The success of Lisandro Alonso’s recent picture “Liverpool”, which I saw at the London Film Festival has been followed up by Film Four in the guise of an Argentinean film season, which kicked off with this superb offering from Fabian Bielinsky.

El Aura has all the ingredients of a classic film noir as we see an epileptic and chronically shy taxidermist whilst queuing at the bank, starts fantasising about pulling off the perfect crime.

Abandoned in the middle of a hunting trip by his overbearing and boorish best mate, our man becomes embroiled in a series of events, which culminate in an opportunity for fantasy to become reality. Will he follow his instincts or does the pull of conventional morality prove to be too strong?

This is a very atmospheric, almost claustrophobic picture in which a lot of the action takes place in the forests of Patagonia and it has the feel of the Albert Camus seminal existentialist novel “L’ Etranger” as the main character played brilliantly by Ricardo Darin, is very much the outsider in this rural setting and his strange intensity is added to by the occurrence of epileptic fits which he describes as enveloping his very soul in an aura, hence the title of the movie.

This is a really engaging film, and despite some reservations about the slow pace there was no question of losing concentration due to the stunning photography.

The ending seems to have caused some controversy on the message boards, but I have little problem with this as the director is posing the viewer a direct question as to how they interpret the conclusion.

La Antena is a black and white, silent movie in which the collective voices in a futuristic metropolis have been lost, save for the singing of a puppet.

Very weird, but strangely engaging as you see how skilled the directors must have been in the early era of cinema in terms of cramming as much action as possible into the picture to keep the audience engrossed in the story.

This is a fascinating season, from a very interesting country.

 Argentina has a bad press in England especially, mainly due to the antics of Maradonna, and the Falklands War, but it is a very multi national nation as European immigration came not only from Spain, hence it is quite different from the rest of Latin America and every time I see or read about Buenos Aries, I am minded to pay it a visit.

The trouble with political bloggers is that we are, by and large a bunch of bitching little girls.

I reach that conclusion from a perusal of LabourHome.co.uk and various other areas including the Guardian website, plus flicking back through my own load of drivel lasting some three years.

Take Gordon Brown as an example.

In the Summer we were all like a bunch of kids who wanted to go and play with the bigger boys, but bad old Auntie Gordie was in the way, stopping us from hanging out with more stylish and slick operators such as David Miliband and Alan Milburn. But as soon as the going got a bit tough we all ran indoors and hid in his skirts, crying for his protection.

I bet there is a part of Gordon Brown that wants to turn up at a PLP meeting and remind a lot of our back benchers, and indeed some Cabinet Ministers just what was said about him sixth months ago or, even better say, “You know what? I can’t be bothered. Sort yourselves out. I’m off!”

Fair play to the man. Even when it seemed everyone around him was losing their heads he kept calm, reminded himself of how far we had come in the last eleven years, didn’t panic and when the time came for him to act he did so, swiftly, decisively and in a manner that made him suddenly the Main Man on the international stage, the one to whom all the others leaders looked to for a plan to sort the global economic mess out.

The Labour Party has been guilty of being more interested in Beauty Contests than actually doing what we were elected to do i.e. govern this great nation of ours for the benefit of the many, and not the few.

A shame that it took such a monumental spasm in the economy for us to wake up to our responsibilities and stop poncing about like a hormonal teenager, slamming doors when we didn’t like what our parents said.

But we are where we are, and the truth is clear and simple. Brown has proved his mettle, come up with ideas to cushion the blow and made decisions which will help the majority of people to keep going in these hard times.

 Needless to say the Prime Minister will say and do things that we don’t agree with, or indeed we think are wrong, but we should never forget what he did in this crisis and I think history will judge him well over all of this.

Ridley Scott’s take on the 21^st Century geo political mess that is the Middle East in the aftermath of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, sees Leonardo Di Caprio as a CIA operative following a strong lead against Islamic militants into Jordan, where he comes up against Mark Strong’s local, but seemingly omnipotent spook in chief. In addition he must deal with his unhinged DC based handler in the guise of a distinctly portly Russell Crowe.

Scott draws out the fact that six years on we are no nearer to a denouement in Iraq, and whilst there seems to be little media coverage in the West, day to day life is dominated by violence which occasionally escalates into a bloody spasm of terrorist activity such as we witnessed in Baghdad last week, which just about made it onto the TV news.

This War has lasted almost as long as World War Two, cost upwards of 1.5 million lives (excluding the pre conflict sanctions) and yet we seem no closer to a settlement that will last.

I don’t buy the connection between Iraq and stuff such as the London bombings, because this brand of Islam is simply out to destroy our (flawed) way of life no matter what, but you have to consider how those who are yet to be persuaded will react when they hear about another example of Western Power being exercised, as recently such occurrences seem to involve serious loss of civilian life in Iraq or Afghanistan caused by the US, or abuses by Israel which is perceived as the West’s representative in the Middle East.

“We should be known for the Power of our Ideas, not the Idea of our Power”, Bill Clinton famously said. Lets hope Barack Obama was listening.

This film was driven by an excellent plot, not over complicated but with enough twists to mean something was always happening and the action complemented the story rather than driving it making the balance between “thought provoking” and entertainment just right.

Although the aspect of the narrative that was necessary to get us to the final scene was unrealistic as a CIA agent in the field would not behave as Di Caprio’s character did.

 Every time I see Mark Strong on screen, I am distracted by examining how good his latest syrup (of figs, wig) is. Casting directors please note; Mark is a brilliant actor but BALD. It’s not a crime. Just let him be and save yourself time, money and hair glue.

“What is Palestine? It is just a memory”, wrote leading Palestinian activist and academic Edward W. Said in his introduction to his seminal work “The Palestine Question”.

Unfortunately Said posed a question and then got the answer completely wrong, and on the opposite side Golda Meir in her fascinating autobiography exhibited the most stunning of naivety by declaring; “We (the Jewish people) bought reams of land fair and square under the British Mandate. It belongs to us. We haven’t cheated anyone”.

Oo eck? Where do you even start to find a solution for one of the world’s most troubled regions when the main protagonists are in such a mind-boggling state of denial?

Palestine has never existed at any time in history, and Israel itself hasn’t been an independent Jewish State for over 2,000 years, so claim and counter claim are not based on any form of reality, just the vague and frankly dissembling “promises” made by the Franco British conquerors of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War One. The ultimate example of divide and rule as the Balfour Declaration (1917) promised a Jewish Homeland based in Israel, but secretly the British and French had already agreed to carve up the area for themselves via the Sykes Picot Agreement of 1916, but with proviso for an independent Arab State to include Palestine.

Tangled webs and all that. Once again a shameful episode in British history which has produced misery and suffering well into the 21^st Century. 

Having read Jeremy Bowen’s brilliant narrative of the Six Day War last year, I was pretty keen to get stuck into further reading about this desperate situation, preferably from the points of view of those directly involved.

I began with “My Life by Golda Meir” which, although fascinating as she was undoubtedly an amazing human being, proved ultimately futile as she basically took the view that Israel is here in the Middle East, and the Palestinians should actually be grateful to the Jews for bringing civilisation to the place.

She demonstrates not one ounce of empathy for the plight of the Arabs which surprises me as she has plenty to say about the British heavy handed way of running the Mandate, and the disgraceful manner that the Jews of Europe and Asia were pushed from pillar to post in the 20^th Century culminating in the unmitigated barbarism of the Holocaust.

I can fully support the way that the State of Israel was forced to fight for it’s very existence in 1948, 1967 and again in 1973 when all the nations around it were determined to exterminate them, but it seems to me that heroic defence has become posturing, malevolent superiority, and I can’t imagine that this is what Meir, David Ben Gurion and their fellow signatories to the Declaration of Independence for the State of Israel had in mind when, filled with the pioneer spirit and the hope that anything is possible, they took the opportunity offered to them by the UN all those years ago.

The Arab Governments, egged on it has to be said by Ernie Bevin did the Palestinian people no good what so ever when they point blank refused what was on the table; namely a viable and free Palestine if, like the Jews they had been prepared to accept the help on offer and work hard to make a go of it.

But the egos of the rulers of the newly created Arab States ran riot and they assumed destroying Israel would be pushover.

The result ended up being a massive upheaval and dislocation for the Palestinians, exacerbated by Nasser’s psychotic attempts in 1967 and 1973 to push Israel into the sea with Soviet connivance.

But Israel has done itself no favours by electing head bangers such as Begin and Sharon to lead them, although it is interesting that once in Office both men were faced with the prospect of being forced into pragmatic moves regarding peace.

The assassination of Yitzhak Rabin in 1995 provided a depressing ending to a window of progressive moves from a guy who having put men into the field as Israeli Chief of Staff in 1967, was so scarred by that experience that he was prepared to do whatever it took to bring conflict to a conclusion, including ceding the West Bank and Gaza in return for security.

As for Said’s book. Yes we get it about the way Israel acts towards the Occupied Territories, but instead of endless Victim Lit I was looking for some practical answers. He had none, apart from justifying suicide bombing and blaming the Jews for everything.

I read Rabin’s memoirs, and whilst it’s easy to eulogise about bloke that was assassinated JFK style, he appeared like Colin Powell, to be thoroughly anti war due to having been at the sharp end, seeing the reality of death happening to his boys whom he felt responsible for and it begs the big What If question...

 Reading these tomes makes me realise what happens when leaders manipulate, and in some cases fantasise about the past as it whips their followers into a frenzy for a future that is simply never going to happen.

My two hometowns, Limerick and Hull both suffer from a negative image due to stupid, lazy and class based prejudice from the metropolitan media.

I am proud of my association with these two great places and the people who hail from there, as they are real, grounded, tell things as they really are and, above all take people at face value no matter what.

Catherine is my cousin, Paddy my Uncle and this article from this weeks Limerick Leader typifies them and makes me proud.

“Limerick family horrified at 'stab city' reference in board game”

A FEDAMORE family were "horrified" recently when they came across a reference to Limerick as 'stab city' in a popular and educational family board game.

'Smart Ass', produced by University Games Corporation, is a fun and educational trivia game, which requires the winner to correctly identify people, places and things before any of the other players.

The game, which is on sale in all leading toy and department stores around Limerick, contains a card asking 'Where Am I?', with ten clues hinting toward Limerick, and one says 'this place has been nicknamed Stab City'.

Catherine Power from Fedamore and her daughters Caoimhe and Eadoin were playing the game with their grandfather Paddy, when they came across the offending clue.

"We were playing it as a family when the card came up," explained an angry Catherine Power this week. "I was shocked, the kids would never have been aware until this that Limerick was referred to as that. It is very disappointing and worse considering the girls are only 10 and 8 years old, but even my elderly father was very distressed by it."

Catherine, who is originally from the city, continued: "I'm horrified, it is absolutely horrible for an educational, family game that is otherwise fantastic fun. It is not fair to have to explain this to the kids and worse when we are trying to shake a name like that if a popular game reinforces it, I just think it is absolutely dreadful."

The game is manufactured by University Games, an American company who pride themselves on producing "learning games for adults and children". The Limerick Leader understands that this game was originally developed in Australia, before being adapted for the European and UK market.

A spokesperson for University Games UK said they had "no idea the clue was so sensitive" when contacted by the Leader, and explained that at least three people would have checked the clues before they went into production.

"Of course we don't want to offend anyone and I'm not sure if this office followed the correct protocol, it may have slipped through," said the spokesperson.

"Of course we would unreservedly apologise and we will definitely fix the clue so it is removed from the next version of the game. This is a game that is designed for families to play together so it definitely was not the intention to offend anyone."

Ms Power explained that none of the other clues in the board game, which contains 500 cards, had any derogatory statements contained on them.

Laura Ryan of Limerick Co-Ordination Office expressed her disappointment about the inclusion of the phrase in the game.
"It is very disappointing for a game that is supposed to be fun and entertaining, that they would use this unfair tag," said the Communications Executive.

"It feeds the negative perception of Limerick and anyone who was here on Tuesday night for the Munster match could tell you what an amazing city we have here."

A New York Irish cop is tasked with investigating the brutal gunning down by drug dealers of four colleagues. What he uncovers stretches his family ties to the limit….

This is a genre of picture not really explored in British Cinema as I can’t really recall a UK film where the police provide the backdrop and context, yet in the US they do this very well from Training Day to Colors, through to more recent offerings Harsh Times and Deja Vue.

All our cop-based stuff is made for TV and only the comedy Hot Fuzz features the Boys in Blue as the main stars.

Pride and Glory is an excellent film, the pace is taught without being frantic and losing the human dilemmas faced by Edward Norton’s Ray Tierney who, when faced with the evidence must decide what to do with his rather unhinged Brother in Law fellow Officer Jimmy, played admirably by the increasingly impressive Colin Farrell.

In addition Tierney has to answer to the Boss, who just happens to be his Pop (Jon Voight who I just imagined to be have been better played by Harvey Kietel, and this was before I had seen Life on Mars USA) who wants to protect the NYPD and his older son to boot who is Jimmy’s commander.

Confused? No need to be as writer/director Gavin O’Connor strips the story back to one simple question for all the characters; do the right thing, or turn a blind eye out of some misplaced “loyalty”?

A very worthwhile and entertaining picture, which I hope will challenge a UK director to have a bash at this subject area.

We went to Reel Cinema above St. Stephens in Hull due to a (marginally) better start time than Vue.

 Unless they have a film not available at Vue I would choose the later every time as watching a showing at Reel is like watching a portable TV in the corner once you have experienced the HD digital screens that the Princes Key venue has to offer. In addition the seats at Reel are not up to scratch and make for discomfort after a while. But then I am 6’5 and overweight….

I watched this film with Michael Portillo with surprisingly little thought even though its subject matter, that of suicide which is something that has haunted my life in various ways since 1987. I came to it as a victim and as a survivor twenty-one years, and then eleven and sixth months respectively down the line. In addition I am a Samaritan, fulfilling a promise I made to myself some thirteen years ago.

This programme was brilliant, brutal and honest and for me broke the taboo about suicide.

It’s wall to wall eating disorders this, and abuse that on TV and in the media these days, largely a good thing too although we are in danger of engendering compassion fatigue and a hint of cynicism due to over kill.

But suicide. It’s like the equivalent of rectal cancer. Well, lets face it when was the last time you saw a celebrity wearing a brown ribbon for cancer of the arse, and yet it’s two thirds as prevalent as breast cancer?

Portillo’s mate at school took his own life at the age of fifteen and listening to friends and family describe the build up and aftermath left me distraught as all the themes and feelings described were oh so relevant and helped me to gain a reality check on my own emotions, mostly repressed.

I don’t care what anyone says, and this from a guy battling chronic (and at times terminal) illness, there is nothing worse that can happen to you than the suicide of someone close. Nothing. And in this film the person is a child. It’s no surprise to me that my Granny died just a month after my Mum. How can you even begin to go there?

Suicide has the grim potential to destroy so much, to define, to dominate and the more this subject can be discussed openly, the better.

 I had a four-hour shift today and didn’t stop for a minute, unusual but it tells you about the hidden depths of our Society.

“Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way”, as David Gilmour put it on Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. But I prefer BT’s ad, “It’s good to talk”. I hope Michael Portillo’s film will encourage that.

 Portillo is as genuine a human being as I have come across in the media, which makes it all the more inexplicable that he is a Tory. But along with John Purfumo he makes me realise that the Left doesn’t have the total domination of morality.

The reality for a Club like ours is that you are bound to lose three or four games on the spin mainly due to the quality of the opposition in this Division.

It’s the response of the players that you are looking for, and after a three game barren spell the Tigers rose to the occasion and in all honesty we should have banked all three points which would have taken us level with Arsenal and Villa.

After Daniel Cousin had pounced on a City defensive howler the visitors, complete with Premier League record buy Robinho were in disarray arguing the toss amongst themselves as they waited to kick off.

As with the Bolton game Hull City had the opposition on the ropes but failed to land the killer blow, a trait first exemplified when we chucked a two nil advantage away against Everton, and whilst this may sound churlish I just hope we don’t regret such lapses later in the season.

Zayette and Myhill once again played the “no you first” game which allowed the lamentable Stephen Ireland to side foot home unopposed, and when the same player put the Citizens ahead with a delightful 18 drive it was a challenge that we simply had to rise to, if only to prove to everyone that we can hack it at this level.

The players rose to the task, worked hard by doing the basics well and finished level from another Geovanni free kick special, albeit aided by a huge deflection. Myhill was called on right at the end to save from Vassell but apart from that Manchester City were very ordinary and in truth we should have put them away.

6^th place only two points behind Arsenal and Villa, and yet after this and the Bolton game I am slightly disappointed. Who would have ever thought a Hull City fan would be writing a sentence like that?

Hull City: Myhill, McShane, Turner, Zayatte, Ricketts, Boateng (Halmosi 85), Ashbee, Marney, Geovanni, Cousin (Barmby 76), King.
Subs Not Used: Duke, Doyle, Garcia, Folan, Giannakopoulos.Att: 24,902

I cannot remember such a feeling of dread going into a sporting fixture as I am experiencing viz- a- vis England’s World Cup semi final versus New Zealand to be staged in Brisbane tomorrow morning.

This tour has had the sobriquet “Ill Fated” surrounding it ever since it became apparent that our first game Down Under was actually going to be in the World Cup Tournament proper, absolutely unbelievable.

Even the EWCB, masters of blundering incompetence, at least manage to fix the cricket boys up with some semblance of match preparation, even if it is a shambolic 14 aside fixture against a State A team, (we lost) and it seems incredible that we didn’t line up against one of the Pacific Nations in the run up to the PNG game.

Tony Smith’s assertions that things are, “basically ok mate” when interviewed by the BBC on Sunday simply defies belief. The guy is totally deluded and complete denial if he really thinks that the 28 minutes of the first half against the Kiwis means that the tour is on course.

We are about as much on course to win this World Cup, as Mark Thatcher was to win the Paris- Dakar rally all those years ago.

Smith has compounded matters by the idiotic stunt of “omitting” Ade Gardner and Danny McGuire, both key players for the Semi, from the provisional squad, either to make a point to the players (no one is a certainty) or more likely to play mind games with Kiwi Coach Steven Kearney whom I assumed was totally fooled. Cunning plan. Not.

I feel sorry for the players who have been savaged in the Red Tops at home, and ridiculed in the Aussie media. I bet they cannot wait to get home.

Will the RFL learn? Will there be an inquiry? Will the Chairmen alter the season to give the England team preparation time? Will a serious Origin Fixture be instituted to help bridge the gap up to international football? Will there be a competitive European Nations Cup?

Will there be any of this? Will there 'eckers like.

Fail to prepare, prepare to fail. Are you listening Nigel Wood?

 I really hope I am wrong. I would love us to romp home tomorrow, for Leon Pryce to command the game like we all know he is capable of, and for Smith to stuff it up his critics. But I’m not holding my breath….

The Observer summed up this game from a City perspective when Jussi Jaaskelainen was named its Star Man of the week’s fixtures.

The Bolton stopper produced a number of fine saves but the double block resulting from a Geovanni point blank header has us wondering how the laws of physics actually work, as the angle and speed of the Brazilian’s effort from an Andy Dawson flighted free kick seemed so perfect.

Amongst all this and other fine work, the Finn had earlier denied our ridiculously gifted South American hero another spectacular free kick goal, and when you add Marlon King hitting the bar we could have played all night and never scored.

Truly just one of those days and nothing to worry about in the long run as the creation of so many chances proves that we are still playing well.

My only worry was that we lacked intensity in the first half, which may have been a hangover from the Manchester United game. It’s important that we put teams such as Bolton away when they come to Walton Street, as this will determine our progress in this League given how tight matters are this year. It is possible that 40 points won’t be enough, as everyone seems to have the ability to produce a result against the odds.

A relieved Gary Megson had this to say about his ‘keeper; “"He will get the headlines, and rightly so because his performance was unbelievable, as good as you are ever going to see”.

Hull City; Myhill, McShane, Turner, Zayatte, Dawson (Ricketts 64), Boateng (Folan 73), Ashbee, Marney, Geovanni, King, Cousin (Mendy 54).
Subs Not Used: Duke, Barmby, Garcia, Halmosi.Att: 24,903

When the debut album Waterloo to Anywhere from this Libertines offshoot was released in 2006, I thought the Dirty Pretty Things had the potential to be a landmark band for this decade, combining raw passion with some very half decent and melodic tunes.

We checked out the live show in early 2007 and were mighty impressed with the connection between band and audience and the rendition of Bang, Bang You’re Dead (theme to the brilliant but under rated BBC1 drama Sorted) followed by You Fuckin’ Love It was perhaps the most octane fuelled encore I had seen since The Icicle Works circa 1986.

The second record, Romance at Short Notice released this year felt a bit like treading water, the formula seemed to be a bit of whimsy followed by some thrashing chords, a slower middle eight and then a grand stand finale. Eleven times.

This was a rescheduled gig, the original date having been cancelled at short notice but the announcement of the Band’s imminent split caused suspicion in some quarters and there was a rather tense atmosphere in the build up last night, some cat calls and chants of Yorkshire, Yorkshire (the Band hail from Hampshire) plus there had been very negative comments on the message boards and blogs about the October non appearance. Things could have got interesting….

But the Dirty Pretty Things played a blinder, committed and passionate although the first album material was a good deal stronger and the encore was thankfully as before with the added ingredient of a manic send off for the audience by the drummer, which was actually a bit scary.

 Great stuff, but at the same time you were left wondering if this was a potentially great Band who had under achieved?

I am watching England take on New Zealand in Newcastle in an effectively dead rubber but when these two meet again next week, it will be deadly earnest as the prize will be a World Cup Final place.

We are winning mid way through the second half, but once again we are dreadful.

Poor defence, silly errors around the ruck and a lack of vim and imagination when we have the football.

We have just conceded a stupid try from a simple Kiwi move from the base of the scrum and now, from 24-8 up we are level. Senior has just given an extra ten metres fro mouthing off.

We are not cool, we are not calm and we and nowhere near collected. We can’t get the football. It is a shambles and I can hardly bear to watch.

The writing was on the wall in the PNG game. Then brutal affirmation of what ails British rugby league was displayed in the desperate thrashing dished out by the hosts in Brisbane last week.

I really thought we had the players to challenge the Aussies this time around but Wellens seems to epitomise the malaise around this squad.

The St. Helens full back is the best in the business but is prone to positional error, poor decision-making and gives the air of lacking pace in this Tournament. I look at him, along with so many others and cannot fathom why his performances have been so under par.

It can’t be the coaching, Tony Smith is top of the tree in my opinion, and so it must mean that we aren’t producing international class footballers because of the structure and priorities of Super League.

We have fallen apart. From 24-8 down, the Kiwis run in 28 unanswered points. We haven’t troubled the scorers since the 28^th minute. We haven’t scored any points in the second half in the last two games conceding 46 in the process.

This game has been lost 36-24.

On a positive note, Ireland upset the odds by beating Samoa and face Fiji on Monday for a place in the last four.

Andy Kelly has the Wolfhounds doing the basics right, set completion, kicking to effect and working their socks off when they don’t have the ball.

The Irishmen grow into the international jumper; England players seem to shrink in an almost physical sense. Why?

 There needs to be an inquiry, independent of the authorities, as to why this tour, along with the last one has been such a disaster on the field.

James Bond, on a mission to avenge the death of his love at the culmination of Casino Royale gets mixed up in the geo politics of Bolivia, and ends up pitting his wits against a megalomaniac intent on holding a whole country’s water supply to ransom.

The reinvention of the Bond genre began in 2006 with Daniel Craig’s debut in Casino Royale, a film that set the bar ridiculously high. But despite this pressure and the added spanner in the works of the writers strike, the team led by writer in chief Neil Purvis have produced an excellent, if quite different picture.

The film is 20 minutes shorter, there is much less dialogue and character development and the action comes thick and fast making a different feel to the movie which I considered to be a positive thing.

The action starts immediately, time wise, after the end of the last film, and it has become apparent to the British Secret Service that there is a new, faceless and malevolent group out there threatening the security of the World.

I liked the way this aspect of the story was developed, and the not so subtle digs by Purvis at big business and corporate efforts to control vital resources, which is a real blight on developing nations in South America.

There are countless examples where conglomerates have taken control of basic utilities such as water, and started charging the locals for access to wells etc, so good on the writers for bringing this to a wider audience. Why not make it a simple goody v baddies situation? That’s what it is when you break it down.

The action sequences were first class and Daniel Craig is a top rate Bond in a much cooler way than Pierce Brosnan’s smarmy incarnation.

LIVERPOOL. (2008) Dir Lisandro Alonso NFT London Film Festival.

A sailor returns home to Tierra Del Fuego after a lifetime at sea.

This is one of those films, which gets better in your mind the more you reflect on it.

The director before the showing, spoke to us about what he was trying to create, that is a simple piece about a guy’s search for meaning.

I thought he succeeded really well. The cinematics were bold, but worked to make an emotional impact. For example we see a whole four-minute single shot of our man packing his bag to leave the ship. No dialogue but the superb and understated acting by Nieves Cabrera leaves us in no doubt that this is a man in turmoil and on the cusp of facing his demons.

In fact the single shot, no dialogue gambit is deployed a great deal in this film, but it works due to Cabrera and  no little contribution from the stunning and unforgiving sub Antarctic scenery.

This is a personal journey, brilliantly done by the director and his lead. Thought provoking and real sums Liverpool up for me.

STEP BROTHERS. (2008) Dir Adam McKay. Vue Cinema Hull.

No greater contrast with Liverpool could you get.

This is a good, old fashioned gross out, screwball US comedy.

Immature, obnoxious, crass and offensive. Just how I like it as Dumb and Dumber is one of my favourite films. Yes really.

Leave your brain at the door and prepare to laugh out loud for 90 minutes as two middle age, geek losers must adapt to their parents getting hitched and making them live in the real world.

Priceless.

BURN AFTER READING (2008) Dir Joel and Ethan Coen, Vue Hull

A disk containing the memoirs of a CIA agent ends up in the hands of two unscrupulous gym employees who attempt to sell it….

The Brothers return to comedy in the wake of No Country for Old Men, and what a return this is, easily as weird and as good as The Big Lebowski and Oh Brother Where Art Thou.

George Clooney gets all the best lines as a hapless lothario getting mixed up in matters no one really seems to understand.

 But who cares about that? There is just some magical formula the brothers have for comedy, which is dark, odd and madly offbeat.

Walking up to Old Trafford brought back some brilliant memories of Arsenal triumphs that I witnessed there, notably the 1990 brawl game, and when the Gunners triumphed three years in a row to get to the FA Cup Final.

The excitement was palpable because this was Hull City coming to Old Trafford to play against the current Champions of Europe, the greatest Club side that the UK has produced due to present achievements and a rich history.

Running into an old mate David from Boothferry Park days we enthused about the surroundings, but he pointed somewhat ominously; “Let’s hope that the players don’t feel like us, otherwise it could be a massacre”.

David’s fears seemed well founded as United came out of the traps as if our famous victories on the road had inspired Fergie’s men to reassert the natural order of things by slapping the Tigers into place.

United were awesome in the first half, passing and moving with magnificent pace, flair and no litttle élan which put City on the back foot and the first signs of disarray this season were present leading into the break.

Despite this we managed to make a set play count and Cousin netted from a Dawson right-sided free kick. We went mental but instead of some insightful comment all I could bluster was; “We scored at Old Trafford!” over and over, much to the amusement of the home support in our mixed disabled section.

At 4-1 on the back of some unbelievable play from Ronaldo, possibly the best player I have ever seen, Berbatov, Rooney and Nani we feared that United could have made it to double figures but, as ever, Brown played a tactical blinder by making attacking substitutions and encouraging us to get forward at every opportunity.

As a result we slowly gained the upper hand and after a magnificent Mendy lob and a penalty from Giovanni, City rattled home nerves to the extent that Phelan could be seen in a manic tactical discussion with Giggs, there was no doubt that United were hanging on.

Rooney lost his head, wildly hacking at Halmosi and Ferdinand looked both flustered and relieved when his striker only saw yellow.

Andy Dawson was our Man of the Match in my book, and he capped an all action performance with a brilliantly timed tackle on Tevez, which prevented the Argentine from testing Myhill from close range. But given the Welsh International’s current confidence any strike would have been repelled.

Dawson came to the Club in 2002, dropping down to the bottom Division to guarantee first team action from Scunthorpe and his story is that of City’s in microcosm as he has grown in confidence and belief.

I said to him in the Summer running into him at a rugby game, “What’s it like to be a Premier League footballer?” and his reply was that he didn’t expect to play unless there were injuries.

He is an absolutely key member of the back four, and the only way he will be displaced is via his own injury problems. He is there on merit and can cut it with the big boys. Sound familiar?

It was a real shame that Ashbee was suspended as we missed his leadership, the only consolation for the Skipper is that it is likely that he can make this trip next season.

This was a fantastic, exciting and open game but I have to say United’s fans just sit there on the whole and we easily out sung them, the cliché about the prawn sandwich brigade coined by Roy Keane, does seem to be the reality.

Having said that, over the barrier into the South Stand was seated a guy a bit younger than me with a kid of about eight. He spent the whole time swearing at the City fans seated above, encouraging the boy to copy his wanker signs.

What on earth can you say to that? Given the expense and scarcity of tickets for United, this cretinous individual can’t be short of a few bob, so what gives? Unbelievable.

Manchester United gets a lot of stick, deservedly, for the price of season tickets, the immense energy devoted to ripping off their fans with endless merchandise advertising and the dodgy debt led deals of the Glazers but when it come to disability issues they are first rate.

Manchester United Disabled Supporters Association (MUDSA) have done a brilliant job of bringing the Board’s attention to the issues and working with them to provide a fantastic match day experience including an exclusive bar and café facility, audio equipment and programme. They work as volunteers and United provided free entry for Pete and myself.

Wonderful and restores a bit of faith that the game at the top level is maybe not as rotten as we all fear.

Hull City: Myhill, McShane, Turner, Zayatte, Dawson, Marney, Hughes (Mendy 59), Boateng (Folan 86), Geovanni, King (Halmosi 63), Cousin.
Subs Not Used: Duke, Barmby, Garcia, Ricketts. Att: 75,398