Just How Smashing is ‘The Smashing Machine’?, is What We Wonder in This Day and Age

October 3, 2025

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Kerr Smash! (CREDIT: A24)

Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Ryan Bader, Bas Rutten

Director: Benny Safdie

Running Time: 123 Minutes

Rating: R for Combat and Addiction

Release Date: October 3, 2025 (Theaters)

What’s It About?: What we’ve got here is a biopic about retired mixed martial artist Mark Kerr, played by Dwayne Johnson, a veteran of athletic combat himself. Kerr was active in the ring before MMA became one of the most popular sports in the world, so if you’re an obsessive UFC historian, perhaps you’re already familiar with his story. But on the other hand, if you’ve only become a fan within the past ten years or so, I wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve never heard of him before. The Smashing Machine focuses on a few of Kerr’s fights in Japan during the end of the last century, and otherwise we get a close view at Mark’s chaotic home life in Arizona with his girlfriend Dawn (Emily Blunt). And it must be mentioned that we also get to spend plenty of time with Mark Coleman (Ryan Bader), Mark’s fellow grappler and close confidant.

What Made an Impression?: What’s It All About, Smashy?: The Smashing Machine is not exactly your typical sports biopic. I don’t say that as praise, nor criticism, but merely observation. Oh sure, it’s got training sequences and behind-the-scenes struggles, but it doesn’t exactly build to the sort of climax you’re probably expecting. Occasionally, it feels like its reason for existing is to unveil the untold truth of MMA. Elsewhere, it’s something else entirely: a stark portrait of addiction, as Mark becomes dangerously hooked on painkillers and Dawn’s alcoholism brings her to the edge of utter destruction. Of course, there’s no reason it can’t be both of those things, but this particular case is an oddly shaped assemblage that I’ve never quite encountered before.
Letting Us In: This movie raises the question: why Mark Kerr in particular? He doesn’t seem like the most influential or most successful figure in his sport’s history, though he certainly made a noticeable impact. As far as I can tell, The Smashing Machine happened because Johnson and writer/director Benny Safdie were fans, and they had the pull to make it happen. And on top of that, the real Kerr was remarkably willing to let his unvarnished story go on the screen. That vulnerability certainly comes through via the unflinching portrayal of Mark and Dawn’s chaotic relationship, as well as the remarkably supportive friendship between the two Marks.
This Would Have Played Out Very Differently with Instant Replay: One more observation before I wrap things up: this movie contains a lot of nitpicking, mostly in terms of Mark and Dawn getting on each other’s nerves. But a very different type of pedantry really stood out as something unusual. Early on, Mark loses a fight, but he’s convinced that his opponent has used an illegal move on him. So he marches right out of the stadium to immediately plead his case to the guy in charge of everything while he’s still a sweaty mess in his grappling skivvies. What struck me most about this scene was how much it was devoted to a procedural matter. It also serves a thematic purpose regarding Mark’s journey, but from my vantage point, it mainly underscored how much rules and their interpretation matter in sports, which can be both kind of fun and also kind of infuriating.

The Smashing Machine is Recommended If You Like: It When a Really Gritty Movie Also Features a Trip to the Local Fair for Some Reason

Grade: 3.5 out of 5 Martial Artists

‘Eleanor the Great’ and ‘The Strangers – Chapter 2’ Face Off in the Ultimate Challenge!

October 2, 2025

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People are Strangers, when Eleanor is Great (CREDIT: Sony Pictures Classics/Screenshot; Lionsgate)

Eleanor the Great

Starring: June Squibb, Erin Kellyman, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jessica Hecht, Rita Zohar, Will Price

Director: Scarlett Johansson

Running Time: 98 Minutes

Rating: PG-13

Release Date: September 26, 2025 (Theaters)

The Strangers – Chapter 2

Starring: Madelaine Petsch, Gabriel Basso, Ema Horvath, Rachel Shenton

Director: Renny Harlin

Running Time: 98 Minutes

Rating: R

Release Date: September 26, 2025 (Theaters)

Sometimes when I watch two very different movies in quick succession, I like to ask which one of them feels more like home. First up we have Eleanor the Great, in which June Squibb plays a woman who moves in with her daughter and grandson and then befriends a young journalism student in the course of pretending that her recently deceased friend’s experience of surviving the Holocaust is her own story. Meanwhile, The Strangers – Chapter 2 (which is of course the fourth film in the Strangers franchise) is just the latest misadventure of masked killers delivering their lethal blows to ostensibly random targets.

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This Is How I Grappled with ‘One Battle After Another’

September 30, 2025

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Pictured: a moment from One of the Battles (CREDIT: Warner Bros./Screenshot)

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Chase Infiniti, Teyana Taylor, Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro, Regina Hall, Tony Goldwyn, James Downey, Alana Haim, Wood Harris, Shayna McHayle, Paul Grimstad, Dijon Duenas, John Hoogenakker, Eric Schweig

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

Running Time: 162 Minutes

Rating: R

Release Date: September 26, 2025 (Theaters)

Could One Battle for Another be the funniest movie I’ve ever seen that I didn’t laugh once during? Before I ventured out to the multiplex, I’d been seeing a lot of raves calling it pretty dang hilarious in the midst of a wild and high-wire tonal mix. And I can now intellectually confirm what everyone was talking about. Leo D. rolling around on the floor, Benicio del T. doing a little dance on the side of the road – that’s some goofy physicality for ya! Trouble is, these moments are also really TENSE. The whole movie is so goshdang tense! Yeah, these characters do plenty of silly things, but always in situations where getting shot in the head is a real possibility. So keep your head on straight, and you’ll probably enjoy this movie. Maybe not in the exact same way as I did (re: chuckling), but that should still work out okay.

Grade: 5 Christmases out of 1 Moment of Zen

‘Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie’ Will Probably Appease Fans of the Show While Making Everyone Else Wonder What the Hell is Going On

September 25, 2025

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Meow? (CREDIT: DreamWorks Animation)

Starring: Laila Lockhart Kraner, Gloria Estefan, Kristen Wiig, Jason Mantzoukas, Logan Bailey, Fortune Feimster, Thomas Lennon, Melissa Villaseñor, Ego Nwodim, Matty Matheson, Juliet Donenfeld, Eduardo Franco, Maggie Lowe, Sainty Nelsen, Donovan Patton, Tara Strong, Carla Tassara, Secunda Wood, Kyle Mooney

Director: Ryan Crego

Running Time: 98 Minutes

Rating: G (Although Some of the Jokes Are Cheekily Off-Color in a Kid-Friendly Way)

Release Date: September 26, 2025 (Theaters)

What’s It About?: Based on the Netflix series of the same name, Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie introduces the multiplex-frequenting public to the titular young woman (Laila Lockhart Kraner) and her titular feline-filled toy abode. She and her grandma Gigi (Gloria Estefan) make their way to “Cat Francisco,” which is just one part of a cat-tacularly pun-filled alterna-USA wherein Gabby has the power to shrink down into a cartoon version of herself to truly hang out in the dollhouse. But disaster strikes when her Gabby Cats end up in the villainous claws of Vera (Kristen Wiig), a cat lady who’s forgotten how to play with her toys in favor of just collecting them. So Gabby and Gigi set out on a rescue mission to retrieve her best friends. But meanwhile, she’ll have to watch out for the seen-it-all kitty Chumsley (Jason Mantzoukas), who suspects that Gabby might have outgrown the wonders of the dollhouse.

What Made an Impression?: Virginia Horsen Energy: GD: The Movie is obviously not made for adult film critics. It looks like the show is basically the Blue’s Clues of its time, which is to say it’s primarily for the preschool set. Maybe the big screen version is aiming a few ages higher, while parents can theoretically keep their sanity by focusing on Kristen Wiig as the femme fatale. To her credit, she does indeed give a much stranger performance than you would expect to find in a G-rated flick for tykes. Vera legitimately could’ve been a beloved recurring character on SNL back during An Golden Era.
What’s Up, Jerks?: Even more bizarre than Wiig’s presence is the top billing of Jason Mantzoukas in an all-ages affair. Maybe my sense or reality has been warped by all my years of listening to How Did This Get Made?, but it really did feel like Chumsley might just shout “What’s up, jerks?!” at any point. And I really did think while watching, “Is this a Jacob’s Ladder Scenario?” If Gabby’s Dollhouse has all along been a sneaky operation to get the next generation hooked on deranged comedy, then I gotta say that the kids’ll be all right.
The Rest is Cacophony: If it sounds like I’ve become a low-key Gabby’s Dollhouse superfan, well, that’s because I only focused on the few parts that I enjoyed in spite of everything else. The rest of it was just a big blur of candy colors and chaotic cupcake explosions that subtly declared, “You can just let your mind wander and think about whatever.” I was somewhat intrigued by the messy assemblage of the soundtrack, which included the likes of a recent chart-topper by Bruno Mars, the All-4-One ballad “I Swear,” the worldbeat hit “Makeba” by French singer Jain, and something that I’m pretty sure is entitled “Skibidi Meow.” So in conclusion: this movie has several bizarre beats that might just stick with me, but otherwise it’ s a low-rent Toy Story 2.

Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie is Recommended If You Like: Cats that can cry sprinkles

Grade: 2.5 out of 5 Cat Franciscos

Is ‘Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale’ The Sort of Movie That Makes You Say ‘Wherever You Go, There You Are?’

September 23, 2025

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Please clap (CREDIT: Rory Mulvey/Focus Features)

Starring: Hugh Bonneville, Laura Carmichael, Jim Carter, Raquel Cassidy, Paul Copley, Brendan Coyle, Michelle Dockery, Kevin Doyle, Michael Fox, Joanne Froggatt, Paul Giamatti, Harry Hadden-Paton, Robert James-Collier, Allen Leech, Phyllis Logan, Elizabeth McGovern, Sophie McShera, Lesley Nicol, Douglas Reith, Dominic West, Penelope Wilton, Simon Russell Beale, Alessandro Nivola, Arty Froushan, Joely Richardson

Director: Simon Curtis

Running Time: 124 Minutes

Rating: PG

Release Date: September 12, 2025 (Theaters)

Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale very much feels like it’s about the end of an era. Much the same way that the first Downton Abbey movie and Downton Abbey: A New Era felt like they were about the end of an era. I’ve never seen a single episode of the same-named TV show that these films are based on, but I’m going to guess that it also had something to do with reckoning with the end of an era. Anyway, in this latest edition, that reckoning mostly consists of the Crawleys dealing with the possibility that they might have to live somewhere else, maybe even an apartment*! (*-Aka a “flat” in Britspeak.) Of course, in that scenario Robert must first learn what a flat even is. Lol. In the midst of all that, some unsavory character tries to pull a big con on the Grantham crew, which sure seems like a looming disaster. But then they get rid of him by basically just saying “You get outta here” a la Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig. And then it’s time to go home, I guess.

Grade: 2.5 out of 5 New Eras

‘Him’ Attempts to Turn Football Into a Waking Nightmare

September 18, 2025

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HIM… and Him, too (CREDIT: Universal Pictures)

Starring: Tyriq Withers, Marlon Wayans, Julia Fox, Tim Heidecker, Jim Jefferies, Naomi Grossman, GiGi Erneta, Norman Towns, Maurice Greene, Guapdad 4000, Tierra Whack, Don Benjamin

Director: Justin Tipping

Running Time: 96 Minutes

Rating: R for Odd and Grotesque Behavior, Athletic Nudity, and Questionable Performance Enhancement

Release Date: September 19, 2025 (Theaters)

What’s It About?: Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans) is indisputably the greatest quarterback of his generation and possibly all time. But rumor has it that he’s retiring soon. That’s where Cam Cade (Tyriq Withers) comes in: he’s been worshipping Isaiah his entire life, and everyone around has been pretty much grooming him to be the next GOAT. He lives up to that promise in college, and he’s all set to fulfill his destiny in the pros, but then a mysterious masked figure whacks him on the head. His draft stuck plummets as he recovers from this traumatic injury, but then he’s given a second chance when he’s invited to train at Isaiah’s private desert facility. However, that’s when it becomes inescapably clear that football stardom is a lot weirder, freakier, and more cultish than he bargained for.

What Made an Impression?: Would Roger Goodell Like This?: I’m pretty sure the National Football League wants absolutely nothing to do with Him. Or at the very least, they want it to be clear that this is NOT set in the NFL. Or the makers of Him assumed that’s how they would feel. Which means that instead of playing for the Patriots or the Cowboys or the Chiefs, Isaiah White is instead the QB for the San Antonio Saviors of the (kind of hilariously) fictional United States Football Federation. Ergo, we’ve got an alternate universe where the NFL is replaced by the USFF, but just as obsessively beloved. So if you follow the gridiron religiously in real life, you’ll find Him to be an uncanny mix of deeply familiar and outright foreign.
That’s the Way It Goes…Or Is It?: Let’s go ahead and identify the central metaphor: it’s all about how becoming the Football GOAT (or a sports superstar in general) is about fully sacrificing your sense of self. You may seem like one of the most powerful people on the planet, but truthfully it’s the hangers-on and team ownership and all of society that have a piece of you and won’t let go. But director Justin Tipping doesn’t always emphasize this point as clearly as he could. He’s made the sort of movie that’s more likely to make you go “What the hell’s going on?” rather than “Oh, I get it.” That’s not necessarily a bad thing, especially when you’re working in the horror milieu, but I would’ve recommended a more cohesive vision.
Never a Boring Day: But let’s talk about some of those more bizarre flourishes. A man decked out in body paint screams “Baa!” A superfan of Isaiah’s spits in Cam’s general direction. Major collisions give way to X-ray style views of the player’s skeletons. Plus, the supporting cast is delightfully demented, especially Tim Heidecker as Cam’s deceptively presentable agent and Julia Fox as Isaiah’s erotic stone-hawking influencer wife. The point is, Him doesn’t lack for memorable details or visual flourishes. It probably won’t make you re-evaluate everything about a particular sports league, but it could stick with you here and there.

Him is Recommended If You Like: Comedians Going Dramatic in a Cuckoo Way, Bloody Smiles, Pagan-Style Cosplay

Grade: 3 out of 5 Head Injuries

Colin F. and Margot R. Go on ‘A Big Bold Beautiful Journey’ – Shall We Join Them?

September 16, 2025

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The colors are Bold, that’s for sure (CREDIT: Sony Pictures Entertainment)

Starring: Colin Farrell, Margot Robbie, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Kevin Kline, Lily Rabe, Jodie Turner-Smith, Billy Magnussen, Sarah Gadon, Hamish Linklater, Chloe East, Yuvi Hecht

Director: Kogonada

Running Time: 109 Minutes

Rating: R for Some Naughty Words Here and There (Though It’s Giving PG Energy Otherwise)

Release Date: September 19, 2025 (Theaters)

What’s It About?: On his way to a wedding, a man named David (Colin Farrell) picks up a vehicle from a car rental agency operated by a couple of oddballs (Phoebe Waller-Bridge and an unrecognizable Kevin Kline). At the ceremony, he’s introduced to Sarah (Margot Robbie), who lives in the same city as him. They have a meet-sorta-cute, but they’re ready to head straight home afterwards, that is, until his car’s GPS (voiced by Jodie Turner-Smith) promises to take them on – as the title specifies – A Big Bold Beautiful Journey. This adventure consists of walking through a series of freestanding doors that allow them re-experience key moments from their pasts. Is this the universe – or that car rental place – going out of its way to bring these two together? If that is indeed what is fated to happen, then they’ll have to learn to let go of all their baggage along the way.

What Made an Impression?: All the Typical Doors: A Big Bold Beautiful Journey offers the sort of nakedly magical realist premise that you just have to buy into if you want to derive any sort of enjoyment out of it. If you’re into that thing in general, you’ll be happy; if you’re not, you won’t be convinced otherwise. If you’re somewhere in the middle, you might feel flashes of inspiration, but probably not much more. It would help if there were more depth to David and Sarah’s characterizations, but alas, their motivations don’t amount to much beyond “they can’t get over their heartbreaks.” Farrell and Robbie are charming enough guides through this fantasy, but if it’s transcendence you’re after, ABBBJ doesn’t quite deliver.
On the Other Side: So yeah, I didn’t exactly love A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, but I did come away with it thinking that you could probably make a decent TV spinoff out of it … if it were focused on the car rental duo, that is. Waller-Bridge and Kline give the sort of lightly mysterious, slightly demented performances that are perfect in a small batch, but would derail the whole proceedings if they were in more than two scenes. Or, they could work in a bigger dose, it would just completely alter the overall tone. Ergo, my desire to see what these two are up to when not interacting with David and Sarah.
Exactly What It Says on the Tin: One last fair warning: this movie is filled with so many on-the-nose touches that its septum might completely buckle from all the weight. Someone literally tells David to “be open,” a hotel is called the “Timely Inn,” a cover of Pete Townshend’s “Let My Love Open the Door” plays towards the end. I would assume these were all meant to be jokes if everything else weren’t so earnest. But feel free to assume that someone did a dad joke-focused revision on the script and laugh as much as you want to.

A Big Bold Beautiful Journey is Recommended If You Like: Theater kid energy, Curling up on the couch with your parents, The music and whole vibe of Laufey

Grade: 2.5 out of 5 Doors

Here’s What Happens When ‘Spinal Tap II: The End Continues’

September 13, 2025

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Still Tapping (CREDIT: YouTube Screenshot)

Starring: Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, Rob Reiner, Valerie Franco, Kerry Godliman, Chris Addison

Director: Rob Reiner

Running Time: 84 Minutes

Rating: R

Release Date: September 12, 2025 (Theaters)

Sometimes I like to be deep and profound when reviewing a movie, and sometimes I like to review it according to a big ol’ goofy gimmick. But then other times, as in the case of Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, I just want to say: this is a really funny movie! And we don’t even have to judge it on a curve of “Sequel to One of the Most Beloved Comedies of All Time.” It’s built on a clever new foundation: instead of being the biggest joke in rock ‘n’ roll, these metal gods are now pretty much universally beloved, but that doesn’t mean everything is working out perfectly. The comedy style is the same, but the jokes are fresh, and they made me laugh oh so much. Nigel, David, Derek, and Marty haven’t missed a beat! If you’re the type of person who suspects you might enjoy this, then I heartily recommend you do indeed go check it out.

Grade: The Tap Has Not Run Dry

Is There Ever Enough Room for a ‘Lurker’?

September 12, 2025

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This is How you Lurker (CREDIT: Mubi)

Starring: Théodore Pellerin, Archie Madekwe, Zack Fox, Havana Rose Liu, Wale Onayemi, Daniel Zolghadri, Sunny Suljic

Director: Alex Russell

Running Time: 101 Minutes

Rating: R

Release Date: August 22, 2025 (Theaters)

Lurker is a grainy warning about allowing someone into your inner circle with minimal vetting, as pop star Oliver (Archie Madekwe) hires clothing store employee Matty Morning (Théodore Pellerin) as his personal documentarian after a seemingly chance encounter. Soon enough, Matty is trying to control Oliver’s entire artistic direction, and pity anyone who stands in his way. That insinuation is definitely something to be on the lookout for if you ever find yourself in a similar situation, but I want to talk about Oliver’s living situation, i.e., a modern mansion that he shares with the tightest members of his entourage.

It’s quite the platonic fantasy, isn’t it? I know I wasn’t the only one who thought it would be the ultimate dream to live together in a big house with my closest buds in my twenties. And now it’s a reality for plenty of people – have you seen those influencer houses? But they could really use some adult supervision. I’m not against living arrangements that go beyond the traditional setup of parents and kids; if you’ve got the space, extra residents are a solid way to split the costs and share the memories. But instead of a surplus of young adults, I’d recommend something more multigenerational, and the lessons of Lurker only serve to underscore that.

Grade: 5 DV Camcorders out of 7 DSLRs

How to Navigate ‘Splitsville’ and ‘The Threesome’

September 11, 2025

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Which of them will end up Split? All Three? (CREDIT: NEON; Vertical/Screenshot)

Splitsville

Starring: Kyle Marvin, Michael Angelo Covino, Dakota Johnson, Adria Arjona, Simon Webster

Director: Michael Angelo Covino

Running Time: 104 Minutes

Rating: R

Release Date: August 22, 2025 (Theaters)

The Threesome

Starring: Jonah Hauer-King, Zoey Deutch, Ruby Cruz, Jaboukie Young-White, Josh Segarra, Kristin Slaysman, Allan McLeod, Julia Sweeney, Arden Myrin, Robert Longstreet

Director: Chad Hartigan

Running Time: 112 Minutes

Rating: R

Release Date: September 5, 2025 (Theaters)

Whoa, why are relationships getting so tangled and messy at the cinema lately? In the span of just two days, I saw Splitsville and The Threesome, which both had me frequently going, “Now see, are you sure you want to do that?” So I’ll go ahead and turn that question back around to myself and ask if I would like to try on any of these dynamics, perhaps just for the heck of it.

First up, I’ll check in to Splitsville (which I’m writing about before seeing The Threesome, which may or may not matter), in which this lady named Ashley (Adria Arjona) tells her husband Carey (Kyle Marvin) that she wants a divorce. That leads Carey to seek comfort in the ostensibly warm embrace of his friends Paul (Michael Angelo Covino) and Julie (Dakota Johnson), who it turns out have an open relationship. So Carey and Julie hook up, but Paul isn’t exactly okay with that. Meanwhile, Carey and Ashley eventually decide to try remaining married while opening up their relationship as well. Soon enough, Carey is falling in love with Julie, Ashley is falling back in love with Carey, and Paul and Ashley are teaming up to make their exes-who-are-still-their-spouses jealous. So, uh… yeah, I’m glad I wasn’t fully ensconced within this entire misadventure. If I’m ever part of an open relationship, I’m going to push for us to all sign a contract beforehand. But you know, like a sexy contract.

As for The Threesome, the messiness is baked right into the premise: three people enter a sexual encounter, two pregnancies emerge. At least compared to Splitsville, there’s one less person to keep track of in this case. Although of course, that’s not fully true, because plenty of other orbiting folks end up getting involved. Anyway, the dude in this scenario, Connor (Jonah Hauer-King), has stronger romantic feelings for one of the ladies, specifically Zoey Deutch’s Olivia. But he also wants to do right by their new intimate friend, Ruby Cruz’s Jenny. There are plenty of missteps along the way, but somehow we end on a note of everything turning out more or less okay.

When it comes to comparing and contrasting, the conclusion is: Splitsville is a whole lot messier than promised, whereas The Threesome is just the opposite. Honestly, I wouldn’t hate living through the latter’s scenario, though I wouldn’t exactly seek it out either, except perhaps as a less entangled observer. Connor’s friend Greg (Jaboukie Young-White) and his mom Suzanne (Julia Sweeney) definitely have fun in that role without getting hit by too much crossfire. So yeah, I wouldn’t mind lending a sympathetic ear.

Grades:
Splitsville: I Can Only Split So Much Before I Break
The Threesome: 3.5 out of 5 Threes

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