Once a month, I share the best of what I’ve been reading, watching, and exploring. Enjoy!
Films
The Roses (2025). [Hulu | Amazon Prime] A messy, hilarious film about a marital meltdown. Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch are the dysfunctional duo I didn’t know I needed. The third act goes off the rails, but it’s still one of the most entertaining comedies I’ve seen this year.
Bugonia (2025). [Amazon Prime | Apple TV+] You think you’re watching a movie about a kidnapping. Then you think it’s about aliens. Then you realize it’s about us—and how we fill in the blanks when reality isn’t enough. Jesse Plemons and Emma Stone give two of their most bizarre and brilliant performances. Dark, hilarious, and unforgettable.
Train Dreams (2025). [Netflix] A gentle gut punch of a movie. It follows a logger in the early 1900s, trying to hold onto his humanity while the world industrializes around him. Joel Edgerton gives a career-best performance—barely speaking, but saying everything. Devastating and heart-warming all at once.
Shows
Stranger Things Season 5. [Netflix] The beginning of the end for one of my all-time favorite shows. These kids—now basically adults—have grown up with us, and the show leans into that. It’s darker, weightier, and more grown-up, yet still somehow feels like summer break in the Upside Down.
Music
“We Bad, We Know” by ZOI & Byfox. Instant swagger. Feels like someone turned confidence into a beat. If you don’t at least bop your head to this, check your pulse.
Favorite new cocktail recipe
We hosted a Back to the Future–themed birthday party for me last week. I created a few custom cocktails for the event, and this one was the crowd favorite.
I called it The Flux Capacitor—because one sip, and Great Scott, you’re going 88 miles per hour.
Here’s the recipe:
- 1.5 oz gin
- 0.75 oz Cocchi Americano
- 0.5 oz St-Germain
- 1–2 dashes orange bitters
- Optional: Lemon peel garnish
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