KICKING OFF

It was not too long ago that I went to watch Eddie the Eagle, a film about that ridiculous ski jumper from Bedford who embarrassed the British Olympic Association by independently coaching himslef to win a place in the Calgary Winter Olympics. Films about sport are not always successful, they are hard to make.

I have seen a number of football based films that have entertained me including Gregory's Girl, Bend it like Beckham, Escape to Victory, The Damned United, Looking for Eric and Goal! There are others of course, and yes, I do know that they will not win Oscars but they deserve credit and if you happen to be a football person then you should take time out and have a look.

One particularly enthralling 90 minutes worth was "Marvellous" in which Toby Jones plays the part of Neil Baldwin, a slightly disfunctional character, who is adopted by Stoke City FC and especially manager Lou Macari in the 1990s. Macari could see the value of having somebody at the opposite end of the "spectrum" to his trumped up footballers. It worked and the film was excellent.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLfzfnS82nI  Here it is...the full film!

The real reason for all this intro is to promote "Kicking Off" a film about football hooliganism (nothing much new there after numerous TV doc/dramas) which is not a new idea but it does make the point that there is a "firm" and once in you are part of it for life, there is no going back. Actually they kidnap the ref!

The film, written by Anthony Greaves, stars Warren Brown, who as well as being recogniseable in a number of TV series was a World Thai boxing champion. There is Greg McHugh, the Scottish geologist student in "Fresh Meat" and Daniel Bux (once Lineker till the divorce), Alistair Petrie from the Night Manager, Mark Bright and Geoff Hurst. This would have swelled the crowds at the "opening".

Well Gary was there with his boys and the film was named Best at the Raindance festival. Have a look, here's a trailer.
https://vimeo.com/138522150