Month: October 2015

Review: Pan

Written by Charlotte Gough on 21st October 2015. Posted in Film.

We grew up with Disney’s animated classic Peter Pan, the heartwarming performance of the late, great Robin Williams in Hook, and Johnny Depp’s turn as creator J.M. Barrie in the tearjerker, Finding Neverland. Joe Wright’s Pan follows in the footsteps of Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland and Sam Raimi’s Oz: The Great and Powerful (a pointless fantasy-adventure prequel that takes a children’s tale we know and love and hacks it to pieces). With a generic ‘prophecy’ premise and tedious action sequences, Pan is a little more than a CGI-fest that attempts to please everyone and actually pleases no one. It is more ‘second star to the right and straight on ’til boring’—and no amount of colourful costumes and fairy dust can get it off its ground.

Pan follows Peter—a spirited young boy with an inconsistent mockney accent—and his childhood in a World War Two-era London orphanage after being left by his mother as a baby. Peter and a group of his fellow orphans are kidnapped by pirates and whisked off to Neverland on an airborne ship, at the order of Captain Blackbeard (Hugh Jackman)—a tyrant who recruits child slaves to mine pixie dust or ‘pixim’, the substance that preserves his youth. Peter and new pal James Hook (Garrett Hedlund) escape the mine and set off on a journey to find Peter’s mother and defeat Blackbeard with the help of the natives and their princess Tiger Lily (Rooney Mara). It is later revealed that Peter is destined to be Neverland’s saviour, ‘the chosen one’—a boy with the ability to fly as son of a fairy prince and warrior mother, Mary—yes, a painfully obvious biblical reference.

Pan attempts its own ‘original’ take on Peter Pan, courtesy of writer Jason Fuchs, which would be all well and good if the plot didn’t plod-along, making use of bland dialogue and cheap laughs that wouldn’t excite even the most easily amused child. Wright’s visual interpretation of Neverland is wacky but ultimately underwhelming, and besides the familiar characters and the odd reference to crocodiles and ticking clocks, Pan ultimately fails to capture the essence of Barrie’s masterpiece.

Upon entering Neverland, the hoard of slaves become a mosh pit—singing and fist pumping to Nirvana’s ‘Smells like Teen Spirit’—a scenario that sets the silly tone for the rest of the film as it is—a) completely incongruous for the time period, and b) simply an excuse for Jackman to break into song again. It would have been interesting to see the basis of Peter and Hook’s legendary feud play out in this film but the two are, bizarrely, thick-as-thieves from beginning to end. Indeed, Peter’s abandonment angst—exploring a darker side of adolescence and resulting in his leadership of the infamous lost boys—is neatly tied up in Pan’s saccharine ending. Also, the forced romance between Hook and Tiger Lily threatens to taint the original text altogether in its sheer ridiculousness.

Captain Hook—the sinister, haughty and lovably camp pirate icon—once played brilliantly by Dustin Hoffman, is turned into a grinning young rogue with a corny cowboy accent by Hedlund. Jackman’s Blackbeard is also a one-dimensional pantomime villain, who simply changes the pitch of his bellowing to keep the character interesting. Adeel Akhtar’s performance as the crafty sidekick Sam ‘Smee’ Smiegel provides the only forgivable comic moments—one that really is clutching at straws. And Mara’s Tiger Lily is decidedly vanilla, despite her vibrant native garb. As for Cara Delevingne, her blink-and-you’ll-miss-it part(s) as part of a group of silent, digitally-enhanced mermaids adds nothing to the film besides another big name to lure audiences into cinemas.

Peter’s flight in the final showdown with Blackbeard is supposed to be the ultimate moment of triumph for our boy-wonder; instead, audiences will be praying for the credits to roll and the 90s nostalgia of Robin Williams. Fans of Peter Pan should steer clear of this film—unless they want to see a beloved childhood tale veritably fed to the crocodiles.

1/5

Classic Review: The 400 Blows

Written by Jake Sanders on 21st October 2015. Posted in Film.

In dedicating The 400 Blows to Andre Bazin, François Truffaut establishes himself as a student of cinema and as an artist with an intellectual’s mind. It should, therefore, come as no surprise that The 400 Blows has solidified its position in film history by kickstarting the French New Wave. Yet, even when removed from this contextual significance, what really distinguishes The 400 Blows is its immensely personal, intimate nature, functioning as both an autobiography of its director and as an exploration into the spirit of adolescence.

Based on Truffaut’s own childhood, The 400 Blows is the story of Antoine, a young boy whose innocence and generally sweet nature are insufficient to shield him from the ire of his parents and teachers as Antoine’s mischief is mistaken for genuine malice at every turn. Fundamentally, this is a film about the desire to escape. Antoine dreams of escaping his claustrophobic home life—where his mother and father squabble endlessly and seem to take no responsibility for his behaviour. Both Antoine and his best friend, Rene, also dream of escaping their school, where their authoritarian teacher shows little sensitivity to the boys.

These dreams of escape initially lead to the boys forging doctor’s notes so that they can scurry around Paris, then escalate somewhat as Antoine hides out first in Rene’s home, then in an abandoned factory. Eventually Antoine attempts to steal and sell a typewriter but a disastrous encounter with a fencer and a botched attempt to return it only lands Antoine in hotter water.The film’s third act largely involves Antoine’s experiences in a young offenders institution, where the question of Antoine’s future really starts to hang heavy over the film. No longer is this the story of a cheeky Parisian scamp, instead we begin to wonder if Antoine is destined to live the life of a criminal. The film’s ending, which I won’t spoil here, is absolutely breathtaking and serves as a monumental testament to the resolve of the human spirit.

Jean Pierre-Lenaud deserves enormous credit for his ability to embody Truffaut’s onscreen alter-ego, bringing a naturalism to the character that anchors the entire film. In scenes such as Antoine’s questioning by the institution psychologist, Pierre-Lenaud expresses as much with a smirk or a downturned glance than most actors could with a monologue. His soulful eyes seem to be endlessly questioning—so expressive and pure that it seems that each injustice inflicted upon him is more comparable to an assault on a wounded animal. Perhaps it is the film’s autobiographical nature that allows Truffaut to ground us in Antoine’s shoes with such expertise.

Admittedly, later films in the French New Wave might feature elements that are more impressive on a technical level. Godard’s Breathless, for example, drew attention for its unique style of editing and exciting yet often jarring use of jump cuts. But, in choosing to explore material from a personal source, Truffaut taps into the heart of the human condition. 56 years later and The 400 Blows remains as timely and as touching as it ever was.

HOME Pick of the Week: Suffragette

Written by Nadia Cheung on 21st October 2015. Posted in Film.

If you learned anything about women’s suffrage and the militant organisations forged in order to stand for the rights of women in Britain before the First World War, you will know about this story. Carey Mulligan plays Maud Watts, the protagonist. A workingwoman in a laundry service, all that she’s ever known to be, other than a mother and a wife.

Living in difficult working conditions under an abusive boss, it comes with fate that she meets Violet Miller (Anne-Marie Duff), an outspoken and proud suffragette who pulls her into the movement. Forced to testify her own working conditions and her life as part of an appeal to convince the government for the vote, she is accepted into the movement and befriends other female activists who fight against the system—literally.

On top of that, Helena Bonham Carter stars and plays Edith Ellyn, a chemist, organiser and campaigner for the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU). Her drive for equality pushes her to do such things as orchestrating secret meetings, plotting action, and building explosives for militant action. She is a highly-valued asset amongst the suffragettes involved. Meryl Streep also has a brief moment on-screen portraying the leader of the suffragette movement, Emmeline Pankhurst, who is in hiding but it is determined to encourage her followers to use “deeds not words.”

Set primarily in London, the home of the Houses of Parliament, Suffragette is the first film of its kind to be shot on location, providing a somewhat authentic feel. Though the beginning of this film is quite slow, this is necessary to illustrate the oppression of women within a patriarchal society. There are several scenes where this patriarchy is so prominent that you just cannot ignore it, and it makes you think about how different elements of British life are now compared to how they were then.

In a sense, Suffragette certainly succeeds in getting you emotionally invested. Suffragette is a film that deals not only with the historic details of the suffragettes, but also the emotional aspects, too. For the film’s entirety, you follow Maud and see how her involvement with the WSPU changes her drastically, until she grows from passive and accepting woman to a militant activist fighting for equal rights amongst her peers.

I don’t want to give too much away, but what I feel I can say about a film that bases its plot on historical events in the past, is that, if you know about it, then you know very much what will happen in the course of the film.

Other than the script being well-written and the film being cathartic, it is refreshing to be taken back in time to one of the earliest feminist movements, and to be able to appreciate what women’s suffrage has achieved.

4/5

Review: Sicario

Written by Robert Rowan on 21st October 2015. Posted in Film.

Sicario is not a subtle film. From the opening, it’s brutal and shocking—throwing you into a genuine house of horror as Kate Macer (Emily Blunt) and her fellow FBI agents raid a house, looking for some people who were kidnapped, only to find 92 corpses in the walls and a bomb under the shed. From here, it does not slow down as Kate allows herself to be recruited by the incredibly sleazy Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) who, when not discussing gonorrhoea, is either attempting to destabilise the numerous powerful Mexican cartels or deflecting Kate’s questions.

This leads her on a confusing and somewhat terrifying excursion into hostile Mexican territory, with the mysterious and unflappable Alejandro Gillick (Benicio del Toro), and her questions constantly fall on deaf ears, landing her in an increasingly confusing and scary situation. This leads us down two hours of brutal violence that has everything from dismembered corpses to attempted chokings. As I said earlier, Sicario is not a subtle film…

The film itself is not without it’s flaws. If you’re looking for a fresh and interesting take about the war on drugs, then this is not the film for you. Sicario accurately depicts the violence and brutality of the cartels, but does not really offer much beyond that. The main plot line is quite simple, and really just descends into a pretty generic action film. On top of that, the subplot is quite underdeveloped—and I never really cared about what happened to the struggling Mexican policeman.

The dialogue at times can also be just plain bad. Expected responses to questions can result in a simplified view of characters and their motives—Kate Macer joins the task force to “find those responsible” for the horrors she has witnessed. This detracts from Emily Blunt’s performance. You can understand her horror, but the concept of revenge is much less understandable, particularly when considering the brutal reality of her job—emphasised from the opening of the film.

These problems are eventually overcome and this film is enjoyable. The setting is stunning and the cinematography is beautiful—it’s a real spectacle, and watching it on the big screen was a pleasure. The way that it is made really puts you in the middle of the action, and sometimes it feels as if you’re playing a video game rather than watching a film—and I mean that in a complementary way; you feel like you are in that tunnel with them, you feel like you’re wearing night vision goggles—it’s really quite something.

Also, despite occasionally bad dialogue and mediocre characterisation, it’s incredibly tense and I was constantly on edge. Finally, the acting throughout is very good, Benicio del Toro can be simultaneously intimidating and reassuring; Josh Brolin is sleaze personified with a rough edge, and Emily Blunt nicely captures confused determination.

Sicario is not a perfect film by any measure, but it is incredibly enjoyable and worth seeing. It’s well made and certainly action packed which makes for a fun two hours. Just don’t expect to see something that is anything more than a pretty good action film.

3/5

Classic Review: My Own Private Idaho

Written by Joe Hunt on 21st October 2015. Posted in Film.

Almost everything about My Own Private Idaho has a sense of beauty about it, no matter how distorted that beauty may be. That’s what strikes me every time I watch it; a sense of beauty, but also a huge amount of sadness. The film follows two male prostitutes named Mike (River Phoenix) and Scott (Keanu Reeves) as they roam through various settings, situations, strangers’ bedrooms and abandoned hotels. Mike comes from poverty, living in a broken home, and also suffers from narcolepsy; while Scott is a runaway and son of the mayor of Portland, Oregon. They come from two very different worlds, and this is reflected in the way that the story is told.

It does not have any sort of obvious plot, but is instead a collage of strange moments and different textures. Director Gus Van Sant’s arthouse background is very clearly shown in this particular movie, with strange vignettes set on the covers of porno mags and a lilting western soundtrack which also contains The Pogues. As a film, it feels strangely like flicking through a photo album, yet there is a cohesion to it.

The central theme is the idea of home and what it means to someone who was raised without one. This is exemplified by Mike’s desperate search for it, particularly for his long lost mother. Indeed, Mike’s desire for a mother could be described as at least one half of the plot. I say half because My Own Private Idaho was not based on one script, but two, along with a short story—all written by Gus Van Sant. While I would say Mike’s story is the crux of the film (and that’s probably because it is the most enchanting), Keanu Reeves’ side of things adds a whole other layer.

The second script was not completely original, but is instead based on Shakespeare’s Richard III. This means that the film suddenly meanders into a strange sort of Shakespearean dialogue, complete with a sense of tragedy and characters of fools and princes.

It is so odd, you watch the film expecting a film full of dirt, sex and drugs—but instead are left with this meandering mishmash of styles, settings and Shakespeare. I’ve read some reviews which found this aspect of the film jarring and thus unconvincing, but I found it quite the opposite. The film is tied together not by its plot, but by this strange melancholic dream like feeling that you’re left with long after it’s finished.

Due to Mike’s narcolepsy he may collapse at any point in his home, eyelids twitching into a sleep complete with grainy home movies and family houses falling from the sky. And when he wakes up, he may be where he was left—on a road in the middle of Idaho, or he may be in Italy. What is so incredible as a viewer is that you are completely taken along for the journey, despite its almost hallucinatory strangeness. That’s what makes it such a beautiful watch.

Feature: Hollywood’s relationship with hippies

Written by Mancunion on 21st October 2015. Posted in Film.

Does Hollywood negatively stereotype hippies?

In 1969, Charles Manson and his gang of acid-addled followers were arrested and put on trial for an assortment of gruesome crimes. To many, this spelled the end of the era of free-love and innocence, which, for many, remains the defining factor of the hippie movement. In the same year, Dennis Hopper contributed the counter-culture classic Easy Rider to the New Hollywood canon, a film that delves into the darker elements of the non-conformists of the 1960s. Hopper himself plays Billy. A twitchy, swarthy fiend who bears more than a passing resemblance to Manson. Additionally, the struggling Hippie commune visited by the film’s protagonists suggests that whatever promise the Hippie movement once held… was never truly realised.

Interestingly, one of the most damning portrayals of 1960s Bohemia comes from a comparably white-bread film; 1994’s Forrest Gump. In Forrest Gump, director Robert Zemeckis suggests that Forrest’s childhood friend, Jenny, is only drawn towards the flower-child lifestyle because it offers her a superficial escape from the traumas that she has suffered, only for her be sucked into a world of drug-addiction, further abuse and, finally, fatal disease. Easy Rider, at least, takes the time to explore the allure of free-love, drugs and communal living, as well as the darker side of perpetual rebellion. Forrest Gump, on the other hand, dismisses the entirety of the counter-culture movement as empty hedonism.

The presentation of hippies as figures claiming to be enlightened, whilst secretly harbouring few interests beyond physical pleasure is also a stereotype that has endured throughout several films. They range from the sinister, such as Martha Marcy May Marlene, that presents a commune that promises an escape from the banalities of ordinary life through sex and companionship but functions as little more than a masquerade to keep John Hawkes’ cult leader sexually gratified. David Wain’s Wanderlust features a more comedic version of the same sort of concept, with Justin Theroux’s long-haired, far-out charmer proving to be a materialistic fraud. Thus, regardless of tone, Hollywood seems unable to resist perpetrating the same negative ideas about hippies that have persisted for decades.

Or has the free love era been more influential to filmmakers?

Conversely, the hippie movement produced some of the best music of the past century, with many iconic figures being immortalised through film. Perhaps the most popular is Michael Wadleigh’s 1970 documentary Woodstock. Wadleigh’s work was met with critical acclaim, and nominated for two Academy Awards. While it is somewhat unconventional in that it is a documentary, not a drama, these prestigious award nominations indicate a high appreciation for the hippie movement, be it in regards to their music, aesthetics or values. Indeed, the date of this piece, and the fact that the nominations were from years ago, may suggest that recently the relationship between Hollywood and the Hippie may have soured; however, the fact that in 1996 it was chosen for preservation by the National Film Registry in America negates this, proving that a positive relationship between Hollywood and the Hippie has endured the test of time.

Whilst the characters of Baz Luhrman’s 2001 film Moulin Rouge! are not hippies of the long-haired, unwashed, protesting-against-nuclear-weapons variety, Luhrman’s characters most definitely indulge in the Bohemian lifestyle. The majority of them are willing to sacrifice everything for their art, and furthermore, Christian and Satine—the protagonists—are willing to sacrifice everything, including their art, for love. It can be argued that love was at the epicentre of the hippie movement, and thus, Luhrman’s film presents hippie sensibilities within Hollywood, and indeed presents them in a positive light. These characters do not fall into the aforementioned negative stereotypes, yet the influence of the hippies can still be seen within them.

Hollywood is rife with films that celebrate and appreciate this popular subculture. To claim that these characters are consistently dismissed as stereotypical and undesirable tropes is to overlook the rich culture and revolutionary ideals that the Hippies provided—whether it is by viewing them as clichés or disregarding their influence.

Review: Regression

Written by Charlotte Gough on 21st October 2015. Posted in Film.

Alejandro Amenábar’s psychological horror film Regression—Amenábar is also the director behind subtle chiller The Others—has as an October release, bringing with it all of the elements of cheap Hallowe’en decorations. It is a hackneyed and over-the-top reproduction of horror traditions more likely to provoke ironic laughter than cold-sweat frights.

Amenábar’s film stars Ethan Hawke as Detective Bruce Kenner, who is assigned to the case of John Gray—a father who admits guilt of the sexual abuse that his daughter Angela (Emma Watson) has accused him of, despite having no memory of it. The police enlist the help of a psychologist, Professor Kenneth Raines (David Thewlis) and his regression therapy, to access repressed memories of the family’s supposedly depraved past. They uncover information that threatens to make the case much bigger than anyone thought; a cult conspiracy of unspeakable, even supernatural, evil.

Set in Pennsylvania in the 1990s and based on the real-life rumoured cases of devil-worship in the United States, Regression has a faint whiff of True Detective, season one. It is, however, decidedly without the complex characters, profound dialogue, exciting plot and macabre beauty of the TV show. Instead, we are given a groan-inducing film, full of one-dimensional characters and dialogue cobbled-together from crime thriller clichés in some desperate attempt to deliver a noire sensibility that True Detective did so well.

There is the brooding, loner detective who gets too caught up in the case, and a dubious, small-town police force. Hawke is definitely no Rust Cole. He is more of a hapless buffoon than a hard-headed anti-hero, and the twists and turns of this ‘mystery’ can be seen from a mile away, even when they go back on themselves to try to be clever. The main problem with the plot is that it treats a few sessions with Professor Raines and his metronome-hypnosis as factual testimony, basing the ‘truth’ of the investigation on highly unreliable subconscious evidence.

Regression’s stereotypical sound-effects and scary moments—inserted for mere shock value —make up a plot so amateurish that it is hard to care about the outcome. We are presented with, at best, caricatured tropes of iconic horror films like Rosemary’s Baby. Ghoulish nightmare sequences and an over-arching (and rather simplistic) conflict between science and superstition; such features we have seen umpteen times before and seen done far more effectively.

Indeed, we are given a rather naïve and paint-by-numbers approach to the topic of devil worship, with cloaked figures, cats and baby-sacrifices galore. On the one hand, these features can be seen as a clever, even deliberately-contrived take on the Chinese-whispers of satanic cults in this period—stories that were apparently never proved. Ultimately, however, they seem to be mere cheap thrills within an unimaginative script.

Watson’s over-acting can also be considered as either a hammy display or a conscious creative decision to maintain an ambiguous audience response to Angela and her horrific accusations. Either way, as a feminist icon of our generation, she made a poor decision to be involved in this substandard project.

As did man-of-the-moment Thewlis (Legend, Macbeth), who is almost laughably type-cast as Professor Raines, retaining his English accent purely to give the ‘science’ a glimmer of old-school academic plausibility. He essentially reprises his role as Professor Lupin (complete with cardigan) from the Harry Potter films; fans will note that there is even a similar scene in The Prisoner of Azkaban, in which he teaches Harry to conjure the ‘Patronus Charm’ using the power of his memories.

The ending of Amenábar’s film has the potential to be an interesting comment on the power of suggestion and the collective hysteria surrounding satanic rituals in the 1980s and ’90s. This just about gives the film’s daft moments some self-reflexive legitimacy. Unfortunately, the clichés and poor acting are so unwatchable that it is hard to take anything seriously, and despite its promising cast and attempted socio-historical critique, Regression is a massive disappointment. It is, however, one to add to the list for a bad horror movie night.

1/5

TV Binge: This Is England ’90

Written by Jack Lunn on 21st October 2015. Posted in Film.

The latest—and rumoured to be final—instalment of Shane Meadows’s hard-hitting mini-series adaptation of the 2006 film moves into a new decade. One that saw the end of Margaret Thatcher’s hegemonic grip over the United Kingdom. A buoyant wave of optimism struck the nation, and this is the context in which the This is England ’90 opens: Through a now-standard stock-footage opening montage that is backed by a soundtrack—the timelessly anthemic ‘There She Goes’ by The La’s. England is certainly dreaming, yet this is no fairytale story.

It is clear that whilst some things have changed over the two years separating this series with its predecessor, the northern backdrop remains as tough an environment as ever. Central figure of the film, Shaun is struggling to come to terms with a break up, whilst his ex is seemingly at ease with her new life. Woody and Lol, the power couple of the series, are trying to build a stable suburban backdrop within which to raise their children, but for family interference and a certain ghost from the past. Though, in this series the biggest hardship is felt by Lol’s sister, Kelly, who falls into a bottomless spiral of hard substance abuse. This certainly makes for uncomfortable viewing. Her steep descent is exposed at a party in the woods, which ultimately turns sinister and provides possibly the most uneasy-but-transfixing moment of ’90, in a series which is more than full of them.

The drama is brutal and could be crushing viewing if it weren’t for the brilliant comedic moments interspersed throughout the series. The returning Flip (of “fuck off with your ginger chips, Shaun” fame) from the ’86 series provides priceless moments. Clad in the garb of a Def Leppard tribute act and as brash as ever, one scene sees Flip buy a whole £1’s worth of weed, to which he compares himself to “Antonio Montana”. Most of the gang are as on form as ever, especially in the case of Woody, who has inevitably fallen slightly behind with the new sounds of the rave culture, but is still able to give a hilarious effort at an onomatopoeic rendition of the immortal main riff of The Stone Roses’ ‘Fool’s Gold’.

But, one of this mini-series’ biggest charms is that, after all of the previous content, you feel as though you are watching a group of your mates going about their lives. You give a shit if they are having a bad night, whilst you laugh along with all of their jokes. Should this be the last series, Meadow’s has definitely ended strongly, with arguably the best series yet, and although it could be seen that the arcs of some characters have been neatly rounded off, further episodes would be more than welcome from a show unparalleled in current British TV.

Top 5: Best Actor Oscar snubs

Written by Imran Bukhari on 21st October 2015. Posted in Film.

5) Joaquin Phoenix – Her

While credit does lie with the Oscar-winning script, it is, however, Joaquin Phoenix who manages to bring sincerity and warmth to a romantic relationship with an operating system. His loneliness and battle to find companionship is something anybody can relate to, but not many actors have brought such believability to this struggle. The moustache alone is enough to validate a spot on this list.

4) Tom Hanks – Captain Phillips

The career of Tom Hanks is littered with exceptional screen roles and he has two Best Actor Oscars to prove it. Nevertheless, he can still feel aggrieved that he was not nominated as the titular Captain Phillips, in what is arguably his strongest performance of the last 15 years. The final scene alone demonstrates this; he is overcome with trauma and breaking down in a devastating release of emotion.

3) Ryan Gosling – Blue Valentine

Ryan Gosling has been nominated once before for his turn as a drug abusing teacher in Half Nelson, and most definitely deserved a second nod as one half of a fractured relationship. Gosling’s work in Blue Valentine is among his finest, bringing an honesty and brutality as a husband/father failing to hold onto those whom he loves.

2) Jake Gyllenhaal – Nightcrawler

As time passes, Jake Gyllenhaal’s portrayal of bug-eyed reporter Lou Bloom will only grow in stature to the point where it will be assumed that he must have been nominated. Gyllenhaal brings a deep level of commitment and intensity, which mirrors the character’s single minded determination for success. This is reflected in his desire to lose 30 pounds for the role to create a ‘hunger’ within him.

1) Michael Fassbender – Shame

It’s abundantly clear that the explicit material within Shame alienated the more elderly members of the Academy. What they neglected to see was the film’s study of a damaged soul and the sheer number of layers Michael Fassbender had embedded into his pained character. This is a haunting performance showcasing a man riddled with addiction, and he is one of the greatest in committing himself to a film.

Review: The Walk

Written by James Moules on 21st October 2015. Posted in Film.

Allow me to begin by saying this—the film’s depiction of Philippe Petit’s high-wire walk between the Twin Towers (from which it gets its rather bland title) is every bit as terrifying and visually stunning as you’ve heard. The brilliant use of 3D and IMAX for the sequence would make even the hardiest of souls feel unbearably vertiginous. And I’m pleased to be able to report this, because it’s just about the only thing I can say in The Walk’s defence.

Many viewers will already be familiar with the story at hand from James Marsh’s 2008 documentary Man on Wire, and this is the film on the subject that I would recommend with a banner raised high.

That film never failed to be engaging at any moment. The Walk, on the other hand, forces us to toil through what many will deem the ‘boring bits’ before we get our £10 worth. A whole half-hour of the film’s two-hour runtime is dedicated to Petit’s backstory, in which he goes through the highs and lows of starting out as a circus performer. He rises, he falls, he brushes himself down and he tries again. This kind of narrative is nothing new and adds little to the story. Even Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s charming narration cannot save the first quarter of the film from feeling like nothing more than flab.

There are many angles from which this story could have been approached. The film’s first few minutes offer us a promising set up when Philippe Petit (Joesph Gordon-Levitt) tells us that he does not fear death, and that risking everything on this high-wire stunt is his idea of life. A character study of such a daredevil could have made for a fascinating picture; unfortunately, director Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Forrest Gump) ends up deciding to backtrack on this and to make artistry the thematic foundation of The Walk.

While this is not an inherently bad idea, the more we hear Petit’s frequent whining about his desire to create a great artistic performance in his moments of crisis of confidence, the more irritating and unsympathetic he becomes.

We are supposed to root for this guy to survive his perilous stunt, but his character is too uninteresting for us to really care. Gordon-Levitt does the best he can with what he has, but even the best of actors can’t save a bad script. His questionable—and frankly jarring—attempt at a French accent doesn’t help.

Speaking of one-dimensional characters, I can barely bother to recall the cast of supporting roles in this movie. Petit’s entire team is made up of single trait characters—we have ‘the one who cares about him’, ‘the crafty one’, ‘the one who is scared of heights’. If I were to talk about them for much longer, I feel they would drag me down to their own catastrophic levels of dullness, so I shall leave this point here.

The visual spectacle of the film’s final act does deliver a long awaited shift-up in gear, but is it even worth the wait? Okay, we are treated to a few suitably tense sequences when Petit’s crew set up the wire against the clock and the law. Yes, as I have already mentioned, the stunt itself is a visual marvel when experienced in 3D. But these scenes, which total to about 40 minutes, are the only worthwhile parts of the film. I dare say that I would have had a better time if The Walk was just a 3D IMAX short film, focusing solely on the event itself. But Zemeckis’s insistence on bloating the narrative in tedious places makes the experience, as a whole, something of a drag.

Much like the high-wire walk itself, this movie feels more like a stunt than anything else. It is a showcase for Zemeckis’s best and worst tendencies. Visual effects: Superb. Storytelling: Somewhat wanting. As they often say, there is a fine line between genius and madness. Philippe Petit walked precariously along this line. The Walk doesn’t even try to emulate his spirit.

2/5

High Street Hallowe’en

Written by Phoebe Nickalls on 21st October 2015. Posted in Fashion & Beauty.

We love Hallowe’en. It’s one of the only times of the year that we can dress up as pretty much anything we want. Add some fake blood and voila! You have a pretty cool Hallowe’en costume! For the less creative amongst you, we have scoured the high street up and down searching for the best Hallowe’en-inspired items. Most of them you can even wear when it’s not October 31st…we won’t tell!

ASOS:

Our first selection of picks is from our old favourite, ASOS. These cobweb leggings (£18) are a great start for any Hallowe’en costume. Add some fancy makeup and you’re done. It’s scarily simple. If you’re going somewhere smarter, this cat dress (£25) will be sure to impress, and if you feel like incorporating the holiday spirit into your everyday wardrobe, these ballet slippers (£25) will add a hint of fun wherever you go! For the men amongst us, the skeleton onesie (£28) makes for a hassle-free and stylish costume; you can even wear it around the house when it starts to get cold! The Mancunion Fashion and Beauty: helping students save money on their heating. You’re welcome.

Photo: Asos

Topshop:

If Topshop is your go-to, then why not take your pick from their spooky selection this Hallowe’en. This skeleton dress (£28) can be dressed up or down and would suit most Hallowe’en parties. If you are looking for the perfect accessory to finish off your costume, why not go for this spider choker (£5) to complete your look. Or, if you’re not going out but still want to embrace the day, these cute bat socks (£3) are an easy way to add some Hallowe’en spookiness to your everyday wardrobe. And lastly, no Hallowe’en night out would be complete without several people dressed as cats! These sparkly cat ears (£7.50) will do perfectly…

Photo: Topshop

Boohoo:

We were really impressed with Boohoo’s Hallowe’en selection this year. For a full fancy-dress outfit, look no further than their Zombie Cheerleader Dress (£25): an affordable way to go all out! We also love the Trick or Treat Midi Dress (£15) for an understated Hallowe’en look. If you loved the leggings from our ASOS selection, why not pair them with this Skeleton Crop Top (£12). It even glows in the dark! And lastly, for the guys who want to go out for Hallowe’en, but don’t want to completely dress up, this Skull Top (£8) is a wearable way to smash the look!

Photo: Boohoo

The big costume debate: sexy VS scary

Written by Sarah Kilcourse on 21st October 2015. Posted in Fashion & Beauty.

With Hallowe’en just around the corner, it’s time to start picking out your costume. Generally, there are two categories for female costume: sexy or scary. By scary, what I really mean is ‘funny’, and by sexy what I really mean is ‘naked’.

Take Cady Heron’s famous ‘ex-wife’ in Mean Girls. It’s definitely not scary, but it is amusing—mainly because she’s the only one who’s not naked. Don’t worry, I’m not here to write a judgemental article telling you off for choosing to wear more or less clothes than you normally would; all I ask is that you do try to wear some form of costume. Fancy dress is just good fun, and university is one of the best opportunities to let loose and dress like an absolute loon.

If you’re going to go down the sexy route, the high street has an array of options available on the cheap: cat, devil, and skeleton; all of these are popular Hallowe’en costumes that you can still look hot in. Or, if you already have worthy but un-stereotypical Hallowe’en attire, get some fake blood and scary contact lenses and you’ll be good to go.

The scary route is also wonderfully cheap; the main benefits, in my opinion, are the extra warmth and comfort.

However, according to my flatmate, you can achieve funny and sexy very easily—the pumpkin. You can get your legs out, but be comfortable and comical in a big round pumpkin suit! The choice is up to you, but I know what I would do…

“Why are you dressed so scary!?” “It’s Hallowe’en…”
Photo: Paramount Pictures

Top 5: Villainous Vogue

Written by Kassi Allcock on 21st October 2015. Posted in Fashion & Beauty.

Maleficent

There is no denying it—Angelina Jolie’s cheek bone game was on point throughout the whole of the 2014 film release of Maleficent. With her ghostly pale complexion, her oxblood lips, and her sassy purple cape, nobody could look quite so stylish whilst being a… well… maleficent villain. The most fearsome feature of her entire look is her glistening set of teeth, almost blinding her victims as she cackles her menacing laugh.

Photo: warriorpoet @Flickr

The Joker

Although not the epitome of glamour in his prison uniform, The Joker’s usual attire of an eccentric purple suit and faded green locks definitely has flare. His gruesome make up could easily be recreated for any Hallowe’en villain look—simply grab yourself a paint palette that includes white, red, and black. When drawing on your elongated smile, make sure to fashion yourself a few fake scars. He wouldn’t be The Joker without cracking a funny or two about how he got his creepy smile.

Photo: rwoan @Flickr

Cruella De Vil

This crazy woman is an absolute style icon for every villain everywhere. I mean, just look at her! Literally wearing her victims in the form of a fur coat, evil resides in her bones. She takes monochrome to another level, travelling all the way up to her hairdo. Although her look is both sleek and fierce, I can’t help but think about how much upkeep her ‘do’ must need…

Photo: lorenjavier @Flickr

Captain Hook

This is a handy costume idea for Hallowe’en if you were one of the hundreds of students to show up to last month’s Pangaea as Captain Hook. Sporting a dazzling red suit and a pair of knee-length black boots, he certainly fits into the category of ‘best dressed villain’. Appearing to be a proper member of society in old-fashioned formal attire (despite the obvious flaw of his hook-hand), it is his twisted moustache that gives away his evil machinations.

Photo: losmininos @Flickr

Corpse Bride

Although not technically a villain, the eerie feeling surrounding all Tim Burton productions feels pretty villainous to me. What better way to spend Hallowe’en than painted blue from head to toe, wearing a torn, dirty wedding dress? It even gives you an excuse to apply your favourite vampy lipstick! Get your boyfriend/best guy friend involved by dressing him as Johnny Depp’s character, Victor Van Dort, and pass by all of the green-eyed monsters wishing they were you—the most stylish couple in the room.

The Manchester Derby: Preview

Written by Mancunion on 20th October 2015. Posted in Sport.

Written by Will Kelly, Harry Newton, Davide Cappelli, and Toby Webb, with Alexander Craig and Ben Blakey.

With the Manchester derby coming up this weekend, the SPORT team have joined forces to preview the game! The derbies the last few years have been becoming more and more even—this one is lining up to be one of the most even some time, as both teams find themselves title challengers again.

City’s Tactics: Toby Webb

Going into Sunday’s clash, City will look to mimic Arsenal’s performance against United a few weeks ago; namely, to deliver the knockout blow before the end of the first round. United were completely overwhelmed by Arsenal’s direct and pacey approach, conceding three game-deciding goals in the first 20 minutes. The directness was too much for United’s haggard midfield of Michael Carrick and Bastian Schweinsteiger; huge gaps in midfield and in front of the defence were easily exploited.

City has the pace to emulate Arsenal’s achievement, with Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling. De Bruyne has truly hit the ground running since his move to England late in the transfer window, creating and scoring goals in recent matches. Sterling has shown glimpses of class; a big performance at Old Trafford will immediately place him in the fans’ hearts.

I have maintained for some time that City look their most threatening when the counter-attacking style, employing a fast tempo and directness. Several of the goals scored in the 6-1 demolition of Newcastle were on the counter-attack, thus showing that City have the components to play in this way.

A counter-attacking style will be easier to adopt as they are playing away from home. United will be expected to dominate the game, with the majority of players looking to join the attacks. This will leave open space for City to utilise as long as they can move the ball forward quick enough.

As mentioned, the midfield, specifically the gap between the defence and deep-sitting midfielder, will be a crucial area that City can exploit. David Silva, provided he’s fit, will aim to occupy this insecure space, looking to thread balls through to the striker or stretch the play by bringing in the wide players. Silva sometimes has a tendency to slow the play down by passing laterally or even backwards, however, he must endeavour to go forward as much as possible if City are to have the same success as Arsenal did.

A further aspect that plays into City’s advantage is the often unpredictable United team selection. Antonio Valencia and Ashley Young have both played out of position in recent weeks. While Marcus Rojo’s return to fitness should resolve some of the issues, United will most likely continue to play Daley Blind, who is traditionally a midfielder, in defence. He is a solid player but the likes of De Bruyne and Silva could easily expose him. Ultimately, Louis Van Gaal is yet to decide on his favoured starting team; this uncertainty is something City should look to exploit if possible.

With Vincent Kompany likely to be fit, City should have a solid and organised defence on which to build a strong performance. City manager Manuel Pelligrini often errs on the side of caution in the big games, selecting two midfielders to sit in front of the defence, these likely to be Fernandinho and Yaya Toure (Fernando if the latter is not fit). This formation has sometimes left City looking uninspiring going forward. However, the inventiveness of De Bruyne and the pace of Sterling should counteract this.

With both teams in Champions League action this week (United away to CSKA Moscow and City at home to Sevilla), both managers will have to use their squads effectively to ensure the right players are fresh for Sunday’s clash. From a City perspective, if the team can play with the same tempo and directness shown against Newcastle (something United have struggled against previously), they will likely be the victors on Sunday.

Toby Webb’s prediction: 2-0 City

City’s Tactics: Harry Newton

Manchester City find themselves in a difficult situation when asking who their star man is for this game, with their obvious best player this season David Silva, and goal machine Sergio Agüero, both likely to miss out. When City fans sat and watched Agüero tear apart Newcastle their minds turned to this very match! Five against Newcastle in twenty minutes? Surely Agüero could manage two or three against Louis Van Gaal’s men in 90! Alas, the man of glass suffered an injury. So who is City’s main man now?

Kevin de Bruyne, since his megabucks move from Wolfsburg this summer, has injected City with a whole new feel. The energetic midfielder brought the Blues straight back after a stuttering start. David Silva is almost the complete footballer, but what he misses, de Bruyne has. Watching the two play together for the start of the Belgian’s City career has been scintillating, and there is no reason he cannot do this without Silva or Aguero by his side. This man has unlocked some of the best defences in the world—whether it be acting as the Bundesliga Player of the Year in Germany last year, or for Belgium—so he should have no trouble against a faulting Manchester United defence, surely…

One of City’s men who slips under the radar of many, but consistently performs, is Fernandinho. He will be just as important to this game as de Bruyne, and if he continues on his good form he will do well for the Blues.

Harry Newton’s prediction: 1-0 to City. Either de Bruyne, or a Joe Hart overhead kick.

United’s Tactics: Will Kelly

In terms of historical significance in the world, the University of Manchester has proven to be influential in the school of physics with the likes of Alan Turing with his computer science, and Ernst Rutherford splitting the atom. Over at Old Trafford, a new “philosophy” is emerging from Van Gaal having made a strange new discovery of his own: ‘False Mata’.

The base of this theory is that Juan Mata is no longer the playmaker United fans had thought they had signed but is the “false right winger,” as Van Gaal has dubbed him last season. Instead of looking to assist in a congestive midfield where he only stands at 5’7″, it is the Spaniard’s job of getting the ball into the back of the net.

Matteo Darmian as the overlapping fullback provides width, which enables Mata to drift inside, often without the ball, looking for space between defenders on the edge of the box. Manuel Pelligrini opted for a 4-4-2 formation in the Manchester derby last year and it certainly proved costly. Yaya Toure, for whatever reason, did not track back and United’s midfield utilised Mata in the gaps behind City’s midfield. This was, essentially, playing triangles around City’s midfield and United were able to win 4-2.

Mata is currently United’s player of the month, having completed an average pass accuracy of 90 per cent, notching up three goals and four assists, and his performances will be key if United are to make a sustained challenge for the Premier League title this season.

However, against Arsenal, United were themselves suspect of allowing too much space which Arsenal attacked ruthlessly. It did not make tactical sense to play Michael Carrick and Bastian Schweinsteiger because they did not have the legs to track back against Arsenal’s deep runners. I would expect Schneiderlin to start the game and to really get stuck into Yaya Toure and break their midfield down.

United have been playing a possession-dominated game this season but they need to play with intensity, and to have no fear in taking on City’s fullbacks to force Raheem Sterling and Kevin De Bruyne to track back into their own half. Questions will be raised if Memphis Depay will start, as he has been so inconsistent thus far, and I would expect that Ashley Young will start ahead of him, as he loves to drive at the full back.

This will be a big game for the 19-year-old Anthony Martial, who has been nothing short of a revelation since his arrival. Scoring three goals in four games, Martial has rightfully been named as Premier League Player of the Month for September. Something that has been quite surprising is his strength, as he is able to hold the ball up and turn on his centre back to really drive into the box.

Vincent Kompany will be a stern test of strength but if he can continue to make runs behind the centre backs or carry the ball in close control within these areas, this will allow the likes of Mata and Young (if selected) to penetrate the inside of the area. The key to success is to keep possession of the ball, but also to be clinical in attack and like United’s recent performance against Wolfsburg, United could run City into the ground.

Will Kelly’s prediction: 2-1 for United. United to get a two goal lead, and a nervy ending.

City Derby Memories: Harry Newton

There’s been some fantastic derby moments for City down the years, but there is one that sticks out more than any other: The 6-1. In City’s first title-winning season, they needed the belief that they could really see off the world’s best teams and go on and snatch the Premier League trophy for their first time in decades.

This game had it all. Balotelli started off the goal scoring and began a humiliating day for the reds as he silenced the Old Trafford crowd and stole away all their attention to look at his message under his shirt. “Why always me?” If that was the only goal in a 1-0 win then maybe you would have had the back pages Mario, but the blues continued full steam ahead.

Aguero bagged two, Silva with another, and Edin Dzeko finished off the romp with two for himself! Dzeko’s last goal will be seen for years to come on numerous highlights reels, whether it be for the demise of Manchester United that season, the rise of Manchester City, the fantastic assist from David Silva or his pure audacity to check the scoreboard before holding up six fingers to whoever were left in the Old Trafford stands to see him.

Prior to the game some comments from Sir Alex Ferguson about City’s inferiority to the red side of Manchester added insult to injury for United fans, and the blue half of Manchester still sing about this day since. The fact that City have since beaten United to the league title by mere seconds, and had them battered once more by a big 4-1 score line—and yet they still sing about this day, tells you all you need to know about how important this game was for the team and fans alike.

This was not just a battering of a local rival in front of their own fans—this was a statement of intent to the world. Manchester City have grown. They were no longer little City, or megabucks City struggling in the Europa League—these were the quick, the goal-scoring title contenders Manchester City. It’s just a shame that this was only the second best game City played that season…

United Derby Memories: Will Kelly

My favourite derby memory was Manchester United’s 4-3 victory, when Michael Owen scored in the 96th minute to win the game. It was an absolutely incredible game and bar Bellamy’s wonder strike, United had practically handed City the three goals after some serious errors by United’s defence. I remember some people started to leave after City had scored the equalizer in the 90th minute but for some reason, I knew that the game wasn’t over yet.

I was pumped with adrenaline and I lost my voice trying to rally fans around me that we could keep going. After the pass from Ryan Giggs (with the outside of his foot), there was deafening silence as Michael Owen took the touch in the box and prodded home the winner. The stadium exploded and I for one as a 16-year-old was whisked around, and lifted up six rows up the stand. I had to find my brother after the match, that was how far I was lifted up!

Another favourite memory was Sir Alex Ferguson’s last season when Robin Van Persie scored the winner from a free kick, again in added time. I was in the away end and we just erupted in a sea of red. My glasses flung off during the wild celebrations and it wasn’t ideal that I had to submit an essay for the next day, having spent the whole day drinking. It was a long night!

United Fan Comment: Alexander Craig

United are going to win this derby for the same reason City will never mount successive title campaigns, because City is a pseudo-football club with a hollow culture. These games are won and lost on the commitment of the players, something which Manchester’s resident Dutch lunatic has instilled in his team in abundance.

That, and this season’s City mercenaries will be as startled as they were last season when they look around our vast colosseum of football and see no empty seats.

The return of Vincent Kompany is music to United’s ears. His lust for hot-headed defending, leaving space in behind and giving away needless fouls, is something which the Ice-Man Martial is bound to feed off. I’d even go as far as saying Rooney could score. Chins will rest comfortably in chests once Martial ripples the net for the first time and with Aguero and Silva injured, I can’t see Smalling having too much to worry about.

Alexander Craig’s prediction: 2-0 to United (Martial brace)

City Fan Comment: Ben Blakey

The biggest club in the Manchester area have recruited well over the summer, adding a world-class player in Kevin De Bruyne and the flair and promise of the young Raheem Sterling. If you watched the opening month of the season, you’d be a fool not to back the mighty blues to win their third PL title in four years.

With Agüero and Silva fit there’s no doubt it’d be a cricket score, with the Spanish magician orchestrating goals, goals and more goals. On his day, Agüero is the best player in the world. However, with both these players doubtful, the likes of Sterling, KDB and Bony will have to step up. This shouldn’t be a problem against the pub players United have at the moment, most notably Chris Smalling and the donkey Michael Carrick. Kolarov will be vital in securing the 3 points, his marauding runs and magical left foot can be devastating.

City have injuries, and, although it’s well known that we are a beautiful team, sometimes you just never know what you’re going to get. The balance of power in Manchester has definitely switched since Fergie’s departure: United are now ‘the noisy neighbours’.

Ben Blakey’s prediction: Comfortable 3-1 to City.

Black History Month: An evening with Viv Anderson

Written by Mancunion on 20th October 2015. Posted in Sport.

As part of Black History Month, the People’s History Museum, located in Spinningfields, Manchester hosted a talk with Viv Anderson—the first black footballer to represent England, against Czechoslovakia, at Wembley Stadium in 1978. Anderson would eventually earn England 30 caps over a ten year period.

Anderson was born in Nottingham in 1956 and as a young boy, he had trials with Sheffield United and Manchester United—whose academy he subsequently joined. Anderson and his father would travel back and forth between Nottingham and Manchester, and had the amazing opportunity to train with professional footballers like George Best, Dennis Law and Bobby Charlton. But it was not to be at United, as they decided to let him go at the age of 12.

His big footballing break came when, while working as an apprentice, Nottingham Forest asked him to play youth matches, leading him to become a member of their academy. It was at this club that Anderson’s distinguished club career would begin. He played for Nottingham Forest between 1974 and 1984, during which at the time—under the manager-assistant duo of Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, he gained promotion to the old First Division, and won the First Division title and two European Cups.

After leaving Forest, Anderson went on to play for two of the most successful clubs in English football, Arsenal and Manchester United. From there he moved to Sheffield Wednesday, regularly playing for a team that reached the League and FA Cup finals of 1993 and finished seventh in the first Premier League season, before becoming player-manager at Barnsley and then assistant manager to Bryan Robson at Middlesbrough—where injuries forced him to make his final two appearances as a footballer.

Anderson was a chatty, jovial guest throughout the talk, never shying away from a question asked and was always willing to provide insights and anecdotes from his playing career. Naturally, many of these stories involved the mercurial Brian Clough. Anderson also had the distinction of being Sir Alex Ferguson’s first signing at Manchester United. When asked to compare the two managers, Anderson felt that they were very similar; they commanded the respect of the players—even once players had left the club, they commonly refused to divulge either manager’s methods to the press; and they had an innate ability to infuse players with a sense of self-belief that translated to improved performances.

In spite of all the accolades garnered in his club career, Anderson called his first appearance for England his favourite game of all time because he was so proud to be given the opportunity to represent his country—a fact complemented by his possibly optimistic, but hopefully prescient, prediction that England would reach at least the semi-finals of Euro 2016. Anderson cheekily claimed that he got an assist on the night: A pass to Steve Coppell who ran 60 yards with the ball, and crossed it for the striker to head into the net!

One subject that was not at the forefront of his mind in the build up to the game against Czechoslovakia, was the historical milestone that he was about to achieve. To him, he was just a strong lad from Nottingham, whose job was to kick people for a living. He recounts the instructions given to him by Clough at Forest: “Keep the ball out of my net and give the ball to those who could play”—which he applied to all of the games he played in.

Anderson came up against racism many times during his career, with Newcastle away being a particularly bad ground to go to. Recounting one away match at Carlisle, when he was on the substitute’s bench, Clough told Anderson to go and warm up. Two minutes later, Anderson would return and explained to Clough that the crowd were throwing apples, bananas and pears at him. Clough told him to go out there, and bring him back a pear and a banana!

Clough later brought him aside in the changing room and told him that Anderson would never get far in football if he let people dictate his life and get to him emotionally. Clough told him to let the football do the talking and Anderson used this as a mantra for the rest of his career.

One focal point of the evening was Anderson’s thoughts on the lack of black managers within the English game. Anderson remembers going into management at Barnsley and being only the second black manager in England, to which the media stated that this would be the start of things to come. Today it saddens Anderson that despite being 15 years on, the situation hasn’t changed.

Anderson puts this down to the perception that notable black candidates are seen to be good players, but people doubt their ability to go into management. He called for the FA to make a stance. Whether this came in the form of the ‘Rooney Rule’, like they have in America, Anderson declared that something had to be done to help people from minority backgrounds to enter football management.

Anderson recognised that into today’s games, it is increasingly difficult for managers to get a chance to prove themselves as the game has become essentially, a results-orientated business.

Martin O’Neil, Anderson’s former teammate, lost his first 13 games as manager of Leicester City, yet the club stood by him and he went on achieving great things. Another former teammate, Terry Butcher, has just lost his job after eight games in charge of Newport County.

Gordon Taylor, the Professional Football Association’s chairman was present and he echoed Anderson’s claims for a fairer recruitment policy. Taylor encouraged people to start at a good club lower down the leagues and cited Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink—currently working wonders with Burton Albion. Taylor, also, was greatly concerned about the lack of people from Asian backgrounds working in football today and encouraged a recruitment policy that would help them become integrated as players, referees and even coaching staff. For him, studies needed to be done in areas with higher Asian populations such as Blackburn and Bradford to understand why these people are not coming through in football.

Football has come a long way since the days when the likes of Viv Anderson were subject to torrid racist abuse from the sidelines. Today, the England team has plenty of black stars within the squad. But clearly, football still has a long way to go. Perhaps the FA should stand up and take note of Anderson and Taylor’s sentiments and ultimately, take action.

FIFA chaos as the world cries out for change

Written by Harry Newton on 20th October 2015. Posted in Sport.

The Third Reich, the Roman Empire and Kerry Katona’s showbiz career are all things that saw a pitiful demise from positions of such unimaginable strength, and the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) are in danger of finding themselves in a very similar situation.

Football’s governing body, FIFA, are facing a power struggle due to the stream of accusations of corruption against its highest members—with UEFA president Michel Platini and FIFA president Sepp Blatter both being given a 90-day suspension last week over a payment of £1.35 million to Platini himself unaccounted for. On a basic level, football is a game loved by millions, but without a governing body for the international running of this sport, it will falter—and with the current disarray that FIFA are in, football is already suffering.

For a very long time now, football is no longer just a game. It is no longer the case that each match is the most important thing to do with football; politics has become increasingly more important in football as the years have gone on. This is of course a good thing, as these politicians organise international football and help it to grow further—but with politics comes corruption and with this, football is dragged down and the game could be ruined. FIFA need to stop and start again, but with men like Platini and Blatter heading the organisation, this will never work.

Prior to voting, the FIFA inspection team came to the conclusion that Qatar was the only “high risk” option overall from all candidates to host the 2022 World Cup. And yet, Platini and many others still voted for Qatar, who gained 14 of the 22 votes of the executive committee in December 2010.

The world fell to outrage and pursuits to get the corruption out of the game increased. It was always presumed that there were obviously different reasons than football that lead to this decision, and Blatter, of all people, was the man to confirm these reports. In the voting for this the French and German governments intervened in the choosing of the 2022 World Cup—to try and push for a Qatar win; a place with three stadiums in place, and now thousands less workers due to deaths on the job. This was due to French and German business projects in the richest country in the world that could be made even more profitable from a Qatar World Cup.

This is evidence for not only the corruption in football, but also the magnitude of it as the French and German governments show their muscle too—but with the right people in charge of FIFA running it the right way, then this may have been averted.

Platini and Blatter find themselves emulating Gary Barlow and Robbie Williams—everyone knows it’s time to call it a day, except themselves. You have had your time in the spotlight, but that fire will not relight anymore and it’s time to let go.

Despite in June Blatter saying he would stand down following American and Swiss investigations into possible money laundering, he still found himself sat in his chair soon after. When the allegations against Blatter had began, squeaky-clean Platini had put on his cape to save the day and put himself forward for election. He put himself forward as the man ready to make football about football again, but now finds himself under investigation and suspended from having any interaction with football whatsoever.

This is due to £1.35 million being given to Platini, and no written record of this being kept. This is money that Platini should have apparently been given in a period of FIFA’s history when they did not have enough money to pay him, so it has been given to him more recently. This is the same period in FIFA’s history where they enjoyed surplus revenue of £80 million.

The whole episode certainly doesn’t seem to make sense, but Platini protests his innocence, and says it was a verbal contract between the two men. This is definitely not shining Platini or Blatter in any positive light. With the Dutch, German and Danish associations all saying they are assessing their loyalty towards Platini in the presidential election, and the English FA saying they are “following the ongoing investigation,” a man who looked like he may have saved football is under some extreme pressure here.

Many of the officials in world football find themselves in this spider web of deceit—even the current acting president, Issa Hayatou, was reprimanded in 2011 over bribery allegations. Another example of a football chief entangled in this problem is Thai FA head Worawi Makudi, currently suspended for 90 days, who was found guilty in a Thai court for forgery in his re-election as head of the Thai FA.

Even Gregg Dyke, the man seen as looking quite clean in all these proceedings, is under some pressure at the moment by giving Platini his full backing despite these issues, and no manifesto being in place or any other candidate for that matter. That’s like voting for an X Factor winner before they’ve even sang.

Blatter may finally leave, after finding himself trapped in the revolving door of the FIFA HQ for the last year, but the problems in football are deeper than one man. Football needs a fresh start, but unless Alan Sugar hosts a special edition of The Apprentice, I can’t see anybody different coming to the forefront any time soon.

There are options of course. Blatter and Platini can go, and we can find ourselves with a different person at the top, and he may run the organisation better. With Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan officially submitting his candidature for the presidency this is a real opportunity for FIFA to progress, but the problem with this is that the world may find itself slaughtering a tiger to set loose a lion, as simply installing a new person at the top will not get rid of all the problems.

Another option is being expressed from the cries from the back of the room—for the Swiss government to put FIFA in state control and just simply start again. If there’s still 22 players, one ball and a referee, then who really has a problem with starting again? This is extremely unlikely, but football is definitely at a stage now where change is necessary, and the politicians need to be reminded of the game they represent.

MTN-Qhubeka: The first African Tour de France Team

Written by Alex Whitcomb on 20th October 2015. Posted in Sport.

In 2015, MTN-Qhubeka made their first appearance at the Tour de France. In doing so, they became the first African team to compete at the tour, a major milestone in the sport’s history. Now they have firmly established themselves as the fans’ favorites with their attacking style and plucky underdog status.

The team has been bucking trends ever since its inception, and part of the team’s project is to promote the organisation Qhubeka. The word Qhubeka is an Nguni word for “to progress”, and the charity is the World Bicycle Relief’s South African programme. The group has distributed over 220,000 specially designed bikes to communities across Africa. The charity says that “having a bicycle changes lives by increasing the distance people can travel, what they can carry, where they can go and how fast they can get there.”

Devoting half of a team’s lucrative advertising space to a non-profit group has raised eyebrows amongst the European peloton, but their slogan #bicycleschangelives has helped gain support for their cause as well as their team on the roadside.

Like British and American outfits before them, they have had to import European talent to ensure invitations to top races. For instance, their first Tour stage win was with veteran GB rider Steve Cummings. However, the team insists that this hasn’t taken away from their ambition, and have said that in the next three to five years a black African could stand on the podium of the Tour de France. It may seem a bold statement, but similar incredulity greeted Dave Brailsford when he predicted that there would be a British winner within five years of Team Sky launching.

The squad certainly isn’t without African talent. Eritrean rider Daniel Teklehaimanot lit up the first week of the tour and wore the King of the Mountains Jersey for four days—the first African ever to don the polka dot jersey. It’s also the case that the African riders are younger than their European teammates, and will benefit immensely in their development by being on the team.

It’s also no secret that black representation in pro cycling is woefully poor. Of the 198 athletes at the 2015 Tour, only three were black, and only one came from a team outside of MTN-Qhubeka. Gregory Baugé is one of very few black athletes to climb to the heights of winning a world championships with eight world titles to his name. He also narrowly missed out on a gold medal at London 2012. MTN have also experienced some racism within the sport. While competing at le Tour it was reported that one of the team’s riders had experienced abuse from a fellow rider on the Tour of Austria.

However, the hope is that—with teams like MTN—more black athletes from all continents of the world will succeed in professional cycling. Latin American cyclists faced similar problems in the 1980s. An outsider nation at first, Colombians now dominate world cycling races, with the 2014 Giro D’Italia champion and double Tour de France runner up Nairo Quintana now a Colombian national hero.

The team will change their name to Team Dimension Data for 2016 but will carry on their mission of promoting Qhubeka. Success on the road has also allowed them to complete one of the most talked-about transfers in world cycling. Legendary sprinter Mark Cavendish has joined them for next season, raising their profile immeasurably and adding to the pool of talent and experience available for the home grown riders in the squad to benefit from. So while it’s clearly the case that they have achieved much for African cycling already, their best days look to be ahead of them.

For more information, visit qhubeka.org.

Sport in the City: Fitness and Fight Festival

Written by Adam Selby on 20th October 2015. Posted in Sport.

Over the course of the academic year, as well as paying close attention to and prioritising the progress and successes of our university’s very own societies, teams and campus sports, let our new Sport in the City feature tempt you into a very different sporting day out. Whether it’s a new sport, a team you’ve never heard of, or just an event that interests us, we hope that we will be able to entice you to explore the wide sporting variety that the city has to offer during your time studying at the University of Manchester.

In the spotlight this week: Fitness and Fight Festival

Well… what is it?

Described as an afternoon out which has something on offer for the whole family, the Fitness and Fight Festival is a weekend long event which aims to promote the benefits, importance and the integral role that fitness, nutrition and regular sporting activity should play in our lives. After the successful 2013 festival in Manchester, the first ever independent event showcasing all thing Mixed Martial Arts, 2015 is the year of Fitness and Fight and will play host to a number of different activities throughout the weekend. With over 60 live events taking place ranging from general fitness classes to natural bodybuilding competitions and Thai boxing, or simply just presentations from keynote speakers, Q&A sessions with those in the know and open discussions, there really is something for everybody. So no matter whether you are a fitness fanatic or just somebody still in desperate need of feeling refreshed after freshers week, the Fitness and Fight Festival could be more than just an afternoon out; it could be the start of a much healthier future.

How do I get there?

The Fitness and Fight Festival takes place at EventCity which is part of the Trafford Centre complex, 6.2 miles from the University of Manchester Students’ Union. Now, please don’t be alarmed as although it is not exactly round the corner, travelling to and from EventCity can be rather straightforward whichever mode of transport takes your fancy. Admittedly not easily accessible by Metrolink, it’s now time to finally get your money’s worth from your UniRider or even a Stagecoach Day Rider as the bus is the best way to reach your destination. The Trafford Centre high frequency bus service, the X50, can be caught from Stand K in Piccadilly Gardens and runs on average every 15 minutes, 7 days a week, as does the 250, which also takes the same route. Free parking is also available for anybody wishing to drive to the event.

How much does it cost to get in?

Inevitably because of the incredibly wide variety of exhibitions, demonstrations, advice, guidance and equipment on show amongst many other features, which tempt people to travel from far and wide to the festival, the Fitness and Fight Festival will cost a little bit more than your average afternoon out. Yet when you actually weigh up and consider the amount of individual features on offer, it could certainly prove to be money well spent. A weekend admission ticket for both days of the event will cost you £30, or a day ticket to either day of the festival is available for purchase at £20. All tickets are available through the official Fitness and Fight website: fitnessandfightfestival.com

What are the facilities like?

EventCity is essentially a box, a very large box, based in the outskirts of Manchester in Trafford. But whilst it may not look like much from the outside, it is what happens on the inside which has made it such an attractive location to host exhibitions, entertainment broadcasts and sporting events since its opening in late 2010. EventCity itself is part of the Trafford Centre shopping complex and the building is the second largest exhibition space outside of London with 28,000 sq. m. of space.

Tell me something I didn’t already know…

The last event attracted over 14,000 visitors over two days with event participation during the festival totalling 2,500 competitors and with 120 different stands. And although the special guests for the 2015 edition of the Fitness and Fight festival have still yet to be announced, expect to see some of the leading fitness guru’s as well as some of the biggest motivators and industry influencers in the business make an appearance during the festival. So if you’re in need of some words of wisdom, inspiration or just eager to see what all the fuss is about, you’re certainly in the right company.

Finally, when can I see this in action?

The 2015 Fitness and Fight Festival takes place on the weekend of Saturday 24th to Sunday 25th October from 10am till 5pm and for more information, visit their website.

If you have any requests for local teams, sports or events taking place in Manchester, or if you wish to be involved, please email us at: [email protected].

Black History Month: Walter Tull

Written by James Haughton on 20th October 2015. Posted in Sport.

Born in Folkestone, Kent, in 1888, Walter Tull would go on to live a groundbreaking, yet tragically short life; becoming the first ever mixed-race professional outfield footballer, the second person of mixed-race as a professional player, and the first ever mixed-race officer in the British army. Tull’s father, Daniel, was born in Barbados and moved to Kent, where he met Tull’s mother, Alice Elizabeth Palmer. Walter’s parents died while he was still young, and so him and his brother Edward were moved to a Methodist-run orphanage in London. Edward was adopted by a Glaswegian family and later became a successfully qualified dentist.

Walter, on the other hand, learned the trade of printing during his time at the orphanage, and in his free time, he would play for the orphanage’s football team. In 1908, he was signed to Clapham FC. His short spell at the club was a successful one—in 1909 he would lift the FA Amateur Cup with Clapham.

During that same year, Tull signed professionally for Tottenham Hotspur, earning four pounds a week—the maximum a footballer could earn at the time. His time at Tottenham was troubled, as he was the victim of racial abuse when Tottenham played an away game against Bristol City. “A section of the spectators made a cowardly attack upon him [Walter Tull] in language lower than Billingsgate…” reported one newspaper. Furthermore, Tull’s first-team opportunities were limited at Tottenham; he made only ten league appearances for the club.

In 1911, Tull moved to Northampton Town. At the time, Northampton were managed by Herbert Chapman, who would later go on to manage both Arsenal and Huddersfield Town to one FA Cup win and two First Division titles. Walter Tull was a regular for Northampton, playing over 100 times for the club, mainly as a wing half, a position supporting the centre half—who in those days would play in central midfield, not in the defence—in the now-unused 2-3-5 formation.

As a result of the outbreak of World War I, Tull joined the 17th Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment—more commonly known as the Footballers’ Battalion, and participated in the Battle of the Somme. His bravery and leadership qualities led to him gaining promotions in the army, and, on the recommendation of senior officers, he underwent officer training, despite rules at the time forbidding black men from becoming officers in the British army.

When Tull returned to the front lines in 1917, he fought in Italy, and his commanding officer praised his “gallantry and coolness” in leading a group of 26 men on a night raiding party. In 1918, Tull returned to France, and it was here, at the age of 29, where he lost his life during the Spring Offensive. His standing amongst his fellow soldiers was demonstrated by the fact that they fought valiantly to retrieve his body. But it was to no avail, and his body has never been recovered. He was recommended for a Military Cross but has never received it.

Review: The Crucible

Written by Kate Harvey on 20th October 2015. Posted in Theatre.

It is impossible not to feel that this play has a timely relevance to our dissonant modern day society in which uncertainty is en masse. We witness an onset of insecurity through Miller’s intersection between two haunting periods of US history: The Salem witch trials of 1692, and the widespread paranoia engineered by the House of Un-American Activities Committee over a feared spread of Communism during the 1950s.

Frenetic dancing and witchcraft rituals in the opening scene leaves the audience feeling uneasy over the play’s immediate hysteria, and left me highly expectant of Sarah Amankwah’s role as Tituba. While her gestural performance fit the scene well, I felt somewhat disappointed by her vocal projection that at times seemed rather mumbling.

Jonjo O’Neill delivers a strong, dignified performance as John Proctor and is equally matched by Matti Houghton’s performance as his stoic wife, Elizabeth. Their on-stage relationship is one of the more striking aspects of this adaptation: It is clear that Director Steinbes is aware of the necessity to appeal to a wider audience, as The Crucible has been a fast favourite in GCSE, A-level and theatre courses nationwide. In recognising this, her production carefully blends more subtle themes of social interaction, gender, and sexuality with more obvious political issues within the text, and by doing so timelessly appeals to both the young and old.

I predicted some viewers might feel the mixture of accents to be confusing, but the blend of British and Irish accents seemed only to add to the authenticity of its New England colonial context. While the mish-mash of costume styles is at times slightly disjointed (puritan dresses featured alongside a Berghaus anorak…?) it only emphasizes the play’s ability to transcend time to the present day. The production’s visual oscillation between past and present is a jarring reminder that mass paranoia is in fact not all too alien a concept. In a world where an irrational fear of terrorism can be so easily stirred up over social media, pointed fingers and tales of witchcraft seem all the more pertinent.

Although at times Max Jones’s set feels a little stark, his design vision manages not to disturb the gravitas of the text. We witness a transformation in the concluding scenes as water floods the stage—a brave dramatic experiment that surprisingly isn’t too excessive. It serves its purpose as a powerful metaphor for the ‘purgation’ of countless unjust accusations.

The round theatre setting adds physicality to the feeling that the characters are involuntarily ‘pulled’ into a whirlwind of suspicion, as they are forced to wade their way through a murky onset of allegations. While the performance is undeniably somber, Jones’s watery set gives it a religious reverence that is mindful of the more existential elements of the play. Somehow, it works.

Having recently visited Miller’s alma mater at the University of Michigan to take part in preparations for his centenary symposium, it appears that modern dramatists, actors and theorists worldwide are eager to circulate his work today to make it accessible for all. It is for this reason that I was particularly excited to see that The Crucible was coming to Manchester. Miller is to this day revered by many, and serves as the father of the great allegorical play of the 20th century. This adaptation is not to be missed.

The Crucible will only be showing until the 24th of October, so book now to avoid disappointment. Ticket prices range from £8 to £34 and you can book from their website or call the Royal Exchange Theatre box office on 0161 833 9833.

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Month: October 2015