Green Street Hooligans review

 Number 767 on the top 1000 films of all time is the British crime-drama 'Green Street Hooligans.'

Matt Buckner (Elijah Wood) is a journalism major who was kicked out of Harvard after taking the fall for his cokehead roommate. He goes to London to live with his sister Shannon (Clare Forlani) and her English husband Steve (Marc Warren.) There Matt is befriended by Steve's brother Pete (Charlie Hunnam) who leads the local firm - the Green Street Elite - a gang of football hooligans who support West Ham football club.

If you were wondering what Elijah Wood was doing after LOTR and Charlie Hunmman before he became a transatlantic star in the American tv series Sons of Anarchy, they were starting trouble in London's East End. But, before that, we need to address the huge elephant in the room: Charlie Hunnam. His Cockney accent is regarded as one of the worst in film history, and it was on-par with Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins. It didn't help that Hunnam was saddled with such cumbersome dialogue; it was like he had been directed to recite the Cockney Rhyming Slang dictionary. Do people really talk like that?

You can see Charlie Hunnam's acting potential, but he was so rough around the edges, it's difficult to believe that just three years later, he would go onto star in Sons of Anarchy, where he does a great Californian accent. Speaking of accents, I just read that Clare Forlani who played Shannon is actually English. She does a much better accent than Charlie Hunnam. The actor who plays Matt and Shannon's father - Henry Goodman is also English, with Elijah Wood being the only true American in the cast.

Speaking of Elijah Wood, he was great as the transatlantic fish-out-of-water. At first, he is very out of place, but he soon fits right in with Pete and the rest of their gang, as they clash with the other firms. He isn't a big or threatening presence, but you can clearly see his progression from weak outsider to a force to be reckoned with.

At times, the violence was excessive and over-the-top, but this was still an entertaining film that displayed the loyalty that these gangs have to each other. they take so much identity in where they're from and what football clubs they support. Although I find it difficult to believe that any of the GSE would be able to hold down full-time jobs while being part of the film. What school would want to employ Pete as a PE teacher? His fellow hooligan Dave (Ross McCall) is an airline pilot. Where does he find time to be a hooligan with his busy schedule?

 The story itself is good enough, while being predictable and cheesy. This is no more evidence than the ending which let the film down. *Spoiler alert*

The GSE had a final showdown with long-standing rivals - the Milwall firm 'the NGO.' But Shannon randomly drives down to the fight as well. Inevitably, this draws attention from the Milwall thugs. And Pete has to sacrifice himself to allow Matt to get his sister to safety. This was a silly, illogical contrivance. There's no explanation for how Shannon would know about the fight or where it was, and she had no reason to be there, except to cause unnecessary conflict. If it wasn't for her, Pete would still be alive. And don't get me started on the stupid slow-motion and choral singing.

That notwithstanding, I ultimately did enjoy Green Street. Sure, it was cheesy, but it was also an intense and rapt look at the hooliganism that dominates UK football.

Green Book review

 I'm taking a slight deviation from the top 1000 films of all time to review the 2018 Best Picture Oscar winner: 'Green Book.'

Based on a true story, Green Book follows the relationship between acclaimed, African-American pianist Dr. Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali) and his Italian-American chauffeur Tony "Lip" Vallelonga (Viggo Mortenson) as they tour around the deep South in 1960's America.

Representation and diversity are massive buzz words in today's culture. As this film is all about race relations, naturally it has received some criticism about its depiction of race. However, I think it was a great representation of race on-screen.  Rather than forcing a black character into a white role, director Peter Farrelly depicted a true story. These types of films are always so much better as they bleed authenticity. And Green Book felt scarily realistic.

Sure you could dismiss a lot of the film as exaggeration or hyperbole, but the reality was that many African-Americans faced the same Jim Crow discrimination as Dr Don Shirley did. He is not allowed to try on a suit at a tailor shop and when he goes for a drink in a bar, he is beaten by three white racists. But he is also subjected to far more insidious cases of racism. He is not allowed to eat in "white" restaurants or use "white" toilets. Despite being a brilliant musician, he is very much a performing seal brought out to be gawped and pointed at by the white people and then sent back to his cage. They're happy to have him perform, but are abhorred by the thought of eating with him.

Mahershala Ali was absolutely brilliant as Dr Shirley. He perfectly portrayed the conflicted nature of the character: a character who is caught between two worlds without fitting into either. He is too black to be white and too white to be black. Ali conveyed the true loneliness of the character - loneliness that is hiding behind a veneer of pride and standoffishness. Mahershala won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor and deservingly so. He really is one of the most versatile actors of this generation: he can play prim and proper like in Green Book, he does suave and mysterious in House of Cards and a dark rough- around-the-edges policeman in True Detective.

But he can't take all the credit. Viggo Mortenson was also fantastic. He didn't just play Tony Lip, he embodied the character. Sure, you could say that he was a cliche who played up to every single Italian-American stereotype, but that is very much the point of the character and the point of the film. It's not just about overcoming your own prejudices and biases, but proving that you are much more than the sum of your parts. Tony Lip could have just been another hot-headed, vest-wearing Italian-American, but Mortenson turned him into a courageous man, determined to stand up for what was right - despite harbouring some initial prejudices himself.

And the film works so well because of the chemistry between Ali and Mortenson. The two of them were great together. They were like a comedy duo with Dr Shirley playing the straight man to Tony Lip's less than sophisticated ways. This clashing of cultures was hilarious to watch.

Farelly directed a brilliant film that wonderfully balanced humour and emotion while also treating listener's ears to a great soundtrack full of Motown classics, Chopin and even a composition by Dr Shirley himself. I've ran out of superlatives to describe this film. Just go watch it now.