Sport

TIL: Eric Cantona stars in crime thrillers now

Today I learned that former kickballer extraordinaire and now actor, Eric Cantona, has taken his love for kicking things and speaking in front of cameras to a logical conclusion: crime/action thrillers! Actually that's a half-truth - I found this out last week but only bothered typing it up today.

Review: Goon

Ice hockey sits pretty atop my 'If I was an American high-schooler, I'd definitely think about playing it' list. Unfortunately, Hollywood doesn't appear to share my enthusiasm for needless icy bloodlust. There have been plenty of American football, baseball and basketball movies, but when it comes to ice hockey, what do we have? Slap Shot? That's 35 years old. The Mighty Ducks? Pfft, Goon would smash its teeth in and down a beer in celebration.

Review: Looking For Eric

You wouldn't usually associate Ken Loach with the word 'heart-warming'. Heart-wrenching is more his thing. Along with Mike Leigh, Loach leads the way in gritty, depressing British cinema, but then Leigh went and surprised us all with the release of last year's Happy-Go-Lucky, an endearing film about an unflappable optimist. Now ...

Review: The Damned United

Back when the pitches were unkempt mud puddles, the wages were low, the shorts were high, the players were British (and Irish) chubby boozers and smokers, and the football was a proper contact sport with fists flying all over the shop. Before such things as 'transfer windows', David Beckham, and the concept of 'foreign' players,...

Review: The Wrestler

It's easy to laugh at Mickey Rourke. He's a has-been; a dog fancier; an actor reduced to the stakes of a bum. After a well-publicised career meltdown, an ill-advised return to boxing left him with, in the words of Charlie Brooker, "a face like wet cat food." He is, in short, a joke. Yes, it's easy to laugh at Mickey Rourke. But ...

Review: Once In A Lifetime

It's no surprise why 'soccer' never really took off in the States; sitting through an hour and half of near-uninterrupted action is like Chinese water torture for a nation raised on sports peppered with time-outs, game-breaks and 'a short word from our sponsors.' They'd much rather get their kicks from their own brand of footba...

Review: Nacho Libre

Here's an easy way to figure out whether you're going to enjoy Nacho Libre: does this picture make you laugh? If yes, then congratulations, you can stop reading here as I'll only be preaching to the converted. If there's no smile upon your face, then reading further isn't going to change your mind. By rights I could stop righ...

Review: The Ringer

It's Saturday night, you've got an hour or so to kill before you go out; what else are you going to do but crack open a few beers and watch the Disabled Commonwealth Games? I assumed that watching disabled competitors would humble my able ass - these guys have no use of their legs/arms/eyes [delete as applicable] and yet they s...

Review: Goal!

As a Liverpool fan, I've had quite enough drama so far already this year, thank you. No matter how many lacklustre 0-0 performances I sit through, all I have to do is think back to That Night In Istanbul and it'll raise the hairs on the back of my neck. The football movie (or 'soccer', if you'd prefer to be wrong) genre isn't ...

Review: Dodgeball

"I find it's best not to have a goal - aim low, and that way you're never disappointed." It happens to be gym owner Peter LaFleur's life philosophy, but it's also a maxim that serves Dodgeball fairly well - after all, a film that's essentially about throwing balls at people could hardly fail to deliver what it promise...