The Smashing Machine

My View:  The Smashing Machine  (2025)  R A look at three years (1997-2000) in the life of mixed-martial arts and UFC fighter Mark Kerr (Dwayne Johnson). Supported by his girlfriend, Dawn (Emily Blunt), Mark struggles to overcome addiction and make a comeback in the UFC universe, when the sport was beginning to gain popularity at the time. After seeing this film, which runs at a little over two hours, I kept thinking about the old Peggy Lee song “Is That All There Is.” The Smashing Machine is the first film Benny Safdie has made without his brother, Josh, and I feel as if he created a sports bio film that breaks all the rules of that genre. Unfortunately, what we are left with is a film that feels as if the plot is stuck in neutral and can never gain any momentum. I came away thinking that Mark Kerr, played by a heavily prosthetic Dwayne Johnson, is neither the hero of the film nor the most interesting character in it. Instead, Mark Coleman, Mark’s best friend and sparring partner slash manager, played by real-life MMA fighter Ryan Bader, comes off as the hero of the story. We never really get to know Mark Kerr or his girlfriend Dawn. Both are annoying and one-dimensional in the film, characters who seem to stay in one lane throughout the entire film. Sure, we get Mark as a man who develops an addiction to pain pills, but his journey is too simple and quick in his addiction and his recovery. We gain almost nothing from what should have been an essential part of his character and life. Emily Blunt is given the job of being the bad guy of the film, and it’s a thankless job that Blunt gives her all, but Dawn comes across as just a nut job and not a real person. Is this a different performance by Johnson from his usual action roles? Sure, but Kerr is such a weird guy that I didn’t see the role as being challenging or groundbreaking for Johnson to take on, mainly because we never get to know what makes Mark Kerr tick, other than the high he gets from beating the crap out of other men in the ring. The fight sequences are brutal and may make some viewers look away, but the film does a poor job of conveying that the early days of MMA were incredibly brutal, to the point where it was almost outlawed in both the U.S. and Japan. I came away wanting to see a film about Mark Coleman, as I think his story was far more interesting and exciting than that of Kerr’s. Benny Safie picked the wrong man in this fight.  My Rating: Cable The Smashing Machine Website  Now playing in theaters everywhere 

Indiefest:  Anemone  (2025) R   Anemone centers on a man (Sean Bean) who ventures into the isolated woodlands of Northern England to find his estranged brother (Daniel Day-Lewis). They haven’t seen each other in 20 years, and the brother has been living alone in the forest. As they reconnect, they will confront the personal and political traumas that have long been buried between them. Anemone is a film where style and bravado attempt to compensate for a weak script that provides us with very little information until it is too late. With a lush and almost surreal look, cinematographer Ben Fordesman gives us the look and feel of a horror film set in the woods. Instead, we get two men who are trying to come to terms with their past while attempting to save the life of a young man who is making the same mistakes they did in their own lives. I loved the score by Bobby Krli, which adds tension and, at times, dread to the film. However, two great actors like Sean Bean and Daniel Day-Lewis can’t overcome a script that gives us only bits and pieces of their characters, who spend a lot of their time together not speaking at all. It takes too long on the journey to provide us with the vital information about a man who ran away from life because of who he had become. My Rating: Bargain Matinee Anemone Website   In limited release on Friday, October 3, 2025, and wide release on Friday, October 10, 2025

My View:  Good Boy  (2025)  PG-13 In Good Boy, a loyal dog named Indy and his owner, Todd (Shane Jensen), move to a rural family home. Soon, the dog learns supernatural forces are lurking in the shadows. Only Indy realizes the threat, and he must do everything he can to fight off the dark entities that threaten his human companion. For once, this is a horror film that lives up to the hype it has generated. Indy, the dog, comes across as a better actor than many working in big-budget blockbusters. While it is a horror film and quite scary at that, it’s also about facing fear and prioritizing others’ well-being over your own. The film does have a short runtime, but I think the novelty might have worn thin if it had gone on much longer. Instead, we get a tight horror film with plenty of scares and a hero who is brave, trustworthy, and ready to defend the household from all that is evil. Heck, even cat lovers will root for Indy to protect his owner. You should definitely see this in theaters, as there is a short feature included after the final credits that discusses how the film was made and explains why it took three years to shoot.  My Rating: Full Price  Good Boy Website Now playing in theaters

My View:  Bone Lake  (2024)  R  Bone Lake is about Sage (Maddie Hasson) and Diego (Marco Pigossi), who are on a romantic getaway to a secluded estate. Their romantic weekend is upended when they discover a mysterious couple (Alex Roe and Andra Nechita) have also rented the estate. The two couples decide to share the estate, and the retreat devolves into a world of deception, desire, and manipulation. Sage and Diego may never be the same loving couple they were before they arrived.  I’m sorry, but calling this a horror film is very misleading and inaccurate. It’s kind of a mild erotic thriller, but I didn’t find it very erotic, and there weren't many thrills. I didn’t like any of the characters, which is a problem when you are supposed to root for one couple over another, but I wanted them all to meet a gruesome end. There is a problem with a thriller when you figure out the twist way before any of the characters figure it out. I had hopes that there would be a “double twist,” but the big reveal barely registers as a single twist. To say that Bone Lake doesn’t stick the landing would be an understatement.  My Rating: Cable  Bone Lake Website Now playing in theaters

My View: Play Dirty  (2025) R  Play Dirty is about Parker (Mark Wahlberg), a thief who is on the hunt for a woman, Zen (Rosa Salazar), who he wants to find after a night of passion. It turns out that Zen is about to commit a major heist, and Parker wants in on it, with his fellow thief, Grofield (LaKeith Stanfield). The only problem is that to carry out the plan, they must outsmart a South American dictator, the New York mob, and the world’s richest man. I am a huge fan of two Shane Black films: The Nice Guys (2016) and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005), which I included on my Top 25 Films of the First 25 Years AFCC ballot. So I was excited to see Black’s new film, Play Dirty. Sadly, this film is a tremendous disappointment. I am not a big Mark Wahlberg fan, and he is not right for the part of Parker, a character created by writer Donald E. Westlake. Wahlberg is the type of actor who always seems to be on the verge of breaking up or wanting to say a funny quip. Westlake’s Parker doesn’t have a sense of humor. Play Dirty is a film that I think wants to be a comedy with a twist, but I found it lacked both. The twists the film does are too simple and feel right out of a 60s detective show. The film attempts to cover up the lack of a worthy plot with lots of action and a ton of killing. I haven’t seen this many kill shots since a ‘90s Hong Kong action film. The cast, which includes LaKeith Stanfield and Keegan-Michael Key, is wasted with horrible throwaway lines that don’t work. And Tony Shalhoub looks uncomfortable playing a mob boss who hates Parker. Play Dirty is a film, like its star, that has no charisma, made by a filmmaker who has lost his bite, humor, and wit.   My Rating: You Would Have to Pay Me to See it Again Play Dirty Website   Now streaming on Amazon Prime

Indiefest:  Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror (2025)  Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror is a documentary that explores how a London theater play evolved into the beloved and groundbreaking cult phenomenon that continues to thrive through midnight screenings worldwide. I’ve seen The Rocky Horror Picture Show probably five or six times over the years. It was always a fun experience being part of a group of people who love a film and want to express that love with toast, newspapers, and lines shouted to the screen as fans dressed as their favorite characters dance and mouth lines in front of the movie screen they are parroting. Strange Journey is a fascinating film that recounts the history of a film that refused to die, even when it seemed destined to be a bomb. The documentary is directed by Linus O’Brien, the son of Richard O’Brien, the creator of the musical, who also starred in the film as Riff Raff, best known for the Time Warp song. I learned a great deal about the film’s history, including the fact that it was a hit on stage in London and LA (at the infamous Roxy) long before it became a movie. Besides Richard O’Brien and musical director Richard Hartley, the film features interviews with stars of the film, including Tim Curry, Barry Bostwick, and Susan Sarandon. What I loved about this film is that it not only tells the story of how the film was made but also how it became a cult classic, highlighting the fans who made the movie the longest-running film in cinema history. Strange Journey is a film for fans of Rocky Horror and really shouldn’t be seen by “Virgins” (those who haven’t seen the film in a theater with an interactive crowd). Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror hit the right notes for me, who has always thought of The Rocky Horror Picture Show as a B-film with an A-crowd watching it.  My Rating: Full Price   Now playing in select theaters

My View: The Lost Bus  (2025)  R  The Lost Bus is about a bus driver, Kevin (Matthew McConaughey) who has to navigate a bus carrying children and their teacher (America Ferrera) through the 2018 Camp Fire, which was the deadliest fire in California history.The Lost Bus is a gripping and terrifying portrayal of a fire that devastated a community and killed 84 people. The film does an effective job of letting us into the life of Kevin, a man who is driving a bus to get by for another day. McConaughey teams up with the always brilliant America Ferrera, a teacher who is in charge of children whose parents are out of town. Together, they embark on a harrowing bus trip through danger, as most of the film's two-hour runtime unfolds on the bus, navigating their way out of peril while firefighters battle to contain the blaze. The film does a fantastic job of maintaining tension as Kevin tries to find a way out of the fire's path. The special effects are incredible, and the action sequences of the bus are worthy of any car chase in any film. The Lost Bus will keep you on the edge of your seat, leaving you breathless and in need of some water and fresh air after this thrilling journey through a hellish landscape filled with fire and smoke. My Rating: Full Price The Lost Bus Website  In select theaters and now streaming on Apple TV+

Forgotten Film:  Jane  (2017) Jane is a doocumentary about the life and work of primatologist Jane Goodall, who in the 1950s became world famous when, at 26 and untrained, she was sent by Louis Leakey to observe chimpanzees in the jungles of Tanzania. Jane spent five months observing a chimp compound and discovered something that no one had ever known. Chimps used tools. From there, she became a star with specials on TV through the National Geographic Society. The documentary, directed by Brett Morgen, was created from over 140 hours of footage and is an amazing and moving film about a woman who single-handedly changed our understanding and attitudes about chimpanzees in the wild. It is a remarkable story about an even more remarkable woman. The film was nominated for five Primetime Emmy Awards and won two, including Outstanding Directing for a Documentary or Nonfiction Program. RIP: One of my childhood heroes, Jane Goodall  My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again The film is available on most streaming platforms.

Weird Credits:  From the credits of The Smashing Machine:  Personal Groomer to Dwayne Johnson

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: Tron: Ares  (2025)   PG-13   Tron: Ares follows a highly sophisticated program named Ares (Jared Leto), who has been sent from the digital world into our real world on a dangerous mission, marking humankind’s first encounter with A.I. beings. The film is the third installment in the Tron series and a sequel to Tron: Legacy (2010). In theaters nationwide, including IMAX, on Friday, October 10, 2025

Until Next Time!

One Battle After Another

My View:  One Battle After Another  (2025) R  In One Battle After Another, a notorious enemy named Steve Lockjaw (Sean Penn) has resurfaced after 16 years, broken into Bob’s (Leonardo DiCaprio) home, and kidnapped his daughter, Willa (Chase Infiniti). Bob, a civil rights activist, must team up with an anti-government group to locate and rescue his daughter from an alt-right white supremacist group. It's not often that a September movie rises to the top of the Oscar ranks, but Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another manages to do just that. This film combines the laid-back hippiness vibe of The Big Lebowski with the political satire of Dr. Strangelove, while featuring a villain reminiscent of those in '80s and '90s action films—although this character might be the funniest bad guy ever portrayed on screen. One Battle After Another is (I hesitate to tell you this because some of you may want to stay away) the fastest two-hour and forty-minute film you will ever see. The film is a joy to watch and keeps surprising you with both bouts of violence and humor that keep you off-kilter (in a good way), which keeps coming. This is a fast-moving and witty look at America and its political system, but it’s done in such a way that it’s brilliantly executed, and I suspect many won’t realize what hit them until the end. It is going to be fascinating to see if Leo gets an Oscar nod, because it’s such a brilliantly understated performance, one that few actors could do. This is one of those performances that is so expertly crafted that you almost underestimate how good Leo is in the role. Sean Penn is hilarious as the ultra-rigid Colonel, who has a huge flaw (which I won’t reveal) and feels that his place in the history of the world is set in stone. Teyana Taylor as Perfidia is a force of nature as Bob’s partner and the leader of the revolutionary group. Her performance and the essence of her character are brilliantly captured in a scene where she fiercely fires an AK-47 while heavily pregnant. Perfidia is all about the cause, and it consumes her entirely. While she loves Bob, her passion for the revolution takes precedence over everything else. I could go on and on about every performance in this film, but I would be remiss without mentioning how much fun it is to watch Benicio Del Toro as a partner in crime whose character is every bit as cool and laid-back as Leo’s Bob is a bag of nerves. The hero of the story isn’t Bob but his daughter Willa, played with poise and style by Chase Infiniti. Infiniti portrays Willa as a young woman who has had to live with the legacy of a mother who was a radical and a father who has spent most of her years as a paranoid pothead, but has instilled in her a willingness to survive and the guts not to back down. One Battle After Another is a film that puts its foot on the gas from almost the first frame and doesn’t let off until its hilarious and satisfying end. I had a blast watching this film, and it’s not very often that the hype matches the worthiness of a movie. Please see this in a theater with an audience on the largest screen you can find; it will be worth the price of admission. Any film that pays homage to one of my favorite films, Bullitt, is a film that I want to see again as soon as possible. And you will too. My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again One Battle After Another Website  Now playing in theaters, including IMAX

My View:  Eleanor the Great  (2025)  PG-13   In Eleanor the Great, Eleanor (June Squibb), after a devastating loss of her best friend Bessie, decides to move from Florida to New York City to live with her daughter and grandson. Feeling more alone than she imagined, Eleanor unexpectedly forms a friendship with a 19-year-old journalism student, Nina (Erin Kellyman). Unfortunately, through a misunderstanding, Nina believes Eleanor is a Holocaust survivor, but it’s Bessie’s story, not Eleanor’s. A lot of attention has been given to the fact that this is Scarlett Johansson’s directorial debut, and her direction is the weak link in this film, as it’s very bland and unimpressive. Johansson isn’t helped by a script that creates a character who seems to have no sense of shame or conflict. Luckily, Johansson is saved by an outstanding cast that can do the heavy lifting, making the film, despite its flaws, still enjoyable to watch. June Squibb, a long-time character actor with over 100 IMDB listings, has recently emerged as a leading actress, following her Oscar-nominated role as the feisty, swearing wife of Bruce Dern’s character in Nebraska. Squibb easily commands the screen with a laid-back grandmother approach that isn’t afraid to use her charm to get what she wants. Squibb is helped by an outstanding performance by Erin Kellyman, a student who befriends Eleanor to get her to tell her Holocaust story, and in return gets help from Eleanor dealing with the recent loss of her mother and a father (Chiwetel Ejiofor) who has checked out of parenting. Kellyman gives us just the right person for Eleanor to impart wisdom and support to. Some of the heavy emotional parts of the film are handled by Rita Zohar, who is the real heroine of the film that tells her story of the Holocaust. There are some powerful scenes between Squibb and Zohar that provide the background for why Eleanor wants to tell Bessie’s story. Unfortunately, those scenes are undercut by a script that gives Eleanor no moral compass or foresight, leaving her unaware that what she is doing is wrong. So watch Eleanor the Great for the performances, which more than outshine the plot and its direction.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee Eleanor the Great Website  Now playing in theaters nationwide. 

Indiefest:  The Summer Book  (2024)   The Summer Book tells the story of nine-year-old Sophia (Emily Matthews), who is spending the summer at her family’s seasonal home on a remote island in the Gulf of Finland. It’s the first summer without Sophia’s mother, and it will take the beauty of this special place and the nurturing support of Sophia’s grandmother (Glenn Close) to mend the grief that Sophia and her father (Anders Danielsen Lie) are experiencing. The Summer Book is a film that may be too slow and character-driven for some moviegoers to enjoy. However, if you love beautiful cinematography and leads that know how to fill a space without saying a word, then this film is for you. Glenn Close delivers another masterful performance as the grandmother who helps a lost child find her way back. The Summer Book a film about dealing with grief, finding a way to cope, and navigating the complexities of growing up and growing old. The Summer Book is about a time in a life that will be remembered not for what happened but for how much changed within. My Rating: Full Price  The Summer Book Website Now playing in select theaters. 

Indiefest: All of You  (2024) R  All of You is about Simon (Brett Goldstein) and Laura (Imogen Poots), who are best friends and have always joked about dating each other, but have never pursued a romantic relationship. Simon secretly believes that Laura is his one true love, but things change when Laura takes a test that identifies another man as “her one true love.” Will the two ever end up together after all the years of friendship? There is tremendous chemistry between Goldstein and Poots, and we feel the connection, love, and heat between the two characters every time they are on the screen. The repartee between the two makes the film enjoyable to watch, particularly in the first 30 minutes. However, no matter how much chemistry two stars give to each other, they can’t overcome a script that takes too long for there to be conflict, and then the consequences and the problems they cause seem too easily swept away. It’s a frustrating film that aspires to be a romance, but without ever getting to know the two people, other than the fact that they love each other’s company too much. Despite the strong start to the film, I became frustrated and sometimes bored by a script that prefers to give us slices of life instead of the whole pie.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee All of You Info  In select theaters and on Apple TV+.   

Indiefest:  Adulthood  (2025) R  Adulthood is about adult siblings Megan (Kaya Scodelario) and Noah (Josh Gad) who, when their mother is sick in the hospital, discover a dead body in the basement of their family home. That discovery will send the two down a rabbit hole of crime and murder that they may never recover from. Not harsh enough to be a black comedy and not funny enough to be a farce, Adulthood doesn’t know what it is, and that is the problem. The idea is that when the two siblings try to cover up that their mother may have killed a neighbor, that cover-up gets out of control, and bodies start piling up. However, the film never finds its footing, and what could have been funny is never delivered. Instead, we get two actors who have no chemistry together, and the story starts to bog down almost from the start. Scenes that are meant to shock us aren’t staged very well and lack the punch they need to hit the mark. The film has a lot of wasted space that slows down the story. I kept saying as it was playing, ‘Pick up the pace.’ Sadly, it never did.  My Rating: Cable Adulthood Website  Now playing in select theaters and available on Digital. 

Indiefest:  Dead of Winter  (2025)  R  Dead of Winter is set in northern Minnesota, where Barb (Emma Thompson) is fulfilling a last wish of spreading the ashes of her late husband on an isolated lake in the middle of nowhere. While there, she witnesses the kidnapping of a teenage girl (Laurel Marsden) and realizes, with no phone service and too far to get help, she is the girl’s only hope. I have always loved Emma Thompson, and once again, she delivers a remarkable performance as a character that is right out of a particular Coen Brothers movie, also set in Minnesota. Channeling a bit of Bruce Willis or Liam Neeson, Thompson portrays a grieving widow who has to outsmart and outfight a husband-and-wife team (Marc Menchaca and Judy Greer) who, for some nefarious reason, have kidnapped a young woman. I had a great time watching Thompson clop around in the snow in oversized winter overalls, muttering things like ‘oomph’ and ‘geez’ while doing some clever tricks that would make MacGyver proud. Although the film is set in northern Minnesota, it but actually filmed in Finland. Take a sweater to the theater, because I was cold just watching the characters as they dealt with the ice and snow. Dead of Winter is an entertaining thriller with an unconventional hero that you can root for from the start, and hate the bad guys as soon as they appear on the screen. Afterall, who doesn’t want to see Judy Greer and Emma Thompson fight in the snow, wrestling over a rifle? Just don’t mess with Barb, don’t cha know.  My Rating: Full Price  Dead of Winter Website  Now playing in theaters 

Forgotten Film:   The Hot Rock (1972) PG Robert Redford plays Dortmunder, a convicted thief who, upon his release from prison, is convinced by his brother-in-law (George Segal) to go on one last big score and steal a precious diamond from a museum. They hire a crew to do the job and plan an elaborate scheme to make the diamond heist. However, things don’t go as planned and become very complicated very quickly. The Hot Rock is a hilarious film with lots of twists and turns that have hilarious results, and Redford is perfect as the thief who, as things get more complicated, masterminds a break into not one, but two prisons.  My Rating: Full Price (Reprinted from March 2012 to honor the late Robert Redford). The Hot Rock Info Available to rent/buy on Amazon.

Weird Credits:  From the credits of One Battle After Another:  Dishwasher

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You:  Anemone  (2025) R   Anemone centers on a man (Sean Bean) who ventures into the isolated woodlands of Northern England to find his estranged brother (Daniel Day-Lewis). They haven’t seen each other in 20 years, and the brother has been living alone in the forest. As they reconnect, they will confront the personal and political traumas that have long been buried between them. This is Daniel Day-Lewis’s return to acting after announcing his retirement in 2017. Anemone Website  In limited release on Friday, October 3, 2025, and wide release on Friday, October 10, 2025.

Until Next Time!