Alan & Jono's Watching/Reading List: June 2025

Alan:

Hello Heroes!

What I’m reading!

• Ship of the Line - by CS Forester. Back to the adventures of Horatio Hornblower! Took a few months off and came roaring back with all kinds of mayhem and gentlemanly derring-do. This one’s great.

• Flying Colors - by CS Forester. The third book in the initial Horblower trilogy (ended up being like 12 books, all told). This one is weird. He’s imprisoned, escapes, adventures, romance, and then… the book ends with him getting basically everything he ever wanted, and… he’s depressed about it. I wonder if this was Forester writing about his own phenomenal success with these books, riches, awards, and the fact that, at the end… does any of it have any meaning? Weird ending. 

What I’m watching!

• Andor S2 (Disney+). It’s taking forever to get through this season, because I’m watching with my family, and we’re busy, and we’re also watching movies to prep for our next shoot. But it’s so so so good. We just watched the (spoiler) in episode 8 and HOLY CRAP (SPOILER!!!). Incredible stuff guys.

• ELIO - Okay, I know we did an episode about this, and we got invited out to Pixar to talk with the filmmakers, and yada yada yada. But seriously, I’m begging you: go see this in theaters. This is the best Pixar movie in a long time (and they’ve been consistently good)! It’s so touching and heartfelt, and sweet, and funny, and GORGEOUS. Please please please go see this and tell your friends. I want studios to keep taking risks on original stories like this.

What I’m playing!

• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. This is SUCH a good game. Absolutely nails the mix of puzzle solving, action, and general Indiana Jones-ness required. I love the world of Indiana Jones, and this game is the most fun I’ve had in it since the first three movies. (And I like Crystal Skull and many of the other games!)

Watch Movies! (And television, and read books, and play video games)

Jono:

Hey all! June has really flown by for me, but I've made myself some time to go see a bunch of summer movies and do a little patriotic reading.

Lilo & Stitch was fine, if uninspired and imcomparable to the original animated version. Ballerina was as good as any John Wick movie except the first one. The Phoenician Scheme is Wes Anderson lite: it's funny, it's quirky, but there wasn't a lot of meaning there to latch onto, in my opinion. Karate Kid: Legends doesn't stray from formula, but there's a straightforward earnestness to it that I dug (plus, Joshua Jackson is super charming in it). How to Train Your Dragon is a four-star remake of a five-star classic. The Life of Chuck took me by surprise with its unconventional structure, life-affirming message, and the glorious sight of Tom Hiddleston dancing. 28 Years Later is easily my favorite film in that series, grotesque and beautiful and horrifying and uplifting all at once. Elio is another strong Pixar outing and deserves to be a word-of-mouth hit.

As for reading, I'm enjoying the Pulitzer Prize-winning 1776 by David McCullough, about the Revolutionary War and the formation of the United States. I'm not always "proud to be an American" and I don't "always know I'm free," BUT I adore the ideals my country was founded on. This book is rekindling my sometimes-battered desire to keep fighting for the dream.

What about you all? What are your reading or watching?