10 More Workout Movies
"Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy."
In an ideal world, we could burn a trillion calories just by twirling popcorn…
…but, alas, it’s never that simple. Back to the gym to hit those New Year’s resolutions.
Last year, I wrote an ode to what I call the “workout movie” — the perfect thing to watch while you burn some calories on some sort of cardio machine of your choosing. It’s worth revisiting if you’ve forgotten or are new here 👇
I’m not going to go into the full classifications as I did in 2022, instead providing a pair of recommendations on each platform that will help get that heart rate racing.
AMAZON PRIME VIDEO
Attractive people running around in mild peril and being generally amusing. What’s not to like about The Lost City? It’s a great diversion that will keep you engrossed and engaged throughout. Bullock and Tatum are an inspired comedic duo, even if they aren’t necessarily given groundbreaking material to execute. (A part of me thinks the male lead was written for Ryan Reynolds so this could be a reunion of The Proposal, but I think this works much better.)
No need to follow the dialogue in Buster Keaton’s The General — it’s a silent comedy! Not that we have to choose between Keaton and Chaplin (I choose the latter), but the broad slapstick comedy is visually engaging and propulsively kinetic. It’s not great that he’s asking us to root for a Confederate general, but the rationale is that Keaton needed an underdog to engender sympathy for his hopeless romantic yet hapless soldier. This prototype for the modern action movie still manages to be just as exciting as anything a studio churns out these days.
DISNEY+
A movie musical: like a great workout playlist, but with images! I’m a millennial, so I naturally enjoy all the stylings from the ‘80s/’90s Disney Renaissance that I wore out on VHS. While it’s one of the more unsung titles of that era, I’ve always had a real soft spot for Hercules — probably because it’s actually the first movie I remember seeing in a theater! (My true first was Pocahantas, don’t cancel me.) I love the unlikely infusion of R&B/Motown spirit into the traditional show tune format. Enjoy this one before a live-action remake ruins it!
USA! USA! USA! Miracle is one of the few inspirational sports movies that gets me hook, line and sinker every time. (I mean, how many times do you get America as the underdog?) It hits all the beats of the genre, sure, but does so with such agility and limberness that I’m totally unbothered. Kurt Russell’s Coach Herb Brooks does make for a great central figure, but I’m always struck by how nimbly the film keeps the focus from concentrating on any one player on the ice. I’m not sure any other sports film manages to conjure the team as collective protagonist quite so well.
HBO MAX
While this isn’t exactly silent in the same way that Buster Keaton’s comedy is, Jacques Tati’s Mon Oncle does feature a wordless protagonist in his own right. Tati plays the bungling Monsieur Hulot who can’t quite figure out how to navigate in the increasingly tech-filled world of the 1950s. Expect a lot of manic energy taking place within immaculately crafted frames leading to brilliant, unforeseen comedy.
I love a good cut-and-dry legal thriller for workouts, and The Rainmaker more than fits the bill. It’s got built-in stakes, easy dichotomies of good and evil, along with nonstop forward plot motion. Young Matt Damon really shines here as an earnest do-gooder lawyer just trying to stay true to his moral compass. In any other circumstance, though, this would be deeply disappointing as a Francis Ford Coppola movie. But a little cookie-cutter genre fare does wonders with a slightly strained attention span.
HULU
More Matt Damon! Sure, Ford v Ferrari is probably best consumed on the couch when it’s on cable TV. But this high-octane dad drama would make a killer workout movie as well given how it prizes going fast and racing toward a goal. (I think it’s also probably one of the better movies about masculinity in a long time, featuring an unusually vulnerable and reflective turn by Damon, but don’t expect that to jump out from watching in this setting.)
I am hoping the lack of news around a Leonardo DiCaprio-fronted American remake of the Oscar-winning Danish film Another Round means it’s dead. There’s no reason to redo this delightful dramedy, a high-energy take on a simple concept. Four middle-aged male friends decide to spice up their humdrum lives by challenging each other to maintain a small, healthy level of drunkenness throughout the day. You can only imagine the kind of shenanigans they get up to. It’s deft comedy directed by Thomas Vinterberg that leads up to some darkness, all to explode in a manic burst of dancing energy by a surprisingly lithe and limber Mads Mikkelsen. Not to be missed.
NETFLIX
The aesthetics of a video game — quick cuts, jam-packed frames, constant motion — lend themselves well to a workout. Edgar Wright’s Scott Pilgrim vs. The World still remains, to my mind, the best recreation of that animated visual spirit in a movie. This wacky comedic adventure involves a perfectly cast Michael Cera in the titular role as he fights off the Seven Evil Exes necessary to court his crush, Ramona Flowers. Wright stealthily rounded up an impressive cast for the film, ranging from Chris Evans to Aubrey Plaza to Keiran Culkin … so maybe that’ll keep your eyes on the screen if nothing else.
The “weed action movie” Pineapple Express just never disappoints. It’s got everything I want from an action comedy — hilarious characters, quotable one-liners, well-staged physical gags, strong plotting, and wild action set-pieces. I could just watch this one again and again and still not get tired of it. You’ll always find something else lurking within it. Bring back theatrical comedies!!
You can always keep up with my film-watching in real-time on the app Letterboxd. I’ve also compiled every movie I’ve ever recommended through this newsletter via a list on the platform as well.
Also, an annual highlight just dropped: David Ehrlich’s sublimely well-edited best of 2022 video:
A sobering but clear-eyed look at the challenges faced by prestige fare in theaters.
Wondering why parts of Avatar: The Way of Water looked so … funky? Here’s a great explainer into the wonkiness of high frame rate (HFR).
Vulture reports from the frontlines of using AI in moviemaking.
Vox investigates the death of theatrically-released comedy.
Vanity Fair uses M3GAN to coronate a new female character archetype: The Allison.
Perhaps regrettably, I am all in on M3GAN, the killer doll movie that is an absolute blast. I wrote an exceedingly positive review for The Playlist, and then doubled down by penning an absurd analysis of the film’s wildest music choice on Crooked Marquee. Stop resisting your new bestie and get to the theater before this gets spoiled for you.
For Slant Magazine, I interviewed two of 2022’s biggest prize winners on the film festival circuit: Carla Simón, who won the Golden Bear at the Berlinale for Alcarràs (now playing in limited release), and Alice Diop, who won the Silver Lion at the Venice for Saint Omer (opening Friday in limited release). Both are fantastic chats about spectacular movies.
For Decider, I said skip it to The Invitation on Netflix.
Paid subscribers also got a round-up of my favorite pieces from 2022:
That’s it for today! I’m out in Los Angeles to attend the Critics Choice Awards on Sunday, so expect a recap of that on Monday in lieu of another weekend post.
Yours in service and cinema,
Marshall