accies1874

Was fine for me and my dad at the Brighton game

Doig's definitely got something to offer - and could even fill in at LCB - but his passing and crossing need a lot of work. He's almost the exact opposite of Taylor imo.

Looks like it'll be announced this week

Ralston played about five minutes at LWB on his Scotland debut and McGinn, McGregor and McLean have covered at LB for their clubs, so Clarke may well just decide to have a regular squad member cover there if Taylor gets injured during one of the games. Seems a bit of a hassle when there's already a promising player familiar with the position, but I find it hard to guess what Clarke will do sometimes.

Here's hoping

We're gonna have a jobber in goals no matter what. Robby McCrorie hasn't played football for six months, but if Clarke thinks there's a chance of him being a future no. 1 then I'd rather give him a shot than Clark or Kelly who never will be.

I'm just gonna come out and say it: that was the greatest 45 minutes or my life.

The last time we got promoted, our first defeat of the season came against a side managed by Paul Hartley, so the vibes are still good imo

I reckon that before this year, the only 3+ hour film I'd seen in the cinema was The Return of the King (which I barely remember seeing), but that's now four this year with Babylon, Beau is Afraid, Oppenheimer and Killers of the Flower Moon. Someone earlier in the thread said that it's better to see something of this length in the cinema as your mind's more likely to wander at home - which I agree with - but it's still a lot to get through. Thankfully I haven't hated any of those four, and there's plenty to love about each of them.

50. Cat Person - Cinema I wasn’t gonna bother with this until I listened to Kermode’s review, as it’s been getting panned most other places but he sold me on it. It’s about a female college student, Margot, who gets chatted up by this kinda-weird 33-year-old guy, Robert, at her work in the local cinema, which then spirals into awkward uncertainty about dating in the 2020s. To sum it up with references to other recent films, it’s like the opening section of Barbarian spread across two hours, with the politics of Promising Young Woman and the mystery of something like Burning or Watcher, so while that all might seem a bit unoriginal, mashing them together actually works really well. Strangely, despite not being a horror whatsoever, it was actually quite a good film to watch on Halloween night (though Silverburn was very much in Christmas mode), as there’s a creeping paranoia to the dark streets and salvation in the cosy interiors, especially at Margot’s work in the cinema. She also gets occasional visions of Robert brutally murdering her, but they gradually get toned down to become much more sympathetic which plays into the female guilt about saying no. It seemed to me that she started out so anxious that he’d murder her that, when that doesn’t transpire, she slowly settles on him because ‘well, at least he didn’t murder me!’ which provides an insight into Margot’s mind. The whole film really puts you into her frame of mind (one scene in particular) and is a good depiction of the quote that the film starts with. It’s essentially all about the power dynamics of a modern relationship in its infancy. While that might sound a bit boring, most of it is spent being an enjoyable ‘will they, won’t they’ somewhat-romantic comedy – just with the lingering threat that the man might actually kill her. It’s funny, particularly when it comes to picking apart a certain kind of dude, and I reckon it’s a better script than Barbie when it comes to tackling similar themes about ingrained gender imbalances. I wasn’t sure about its two-hour runtime both before I saw it and initially while watching, but the way that the narrative progresses, and the fact that so much of it is about observing the two leads within a situation, meant that it was earned – it feels long but not boring in the slightest. Perhaps the biggest criticism I’ve seen elsewhere is about the final act, but, while there were a couple of story choices that I didn’t like and iffy execution, I thought it mostly remained true to what came before and was a natural conclusion to that. It was probably the weakest part of the whole film, but it wasn’t enough to make me dislike it. I subsequently listened to the short story it's based on - also called Cat Person - which I expected would retrospectively colour my view of the film given how many critics said it paled in comparison to the source material, but nah, while it shifts the genre a wee bit and removes some of the ambiguity (but not all), I thought that the majority of the additions made for a more enjoyable story. It’s definitely one that I’ll watch again – hopefully next time half of my screen won’t be out of focus (thanks again, Cineworld!). The title’s also fun too: Cat Person is like a tag on a Tinder profile and it’s up to the person reading the profile, in this case a woman, to try and discern what exactly that tells you about a person and why they chose to brand themselves with it. It encapsulates the overthinking that goes into these scenarios, which is essentially the crux of the whole film. 51. Killers of the Flower Moon - Cinema This was all about the three lead performances for me. Seeing Leonardo DiCaprio portray this completely pathetic character was really enjoyable and pretty bold for a bona fide star who only appears in a film every few years to choose a role so passive and submissive, especially as I think this role would typically be given to a younger actor but using someone older was much more effective imo. He's beholden to his uncle, Robert De Niro, as they (or De Niro) try to find a way to get the Native American money into their pocket. DiCaprio needs to sell his relationship with De Niro and his relationship with his wife, Lily Gladstone, as he is right in the middle of what I thought was the central idea of control vs nature. De Niro's the idol, DiCaprio's the fool and Gladstone's the heart of the film - she managed to convey her arc just through her face. Through all of its ideas, characters and its lengthy runtime, it's those three performances that my mind keeps coming back to. It's also impressive that Scorsese can continue to find new ways to tell a rise-fall story, especially one that concerns an aspiring criminal.

Apparently The Telegraph have said that there's been a contract dispute between McKenna and Forest. The article's paywalled but this site have run a story on it. The fact he's been dropped since his supposedly terrible performance against Burnley suggests that his absence is form-related, but I guess a contract dispute could be a contributing factor too.

That's the first thing I noticed about him for the u21s against Malta last month

H20 is definitely my favourite Halloween sequel for pretty much all of the reasons pointed out, though I don't like its lack of Halloweeny atmosphere.

Yeah I hadn't been for a few years before this season, but was thinking on my way out yesterday that it really is a brilliant, if dated, stadium.

Enjoyed my trip to Goodison yesterday. I've been wanting to see Brighton irl for a while now and it was fun watching the contrasting styles of play which worked in Everton's favour for the first 30 mins or so, though they did very little with the ball after that. The lack of depth beyond the starting 11 is clear for all to see.

Yeah it'd be Johnstone or Ralston, but here's hoping it doesn't come to that.

We could fit him in if Clarke chooses to try out a back four in the absence of Robertson and Tierney, with McTominay and McGregor in the midfield two, McGinn and Christie out with and Ferguson behind Dykes. Not saying any of that will happen (and, even if it does, Clarke could play McTominay off the striker like he did towards the end of the Spain game) and I don't think you want to mess about with a successful team just to fit someone in, but Ferguson might have more of a chance than he would've if Robertson and Tierney were available.

Yeah he has and drifts wide somewhat regularly anyway. It's more similar to how McGinn holds the width for Villa, though, only without the range of passing to open up play.

He might actually be our best finisher.

Accies have spoken about wanting more Friday night games so there's a chance we could use this opportunity to move ours to the Friday.

And part 2 of the spooky season catchup: 47. Infinity Pool - Sky Cinema I think this might be really good, but my head got so frazzled by the intentional absence of logic that it’s hard for me to say for sure. It’s that sort of nightmarish, or dreamlike, atmosphere that was every bit as gripping as it was frustrating for me. I also liked its depiction of privilege and the inescapable loop that the main character found himself in, something that I always find horrific, but I don’t have much else to say after just one watch. 48. Renfield - Digital Rental Four million films crammed into one, which naturally means that some moments are great and some are mega dull. The brutality of the action was quite enjoyable, similar to why I enjoyed Evil Dead, in that it was so surreal that its intentions could only be for laughs, but that was by far the least interesting of the film’s many genres. What I liked most about Renfield was what I think was the main hook of the premise; a character-oriented dark comedy about a man realising that he’s in a toxic relationship with Dracula. The therapy sessions with Renfield playing off against other victims was interesting to me as it did something that all of the best fantasy films do: it tells a personal story through the lens of something otherworldly. In this case, a character being in a toxic relationship with Dracula is ridiculous, and Renfield knows that, but the other characters in the meeting still understand his pain and offer him solutions to escape it, no matter how ridiculous Renfield and the audience may think it is, which ultimately sends out the positive message that other people can understand your pain and that you’re not alone. There’s also quite a fun, albeit very stupid, police procedural alongside this, which sadly draws attention to how inconsistent the world of this film is. It’s sometimes a stylised setting with spooky neon interiors and streets – which is what you’d expect from this film – but then those settings get abandoned for more boring, natural cityscapes. I appreciate that that could be a depiction of Renfield’s journey out of his darker place and into the brighter locales (that’s obvious when it comes to his new apartment), but I’m not sure that was the whole intention given that it’s where some of the most brutal action takes place and is also the home to the bad guys’ lair. That kind of epitomised the film’s shortcomings in my eyes; taking something quite enjoyable and making it as generic as can be. The best thing about these scenes, though, was that they seemed to forget about the tacked-on voice-over which felt like an afterthought to spell emotions out for the audience. 49. No One Will Save You - Someplace on the internet Had to resort to illegitimate means to source this, as, once again, it’s a straight-to-digital film that would’ve suited a cinema release, especially the first altercation which imo, sadly, was by the far the tensest scene in the entire film – only about 30 mins in. The gimmick - that there’s only about three words spoken in total - was really interesting to me and pretty much the only reason I sought this out, although I’m a wee bit unsure about its execution. On the one hand, I didn’t feel like I missed out on too much about the character or her situation (rather, the lack of dialogue told us quite a lot about her), but, on the other, Kaitlyn Denver’s grunts did become a bit unnatural at points, which drew attention to the gimmick rather than it playing out naturally. I suppose it should be looked at like a musical: characters just don’t speak in this film, just like characters happen to sing in a musical. I was actually thinking during it that I couldn’t remember the last alien invasion movie I saw, but then I remembered Asteroid City from this year, Nope from last year and The Vast of Night from 2020 – all different variations on the genre, but this is much more of a committal to it. Aliens land, the protagonist fights them, there’s a threat to the world etc etc. That’s all wrapped up in this absence of dialogue and underdog story of an anxious outcast taking on aliens, so it’s definitely not a standard alien story, but it commits to a genre while still feeling quite fresh. I wish it were more thrilling, and I’m still not all that sure about its resolution, but it’s relatively inventive and a bit better than some of the schlock within this genre.

Can't make this which is a shame as I was really looking forward to booing The Banter King

Part 1 out of 2 of my 2023 horror catchup: 43. Totally Killer - Prime A gimmicky suburban teen slasher movie set during Halloween is absolutely my kind of thing, but this felt off to me. The early scenes were often telling rather than showing, which was frustrating as it gave off the impression that I’d missed a bunch of scenes leading into the opening act. The whole televisual aesthetic is almost always off-putting for me too. 44. Sick - Sky Cinema I’d been looking forward to this all year, so I was a wee bit disappointed when I was flicking through Sky to see that it had just suddenly dropped on there, and that disappointment was present throughout – despite me thinking it was absolutely brilliant – as it would’ve been a terrific cinema experience. Sometimes the way a film starts just immediately lets you know that you’re in capable hands; creeping camerawork, setup of the setting (start of Covid) and ideas, then a really thrilling altercation between the opening character and the killer. Right from the off I thought there was something incredibly scary about the antagonist. They’re masked up as you’d expect, but the mask and costume are clearly of a homemade nature with an opening at the eyes, and the way they behave is quite rudimentary for a horror movie villain. This shoddiness elicited a different kind of fear, as it felt so much more real than the otherworldliness of someone like Michael Myers or even Ghostface in some Scream entries. Once that opening scene is out of the way, we pretty quickly get the two leads out to a big-ass cabin in the woods during lockdown where no one can get near them. One quick negative I had was that I initially thought that the pandemic was just window dressing rather than playing into the story like Dumb Money did, as setting a COVID-era film in an isolated cabin in the woods seemed to me like they were just trying to make a pandemic-centric film without doing anything interesting with that, but those fears were eventually allayed. I reckon think that the next 50 minutes or so in the cabin was the most I’ve been thrilled by a 2023 film. That entire time had me dreading every single cut or camera movement as I never knew what was gonna be waiting on the other side – this is one of the best things that a horror or thriller can do for me, and it makes me want to go out and find John Hyam’s other work in this genre. To maintain that tension by balancing out the background creepiness and occasional pay-off for such a long period of time is brilliant. I honestly just started smiling during one tense scene simply due to how much of a hold it had of my emotions. There’s a resourcefulness to the altercations, too, which also kept it fresh for most of that time, as does the mystery behind the killer, which was borne out of that real-life nature of them. Towards the end, just as I was thinking it might have been getting a bit stale, it took one final left turn which opened up another talking point regarding the film’s messaging. Pure cinema, which is why it was such a shame that it was straight-to-digital. 45. Evil Dead Rise - Netflix I watched this about 20 minutes after watching Sick, so I didn’t have high hopes that I’d get a similar experience, despite liking the original Evil Dead trilogy. This was delightful, though, and just a really fun 90 minutes. It’s kinda stupid, kinda goofy, gory to a comical extent while still retaining some creepy imagery. This all means that it marries up with the original in a lot of respects, especially tonally, which is no mean feat for sequels/remakes of a horror released decades ago with such a distinct tone that blended humour and horror in interesting ways, completely committing to each of them. Other than its setting and family dynamic, I don’t think it did anything particularly new compared to the original, but it was still well worth watching as sheer entertainment. I enjoyed it so much that I decided to watch the 2013 film as I couldn’t comprehend that a horror franchise has a 100% hit-rate for good films, and while I liked it less than the rest, I can confirm that all five Evil Dead movies are good! 46. M3GAN - Sky Cinema The very definition of ‘meh’ imo. Felt very inauthentic to me, as it was much more interested in its satire than its characters, story or even horror, and while that satire was quite funny, it wasn’t enough to keep me engaged, especially as its desperation for a PG-13 rating minimised a lot of the more brutal parts. I’m beginning to get the impression that Alisson Williams is a pretty lousy actor, but she and the kid both put in such sleepy performances that it was either intentional or poor direction.

He didn't start the Man United or Chelsea games and did start the Bournemouth one, so imo that does show a pattern of him not starting against the "big" teams. De Zerbi will base his selections on more than a team's history, though, so it might not be a pattern worth looking into. E.g. Newcastle were at that point better than Man United and Chelsea, they press intensely and are more physical, yet Gilmour started that game and did very well. You could say the same for Villa.

I watched the first three Exorcist films last week (2 & 3 for the first time) and boy is there is some variance there. They're pretty much three different genres, and tbh I'm not sure any of them are horrors first and foremost. Definitely agree with your thoughts on the third - a bizarre police procedural, but a pretty good one at that.