accies1874

First time around, I found the ending a bit disappointing too for a similar reason to you, but I do think it was a necessary more hopeful ending than if it finished 15 minutes earlier - even if, to me, it didn't feel like that at first.

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/hamilton-accies-stadium-partly-becoming-24307485

I saw it yesterday and don't really know what to think. It's deliberately very detached and I think "a human zoo" is a good description. I'm sure I've also heard the phrase "the banality of evil" being used to describe this film. That meant that I never really felt all that involved in it despite admiring so much, but I would like to see it again.

https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/sport/11925550/spfl-plastic-pitch-grass-hamilton-academical/ Some good news in here about the stadium, though I would be interested to know how they're funding it and what the long-term implications of that funding are. I'm not sure reverting to a grass pitch would send out the best message to the academy at a time when we're already blocking the pathway for young players coming through, and, even beyond that, I think it's good to be in control of where the players are training in the absence of any dedicated training ground.

It isn't an isolated incident though. Falkirk's ultras have now had numerous incidents where they've been "violent" and "aggressive", as have ultras from other teams in this league (Accies and Alloa) and from teams further up the SPFL, so I think it's fair to say that this new fad is resulting in violent behaviour across Scottish football. It's definitely not limited to one club and there will be a lot of other societal issues resulting in it, but organised groups shouldn't be excused for making innocent folk feel unsafe at the football just because they improve the atmosphere. A world where singing sections didn't encourage this kind of behaviour would be ideal, but, whether it's ultras or casuals, the rowdiest fans also tend to create the most bother.

While I don't think we were great in the first half, I thought the half-time reaction was a bit much. Put together some decent passages of play and got into dangerous positions, but a lack of quality out wide and McGowan relying on Owens bailing him out made it quite frustrating. Second half was much more enjoyable and showed why I think the complaints about the lack of a "creative midfielder" are a bit misguided. Barjonas is absolutely quality and provides creativity with his dribbling, balls over the top and nicely weighted passes, and MacDonald has a good range of passing and provides a goal threat. Having Davidson sit meant that those two could contribute going forward which, imo, is more effective for both of them (though I think we might've tweaked it at half-time to have Barjonas push even higher and MacDonald a bit deeper than essentially the De Bruyne role he played in the first half). Hastie looked much better in the second half too. Not sure if it was a case of him gaining confidence or getting helped by Barjonas creating space for him, but it was much more encouraging than we'd seen before. Owens has been the real standout since returning though.

Depends who you ask as I think most folk will have their personal favourites, but The Grand Budapest Hotel and Fantastic Mr Fox are mine. I reckon you could ask five other folk on this thread and they'd all give you different answers though.

6. All of Us Strangers - Cinema Was gonna hold off on posting this until I was a bit clearer on what I was gonna say, but it's the kind of film that's probably lends itself to a more reactionary take. The first time I watched this, I was left with the same feeling of rawness that can be brought about by loss and that feeling stayed with me for the rest of the day, so you've really got to hand it to Andrew Haigh and the gang for creating a film that elicited such a real and specific emotion in me. In a weird way, I'm almost desperate to see it again just to experience those feelings. It's honestly like heroin. The same two scenes got me going on both watches, both in terms of making me think about deaths that have happened irl and those that will happen. It's something I think about pretty much every day - which can have positive and negative effects - so having it brought to the fore by such emotional performances and the intimacy of the camerawork was really quite overwhelming. I also felt like it was depicting something that I've been thinking about recently in terms of the allure of the past beyond sheer nostalgia, and I've come to the conclusion that the definitive endpoint of the past (i.e. the present) can be a lot more comforting than the undetermined conclusion to the present. Despite Adam being haunted by his past and specifically mentioning how things are "better now" in relation to homosexuality he still longs for childhood. There's a lot of holding on, letting go and letting in too. There's consistent imagery of characters talking through a doorway which gave off a sense of detachment, especially when Adam's talking to his dead parents, but also affection when characters are welcomed through the doors. The mirrors and reflections off windows also reminded me of Past Lives in terms of posing the idea of a different reality going on within the reflection. It actually reminded me of a lot of different films that I like - Charlie Kaufman scripts, in particular - and even the very best of Futurama, but it felt like its own thing alongside those comparisons. It does what so many powerful films do and conveys emotions that some might struggle to articulate, so what you're watching is a visual representation of something internalised which is why it resonated with me so much. One of those feelings is obviously loss, but the depiction of loneliness had just a profound effect on me. I believe only one other character outside of the main four (Adam, his parents and his boyfriend Harry) has a spoken role and her only line is something banal like "that's a lot of food" (which then turns into, imo, a quite original yet poignant metaphor) which speaks to how little Adam interacts with the living world. He finds connection in his parents - who he's now older than due to them now essentially being ghosts having died when he was 12 - and in Harry, seemingly the only other tenant in their new highrise block of flats in London. Just by those two descriptions it should be pretty easy to understand how loneliness plays a part in the film. I suppose the whole thing is a deep dive into loneliness; how it comes about and how it defines a person. It tells the story of someone who we all walk past every day and don't think anything of, and while I'm still not 100% sure about the meaning of the ending, that's what I took from it. Initially, I found that ending to be a bit of a downer, but on second watch it was more heartening. I think the initial reaction was to do with the understated nature of Adam's development: his parents celebrate him having "got through" life so far and his mum hopes that he becomes "a bit happier" - hardly dramatic character arcs but very relatable. Another contributing factor might have been that it felt like it was building up to an emotional climax which it executed perfectly, but then it still had another big emotional beat to come which was difficult considering I was still processing the previous one. Second time around, that subsequent scene felt very necessary, though the first watch did leave a more lasting effect on me. Despite feeling like an incredibly personal film, I do think it's one that you can easily discuss for a while after watching due to the somewhat ambiguous nature of how it all plays out - what is happening, why, how etc. I feel like there's still so much to unpack despite this mega post, which is testament to just how great it is.

One of the biggest criticisms of Wes Anderson is that he makes the same film over and over again (which I disagree with) so yeah they're all quite similar to Asteroid City, though they have had a wackier story-within-a-story element lately.

Turnbull potentially on the move to Cardiff for around £2m (~£1m less than Celtic bought him for). It's a real shame it hasn't worked out for him given the hype in both 2019 and 2021.

It is quite simply the worst tweet I have ever read.

Looks like he might be joining Bolton: https://www.lep.co.uk/sport/football/calvin-ramsay-bolton-wanderers-liverpool-preston-north-end-4496956

I was gonna watch Josh Doig's Sassuolo debut but the prospect of seeing this is just too much

Kilday in for McGowan, Henderson in for Hastie (moving Barjonas wide) and get someone who's capable of playing as the deepest midfielder (it's Latona's time).

It's like a bunch of eight-year-olds who have just discovered "Troll Football" or "Funny Footy Bants"

It's just wall-to-wall shite patter from these marks, isn't it?

Really poor performance, albeit one that we've now seen quite a few times. Bright start then just completely lost control without creating any clear chances.

Good prospect. Absolutely rapid and has potential as a dribbler. While his crossing tends to be really poor, it looked like it had improved when he played in the Youth League earlier this season and he tries to pick teammates out rather than just shelling balls in so that can offset that weakness. He's pretty poor in his own half when it comes to building up in possession and defensively, so he's a player with some attributes to make it big but I understand why he's not been given much of a chance. Hoping for the best.

I suppose the benefit of the UK often getting films later is that we get to watch the awards stuff in January while America have to make do with stuff like The Beekeeper and Night Swim. Sorry @MSU

I'd probably say McLean at LCB is similar to Christie deeper; it's an option to have if the game-state requires it but I'd be absolutely shocked if we started that way, especially as Tierney and McGregor pretty much have those roles locked (fitness permitting).

Oh my, genuinely did not expect that given all of the Liverpool 2.0 stuff. In hindsight I wonder if he now regrets not leaving in the summer to take the Germany job, but I suppose we don't know how he felt back then.

5. The End We Start From - Cinema My thoughts on this are a bit all over the place, and I think that's because the film itself is quite disjointed - perhaps intentionally so. I slowly but surely felt myself getting quite stressed out by it: there are sudden jolting sound effects, a lot of movement of the camera or within a frame, characters (some of whom are pretty big actors) drop out as quickly as they drop in, and it moves from scenes and locations quicker than you might anticipate. These are all quite prominent staples of this genre - apocalyptic drama - especially the latter couple as they help to flesh out the world with stories that make it feel alive while also showing the stakes that come from an apocalypse, though these gradually become more about the character's choices than the nature of the world. There's a section in a refuge centre with a lot of insert shots of folk coming to terms with their new normal which kind of felt like you were viewing the world through the eyes of Jodie Comer's baby who's born just as the apocalypse kicks off. However, I began to get frustrated with it due to the fragmented story and understated main character. I was actually still thinking about it when I went to bed last night and that's when I considered it more as a sort of dreamlike/nightmarish allegory for coming to terms with having a baby. A lot of what Jodie Comer's character encounters feels like it speaks to a lot of those anxieties (avoiding a toxic upbringing, providing food, being a single mum, balancing work and your baby) and even if I began to lose the feeling of going on that journey with her, I still found retrospective pleasure in it, especially when considering the water as a Jaws-like metaphor for embracing your fears. Every chance I could be talking shite though. This was also the closest I'll ever get to a 4DX experience given that I saw it during the current mental weather and was still damp throughout.

They're getting closer. If I stop posting for any length of time you'll all know what happened to me.

Don't think he likes Accies fans all that much either. I wouldn't be surprised if we're one of the teams interested in Stevie May, though it's unlikely we'd be able to sign him.