Premiere League - The 2009-2010 season

The new Premiere League season 2010-2011 starts this week-end. Good opportunity to look back on last year. My last post mid-January was to rejoice at the brief glimpse of Arsenal on top of the table. It was just before Arsenal lost again to ManU and Chelsea. We were expecting Arsenal without a valid striker to struggle against the Big Two but hoping that they would lose points to the small four in the last third of the season. And they did, beyond expectations, dropped points to Aston Villa, Everton, City and Spurs while Arsenal made six wins in a row against Liverpool, Sunderland, Hull, Burnley, Stoke and West Ham to come back to two points behind the leaders with easier fixtures coming up (MU and Chelsea playing each other in particular). In truth, many of the wins in that Arsenal series came in the dying minutes and not in very convincing way.

Then came another 'Birmingham moment' two years after that fatal February day (the Eduardo injury, the late equalizer and the Gaslas nervous breakdown). Poor game, Nasri opens the score ten minutes from time but then a stupid mistake in the box and a draw. And Fabregas gets injured for the rest of the season. We then won home to Wolves in the last minute, to reach 71 points – 9 more than the previous season - but the impetus was lost. For match-day 34 against in-form Spurs , Arsenal was missing four or five of its most important players: Fabregas, Arshavin, Song, Gallas, Van Persie (who came in, returning from six month injury, in the last 20 minutes). Spurs were favourite and won 2-1 logically. It was probably over at that point. But the final blow came at Wigan (match 35); Arsenal was leading 2-0 after 80 minutes and then conceded three goals to lose 3-2. Then a goalless draw to City at home and another defeat at Blackburn. In the end, Arsenal finished third with 75 points, only three more than the previous season, and 11 points behind Chelsea.

To be honest, it was a good performance to come back into contention, up to match-day 33 or 34 after having lost home and away – and so badly - to both ManU and Chelsea. But, with another batch of key players injuries in the last stand, the team was toothless and out of steam.

So what about the new season ahead? Never so few transfers. Top teams will remain essentially the same, only one year older, with minor additions: Chamakh and hopefully a new goalkeeper (Given, Schwarzer?) for Arsenal, Hernandez for ManU, Chelsea and Liverpool swapping Cole and Benayoun. Only City has, again, significantly strengthened the squad. One year older might be too old for ManU but perhaps Valencia, Nani, Anderson and Evans will raise their games to take over ageing Giggs, Ferdinand and Scholes.

Everybody expects City to be a contender for the title but I think Liverpool (16/1 to win for some bookmakers) should not be written off. With key players remaining and the excellent Hodgson as a new manager, with no pressure and low expectations, I believe they will surprise.

As for Arsenal, Fabregas is staying one more year. Barca made a £30m offer but Arsenal rejected it and that was it. Fabregas has consistently been very clear that he wants to go to Barcelone at some point but he realized he was not on top of their shopping list this year and in the meantime he still likes playing for Wenger. Let’s hope the World Champion and Arsenal captain will instil confidence and maturity in the team and will find extra motivation in the fact that it may well be his last year in London.

Inception, de Christopher Nolan

Comme Batman 2, Inception est brillant et surprenant mais inutilement long et compliqué. Christopher Nolan est doué mais il veut trop en faire. Si l’on veut être méchant, c’est The Matrix pour adulte, avec un prétexte freudien, mais pour finalement nous faire le plein d’explosions numériques au ralenti, comme dans The Matrix. Le rêve dans le rêve aurait suffi. Etait-il nécessaire d’en rajouter une troisième couche, puis une quatrième couche in extremis? Surtout quand la deuxième couche est l’occasion d’une poursuite en voiture dans New York et la troisième une poursuite/fusillade à ski, entre James Bond et Lara Croft (cette dernière scène sombre un peu dans le ridicule). Tout de même, avec tout l’argent d’Hollywood pour les effets numériques, on aurait pu nous donner des rêves un peu plus... oniriques, et des situations un peu plus originales.

Pour être méchant encore, on pourrait appeler ça du sous Philip K. Dick. Cette histoire sur le thème du rêve, des altérations de la conscience, de la schizophrénie et des niveaux de réalité, est pratiquement un plagia de Philip K. Dick l’auteur de Minority Report et de Blade Runner, et surtout de Ubik (son meilleur livre à mon avis, pas encore adapté au cinéma - mais il parait que c’est en projet).

Voila, c’est donc tentant de dénigrer ce film pour boursouflé, agaçant, vain et prétentieux. Et cependant, le gars Nolan a un véritable talent pour raconter son histoire et certains plans, certains décors, sont vraiment beaux, comme le Paris plié en quatre. Et puis, malgré le scénario compliqué il faut reconnaître qu’on arrive à peu près à suivre et à comprendre. Bref au total, je recommande le film aux amateurs du genre.

Toy Story 3, by Lee Unkrich

Toy Story is back and our old friends too. John Lasseter was too busy being the boss of Pixar-Disney animation studios, so after co-writing the story he stepped back and let Lee Unkrich, a Pixar veteran too, taking the lead role of Director. But it is very much a Pixar team work that, as Time Out says, ‘puts their gorgeously detailed digital craftsmanship at the service of a pleasingly simple fantasy set-up, warm, complex characterisation and classically elegant storytelling’.

First we are told ‘put your 3D glasses on now’ and we are blessed with the latest of Pixar’s short film gems. The new one, ‘Day and Night’ is well in the Pixar tradition: no dialogues, a cool classic jazz soundtrack, an entirely original graphic design, warm, funny, poetic. Sheer genius. And this time, of course, in 3D. Contrary to the feature film that takes the right approach of a light 3D touch, the short film explores the 3D opportunities and 3D/2D contrasts in marvellous ways. Impossible to describe this artistic collage. It reminded me a bit of the slapstick and surreal quality of Les Shadocks.

Then the big film. Pixar Opus eleven. Andy is 20 and about to go to college. His childhood toys have been sleeping untouched in a box for many years. As Andy must clear his room, toys anxiously face several options: move to the attic, donation to a daycare centre, or being thrown away. The toys are divided on what would be the best option for them to retire.

The Timeout review is quite good at spotting the weaknesses. It’s true that too many plot patterns from Toy Story one and two are repeating here, but everything is so brilliantly written and filmed that pleasure is constant and intense again. However I am not a huge fan of the Barbie/Ken subplot (too easy) and Buzz in Spanish mode is fun but overdone.

It is also the second Pixar in a row to be so deeply emotional. Nostalgia, passing of time, despair and separation were always part of the Toy Story saga but the theme is very explicit this time.

I am one of those, many, who cried here, after having cried at Up (twice). Somehow it's okay now, even for a guy, to admit crying when it's a Pixar film. Minor spoiler is coming now. I am referring to the final scene, of course, where Andy eventually chooses to give his favourite toys to an adorable little girl of the neighbourhood and then plays with her – and with them – for the last time. Feeling tears is always an uncomfortable feeling and we should of course be wary of cheap melodrama. There may an argument here but for me there is nothing outrageously cheesy in that scene. It’s simple, true and beautiful.

But another scene took me by surprise. The very short and simple scene where Andy’s mum is suddenly stricken by emotion at the sight of Andy’s room being emptied. Perhaps because I am about to become a father myself I can start to imagine how hard it must be to see your child leaving the family home for good and how I, like most of us probably, was an unfair and insensitive brat to my mum when I moved away to university.