Tag: Sport
Challengers & Evil Does Not Exist
Friday, April 26th, 2024 Film Reviews,Challengers may be the first tennis movie that really takes us onto the court. When racket connects with ball it’s as if an exocet missile has been fired. Every contact between ball and court is explosive, as director, Luca Gaudagnino pumps up the volume and pushes us back into our seats. Sweat doesn’t drip from […]
The Iron Claw & Priscilla
Friday, January 19th, 2024 Film Reviews,If ever a film proves it’s possible to make a powerful story out of anything, it’s The Iron Claw. Those who spent their childhood watching World Championship Wrestling on TV may have distant memories of large, flabby men in tights roaring threats, jumping off turnbuckles, and thumping each other in a peculiarly unconvincing manner. The […]
The Boys in the Boat & The Holdovers
Friday, January 12th, 2024 Film Reviews,In those heady days when John Wayne was dispatching hostile injuns by the dozen, no-one could have envisaged Hollywood making clean-cut white Americans into the bad guys. It would have taken a clairvoyant to predict the tide of identity politics that has swept over the United States in recent times, engendering a new generation of […]
Gran Turismo
Friday, August 18th, 2023 Film Reviews,Not long ago, when people were asked to declare their hobbies and interests, they might list swimming or stamp collecting, visiting art galleries, or going to the opera. Nowadays, it’s increasingly likely the average person’s Number One pastime will be Shopping – with a capital ‘S’. The trend is reflected in our near-religious veneration for […]
Red, White & Brass
Friday, June 23rd, 2023 Film Reviews,Jennifer Lawrence, still considered one of Hollywood’s top drawcards, has appeared in only five films over the past six years. None were especially memorable, but her new effort, No Hard Feelings is a certified career killer. I never thought I’d see a big-name star degrade themselves so comprehensively as Robert De Niro did in Dirty […]
King Richard
Friday, February 25th, 2022 Film Reviews,Watching this bio pic about Richard Williams, who raised his daughters, Venus and Serena, to be tennis champions, I thought back to last year’s Netflix documentary on Naomi Osaka. That strange, vague, disconnected young woman might have benefited from a parent as dogged as Williams, although one suspects Venus and Serena succeeded almost as a […]
Schumacher
Thursday, September 23rd, 2021 Film Reviews,Formula One must be the most dangerous of spectator sports. Cars reach speeds in excess of 300 kph, requiring drivers with lightning fast reflexes, steely nerves, an intuitive feel for the track – and luck. If something goes wrong with your steering column when rounding a bend at 180 kph, no amount of skill will […]
Art and Sport
Tuesday, August 17th, 2021 Art Column,After the Tokyo Olympics the boredom of the lockdown is set to move onto a whole new plane. Even without spectators the Olympics has confirmed its status as the world’s supreme global spectacle, with the power to keep millions of people glued to the box day after day. What do we do now that it’s […]
Naomi Osaka
Thursday, August 5th, 2021 Film Reviews,We’re all familiar with newspaper stories about torn hamstrings, stress fractures, busted knees and shoulders. The Age can devote an entire page to a champion footballer’s groin strain. But until recently nobody ever mentioned an athlete’s mental health unless it was to lament some lapse in concentration at a vital stage. “A brain explosion!” is […]
King Otto
Thursday, May 27th, 2021 Film Reviews,We live in a deeply divided world, but when was it any different? One of Europe’s most ingrained divisions has been between the so-called Teutonic spirit and the Mediterranean spirit. It was a contrast that exercised the mind and the pen of artist, Emil Nolde, who saw the Germans as the embodiment of all things […]