Right – that’s all from me. It’s been a blast. Thanks for all your correspondence on the good, bad and ugly of film history. (See what I did there?) I’ll leave you with a plug for Scott Murray’s liveblog of today’s headline act: Jose v Pep at the Etihad:
And some more views on the mighty Hitchcock. From Robert Home: “I didn’t particularly care for Vertigo. It’s two hours of watching John/Jake/Scottie prey on vulnerable women. The set up is interesting as a police officer dies due to the protagonist’s mental health issues and I was expecting some kind of redemption arc but it didn’t deliver.
Duncan Edwards: “I don’t have a bad Hitchcock film but just wanted to say that Frenzy is an underrated gem with some incredibly funny scenes involving the culinary antics of the detective’s wife. And Vertigo is overrated.”
And some further reading on today’s game at Selhurst Park, by the similarly esteemed Will Unwin:
Some further reading on the legacy of Star Wars, by the legendary Mark Fisher (hat tip to Charles Robinson):
Full-time scores in Leagues One and Two
League One
Charlton 2-3 Gillingham
Hull 0-1 MK Dons
Northampton 0-2 Burton
Plymouth 1-0 Fleetwood
Sunderland 4-1 Doncaster
League Two
Bolton 1-0 Stevenage
Cambridge 0-0 Southend
Dave Lloyd has his two-penneth on Fight Club: “It’s a genuinely great film – all the more so for moving completely into fantasy at the end rather than going with the more realistic, but nightmarish, ending in the book.”
Full-time scores in the Championship
Birmingham 0-1 Luton
Cardiff 3-1 Coventry
Derby 2-1 Middlesbrough
Huddersfield 2-3 Wycombe
Norwich 4-1 Stoke
Reading 1-2 Millwall
Watford 6-0 Bristol City
David Wall writes: “How about Punch Drunk Love? This is one film where Mark Kermode is straightforwardly wrong, it’s awful. I remember anticipating great things for Paul Thomas Anderson’s follow up to the great Magnolia. Plus it features the usually excellent Emily Watson. But it turned out to be just more Adam Sandler doing his irritating Adam Sandler schtick. Aside from that Anderson’s films range from excellent to very good, but that is a real mis-step.”
Yep, I’m with you on that. Too quirky for me. The Master was also unwatchable: pretentious nonsense.
Full-time at Selhurst Park: Crystal Palace 0-3 Burnley.
Championship: DRAMA AT THE JOHN SMITHS STADIUM! Rock Bottom Wycombe, two-nil down to Huddersfield and without hope as half-time approached, have made it 3-2 with three minutes to play! Josh Knight finishes coolly, chesting down and blasting home after a free-kick breaks to him inside the box. What a comeback! And Philip Zinckernagel has put a final nail in Bristol City’s coffin. Six-nil Watford.
“Lots of interesting points regarding mis-steps among the great directors,” writes Travis Giblin. “I’m trying to think of the most disappointing Hitchcock film, but I can’t really think of one. At least not one once he hit Hollywood. They were all terrific, some better than others for their own individual reasons, but all terrific. Does anybody disagree?”
Scott Murray’s buildup to this evening’s big one is up and running. That would be Man City v Spurs, of course. Get your team news here:
Championship: Millwall have turned it around at Reading! Mason Bennett leaps and flexes his neck muscles to put his side 2-1 up with a great header.
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Simon Yates gives us a new Bad Film nomination: “The Counselor. Not just the worst film by the director that brought us Blade Runner and Alien, but a worthy candidate for worst high profile movie of all time. Irredeemable, and all the more unforgivable for wasting a really good cast.”
Fully agree Simon – although our Ridley has surprising form on rubbish films. I give you GI Jane, A Good Year, Prometheus, Robin Hood and Exodus. (All forgiven for the genius of Alien, of course.)
Championship: Dominic Hyam pulls one back to give Coventry a glimmer of hope at Cardiff.
Championship: Teemu Pukki makes it four for Norwich from the spot. Millwall draw level at Reading, Matt Smith pouncing on a bobbling ball to fire into the roof of the net from close range.
Meanwhile in the top flight, Burnley’s Ben Mee has been receiving treatment for some time after getting what looked like a blow to the head while making a tackle.
Thomas Hopkins writes: “Afternoon Alex, Just to pick up on your Fincher points. All opinions, as you say, but I’d have Fight Club down as a genuinely terrible film. Tiresome and self-indulgent at the time and looks worse in retrospect (we really didn’t know how easy we had it in the 90s). As close as I’ve been to walking out of a movie until I got dragged to see Rocketman. On the broader question, you can’t have a career as long and varied as Spielberg without the odd misstep, but Crystal Skull really isn’t worthy of him.”
Fight Club, a terrible film? I’m open to the point but I don’t think I can agree: while it definitely loses its momentum at about the 2/3 mark, the magnetism of Pitt-Norton-HBC overrides the self-indulgence. But I agree that it is probably not the vital, insightful artwork some would have you believe.
France: Former future of German football Julian Draxler has put PSG 1-0 against Nice.
Championship: Wycombe are improbably level at Huddersfield, Joe Jacobson hammering home from the penalty spot.
Bundesliga: Draws galore! Bayer Leverkusen 2-2 Mainz, Borussia Dortmund 2-2 Hoffenheim, Werder Bremen 0-0 Freiburg, Stuttgart 1-1 Hertha Berlin
Back in the real world: Emi Buendia restores Norwich’s two-goal lead with a simple finish. Stoke’s revival lasted a tidy three minutes.
Michael Guest adds nuance to our lesson in film history: “While I broadly agree about Star Wars, it wasn’t solely to blame for the collapse of New Hollywood – the one-two punch of Star Wars and Jaws on the one hand, and the failures of films like Heaven’s Gate and The Sorcerer on the other, were probably the biggest offenders although I’m sure it goes beyond that. As for worst film by a great director, I’m in the minority of people that thinks The Prestige is absolute tripe, whereas the rest of Nolan’s back catalogue ranges from ‘at the very least interesting and ambitious’ to ‘actually really great’.”
Good point well made. I would add that Nolan’s Batman movies are vastly overrated (more here), Interstellar was average and Tenet was genuinely appalling. Inception, on the other hand, is blockbuster cinema at its best.
Championship: Stoke and it is an absolutely gift for Nick Powell, who is literally passed the ball in front of goal by Norwich left-back Dimitris Giannoulis, and rolls gratefully home. A ludicrous mistake.
Championship: Ismaila Sarr makes it five for Watford, picking his spot from the edge of the box and rolling home. Bristol City need the final whistle, which is still 35 long minutes away.
Bundesliga: Erling Haaland has got his goal for Dortmund, who are now level at 2-2 against Hoffenheim. He scored while a Hoffenheim player was down injured, so a mass “hold me back” brawl ensues. Always good to see.
Back in the real world, Charlie Wyke has scored a fourth header for Sunderland – and all four set up by Aiden McGeady. Silly.
Importance correspondence from Charlie Robinson: “Your discussion about disappointing films by otherwise good directors has got me thinking about George Lucas. He made two great films early in his career, THX1138 and American Graffiti. He then made an overrated film called Star Wars, about some people who live in space and have robots for friends.”
Very true Charlie! Star Wars, good fun as it was, was not just overrated but sounded the death of the fearlessly original New Hollywood movement and the beginning of tedious, unimaginative franchise-led, accountant-pleasing blockbuster cinema we have today!
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Championship: Cardiff are out of sight against Coventry as Josh Murphy benefits from some very smart thinking by Perry Ng, who wins a free-kick on the edge of the box and takes it quickly, sliding in the striker who rifles home. Three-nil.
Premier League: Non-scoring Burnley go three goals ahead! And with some real pizzazz, Matt Lowton bursting past two players from right-back, knocking a third out of the way with a firm shoulder, then playing a one-two with Rodriguez and volleying home the return ball from just inside the box. It’s just like watching Brazil!
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Bundesliga: Hoffenheim lead at Dortmund: Ihlas Bebou headed the visitors 2-1 up before Erling Haaland had a goal VAR’d out of existence. Elsewhere in Germany it’s Bayer Leverkusen 1-0 Mainz, Werder Bremen 0-0 Freiburg and Stuttgart 1-0 Hertha Berlin. Twenty minutes to go.
Simon McMahon gives us a Scotland update: “An all-action first half at Tannadice. After scoring inside the first minute, Dundee United were then reduced to 10 men after Pawlett was harshly red-carded for a mistimed tackle. Goalscorer Adrian Spörle was sacrificed for midfielder Ian Harkes, who immediately set up Lawrence Shankland to put United two up. A booking for both sides too, and a Terry Butcher / Rab C Nesbitt style headband for United full back Liam Smith.”
Zack Lawrence despairs: “The Boro are soul-destroying. We are going to be fighting for mid-table in the Championship before languishing in League One. Absolute joke.”
Championship: As half-time whistles sounds up and down the country, Anis Mehmeti pulls one back for Wycombe at Huddersfield, engineering a yard of space inside the box to roll one home with aplomb.
“You are insane,” writes M Glass. “Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is one of Fincher’s best films. Its flaws are those of the source material, as a piece of craft it’s a masterpiece.”
It’s a game of opinions, I guess, but let’s be honest, GWDT has no place alongside Seven, Fight Club, Zodiac or The Social Network. It’s bloated, over-plotted, unexciting and anticlimactic. Sorry!
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Championship: Norwich are getting busy cementing their place at the top of the table: they go 2-0 up after Stoke’s Morgan Fox dilly-dallies with a clearance, which is eventually charged down by Bendia, who squares for Pukki to tap home. And Isaac Mbenza rifles home left-footed to double Huddersfield’s lead against rock-bottom Wycombe.
Paulo Biriani writes: “It’s Wayne Rooney’s Derby, Not Derby. This has been a clear editorial policy in the Guardian for weeks. Please correct your error.” Fair point - especially now we no longer have Frank Lampard’s Chelsea to call upon. Duly noted.
Championship: Cardiff quickly make it 2-0 against Coventry and Kieffer Moore will never score an easier goal, the ball arriving at his feet at the back post in front of an empty net after an inswinging corner evaded everyone including the keeper. And Boro are back in it at Pride Park, Neeskens Kebano stemaing onto a loose ball and driving home after some generous defending from Derby.
Scotland: Ryan Jack put Rangers ahead against Kilmarnock with a 25-yard screamer.
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Championship: Colin Kazim-Richards hits a stunner to double Derby’s lead against Boro, rattling in a 25-yarder off the underside of the bar. Kieffer Moore breaks the deadlock in Cardiff in style, weaving past a Coventry defender with a great feint before slotting home. Dan Potts scrambles Luton ahead at Birmingham. And poor Bristol City are now 4-0 down at Watford, a deflected Will Hughes shot and a Sarr tap-in.
And in League Two, Gillingham’s Connor Ogilve has scored a sensational volley – watching the ball drop out of the skies before meeting it left-footed and sending it flying into the top corner. Stunning!
League One: No mucking around today for Sunderland’s Charlie Wyke, who has scored a hattrick against Doncaster within the first half-hour. And all headers! Twenty goals for him already this season – the first Sunderland player to do so since Darren Bent.
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A Scotland update from Simon McMahon: “Dundee United, like Burnley, have struggled for goals all season, Alex, but took less than a minute to find the net against Livingston today. Hamilton have also taken an early lead at Motherwell.”
And to continue the theme below, your least favourite films by great directors? I’ll nominate David Fincher’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
Goals galore in the Championship: Todd Cantwell puts Norwich top! And it’s a peach of a goal from the ever-watchable playmaker, who dances past two men in midfield, plays a one-two with Buendia on the edge of the box and whips a left-foot strike inside the near post. Great stuff – Norwich leapfrog Brentford to the summit. Then the circus act begins: first Watford go 2-0 up against Bristol City, set up by a woeful backpass by Zak Vyner. Then, in Reading, Millwall goalkeeper Bartosz Białkowski collects the ball and rushes to the edge of his box to hurl it out to a midfielder, who promptly passes the ball straight to Alfa Semedo – who rolls into an empty net from 40 yards out. Magnificent. Elsewhere Huddersfield lead Wycombe, Fraizer Campbell with a splendid assist for Juninho Bacuna, and Lee Gregory heads Derby into the lead against Middlesbrough.
Premier League: Non-scoring Burnley double their lead! And it makes for grim viewing for Roy Hodgson: in a desperately crowded box, Jay Rodriguez meets an inswinging corner to head home from close range. As simple as it gets. Dyche’s goal-dodgers hadn’t scored twice away from home since September – they’ve scored two in the first 10 minutes today. More please!
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Championship: Watford lead Bristol City via a very flukey own-goal, Taylor Moore the unlucky man.
And in the Bundesliga, That Man Jadon Sancho has scored for Dortmund, who are currently being held 1-1 by Hoffenheim and languishing down in lowly sixth.
Premier League: Non-scoring Burnley take the lead! Erik Pieters swings in a cross from deep, and when it’s only half-cleared Johann Gudmunsson picks up a half-cleared corss, swivels and curls a beauty inside the far post. Poor defending but a lovely finish. One-nil Burnley.
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Atletico Madrid have beaten Granada 2-1, Angel Correa with the winner 15 minutes from time to send his side eight points clear at La Liga’s summit.
David Wall writes: “Alisson seems to have suffered a David de Gea-sized plummet in form in the past few games, going from almost unbeatable to a liability. When do you think the same questions start being asked about him as have been asked about De Gea so often over the last couple of years?”
A fair question? I’d say a two-game clownish streak (as his team implodes around him) after two years of near-flawless brilliance is very much a blip that can be written off as ‘one of those’. But let’s see where we stand in a week’s time…
So how about Liverpool, eh? I can’t remember a worse run from a proven great since Steven Spielberg made Indiana Jones 4, The Adventures of Tintin and War Horse one after the other. He of course turned it around the following year, directing the Oscar-winning Lincoln and reminding the world of his genius. Can Jürgen Klopp do the same? Does this tenuous metaphor even work? All feedback welcome. In the meantime, here’s your match report:
Simon McMahon writes in to keep us on top of the situation in Scotland “Afternoon Alex. Four games go ahead in the Scottish Premier today, including at Tannadice where Micky Mellon’s Dundee United will be looking to build on last week’s much needed three points at Ross County by beating high-flying Livingston. A win could see United move back into the top six, depending on how St. Mirren do at Aberdeen. Stevie G’s champions elect welcome Kilmarnock to Ibrox, and there’s a Lanarkshire derby as Hamilton visit Motherwell. Only one game survives the weather in the Scottish Championship, but it should be a cracker as Alloa, in bottom place, host second bottom Arbroath.”
In Spain, Atletico Madrid were leading against Granada but have just conceded – 1-1. A draw would leave Diego Simeone’s leaders six points above second-place Real Madrid having played a game more. But there’s still 20 minutes left…
Little to get excited about in the Championship’s early kickoff, where Bournemouth are grinding out a goalless draw at “Notts Forest”, in the Keegan parlance (happy birthday for tomorrow, Kev). Meanwhile, the absurdity continues at the King Power: it’s 3-1 Leicester, and that’s the final, miserable embers of Liverpool’s title defence comprehensively extinguished by King Brendan.
Some VAR fun at Leicester, where it’s one-all the hosts have flipped the game on it’s head – 2-1, and Alisson Becker has performed comedics and heroics in the space of a minute. More from Scott Murray here:
Team news from Selhurst Park, where Roy Hodgson has come out with all guns blazing – three non-scoring strikers up front.
Crystal Palace: Guaita; Clyne, Kouyate, Dann, Van Aanholt; Ayew, Milivojevic, Riedewald, Eze, Batshuayi, Benteke. Subs: Butland, Ward, Cahill, Kelly, Mitchell, Townsend, Mateta.
Burnley: Pope; Lowton, Tarkowski, Mee, Pieters; McNeil, Westwood, Cork, Gudmundsson; Rodriguez, Barnes. Peacock-Farrell, Long, Glennon, Dunne, Bardsley, Brownhill, Stephens, Mumbongo, Brady.
We’ve had a goal in the east Midlands – scored by Mo Salah and set up in frankly indecent style by Roberto Firmino. Read all about it here:
Preamble
Could this be the year the magic runs out for Sean Dyche’s gravity-defiers? The manager with a taste for lookylikeys will have noticed that this season is starting to appear worryingly different to the four that came before. For a start his team – never the division’s most free-scoring unit – have forgotten where the goal is: one goal is four matches does not augur well for a side hovering precariously above the relegation places. On top of it all, Dyche has a new boss to impress – a Wall Street maverick whose early dealings have an ominous feel. And we all know how things ended for Gordon Gekko.
Speaking of forgetting where the goal is, their opponents today will be the team of Christian Benteke, Michy Batshuayi and Jonathan Ayew. And before that, Alexander Sorloth, Cenk Tosun, Loic Remy, Connor Wickham, Emmanuel Adebayor, Fraizer Campbell and Marouane Chamakh. Is Selhurst Park built on some sort of ancient centre-forwards’ burial ground? Very possibly.
But as determinedly goal-shy as their strikers may be, Palace are not without attacking threat, namely Eberechi Eze and Wilfried Zaha, two of the (if not the two) most exciting players in the Premier League. The latter is injured today, meaning Eze – one of the outright players of the season so far – will need to step up once more. Burnley meanwhile are, true to form, surviving on the doggedness of their defence – the second-best in the bottom half. This meeting in south London isn’t exactly an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object, but it’s certainly a force meeting an object. Stay tuned!
Plus we’ll keep you updated with all seven games in the Championship, where promotion-chasing Norwich host promotion-adjacent Stoke, as well events in Leicester, Germany, team news from Manchester and plenty more.
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