Daily Archives: August 6, 2020

Aug 6 2020

Diablo: The Ultimate Race (2019) Movie Review

Director: Daniel Markowicz, Michael Otlowski

Writer: Daniel Markowicz, Michael Otlowski, Michal Kasprzyk (Screenplay)

Starring: Tomasz Wlosok, Karoline Szymczak, Cezary Pazura, Mikolaj Roznerski, Rafal Mohr

Plot: The protagonist of the film is a young boy named Kuba who, due to his seriously ill sister, decides to get a quick cash by taking part in illegal car races. On his way he meets not only many difficulties but a girl Ewa, with whom he will be joined not only by love for racing.

Runtime: 1 Hour 46 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Fast & Furious Competition

Story: Diablo starts as Kuba (Wlosok) has turned to street racing to raise money for his sick sister, he finds himself impressing the competition and given a connection to Max (Mohr) a man that can connect Kuba to more rewarding races, only this sees him going against Jarosz (Pazura) drivers, and with him being the king of the racing, he isn’t happy Kuba is beating his drivers.

As Kuba continues to impress, he catches the eye of Ewa (Szymczak) the daughter of Jarosz, as the two try to have a relationship, it only drives his hatred towards him up, showing he will have to risk even more to save his sister.

Thoughts on Diablo

Characters – Kuba is a brother that is looking to help his sick sister, he turns to street racing, where he does excel, only he doesn’t have the vehicle to compete, given a chance by one of the most dangerous men in the game, he proves to be the best, turning heads including the ones that would want him dead. He must play this game smart to make it out alive to save his sister. Ewa is the daughter of the king of the underground scene, she is protected by him, not allowed to see the racers, something she isn’t willing to follow, falling for Kuba. Jarosz is the ruler of the illegal racing that doesn’t want to let anybody get involved with his daughter and most important he doesn’t like losing.

Performances – Tomasz Wlosok, Karolina Szymczak and Cezary Pazura are all strong in the film, bringing to life the characters through the film.

Story – The story here follows a young man that turns to illegal street racing to help fund his sister’s treatment, where he finds all new threats from the dangers of the people in the world. This does puts one man against the odds to do the right thing for with the deeper he gets the more danger, with the money he needs. We get the forbidden love angle, with is one we always like to see, with much of this story borrowing with the ideas of Fast and Furious franchise, while managing to put its own spin on it.

Action – The action does have plenty of high-octane car chases, which are fun to watch through the film.

Settings – The film uses the settings to show how the underworld would operate, with the darker street race settings, next to the flashy rich people’s mansions.


Scene of the Movie – The first race against Jarosz team.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Underground fighting, only shows the business, not the racing side of things.

Final Thoughts – This is a fun action movie that has plenty of races to keep us on the edge of the seat with a story that could easily be an early chapter in the Fast and the Furious team.

Overall: Fun, Fast and Furious.

Signature Entertainment presents Diablo: The Ultimate Race on Digital HD August 10th & on DVD August 24th

Aug 6 2020

Endings, Beginnings – Out Tomorrow on Amazon, Sky, Virgin, iTunes

Signature Entertainment presents Endings, Beginnings on Digital HD from August 7th

Synopsis: From the acclaimed director of Like Crazy, Drake Doremus ENDINGS, BEGINNINGS is a sincere and emotionally charged romantic drama with an all-star cast of Shailene Woodley (Big Little Lies, Adrift, Divergent), Jamie Dornan (Fifty Shades, A Private War) and Sebastian Stan (The Avengers, I, Tonya). Daphne (Woodley), a young woman recovering from a break-up is at a turning point in her life and embarks on a few months of self-introspection. But when she meets friends Jack (Dornan) and Frank (Stan) at a party, everything changes. Daphne becomes involved with both of them, starting a steamy and complicated love triangle. ENDINGS, BEGINNINGS also stars Matthew Gray Gubler (The Life Aquatic), Lindsay Sloane (Horrible Bosses) and Shamier Anderson (Wynonna Earp) directed by Drake Doremus and written by Drake Doremus with novelist Jardine Libaire.

Get your own copy at I-Tunes Here

Aug 6 2020

ABC Film Challenge – Animation – F – Ferdinand (2017)

Director: Carlos Saldanha

Writer: Robert L Baird, Tim Federle (Screenplay)

Starring: (Voice Talents) John Cena, Kate McKinnon, Bobby Cannavale, David Tennant, Gina Rodriguez, Daveed Diggs

 

Plot: After Ferdinand, a bull with a big heart, is mistaken for a dangerous beast, he is captured and torn from his home. Determined to return to his family, he rallies a misfit team on the ultimate adventure.


Tagline – Built to fight. Born to love

Runtime: 1 Hours 48 Minutes

 

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

 

Verdict: Fun Animation

 

Story: Ferdinand starts when a young bull calf doesn’t want to become a fighting bull, he runs away from his farm and is raised by a young girl called Nina who lets him live a life he enjoys, with flowers and being kind natured. Once Ferdinand is grown up he becomes an enormous bull, meaning he can’t go to the flower festival.

Ferdinand decides to go anyway causing chaos, being seen as a beast, he is taken back to the farm where he meets the fellow grown up bulls, including his old rival Valiente, as the bulls are preparing to impress a bull fighter, Ferdinand searches for a way to escape and return to his quiet life once again.

 

Thoughts on Ferdinand

 

Characters – Ferdinand is a kind natured bull going against everything he has grown up to be, a fierce beast for bull fighting. He likes flowers, doesn’t want conflict and always wants to make sure other animals are safe, he is raised in a small farm away from the conflict only to be mistaken as a beast and taken back to a bullfighting farm, he still refuses to fight and spends his time there trying to show the other bulls about life away from fighting. Valiente is rival bull, he is always the one that believed he is the strongest and most worthy of being selected as the next bull, he dominates the farm with his power. Lupe is a calming goat that is sent to help Ferdinand relax when he returns to the farm, she gets most of the laughs through the film as she is the slapstick figure. We do get plenty of supporting characters with the other bulls, the feisty hedgehogs and the stuck up horse, each one adds to the comedy through the film.

Story – The story here follows the reluctant fighting bull that gets captured and must teach the other bulls about their fate before arranging an ambitious escape. This story does dive into the ideas of being able to follow your own path in life, don’t let the crowd lead you down a trail that isn’t for you, we get the themes of standing up for what you believe to be right and the difficult side of the story sees how bullfighting is seen through the bulls eyes, almost seeing it as an honour to be selected, which of course is how a human imagines it to be. The bull fighting side of the film will be too dark for a younger audience, but hopeful it can help shape a world where the barbaric form of entertain ends.

Adventure/Comedy – The adventure side of the film follows Ferdinand being able to adapt to new locations as he looks to find a way to make sure he can rescue the animals and free himself from a life he isn’t happy with, the comedy comes mostly from the supporting character, with a range of slapstick and breaking of stereotypes of the animals.

Settings – The film uses plenty of different setting throughout Spain, with the two different farm lives, the Madrid chase and one of the scariest in animated, the slaughterhouse.

Animation – The animation like most films now is beautiful, never putting anything wrong with the world we are taken into.


Scene of the Movie – Slaughterhouse.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Bull fighting is too dark for a young audience.

Final Thoughts – This is a dark animated movie for a younger audience, it has strong themes about picking your own path, but isn’t afraid to show the darker side of a bulls life.

 

Overall: Dark animated film.

Rating