Film Review: “The Smashing Machine”

The Smashing Machine feels like a lightweight bout before the main event

Mark (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) feels the brief glory in “The Smashing Machine.”

Over the past ten years, I’ve asked and been asked a recurring question when a conversation turns to movies: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is a good actor, so why isn’t he choosing better projects? For a moment, let’s set aside the very entertaining Jumanji reboot, the fantastic Fast Five, and the Moana phenomenon, because the rest of his filmography between 2014-2025 is abysmal at worst, forgettable at best. Johnson has raked in enough dough and created enough global popularity and goodwill to justify his choices. However, ask any of Johnson’s biggest fans (and some of his detractors) and they’ll tell you he maintains an undiscovered level to his acting abilities, the sort of emotional range he inched toward in 2004’s Walking Tall remake, Richard Kelly’s Southland Tales, and even Michael Bay’s Pain & Gain. Instead, Johnson has returned to lackluster, CGI-laden IP projects over and over again, resulting in diminishing returns. The combined trio of critical and box office disasters Black Adam, Fast X, and Red One were the final straw, and Johnson now appears to be shifting gears. The Smashing Machine is an impressive and appropriate first step in Johnson’s new career path, though the film lacks invention and purpose. Continue reading “Film Review: “The Smashing Machine””

Film Feature: MVFF48 Festival Preview #2

If it’s October, it must be Mill Valley. Yes, everyone’s favorite fall film fest opens tonight, Thursday, October 2nd. You can check out the full program here, and don’t despair if a screening is listed as “standby”: more tickets may be released before the screening date, and same-day wait list tickets most likely will be available. Check out the Box Office for more information. We already presented a sneak peak of three of of this year’s offerings, and below we highlight five more: four great features and an equally worthy documentary. See you at the Fest!

1.) Metallica Saved My Life
(United Kingdom, 2025. 99 min.)

Anyone looking for a sort “Behind the Music” exposé about Metallica would be better served by watching the 2004 documentary Metallica: Some Kind of Monster. That the band is still together 20+ years since that film is a testament to its staying power, which aligns with the angle this new doc takes. “Metallica is everybody” is the rallying cry of Swedish director Jonas Åkerlund’s new film, which Metallica’s PR team is no doubt swooning over. Despite its Metallica-can-do-no-wrong vibe, this documentary about the band’s devoted fans is infectious and disarming. Filled with stories of people from all walks of life and all across the globe who have found solace, connection, and joy in the band’s music and concerts, the picture paints a warm portrait of a Metallica family that embraces anyone who wants to love the band and its community. Particularly affecting interviews from a trans man in Austin and fans from Iraq, Botswana, and Ukraine are emotionally raw, and help keep the picture from sinking too deeply into hagiography. Metallica band members are also interviewed, and they come across gracious and sincere in their appreciation of their fans. Sure the film is terrific PR, but it’s also genuinely uplifting. 

Screenings (click here for tickets):
– Thurs., Oct. 9th, 6:00pm at CinéArts Sequoia, Mill Valley (at standby)
– Fri., Oct. 10th, 3:00pm at Smith Rafael Film Center

Continue reading “Film Feature: MVFF48 Festival Preview #2”

Film Review: “Anemone”

Day-Lewis father and son create a beautifully shot bore

Ray (Daniel Day-Lewis) and Jem (Sean Bean) stare and think and stare in “Anemone.”

Anemone is the directorial debut from Ronan Day-Lewis, son of Daniel Day-Lewis. Both father and son have writing credits on the film, and not coincidentally the film is about a father coming to terms with his past and a son reckoning with his father’s elusive wartime legacy. Ronan, 27, has some prior cinematography credits, and demonstrates a promising grasp of visual staging. However, Anemone asks too much from the audience. Extracting themes and identifying Greek mythological references are welcome forms of audience participation, but Anemone implores the viewer to not only guess narrative context, but then puzzle it together. Lacking a coherent script, Anemone feels underbaked. The film is a style-over-substance exercise in nepo-baby reasoning unfurling at a glacial pace, barely held aloft by Daniel Day-Lewis’s noteworthy performance. Continue reading “Film Review: “Anemone””

Film Feature: MVFF48 Festival Preview #1

The 48th Mill Valley Film Festival  (MVFF) will take place Oct. 2-12, with screenings at theaters across the North and East Bay.

For a full view of special awards, spotlights, and centerpiece films, check out the complete festival guide. Tickets can be purchased here. Below is a preview of the festival, featuring brief looks at three films:

1.) THE SECRET AGENT
(Brazil, France, Germany, Netherlands, 2025. 158 min.)

The Secret Agent is a blistering 1970s-styled political thriller as prescient today as the film could’ve been in the era in which the story takes place. In a tremendously powerful performance, Wagner Moura (Narcos; Civil War) plays an ex-professor in Brazil who is in hiding with other refugees from the country’s military dictatorship, with numerous authoritative officials after them. Director Kleber Mendonça Filho (Bacurau) soaks The Secret Agent in textural viscerality; the characters are drenched in sweat, the colorful costumes and immaculate set design pop off the screen, and the musical score infuses the slow-burn narrative with mystery and energy. 

Screenings (click here for tickets):
– Fri., Oct. 3rd, 6:00pm at CinéArts Sequoia
– Sun., Oct. 5th, 11:15am at Smith Rafael Film Center Continue reading “Film Feature: MVFF48 Festival Preview #1”

Film Review: “Dead of Winter”

Thompson is a formidable foe in fun, snowy thriller

Barb (Emma Thompson) stumbles into a dangerous situation in the… wait for it… dead of winter.

The chill is as palpable as the midwest accents in Dead of Winter, a brisk 90-minute thriller that compensates for some glaring plot holes with an otherwise engrossing story and a stellar, go-for-broke performance by Emma Thompson.  Continue reading “Film Review: “Dead of Winter””

Single of the Week: “Superglue” by Pony

Canadian Power Pop is my ultimate comfort food. “Superglue” by Pony is giving me that joy in an aggressively stressful period of history. This song is joyful and catchy and just feels damn good on the ear drums. 

Pony is on the road this fall with the great Pool Kids. You can buy/stream “Superglue” here, as well as learn all you can about the joy that is Pony. 

Film Review: “One Battle After Another”

Revolutions and zany bombast mix together in Anderson’s stick of cinematic dynamite

“Ghetto Pat” aka Bob Ferguson (Leonardo DiCaprio) is on the run/hunt.

Well-crafted films can accomplish two objectives: entertain audiences and support an artist’s viewpoint (the “message” of the film, if you will). Writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood; Phantom Thread; Licorice Pizza) has established himself as one of the finest filmmakers working today, capable of rewarding audiences and deep thinkers alike. Even though his films haven’t been box office juggernauts, they are strongly respected within the filmmaking and film-loving communities. Anderson’s tenth feature film, One Battle After Another, is his most mainstream film, a potential box office hit and a crowd pleaser, but also his most politically-minded. One Battle After Another is a wild character-driven thriller with an unassailable comic sensibility. The film also presents a poignant critique on the nation’s current sociopolitical climate. Anderson’s sense of action, hijinks, and thematic storytelling are honed to a sharp, surrealist point in One Battle After Another, thus creating a richly rewarding cinematic triumph. Continue reading “Film Review: “One Battle After Another””

Show Review: The Flaming Lips & Modest Mouse at The Greek Theater, UC Berkeley, 9/7/25

On September 7, 2025, the Greek Theatre in Berkeley hosted a remarkable double bill featuring Modest Mouse and The Flaming Lips -each band delivering at least a 75-minute set, separated by over 20 years from their breakout records. The evening carried the last heat of Indian summer, light winds hinting at fall as music fans filled the amphitheater. It was a night that underscored not only the legacy of both acts but also the profound evolution of their sound over the decades.

Continue reading “Show Review: The Flaming Lips & Modest Mouse at The Greek Theater, UC Berkeley, 9/7/25”

Show Review: Sunny Day Real Estate at The Catalyst, 9/10/25

The Catalyst in Santa Cruz is one of those venues where history hangs heavy in the rafters. It’s a place that has seen everything from Willie Nelson to punk chaos to indie legends, a club that is both small enough to feel intimate yet big enough to hold a restless crowd pressed shoulder to shoulder. Tucked downtown a few blocks from the ocean, the room itself is a rite of passage for anyone serious about live music in Northern California. On September 10, that stage belonged to Sunny Day Real Estate.

Continue reading “Show Review: Sunny Day Real Estate at The Catalyst, 9/10/25”

Show Review: The Hives with Snõõper at The Warfield, 9/20/25

There have been a LOT of high-profile comebacks in the last year or so… Oasis, Rilo Kiley, The Prodigy, TV On The Radio, to name a few. Somehow, the return of the literal greatest live band of their generation, The Hives, seems to have crept on the radar. They played a handful of club shows in 2023, plus a handful of dates opening for Foo Fighters in stadiums (and covering for The Sounds at Just Like Heaven at the last moment), but 2025 was the first full-scale tour since 2013. 

And if you are sleeping on these shows, you are vastly mistaken. Continue reading “Show Review: The Hives with Snõõper at The Warfield, 9/20/25”