The Damned United

In 1967 Brian Clough (Michael Sheen) was the manager of Derby County when they were drawn against Leeds United in the FA Cup. At the time, Leeds were enjoying a very successful run under their manager Don Revie (Colm Meaney) and were at the top of the first division (back when it was the top division in England). However, they were not an attractive team to watch. They had the reputation of being hard men and would regularly kick teams off the park.

So when Leeds visit bottom-of-the-second-division Derby, as well as being a lucrative tie, Brain Clough sees it as an opportunity to put his team "on the map", a validation of his managerial skills, and to befriend the great Don Revie. Leeds beat Derby in a very dirty cup game, then when Don Revie doesn't shake Brian's hand, and doesn't stay to have a drink, Brian loses all respect for Don and becomes quite hostile towards him.

Over the next season or two, Brian, along with his insightful assistant Peter Taylor (Timothy Spall), signs a few key players (not always in agreement with the man holding the financial reigns of the club: chairman Sam Longson (Jim Broadbent)) and Derby begin their rise to the top of the second division, eventually winning promotion to the first division. Brian still focusses on his feud with Don Revie, and now they can play them as "equals" in the first division. Initially the first division is hard going, many games are lost (particularly to Leeds), but against all odds, Derby win their first league championship in 1972.

Just when everything seems to be going so well, Brian gets a bit over-confident with how important he is to the club and threatens the resignation of not just himself but his assistant Peter Taylor as well, if they are not granted more secure positions. The board of directors call his bluff and let them both go. Both are shocked, but after a brief campaign by the players who don't want them to leave, a replacement is found, and Brian and Peter are on their way out of the Derby door. To Brighton! Brighton and Hove Albion agree to pay the fees that Brian and Peter are wanting, as well as paying for a holiday for both of their families in Mallorca.

It is while on this holiday that Brian is approached to take over as manager of Leeds Utd, as Don Revie has just been chosen as the new England manager. This is too good an opportunity for Brian, but Peter won't go with him, he feels he now has a commitment to Brighton. Brian has a bit of a tantrum and shouts at Peter telling him he would be nothing without him, and he leaves to go to Leeds alone.

Right from the start Brian irritates the Leeds players by telling them they can forget everything they have won because in his eyes they haven't won them fairly! Things go from bad to worse, as Leeds lose game after game, until after only forty days or so Brian is sacked, but not before he wangles a large severance deal. Brian is wracked with guilt about how he behaved to Peter, so he drives down to Brighton to apologise.

The film essentially ends there, but the epilogue tells us that Brian and Peter join together again to manage Nottingham Forest, who they also transform from lower-league club to first division champions and a two-time European Cup-winning club. We also find out that Don Revie was not a terribly successful England manager, and went to manage in the Middle East, where he was involved in financial scandals.

Phew! What a synopsis. I guess it is a bit complicated, to explain, not to understand. The film is hugely enjoyable (even my wife was getting into the film after only 10 min, and she doesn't really like football). Michael Sheen is as good as ever, getting across the charisma and sheer bloody-mindedness of Brian Clough, as well as being able to portray the more human side of him. Though Peter Taylor is a lesser role than that of Brian, Timothy Spall performs it in such a way that he is seen as being just as important as his more dominating colleague.

The football itself is kept to a minimum, often the scores of a games are shown at the bottom of the screen just after the team has run out onto the pitch. If on-the-pitch action is shown it is often to demonstrate how "physical" Leeds were as a team under Don Revie, blending historical footage of games (Billy Bremner punching Kevin Keegan) with some acted scenes that look no less real.

See time = 2:50 in this video for some quality Billy Bremner tackling!



Director Tom Hooper shows with this film the talent that serves him so well in The King's Speech. He demonstrates that he can deliver great drama with real passion, humanity and humour. I also think that the cinematography in The Damned United was Damned good. It may only have been a film about football, but some of the shots were framed beautifully. Cinematographer Ben Smithard is big fan of big skies in this film; Brian and Peter's argument in Mallorca takes place under a huge azure Mediterranean sky; some shots of football are taken from down by the players legs and pointed up at the sky, making the players seem like giants; and the final shot of the film as Brian and Peter head indoors from Peter's front garden in Brighton is framed so that the characters are dwarfed at the bottom of the shot by Brighton beach-front sky. This all gives the film a brilliant wide-open space feel to it, adding to the atmosphere.

Overall, I though it was a great film; but I also think it is very enjoyable even if you don't like football, so don't be put off it that's the case.

Tron Legacy

Twenty Seven years ago. That's when I saw Tron, and I remember being really blown away by it. The Light Cycles (in all their right-angle turning glory!), the disc battles and all the state of the art computer graphics! My love of the film was enhanced by my possession of a ViewMaster with the Tron collection, which my Mum was able to instantly put her hand on last week (best Christmas present this year!):

So I was torn between really wanting to see Tron Legacy, and not wanting to get too excited. But I wasn't not going to see it, and I wasn't really disappointed. I did enjoy it, a very fun film which I don't think tried to take itself too seriously, but also tried to tie in nicely with the first film (if we remembered what happened!).

Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), having escaped from "The Grid" at the end of the first film now has a seven-year-old son. One night while tucking him into bed, Kevin is telling the story of Tron, and promises his son Sam (Garrett Hedlund) that he will take him to the arcade tomorrow. He then goes to "The Office" to work through the night, but disappears!

Not seeing his Dad for 10 years or so, Sam grows up still having a stake in his Dad's company: software company Encom, but not really having a interest in it. That is until his Dad's friend (also on the Encom board) tells Sam about his Dad's arcade. Sam discovers his Dad's "Office" below the arcade (hidden behind the Tron game), and gets zapped into The Grid.

Sam is captured and forced into the Gladiatorial arena, fighting with discs and the notorious Light Cycle chase. He is noticed by Clu (computer programme developed in his own image by Kevin Flynn in the first film) who looks like a younger version of Kevin. Clu tells Sam that he is not his father, but that he is pleased to see him. During the Light Cycle race, Sam is rescued by Quorra (Olivia Wilde) who takes Sam to meet his father.

There is then some exposition where Dad Flynn explains to Sam/us that Clu looks like him because he is a programme created by him to create the perfect world, and now he wants the disc from Pa Flynn to be able to send his army into the real world. By sending the army into the real world Clu of course wants to apply his idea of a perfect civilisation to the world, which would most likely destroy us. The only way to get over this is for Sam to make his way back to the portal which will send him back to the real world, so he can shut down Clu from outside.

Essentially that is the plot. Sam trying to get back to the real world and shut Clu down. That's it, oh and if Kevin Flynn and Clu ever merge, then everything in the Grid will be destroyed. Mmmm, important plot point?! But, despite the plot being fairly thin on the ground, and Garrett Hedlund coming from the Hayden Christensen Attack of the Clones school of acting, the film is still really good fun. And I think that's how the film should be taken, simply as being fun.

Clearly the special effects are better than the 1982 Tron, and the 3D does lend itself to this kind of film (though I don't really think it added anything extra over seeing it in 2D, except perhaps the Light Cycle race). The musical score by Daft Punk was great, fitting perfectly with a digital world, and it was LOUD!

Jeff Bridges was by far the best actor, his performance seemed effortless compared to the others. I know that the Cohen Brothers wrote the character of The Dude imagining Jeff, but it's amazing how much like The Dude Jeff really is; I don't think there will be another film with Bridges in that doesn't make some nod to The Big Lebowski! Of course Bridges has to undergo youngification to appear as Clu; and the effects are brought to us by the same people responsible for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Jeff's face is great, there is no doubt that Clu is a younger version of Kevin Flynn, the only thing that let's it down is the lip sync. Sometimes it is perfect, more often it looks like his lips can't articulate properly; much like women who have had too much collagen put in their lips and consequently can't talk properly! But I guess this is only a minor gripe; far less intrusive than the crap cg cold breath in The Social Network!

I must also mention Michael Sheen who was also great. He just has the uncanny ability to bring credibility to whatever role he plays, whether he is a Werewolf, David Frost, Tony Blair, or in this case Zuse: a club owner/respectable programme with contacts in high places. And he based his performance on David Bowie!!

There was one clever little plot twist; the fact that Sam believes that the new Encom OS should be freeware and that the company should not charge for it. Nicely echoed by the fact that Clu wants his army to break out to the real world and that his perfect world would be available to all.

There are only a few niggles about this film regards plot, wooden main character (much like Christian Bale in Batman); but the chance to see Tron, on a  big screen, in 3D, with a pumping soundtrack, just like I imagine Tron should have been (I think seeing original Tron now would shatter my illusions of how good it was), is just great.

Light Cycles. Cool!

Olivia Wilde. Very Nice!

Alice in Wonderland

I will be the first to admit I don’t have a clue when it come to a whole bunch of classic children's stories or nursery rhymes (my Mum and wife would be a very close equal second!). Consequently, the first time I am becoming acquainted with the story of Alice and her land of wonder at the age of 34, is courtesy of Tim Burton and Love Film, rather than a kid's book. Of course this also means that I don’t know how like the original story this film is, but then since when have film adaptations been completely faithful to the relevant book?
The film did throw up a few surprises for me, meaning I had no idea the Jabberwocky was from this story. For as long as I can remember I have been able to quote “Twas brillig and the slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe” (if I remember correctly), but had no idea it was from Alice in Wonderland. Also the various references to the story in The Matrix make a bit more sense!
As far as the film goes, all the usual suspects for a Tim Burton film are there (including music by Danny Elfman of course). It took a while to figure out why I recognised the Knave of Hearts (Crispin Glover) but he was George McFly in Back to the Future! I think it’s also worth mentioning that Anne Hathaway looked stunning as the White Queen, though slightly silly and floaty (in a humorous not stupid way). Of course Johnny Depp is good as the Mad Hatter, but not in a “Hey look at me I’m Johnny Depp!” kind of way, which I might have expected following Pirates of the Caribbean. There is also quite an ensemble cast of voice actors as well, featuring Stephen Fry, Alan Rickman, Michael Sheen, Timothy Spall, Paul Whitehouse, and Barbara Windsor.
Then of course there’s Alice. Played by Mia Wasikowska, Alice must be young, yet independent and strong minded, then at the end she must be brave enough to fight a monster. I feel a lot of films that have a young main role often fall foul of playing on the youth too much, and consequently end up being like an 80s Disney film (one reason I’ve never liked the Narnia stories); but I didn’t once feel that while watching this film. Mia manages to play the youthfulness of the character, but at the same time question everything around her in a logical way (I guess logical for someone continually expecting to wake up from a dream (huh, more Matrix references)), thus showing how mature Alice is, rather than just being an irritating kid.
There’s probably no point in trying to summarise the plot; most other people in the world knew before I ever did, and it’s so convoluted and non-sensible that my falling-asleep brain couldn’t cope. So I should just conclude by saying that I thoroughly enjoyed it, Tim Burton creates a zany world (wie immer!) that you become immersed in, and I should make sure any kids I have know their classic stories and nursery rhymes!

"Get outta here! Tim Burton designed this?!!"