Displaying items by tag: Boxing

A rare Lenny Mclean documentary from 1978

Nina Bumbalkova’s was born in Prague in 1987. Nina has recently just released her debut Documentary Men in A Box, she works predominantly in photography, but also makes films. With her images, she aims to record an inside view of the city’s subcultures and urban spaces.

Sports themed films, particularly boxing movies, have evolved greatly since 1949’s seminal 'Champion' starring Kirk Douglas.

This Is Your Life - Henry Cooper, heavyweight boxer, was surprised by Eamonn Andrews at Thames Television’s Euston Road Studios.

Very Rarely broadcast Ali Documentary. This is jammed packed full of Rare Footage from the vaults of ABC, Includes some real Gems here,

Brought to us by the ancient Greeks, its edges neatly rounded off by the Marquis of Queensbury in 1867, before being wrapped and packaged for the masses by TV in the 20th century,

“Here by the sea and sand / Nothing ever goes as planned” (The Who, ‘Sea and Sand’, Quadrophenia, 1973).

The first time I actually took notice of who was Harry Carpenter was in the late 70s, early 80s on Sportsnight, the Wednesday sports program on BBC1.

© Words William Goodchild

You'd be forgiven for expecting Drive 2: Bangkok Boogaloo. However, this is a very different beast from Nicolas Winding Refn and Ryan Gosling's previous collaboration.

Julian (Ryan Gosling) is a drug smuggler in Bangkok operating behind the veneer of a Thai boxing gym. As a result of his vile behaviour, scumbag brother Billy (Tom Burke) meets a grisly end. Julian accepts the consequences of his actions but their mother Crystal (Kristin Scott Thomas) seeks vengeance on corrupt cop Chang (Vithaya Pansringarm).

© Words William Goodchild

It’s completely understandable if you have preconceived ideas about this film (in a not good way). But it’s best to put them aside. The poster, undeniably fetishising the bodies of the two leads, doesn’t exactly help. The mixed martial arts in this film is incidental. It is not a film about mixed martial arts. (Or rather, I should say, Ultimate Fighting Championship or UFC.) Instead it offers a very moving story of a family torn apart, with the conduit of that story being men fighting in cages.