The British update: Rickman | Sheen | Molina

Alan Rickman will continue in his role as Severus Snape in the final two installments of Harry Potter, ‘The Deathly Hallows’ Parts 1 and 2. Next month, to mark National Poetry Day here in the UK, he will star alongside Emma Thompson in The Song of Lunch. A dramatisation of Christopher Reid’s poem, it tells the story of a book editor who meets his former love for lunch after 15 years apart. After this he is due to star in The Villa Golitsyn, adapted from the novel by Piers Paul Read. Unfortunately, further details about cast and plot are unavailable, although the book is described as an “intelligent and gripping thriller of treason and sexual intrigue in the south of France”.

Michael Sheen will be appearing in Disney’s TRON: Legacy (a sequel to the 80s film) hitting cinemas in December, alongside Jeff Bridges and Olivia Wilde. Next year he will head up Jesus Henry Christ, with Toni Collette. This film tells the story of a boy conceived in a petri-dish who, at the age of ten, tries to find his biological father. Next he will be starring in Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris, with a cast that includes Rachel McAdams, Marion Cotillard, Adrien Brody, Owen Wilson and Kathy Bates. He will then be reprising his role in the Twilight Saga, in Breaking Dawn - Part 2. Also on the cards, although these are only rumours at the moment, is a part in The Codfather, a film about a group of friends in Wales who smuggle millions of pounds worth of drugs hidden in cod. I hope these rumours are true because at the moment the varied cast includes Val Kilmer, Steve Coogan, Oded Fehr, Nick Frost and Julie Walters, amongst others.

Alfred Molina has five upcoming films with one-word titles. First up is Carmel, a film about art forgery in California with Hayden Panettiere, Josh Hutcherson, Billy Boyd and Lauren Bacall. Then there’s the animated film Rango, with a voice cast including Johnny Depp, Bill Nighy, Ray Winstone and Timothy Olyphant. This film is about a chameleon that wants to be a swashbuckling hero. He has a part in next year’s thriller Abduction, alongside Taylor Lautner, Jason Isaacs, Maria Bello and Sigourney Weaver and the film Vivaldi, which also stars Neve Campbell and Gerard Depardieu. Finally there is Poe, a biography of Edgar Allan Poe which incorporates five of his tales. Sounds like an interesting one, although there isn’t much more information available at present, apart from the casting of Dianne Wiest alongside him in the ‘Black Cat’ part of the story.

Review: The Damned United

A film about one man’s obsession and how it almost cost him dearly. Brian Clough was the manager of Derby County Football Club and he took them from the bottom of the 2nd division in 1968 to the top of the 1st division in 1969. Ever since his team was drawn against Leeds United and their manager, Don Revie snubbed him by not snaking his hand at the end of the match, his hatred of them worsened. Yet when Revie leaves to manage England, Clough takes over his job. He is manager for just 6 games, a total of 44 days. The team hates him, they have no respect for him, they play terribly and he is sacked.

This film cuts back and forth between Clough’s surprise decision to take the job at Leeds, and the series of events that led up to it; his motivation for doing so. No prior knowledge of football is needed to enjoy this movie, as there are no long scenes of the teams playing on the pitch. It is more concerned with the characters, in particular Clough and the unhealthy grudge he develops that almost ruins his career.

The fact that Revie didn’t shake his hand seems to have a lasting effect on Brian Clough; he has a loathing for him and Leeds after that moment. He fields a strong side against them ahead of an important match with Juventus, when his chairman doesn’t want him to. As a result, a number of Derby’s players are injured by the dirty-playing Leeds team and they lose in an atmospheric evening match in the pouring rain. The Damned United has a number of great moments like this. Another comes when Clough can’t bear to go out to the sidelines to watch a match. Instead he waits in the locker room, trying to interpret every noise the crowd makes.

The film has a great script, written by Peter Morgan, the man responsible for The Queen and Frost/Nixon. There is some really nice framing of shots and the cinematography is good too. I like the on-screen visuals of the League tables, to show Derby climbing up the rankings. I also thought it successfully weaved old news recordings and new film together, including the montages of football footage.

There is a very strong cast including the unstoppable Michael Sheen, fast becoming a master at playing real-life characters. Already conquering the likes of Kenneth Williams, Tony Blair and David Frost, he turns his attention to Brian Clough in yet another great performance. He also gets solid support from reliable actors Timothy Spall, Jim Broadbent and Colm Meaney.

Not being a huge fan of football myself, I expected to be lost and confused by the end of this film. I was pleasantly surprised when I found myself avidly following the events as they unfolded. Perhaps this shouldn’t be classed as a football film but rather as a character study because it tries to show the mindset of Brian Clough when he made such a shocking decision fuelled by his obsession and ambition. All in all it is a thoroughly enjoyable British film that provided a lot more than I expected.