It is really hot out there right now, so why not stay inside and watch a movie? Here is what I watched in June. All shows are rated from 1-5 cans of tuna, with 5 as the top. Movies not watched previously are marked with an asterisk and numbering picks up from previous months. Enjoy!
56. Off-Campus* (2026, Prime Video) – OK, NOW I get what all the fuss is about with this show, why women are losing their minds. Hockey is having a moment these days (see "Heated Rivalry"), as the hunky college “boys” on the hockey team in this strictly hetero show truly dominate the screen. Hannah Wells (Ella Bright, looking like a young Brooke Shields) is a music major who falls for strapping Garrett Graham (Belmont Cameli), captain of the hockey team at Briar College. Focusing on a sports team means there are plenty of scenes in the shower, or with shirts off, sweating – but I digress. Not everyone is looking for a relationship in this 8-part series; sometimes casual sex is more the goal – or so they say. College kids were not like this when I was in college, or were they? Only start watching this addictive series when you have time; I was hooked and finished it in 24 hours. Juicy and delicious, even to a more “mature” woman like me. 4 cans.
57. The Trip to Bountiful (1985, Cable TV) – Elderly Carrie Watts (Geraldine Page), just wants to go home. Stuck living in a small apartment with an obnoxious daughter-in-law and her meek son, Carrie longs to go back to her tiny hometown of Bountiful, Texas. When she sneaks away from the house and boards a bus headed for that area, she feels triumphant. Along the way, she meets a young woman (Rebecca De Mornay) and tells her the story of her life in the quiet town. When she arrives, the town isn’t at all what she recalls, but just being there conjures up the memories of her youth, the people and the places that were once home. Page won an Oscar for her performance. 3½ cans.
58. Office Romance* (2026, Netflix) – Jennifer Lopez and Brett Goldstein (Roy Kent in "Ted Lasso") pair up for this rom-com that centers on the forbidden and secret romance between the hard charging CEO of an airline (Lopez) and her new staff attorney Daniel (Goldstein, who co-wrote the script). The company has a strict no-dating policy for employees that Lopez follows to the letter, until she and Daniel start working together. Then the consummate professional CEO turns to mush and has an island-based fling with her subordinate. I wish the material here was better, because Lopez could handle it. Instead, there is some crass comedy involving Daniel’s first reaction to being alone with the boss and the unlikely birth of a baby on an office desk (couldn’t SOMEONE have called 911, and did we really need to see what we saw?). The secondary players here are wonderful, especially Betty Gilpin, Bradley Whitford, Amy Sedaris and Tony Hale), so be sure to watch through the ending. But I wanted smarter, better material for Jennifer Lopez besides the fawning reaction to her written by Goldstein for his character to deliver. 3 cans.
59. The Crash* (2026, Netflix) – In this true-crime documentary, what looks like a regular crash that resulted in the death of two men in their 20s and the injured female driver isn’t quite what it seems. When investigators look into the horrendous accident, the find that the young woman was driving 100 miles an hour and, according to the tested instruments on board the car, she made no attempt to brake. But why? Was there an underlying medical issue or was the crash intentional? The three were best friends and two of them, high school student Mackenzie Shirilla (the driver of the car) and recent grad Dominic Russo, were a couple, living together in what certainly could be called a toxic relationship. Documentary footage shows Mackenzie trying to be a fashion and lifestyle influencer, and there is plenty of footage of her smoking weed with no hesitation or regret. The use of bodycam footage enhanced the story. I felt sorry for the kids who lost their lives because of her decision to crash the car and the families whose sons were killed by her arrogance and ego. 3 cans.
60. Tuner* (2025, Montgomery Cinema) – This film is fronted by Dustin Hoffman as Harry Horowitz, an elderly piano tuner with a myriad of medical issues. Tovah Feldshuh is his supportive wife. But the real star of the show is Leo Woodall as Niki, a quiet young man being trained by Harry to take over the business. Niki has a hearing issue that makes him hypersensitive to loud noises. He wears ear buds or a headset to tune out the distractions. But his hearing works exceptionally well to pick up the sounds of each piano key, a skill that also translates to the cracking of safes. When Harry goes into the hospital and into debt, Niki takes on some side work for a crooked security company that steals from its very wealthy customers. The jobs become larger and more dangerous, and Niki gets trapped into a criminal life. Very intense and well done. 3½ cans.
61. The Witness* (2026, Netflix) – This is not the old movie starring Harrison Ford as a cop masquerading as an Amish man to catch a killer. In this 3-part true crime drama, a toddler boy is in the park with his mother when a man we don’t see approaches and the camera cuts away. The next thing we know is that the woman has been brutally murdered and the only witness is her young son. The authorities do what they can to get information from the young boy, Alex, with his father, Andre, serving as his protector. The press is relentless, stalking the father at home and every time he leaves the house. The drama continues as the series depicts father and son over time with flashbacks to the investigation. The cops come off as inept and the British legal system as frustrating. I found the flashbacks somewhat challenging to follow, even as the poor father and son suffer disappointment and stress in their own relationship over the years. 3½ cans.
62. After Everything* (2018, Netflix) – Before his emergence as a star on “The Bear,” Jeremy Allen White starred as Eliot, a man in his 20s who starts a new relationship with Mia (Maika Monroe) just as he receives the devastating diagnosis that he has cancer. Although their relationship is brand-new, she supports him by doing research on his condition, accompanies him to his doctor appointments and helps him tell his parents. But the relationship is bittersweet. Do they really love each other or are they bonded by his illness? Well acted. 3½ cans.
63. Your Friends & Neighbors, Season 2* (2026, Apple TV) – Jon Hamm returns to star in the second season of this series about the affluent folks who live in a fictional Westchester, NY, village where cheating and scandals reign supreme. When last we left his character, Andrew (Coop) Cooper, Coop had survived a murder rap (he really didn’t do it) but it was only a matter of time before the fired hedge fund manager would return to stealing very expensive items from his oblivious friends and neighbors to support himself and his family in the style to which they were accustomed. This season, a new, even richer neighbor moves to town. James Marsden is the charismatic Ashe, a shipping magnate with unlimited funds that dazzle even the denizens of the already wealthy enclave. The interrelationships between the friends and neighbors grow more intricate this year. I’ll spare you the details but must say that this series remains intriguing and Hamm is as good here as he was in his classic “Mad Men.” I’m just glad these people are not my friends and neighbors! 4 cans.
64. Legally Blonde* (2026, stage musical at local The Villagers Theater) – This exuberant stage production of the Reese Witherspoon movie about a pink-loving woman who chases her former boyfriend to Harvard Law School has been turned into a musical. The cast, especially the woman who played the starring role as Elle, was filled with talented young people who were terrific. Given the confines of a rather small stage, they even pulled off a jump rope number with aplomb. As they say in the show, “Oh, my God.” Delightful. 4 cans.
65. Maternal Instinct* (2026, Netflix) – If you ever want proof that truth is stranger than fiction, try watching shows in the true crime genre. People try to get away with stuff you can’t believe. Here, a young woman tells her boyfriend she is pregnant, even though she had a hysterectomy years before she met him and cannot possibly have children. She somehow gets images of sonograms and even buys a fake belly to look like she is carrying a child. People around her start to get suspicious, and as her due date draws near, she has to come up with a baby or a plausible excuse for not having one. I won’t reveal what happens, but this story does not have a happy ending. 3½ cans.
66. Carlos Alcaraz – My Way* (2026, Netflix) – I’m a big fan of tennis champ Carlos Alcaraz, who at the tender age of 24, has already captured 7 major titles. He achieved his first success by winning the US Open in 2022 at the age of 19. He is the youngest man to achieve a career Grand Slam, winning all four major tournaments. But, in my opinion, he is still too young to merit a 3-part documentary. The program focuses on the struggle of Carlos and his team of coaches, managers, physical therapists, doctors, his parents and others to keep him in the best shape mentally and physically to manage the grind that pros must face, from tournaments to working out, practicing, doing obligatory photo shoots, representing sponsors and making appearances to promote himself and his brands. He is still a kid, eager to unwind and not sure whether he can keep up the grueling schedule or even wants to, despite his passion for the game and for winning. I would rather see the film makers wait a few years to let him achieve more success before they give us this story. There is so much more to come. Alcaraz is immensely talented, and if he stays healthy and focused, he could turn out to be the greatest of all time. Stay tuned. 3 cans.
67. The Bear, Season 5* (2026, Hulu) – The fifth and final season of this series begins with a deluge. It is pouring in Chicago, with flooding in the streets threatening the arrival of supplies and patrons to the nightly dining service at The Bear restaurant. Meanwhile, it is flooding in The Bear restaurant, with pipes bursting at random and repair people falling through the roof. When last we left Chef Carmy (Jeremy Allen White, with his impossibly blue eyes) and his dedicated, loud crew, he has told his second-in-command, the extremely talented chef Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) that he wants out. The pressure of perfection has overwhelmed him and he cannot find a way to settle for less. This season, the word is out, and the staff, despite the weather conditions and the building falling apart, is determined to have what is possibly their last service with Carmy still around. The action takes place primarily over one stressful day (although all days on this show seem pressure-packed). The characters here are very intense; there’s a lot of yelling and swearing. This is a great, well-written show and this episode is a fitting end to its run. 4 cans and a sad farewell.
68. Chris and Martina: The Final Set* (2026, Netflix) – If you followed women’s tennis in the 1970s and ‘80s, you couldn’t miss Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova, two completely opposite players who dominated the game. One or the other always seemed to be number one in the world, capturing the major titles at Wimbledon, the French Open, the US Open and the Australian Open. I remember being captivated by watching so many of their classic matches over the years. This moving documentary explores their successes, their intense rivalry and their friendship on and off the court, which was not always smooth sailing. Both women have fought cancer multiple times and survived, and that common factor has made their friendship even stronger. The day before this film was released, Evert announced that her ovarian cancer had returned for the third time, which makes this program even more poignant, as I kept thinking that this could, indeed, be the final set. 4 cans.
69. Voicemails for Isabelle* (2026, Netflix) – This rom-com was a nice change of pace after watching a few more intense programs this month. Jill, an aspiring chef, is very close to her younger sister Izzy, who has suffered from cystic fibrosis her whole life. When Izzy suddenly passes away, Jill (Zoey Deutch) continues to confide in her by leaving voicemail messages on her phone just to feel a semblance of normalcy. But when the phone number is reassigned without her knowledge, those voicemails are heard by the phone’s new owner, real estate man Wes (Nick Robinson), who is intrigued by the life of this young woman he hasn’t met. Similar to “You’ve Got Mail,” the movie brings the couple together, but he can’t bring himself to tell her about the voicemails he has heard. Cute, unpretentious and easy to watch. 3½ cans.
70. On Golden Pond (1981, Cable TV) – Norman Thayer, Jr. (Henry Fonda) is a cantankerous retired professor who spends summers with his wife Ethel (Katharine Hepburn) at their house on Golden Pond in New England. The aging couple have their routine, whether it is gathering firewood or sparring with each other. They know they are not as sharp and capable as they used to be but they are not ready to confront their reality. Their routine is thrown off when adult daughter Chelsea (Jane Fonda) comes to visit along with her new beau Bill (Dabney Coleman) and his teenaged son (Doug McKeon). Chelsea and her dad (Fonda’s real-life father) have never gotten along, despite her mother’s best attempts to encourage a bond. When Chelsea and Bill leave for a few weeks, the bored teenager feels dumped, and Norman doesn’t exactly exude charm. But they build a bond through fishing and mischief and the boy establishes the relationship with Norman that Chelsea never had. Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn won Oscars for their performances, made more poignant by the well-known estrangement between Henry and Jane and the reality that this film together would likely be his last. The music is beautiful, the views of the lake are stunning, and the cast is outstanding. I love this movie. 4½ cans.
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