On paper, Sofia (Mimi Davila), the protagonist of Paula Andrea González-Nasser’s mellow debut The Scout, has an enviable job. She spends her days driving through New York, taking photos of building exteriors, cozy apartments and eclectic shops in service of her director’s vision. Sofia is a location scout, an occupation that conjures romantic images of one’s relationship to space. 

The truth is that Sofia’s job can be taxing, and in The Scout, which premiered in June at the Tribeca Film Festival, González-Nasser, who was herself a location scout for six years, crafts a modest portrait of its complicated reality. The director reveals how location scouting involves an emotional deftness, a stultifying deference to a director’s vision and lots of patience. Sofia deploys these tools to broker deals between her team and the people from whom they want things. She must act with the urgency demanded by her bosses and be sensitive to the fact that these locations are homes to real people whose memories live in the furniture and on the walls. Often subsumed by other people’s needs and narratives, Sofia struggles to not become a background character in her own story.

Working from a screenplay she wrote, Gonzàlez-Nasser structures The Scout around discrete interactions Sofia has throughout the day. The film confidently highlights the delicate relationship between people and their spaces, while also acknowledging the understated harshness of a job that requires you to assess, with a certain degree of remove, one of the more intimate elements of another person’s life. Parts of The Scout, in its contemplative tone and observational style, reminded me of Perfect Days. Like Wim Wenders’ poignant study of a middle-aged janitor’s routines in Tokyo, The Scout could find success in arthouse theaters and on the festival circuit. 

When we meet Sofia, she is asleep in her own space — a compact, well-lit apartment somewhere in New York. The room resembles the dwellings of so many young people living in the expensive and bustling city. There’s the starkness of the walls, painted an impersonal white, and the minor touches — a standing fan, a gold framed mirror, a small drawing affixed to the wall — that suggest signs of a real life. Following this moment, the young location scout will almost exclusively occupy the shops and homes of other people. 

Each space offers an opportunity for Sofia to remake herself. The transformations are subtle; the location scout tweaks her personality just enough to connect with the person living in the space so that they might be more amenable to letting a random crew of people take it over. Sometimes, as with an older woman (Rutanya Alda) who tells Sofia about her son who moved to London and rarely visits, the interactions are sweet and revelatory. It’s clear that Sofia’s presence — her kind eyes and encouraging responses — doubles as an invitation for lonelier people to share parts of their life with her. Other times, as with the pet shop owner (Matt Barats) who asks her to dinner or a father (Max Rosen) who follows her around the house with an air of menace, the encounters are fraught and a touch scary. Yet rarely does Sofia lose her cool. 

The young woman, played with a quiet conviction by Davila (Problemista), navigates each situation with an understanding that her role in these people’s lives is merely temporary. Her approach differs from that of her colleagues, who barge into these homes with no consideration and much fanfare. They appraise each space with a callous indifference toward who lives there, commenting on ugly doors and unimpressive heirlooms. 

Other elements of The Scout reinforce our sense of this transient atmosphere. Cinematographer Nicola Newton shoots each location — whether its Sofia’s room or a brownstone in Brooklyn — with the kind of attention reserved for places you know you’ll never return to. A spare score (composed by Dan Arnés) and the familiar melodies of a cityscape (birds chirping, engines running) soundtrack Sofia’s experiences. 

Despite their meditative loveliness, low-key projects like The Scout can leave something to be desired in terms of narrative. The lure of a story built on vignettes can shortchange its principal characters and the constellation of supporting ones. As Sofia floats from one home to the next, I wondered about the texture of her life. Gonzàlez-Nasser offers some clues through an interaction between Sofia and her old friend Becca (Otmara Morrero), whose gorgeous apartment has been unexpectedly included on the list of the scout’s locations. Their reunion is brief but laden with the weight of history. Conversations about mutual friends and retired dreams are revealing of Sofia’s aspirations; Becca remarks on how Sofia always wanted to be behind the camera and how she, in a way, is a photographer now. The scout doesn’t completely agree and the ensuing silence suggests a history of compromise.

It also exposes a pattern in Sofia’s earlier interactions, underscoring how much the scout almost disappears into each story. When she finally has a moment of self-assertion, in a quiet moment on the beach, it’s a triumph I wish had come sooner.

Olivia Culpo and Christian McCaffrey are now parents, and the arrival of their baby girl has them both feeling lucky.

Model-actor Culpo revealed Sunday that she and her NFL star husband welcomed their daughter earlier this month. She marked the beginning of her journey into motherhood on Instagram, sharing several pictures from her newborn’s first moments in the world. A carousel of black-and-white photos document tender moments between Culpo, McCaffrey and their baby at Cedars-Sinai.

Culpo’s Instagram post also included a name reveal. “Colette Annalise McCaffrey,” she captioned her photos, adding a white heart emoji.

Additionally, Culpo shared photos from baby Colette’s arrival to her Instagram stories, where she praised her San Francisco 49ers running back husband. “Colette is so lucky to have the best daddy in the world,” she wrote in an Instagram photo of McCaffrey tending to their newborn. “A love like no other.”

In another Instagram story on Sunday, Culpo recalled her labor as the “scariest and most rewarding of all experiences” and her husband’s calming effect. She shared a photo of McCaffrey holding her head during her delivery. In his Instagram story, McCaffrey reciprocated the sentiment, posting a photo of himself holding his baby girl.

“Luckiest man on the planet,” he captioned the photo. “I love you @OliviaCulpo.”

Culpo, 33, and McCaffrey, 29, were rumored to be dating as early as May 2019 and got engaged in April 2023. They married in June 2024 in Culpo’s native Rhode Island. Culpo, a former Miss Universe, announced in March that she and her husband were expecting their first child together.

“Next chapter, motherhood,” she captioned photos from her maternity photo shoot.

A representative for Culpo did not immediately respond on Monday to The Times’ request for additional information.

Hollywood never tires of telling certain stories. They’re always going back to the same well. Trust me, I’m a jerk, and I love to remind them of it. So, when DC announced Superman would once again be jump-starting their newly re-established cinematic universe, I was skeptical. Well, the comic book tentpole finally hit theaters this week. Does Superman leap to box office gold in a single bound? Or are we heading straight for another “Martha” situation? Read on.

Superman 

Superman follows the titular superhero (David Corenswet), who finds himself struggling to match wits with supervillain, billionaire and all-around bad guy Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult). Will “Supes” be able to rise up and meet the challenge? Rachel Brosnahan, Skyler Gisondo, Nathan Fillion, Edi Gathegi and Isabela Merced co-star in the movie. James Gunn directs Superman from his own script. 

I was admittedly skeptical looking at the trailers. I desperately wanted to buy in, but something kept holding me back. Do we really, truly need yet another Superman? 

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Kids, I could not have been more wrong. I should know this. Always trust in James Gunn. Few filmmakers feel quite as at ease with finding not only the heart but also the humor in a story. Gunn and Corenswet gel to find such a delightful sense of wonder in Superman, and this made the film for me.

Unassuming Sweetness

There’s a lot of pressure on Superman, and with that, a lot of focus on David Corenswet as he steps into the iconic titular role. Some should likely recognize him for his recent work in Twisters and Pearl. For most, though, this is the young actor’s big-screen breakout. 

Corenswet brings an unassuming sweetness to the daunting part. As Superman, he’s a Boy Scout, and that’s okay. His sense of wide-eyed wonder is imperative to Gunn’s narrative vision and sells the story’s emotion. It’s easy to get caught up in Clark’s joy, and with that, his pain.  

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David Corenswet is, however, only one member of a supremely talented cast. In truth, it would be impossible to call out all the stellar performances by both new and existing members of Gunn’s recurring acting troupe. With names like Nathan Fillion and Alan Tudyk in the cast, this felt like a return to a joyful old-school “Nerdvana,” the likes of which we haven’t seen in a long time. 

A Crusading Reporter 

However, there’s one more performance I’d be shirking my duties if I didn’t call out. Friends, I’ve been a Rachel Brosnahan fangirl going back to her days on Manhattan in 2014. It remains one of the best shows no one talked about, so call me biased. It’s probably true. 

Perhaps it should come as no surprise that I’m in love with Brosnahan’s portrayal of Lois Lane. Her’s is a rare comic book love interest that steps beyond the usual formula. She has her own voice, her own life and a story that could easily be told. I’m officially sending a plea to the DC TV programming team. Can we get an Agent Carter-like series featuring Lois Lane as a crusading reporter? I would watch the heck out of that. We need that spin-off. We deserve that spin-off. 

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Doesn’t Break Its Stride 

Gunn, meanwhile, is far from a newcomer to superhero films. We know this. I was pleasantly surprised to find, though, that Gunn avoids falling into the usual Superman traps. For one thing, this isn’t an origin story. We really didn’t need to see Smallville and what happens to Pa Kent yet again. 

With that, I suppose, there are some light struggles with characterization. As the audience, we’re ushered into a fully established world. Gunn assumes (rightly so) that most already know Superman’s origin story. There’s some pointed narrative setup, but the film doesn’t break its stride to stop and fill in needless gaps. 

Ultimately, though, Luthor’s “hands-off” villainy allows Superman to step into a different comic movie structure. The resulting film is packed to the gills with stunt set pieces. There’s plenty of comic action, but it never feels hurried or jammed, despite the fact that Lex Luthor throws a lot at our protagonist. With everything that happens, it’s hard to see where the next threat is coming from, and with that, there are stakes that often feel lacking in comic book movies. There’s a beautiful tension here. 

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A Wide-Eyed, Wonderful Look 

As the final credits rolled, I found myself with the biggest smile on my face. Superman restarts the DC Cinematic Universe with infectious joy. This doesn’t feel like the same old Superman origin story, and that’s how it should be. This is a wide-eyed, wonderful look at the complicated truth of humanity. Here’s hoping the rest of Gunn’s DCU follows suit. 

Superman is now playing in theaters nationwide.

Movie Review: JURASSIC WORLD REBIRTH

A film nerd from my earliest years watching Abbott and Costello, that eventually translated to a Master’s Degree in Film History. I spend my time working on my fiction projects in all their forms, as well as covering film and television.

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