accies1874

Could be a back five for Accies with Owens playing the hybrid RB/RCB role again with MacDonald RWB, or Owens will just be a normal RB with MacDonald in midfield. Pretty sure this is Redfern's first start since the cup final at this stadium, where he came off after about 20 minutes, which was also his first start in about a year.

I reckon Christie's still first choice but no one has as good a record as Ferguson. I thought he did well against Georgia, but it could have been that I was swayed by enjoying him carry over what I'd seen for Bologna (on the tele) into a Scotland game (irl).

One thing we should all agree on is that he should be our penalty taker if on the park.

Unfortunately a lot of folk don't realise the impact a pile-on can have as they just want to feel like "part of the gang." With tensions already high between two sets of fans with a history of scrapping as well as the example you've pointed out, I don't think it's unreasonable if someone doesn't want to put themselves even more out there.

9. The Zone of Interest - Cinema A great film on so many different levels, but one that didn't really affect me as much as it has with others. It starts with an extended black screen with weird sort of sci-fi sounds rumbling in the background, which I think sets the scene perfectly for what's to come as it helps you understand right from the off that the sound of the film is the most important part of it. That's because this is a dry domestic drama which has the inconvenient backdrop of Auschwitz. You only see one shot inside Auschwitz during the Holocaust and even that's framed upwards towards the sky. The rumbling sound transitions into a normal scene with a family down by the river where they're immersed in the sound of chirping birds, however those peaceful noises get replaced by rifle fire, incinerators and screaming that is at points hard to distinguish from a baby crying or children playing in a garden, which I think is essentially the crux of the film. Despite noise playing such a huge part in it, there's a very stripped back score in the form of occasional interruptions from similar electronic pulses, adding a sense of surrealism to something very dry. In addition to the soundscape, the cinematography framing Auschwitz alongside the "paradise" that the family have created for themselves remains striking throughout. Like with Jonathan Glazer's previous film Under the Skin, he uses hidden cameras to create a clandestine atmosphere which provides a sense of detachment and lack of empathy towards the family, however it also gave me an insight into the deeply repressed guilt that they might feel; a nagging feeling that they know that this paradise is built on evil, so they want to revel in it but don't want to be closely observed doing so. I'm not quite sure if that's a fair reading though. I found the psychology of the married couple interesting due to that question of whether they've come to live with the Holocaust being the soundtrack of their life, or if it is always playing on their mind. There's a scene where Rudolph Hoss thinks he can hear a bird in the distance, so the fact that he can make that out suggests that he can always hear the other horrific sounds too. There are also a couple of scenes where a heroic act plays out while he reads a story to his kid which I found to be another example of deep, deep inner turmoil as he reads a good vs evil fairytale while committing such evil acts in his job. Turning the Holocaust into a woman trying to protect her status and a man trying to climb the corporate ladder also relates it back to pervasive themes of power and class and what you're willing to overlook to achieve them. I'm still not sure why it didn't provoke much of a reaction in me other than admiration for how it's made. 10. The Iron Claw - Cinema I loved the director's first film, Martha Marcy May Marlene, which was the main selling point for me to go see this, and they're actually surprisingly similar considering that was about a woman escaping a cult and this is a wrestling picture. I knew sweet f.a. about the Von Erich family going into The Iron Claw, so I could only really see it as a story rather than an account of their real-life rise and fall, and in that respect I thought this was absolutely excellent. Like Martha Marcy May Marlene, this looks to explore abuse and the ripple effects it has. There's talk of the Von Erich Curse and the thing I found most interesting about the film was that it agrees with the characters that there is indeed a curse on the family - just not the one they initially think. They don't have a supernatural entity haunting them, but the four sons were cursed by being brought into a patriarchal family where their father pushes them to wrestling success and anything less than being number one is seen as failure, which is maths that doesn't add up when there are four of you. I thought the characterisation of the four brothers managed to convey the detrimental impact of their father's attitude while still letting them be individuals in their own right - individualism that their dad tries to eat away at. One of the brothers was left out altogether, which I didn't know about until after, but I thought it worked in terms of keeping the flow of the film, however I can see why others might find it to be a bit disrespectful. Zac Efron was genuinely perfect as he has the kind of face that suggests there's very little going on between the ears, so combine that with being absolutely jacked and you've got a main character who you wouldn't automatically assume is dealing with such inner trauma. The fact he manages to fight through that to deliver a really agonising performance is impressive. His in-film dad, played by Mindhunter's Holt McCallany, didn't work for me quite as much, as I think he pitched the performance a bit too high, not helped by him having to deliver a couple of the more on-the-nose lines. The wrestling scenes were, on the whole, intense with a lot of closeups in the ring which kept the focus on what the characters were going through in those moments rather than just trying to depict a cool wrestling match, however there were a couple of big moments that they chose to shoot either entirely from a distance or through a television screen. I've seen complaints that the film didn't quite convey just how big of a deal the brothers were from a cultural standpoint, but I thought that worked in its favour as it never glamourised success and always kept a focus on what the brothers should be striving for rather than what they were achieving for their father.

I don't it's fair from him to throw the players under the bus when he signed eight of the starting XI and four of the substitutes. Their mantra at the start of the season was that they were giving Rankin a team of his own, so, combined with Zengin also saying that second place isn't good enough and their transfer policy, it's harder to be patient when they seemed to be pushing for promotion at all costs. Talking about possession and the number of attacks should have the caveat that we were behind for almost an hour against a side happy to sit in and counter.

We've really not used outgoing loans to our advantage in recent years, but seeing how well Owens has done since returning hopefully points towards that getting better, especially given they're just dropping down one division or lower down League One. McGlynn looked like a player with potential and a good option off the bench, and it's not a good look for Rankin if he scores at a good rate for Kelty while we replace him with a loanee whose first real involvement was to miss an open goal.

f**k it, I'll go against the grain and say that we'll win this 3-0 (O'Hara hat-trick) which will be the start of a title comeback for the ages as we win all of our remaining games and Falkirk lose all of theirs before losing the play-off final to Dunfermline.

Gonna hold off on doing The Zone of Interest until I've rewatched it, so here are these two: 7. Samsara - Cinema A very slow and atmospheric film that is partly set in Laos, partly set in Zanzibar and partly set in the plane between death and reincarnation. It has a terrific soundscape that transports you into all three of these locations, especially the nature of the Laos monastery which complements the dreamy score beautifully The grainy cinematography and colour grading also allows the orange robes of the boys in the monastery to pop against the greens and blues of the forest and water that surrounds them. That retro cinematography, peaceful soundscape and lack of story creates an incredibly relaxing experience that almost feels like the last knockings of life - but in a way that embraces what's to come. The second half in Zanzibar replaces the prominent orange with reds and yellows - which I'd imagine will have some meaning given the fact those two colours make up orange - and, interestingly imo, the Buddhist characters are replaced by those of different religions, some of whom are Muslim and others whose religion escapes me. I found that interesting because death and the afterlife are key to the whole film, so you get to see how all of these different cultures respond to the great unknown. This was never really at the forefront of my mind, though, as I got most pleasure from just soaking in the experience. That experience peaks halfway through the film, which will be what almost everyone will remember of Samsara. At the end of the section in Laos there is a message on the screen telling you to close your eyes until you finally hear silence. What follows is like the astral projection scene in 2001: A Space Odyssey, only in complete darkness aside from the flashing lights that sometimes pierce through your eyelids. This is done with the intention of realising the idea of "bardo" - the space between death and reincarnation - and it worked perfectly for me as an incredibly unsettling experience. You hear an elephant, people chatting and other sound effects which I found disarming due to the feeling of having no idea where I was or why these sounds were happening, exactly like how I'd imagine the uncertainty and terror of being lost on a journey like that. I can't imagine watching this at home as that experience really needs to happen in the cinema, though I would like to 'cheat' and see what it looks like with my eyes open. It's ironic that such a brilliant cinematic experience requires you to not watch, but it does work in terms of transporting you beyond the cinema. The screening was pretty busy too, so, despite not being able to see how others are reacting, there is a communal experience to it. It's like collective isolation. 8. American Fiction - Cinema I found the trailer for this to be really funny, especially the premise of an author needing to live a stereotype to succeed, but that's a sideshow to the family drama stuff. I know that they just wanted to tell a normal story of a middle class man who happens to be black as opposed to feeling compelled to tell a "black story" which is obviously a meta quality of the film as the author is struggling with the same conflict, but I just found the normal story really quite dull and the other stuff really entertaining. That will naturally create a tonal imbalance which I think sometimes works in the film's favour to contrast the different directions Jeffrey Wright's Monk is getting pulled in, but that could also become jarring when it's interrupting scenes like the mourning of a character's death where a quite misplaced joke interrupts the emotion. That issue extended to the script for me too, as I though it was a bit disjointed due to being like vignettes of a family life that I didn't find all that interesting. It's not really stuck in my mind since seeing it last week, so this review might be a bit unfair, especially as I think it has some really interesting ideas about race and storytelling, but I just couldn't enjoy it as a piece.

One of the most 'FIFA on easy mode' goals you'll see all season.

I genuinely haven't seen any of this, but I don't have a problem with Falkirk fans giving it back on Twitter if Ben's slagged them off. Doing it on a platform he isn't on just comes across as poor form and childish. I also don't really like the idea of using other people's faces for internet clout as there's always the risk of some screwball taking it too far, but that's probably to be expected when you're creating content.

Celtic and Rangers' youth players undoubtedly get snapped up by elite academies, but I think that excuse distracts from the players who have come through at lesser Scottish clubs who could have been first team players at one of the Old Firm.

I think it's strange to dig out someone who doesn't even post on here for no real reason.

Players like McGowan and Tumilty are the two who I'd call out for underperforming, although McGowan shouldn't be as exposed as he has been. There have definitely been results that I'd blame the players for, but today wasn't one of those, nor was Montrose.

Our new owner has grand plans for the club, as all new owners do, however it remains to be seen if those are "ambitious" plans or naïve ones. There are things I don't like about how he operates, but I do appreciate that he's trying to turn the club around after how bad things had got. The club supremo is a consistent PR embarrassment, and I don't like the idea of him being the guy in charge of implementing Zengin's ideas as he's an certifiable helmet who seems to be living out a fantasy. I think we have a good first 11, albeit missing the two players who I'd definitely say are playing a level below their ability (Fulton and Martin), but we currently don't look like the second-best team in the division. Our two victories against Queen of the South have been our only good, dominant performances in around three months.

I've tried to remain fair throughout the season, but when the same problems are cropping up all the time then you really need to question whether it's worth sticking with Rankin. I thought he was capable of getting us promoted, but we've been on a downwards trajectory since beating Queens in December with a lack of control and inability to defend counter-attacks being huge marks against him. With the league now done and backing from the fans gone, it probably is time to rebuild with a new manager for the play-offs. Hopefully Zengin and the club supremo don't f**k up the appointment if/when that comes around.

Extremely poor since about the 15th minute. Hastie's stepover and cross is our only real way of creating openings atm, and the likes of Tumilty and McGowan are struggling to cope with Annan's counters - not sure about Davidson either. Rankin changed it about just before half-time, but it's not so different from how we try to shape up in settled play so I'm not sure it'll make much of a difference.

I like Patterson but I really think we need Hickey fit for the Euros and Nations League games.

Sir Douglas

First time around, I found the ending a bit disappointing too for a similar reason to you, but I do think it was a necessary more hopeful ending than if it finished 15 minutes earlier - even if, to me, it didn't feel like that at first.

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/hamilton-accies-stadium-partly-becoming-24307485

I saw it yesterday and don't really know what to think. It's deliberately very detached and I think "a human zoo" is a good description. I'm sure I've also heard the phrase "the banality of evil" being used to describe this film. That meant that I never really felt all that involved in it despite admiring so much, but I would like to see it again.

https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/sport/11925550/spfl-plastic-pitch-grass-hamilton-academical/ Some good news in here about the stadium, though I would be interested to know how they're funding it and what the long-term implications of that funding are. I'm not sure reverting to a grass pitch would send out the best message to the academy at a time when we're already blocking the pathway for young players coming through, and, even beyond that, I think it's good to be in control of where the players are training in the absence of any dedicated training ground.

It isn't an isolated incident though. Falkirk's ultras have now had numerous incidents where they've been "violent" and "aggressive", as have ultras from other teams in this league (Accies and Alloa) and from teams further up the SPFL, so I think it's fair to say that this new fad is resulting in violent behaviour across Scottish football. It's definitely not limited to one club and there will be a lot of other societal issues resulting in it, but organised groups shouldn't be excused for making innocent folk feel unsafe at the football just because they improve the atmosphere. A world where singing sections didn't encourage this kind of behaviour would be ideal, but, whether it's ultras or casuals, the rowdiest fans also tend to create the most bother.