Baldywood: A Father's Day edition of "What Should I Stream Tonight?" // "Reddit? Did It!" // Actor Redundancy of the Week // Reader feedback

"Remember, his taste sucks..."

Jun 13, 2025

Hello! And welcome to the Baldywood Newsletter. In last week’s Father’s Day Gift Guide - where I listed my favorite sponsors from my ACS days - I wrote, “This list is by no means comprehensive; I’ve undoubtedly forgotten one or two.” Sure enough, I remembered another sponsor that I loved: MVMT watches! Simple, stylish watches for men and women. I’m not much of a watch guy, but I wore an MVMT watch for years whenever I got dressed up for a night out.

On to this week’s newsletter…

In this edition:

“What should I stream tonight?”
“Reddit? Did it!”
Actor Redundancy of the Week
Reader feedback

Let’s get started!

“What should I stream tonight?”

I’m glad you asked! This week, in honor of Father’s Day, I’ve got three movies you can enjoy with your dad.

I want a movie about family and food that will make me incredibly hungry: “Big Night”

Some movies feel like a warm hug. “Big Night” feels like a warm hug goodbye. Two Italian brothers (Stanley Tucci, who co-directed, and Tony Shalhoub) open an authentic Italian restaurant in 1950s New Jersey. Maybe a little too authentic; their restaurant is struggling to appeal to a mainstream crowd. When presented with homemade risotto, one unsophisticated customer cluelessly asks, “Where’s the spaghetti and meatballs?” It’s a food take on the “struggling artist” concept.

Eventually, the brothers get a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to revitalize their floundering establishment: the jazz singer (and fellow Italian) Louie Prima is in town for one night only, and the brothers learn that he is planning to visit their restaurant after his show that night. They decide to throw a big blowout, featuring their (few) loyal customers and their very best dishes. Hence the title “Big Night.”

The cast is absolutely packed (Tucci! Shalhoub! Minnie Driver! Ian Holm! Allison Janney! Isabella Rossellini! Campbell Scott! Live Schreiber! Marc Anthony!). It’s excellent, but it’s not a “polished” film; think mid-90s indie ethos. But it’s heartfelt, funny, bittersweet and poignant. One warning, though: Don’t watch this movie hungry.

“Big Night” is available to rent on Amazon Prime.

I want a classic comedy that still holds up: “The Apartment”

Time is not kind to comedies. Whereas dramas, for instance, hold up well over the decades, comedies (for the most part) do not. We can all more or less agree what works dramatically. But what’s “funny” to your parents (or grandparents) often falls flat with younger generations.

That’s why I’m so glad to recommend “The Apartment.” Yes, it has a strong late-50s vibe. But the humor still lands, and the more tender and serious moments do as well. Jack Lemmon plays a mid-level corporate drone who gets caught up in an elaborate scheme by his married boss, who uses Lemmon’s apartment to have regular dalliances with his mistresses. The arrangement goes so well (for Lemmon’s boss, at least) that the boss starts to let his fellow executives - all of whom are having similar affairs - use Lemmon’s apartment for their trysts.

“The Apartment” was nominated for 10 Oscars in 1960 and won five, including Best Picture. It might seem odd to recommend a Best Picture winner as “under the radar,” but I’m guessing that most people reading this haven’t seen it. It’s fun, with just the right amount of seriousness.

“The Apartment” is available to rent on Amazon Prime.

I want a fascinating World War I documentary: “They Shall Not Grow Old"

Talk about a fascinating concept: Take early film footage from World War I. Restore and colorize it. Match it up with first-person stories and recollections from recordings of actual WWI vets. Boom, you have your movie.

“They Shall Not Grow Old” was directed by Peter Jackson (“The Lord of the Rings”) and it’s perfect. I remember being riveted when I saw it in the theater. Normally I turn my snobby nose up at colorized versions of black-and-white films, but the colorization process here had me looking at this old footage - quite literally - in a whole new way.

I’ll even go so far as to use a phrase that I usually hate: This is an important film. It should be seen by as many people as possible, so that the memory of this historical era doesn’t fade away. It helps a lot that it’s very, very good. I get it, 90 minutes of old war stories doesn’t sound terribly compelling. But give “They Shall Not Grow Old” a chance; it will grab ahold of you and won’t let go.

“They Shall Not Grow Old” is available to rent on Amazon Prime.

“Reddit? Did it!”

I love to browse movie forums on Reddit. Recently, a topic was posted to r/MovieCritic that asked, “What is the best baseball movie ever made?” Great topic! So great, in fact, that we covered it on my podcast The Film Vault in 2014 in an episode titled “Top 5 Baseball Movies.” My list of the best baseball movies:

1. Field of Dreams (1989)

2. Major League (1989)

3. The Natural (1984)

4. Pride of the Yankees (1942)

5. A League of Their Own (1992)

Honorable mentions:

Bad News Bears

Bull Durham

The Battered Bastards of Baseball

Moneyball

Kind of amazing that the two best baseball movies ever came out in the same year! What’s YOUR favorite baseball movie?

Actor Redundancy of the Week:

Actor redundancies were first brought to my attention by my former co-worker and all-around swell fella Dave Dameshek, who delighted whenever an actor does the same oddly-specific thing in two separate, non-related movies. Such as…

Kurt Fuller plays the technical director of a live, unscripted TV show in “Wayne's World” and “The Running Man”

Reader feedback

Did you know that “feedback” is the only (normal) word in the English language that contains the first six letters of the alphabet (a, b, c, d, e and f)? Now that you know, let’s see what the readers have to say!

Bryan (nice name!) commented on the last edition of the newsletter:

Two redundancies. Billy Zane attempts to survive a boat sinking in Dead Calm and Titanic. Also John Hamm plays someone who is hiding in secret in the suburbs in Keeping up with the Joneses, and Your Friends and Neighbors (which also uses the theme song “Keeping up with the Joneses”)

WOW. Thanks Bryan! I LOVE when you guys send me the actor redundancies that you’ve noticed. Great ones!

Hooray for Baldywood!

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