Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, this week with special guests Donal Sweeney and Andy Melhuish, The 250 is a (mostly) weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released every second Saturday at 6pm GMT, with the occasional bonus episode between them.
This week, Benny Safdie’s The Smashing Machine.
In the mid-to-late-nineties, Mark Kerr was the great hope of the emerging combat sport of mixed martial arts, the champion of a sport that was working its way to the centre of the culture. Unable to even conceive of defeat, Kerr was on the cusp of greatness. However, Mark very quickly discovers that sometimes the most brutal fights take place outside the ring.
At time of recording, it was not ranked on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.
Show Notes:
- Recorded 8th February 2026.
- The Smashing Machine at The Internet Movie Database.
- DonalSweeney.com.
- What’s it like being disabled at Oxford University?, February 2024.
- The Poets’ Cafe at Oxford.
- The BBC reports on the charging of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft following a sex sting operation, February 2019.
- The Associated Press reports on Robert Kraft’s “massages”, September 2020.
- May Jeong writes at Vanity Fair about the saga surrounding Robert Kraft and a Florida massage parlour, October 2019.
- Roxanne Jones at CNN writes comparing the cases of Robert Kraft and Jeffrey Epstein, February 2019.
- Morwenna Ferrier and Priya Elan at The Guardian consider Conor McGregor as a male style icon, March 2016.
- Peter Carroll at Vice considers Conor McGregor as “an icon for Ireland’s lost generation”, July 2015.
- Cath Clarke at The Guardian considers Notorious, the documentary made about Conor McGregor, November 2017.
- The Guardian reports on Conor McGregor being found civilly liable for rape, December 2024.
- Órla O’Donnell writes at RTÉ about Conor McGregor’s failed appeal against the finding of civil liability for rape, July 2025.
- The BBC reports on Paddy Pimblett’s post-fight weight gain, February 2026.
- Donald McRae at The Guardian reports on Paddy Pimblett’s dislike of the Tories, March 2022.
- Austin Gayle at The Ringer considers “raw-dogging” a flight, December 2024.
- Adam White at The Independent considers the complicated punch-tallying system in operation on the Fast and Furious movies, August 2019.
- Kenzie Bryant at Vanity Fair looks back on the feud between the Rock and Vin Diesel on the Fast and Furious movies, April 2017.
- Bruce Haring at Deadline reports on the Rock’s promise to change the hierarchy of power in the DC Universe with Black Adam, July 2021.
- Tatiana Siegel at Variety looks at the Rock’s attempts to gain control of the DC Universe at Warner Bros., January 2023.
- Aaron Couch and Borys Kit at The Hollywood Reporter consider the Rock’s attempts to reinstate Henry Cavill as Superman, December 2022.
- James Gunn talks to Happy Sad Confused about the situation with Dwayne Johnson and the DC Universe, July 2025.
- Allison Willmore at Vulture considers the curiously sexless screen persona of the Rock, August 2021.
- Jesse Hassenger at Nylon considers the sexless presence of the Rock, July 2018.
- Michael Koresky considers Southland Tales for Reverse Shot, November 2023.
- Philippa Snow argues at The New Statesman that Southland Tales is “apt lockdown viewing”, June 2020.
- Eric Kohn at IndieWire reports on the Rock’s complicated relationship to Southland Tales, January 2019.
- The Rock describes Southland Tales as “disastrous” on Twitter, May 2019.
- Richard Lawson reviews Pain and Gain for The Wire, April 2013.
- James Owen argues for the value of Pain and Gain at The Columbia Daily Tribune, August 2018.
- Simon Usborne at The Guardian considers “looksmaxxing”, February 2024.
- Scott Mendelson at Forbes considers the Rock as “franchise viagra”, June 2015.
- Richard Newby at The Hollywood Reporter considers the Rock’s reputation as “franchise viagra”, October 2022.
- Darren Mooney at The Escapist considers Black Adam as a superhero vanity project for the Rock, October 2022.
- Matt Beloni and Jonathan Handel at Puck report on the Rock’s massive payday for the year, July 2023.
- Justin Kurp at Uproxx considers the disagreement between the Rock and Warner Bros. about the serving of tequila at the Black Adam premiere, January 2023.
- Patrick Willems at YouTube considers the Rock as a brand rather than a movie star, January 2024.
- Bruce Haring at Deadline reports on the Rock’s three roles in DC League of Superpets, August 2022.
- Drew Swanson at Gamerant on Benny Safdie playing Bowser Jr. in The Super Mario Bros. Galaxy Movie, November 2025.
- Kate Erbland at IndieWire reports on Josh Safdie’s direction of Adam Sandler’s stand-up special, August 2024.
- John Hyams talks to The New York Times about making the Smashing Machine documentary, June 2021.
- Rory Doherty at Time considers the true story of Mark Kerr, September 2025.
- Patrick Hipes at Deadline reports on the Rock’s plans to make a biopic about Mark Kerr, November 2019.
- Emily Blunt talks to IndieWire about putting the Rock and Benny Safdie back in contact, September 2025.
- Benny Safdie confirms to Variety that he has broken away from his brother, January 2024.
- Ethan Shanfeld at Variety reports on news that Josh Safdie is developing Marty Supreme as a solo project, without his brother, July 2024.
- Tatiana Siegel at Variety reports on allegations of misconduct by Good Time and Uncut Gems producer Sebastian Bear-McClard, March 2023.
- Tatiana Siegel at PageSix reports on the alleged reasons for the split between Josh and Benny Safdie, January 2026.
- Katey Rich at The Ankler reflects on the weaponisation of narratives during the awards campaign, February 2026.
- Charles Barfield at The Playlist reports that Marty Supreme and The Smashing Machine are the two most expensive films that A24 has ever made, November 2024.
- Jessica Kiang and Ellise Shafer report on the prizes awarded at the Venice Film Festival for Variety, September 2025.
- Rebecca Rubin and Ramin Setoodeh at Variety report on the reception of The Smashing Machine at Venice, September 2025.
- Ethan Atler at Gold Derby reports on The Smashing Machine playing at Toronto, September 2025.
- Zack Sharf at Variety reports on the box office disappointment of The Smashing Machine, October 2025.
- Josh Safdie talks to The Washington Post about racing to edit Marty Supreme to premiere at the New York Film Festival, October 2025.
- David Ehrlich describes Marty Supreme as “One Paddle After Another”, October 2025.
- Josh Safdie talks to IndieWire about getting the ping pong right in Marty Supreme, December 2025.
- Mike Fleming at Deadline reports on the two competing Road House sequels, October 2025.
- Doug Liman writes at Deadline about his struggle to get Road House into theatres, January 2024.
- Benny Safdie talks to Dazed about his documentary approach to filmmaking, October 2025.
- Tyler Chin at GQ considers how the Rock gained mass for The Smashing Machine, October 2025.
- Kazu Hiro talks to The Academy Magazine about designing the make-up for The Smashing Machine, October 2025.
- Jake Kanter at Deadline reports on Christopher Nolan’s enthusiastic praise for The Smashing Machine, October 2025.
- Benny Safdie and Christopher Nolan talk about The Smashing Machine at The Directors’ Guild of America, October 2025.
- Elvis Mitchell discusses The Smashing Machine on The Treatment, November 2025.
- Caroline Frost at Deadline reports on the Rock’s return to professional wrestling, February 2024.
- Marca reports on the possibility of Donald Trump returning to professional wrestling, November 2025.
- Mark Raimondi at ESPN reports on the Rock awarding the BMF belt at UFC, October 2019.
- Michael Balderston at ScreenRant reports on Mark Kerr’s reaction to The Smashing Machine, October 2025.
- Caroline Darney at For the Win considers Mark Kerr’s closing cameo in The Smashing Machine, October 2025.
- Angelique Jackson at Variety reports on the Rock and Benny Safdie’s future collaboration on Lizard Music, October 2025.
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Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: andy melhuish, benny safdie, donal sweeney, Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, imdb, mark kerr, mma, opioids, podcast, smashing machine, sports movie, structure, subversion, the rock, ufc |
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