[EXPRESSO] The Smashing Machine (2025) | Pet Rock

There is some hilarity in an A24 distributed sports drama starring Dwayne Johnson, not because he has hair this time (which is kinda absurd to see anyway), but since it’s an obvious attempt by the beloved wrestler-turned-actor to go for that Oscar cheddar, with a biopic directed by Benny Safdie (Good Time, Uncut Gems), costarring alongside Emily Blunt and playing a figure that Johnson would effortlessy seen as a reflection of his past career, in this case UFC fighter Mark Kerr.

That said, it does mean we get to see Johnson try more and go beyond the same persona he has kept for his film carreer, despite this being a very calcuted risk, but one i’d say pays off, as this biopic depicts Kerr’s rise to the higher ranks in the early days of MMA fighting, him struggling with his drug addiction, his obsession for victory and his troubled relationship with his girlfriend, as his first loss during the Japanese league send his world crashing down.

Structurally there’s nothing you haven’t seen before in a sports drama film, especially about combat sports, but it does retell Kerr story in a satisfying way, it doesn’t hold back but also makes a solid argument on how victory isn’t everything, or more specifically, that losing isn’t everything either, it just something bound to happen eventually, if it happens it’s fine.

I have to point out that apparently a lot of the film is more or less lifted (as in, even camera angles) from a documentary of the same name made back in 2002 apparently since i saw it mentioned but can’t say i’ve even heard of (or seen) that one before, and that seems to be case for most people, but even so i’d say The Smashing Machine is a good sports drama.

[EXPRESSO] The Fall Guy (2024) | Project S

Apparently based on a 80s TV series of the same name i’ve never heard before, The Fall Guy is another in what seems to be a recent trend of meta comedies about movie making or the business of fiction breaking out in reality, with a dash of romance, so it’s this more Tropic Thunder or another send-off to Romancing The Stone?

A bit of both, but ultimately neither, as the story follows Colt Seavers, a stuntman that, after nearly dying on the set of a movie years ago, basically removed himself from the business even more as he had a romantic story budding with Jody, the film’s director.

Years later he’s called upon by Jody’s producer to help out with the stunts on her new movie and also locate the film’s douchey star actor, Tom Ryder, as he has been missing for days.

As Colt tries to win Jody back while also secretly attempting to find out where Tom could possibly be, he ends up meeting some thugs and finds out this isn’t some drunken debauchery joke or some movie star bullshit, but that there’s a conspiracy at play behinds the scenes….

i was expecting a decent flick and not much else, plus i was worried about the runtime, but there’s actually more to the plot to warrant the 2 hours lenght, the romance is cute, the lead actors’ chemistry is great, the action is deliciously over the top and satisfying compliments the comedy instead of using it a cushion, the characters are likeable, and it lovingly showcases the work of stuntmen/women and all the people in the biz whose glory is often left unsung.

A surprisingly good mainstream/general audiences movie, and one of the rare ones today that actually manages to deliver on the fabled “something for everyone” promise.

[EXPRESSO] Oppenheimer (2023) | Quantum Step

Not seen in IMAX because i couldn’t buy even a single goddamn seat, but i’m sure Christopher Nolan will forgive me, specifically.

Jesting aside, his latest film, the long awaited historical biopic about the inventor of the atomic bomb, Oppenheimer, is finally in theathers here as well, and what do you know, it’s pretty good, as most would expect…. if you actually know what the film is about, you’d think it wouldn’t be that hard since the title is literally “Oppenheimer”, but that won’t stop people pontificating on subjects that this movie was never gonna realistically touch, like the atrocities behind Los Alamos’ birth.

I mean, this is about Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb, which obviously encompasses more than his mortal life, but he is an unvoidable central figure in this chapter of history, and this biopic it’s as far as it can from a flattering portrait of the man, as it should be, given the heavy themes at play and the many struggles for power and political dominance that surround him and other scientists tasked by the military during WW II, Oppenheimer’s personal life, his rise to fame and political oppression during McChartyism due to his left-leaning tendencies…

It’s typical Nolan as it goes for the kind of non-linear narrative the director revels in, starting with a senate hearing, then digressing back and forth from Oppenheimer being put in a shame trial, and various events of his life during and after the conceptualization, creation and usage of the bomb (shown in frightinly realistic terms), all eventually coming together with precision, and constantly engaging, regardless if it’s engineering fission, waiting for the bomb’s test countdown, or following the compelling court drama sequences, which it’s already quite impressive for a movie sporting the behemoth runtime of 3 hours.

Final Verdict: Expresso

[EXPRESSO] Jungle Cruise (2021) | Steamboat Amazon Ride

Time and time again, Disney comes back to the familiar well of turning Disneyland rides-attractions into live action movies, hoping to avoid another The Country Bears and strike that sweet, profitable Pirates Of The Carribean lightning once more.

Can’t say i’ve ever even seen this ride in person, but then again i’m not even sure i even went to Disneyland to begin with, and this doesn’t matter anyway.

This time we have a throwback to 40-50s jungle adventure films, with steamboats, fearless guides with pith helmets, treasures guarded by perilous jungle animals, cursed soldiers, evil german royalty (not nazis since this is set during WWI, but it makes virtually no difference if they were), adventurous researchers and natives in “ethnic get up”. And Dwayne Johnson.

It’s as generic as it looks and as generic as they come, clearly prioritizing spectacle and action in order to avoid the audience NOT being stimulated, even if the scenes don’t call for action, there is it anyway, just shovel it in. This is through and through a manifactured Disney summer blockbuster, as obvious as me pointing it out (as if was needed), and ones expectes it to be just a fun, throw-away experience to kill 90 minutes.

BUT i gotta admit it’s fun, it manages to incorporate ride-like elements into the plot, often giving them some minor little twists to the usual cliches for fun, the cast is clearly overlyqualified for the roles and the dialogues, but they clearly have fun with the stock characters and the often silly lines (or deliberately bad jokes), it made genuinely laugh in more than a couple occasion.

It’s quite cute, it’s pretty much what it says it is, it’s a cute, mild, fun little adventure while it lasts, one you’ll quickly forget in any detail after watching.