A decade later and he has impressed yet again, this time with the film The Wrestler.

One of the movies of the year in 2008, The Wrestler was nominated for plenty of awards, including Oscar nominations for best film, best actor and best supporting actress.

The film follows the life of Randy ‘The Ram’ Robinson, a professional wrestler in the 1980s.

The Rams life was full of excitement and fame in his early years, and was an A-grade celebrity in the industry.

However, by the 1990s his popularity decreases, as too does his quality of life.

Robinson still does the odd show on weekends, in front of mediocre crowds, but during the week he gets by with part time shifts at the local deli.

He is rarely recognized, and when he is it is usually at his expense.

The movie takes the viewers on a journey through the life of a superstar who has the battles of letting go of the only thing he loves so much, and the one thing that has torn apart his family.

Mickey Rourke assumes the role of Robinson and one could not find a more perfect match.

The similarities between both characters are striking, with Rourke also going through a similar experience, only in the acting world.

The Wrestler will make you laugh, and cry, in an emotional rollercoaster.

The film is now out on DVD across the nation.

The film is directed by Steve Reynolds, written and produced by Mike Jefferies, both of whom were involved in the first two Goal films.

However, unlike its two predecessors, this film was not released in the cinemas, and rather only made its debut in the DVD section of your local video store.

After the successes of the first two films, it was no surprise there were plenty of fans desperate to check out the film, and many footballing fans who also would have been excited by the release.

However, Goal 3! takes the movie to  a whole new level, for the worse.

While most fans were expecting to see further developments in the Santiago story, what they got is this footballer who incidentally does not get to play football in the movie where he is the lead, and the game is left to two new characters that nobody even knows.

A real shock, I know!

I’m not sure why they went ahead with the third movie when the lead character they were building up over two movies didn’t even get to play.

Another major let down in the film was the skill and footballing scenes. There is evidentally a lack of class, even with the likes of Rooney, David Beckham, Steven Gerrard and Christiano Ronaldo.

In summary, Goal 3: Taking on the World is not a release worth chasing up, and if anything you will be left disappointed by the films end.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=oE19Uig3Ohk

6/10

I don’t really need to point out that Repo! The Genetic Opera has an amazingly original concept. Director Darren Lynn Bousman (Saw II, III and IV) creates a stylised setting reminiscent of Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s La cité des enfants perdus (fancy French way of saying City of Lost Children), Alex Proyas’s Dark City, even Terry Gilliam’s 12 Monkeys. Based on the stage play written and composed by Darren Smith and Terrance Zdunich, Repo is heavy with back-story. Bousman uses Tank Girlesque comic book interludes to keep the exposition from weighing down the narrative.

The actors do their best with the musical dialogue, but it is Anthony Stewart Head who really stands out. I’ve been in this guy’s corner for a while now, and not just because he battled vampires as Buffy’s mentor. He’s strong and charismatic, underrated and very underused. Whilst Repo is no Sound of Music, it does contain a few moments of greatness. When spoilt surgery addict Amber Sweet (played by a perfectly cast Paris Hilton) starts her big number in the climatic on-stage Genetic Opera, her face falls off before a booing crowd.

It should also be said that somewhere beneath all that violence and melodrama, there is a satirical warning that our society is relying more and more on cosmetic surgery. If there’s something about our physical appearance we don’t like, we can change it with one trip under the knife and… Whoa, whoa, whoa… hold on a second. Original concept, comparisons to City of Lost Children, social commentary! I’m making Repo sound like a masterpiece. It isn’t.

Lazy chorography is where Repo loses its step (puns are fun). The sleepy movement coupled with unmemorable songs keeps this from becoming the next Rocky Horror Picture Show (an obvious inspiration). There is an unparalleled lameness about Repo, but whilst it falls short of its goal, there is the nagging sense that this could have been something great. It all comes down to that old chestnut: Sometimes even with all the right ingredients things just don’t go right in the mixing bowl.
Two and a half stars.

A computer disc containing sensitive CIA material accidentally falls into the hands of a pair of gym workers and they become intent on exploiting their find. Events spiral out of control and cascade into a series of hilariously dark encounters.