October 1st  2025

One Battle After Another

The Smashing Machine

Juror #2 (streaming)

It's a very adversarial week for film! Revolutionaries and military men slug it out in the excellent One Battle After Another, the gruelling sport of mixed martial arts is front and centre in Dwayne Johnson's latest film, and a juror must battle his conscience in a film worth staying at home to stream. 

One Battle After Another

Dir: Paul Thomas Anderson

Length: 161 min mins

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQUPdVxZNPk

© Universal - di Caprio leaves his 
revolutionary ways behind to protect his daughter

Bob (Leonardo di Caprio) and Perfidia (Teyana Taylor) are members of a revolutionary group known as the French 75. In the action-packed, frenetic opening scene they are freeing a group of detainees from a government detention centre. After more illegal acts (holding up banks, blowing up buildings), Perfidia has an encounter with a detestable military man Stephen Lockjaw (Sean Penn) the upshot of which will color all their lives. Bob and Perfidia learn a baby is on the way, but after the birth, for reasons I won't reveal, Perfidia is soon off the scene. Fast forward 16 years and Bob is paranoid; living reclusively, drinking and smoking weed. His teenage daughter Willa (Chase Infiniti) is the focus of his life, but his nemesis from so many years before, Lockjaw, resurfaces. What a crazy ride this latest from master director PTA turns out to be. The plot is jam-packed with action, thrills, and plenty of mad-cap humorous happenings, while underneath it is a powerful socio-political satire on the state of the USA. The military machine features large with raids on illegal immigrants, while Benecio del Toro, as Willa's martial arts sensei, brings a strong thread of compassion (and a goodly dose of deadpan humor) as a protector of the illegals. Among all the madness, there's a great subplot that exposes conspiracy theorists and white-supremacist groups. On another level the film is firmly grounded in the father/daughter genre, with the Bob-Willa relationship anchoring much of the plot. In an America that is becoming more irrational, militarised and autocratic by the day, the film will hit a lot of nerves, feel really prescient, and gives you thrills, laughs and dread from go to whoa. Not to mention outstanding performances from the entire cast. 

4.5 - wholeheartedly recommended

The Smashing Machine

Dir: Bennie Safdie

Length:  123 min 

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRpnP3LZ99g

© VVS/A24 - Johnson and Blunt are
wonderful together

Have you heard of UFC? (Ultimate Fighting Championship). Maybe MMA? (Mixed Martial Arts). I'd heard of them and sworn I would not wish to see a film about such a brutal so-called sport. But it's hard to turn down a Golden Lion nominee for Best Film at Venice 2025, along with Silver Lion for Best Director. Mark Kerr (Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson) began his wrestling career at age 15 in 1983. A decade or so later he looked to the emerging sport of Mixed Martial Arts, and eventually became a champ in that field, dominated by the promotion company UFC. This film looks at the period in Kerr's life from 1997 to 2000, both his fighting career, and his relationship with girlfriend Dawn (Emily Blunt). It's hard to give this film a blanket recommendation, as the brutality of this no-holds barred sport is so gruelling to watch. But it's the performances that elevate it to something quite remarkable. Johnson, transformed by prosthetics, wigs and other makeup tricks gives a nuanced career-best performance, inhabiting a big tough man who actually has a soft core. But he must battle in the ring, outside of it, and also against his opiate addiction. Blunt as his highly adversarial gal is as wonderful as I'd expect of her. The verbal fight scenes between the lovers almost rival the physical fights, and they are scripted to feel absolutely authentic. Ryan Bader is strong as Mark Coleman, Kerr's long-time friend and rival. The film's camera work is also notable, giving a documentary feel to much of it, and makes great use of close-ups and handheld shots. So, if you want to immerse intimately in this world of physical and emotional battle, then this film is . . .

4 - highly recommended

And if you can't stomach the truly heavy-duty violence, then . . .

avoid at all costs!

Juror # 2

Dir: Clint Eastwood

Length: 114 mins

Streaming on HBO Max (2024)

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhkkBFhW-MM

© Warner Bros - justice, conscience and 
consequences, in a strong courtroom drama

Four wins and 14 nominations - at 95 years of age Clint Eastwood still has what it takes to deliver a gripping film. Justin Kemp (Nicolas Hoult) is called up for jury duty, despite trying to get out of it on the grounds that his wife Alllison (Zoey Deutch) has a high-risk pregnancy. He also has a serious moral dilemma, knowing something that could definitely sway the verdict, if he chooses to tell. Prosecutor Faith Killebrew (Toni Colette) is determined to convict James Sythe (Gabriel Basso) of the murder of his girlfriend. She has been found dead in a gully off the road, after the two have fought at the local pub. Defense lawyer  Eric Resnick (Chris Messina) is convinced of James' innocence, and so is a member of the jury, ex-cop Harold (J.K. Simmons). This movie is in the realm of old-style courtroom drama, strongly scripted, with a plot that steadily mounts in tension as each character questions their moral conscience, asking us, the audience, to also question the rights and wrongs of the judicial system.

4 - highly recommended