THE SMASHING MACHINE
The Smashing Machine is a 2025 American biographical sports drama film written, directed, co-produced, and edited by Benny Safdie. Based on the 2002 documentary The Smashing Machine: The Life and Times of Extreme Fighter Mark Kerr, it stars Dwayne Johnson as former amateur wrestler and MMA fighter Mark Kerr, alongside Emily Blunt as Kerr’s then-wife Dawn Staples, with Ryan Bader, Bas Rutten and Oleksandr Usyk in supporting roles.
The Smashing Machine is a biographical sports drama film starring Dwayne Johnson as former wrestler and MMA fighter Mark Kerr.
The film had its world premiere in the main competition of the 82nd Venice International Film Festival on September 1, 2025, where it won the Silver Lion.[3] It is set to be released in the United States by A24 on October 3, 2025. The film received positive reviews from critics, with Johnson’s performance receiving widespread critical acclaim, with many calling it the best of his career.
Cast
- Dwayne Johnson as Mark Kerr
- Emily Blunt as Dawn Staples
- Ryan Bader as Mark Coleman
- Bas Rutten as himself
- Oleksandr Usyk as Igor Vovchanchyn
- Lyndsey Gavin as Elizabeth Coleman
- Satoshi Ishii as Enson Inoue
- James Moontasri as Akira Shoji
- Yoko Hamamura as Kazuyuki Fujita
- Stephen Quadros as himself
- Paul Cheng as Masaaki Satake
- Cyborg Abreu as Fábio Gurgel
- Andre Tricoteux as Paul Varelans
- Marcus Aurélio as Mestre Hulk
- Whitney Moore as Jacqueline
- Paul Lazenby as Hans Nijman
- Olga Dzyurak as Vovchanchyn’s Translator
- Eric Odbaatar as Pride FC Cornerman
- Zoe Kosovic as McKenzie Coleman
- James Romero as Ring Manager (uncredited)
- Nick Toren as 1997 UFC Another Interviewer
- Nala Sinephro as Performer
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PARTY OF A SHOWGIRL
Taylor Swift on Friday announced a new theater event, “The Official Release Party of a Showgirl,” set to hit theaters Oct. 3 in coordination with the release of her latest album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” which is due out the same day.
“I hereby invite you to a *dazzling* soirée, The Official Release Party of a Showgirl: Oct 3 – Oct 5 only in cinemas!”
She continued, “You’ll get to see the exclusive world premiere of the music video for my new single ‘The Fate of Ophelia’, along with never-before-seen behind-the-scenes footage of how we made it, cut-by-cut explanations of what inspired this music, and the brand new lyric videos from my new album The Life of a Showgirl ❤️🔥.”
According to Variety, the 89-minute event will be shown in each of AMC’s 540 theaters, with non-AMC theaters also screening the event.
The show will also be presented internationally, according to Variety.
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ANEMONE
Anemone is a 2025 psychological drama film directed by Ronan Day-Lewis, in his feature directorial debut, from a screenplay he co-wrote with his father, Daniel Day-Lewis, who also stars in the lead role. It features the latter’s return to acting for the first time since 2017’s Phantom Thread, alongside Sean Bean and Samantha Morton.
The film had its world premiere at the 2025 New York Film Festival on September 28, followed by a limited theatrical release in the United States on October 3 by Focus Features, and then expanded nationwide on October 10.
Premise
Jem Stoker visits his estranged hermit brother, Ray, to ask him to come home.
Cast
- Daniel Day-Lewis as Ray Stoker
- Sean Bean as Jem Stoker
- Samantha Morton as Nessa Stoker
- Samuel Bottomley as Brian Stoker
- Safia Oakley-Green as Hattie
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COUNTED OUT
A thought-provoking documentary on the need for reforming math education to address societal issues like inequality, climate change, and political polarization, offering an empowering new approach.
With education under attack and misinformation on the rise, math is more than just numbers—it’s a language for reason, a foundation for truth, and a tool for democracy. Across the country, communities are coming together to explore how math literacy shapes everything from opportunity to civic life.
Counted Out examines the most significant crises of our time through an unexpected lens: mathematics.
In our current information economy, math is everywhere. The people we date, the news we see, the influence of our votes, the candidates who win elections, the education we have access to, the jobs we get—all of it is underwritten by an invisible layer of math that few of us understand, or even notice.
But whether we know it or not, our numeric literacy—whether we can speak the language of math—is a critical determinant of social and economic power.
Through a mosaic of personal stories, expert interviews, and scenes of math transformation in action, Counted Out shows what’s at risk if we keep the status quo. Do we want an America in which most of us don’t consider ourselves “math people”? Where does math proficiency go as students grow up? Or do we want a country where everyone can understand the math that undergirds our society—and can help shape it?
In the 21st century, fueled by technology, data, and algorithms, math determines who has the power to shape our world.
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9/30/2025 #TheSmashingMachine #PartyofaShowgirl #Anemone #CountedOut