Author: Christopher William Kinsey

The Trouble with Touré

The Trouble with Touré

Certain things can’t be denied when it come to Yaya Touré. His talent is unquestionable. Last season he drove Manchester City to a league and cup double, scoring 24 goals in all competitions from midfield. He is also controversial and divides the opinion of loyal supporters. From missed birthday cakes to protracted transfers, he appears in the media for the wrong reasons, when it’d be more fitting if he was revered in the same way players like Messi and Ronaldo are. Or is this a stretch too far?

Before we go any further, I should make my personal thoughts regarding a few things Yaya clear. In spite of his performance last season, I would have happily seen him sold in the summer. A number of factors played into this. The obvious one was the way he allowed his agent to act unprofessionally and disrespectfully toward the club. It seems obvious they were either haggling for an improved contract or were seeing if they could manufacture a move away. He’d just had the season of his life so they assumed Yaya’s stocks were high, that they should cash in.

Of course, they didn’t get a move, and City held firm. These initial actions undid all of Yaya’s work gaining loyalty from the fans. I have no problem with players wanting to move on. As Sami Nasri noted when he left Arsenal, he wasn’t a fan, it’s just his career. I get that. I don’t expect everyone that pulls on the blue shirt to be a City fan. This doesn’t mean they can act in manner that wouldn’t be acceptable in another line of work. Yaya was unprofessional. This combined with the high wage, the fact he’s already 31, meant it wouldn’t have been a terrible move to balance the books the same summer we faced FFP fines and restrictions, by offloading a player that had stepped out of line.

The standard response here is to argue he is irreplaceable. Well, no man on the planet is irreplaceable. I’m not suggesting there is a like-for-like player out there. City would have needed to change the way the team plays. Formed a Plan B and C. Given the one dimensional tactics we adopt in the Champions League, this wouldn’t have been such a bad thing. Mentioning the Champions League, it is worth noting that Frank Lampard, the 36-year-old, warming-up for his American vacation, looked a level above regular City midfielders the night we played Roma. The only one comfortable at that level. So perhaps we shouldn’t place Yaya on that pedestal just yet.

Which brings us to the main niggle I hear at the ground, in the pub afterwards, and in groups and forums: The idea Yaya can’t be dropped/should be dropped. Some argue his moments of magic, which appear from nowhere and clinch big games, allow him to drift rather than put a shift in. That he looks laboured when he’s not. Others argue that no player should be guaranteed a place if their form continues to dip. I sit more on the fence with this one. At some point any player, regardless of stature or former contributions, should face the axe if they fail to deliver. For me, at this moment in time, Yaya is still one of the first names on the team sheet. The recent Aston Villa game is a good example of why he’s a worthwhile passenger to have along for the ride.

The idea of who your favourite player is should lend an idea to the damage Yaya has inflicted on his own legacy with the club. David White is my personal favourite. I know he’s not the best footballer I’ve seen play for the Citizens. But watching him burst off at pace, smash shots on goal, was like watching a superhero when I was younger. I know nostalgia plays its part there. It still breaks my heart, that Niall Quinn made the club’s Hall of Fame, and White didn’t.

MCFC White

As for the best player I’ve seen, the most talented, it has to be from the current crop. I think Sergio is a true world class talent, belonging in the upper echelons of the world elite. David Silva also rates highly; if he added more goals to his game it’d be hard to dismiss him. Yaya Touré should be above both of these though, in terms of contribution and evident talent. Yet, how many City fans would have him as their number one now?

There’s still time for the fans that criticise him to warm once again. The tarnished summer can be painted over with the gloss of further success. I don’t subscribe to the idea any dip in form is a loss of interest. Reneging on the agreement he wouldn’t attend the 2015 African Cup of Nations could be seen as a further effort to appear inflammatory, I suspect it’s just a change of heart. Also, the loss of his brother will be weighing heavy on him and affecting his actions. Such an experience often requires years of recovery.

Yaya hasn’t been given the recognition by external awarding bodies. Last season he was cruelly overlooked. It’s easy to see why that could breed a feeling of being unloved. It doesn’t excuse his actions over the summer, but as fans we should wipe the slate clean. If the professional critics fail to give him his dues, the best we can do is start sending back positive vibes from the stands.

Tomorrow Becomes Yesterday

Tomorrow Becomes Yesterday

From the tagline: Live Die Repeat, and a sneak at the synopsis or a trailer, we know that Tom Cruise’s latest offering is a Groundhog Day with guns. We also see that, just like Oblivion before it, it is set in the world of science fiction. Tom Cruise is the last genuine Hollywood star, in the sense, he believes his name alone can bring box office success, rather than relying on a famous or established franchise. Yet, recent figures show is star, at least in North America, could be fading. Edge of Tomorrow attempts to repeat his former glories.

It is hard to distinguish Cruise’s modern set of films in traditional terms. The movie makers would argue that the global markets play a larger role than yesteryear. That not breaking even at home doesn’t matter when foreign totals smash the production budget. And it seems that outside of North America the Tom Cruise product is still very strong. What makes receipts over personal popularity incomparable across markets is the way different cultures absorb trends. Whether some parts of the world still adore Tom the same, or if they’re more likely to listen to positive reviews from critics, is hard to ascertain.

What we can determine is that Edge of Tomorrow promised an intriguing idea. Why it failed to garner more attention in America is a puzzle to me. Perhaps some were concerned after the lukewarm response to Oblivion (a film I quite liked). Once buckled into the film, after twenty minutes have passed, it’s clear the intriguing idea is being delivered into a top quality film.

It could have been so easy to fall into action film clichés, played it safe or worse still, played it lazy, but Edge of Tomorrow never does this. It feels authentic, like it’s aware and confident of the feel and direction it wishes to take. It harks back to action films from the 80s that set genre defining tones. Sure, it nods its head to things that have passed before; however, it only does this because sometimes those ingredients are required.

Also, make no mistake: it is packed with action scenes. Unlike most modern action flicks these aren’t there as filler. Like Aliens, a benchmark for all shoot-em-up films, the action belongs. It is never there for the sake of it until we get to the next scene with dialogue. Indeed, this story requires the repetition of action scenes, it’s what drives Cruise’s character, Major William Cage, along. The characters do develop, too. And unlike regular modern films in this genre, we are offered subtleties over spoon-fed emotions and progression. Discreet lines pass between Cruise and Emily Blunt’s female lead that never get the spelled-out, typical Hollywood, resolution. We just know it was there.

Blunt Cruise

Certain design aspects pay homage to what has gone before. The combat suit springs to mind. That particular piece of kit also could remind a person of video games, Halo isn’t a million miles away. It’s fitting that a video game gets a mention; they operate on characters “re-spawning” to rejoin the action, not unlike this movie. Also, the author admitted to using video games as an inspiration as he completed the story.

Don’t allow this comparison to fool you or degrade the vision of the movie, it’s not a simple run-through of a film. Okay, it’s not complex either; it just has that correct feel. It is solid storytelling combined with valid action, as opposed to over the top CGI and words that mean nothing.

While it is easy to criticise Tom Cruise for chasing a legacy as the leading superstar over deep, challenging roles (Born on the Fourth of July was way back in 1989, there were only a few roles with depth in the 90s, nothing since), if he seeks out this sort of popular film his talent isn’t totally wasted.

Could the ending be better? Perhaps? But one feels this film is all about the journey, not the destination. And thankfully for Tom, he’s waking up in a tomorrow where he still can command top billing whilst distancing himself from the slips of recent yesterdays.

Cruise Top Gun

White Knight of Gotham

White Knight of Gotham

It’s still superhero season. Marvel continues to flood the cinemas whilst slowly expanding their cinematic universe to the small-screen. DC have been playing catch-up in the big flicks but have slowly churned out TV shows. The Flash joined Arrow, both bearing resemblance to Smallville. Now the most popular hero from the DC stable gets his own show. Well, kind of. Gotham hits our television sets portraying the city before the Dark Knight emerges.

Not for the first time we see the murder of Bruce Wayne’s parents on film. This is the show’s starting point. So we know that we’ll see no Batman for a long time, just a younger Master Bruce coming to terms with the killings. Perhaps it is this repetition that makes the scene so underwhelming. Compared to previous versions there is no desperation in the murderer, no panic in the Waynes, and we know they’ll be no swift rise and resolution in this format of storytelling. We get a clean and clinical, shot because they had to show it, scene.

Herein the many problems with the new show are revealed. The setting actually works quite well. The city has a dark edge to it, bordering on the Gothic New York that Gotham deserves to be. However, it is wasted with the way it’s used. Many lines of dialogue and set-up are lifted fresh from a teen-TV show. In the areas where a sprinkling of Tim Burton would have made the show edgy we are given plastic and safe scenes.

It fails further when it tries to be a serious crime show. If this was the aim then it needs to be on a par with the BBC’s Sherlock. This would be the only way we could excuse the absence of Batman, the world’s greatest detective. At least Smallville teased Superman’s power and his alien origins, admittedly they teased for five years longer than they should have, but it started with promise.

If the makers see the inclusion of characters we know to become major players, like Penguin and The Riddler, as a bridge way to this, then they are failing further than feared. Not only does this destroy or rewrite well known origin stories, it also reminds us that we are supposed to be in a Batman universe. And characters that are supposed to be larger than life, vibrant, intimidating, are soulless shadows of their former (future) selves.

Gotham1

The positives come by the way casting. It’s easy to buy into Ben McKenzie as a young, ambitious James Gordon, it’s a shame he’s hampered by bad screenwriting. Regardless, it’s clear he’s the show’s hero – Gotham’s White Knight. Sean Pertwee has a glint in his eye, which lends belief to the idea he’s the sort of Alfred that could facilitate the broken boyhood Bruce’s rise to Batman. John Doman plays crime boss Carmine Falcone to such perfection that his character alone could be the main antagonist of the show for seasons to come, without the need for half-formed super-villains.

Gotham2

Over time the show may find its stride. It needs to find a darker edge, better dialogue, deeper crimes with better police procedural elements. We also need to watch Bruce Wayne slowly transform. Gotham can only work if it plays to its strengths, and that has always been the Dark Knight. Unless this has just been a massive long game from Warner Bros., the parent company and producers behind the upcoming Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. They took a lot of abuse for hiring Ben Affleck as Batman. After a season of Gotham without a sighting of our hero, we’ll be accepting “Batfleck” with open arms.

Batfleck

Batman’s the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it has right now.