Tag: Sports

Categories
Movie Review

Final Heat (2024) Movie Review

Final Heat – Movie Review

Get the scoop on Final Heat, a riveting film about a fitness gym's owners, elite athletes, and the hidden danger that jeopardizes everything.

Director: Jeremy Gimenez

Writer: Jeremy Gimenez (Screenplay)

Cast

  • Brad Benedict (The Oval)
  • Alexandra Daniels
  • Molly Cerne
  • Maddy Curley
  • Cortni Joyner

Plot: The married owners of a struggling functional fitness gym recruit the best athletes to compete in the Games for the huge cash prize. But a figure from the past with a secret threatens to destroy their team, their gym, and their lives.

Runtime: 1 Hour 24 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Final Heat starts when the owners of the Hollywood Box gym Cam (Benedict) and Laney (Cerne) enter an elite athlete competition. They recruit a group of elite athletes who are trying to make a name for themselves. However, one of the athletes has a history with the couple.

As the prep starts, the old wounds start coming up and the gym faces a battle to remain open. To make matters worse, Cam and Laney find their relationship tested as they search for answers.

Verdict on Final Heat

Final Heat is a sports drama following a married gym couple trying to save their gym. It follows them recruiting a group of athletes who want to battle it out to reach the top. However, it ends up putting their relationship on the line as they risk their future to make it for everyone they care about.

This movie focuses on the big fitness culture that puts everything on the line to be the best. Even if more of the movie ends up focusing on relationships and dealing with past traumas. It shows how hard recovering can be and waiting until you open up can cause even bigger problems. In the spirit of competition, I couldn’t help but feel like this was a more serious ‘Dodgeball’ as it creates loyal members against money-driven stars.

Where to Watch

VOD Release 5/14/24

Final Thoughts – Final Heat is one for the fitness culture to get behind.

Categories
Movie Review

Hands of Stone (2016) Movie Review

Hands of Stone – Movie Review

Hands of Stone

Director: Jonathan Jakubowicz

Writer: Jonathan Jakubowicz (Screenplay)

Starring: Edgar Ramirez, Usher, Robert De Niro, Ruben Blades, Ana de Armas, Pedro Perez, John Turturro

Plot: The legendary Roberto Duran and his equally legendary trainer Ray Arcel change each other’s lives.


Tagline – No mas. No surrender.

Runtime: 1 Hour 51 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Hands of Stone starts when famed boxing trainer Ray Arcel (De Niro) takes on a new Panamanian boxer Roberto Duran (Ramirez). Who has built up an impressive record because of how hard his has found his life and a rage against America.

When Roberto earns a world title match, he defeats Sugar Ray Leonard (Usher) which will put him on another level for the sport one he struggles to cope with. Before learning how important his position in the boxing world will be for Panama.

Thoughts on Hands of Stone

Hands of Stone is a biopic looking at the career of boxer Roberto Duran. Through the eyes of his legendary trainer Ray Arcel as both men would create history for their achievements in the sport. While this does have an important message about what was achieved. A lot of the history will need to be looked up to understand certain parts of what is going on.

While Roberto might well be considered one of the greatest of all time, he might not be a name you have heard of either. Which makes it hard to understand everything that is going on. We do have good performances from the whole cast, with Edgar Ramirez bring the boxer himself to life. When it comes to the boxing, not everything feels as smooth as it could be either. Making this an easy to watch, but not as informative history lesson.

Final Thoughts – Hands of Stone is an easy to watch sports drama, not getting the message through enough.

Categories
Movie Review

Borg McEnroe (2017) Movie Review

Borg McEnroe – ABC Film Challenge – 2010 Movies – M – Borg McEnroe – Movie Review

Borg McEnroe

Director: Janus Metz

Writer: Ronnie Sandahl (Screenplay)

Cast

Plot: The story of the 1980 tennis rivalry between the placid Björn Borg and the volatile John McEnroe.

Runtime: 1 Hour 47 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Borg McEnroe starts as the 1980 Wimbledon tournament is starting. Bjorn Borg (Gudnason) is preparing to defend his title once again, while up-and-comer John McEnroe (LaBeouf) is the closest rival.

Bjorn has built up a robotic image, he has a set way of achieving everything in the game and it works. John McEnroe has seen his image of a fiery figure take centre stage. With the two clashes in style, they have put the most eyes on a final in years, changing the game forever.

Verdict on Borg McEnroe

Borg McEnroe is a sports drama that uses one of the most incredible games of tennis in history. It saw two completely different players from different backgrounds with different styles clash in the final. Drawing the eyes of the world to see who would come out on top.

For a sports drama, this does everything you would expect. It shows the two different styles in a similar manner ‘Rush’ did with Hunt and Lauda. This shows that different styles can achieve the same greatness in the sport. Most of the build-up to the final is slow, keeping the pair apart, and showing their strengths and weaknesses. When it comes down to the final, which is the most intense moment in the movie. Both leads Sverrir Gudnason and Shia LaBeouf are great, showing the two stars from different worlds.

Final Thoughts –Borg McEnroe is an intense sporting event, showing the dedication two players put in to become the best.

Categories
Movie Review

12 Mighty Orphans (2021) Movie Review

12 Mighty Orphans – ABC Film Challenge – Favourite – M – 12 Mighty Orphans – Movie Review

12 Mighty Orphans

Director: Ty Roberts

Writer: Ty Roberts, Lane Garrison, Kevin Meyer (Screenplay)

Writer: Jim Dent (Book)

Cast

Plot: Haunted by his mysterious past, a devoted high-school football coach leads a scrawny team of orphans to the state championship during the Great Depression and inspires a broken nation along the way.

Runtime: 1 Hour 58 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: 12 Mighty Orphans starts when American football coach Rusty Russell (Wilson) moves his family to an orphanage. Following the Great Depression, many children were left homeless and left in this orphanage. Rusty works with Doc (Sheen) to prepare a group of orphans to play American Football.

They face a challenge to start with, however, once they come together, they start turning heads. The team becomes an inspiration for a broken nation that gets behind them.

Verdict on 12 Mighty Orphans

12 Mighty Orphans is a sports drama telling the story of an American football coach that took a job at an orphanage during the Great Depression. This sees him turning 12 of the orphans into teen sports stars as they look to overcome the odds to win a state championship.

The movie uses the American football story to show the inspiration created by their achievements. It showed that people could come together to help people in need and show that sports can give children hope. This does follow a typical formula but it creates a divide between teachers who have the right ideas about helping and the strict ones that don’t. Luke Wilson is great in the leading role, with Martin Sheen getting a few laughs in the supporting assistant coach role.

Final Thoughts – 12 Mighty Orphans is an entertaining story about an inspirational sports team.

Categories
Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – Favourites – P – Bend it Like Beckham (2002) Movie Review

This is under P because of star Parminder Nagra.

Director: Gurinder Chadha

Writer: Gurinder Chadha, Guljit Bindra, Paul Mayeda Berges (Screenplay)

Starring: Parminder Nagra, Keira Knightley, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Anupam Kher, Archie Panjabi, Shaznay Lewis

Plot: Two ambitious girls, despite their parents’ wishes, have their hearts set on careers in professional soccer.


Tagline – Who wants to cook Aloo Gobi when you can bend a ball like Beckham?

Runtime: 1 Hour 52 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Bend it Like Beckham starts when Indian girl Jess (Nagra) dreams of playing football with Manchester United, with her idol David Beckham, playing down the park with her friends, waiting for her time to get married like traditions sees for her.

When Jess meets Jules (Knightley) she is invited to join the women’s team she plays for under injured former professional Joe (Meyers), but she must keep her desire to play a secret, going against everything her family wants for her.

Thoughts on Bend it Like Beckham

Thoughts – Bend it Like Beckham is a sports movie that opens up doors and boundaries rarely seen in sport at the time of release, ones that are still only just starting to be taken seriously now. One side of the story is Jess needing to break the culture her family has raised her through, teaching the acceptance of wanting to do something forbidden, this side of the story, is something that is important to see, and something we have seen before, through many movies, showing the English culture mixing with the Hindu ones, causing a clash between the children raised in England and the traditions. The film will put the spotlight on the women’s game, showing first how difficult it would be to be given a chance in it, finding a team or even knowing about a team. When it comes to the games, we get the sexist remarks about the game from the male crowd, a racist remark, which gets waved off, never addressed, which is disappointing to see. When it comes to the heart and soul of the film, this is everything you want to see in a film that focuses on following your dreams and making something of your life. Parminder Nagra and Keira Knightley are both brilliant in this film, with a supporting cast the works just as wonderfully throughout the film.

Final Thoughts – Bend it Like Beckham is a great enjoyable sport comedy, filled with heart.

Categories
Movie Review

Golden Arm (2020) Movie Review

Director: Maureen Bharoocha

Writer: Ann Marie Allison, Jenna Milly (Screenplay)

Starring: Mary Holland, Betsy Sodaro, Olivia Stambouliah, Eugene Cordero, Dot-Marie Jones, Dawn Luebbe, Ron Funches, Aparna Nancherla

Plot: A tough lady trucker trains her wimpy best friend to compete in the National Ladies Arm Wrestling Championship.

Runtime: 1 Hour 31 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Golden Arm starts as Danny (Sodaro) losing an arm wrestling match against the biggest threat in the competition, leaving her injured along with the other competitors, forcing her to find a ringer, her old wimpy friend Melanie (Holland).

Melanie is having her own problems in life and once she gets convinced by Danny, she learns how to unleash all the pent up rage she has been holding onto, to take the tournament by storm.

Thoughts on Golden Arm

Thoughts – Golden Arm takes us into a world of arm-wrestling, where the colourful characters get bought to life when it comes to competing to see who the best in America is. We get the idea of two friends getting a chance to reunite on a journey that will help both of them enjoy a little stage of their lives, while bringing the quieter Melanie out of her shell, which has seen her becoming depressed with her life. The competitions are over-the-top like many other sporting events, which shows how the community involved create the atmosphere needed. Mary Holland in great in the leading role, looking like the fish out of water in this world, but over coming her own problems to compete against the best in the area. The supporting characters get to play into the over-the-top nature required for the roles, with a nice message about just enjoying the small moments in life, with the people closest to you.

Final Thoughts – Golden Arm is a nice enjoyable comedy about living life to the fullest.

Categories
Movie Review

Swimming for Gold (2020) Movie Review

Director: Hayley MacFarlane

Writer: Eric Bergemann (Screenplay)

Starring: Peyton List, Martin Dingle Wall, Daniel Needs, Ray Chong Nee, Lauren Esposito, Alexa Curtis. Olivia Nardini

Plot: A US women’s swim team Olympic hopeful suffers an injury that forces her to put aside her dreams and help the Australian men’s swim team get competition ready.

Runtime: 1 Hour 31 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Swimming for Gold starts when disgraced US women’s swimming Olympic hopeful Claire Carpenter (List) gets given a chance to redeem herself as a coach for an Australian boys team, on the same campus as her biggest rival Mikayla (Esposito).

After a bumpy start with her social media fame, Claire starts t o adapt to what is needed to coach the team with the captain Liam Henderson (Needs) wanting to put everything back on track.

Thoughts on Swimming for Gold

Thoughts – Swimming for Gold is a sports drama about a former starlet needing a chance to redeem herself, as she becomes a coach for a struggling team looking to achieve national success. The film will go through the typical themes you expect to see with first not fitting in, as well as showing the pressure put upon young competitors looking to make an impact in the sporting world. It will highlight the importance of being part of a team, enjoying the sport first before letting it become the controlling factor of life. The performances in the film are all strong with each actor needing to take on a serious moment that will highlight the problems they are dealing with. You will find yourself knowing where this one will go, because it is a feel good family film.

Final Thoughts – Swimming for Gold is a fun family film filled with the desire for gold.

Categories
Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – Sports – Y – Wheely (2018) Movie Review

This is under Y because of the director Yusry Abd Halim.

Director: Yusry Abd Halim, Carl Mendez

Writer: Keith Brumpton, Yusry Abd Halim, Peter Hynes (Screenplay)

Starring: (Voice Talents) Barbara Goodson, Chris Jai Alex, Ogie Banks, Brock Powell, Tamiyka White

Plot: Wheely, a cabbie from the lower ranks of society, faces an uphill battle to save his dream girl from a monstrous 18-wheeler truck who is the mastermind of a luxury car-napping syndicate.


Tagline – Local Zero to Global Hero

Runtime: 1 Hour 30 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Wheely starts as rookie driver Wheely is about to win the big race only for an accident to see his career finished before it gets started. One-year-later he is now working as a cabbie trying to make sure he remains calm not causing anymore damage to himself.

When Wheely ends up meeting luxury actress car Bella, he falls for her only to find himself caught up in middle of the bigger conspiracy going on involving a monstrous 18-wheeler truck who is trying to steal parts from cars around the land.

 

Thoughts on Wheely

Thoughts – Wheely is an animated comedy that follows a former racer car that finds out he is involved in a bigger carnapping scheme going on in his city and must risk everything to put a stop to it. This isn’t the most entertaining animation, with large parts of the film feeling slower than it needs to be. It does seem to want to borrow a lot from what made the first Cars film fun, without hitting the heights of the laughs captured in that film. It does have a message about trying to chase dreams and not just settling in life, which will play into the dream in all of us, but outside of that we don’t seem to get to the next level of the story telling process, with some painful stereotypes in the film.

Final Thoughts – Wheely Standard animation that doesn’t hit all the heights it wants to.

Categories
Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – Sports Movies – T – Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006) Movie Review

Director: Adam McKay

Writer: Will Ferrell, Adam McKay (Screenplay)

Starring: Will Ferrell, John C Reilly, Sacha Baron Cohen, Gary Cole, Michael Clarke Duncan, Leslie Bibb, Jane Lynch

Plot: Number one NASCAR driver Ricky Bobby stays atop the heap thanks to a pact with his best friend and teammate, Cal Naughton, Jr. But when a French Formula One driver, makes his way up the ladder, Ricky Bobby’s talent and devotion are put to the test.


Tagline – If you’re not first, you’re last.

Runtime: 1 Hour 48 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby starts when mechanic Ricky Bobby (Ferrell) gets a chance to drive the NASCAR, which was seen as the worse on the track to a surprise victory, he becomes an overnight sensation. Ricky becomes the face of the sport with his new teammate Cal Naughton Jr (Reilly) always winning, until the team owner gets tired of their actions and turns to Formula One driver Jean Girard (Cohen) to lead the team.

This change sees Ricky lose his confidence and need to bring back what made him the best driver in the sport and rebuild his legacy he once had.

Thoughts on Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

Thoughts – Talladega Nights; The Ballad of Ricky Bobby is a sports comedy that will see the once greatest in his sport Ricky Bobby find new competition that will see him losing his confidence and needing to find himself to make sure he can return to being the best. The core of the story is everything we have seen and enjoy in sports movies, even if it is similar to Cars in many aspects. Where the story does seem to fall short is the comedy of the film, which feels immature and doesn’t get the laughs required, taking away from the serious side of the story. Will Ferrell is good for the serious side of the film, only his comedy side of things does fall shorter. The supporting cast are the same, they are fun for the serious side and struggle with the comedy. The races do feel like everything people want to see, rather than regular races, waiting for the crashes rather than being the real race effects.

Final Thoughts – Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby is a generic sports drama that tries too hard for the comedy.