For better or worse, the sports biopic “The Smashing Machine” (A24) registers as a highly realistic film. With both a real-life figure as its focus and a documentary as its source material, that may be unsurprising. But the low-key, unsensational approach adopted by writer-director Benny Safdie ultimately produces varied results.

Returning to the big screen for the first time in nearly eight years in “Anemone,” Daniel Day-Lewis plays this central figure, Ray Stoker. Day-Lewis also co-wrote the screenplay with his son, Ronan, who directed the film.

Capsule reviews of theatrical movies available now for streaming or scheduled for broadcast on network or cable television as well as notes on TV programming for the same week.

A Catholic high school boys’ choir from Chicago made it to the top five on the season finale of “America’s Got Talent” Sept. 24, prompting a message of pride and encouragement from Chicago Cardinal Blase J. Cupich.

A new documentary on the abuses allegedly committed by Father Marko Rupnik and survivors’ pursuit of justice received high praise at the Toronto International Film Festival, or TIFF, including for Gloria Branciani, an alleged victim who received a four-minute standing ovation.

Viewers allergic to cats, whether physically or by temperament, should steer clear of the colorful but cutesy musical fantasy “Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie” (Universal). So, too, should cynics, curmudgeons and anyone given to even occasional grumpiness.

“Light of the World” (Salvation Poem Project), an animated recounting of the Gospel story, provides an excellent vehicle for delivering its fundamental message in an easily absorbed manner. Although the film includes material that would be too frightening for tots, more mature youngsters are its appropriate target audience.

On Sept. 28 and 29, to mark the 100th anniversary of Saint Bernadette’s beatification (She was canonized in 1933) a video presentation of the show, in French with subtitles, will be shown in American movie theaters, sponsored by Fathom Events and Pathe Live.

Robert Redford’s environmental activism, which included serving as a trustee for Natural Resources Defense Council for decades and lobbying for what became the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, became as famous as anything he’d ever done in Hollywood.

A new documentary on the life and crimes of Father Marcial Maciel Degollado was another chance for members of the Legionaries of Christ and Regnum Christi to confront the truth of their founder’s dark past and the suffering inflicted on innocent victims, said Father John Connor, general director of the congregation.