Dare to Dream, Leicester

Regular readers will know by now that that in the great scheme of all things sport, football features pretty low down on the list. I mean, I would sooner watch show jumping than a game of soccer, but today? In the spirit of all dramas and tradition of change, I will be a footie 'fan' because plucky underdogs Leicester City are on course to deliver a grand upset and add its name to the long list of British sporting achievements. And this is a team that im reliably informed was fighting relegation last season.
Too many things are labelled "legends" and "heroes" these days but Leicester City will become one of the few genuine heroes which is a welcome pause from the shitty news this world serves up.

Leicester City were 5000 to 1 betting odds at the beginning of the season, and even when the doubters did their sour doubting thing the Foxes stayed their course to railroad through, too busy making history to be concerned with doubting Thomas mob.

Anyway enough blah blah, gp Foxes, go!

As Soon As The Gods Go

Allow me to throw some names out into the blogosphere; Clint Eastwood. Gene Hackman. Jack Nicholson. Harrison Ford. Robert De Niro. Al Pacino. Morgan Freeman. (Sadly, apart from Dame Helen Mirren, the British and Irish giants have already left us.)
Only two of the above Hollywood legends are under 70 (Ford and De Niro). It got me thinking, who the hell is going to replace these guys, true heavyweights of cinema, when they finally get a casting call from the Great Director in the sky? Who has the chutzpah to fill these iconic loafers? Nobody immediately springs to my mind. Well a few names do but I cringe at the idea.

An icon of our times

Let us see; Brad Pitt. Johhny Depp. Jason Statham. Orlando Bloom. Leonardo DiCaprio. Rhys Ifans. Erm...that will do for now because its making me depressed. Don't get me wrong, I like these guys (mind you Pitt has made some stinkers recently), but do they really possess the magic of the old timers? Really, really? I have grave doubts. Of those mentioned I would pick Johnny and Leo to reach the vertigo inducing heights of legendom (not a word? It should be), while the others simmer on a much lower heat.
In fact DiCaprio has impressed me no end since my initial misgivings in the more-fashion-show-than-film Titanic. Movies like The Departed, Gangs Of New York, and the earlier Basketball Diaries about poet Jim Carrol showed me that. He's a fine actor. Ditto Depp but the rest seem very...shall I say flimsy.
I had high hopes for Brad Pitt but the older he gets, the more (for me) he seems to lose a little stardust. And the Brits I mention are great (I love Statham films) but are they great enough? In my opinion no.
When the likes of Eastwood and De Niro leaves us, Hollywood will become a much poorer place, and judging by most of the films it churns out these days, that will be the End of it.