It was with great trepidation and excitement that I settled in to watch the Champion's League Final between Liverpool FC and AC Milan. I'm not a huge Liverpool supporter by any means but at the same time I really really wanted them to win last night as a blow for the under dog if for no other reason.
But my God was it a match! AC Milan scored in the first minute of the first half which really put Liverpool on the back foot before anyone had time to find their feet. It was a great header from Maldini which looked like it surprised him as much as anyone else. The next 2 goals both came from Milan and were scored by Crespo but it has to be said that Kaka was the main play maker on the Milan side and without his incredible inch perfect pass the second Crespo goal just would not have been possible.
So at half time the score line was 3-0 and it was really beginning to look like the match was going to be a horrendous embarrassment to the 'Pool.
It was a strange night last night, normally with a scoreline like that I would have been itching to turn over and forget about the whole disaster, but this time I wasn't. I didn't feel like it was over at all and I found myself looking forward to the second half.
I am so glad I did stick it out! 3 goals in 8 minutes from Liverpool starting with a captain's strike from Gerrard and followed very quickly by a second by Smicer and then finally a penalty won by Gerrard and taken by Alonso who scored it on the rebound! It was magnificent! The game went on to extra time which saw a fabulous save by the often hit and miss Dudek and finally the decision as to who was going to win was left to penalties.
Personnally I don't think that Milan put their best men forward for the penalties but saying that watching Dudek's antics on the goal line as he imitated Grobellaar in the 1984 final I couldn't help but believe that they were going to do it! Whether it was Dudek leaping around or just the pressure of the night Milan fell apart and it was glorious to watch the reds win that trophy.
It was a truly great Champion's League Final and one that the history books will no doubt note.
Thursday, May 26, 2005
Monday, May 23, 2005
Star Wars III - Revenge of the Sith
Ok so every dog and divil who has any interest in popular culture at all will beat a path to the cinema to see the latest and possibly last of George Lucas's Star Wars movies. It feels a little defunct that I should bother creating my own review of the movie as there have been so many others done already. But this is my Blog and its purpose is to review the things I have seen and done recently and as Star Wars was the highlight of my weekend that's what I am going to review!
I am not a massive Star Wars fan as in I can't quote large tracts of the scripts and to be honest strain to remember all of the twists and turns of the story line. But I do have a decent grasp of the characters and the basic story line so that I can write with some degree of knowledge about the final part in this trilogy of movies.
Having read some preview reviews I was already aware that by and large this film was going to be better than the both I & II. Which is why I allowed myself to look forward to seeing this one. By and large it is far superior to Phantom Menace (which I found to be boring) and it does surpass Attack of the Clones ( which I did enjoy but wouldn't be in a rush to see again). However the script remains very weak in this film and the acting abilities of Hayden Christiansen are in a word, dire. But its the story that really attracts people to this movie and you can forgive the bad acting and terrible dialogue in this case as Lucas has finally delivered to us the missing link in the story. The story of how Annekan Skywalker was attracted to the dark side and became the infamous Darth Vadar was always what I for one wanted to hear about. I liked the way that, bad as the first two movies were, the development of Annekan as an unhappy and insecure individual can be traced, and it is this thread which holds the key to the story.
Its a pity that Hayden Christiansen just doesn't have the gravitas to pull off this role. I think that his character could have been portrayed more sympathetically which would have made his transition to the dark side more profound. Also the fact that Natalie Portman's character went from being a swash buckling hero in the 2nd movie to a wimpy weeping woman with terrible dialogue in this film was also a real shame and is a great injustice to what could have been a great female role.
Also the story involving Chancellor Palpatine was by far and away the best part of this movie, Iain McDiarmaid played a blinder and stole the show in every scene he was in.
So overall if you enjoy Star Wars and are interested in the story I don't see how you could fail not to get a kick out of this movie. If you don't like Star Wars and are one of those people who get confused about its chronology then you probably won't. Either way that's my two cents worth on a topic I'm sure most people have an opinion on.
I am not a massive Star Wars fan as in I can't quote large tracts of the scripts and to be honest strain to remember all of the twists and turns of the story line. But I do have a decent grasp of the characters and the basic story line so that I can write with some degree of knowledge about the final part in this trilogy of movies.
Having read some preview reviews I was already aware that by and large this film was going to be better than the both I & II. Which is why I allowed myself to look forward to seeing this one. By and large it is far superior to Phantom Menace (which I found to be boring) and it does surpass Attack of the Clones ( which I did enjoy but wouldn't be in a rush to see again). However the script remains very weak in this film and the acting abilities of Hayden Christiansen are in a word, dire. But its the story that really attracts people to this movie and you can forgive the bad acting and terrible dialogue in this case as Lucas has finally delivered to us the missing link in the story. The story of how Annekan Skywalker was attracted to the dark side and became the infamous Darth Vadar was always what I for one wanted to hear about. I liked the way that, bad as the first two movies were, the development of Annekan as an unhappy and insecure individual can be traced, and it is this thread which holds the key to the story.
Its a pity that Hayden Christiansen just doesn't have the gravitas to pull off this role. I think that his character could have been portrayed more sympathetically which would have made his transition to the dark side more profound. Also the fact that Natalie Portman's character went from being a swash buckling hero in the 2nd movie to a wimpy weeping woman with terrible dialogue in this film was also a real shame and is a great injustice to what could have been a great female role.
Also the story involving Chancellor Palpatine was by far and away the best part of this movie, Iain McDiarmaid played a blinder and stole the show in every scene he was in.
So overall if you enjoy Star Wars and are interested in the story I don't see how you could fail not to get a kick out of this movie. If you don't like Star Wars and are one of those people who get confused about its chronology then you probably won't. Either way that's my two cents worth on a topic I'm sure most people have an opinion on.
Monday, May 16, 2005
HitchHikers Guide to the Galaxy
I realise the rest of the world saw HHGG weeks ago but I only got the opportunity to view it this weekend and so it will be my topic for waffling on about this week! I read the book in my early teens and remember being very confused and highly amused by it in equal measures. The film offering left me less confused and not half as amused as the book. The problem is I'm not entirely sure that that's the way it should be or not?!
Anyway the film is loads of fun. A bit silly and has some really cool visual effects such as the factory floor part - which as I do recall did not make much sense in my head when I read the book and made plenty of sense in the film.
Mmm I don't think this review is making much sense either so I think I will leave it at that.
It gets a 6 out of 10 from me.
Anyway the film is loads of fun. A bit silly and has some really cool visual effects such as the factory floor part - which as I do recall did not make much sense in my head when I read the book and made plenty of sense in the film.
Mmm I don't think this review is making much sense either so I think I will leave it at that.
It gets a 6 out of 10 from me.
Monday, May 09, 2005
Kingdom of Heaven
Now for my first review!
For the record I love a good epic! I get a kick out of grisly battle scenes in a film and sweeping vistas, great love scenes, and lots of historical references! And so, I was quite excited about the prospect of this movie despite the fact that there have been so many complete and utter dud offerings in this genre in recent times. I won't mention the duds by name right now but you can make an intelligent stab at it!
The good news is that Kingdom of Heaven is, thankfully, not in this league. Dont' get me wrong it's not perfect. It is unsatisfactory in places and there are plot holes so large and gaping in the story that it irritated me to a large extent. Saying that though, I did enjoy it.
However the biggest problem with this film is that it tries to do too much. The hero becomes all things to all men very quickly and easily without giving us any indication of how he became so wise and knowledgeable considering he was a simple blacksmith at the start of the film. You could probably read into the events and surmise that the sum total of his experiences while travelling to Jeruseluem made the boy into a man but it really wasn't that clear from the story in the film whether this is in fact the case.
On a different level I'm not sure I like Orlando Bloom without his blonde wig and pointy ears and he didn't really convince me of his hero status in this film but he did an adequate job. He looks comfortable with a sword and lets face it he's a very pretty boy and thats always worth a point or two! Out of the substantial and impressive cast in this film, Jeremy Irons ran away with it for me. Although I have to mention Brendan Gleeson as well as he played the boorish evil minded drunk to perfection!
For the record I love a good epic! I get a kick out of grisly battle scenes in a film and sweeping vistas, great love scenes, and lots of historical references! And so, I was quite excited about the prospect of this movie despite the fact that there have been so many complete and utter dud offerings in this genre in recent times. I won't mention the duds by name right now but you can make an intelligent stab at it!
The good news is that Kingdom of Heaven is, thankfully, not in this league. Dont' get me wrong it's not perfect. It is unsatisfactory in places and there are plot holes so large and gaping in the story that it irritated me to a large extent. Saying that though, I did enjoy it.
However the biggest problem with this film is that it tries to do too much. The hero becomes all things to all men very quickly and easily without giving us any indication of how he became so wise and knowledgeable considering he was a simple blacksmith at the start of the film. You could probably read into the events and surmise that the sum total of his experiences while travelling to Jeruseluem made the boy into a man but it really wasn't that clear from the story in the film whether this is in fact the case.
On a different level I'm not sure I like Orlando Bloom without his blonde wig and pointy ears and he didn't really convince me of his hero status in this film but he did an adequate job. He looks comfortable with a sword and lets face it he's a very pretty boy and thats always worth a point or two! Out of the substantial and impressive cast in this film, Jeremy Irons ran away with it for me. Although I have to mention Brendan Gleeson as well as he played the boorish evil minded drunk to perfection!
So that's it. Overall I enjoyed this movie. It wasn't perfect but it wasn't terrible I wouldn't say to you go out and see it immediately but at the same time if you have a spare 2 and a half hours its not a bad way to spend your time!
Friday, May 06, 2005
Reviewing Stuff
I plan to use this space mostly for reviewing stuff. Haven't seen or read anything lately but will soon and that's when I will put my plan into action!
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