Sir Bobby Charlton, an English soccer icon and the leader of his country’s 1966 World Cup-winning team, has died. He was 86 and died of complications from dementia at home surrounded by family.
A gifted midfielder with a ferocious shot, Charlton was the leading scorer for United (249 goals) and England (49 goals) for more than 40 years, until being overtaken by Wayne Rooney.
Charlton made 758 appearances for United from 1956-73, playing alongside George Best and Denis Law in the so-called “Trinity” that led United to the 1968 European Cup.
The team was noted for several players surviving a 1958 Munich plane crash which wiped out the celebrated “Busby Babes” team.
Charlton won three English league titles and one Fa Cup with United. Ovrall, he played 106 matches for England, including every minute of the team’s World Cup-winning team, for which he scored three goals.
A statue of him is outside of Manchester United’s Old Trafford stadium.
A gifted midfielder with a ferocious shot, Charlton was the leading scorer for United (249 goals) and England (49 goals) for more than 40 years, until being overtaken by Wayne Rooney.
Charlton made 758 appearances for United from 1956-73, playing alongside George Best and Denis Law in the so-called “Trinity” that led United to the 1968 European Cup.
The team was noted for several players surviving a 1958 Munich plane crash which wiped out the celebrated “Busby Babes” team.
Charlton won three English league titles and one Fa Cup with United. Ovrall, he played 106 matches for England, including every minute of the team’s World Cup-winning team, for which he scored three goals.
A statue of him is outside of Manchester United’s Old Trafford stadium.
- 10/21/2023
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
The debate is never-ending just like the one that rages about the "ghost goal" that sealed England’s victory over West Germany in the 1966 World Cup final at Wembley.
Though there have been players such as Johan Cryuff, Eusebio, Fraz Beckenbauer, George Best and Alfredo de Stefano, who can raise a claim to the honour and are much-respected and idolised, the debate has always been reduced to Pele vs. Maradona.
In the year 2000, the two legends squared off in the FIFA Player of the Century, a one-time award created by football’s global body to decide the greatest footballer humankind has ever seen. Pele and Maradona were adjudged joint winners of the poll.
Initially, the award was to be conducted on the internet, but the rules were later changed to include expert voting through readers of FIFA Magazine and Grand Jury votes, as it was felt that Pele, who was...
Though there have been players such as Johan Cryuff, Eusebio, Fraz Beckenbauer, George Best and Alfredo de Stefano, who can raise a claim to the honour and are much-respected and idolised, the debate has always been reduced to Pele vs. Maradona.
In the year 2000, the two legends squared off in the FIFA Player of the Century, a one-time award created by football’s global body to decide the greatest footballer humankind has ever seen. Pele and Maradona were adjudged joint winners of the poll.
Initially, the award was to be conducted on the internet, but the rules were later changed to include expert voting through readers of FIFA Magazine and Grand Jury votes, as it was felt that Pele, who was...
- 12/29/2022
- by News Bureau
- GlamSham
Sao Paulo, Dec 30 (Ians) In a moving tribute to the man who made football ‘the beautiful game’, his family put out a message that summed up his life on his official Twitter handle on Thursday morning local time, announcing his death.
“Inspiration and love marked the journey of King Pele, who peacefully passed away today. Love, love and love, forever.”
Pele’s daughter, Kelly Nascimento, posted a social media update where she shared a picture of her along with members of her family, and wrote: “We have to look out for each other, and hold tight.”
The news of Pele’s passing came after reports claiming that the condition of the football legend had worsened in recent days and he was put under “elevated care” related to “kidney and cardiac dysfunctions”.
In other tribute, Manchester United tweeted: “Rest in peace, Pele. Thank you for the joy you brought to football fans around the world.
“Inspiration and love marked the journey of King Pele, who peacefully passed away today. Love, love and love, forever.”
Pele’s daughter, Kelly Nascimento, posted a social media update where she shared a picture of her along with members of her family, and wrote: “We have to look out for each other, and hold tight.”
The news of Pele’s passing came after reports claiming that the condition of the football legend had worsened in recent days and he was put under “elevated care” related to “kidney and cardiac dysfunctions”.
In other tribute, Manchester United tweeted: “Rest in peace, Pele. Thank you for the joy you brought to football fans around the world.
- 12/29/2022
- by News Bureau
- GlamSham
The European Super League fiasco makes this golden age retrospective seem naive in ignoring the club’s commercialisation
This is a perfectly watchable documentary, but events have overtaken it, exposing a crucial naivety. It is about the soap-operatic tragedy and triumph of legendary football club Manchester United, co-written, co-produced and presented by its saturnine bad-boy hero Eric Cantona, and in this version of history, he looms larger than Bobby Charlton or George Best.
Cantona smoulders his way outrageously through his script, though revealing little or nothing about himself, except for one remark about the notorious kung-fu incident against an abusive Crystal Palace fan: “I would ’ave liked to kick him even harder … ” His theme is Manchester United’s 20th-century golden age, from its comeback after the 1958 Munich disaster through to the fairytale ending of the 1999 Uefa Champions League final. And there it stops. The film goes on and on about Manchester United’s European ambition,...
This is a perfectly watchable documentary, but events have overtaken it, exposing a crucial naivety. It is about the soap-operatic tragedy and triumph of legendary football club Manchester United, co-written, co-produced and presented by its saturnine bad-boy hero Eric Cantona, and in this version of history, he looms larger than Bobby Charlton or George Best.
Cantona smoulders his way outrageously through his script, though revealing little or nothing about himself, except for one remark about the notorious kung-fu incident against an abusive Crystal Palace fan: “I would ’ave liked to kick him even harder … ” His theme is Manchester United’s 20th-century golden age, from its comeback after the 1958 Munich disaster through to the fairytale ending of the 1999 Uefa Champions League final. And there it stops. The film goes on and on about Manchester United’s European ambition,...
- 5/6/2021
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Exclusive: Tom Payne, star of Fox’s drama Prodigal Son, has signed with UTA. The actor will be repped by the agency across all areas.
The move comes as he prepares for the second season of Prodigal Son, the crime drama he stars in alongside Michael Sheen. He plays Malcolm Bright, the son of notorious serial killer The Surgeon, played by Sheen.
Prior to Prodigal Son, Payne starred as Jesus Monroe on The Walking Dead, where he debuted during Season 6 of the AMC zombie drama. He also starred as Leon Micheaux in HBO’s Luck from creators Michael Mann and David Milch, and opposite Tom Hardy in ITV’s Wuthering Heights miniseries.
The British actor got his start on BBC drama Waterloo Road and played iconic soccer player George Best in the BBC’s Best: His Mother’s Son.
On the feature side, he made his debut in Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day...
The move comes as he prepares for the second season of Prodigal Son, the crime drama he stars in alongside Michael Sheen. He plays Malcolm Bright, the son of notorious serial killer The Surgeon, played by Sheen.
Prior to Prodigal Son, Payne starred as Jesus Monroe on The Walking Dead, where he debuted during Season 6 of the AMC zombie drama. He also starred as Leon Micheaux in HBO’s Luck from creators Michael Mann and David Milch, and opposite Tom Hardy in ITV’s Wuthering Heights miniseries.
The British actor got his start on BBC drama Waterloo Road and played iconic soccer player George Best in the BBC’s Best: His Mother’s Son.
On the feature side, he made his debut in Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day...
- 6/18/2020
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Ad-Rock and Mike D host a convivial trip down memory lane in this filmed record of a live show staged in tribute to third member Adam Yauch
The release of this documentary coincides with #MeAt20, a heart-twisting craze on social media for posting pictures of yourself at 20 years old. Middle-aged people’s timelines are speckled with funny, sweet and sometimes unbearably sad images of themselves in unlined, unformed youth, doing goofy things in milky analogue pictures from back when you had 12 or 24 exposures on your roll-film camera and getting them developed at Boots was a pricey business. That’s what I thought of while watching this engaging, oddly moving film from Spike Jonze: a record of the live stage show he devised at the Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, New York, in tribute to white hip-hop stars and tongue-in-cheek party-libertarian activists the Beastie Boys. It is presented by the two surviving members,...
The release of this documentary coincides with #MeAt20, a heart-twisting craze on social media for posting pictures of yourself at 20 years old. Middle-aged people’s timelines are speckled with funny, sweet and sometimes unbearably sad images of themselves in unlined, unformed youth, doing goofy things in milky analogue pictures from back when you had 12 or 24 exposures on your roll-film camera and getting them developed at Boots was a pricey business. That’s what I thought of while watching this engaging, oddly moving film from Spike Jonze: a record of the live stage show he devised at the Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, New York, in tribute to white hip-hop stars and tongue-in-cheek party-libertarian activists the Beastie Boys. It is presented by the two surviving members,...
- 4/20/2020
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
In ESPN’s new docuseries “Backstory,” investigative reporter Don Van Natta Jr. goes beyond what viewers think they know about unresolved sports stories of the past and present, beginning with the 2018 U.S. Open Women’s Finals.
Inspired by the hit “30 for 30” series and modeled on “The Last Days of Knight,” three-time Pulitzer Prize winner Van Natta Jr. goes on a “journalism journey through those stories to gather new information and find fresh insight at a time when people really want the truth,” he tells TheWrap.
The debut episode, “Serena vs. The Umpire,” dives into what Van Ant, Jr. calls “the ugliest finish in tennis Grand Slam history.”
Also Read: Rape Accusations Against Bikram Choudhury Examined in Dark ESPN '30 for 30' Podcast
“The clashes that Serena had with the chair umpire, Carlos Ramos, really divided people as to whether she was right and justified or if he had done the right thing,...
Inspired by the hit “30 for 30” series and modeled on “The Last Days of Knight,” three-time Pulitzer Prize winner Van Natta Jr. goes on a “journalism journey through those stories to gather new information and find fresh insight at a time when people really want the truth,” he tells TheWrap.
The debut episode, “Serena vs. The Umpire,” dives into what Van Ant, Jr. calls “the ugliest finish in tennis Grand Slam history.”
Also Read: Rape Accusations Against Bikram Choudhury Examined in Dark ESPN '30 for 30' Podcast
“The clashes that Serena had with the chair umpire, Carlos Ramos, really divided people as to whether she was right and justified or if he had done the right thing,...
- 8/16/2019
- by Debbie Emery
- The Wrap
Exclusive: The Late Late Show producer Fulwell 73 is kicking off its latest soccer doc about Manchester United legend Sir Matt Busby.
The company, which has made soccer docs including The Class of ’92 and Netflix’s Sunderland ‘Til I Die, is making Busby, exploring the life of Busby, who is widely considered one of the greatest managers of all time. He managed Manchester United between 1945 and 1969 as well as the second half of the 1970/71 season and was the first manager of an English soccer club to win the European Cup.
Joe Pearlman, director of BAFTA-nominated Bros doc After The Screaming Stops, is directing the feature doc, and Altitude Films has come on board to distribute in the UK and will launch in November.
He was responsible for managing the ‘Busby Babes’, a team of talented young players, eight of which died in the Munich Air disaster in 1958 on the way...
The company, which has made soccer docs including The Class of ’92 and Netflix’s Sunderland ‘Til I Die, is making Busby, exploring the life of Busby, who is widely considered one of the greatest managers of all time. He managed Manchester United between 1945 and 1969 as well as the second half of the 1970/71 season and was the first manager of an English soccer club to win the European Cup.
Joe Pearlman, director of BAFTA-nominated Bros doc After The Screaming Stops, is directing the feature doc, and Altitude Films has come on board to distribute in the UK and will launch in November.
He was responsible for managing the ‘Busby Babes’, a team of talented young players, eight of which died in the Munich Air disaster in 1958 on the way...
- 8/7/2019
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Thin Lizzy’s songs typically addressed badass rock & roll topics like bar fights, jailbreaks and medieval battles. But on Black Rose: A Rock Legend — their ninth LP, released 40 years ago today — the band paid tribute to their Irish homeland with a highly unusual and weirdly touching album-closing epic.
“Tell me the legends of long ago,” Phil Lynott sings over a rolling, waltz-time riff at the beginning of “Róisín Dubh (Black Rose): A Rock Legend,” named for an old Irish song that addresses the country as though it were a lover.
“Tell me the legends of long ago,” Phil Lynott sings over a rolling, waltz-time riff at the beginning of “Róisín Dubh (Black Rose): A Rock Legend,” named for an old Irish song that addresses the country as though it were a lover.
- 4/13/2019
- by Hank Shteamer
- Rollingstone.com
After lifting the lid on the worlds of Scientology and WikiLeaks, Academy Award and Emmy-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney has again teamed up with ESPN, this time to investigate how technology and science are impacting the future of sports.
“Enhanced,” the six-part docuseries that is currently streaming on ESPN+, takes viewers into the secret worlds of training, technology, recovery, mind exercises and even steroids to show how they are propelling record-breaking performances from athletes.
The subject is something that Gibney had been talking to ESPN executives about for years.
Also Read: Rape Accusations Against Bikram Choudhury Examined in Dark ESPN '30 for 30' Podcast
“He’s been a sports fan for a long time and realized that the stakes get higher every year, records are broken … the equipment, the bodies and the sports look different,” Libby Geist, vice president and executive producer, ESPN Films and Original Content, told TheWrap. “We finally...
“Enhanced,” the six-part docuseries that is currently streaming on ESPN+, takes viewers into the secret worlds of training, technology, recovery, mind exercises and even steroids to show how they are propelling record-breaking performances from athletes.
The subject is something that Gibney had been talking to ESPN executives about for years.
Also Read: Rape Accusations Against Bikram Choudhury Examined in Dark ESPN '30 for 30' Podcast
“He’s been a sports fan for a long time and realized that the stakes get higher every year, records are broken … the equipment, the bodies and the sports look different,” Libby Geist, vice president and executive producer, ESPN Films and Original Content, told TheWrap. “We finally...
- 8/15/2018
- by Debbie Emery
- The Wrap
ESPN dove into the digital world on Thursday with the launch of ESPN+, a $4.99 per month direct-to-consumer subscription streaming service, and a new-look ESPN app.
The content offered includes live events, personalized experiences, niche sports, signature programming, and the full library of “30 for 30” films.
New ESPN president and co-chair of Disney Media Networks, James Pitaro, introduced the new service to media members at the network’s Los Angeles base earlier this week, where he described it as a “new era of innovation at ESPN to serve sports fans in new ways to expand our audience, expand our reach and expand our engagement.”
Also Read: ESPN Lets Viewers Binge Watch 'We the Fans' Season 2 by Stacking Episodes Back-to-Back
Pitaro was named as the replacement to former president John Skipper on March 5.
“We are looking at it through two lenses — number one, the maniacal, the fanatic … the sports fan who just wants more sports,” Pitaro said. “And then number two, the sports fan who has been underserved by traditional linear television, who feels like he or she has not had direct access to the sports or teams they love.”
The app will be the next generation of existing the ESPN app, he continued. “It will be our best and most modern expression of our brand. It will be clean and easy to navigate … the basic premise and principle is ‘let’s get out of the way of the content and let the content shine,'” Pitaro said, adding that experiences will be personalized, so that they are “serving the right content to the right user at the right time.”
Included in the 10,000 live events on ESPN+ (which will be identified on the app by a gold flag) are Mlb, NHL and Mls games (but no NFL as of yet), and also fringe sports that are usually harder to find, such as rugby, cricket, PGA tour events, English Premier League, lacrosse and boxing.
Also Read: ESPN's Mike Greenberg Tells Us Why His New Show 'Get Up!' Has the Right Chemistry
Former Cornell Big Red football player Pitaro was also very excited about ESPN’s partnership with the Ivy League — which he swears was set in motion before he became president — along with over a dozen mid-major college conferences.
“When you compare it to what is available right now and what is upcoming from our competitors, we very much like our hand here,” he said.
Pitaro also stressed that this was just the beginning of ESPN’s digital offerings. “We love the breadth of content that we are launching with, but this is the first inning and we are going to be adding more content on a regular basis,” he said.
“There will be three core pillars [of the ESPN app], as it really is a three-in-one service,” Pitaro explained. Those are: a first layer of news, scores, highlights, audio, live radio and podcasts; a second layer of TV Everywhere with access to live linear programming; and the third layer is ESPN+, the direct-to-consumer subscription service.
Also Read: ESPN's Latest '30 for 30' Film Spotlights Brilliant But Troubled Soccer Star George Best
The first content to launch on ESPN+ will be “30 for 30” doc “The Last Days of Knight,” tracing the rise and fall of Indiana University basketball coach Bob Knight through investigative reporting by director Robert Abbott.
“In addition to the deep storytelling, ESPN+ will bring fans closer to their favorite teams and favorite athletes,” said Connor Schell, ESPN’s executive Vice President of content, who co-founded “30 for 30” with Bill Simmons in 2009, said.
The service will also include new shows such as “Draft Academy,” following a handful of top prospects heading to the NFL Draft, “Quest for the Cup” in partnership with the NHL, and Kobe Bryant’s analysis show “Detail,” where the Lakers legend breaks down “the smallest, smallest level of basketball” action during the NBA playoffs.
The other shiny object that the network executives are most proud to share on ESPN+ is the company’s archive dating back to 1979, making the platform the “single place you can watch every ’30 for 30’ film, to dive in and come out a few days later,” plus boxing libraries, vintage college basketball games, and film from each year of the Masters or Indy 500.
Read original story Coolest Things About ESPN+ Streaming Service, From ’30 for 30’ Film Library to Live Sports Events At TheWrap...
The content offered includes live events, personalized experiences, niche sports, signature programming, and the full library of “30 for 30” films.
New ESPN president and co-chair of Disney Media Networks, James Pitaro, introduced the new service to media members at the network’s Los Angeles base earlier this week, where he described it as a “new era of innovation at ESPN to serve sports fans in new ways to expand our audience, expand our reach and expand our engagement.”
Also Read: ESPN Lets Viewers Binge Watch 'We the Fans' Season 2 by Stacking Episodes Back-to-Back
Pitaro was named as the replacement to former president John Skipper on March 5.
“We are looking at it through two lenses — number one, the maniacal, the fanatic … the sports fan who just wants more sports,” Pitaro said. “And then number two, the sports fan who has been underserved by traditional linear television, who feels like he or she has not had direct access to the sports or teams they love.”
The app will be the next generation of existing the ESPN app, he continued. “It will be our best and most modern expression of our brand. It will be clean and easy to navigate … the basic premise and principle is ‘let’s get out of the way of the content and let the content shine,'” Pitaro said, adding that experiences will be personalized, so that they are “serving the right content to the right user at the right time.”
Included in the 10,000 live events on ESPN+ (which will be identified on the app by a gold flag) are Mlb, NHL and Mls games (but no NFL as of yet), and also fringe sports that are usually harder to find, such as rugby, cricket, PGA tour events, English Premier League, lacrosse and boxing.
Also Read: ESPN's Mike Greenberg Tells Us Why His New Show 'Get Up!' Has the Right Chemistry
Former Cornell Big Red football player Pitaro was also very excited about ESPN’s partnership with the Ivy League — which he swears was set in motion before he became president — along with over a dozen mid-major college conferences.
“When you compare it to what is available right now and what is upcoming from our competitors, we very much like our hand here,” he said.
Pitaro also stressed that this was just the beginning of ESPN’s digital offerings. “We love the breadth of content that we are launching with, but this is the first inning and we are going to be adding more content on a regular basis,” he said.
“There will be three core pillars [of the ESPN app], as it really is a three-in-one service,” Pitaro explained. Those are: a first layer of news, scores, highlights, audio, live radio and podcasts; a second layer of TV Everywhere with access to live linear programming; and the third layer is ESPN+, the direct-to-consumer subscription service.
Also Read: ESPN's Latest '30 for 30' Film Spotlights Brilliant But Troubled Soccer Star George Best
The first content to launch on ESPN+ will be “30 for 30” doc “The Last Days of Knight,” tracing the rise and fall of Indiana University basketball coach Bob Knight through investigative reporting by director Robert Abbott.
“In addition to the deep storytelling, ESPN+ will bring fans closer to their favorite teams and favorite athletes,” said Connor Schell, ESPN’s executive Vice President of content, who co-founded “30 for 30” with Bill Simmons in 2009, said.
The service will also include new shows such as “Draft Academy,” following a handful of top prospects heading to the NFL Draft, “Quest for the Cup” in partnership with the NHL, and Kobe Bryant’s analysis show “Detail,” where the Lakers legend breaks down “the smallest, smallest level of basketball” action during the NBA playoffs.
The other shiny object that the network executives are most proud to share on ESPN+ is the company’s archive dating back to 1979, making the platform the “single place you can watch every ’30 for 30’ film, to dive in and come out a few days later,” plus boxing libraries, vintage college basketball games, and film from each year of the Masters or Indy 500.
Read original story Coolest Things About ESPN+ Streaming Service, From ’30 for 30’ Film Library to Live Sports Events At TheWrap...
- 4/12/2018
- by Debbie Emery
- The Wrap
ESPN is indulging in the nation’s obsession with the NFL by allowing viewers to binge-watch the sophomore season of “We the Fans,” which follows the devoted fans of America’s team, the Dallas Cowboys. Last year, Season 1 of “We the Fans” featured the Chicago Bears.
The reality-style series launches with all four hour-long episodes airing back-to-back Thursday night from 7 p.m. Et. After each episode airs, they are then instantly available digitally on the ESPN app and ESPN Video on Demand.
“We’re trying a lot of different ways to get our content out to consumers on different platforms. This is one I personally like because I love to binge,” Libby Geist, vice president and executive producer of ESPN Films and Original Content, told TheWrap.
Also Read: ESPN's Sage Steele Says Tiger Woods' Return to the Masters Proves 'He Came Back Different'
While the Oscar-winning reality documentary “O.J.: Made in America” aired on back-to-back nights in 2016, this is the first time ESPN has stacked episodes for an original series in this way.
“We’re aware of changing habits and know people sit down and binge things, and I’m lucky enough to work at a part of the company where we are able to provide content like that,” Geist continued. “As a fan myself, part of me craves that too as I still stay up at night binge-watching other shows.
“It is important for us to bring storylines that uplift and support the ESPN live events,” she continued, and with the 2018 NFL Draft in Dallas airing live on ESPN at the end of this month, the timing for the launch of “We the Fans” is no coincidence. “There will be a lot of excitement around the Cowboys in general … I think people in Dallas are going to go crazy over it,” Geist predicted. “We were able to find some very dedicated fans and very different story lines around them,” she said of the Cowboys’ diehards who they followed during the 2017 season.
Also Read: ESPN's Mike Greenberg Tells Us Why His New Show 'Get Up!' Has the Right Chemistry
One who really stood out to producers was a man named Kevin Martinez, whose home in Houston was badly damaged in Hurricane Harvey last September. “It just showed that although he was at the Cowboys’ games and tailgating with his friends, going home for these fans is very different for every person. We were able to tell a pretty unrelated story to Dallas but his heart was there while he was going through something else, and this football team helped him get through that tough time.”
Other colorful characters featured on Season 2 include a 73-year-old season ticket-holder who is a motherly figure to Cowboys players; a gay couple from Arlington, Texas; and a family from Massachusetts that travels to Dallas for most home games.
Thursday marks another landmark event for ESPN with the launch of streaming service ESPN+, as the network best known for traditional sports programming cements its foot firmly in the digital landscape.
“With ESPN+ on the horizon, original series are more and more attractive because we can really hook people on different platforms — so that has been a game-changer,” Geist said.
The very first project to debut on ESPN+ is new “30 for 30” documentary “The Last Days of Knight,” which tells the story of a young basketball coach named Bob Knight, who first came to Indiana University in 1971. The film, directed by Robert Abbott, follows Knight over multiple decades as he becomes not only a coaching god but also the subject of accusations, denials and dark discoveries.
“It is exciting for us [ESPN Films] to be seen as one of the shiny objects our bosses want to dangle to kick off ESPN+,” Geist told TheWrap of the doc that will be exclusive to the new direct-to-consumer sports streaming service the moment it launches. “Being involved with this brand has been such a gift, so I think having a ’30 for 30’ on ESPN+ for minute one is exciting and hopefully helps draw people to a really great product.”
As for why “Knight” is the launch project for ESPN+, again it was all about timing. “We looked at the films we had in development and production, and with March Madness just finishing, we knew we could get serious buzz about it.”
Also Read: ESPN's Latest '30 for 30' Film Spotlights Brilliant But Troubled Soccer Star George Best
The success of “Oj,” which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature last year, has opened multiple doors for the “30 for 30” team, which was founded in 2009 by Connor Schell (now ESPN’s executive vice president, content) and Bill Simmons.
“We are constantly surprised with who takes our phone calls now post-‘Oj.’ They know it is not another quick sports story or TV movie, but an in-depth, well-told film that we’re going to put on every platform that we can. We’re taken seriously now, which is nice, that’s for sure!
“‘Oj’ was such an experiment for us in terms of the length [at seven hours, 47 minutes], and questions of ‘how are we going to get it on TV?’ ‘How are we going to get people to binge it?'” Geist said. “We were obviously really pleased with how well that did and how wide it reached, so we’re more open to experiment — to do longer films, documentary series, podcasts or 10-minute films. We’re just looking for great stories.”
“We the Fans” premieres Thursday at 7 p.m. Et on ESPN.
Read original story ESPN Lets Viewers Binge Watch ‘We the Fans’ Season 2 by Stacking Episodes Back-to-Back At TheWrap...
The reality-style series launches with all four hour-long episodes airing back-to-back Thursday night from 7 p.m. Et. After each episode airs, they are then instantly available digitally on the ESPN app and ESPN Video on Demand.
“We’re trying a lot of different ways to get our content out to consumers on different platforms. This is one I personally like because I love to binge,” Libby Geist, vice president and executive producer of ESPN Films and Original Content, told TheWrap.
Also Read: ESPN's Sage Steele Says Tiger Woods' Return to the Masters Proves 'He Came Back Different'
While the Oscar-winning reality documentary “O.J.: Made in America” aired on back-to-back nights in 2016, this is the first time ESPN has stacked episodes for an original series in this way.
“We’re aware of changing habits and know people sit down and binge things, and I’m lucky enough to work at a part of the company where we are able to provide content like that,” Geist continued. “As a fan myself, part of me craves that too as I still stay up at night binge-watching other shows.
“It is important for us to bring storylines that uplift and support the ESPN live events,” she continued, and with the 2018 NFL Draft in Dallas airing live on ESPN at the end of this month, the timing for the launch of “We the Fans” is no coincidence. “There will be a lot of excitement around the Cowboys in general … I think people in Dallas are going to go crazy over it,” Geist predicted. “We were able to find some very dedicated fans and very different story lines around them,” she said of the Cowboys’ diehards who they followed during the 2017 season.
Also Read: ESPN's Mike Greenberg Tells Us Why His New Show 'Get Up!' Has the Right Chemistry
One who really stood out to producers was a man named Kevin Martinez, whose home in Houston was badly damaged in Hurricane Harvey last September. “It just showed that although he was at the Cowboys’ games and tailgating with his friends, going home for these fans is very different for every person. We were able to tell a pretty unrelated story to Dallas but his heart was there while he was going through something else, and this football team helped him get through that tough time.”
Other colorful characters featured on Season 2 include a 73-year-old season ticket-holder who is a motherly figure to Cowboys players; a gay couple from Arlington, Texas; and a family from Massachusetts that travels to Dallas for most home games.
Thursday marks another landmark event for ESPN with the launch of streaming service ESPN+, as the network best known for traditional sports programming cements its foot firmly in the digital landscape.
“With ESPN+ on the horizon, original series are more and more attractive because we can really hook people on different platforms — so that has been a game-changer,” Geist said.
The very first project to debut on ESPN+ is new “30 for 30” documentary “The Last Days of Knight,” which tells the story of a young basketball coach named Bob Knight, who first came to Indiana University in 1971. The film, directed by Robert Abbott, follows Knight over multiple decades as he becomes not only a coaching god but also the subject of accusations, denials and dark discoveries.
“It is exciting for us [ESPN Films] to be seen as one of the shiny objects our bosses want to dangle to kick off ESPN+,” Geist told TheWrap of the doc that will be exclusive to the new direct-to-consumer sports streaming service the moment it launches. “Being involved with this brand has been such a gift, so I think having a ’30 for 30’ on ESPN+ for minute one is exciting and hopefully helps draw people to a really great product.”
As for why “Knight” is the launch project for ESPN+, again it was all about timing. “We looked at the films we had in development and production, and with March Madness just finishing, we knew we could get serious buzz about it.”
Also Read: ESPN's Latest '30 for 30' Film Spotlights Brilliant But Troubled Soccer Star George Best
The success of “Oj,” which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature last year, has opened multiple doors for the “30 for 30” team, which was founded in 2009 by Connor Schell (now ESPN’s executive vice president, content) and Bill Simmons.
“We are constantly surprised with who takes our phone calls now post-‘Oj.’ They know it is not another quick sports story or TV movie, but an in-depth, well-told film that we’re going to put on every platform that we can. We’re taken seriously now, which is nice, that’s for sure!
“‘Oj’ was such an experiment for us in terms of the length [at seven hours, 47 minutes], and questions of ‘how are we going to get it on TV?’ ‘How are we going to get people to binge it?'” Geist said. “We were obviously really pleased with how well that did and how wide it reached, so we’re more open to experiment — to do longer films, documentary series, podcasts or 10-minute films. We’re just looking for great stories.”
“We the Fans” premieres Thursday at 7 p.m. Et on ESPN.
Read original story ESPN Lets Viewers Binge Watch ‘We the Fans’ Season 2 by Stacking Episodes Back-to-Back At TheWrap...
- 4/12/2018
- by Debbie Emery
- The Wrap
170 fims from unknown sources released for free online.
The British Film Institute (BFI) has launched a collection of more than 170 films known as the Orphan Works.
Source: BFI National Archive
The Little Match Girl (1914), D. Percy Nash, part of the Orphan Works collection
Including features, shorts, corporate films, adverts, animation and documentary, the collection is comprised of works that have unknown or uncontactable rights-holders.
The BFI archive team has performed due diligence on the films by attempting to contact the copyright owners, and as such the organisation is now able to show them for free online.
The digitally-restored films will be available to view on BFI’s Youtube channel in the UK and internationally.
Actors featuring in the works include Christopher Lee, David Jason, Honor Blackman, John Le Mesurier, Lupino Lane, Madeleine Carroll, Norman Beaton, Peter Ustinov and Richard Burton. There are also interviews with footballing legends such as George Best,...
The British Film Institute (BFI) has launched a collection of more than 170 films known as the Orphan Works.
Source: BFI National Archive
The Little Match Girl (1914), D. Percy Nash, part of the Orphan Works collection
Including features, shorts, corporate films, adverts, animation and documentary, the collection is comprised of works that have unknown or uncontactable rights-holders.
The BFI archive team has performed due diligence on the films by attempting to contact the copyright owners, and as such the organisation is now able to show them for free online.
The digitally-restored films will be available to view on BFI’s Youtube channel in the UK and internationally.
Actors featuring in the works include Christopher Lee, David Jason, Honor Blackman, John Le Mesurier, Lupino Lane, Madeleine Carroll, Norman Beaton, Peter Ustinov and Richard Burton. There are also interviews with footballing legends such as George Best,...
- 12/21/2017
- by Tom Grater
- Screen Daily Test
170 fims from unknown sources released for free online.
The British Film Institute (BFI) has launched a collection of more than 170 films known as the Orphan Works.
Source: BFI National Archive
The Little Match Girl (1914), D. Percy Nash, part of the Orphan Works collection
Including features, shorts, corporate films, adverts, animation and documentary, the collection is comprised of works that have unknown or uncontactable rights-holders.
The BFI archive team has performed due diligence on the films by attempting to contact the copyright owners, and as such the organisation is now able to show them for free online.
The digitally-restored films will be available to view on BFI’s Youtube channel in the UK and internationally.
Actors featuring in the works include Christopher Lee, David Jason, Honor Blackman, John Le Mesurier, Lupino Lane, Madeleine Carroll, Norman Beaton, Peter Ustinov and Richard Burton. There are also interviews with footballing legends such as George Best, Jack and Bobby Charlton...
The British Film Institute (BFI) has launched a collection of more than 170 films known as the Orphan Works.
Source: BFI National Archive
The Little Match Girl (1914), D. Percy Nash, part of the Orphan Works collection
Including features, shorts, corporate films, adverts, animation and documentary, the collection is comprised of works that have unknown or uncontactable rights-holders.
The BFI archive team has performed due diligence on the films by attempting to contact the copyright owners, and as such the organisation is now able to show them for free online.
The digitally-restored films will be available to view on BFI’s Youtube channel in the UK and internationally.
Actors featuring in the works include Christopher Lee, David Jason, Honor Blackman, John Le Mesurier, Lupino Lane, Madeleine Carroll, Norman Beaton, Peter Ustinov and Richard Burton. There are also interviews with footballing legends such as George Best, Jack and Bobby Charlton...
- 12/21/2017
- by Tom Grater
- ScreenDaily
Sport’s screen outings have long been blighted by timidity but two new films, 89 and Kenny, tell stirring stories with style and swagger. And there’s more to come
It seems fair to say sports documentary films reached something of an early artistic end-point with 1971’s Football As Never Before, a feature-length George Best portrait by the West German arthouse director Hellmuth Costard – best known for his 1968 work Especially Valuable, which featured a talking penis quoting passages of government legislation.
Presented without voiceover or soundtrack, Football As Never Before is an hour and 45 minutes of a single camera following its star around the pitch during a Manchester United game against Coventry City. Whatever its ultimate merits – and Fanb does provide an absolute gold standard in mesmeric closeup shots focused, for long periods, entirely on George Best’s buttocks – the film also speaks to a more basic confusion over what exactly...
It seems fair to say sports documentary films reached something of an early artistic end-point with 1971’s Football As Never Before, a feature-length George Best portrait by the West German arthouse director Hellmuth Costard – best known for his 1968 work Especially Valuable, which featured a talking penis quoting passages of government legislation.
Presented without voiceover or soundtrack, Football As Never Before is an hour and 45 minutes of a single camera following its star around the pitch during a Manchester United game against Coventry City. Whatever its ultimate merits – and Fanb does provide an absolute gold standard in mesmeric closeup shots focused, for long periods, entirely on George Best’s buttocks – the film also speaks to a more basic confusion over what exactly...
- 11/20/2017
- by Barney Ronay
- The Guardian - Film News
To say that George Best was one of the most brilliant soccer players of all time is no exaggeration. But the Northern Irish football icon was also one of the most troubled, haunted by demons that dominated his adult life and cut his career short. Both sides of the Manchester United hero are captured in Espn’s latest “30 for 30” film titled “George Best: All by Himself,” which premieres on Espn Thursday night. Director Daniel Gordon, who captured the horror and heartbreak of the soccer world’s biggest disaster in the 2014 documentary “Hillsborough,” heralds both Best’s historic performances on the pitch and.
- 7/20/2017
- by Debbie Emery
- The Wrap
Author: Competitions
To mark the release of Best (George Best: All By Himself) on 29th May, we’ve been given 5 copies to give away on Blu-ray.
Described by The Irish Football Association as the “greatest player to ever pull on the green shirt of Northern Ireland”, George Best was the charismatic, Belfast boy who could thrill the crowds with every turn of the ball. But with such extraordinary fame came a fatal temptation towards drink and depression. Jointly presented by Espn Films, the BBC and Northern Ireland Screen, the revealing 30 for 30 documentary delivers fascinating, new insights into the rise and fall of one of football’s greatest players, featuring never-before-seen interviews with his close family including Angie Best and Ani Rinchen Khandro, as well as former footballers and friends Bobby McAlinde, Bill McMurdo and Harry Gregg.
Please note: This competition is open to UK residents only
a Rafflecopter giveaway
“Best...
To mark the release of Best (George Best: All By Himself) on 29th May, we’ve been given 5 copies to give away on Blu-ray.
Described by The Irish Football Association as the “greatest player to ever pull on the green shirt of Northern Ireland”, George Best was the charismatic, Belfast boy who could thrill the crowds with every turn of the ball. But with such extraordinary fame came a fatal temptation towards drink and depression. Jointly presented by Espn Films, the BBC and Northern Ireland Screen, the revealing 30 for 30 documentary delivers fascinating, new insights into the rise and fall of one of football’s greatest players, featuring never-before-seen interviews with his close family including Angie Best and Ani Rinchen Khandro, as well as former footballers and friends Bobby McAlinde, Bill McMurdo and Harry Gregg.
Please note: This competition is open to UK residents only
a Rafflecopter giveaway
“Best...
- 5/26/2017
- by Competitions
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
A documentary portrait of the Manchester United star shows us little that we haven’t seen before
What aims to be an Amy-style documentary portrait of a troubled genius ends up as a rehash of every prurient tabloid story that crowed over George Best’s self-destructive behaviour without trying to understand the root of it.
Best is most satisfying when it explores the early years of a footballer so skilled that even someone completely uninterested in the game could recognise his talent. But most of the talking-head interviews here are second tier and their insights little more than pub anecdotes.
Continue reading...
What aims to be an Amy-style documentary portrait of a troubled genius ends up as a rehash of every prurient tabloid story that crowed over George Best’s self-destructive behaviour without trying to understand the root of it.
Best is most satisfying when it explores the early years of a footballer so skilled that even someone completely uninterested in the game could recognise his talent. But most of the talking-head interviews here are second tier and their insights little more than pub anecdotes.
Continue reading...
- 2/26/2017
- by Wendy Ide
- The Guardian - Film News
This sentimental survey of the life of the fallen football legend retreads familiar turf, adding nothing new
Is there anything new to be said on the subject of Manchester United’s fallen legend George Best? Certainly not in this sentimental hagio-documentary, which trundles out the same old ideas, without anything fresh in the way of context or perspective.
There are one or two nice contributions from the interviewees, but Bobby Charlton or Denis Law are not in the film. Anything about Best has to answer the hotel bellboy’s apocryphal question: “Where did it all go wrong?” – although it is a measure of this film’s piety that this anecdote is primly unmentioned. Probably rightly, the documentary puts it down partly to Matt Busby’s retiring as Manchester United’s manager in 1969; without his wise and fatherly guidance, Best succumbed to a tendency to indiscipline that was the flipside to his intuitive brilliance,...
Is there anything new to be said on the subject of Manchester United’s fallen legend George Best? Certainly not in this sentimental hagio-documentary, which trundles out the same old ideas, without anything fresh in the way of context or perspective.
There are one or two nice contributions from the interviewees, but Bobby Charlton or Denis Law are not in the film. Anything about Best has to answer the hotel bellboy’s apocryphal question: “Where did it all go wrong?” – although it is a measure of this film’s piety that this anecdote is primly unmentioned. Probably rightly, the documentary puts it down partly to Matt Busby’s retiring as Manchester United’s manager in 1969; without his wise and fatherly guidance, Best succumbed to a tendency to indiscipline that was the flipside to his intuitive brilliance,...
- 2/23/2017
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Author: Stefan Pape
Daniel Gordon’s latest documentary, on the life of the irresistible, troubled footballer George Best, begins with an anecdote of the Manchester United legend in his later years, ambling, drunk, in the middle of the street in the pouring rain, a mere shadow of the man who once adorned the turf of Old Trafford. While recent documentaries on Paul Gascoigne and Bobby Moore avoided the destructive nature, and less illuminating years of the subject’s lives, Gordon signals his intentions from the offset, with the tragic elements to the great man’s life a paramount focus, as prevalent within this endeavour as the glory – and what transpires is a truly compelling piece of cinema.
Before we have the chance to educate ourselves on the subject himself, Gordon provides the viewer some valuable context, with a brief sequence concerning the Munich Air Disaster that saw several members of...
Daniel Gordon’s latest documentary, on the life of the irresistible, troubled footballer George Best, begins with an anecdote of the Manchester United legend in his later years, ambling, drunk, in the middle of the street in the pouring rain, a mere shadow of the man who once adorned the turf of Old Trafford. While recent documentaries on Paul Gascoigne and Bobby Moore avoided the destructive nature, and less illuminating years of the subject’s lives, Gordon signals his intentions from the offset, with the tragic elements to the great man’s life a paramount focus, as prevalent within this endeavour as the glory – and what transpires is a truly compelling piece of cinema.
Before we have the chance to educate ourselves on the subject himself, Gordon provides the viewer some valuable context, with a brief sequence concerning the Munich Air Disaster that saw several members of...
- 2/20/2017
- by Stefan Pape
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
It’s time to feel the “Lust For Life” again. Danny Boyle got the boys back together for the follow-up to his iconic “Trainspotting,” and while the soundtrack boasts some new acts for the current generation (Wolf Alice, Young Fathers), Iggy Pop’s glorious anthem returns (albeit in a remix by The Prodigy).
Read More: Danny Boyle’s ‘T2: Trainspotting’ Starring Ewan McGregor Is A Nostalgic But Messy Sequel To The ’90s Classic [Review]
Nevertheless, the first clip from “T2: Trainspotting” has landed, pumped up by Pop’s tune, and sees Renton (Ewan McGregor) regaling Simon (Jonny Lee Miller) and his girlfriend Veronika (newcomer Anjela Nedyalkova) about footballer George Best, while Boyle adds his visual flourishes to the anecdote.
Continue reading Feel The Lust For Life Again In First Clip From ‘T2 Trainspotting’ at The Playlist.
Read More: Danny Boyle’s ‘T2: Trainspotting’ Starring Ewan McGregor Is A Nostalgic But Messy Sequel To The ’90s Classic [Review]
Nevertheless, the first clip from “T2: Trainspotting” has landed, pumped up by Pop’s tune, and sees Renton (Ewan McGregor) regaling Simon (Jonny Lee Miller) and his girlfriend Veronika (newcomer Anjela Nedyalkova) about footballer George Best, while Boyle adds his visual flourishes to the anecdote.
Continue reading Feel The Lust For Life Again In First Clip From ‘T2 Trainspotting’ at The Playlist.
- 2/6/2017
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
Author: Zehra Phelan
Ex-Manchester United legend George Best paved the way for so many of today’s footballers, with his dazzling good looks and Irish charm as well as his dynamic prowess on the pitch. He was the first footballer to become a celebrity icon not just on the pitch but off it as well. In the forthcoming documentary Best (George Best: All By Himself) Best’s life unravels and spirals into the depths of unhappiness before our very eyes.
Behind the camera, mounting the director’s chair, is British BAFTA®-nominated documentary maker Daniel Gordon who took us on an emotional journey with his documentary on Hillsborough last year. From the trailer, we can tell we are in for one hell of an emotional journey as we witness the rise and heartbreaking fall of one the greatest footballers to grace the earth – whether you’re Man United Fan or...
Ex-Manchester United legend George Best paved the way for so many of today’s footballers, with his dazzling good looks and Irish charm as well as his dynamic prowess on the pitch. He was the first footballer to become a celebrity icon not just on the pitch but off it as well. In the forthcoming documentary Best (George Best: All By Himself) Best’s life unravels and spirals into the depths of unhappiness before our very eyes.
Behind the camera, mounting the director’s chair, is British BAFTA®-nominated documentary maker Daniel Gordon who took us on an emotional journey with his documentary on Hillsborough last year. From the trailer, we can tell we are in for one hell of an emotional journey as we witness the rise and heartbreaking fall of one the greatest footballers to grace the earth – whether you’re Man United Fan or...
- 2/2/2017
- by Zehra Phelan
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Ewan McGregor and the rest of the gang are back in Danny Boyle's sequel to Trainspotting. Here's our review of the unexpectedly moving T2...
Time can play cruel tricks. A recent strain of Hollywood movie showed us the cosy side of nostalgia - the dinosaurs roaring again in Jurassic World, the Millennium Falcon taking flight in Star Wars: The Force Awakens - but there can be a bittersweet, even cruel side to the lure of old memories.
See related Jessica Jones’ Kilgrave: Marvel’s creepiest villain yet Iron Fist: episode titles and directors confirmed Luke Cage smashed Marvel's 2016 Netflix ratings
For Renton (Ewan McGregor), heading back to his old stomping ground in Edinburgh after 20 years is akin to opening a box of old photographs. There’s a comfort at seeing old faces, but then the regret starts flooding back: the drugs, the alcohol, the friends he's lost and...
Time can play cruel tricks. A recent strain of Hollywood movie showed us the cosy side of nostalgia - the dinosaurs roaring again in Jurassic World, the Millennium Falcon taking flight in Star Wars: The Force Awakens - but there can be a bittersweet, even cruel side to the lure of old memories.
See related Jessica Jones’ Kilgrave: Marvel’s creepiest villain yet Iron Fist: episode titles and directors confirmed Luke Cage smashed Marvel's 2016 Netflix ratings
For Renton (Ewan McGregor), heading back to his old stomping ground in Edinburgh after 20 years is akin to opening a box of old photographs. There’s a comfort at seeing old faces, but then the regret starts flooding back: the drugs, the alcohol, the friends he's lost and...
- 1/20/2017
- Den of Geek
Tommy Byrne was compared to Senna before his hot temper landed him in trouble. This fascinating film does justice to the legend that nearly was
There’s a fascination and poignancy to this gripping sports documentary, about someone who deserves a kind of legendary status for the way he didn’t become a legend. This is motor racing’s bad boy Tommy Byrne, who rose from humble beginnings in Dundalk in Ireland to be one of the hottest prospects of early 1980s Formula One, mentioned in the same breath as Ayrton Senna. An interviewee says he could have been the George Best or Alex Higgins of the racing world, but somehow Byrne only did the Best downfall without the preceding success.
The film shows he was a brilliant, instinctive, aggressive driver who terrified everyone on the youth circuits (“I learned my craft by crashing”) but also cocky, mouthy and out...
There’s a fascination and poignancy to this gripping sports documentary, about someone who deserves a kind of legendary status for the way he didn’t become a legend. This is motor racing’s bad boy Tommy Byrne, who rose from humble beginnings in Dundalk in Ireland to be one of the hottest prospects of early 1980s Formula One, mentioned in the same breath as Ayrton Senna. An interviewee says he could have been the George Best or Alex Higgins of the racing world, but somehow Byrne only did the Best downfall without the preceding success.
The film shows he was a brilliant, instinctive, aggressive driver who terrified everyone on the youth circuits (“I learned my craft by crashing”) but also cocky, mouthy and out...
- 12/29/2016
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Distributor strikes theatrical and home entertainment deal for George Best: All By Himself.
Dogwoof has acquired football doc George Best: All By Himself for UK & Ireland theatrical and home entertainment distribution in 2017.
The feature documentary unveils the drama and allure of gifted football star George Best. The film follows Best’s struggle to fight his alcoholism whilst his footballing prowess begins to abandon him.
The Fine Point Films (Bobby Sands: 66 Days) production is funded by BBC, Espn and Nothern Ireland Screen. It is directed by Daniel Gordon (Hillsborough).
The distribution deal was signed by Oli Harbottle, head of distribution at Dogwoof, and Trevor Birney, MD of Fine Point.
Harbottle commented: “We were immediately excited when we first heard that the story of George Best was being made into a feature documentary a few years ago. With the hugely talented Dan Gordon as director and the combined heavyweight experience of both Fine Point Films and [link...
Dogwoof has acquired football doc George Best: All By Himself for UK & Ireland theatrical and home entertainment distribution in 2017.
The feature documentary unveils the drama and allure of gifted football star George Best. The film follows Best’s struggle to fight his alcoholism whilst his footballing prowess begins to abandon him.
The Fine Point Films (Bobby Sands: 66 Days) production is funded by BBC, Espn and Nothern Ireland Screen. It is directed by Daniel Gordon (Hillsborough).
The distribution deal was signed by Oli Harbottle, head of distribution at Dogwoof, and Trevor Birney, MD of Fine Point.
Harbottle commented: “We were immediately excited when we first heard that the story of George Best was being made into a feature documentary a few years ago. With the hugely talented Dan Gordon as director and the combined heavyweight experience of both Fine Point Films and [link...
- 11/2/2016
- ScreenDaily
© Daniele Mascolo/epa/Corbis
The words legend and superstar seem to get bandied about far too often these days.
Just because someone can do a trick or two and gets paid an absurd amount of money doesn’t mean they should be seen as brushing shoulders with the greats of yesteryear. Names such as George Best and Pele deserve the title – they were true icons of the beautiful game – but many players these days are wrongly labelled as the best thing since sliced bread.
There’s been many one-season wonders throughout the years and those whose egos makes them think they’re worthy of being worshipped, but many players these days – not including the likes of Lionel Messi of course – mistakenly believe their own hype.
So who exactly falls into the overrated category? Whose price tags have been ridiculous and who have the media helped build up into something they’re quite clearly not?...
The words legend and superstar seem to get bandied about far too often these days.
Just because someone can do a trick or two and gets paid an absurd amount of money doesn’t mean they should be seen as brushing shoulders with the greats of yesteryear. Names such as George Best and Pele deserve the title – they were true icons of the beautiful game – but many players these days are wrongly labelled as the best thing since sliced bread.
There’s been many one-season wonders throughout the years and those whose egos makes them think they’re worthy of being worshipped, but many players these days – not including the likes of Lionel Messi of course – mistakenly believe their own hype.
So who exactly falls into the overrated category? Whose price tags have been ridiculous and who have the media helped build up into something they’re quite clearly not?...
- 2/28/2016
- by Jamie Roberts
- Obsessed with Film
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BBC iPlayer original comedy drama The Rack Pack tells the story of Alex “Hurricane” Higgins and snooker's exploding 1980s popularity…
“Colourful” is the preferred press euphemism for describing lives like that of snooker’s Alex Higgins. The “bad boy” of the game, he was a genius on the baize who drank, smoked, snorted and head-butted his way to world champion status and back. Talk about colour. As the tabloids tell it, Higgins’ story is a nothing short of a kaleidoscope.
It’s harder to describe his 2010 death as similarly vibrant. Higgins died broke and alone, wilfully starving in sheltered housing after throat cancer left him toothless and skeletal.
That’s the bit of these stories we prefer to ignore. Stories of men like Higgins and his Belfast contemporary George Best, whose talent comes packaged in a personality that erodes it. Men whose self-destruction isn’t just tolerated by their public but celebrated.
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BBC iPlayer original comedy drama The Rack Pack tells the story of Alex “Hurricane” Higgins and snooker's exploding 1980s popularity…
“Colourful” is the preferred press euphemism for describing lives like that of snooker’s Alex Higgins. The “bad boy” of the game, he was a genius on the baize who drank, smoked, snorted and head-butted his way to world champion status and back. Talk about colour. As the tabloids tell it, Higgins’ story is a nothing short of a kaleidoscope.
It’s harder to describe his 2010 death as similarly vibrant. Higgins died broke and alone, wilfully starving in sheltered housing after throat cancer left him toothless and skeletal.
That’s the bit of these stories we prefer to ignore. Stories of men like Higgins and his Belfast contemporary George Best, whose talent comes packaged in a personality that erodes it. Men whose self-destruction isn’t just tolerated by their public but celebrated.
- 1/15/2016
- by louisamellor
- Den of Geek
Speaking ahead of the premiere of Ronaldo on Monday, Real Madrid and Portugal striker Cristiano Ronaldo says he still has fun despite receiving criticism. Ronaldo says the most difficult thing about filming the documentary was allowing people he didn’t know access to his house. Ronaldo follows the three-time Ballon d’Or winner on and off the pitch for 14 months
Genius, celebrity, outsider: films show George Best and Cristiano Ronaldo share same story Continue reading...
Genius, celebrity, outsider: films show George Best and Cristiano Ronaldo share same story Continue reading...
- 11/9/2015
- by Guardian Staff
- The Guardian - Film News
Watch extracts from the 1971 German film by Hellmuth Costard, Fußball, Wie Noch Nie (Football As Never Before), soon to be re-released with a new score. The avant garde film, in which a camera follows George Best for the duration of a single match at Old Trafford in 1970, has been resurrected by Irish composer, Matthew Nolan, who has created a new score for its re-release. It will be launched at the Visual Arts Centre, Carlow Town, Ireland, on 25 November
Read: long-lost George Best art film is resurrected by Irish composer and the curious case of George Best’s disappearing beard
Continue reading...
Read: long-lost George Best art film is resurrected by Irish composer and the curious case of George Best’s disappearing beard
Continue reading...
- 10/30/2015
- by Guardian Staff
- The Guardian - Film News
Skins star Will Merrick will play Steve Davis in an upcoming snooker biopic set for BBC iPlayer.
The Rack Pack, a comedy drama feature film, centres on the '80s rivalry between Davis and Alex Higgins, portrayed by Luke Treadaway.
Kevin Bishop will appear as Davis's manager Barry Hearn, while Nichola Burley and James Bailey play Lynn Higgins and Jimmy White respectively.
Directed by Black Mirror's Brian Welsh, the project will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the famous 1985 World Snooker final.
Controller of comedy commissioning Shane Allen said: "BBC iPlayer offers a unique creative space for comedy of all shapes, sizes, tones and ambition - free of the traditional parameters of TV slots.
"Higgins was to snooker what George Best was to football - a Northern Irish folk hero whose mesmerising talent made for a fascinating world class champion on the snooker table, but his explosive personality made for...
The Rack Pack, a comedy drama feature film, centres on the '80s rivalry between Davis and Alex Higgins, portrayed by Luke Treadaway.
Kevin Bishop will appear as Davis's manager Barry Hearn, while Nichola Burley and James Bailey play Lynn Higgins and Jimmy White respectively.
Directed by Black Mirror's Brian Welsh, the project will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the famous 1985 World Snooker final.
Controller of comedy commissioning Shane Allen said: "BBC iPlayer offers a unique creative space for comedy of all shapes, sizes, tones and ambition - free of the traditional parameters of TV slots.
"Higgins was to snooker what George Best was to football - a Northern Irish folk hero whose mesmerising talent made for a fascinating world class champion on the snooker table, but his explosive personality made for...
- 9/24/2015
- Digital Spy
Joan Collins in 'The Bitch': Sex tale based on younger sister Jackie Collins' novel. Author Jackie Collins dead at 77: Surprisingly few film and TV adaptations of her bestselling novels Jackie Collins, best known for a series of bestsellers about the dysfunctional sex lives of the rich and famous and for being the younger sister of film and TV star Joan Collins, died of breast cancer on Sept. 19, '15, in Los Angeles. The London-born (Oct. 4, 1937) Collins was 77. Collins' tawdry, female-centered novels – much like those of Danielle Steel and Judith Krantz – were/are immensely popular. According to her website, they have sold more than 500 million copies in 40 countries. And if the increasingly tabloidy BBC is to be believed (nowadays, Wikipedia has become a key source, apparently), every single one of them – 32 in all – appeared on the New York Times' bestseller list. (Collins' own site claims that a mere 30 were included.) Sex...
- 9/22/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Strictly Come Dancing is still months away, but the rumours about which celebrities could be taking part this year are really starting to heat up now - and they've been going since January. So it felt like a good time to start to put together all the speculation we've heard to see if we can figure out who'll be hitting the ballroom in the new series.
Strictly Come Dancing: This is how they keep the celebrities taking part a secret
Strictly Come Dancing 2015 winner: We rank the celebrities' changes of topping BBC One's dance-off
With all the contestants now confirmed, check out the lineup below - and lament what could have been with the rumours that didn't become a reality. Oh well, there's always the Christmas special...
Confirmed
Rumoured
Confirmed contestants
Jeremy Vine
King of the swingometer Jeremy became the first celebrity confirmed for Strictly on August 10.
The...
Strictly Come Dancing: This is how they keep the celebrities taking part a secret
Strictly Come Dancing 2015 winner: We rank the celebrities' changes of topping BBC One's dance-off
With all the contestants now confirmed, check out the lineup below - and lament what could have been with the rumours that didn't become a reality. Oh well, there's always the Christmas special...
Confirmed
Rumoured
Confirmed contestants
Jeremy Vine
King of the swingometer Jeremy became the first celebrity confirmed for Strictly on August 10.
The...
- 8/28/2015
- Digital Spy
Remember the first ever Love Island with its seemingly clueless single celebrities constantly bickering on a tumultuous and stormy (literally and metaphorically) Fijian island?
Even the show's co-hosts Kelly Brook and Patrick Kielty were baying for one another's blood when Kielty decided to declare during one live show that Brook had previously dated contestant Paul Danan.
Other memorable highlights included Abi Titmuss becoming more and more enraged as Fran Cosgrave repeatedly referred to her as Vanessa Feltz, swiftly followed by a tipsy and uncouth Rebecca Loos letting rip.
The series aired almost exactly a decade ago, so we found ourselves wondering - whatever happened to eventual winner Jayne Middlemiss? And the Love Island love god that was Lee Sharpe?
As the new non-celebrity series currently enjoys its ITV2 revival, we find out what the 12 star contestants have gone on to do since their 2005 stint below:
Jayne Middlemiss
Love Island winner...
Even the show's co-hosts Kelly Brook and Patrick Kielty were baying for one another's blood when Kielty decided to declare during one live show that Brook had previously dated contestant Paul Danan.
Other memorable highlights included Abi Titmuss becoming more and more enraged as Fran Cosgrave repeatedly referred to her as Vanessa Feltz, swiftly followed by a tipsy and uncouth Rebecca Loos letting rip.
The series aired almost exactly a decade ago, so we found ourselves wondering - whatever happened to eventual winner Jayne Middlemiss? And the Love Island love god that was Lee Sharpe?
As the new non-celebrity series currently enjoys its ITV2 revival, we find out what the 12 star contestants have gone on to do since their 2005 stint below:
Jayne Middlemiss
Love Island winner...
- 6/10/2015
- Digital Spy
Calum Best has split up from ex 'Made In Chelsea' star Ianthe Rose Cochrane-Stack. The former 'Celebrity Big Brother' star confirmed he had ended things with the lingerie model earlier this month after nine months together, having previously claimed she was his ''first love''. He told The Sun newspaper: ''Sadly we have had to go our separate ways. She's the first girl I really loved and I cherish the time we spent together.'' The news comes just two months after Calum - the son of the late footballer George Best - said he felt ''settled'' with Ianthe. He previously said: ''I'm settled. (Ianthe's) got...
- 5/18/2015
- Virgin Media - TV
Citizen Kane has long been acclaimed as a work of genius and endlessly dissected by critics. But a mystery still lies at the heart of this masterpiece. On the eve of Orson Welles’s centenary, Peter Bradshaw comes up with his own theory about the film’s clinching moment
Spitting Image once made a joke about Orson Welles – that he lived his life in reverse. The idea, effectively, is that Welles started life as a fat actor who got his first break doing TV commercials for wine, moved on to bigger character roles as fat men, but used his fees to help finance indie films which he directed himself; their modest, growing success gave him the energy and self-esteem to lose weight. Then the major Hollywood studios gave him the chance to direct big-budget pictures, over which he gained more and more artistic control until he made his culminating mature masterpiece: Citizen Kane,...
Spitting Image once made a joke about Orson Welles – that he lived his life in reverse. The idea, effectively, is that Welles started life as a fat actor who got his first break doing TV commercials for wine, moved on to bigger character roles as fat men, but used his fees to help finance indie films which he directed himself; their modest, growing success gave him the energy and self-esteem to lose weight. Then the major Hollywood studios gave him the chance to direct big-budget pictures, over which he gained more and more artistic control until he made his culminating mature masterpiece: Citizen Kane,...
- 4/25/2015
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Citizen Kane has long been acclaimed as a work of genius and endlessly dissected by critics. But a mystery still lies at the heart of this masterpiece. On the eve of Orson Welles’s centenary, Peter Bradshaw comes up with his own theory about the film’s clinching moment
Spitting Image once made a joke about Orson Welles – that he lived his life in reverse. The idea, effectively, is that Welles started life as a fat actor who got his first break doing TV commercials for wine, moved on to bigger character roles as fat men, but used his fees to help finance indie films which he directed himself; their modest, growing success gave him the energy and self-esteem to lose weight. Then the major Hollywood studios gave him the chance to direct big-budget pictures, over which he gained more and more artistic control until he made his culminating mature masterpiece: Citizen Kane,...
Spitting Image once made a joke about Orson Welles – that he lived his life in reverse. The idea, effectively, is that Welles started life as a fat actor who got his first break doing TV commercials for wine, moved on to bigger character roles as fat men, but used his fees to help finance indie films which he directed himself; their modest, growing success gave him the energy and self-esteem to lose weight. Then the major Hollywood studios gave him the chance to direct big-budget pictures, over which he gained more and more artistic control until he made his culminating mature masterpiece: Citizen Kane,...
- 4/25/2015
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Nigel French/Empics Sport
There are few clubs that polarise opinion like Manchester United. Love them or loathe them, you can never ignore them. United have been one of the biggest clubs in the world for decades and are one of the best supported clubs in the world.
Naturally, a club of United’s stature are nearly always linked with players from all over the world.
For a club that has always looked to its youth ranks for talent, United have never been shy of bringing in star players. Even back in the 1960’s George Best and Bobby Charlton, graduates from the youth team were joined by Denis Law, whose transfer from Torino was a British record.
Fast-forward to the Alex Ferguson era, and the like of Giggs, Beckham, Scholes, the Nevilles and Nicky Butt found themselves rubbing shoulders with Eric Cantona, Juan Sebastian Veron and Ruud van Nistelrooy.
However,...
There are few clubs that polarise opinion like Manchester United. Love them or loathe them, you can never ignore them. United have been one of the biggest clubs in the world for decades and are one of the best supported clubs in the world.
Naturally, a club of United’s stature are nearly always linked with players from all over the world.
For a club that has always looked to its youth ranks for talent, United have never been shy of bringing in star players. Even back in the 1960’s George Best and Bobby Charlton, graduates from the youth team were joined by Denis Law, whose transfer from Torino was a British record.
Fast-forward to the Alex Ferguson era, and the like of Giggs, Beckham, Scholes, the Nevilles and Nicky Butt found themselves rubbing shoulders with Eric Cantona, Juan Sebastian Veron and Ruud van Nistelrooy.
However,...
- 3/12/2015
- by Chris Dowding
- Obsessed with Film
Calum Best's mum was ''petrified'' he'd drink himself to ''death''. The 'Celebrity Big Brother' star's mother Angie Best has revealed she feared for her son's life when he turned to partying and womanizing after his father, football legend George Best, died of kidney failure in 2005 following his struggles with alcoholism. She said: ''I was petrified for him. I just thought history was repeating itself and he was going to end up an alcoholic, drinking himself to death like his father.'' Angie - who admits she was ''disgusted'' to hear gossip blogger Perez Hilton threaten to sexually assault her son on the...
- 1/30/2015
- Virgin Media - TV
Calum Best is to shoot a documentary about his late father. The former model is set to start work on the programme about football legend George Best's struggle with alcoholism when his stint on 'Celebrity Big Brother' comes to an end. The 33-year-old star has called on Oscar-winning producer Simon Egan - who is known for his work on the critically acclaimed 'The King's Speech' - to help make the documentary, which will trace the footballer's roots. A source told The Sun newspaper: ''Calum will present the film and is excited about the opportunity to tell his father's story. ''The fact...
- 1/15/2015
- Virgin Media - TV
We have our housemates! 14 stupid brave celebrities walked through the doors of the Celebrity Big Brother compound tonight to face a twisted fairytale like no other.
But who are these courageous souls who have shunned spa days and champers for a dirty bath and chickpeas? And do you know any of them? Well, we've got all the details of the gang, so read on for everything you need to know...
Alexander O'Neal
Age: 61
Give me the basics. Alexander is an American R&B singer probably best known for his hit 'Criticise', which reached number four in the UK charts in 1987.
Why is he going in the house? For one thing, he likes "challenges", apparently. Also, he loves us Brits: "Britain pretty much told the rest of the world who Alexander O'Neal was before anybody really knew." (He speaks about himself in the third person quite regularly, it seems.) Also: "It's a test for me,...
But who are these courageous souls who have shunned spa days and champers for a dirty bath and chickpeas? And do you know any of them? Well, we've got all the details of the gang, so read on for everything you need to know...
Alexander O'Neal
Age: 61
Give me the basics. Alexander is an American R&B singer probably best known for his hit 'Criticise', which reached number four in the UK charts in 1987.
Why is he going in the house? For one thing, he likes "challenges", apparently. Also, he loves us Brits: "Britain pretty much told the rest of the world who Alexander O'Neal was before anybody really knew." (He speaks about himself in the third person quite regularly, it seems.) Also: "It's a test for me,...
- 1/7/2015
- Digital Spy
Finally, something to brighten up our January! Celebrity Big Brother is back tonight, and we can't wait to see who's about to go into the house. Host Emma Willis has promised a stellar lineup, so we're expecting big things.
We're just getting our popcorn ready, but join us from 9pm when the show starts on Channel 5 for all the action from the glamorous Borehamwood bungalow...
23:05Right, that really is it from us - thanks for joining us!
22:58Ooh, a snippet of live footage. Perez is speaking to Katie, which is presumably straining her ability to be nice. Although they are talking about her (and her horrible fat-shaming show) so maybe not...
22:56But for now, that's your lot! Celebrity Big Brother's Bit on the Side is coming up if you want even more house action, but we'll be saying bye on this blog for now. Thanks for joining us,...
We're just getting our popcorn ready, but join us from 9pm when the show starts on Channel 5 for all the action from the glamorous Borehamwood bungalow...
23:05Right, that really is it from us - thanks for joining us!
22:58Ooh, a snippet of live footage. Perez is speaking to Katie, which is presumably straining her ability to be nice. Although they are talking about her (and her horrible fat-shaming show) so maybe not...
22:56But for now, that's your lot! Celebrity Big Brother's Bit on the Side is coming up if you want even more house action, but we'll be saying bye on this blog for now. Thanks for joining us,...
- 1/7/2015
- Digital Spy
Wondering what you're going to do when X Factor and Strictly end? Fear not friends, because yet another series of Celebrity Big Brother is just around the corner. It is expected to return on January 5 on Channel 5 and this year it will have a "twisted fairytale" theme.
Emma Willis and Rylan Clark will be back in January with another batch of famous (and not so famous) faces, willing to humiliate themselves for our amusement.
Here are 15 early rumours about potential housemates for the 2015 series.
1. Danniella Westbrook
The former EastEnders actress has had a terrible 2014 and she's recently been on This Morning talking about her financial plight, so it isn't a surprise to hear that she's a new hot favourite to be heading into the house. Producers will no doubt hope that she's prepared to spill the beans about her troubles with drug addictions.
2. Sammy Winward
She seems like a bit of a long shot,...
Emma Willis and Rylan Clark will be back in January with another batch of famous (and not so famous) faces, willing to humiliate themselves for our amusement.
Here are 15 early rumours about potential housemates for the 2015 series.
1. Danniella Westbrook
The former EastEnders actress has had a terrible 2014 and she's recently been on This Morning talking about her financial plight, so it isn't a surprise to hear that she's a new hot favourite to be heading into the house. Producers will no doubt hope that she's prepared to spill the beans about her troubles with drug addictions.
2. Sammy Winward
She seems like a bit of a long shot,...
- 12/11/2014
- Digital Spy
Manchester United are one of the world’s biggest and most successful football teams and have dominated the British game for the last two decades, winning no fewer than 38 trophies over the last 27 years, including 13 Premier League titles and two Champions League crowns. Because of their success they have been able to sign some of the biggest names in the sport, from ‘King’ Eric Cantona through to Cristiano Ronaldo.
A great number of the players United have signed have gone on to either enjoy tremendous success or become a club legend, with their names still sung from the Stretford End to this day. Players such as Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs will live forever in Old Trafford folklore while the likes of Sir Bobby Charlton, George Best and Denis Law have been immortalised in the form of a statue outside the famous stadium.
There has however been names United fans...
A great number of the players United have signed have gone on to either enjoy tremendous success or become a club legend, with their names still sung from the Stretford End to this day. Players such as Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs will live forever in Old Trafford folklore while the likes of Sir Bobby Charlton, George Best and Denis Law have been immortalised in the form of a statue outside the famous stadium.
There has however been names United fans...
- 8/21/2014
- by Joseph Dempsey
- Obsessed with Film
Phil Noble/Pa Archive/Press Association Images
It’s no accident that signing for Man Utd is considered one of the greatest achievements in football.
As a result the club have boasted some of the greatest stars in the history of the game through the years, with the likes of George Best, Eric Cantona, Cristiano Ronaldo and Ryan Giggs leading the club to success, creating moments of wonder for fans of the Old Trafford club in the process. But for all of the top class talent to strut their stuff in the famous red shirt, United line ups have not always been perfect.
Whilst stars such as those have produced some fantastic memories, unfortunately many will not forget the players who have turned out for United who have not quite enjoyed the same fortune and success. Many players down the years have rode on the coat tails of others and earned trophies and medals,...
It’s no accident that signing for Man Utd is considered one of the greatest achievements in football.
As a result the club have boasted some of the greatest stars in the history of the game through the years, with the likes of George Best, Eric Cantona, Cristiano Ronaldo and Ryan Giggs leading the club to success, creating moments of wonder for fans of the Old Trafford club in the process. But for all of the top class talent to strut their stuff in the famous red shirt, United line ups have not always been perfect.
Whilst stars such as those have produced some fantastic memories, unfortunately many will not forget the players who have turned out for United who have not quite enjoyed the same fortune and success. Many players down the years have rode on the coat tails of others and earned trophies and medals,...
- 8/3/2014
- by Scott Saunders
- Obsessed with Film
Martin Rickett/Pa Archive/Press Association Images
Manchester United is one of England’s most successful teams, with 38 trophies – including 13 Premier League titles and two Champions League crowns – being won during a glittering 26-year period for the club. Boasting an iconic stadium that houses 76,000, and a trophy cabinet crammed with every major honour in the English game, it’s easy to see why so many world class players want to ply their trade for the Red Devils.
Some of the game’s household names have represented United – Eric Cantona, Cristiano Ronaldo, George Best and more – and while they enjoyed stellar careers at the club, there are others who have found the self-styled ‘Theatre of Dreams’ more of a nightmarish experience. For every Cantona there has been an Obertan and for every Ronaldo a Kleberson – moving to United does not guarantee instantaneous success. With that in mind, here we take a...
Manchester United is one of England’s most successful teams, with 38 trophies – including 13 Premier League titles and two Champions League crowns – being won during a glittering 26-year period for the club. Boasting an iconic stadium that houses 76,000, and a trophy cabinet crammed with every major honour in the English game, it’s easy to see why so many world class players want to ply their trade for the Red Devils.
Some of the game’s household names have represented United – Eric Cantona, Cristiano Ronaldo, George Best and more – and while they enjoyed stellar careers at the club, there are others who have found the self-styled ‘Theatre of Dreams’ more of a nightmarish experience. For every Cantona there has been an Obertan and for every Ronaldo a Kleberson – moving to United does not guarantee instantaneous success. With that in mind, here we take a...
- 7/16/2014
- by Joseph Dempsey
- Obsessed with Film
Ching Kien Huo/AP/Press Association Images
Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was a serial winner – the Scot won 38 trophies including 13 Premier League titles and two UEFA Champions League crowns throughout his 26 years at the club, and there aren’t too many instances of the venerable coach putting a foot wrong.
A big reason for his successes were the players he signed, with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Eric Cantona and Ruud van Nistelrooy helping him win virtually every trophy worth winning in England and abroad. But while the United team sheet has boasted high quality, marquee names, it has also featured a few surprise faces over the years.
Did you know for example that George Best wasn’t the only Red Devil to suffer from alcoholism? Or that a certain Chelsea midfielder was once a United player in all but name, only for him to...
Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was a serial winner – the Scot won 38 trophies including 13 Premier League titles and two UEFA Champions League crowns throughout his 26 years at the club, and there aren’t too many instances of the venerable coach putting a foot wrong.
A big reason for his successes were the players he signed, with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Eric Cantona and Ruud van Nistelrooy helping him win virtually every trophy worth winning in England and abroad. But while the United team sheet has boasted high quality, marquee names, it has also featured a few surprise faces over the years.
Did you know for example that George Best wasn’t the only Red Devil to suffer from alcoholism? Or that a certain Chelsea midfielder was once a United player in all but name, only for him to...
- 7/5/2014
- by Joseph Dempsey
- Obsessed with Film
Even the best football movies struggle to capture the sport's drama on film. The worst (and there are many) are truly abysmal
Why has cinema found football to be such a tricky customer? Football scenes in film and television are traditionally very awkward affairs, with the "defenders" tip-toeing nervously around the "attackers" as they advance, the goal finally coming via the sort of impractical flying volley you just never see on a real pitch. It's clearly very difficult to let someone score a script-dictated goal while pretending to try to stop them but, at the same time, trying not to look like you're pretending to try to stop them. Perhaps they teach it at Rada, who knows?
Furthermore, filmmakers have the challenge of adding a fictional big-screen gloss to what is already an overwhelmingly camera-friendly and consistently dramatic spectacle in its own right. Real-life football already has its own "script...
Why has cinema found football to be such a tricky customer? Football scenes in film and television are traditionally very awkward affairs, with the "defenders" tip-toeing nervously around the "attackers" as they advance, the goal finally coming via the sort of impractical flying volley you just never see on a real pitch. It's clearly very difficult to let someone score a script-dictated goal while pretending to try to stop them but, at the same time, trying not to look like you're pretending to try to stop them. Perhaps they teach it at Rada, who knows?
Furthermore, filmmakers have the challenge of adding a fictional big-screen gloss to what is already an overwhelmingly camera-friendly and consistently dramatic spectacle in its own right. Real-life football already has its own "script...
- 2/27/2014
- by Adam Hurrey
- The Guardian - Film News
Fine to rip off Rocky, but to wilfully recall Raging Bull – and trash it – is just awful. A preposterous, worthless mediocrity
Never have I wanted to un-see a film more badly than this. Never have I yearned more passionately to climb into my time machine and journey back to before my memory of Raging Bull was needlessly trashed by this incredibly depressing and worthless mediocrity. As Shakespeare's Macbeth might have put it: had I but died an hour before the opening credits rolled on Grudge Match, I had lived a blessed time.
The story is about two ageing retired boxers, Billy "the Kid" McDonnen and Henry "Razor" Sharp, played by Robert De Niro and Sylvester Stallone. These grumpy old rivals have been persuaded to get back together for a preposterous geriatric "grudge match". There are a couple of nice, digitally created scenes showing the boxers in their heyday – sort of...
Never have I wanted to un-see a film more badly than this. Never have I yearned more passionately to climb into my time machine and journey back to before my memory of Raging Bull was needlessly trashed by this incredibly depressing and worthless mediocrity. As Shakespeare's Macbeth might have put it: had I but died an hour before the opening credits rolled on Grudge Match, I had lived a blessed time.
The story is about two ageing retired boxers, Billy "the Kid" McDonnen and Henry "Razor" Sharp, played by Robert De Niro and Sylvester Stallone. These grumpy old rivals have been persuaded to get back together for a preposterous geriatric "grudge match". There are a couple of nice, digitally created scenes showing the boxers in their heyday – sort of...
- 1/24/2014
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Modern celebrities may seem dull by comparison, but wives and children were left behind to pick up the pieces
So Peter O'Toole has died, gone to join his brothers hellraising in the sky. Oliver Reed, Richard Harris, Richard Burton, George Best – sometimes it seems like all the most talented men of the British 20th century were total and utter boozehounds, quite prepared to generously donate their gifts to the bottom of a whisky glass, and after that, the floor of the pub.
"I did quite enjoy the days when one went for a beer at one's local in Paris and woke up in Corsica," said Peter O'Toole once, who also admitted it was "around 1985" before he heard the news of President Kennedy's assassination.
Oh, the stories were just better with that lot – like the time Harris was browsing some old photos, saw himself standing beside a Rolls-Royce, and started ringing...
So Peter O'Toole has died, gone to join his brothers hellraising in the sky. Oliver Reed, Richard Harris, Richard Burton, George Best – sometimes it seems like all the most talented men of the British 20th century were total and utter boozehounds, quite prepared to generously donate their gifts to the bottom of a whisky glass, and after that, the floor of the pub.
"I did quite enjoy the days when one went for a beer at one's local in Paris and woke up in Corsica," said Peter O'Toole once, who also admitted it was "around 1985" before he heard the news of President Kennedy's assassination.
Oh, the stories were just better with that lot – like the time Harris was browsing some old photos, saw himself standing beside a Rolls-Royce, and started ringing...
- 12/17/2013
- by Sophie Heawood
- The Guardian - Film News
Young Irish Game Of Thrones actor Art Parkinson (represented by Actors First) is currently filming in Belfast on Shooting for Socrates, a film about the 1986 World Cup in Mexico when Northern Ireland played Brazil.
He plays Tommy, the son of football supporter Arthur (played by Richard Dormer) from East Belfast. The lead up to Tommy’s 10th birthday mirrors the build up to the day the Northern Ireland team play their greatest match against Brazil.
The cast also includes 22 year Nico Mirallegro (represented by Curtis Brown), star of My Mad Fat Diary and The Village, who plays young footballer Davey Campbell, hailed as "the next George Best".
The film is named after Brazilian footballer Sócrates de Souza who played in the 1986 match against Northern Ireland.
November 1985, and the troubled streets of Belfast are torn up by rioting yet again. In amongst the angry mob, we find nine year old Tommy,...
He plays Tommy, the son of football supporter Arthur (played by Richard Dormer) from East Belfast. The lead up to Tommy’s 10th birthday mirrors the build up to the day the Northern Ireland team play their greatest match against Brazil.
The cast also includes 22 year Nico Mirallegro (represented by Curtis Brown), star of My Mad Fat Diary and The Village, who plays young footballer Davey Campbell, hailed as "the next George Best".
The film is named after Brazilian footballer Sócrates de Souza who played in the 1986 match against Northern Ireland.
November 1985, and the troubled streets of Belfast are torn up by rioting yet again. In amongst the angry mob, we find nine year old Tommy,...
- 11/28/2013
- by noreply@blogger.com (ScreenTerrier)
- ScreenTerrier
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