Hooligans trailer...

herobear · 18-03-2005 2:41pm #1

>here<

for anyone who doesnt know, this is the new elijah wood film about soccer hooliganism, looks FANTASTIC and bloody BRUTAL too!

Basq · 18-03-2005 4:19pm

Yeah, looks quite good alright!

And it's been getting brillant reviews. Charlie Hunnam is supposed to steal the show. I remember him only from 'Undeclared' and also a Katie Holmes movie called 'Abandon'

Also stars Claire Forlani and Lee from 'The Office' (also in Eastenders now)

Mossy Monk · 18-03-2005 5:14pm

link doesnt work

Chad ghostal · 18-03-2005 5:21pm

It looks good (THE LINK WORKS FINE), im sceptical about trailers without dialog , especially one that just shows so much violence to wow you..
also extremely sceptical about elijah woods doing an english accent and looking all tough and menacing...
its good to see hes taking all types of different roles though, post lotr...

Basq · 18-03-2005 5:22pm

Works for me.. i presume you have Quicktime installed?

herobear · 18-03-2005 5:22pm

yeah it even won all the top prizes at the sxsw film fest where it premiered, i seeriously CANT wait for this!!
do you know who the song in the trailer is ? im nearly sure i know it from somewhere, its not particulary good or anything but it suits the trailer(although i wished it was slightly more heavy)

Mossy Monk wrote:

link doesnt work

keep trying but if you cant, goto darkhorizons.com>>trailers
it'll be in the list there

Basq · 18-03-2005 5:28pm

Hope it's not as crap as Football Factory anyways.

Here's just two reviews for it from Ain't It Cool News:

HOOLIGANS

I know, I know. There have been a million reviews of this film, but I just had to chime in myself. It is, by far, the best narrative feature that I've seen at the fest.

If you don't know already, the film revolves around the story of Elijah Wood's character as he gets expelled from Harvard (by no fault of his own) and takes refuge in London where his older sister (Claire Forlani) is happily married to an English geezer with whom she has a baby. From there the story takes us into the completely surprising and interesting world of football hooliganism.

Despite the violent nature of this secretive subculture, it is the loyalty and devotion among the hooligans of the "firm" that quickly draws Elijah's Matt Buckner-as well as the audience- into their story. Elijah Wood delivers a solid, wonderfully understated performance that allows the audience to discover this underground world as he does. The greatest surprise, however, are the absolutely riveting performances by brits Charlie Hunnam and Leo Gregory as the leader and a member of the firm, respectively. Damn, can these boys act!! Leo Gregory can express more with one drunken eye roll than most actors emote in an entire film, and Charlie Hunnam as firm leader Pete Dunham perfectly captures the duplicity of his character's double life. He basically manages to make one of the most violent characters of the film one of the most likable.

At the core of the film, however, is the kickass direction by Lexi Alexander. The fact that this story is told to us unapologetically from a female is totally refreshing to me. It seems against principle to even acknowledge that "a girl directed a hardcore hooligan movie", but girlfriend made me proud! Just to think of her standing in the midst of a hundred growling males, telling them how to throw punches makes me giddy. The fact that the direction is flawless and the flow seamless makes the story even more compelling. Congrats miss Alexander on a truly inspiring job.

Alright, I know you've heard enough already. But, go see this movie! I have no doubt that it will be at a theater near you soon enough.

And..

Hi Harry,

One of the people representing Hooligans asked that, if we liked the movie, to write in to AICN. I know I am not one of your official reviewers, but I don't think this movie is getting nearly the coverage it ought to get, so, after seeing this movie 2 times now, I am going to write a quick review because Liesl and I agree, this movie is awesome. You can use this review or not, but there is only one showing of Hooligans left at SXSW.

HOOLIGANS

Like Ong Bak, this movie is not about gangs or violence or even "football"...it is about finding what is missing from life and the journey of the protagonist to find it.

Matt Buckner just walks away from his future and his own talent in the beginning of this movie. We are given the superficial reason, but we cannot help but feel immediately that he gives up "without a fight" he just resigns himself to it and then "runs away". It seems maddening that he does this, but at the same time, so many of us do the same thing in small ways everyday that we relate. Essentially this is the set-up for his personal transformation.

He gets drawn into the completely foreign world of football firms or gangs. His naivety leads the way, because he really doesn't know how deep and dark this world is, even though we, the audience, are given a glimpse of it at the beginning of the movie. For the first time, Matt gets a taste of loyalty and friendship that seem to expand his world to a sense of belonging which has been missing from his privileged but solitary academic life. But he is still naive. As Americans in the same unfamiliar world of the football firms, we go right along with him because of the down to earth appeal of being a "regular" guy, and the treat of seeing a real West Ham United match with real fans complete with all the frenzy and excitement. But we are also drawn by the charm of Pete, the head of the West Ham United firm, who happens to be Matt's sister's brother-in-law. Pete is played brilliantly by actor Charlie Hunnam.

The violence of the brawls that ensue to protect the reputation of the firms and the teams they "represent" is handled extremely well in this film. Bloody, "gritty" and adrenaline-pumping bare fist fights without weapons where wit, nerve and fighting ability are all the tools the firms use to maintain their reputation. Occasional sticks, stones and broken beer bottles find their way into the fights and when they do, they are usually used as an indication of dirty fighting or survival. The movie in no-way glorifies violence or even justifies it. The fights just become an important part of the story and the transformation of Matt.

I will not say more of about this movie because people just need to see it themselves and I don't like too summarize a movie as much as I like to share my feelings about it.

Elijah Wood, Charlie Hunnam, and the rest of the cast are all top-notch. Hooligans has been one of the highlights of SXSW this year for me. I hope that everyone who wants to see this film gets a chance and I would love to see an American general release of the movie. Best of luck to Lexi Alexander.

Maria Von Trapp