992-96). This was Shafer's (1908-1981) only feature. Stapleton (1923-2013) had a few credits before her 206 episodes of All in the Family and dozens after. Hunter (1931-2018) had many credits as well, including 32 episodes of his own The Tab Hunter Show (1960-61). Fosse (1927-1987) choreographed seven other features and directed four of them, winning the Oscar for directing Cabaret (1972) and nominated for directing Lenny (1974) and All That Jazz (1979), the latter of which was based on his own life story. 

Among Donen's other pictures are the musicals Singin' in the Rain (1952), Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), and Funny Face (1957), and the romantic thriller Charade (1963). Abbott (1887-1995) worked as a writer for both stage and screen, including a similar situation with the Broadway (1954) to Hollywood  (1957) adaptation of The Pajama Game, which was also scored by Adler (1921-2102) and Ross (1926-1955). Each of the songwriters was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in the early 1980s.

Damn those Rotten Tomatoes audiences, averaging 69%. Its critics were more forgiving at 79. We watched it on Apple TV on October 24 (we couldn't rent it; only purchase was available, for about $10). It can also be streamed for free with ads on a few platforms. I use justwatch.com to determine where to stream movies and TV.

Eileen (2023)

As far as I can remember, I think we liked this psychological thriller about an awkward young woman whose life is changed by a glamorous older woman at the 1964 boys' prison where they both work. Thomasin McKenzie is good in the title role and Anne Hathaway wonderful as the object of her obsession. Shea Whigham plays Eileen's father, Sam Nivola one of the prisoners, and Marin Ireland, in her most unglamorous role to date, his mother.

William Oldroyd directs from a screenplay by Ottessa Moshfegh and her husband Luke Goebel, adapted from Moshfegh's 2015 novel.

There are some 60s songs to complement Richard Reed Parry's eerie soundtrack, which is available to stream on Apple Music.

McKenzie was last blogged for The Power of the Dog, Hathaway for The Idea of You, Whigham for First Man, Nivola for Maestro, Ireland for Future Weather, and Moshfegh and Goebel for Causeway. Oldroyd directed one feature before this and Parry, a member of the band Arcade Fire, has scored five altogether.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are on different cell blocks, averaging 81%, than its audiences at 53. Hathaway, Ireland, and Oldroyd were all nominated for Independent Spirit Awards the following year. Jack and I streamed it on Hulu on October 3, having found it on a deep dive into my viewing list.