The Smashing Machine (2025) - A Guest Review by Chad Dixon

This is the first solo directorial film by Benny Safdie. It follows the true story of American professional wrestler, Mark Kerr, played by Dwayne Johnson, during a part of his career when, during the late 1990's, he obtained a major fan-following in the UFC, Ultimate Fighting Championships, held in Japan.

Having already worked their way up through the amateur wrestling ranks, Kerr and his good friend, fellow UFC fighter Mark Coleman (Ryan Bader), are preparing for the Tokyo tournament back in the USA. However, home life is not serene at this time as long-time supportive Girlfriend, Dawn Staples (Emily Blunt), is feeling a bit ignored - as Kerr's focus intensifies on his training regime.

On top of this and against the advice of Coleman, Kerr seems to be relying more and more on ever-stronger pain killers. And eventually during the tournament, just before a massive bout against a notoriously hard-hitting Ukrainian, all these things seem to be weighing on his mind in the changing room. So - is Kerr ready for the fight of his life?

This film would make a good double-bill with 2008's 'The Wrestler' as it has a similar 'gritty' feel and simple handheld filming style. Now that Dwayne's physical presence in all his multiple action roles have made him a major box office draw, I have to say that seeing him on the big screen in the wrestling garb that was part of his bread and butter for many years before Hollywood came knocking, made me feel that this role was the most perfect for him so far. We can finally see his acting prowess.

Emily Blunt's performance as the super glam, perfectly manicured - but troubled - Dawn, was also a bit of a departure from anything I've seen her previously in, but she pulled off a solidly intense performance. All the other roles were filled by actual combat sportsmen, in some cases playing themselves. Also, the great sound keeps you right inside the ring's grappling action so the collisions of these immense male athletes could really be felt. Some superb needle drops but the 2 hour 3 minute runtime seemed about spot on to tell this fairly small segment of the life of this humble, however pioneering, combat sportsman!

Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue (2025) - A Guest Review by Chad Dixon

This is a six part mystery drama currently on the BBC iPlayer and is how 'Lost' should have been. Thrown together on a small-time budget airline, eight strangers and two crew members were on their way from Central America to Houston, Texas, when an unexpected empty fuel tank forces the pilot to crash land in the remote Mexican jungle. When the broken twin prop plane finally comes to a stop the passengers immediately discover that the first casualty is the one female cabin crew.

Obviously, nobody has signal on their mobile phones and with none of them familiar with this jungle terrain, a race to organise their meagre food and water supplies ensues and an amicable decision to sit tight and wait for the inevitable rescue by the authorities is made. Though, after the badly-wounded pilot succumbs to his crash injuries overnight, tensions and accusations build up fast in the diverse group that one or more of them are not quite who they say they are and why they were on the plane.

Only a couple of faces were familiar to me. Eric McCormack (Will & Grace) as the constantly whining ex-doctor, Kevin Anderson and Siobhán McSweeney (Derry Girls) as one half of a MAGA-supporting, ultra-cynical married couple - sporting a brilliantly deep southern accent. 

However, there's a solid ensemble performance and the twists and turns of the plot keeps you constantly guessing as to what's really going on. The sultry jungle location, although vast in nature, feels really claustrophobic as all the survivors try to deal with their ever deteriorating predicament.

I found this a gripping watch and as all episodes were around 45 mins, it's easily bingeable in a single day. The reveal at the end is definitely rewarding so I highly recommend this mini TV series.

Bait (2025)

This is a truly bad film. A spectacular failure. It begins with the Herring family getting into a car accident - only slightly less ludicrously staged than the obvious studio footage inside the car while they are travelling!

After the crash, they wake up trapped in a basement, the unwilling guests of some sort of a human gatekeeper and his caged and chained flesh-eating monster - with abysmal makeup and design - it's a bloke with a rug over his shoulders and mask on! That picture of the creature on the poster has not one tincture of resemblance to the one in the film! You might expect the family to panic and feel terror - but actually, they all seem pretty calm about it. The acting from the whole cast is diabolical.

The creature is served up humans by the gatekeeper as it can only live on human flesh. So it's his job to keep providing fodder (by, in this case, snagging a family of four by staging the car crash). Eventually, the family are given an ultimatum - who is first?! If they don't decide, Mr Gatekeeper will!

It takes them sometime to start to work together to overcome the creature and gatekeeper. At this point we're shown where what budget there was went - the prosthetics of bits of human body half-eaten. It's not at all convincing. How they can dub this film with a 'horror' label I don't know!

There's zero suspense or tension throughout, just poor acting. There's zero atmosphere, hand-held camera throughout, dreadful soundtrack and production values which would feel at home in Llamageddon or Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey!

The director is Andrea M Catinella who has other projects of a similar loony approach, like Mouseboat Massacre and Piglet, so I should have expected this really! It's amazing that people can make films like this - or want to. I guess they must think they can make some money from it somehow. Keep your £2.99 in your pocket instead of giving it to Amazon Prime Video, unless you want to see, wide-eyed, for yourself - or financially support this tomfoolery!

PodhubUK Podcasts for the Month of September 2025

...a roundup of our month of podcasting. Links to the team, communities and podcast homes on the net at the foot, so scroll down!

The Phones Show Chat Podcast

Episode 867 - Disable Doze

Monday 1st September

Here we go then with the new-look, new-feel Pod and we hope that you enjoy it. Please let us know, either way. Malcolm Bryant joins Joe and I as we do a geeky dive into sideloading restrictions, alternative app stores, Launcher permissions and loads more. We have news of new phones, chat about the Honor Magic V5, Moto Edge 60 Pro and Honor 400 Pro - and still have time for POTW and Classifieds. All a bit different, but here it is! Special thanks to Aidan for the theme music!

Whatever Works

Episode 231 - Toothpaste in the Fridge!
Tuesday 2nd September

Aidan and I are back with another hour of fun and frolics as we discover, against the odds, Whatever Works. For us and you! This time we visit a Belgian Fjord, Ramble with a Yeti, shine a Torch on Hearing Tests, warm-up for emails and much more. So do join us. It's mandatory!

Projector Room

Episode 193 - The Smokin' Ballerina
Wednesday 3rd September

Gareth and I warmly welcome back Allan after his filming event as we get back on track with the usual trio, nattering about film, cinema and TV. This time Audrey Rose goes up in Smoke, Wolfs take no Prisoners, F1 meets Mr Mum, there are Weapons aplenty in Run Silent Run Deep and yes, OK, some of us drool over AdA in Ballerina!

The Camera Creations Podcast

Episode 6 - The Camera in the Pocket

Wednesday 10th September

Joe, Chris C, Ian and Chris K join me again this time for a natter for an hour about all things camera and photography. We talk about what's in the news, what's rumoured, how 35mm film compacts were, well, compact - and everyone compares the bags they carry gear in. Plus loads more as always!

The Phones Show Chat Podcast

Episode 868 - The Magic of Honor

Monday 15th September

Joe and I are back with a catchup week as I do the headlong into Honor 400 Pro, Joe the Magic V5. Joe summarises the new Apple hardware, we natter about new apps and software, my Sony Xperia 5 Mk IV revisit, what's coming in E Ink, Photo of the Week and oodles more! A big thank you to Aidan for the scrummy Nokia-style new theme tune and Malcolm Bryant for his invaluable help with fixing rss code - where Gemma couldn't!

Projector Room

Episode 194 - Woken in Yuma County
Wednesday 17th September

Gareth, Allan and I are back with our usual fortnightly roundup. This time we tinker with TekWar, go up in Smoke on an Alien Earth, introduce Dirty Harry to Charley Varrick, face The Prisoner in Wednesday and still have enough time for what's coming soon and oodles more. Tune in, why not!

The Camera Creations Podcast

Episode 7 - Does Sensor Size Matter?

Wednesday 24th September

Joe, Chris C, Ian, Chris K and I are joined by Ed Hause this time as we talk about this important question! Loads of other stuff too with some great photos to talk about, news and rumours aplenty too. Available now in the usual places, so do get stuck in, snap snap, grin grin, wink wink! All the links you need are at tedsalmon.com/cameracreations including that Shared Google Photos Album so you can actually see what we're bangin' on about!

The Phones Show Chat Podcast

Episode 869 - The Apple Pip

Monday 29th September

Joe and I welcome Pip Tomlinson and Chris K to natter for an hour or so about their findings with new and shiny Apple phones. I try to chip in where I can but Joe does a much better job keeping up! Plus some other stuff, like the SnapDragon Summit, new Moto hardware, Honor phones briefly and POTM for August!

The Podcasts (PodHubUK)

Phones Show Chat - Whatever Works - Chewing Gum for the Ears - Projector Room - Tech Addicts - Camera Creations

The MeWe Community Groups (follow the links to join up)
Phones Show Chat - Whatever Works - Chewing Gum for the Ears - Projector Room - PSC Photos - PSC Videos - PSC Classifieds - PSC Health - Coffee Time - Camera Creations - Tech Addicts

The Team
Ted Salmon - Steve Litchfield - Aidan Bell - Gareth Myles - Allan Gildea - Joe Hickey - Chris Clayton - Ian Bundey - Chris Kelly

Enemy (2013)

Blimey! I won't even attempt to review this as it's so complicated. I'm going to point you at a spoiler-riddled YouTube video that, even though many interpret the film in many ways, I was sold on this chappie's analysis, explanation and outcome.

The bones of it are that we follow Jake Gyllenhaal, a teacher, as he becomes aware of an actor out there who looks exactly like him and goes off to investigate, eventually meeting him and trying to work things through about how this can be.

They're as alike as identical twins down to the finest detail and yet, his mother, played by Isabella Rossellini, confirms in that he was certainly her only child. Sarah Gadon and Mélanie Laurent play good parts as the two leading ladies, one his girlfriend, the other, the actor's wife.

The film opens with an incomprehensible scene in some sort of sex club and ends with a complete jaw-dropper. I'll say no more! If you're smarter than me you can work it out (or interpret) for yourself - but the 25-minute detailed explainer in the above-linked review is recommended if you can't get there! It's out there on a few streaming services now. It's based on the book The Double by José Saramago if you fancy an even deeper dive!

Bullet Train Explosion (2025)

This is available now on Netflix and it's a rip-roaring adventure, thriller, drama, disaster movie out of Japan. Well worth a watch, if you have the rather long runtime of 2 hours and 15 minutes to spare. Notably, I think they did a really good job with the dubbing - possibly the best I have ever seen - so unusually, I'd say give it a go over subtitles. Original title was Shinkansen Daibakuha.

It's about a train, super-fast one, in Japan which is going from some other place to Tokyo and some fiend has slapped an unknown (at the outset) bomb or number of bombs on the train. In good Speed (1994) fashion, the train is going to blow up if the driver drops below 100kph. The bomber phones into to central railway control with a demand for one billion Yen (which I think is about half a million pounds) but doesn't want it from the train company or government, but from every citizen of Japan chipping in! It's not very clear how that was supposed to happen, but when the news breaks, some smart-Alec Content Creator who happens to be on the train breaks the news to social media and starts a fund to raise the money.

A lot of the travellers are very annoying, as we have come to expect with this kind of film, and the viewer decides for themselves which one (or ones) they'd like to see get their comeuppance first! Meanwhile, back in the control centre, the number of growing officials, government bods and engineers is growing, working to find a solution whilst keeping other trains and everybody out of the way as they find a clear path and strategy to ensure that the train stays above the speed.

The centre of the drama is around the conductor chappie and his initially enthusiastic young newbie assistant and how he behaves to try to handle things at the train end. If you like trains, there's actually lots to get stuck into here as they work with each other to route, plan, map, adjust, work to find a solution. There's also plenty to learn about Japanese culture and their approach to efficiency and making sure everything is as it should be. Lots of polite bowing to each other and focus on being good to others over yourself. However, there's a bunch of rowdy schoolgirls onboard and young lads who are clearly not so much with the old ways and I guess representing the shift away from traditonal values and culture in the country.

Anyway, we follow closely the perils of the driver of the train, the conductors, the travellers and those back at base throughout and it really is a pretty good thrill-ride. I really wasn't expecting it to be so, so it was a nice surprise. There seems to be three stages to the story as everyone works to find a way out of it - when one problem is fixed, up pops another, then another - so a triple thrill-ride really! There's also a couple of nice twists in the storyline, so I won't spoil that, nor the outcomes.

Pretty well shot on a budget, decently-enough acted by most (though I don't know any of the actors), claustrophobic when needed, tension and suspense here and there - and even the special effects are decent-enough too. A nice watch, which I ended up being pleased that I had.

The Animal (1976)

Anyone up for experimental arthouse cinema? Director/writer Walter Ungerer was, in 1976, to bring the art world this quite bizarre film in which, well, nothing really much happens. Much is left to the viewer's interpretation, assuming they stay awake long enough!

So yes, it's an existential mystery about a couple who appear to be meeting up at a holiday cabin in a snow-covered isolated location somewhere in New England, America. We join the story on a railway platform where she, Jo, is apparently aimlessly wandering up and down. For quite some time. And then some more time. Then her husband/boyfriend, Paul, turns up in a car and they seem to play some sort of game where he plays at being a stranger picking up a girl.

We eventually get to the cabin. Lots of snow. Falling and covering the ground, deeply. We spend time with the couple as they eat. Sleep. Dress. Undress. Walk. Ski. Argue about his sexist approach to her briefly. Maybe they have gone there to repair something between them? Then a child turns up, lurking outside the cabin. Standing. Staring. Not spookily, but just, well, there! Jo tries to engage the child in conversation. No go. Then there are two. Then gone with an old woman.

Then during a skiing session they get separated and Jo disappears. He hunts for her. We see her approaching a cottage. He gets concerned so calls the police. There's a 'manhunt' where lots of local people join in a search but find nothing. Timescales are not given. This could be hours, days or months! Eventually he gives up, packs his bags to leave, alone, then goes out one more time for a last search and with the suggestion for us that he might actually finally solve the mystery.

Nothing much is explained though. The landscape is gorgeous and the director is clearly making the most of it within this strange little 80-minute film. Perhaps the cold isolation is supposed to reflect the relationship that they are trying to fix? I have no idea what the title is about as there were no animals that I could see - nor any humans behaving like an 'animal'. Commentators seem to report that this is a film about loss, fate and the unknowable. All a bit lost on me, I'm afraid! If you fancy the challenge you can see it on Vimeo just now.