THE BECKER BUGLE

Film Review Source: Ain't it Cool News www.aintitcool.com                       Written by: Pinksquirrel

Good news, we've got a review for the soccer flick GOAL! Credit goes to Ain't it Cool News from were the "review" was taken from. Pinksquirrel submitted this review to Ain't it Cool News, as he attended an early test screening for the film GOAL!. The review is really cool, as it adds more excitement to GOAL's worldwide release. The reviewer gave an awesomely good review to soccer flick Goal! We don't doubt this film will be a box office hit 

REVIEW:

Hey Harry, Moriarty,

I'm based in the UK & have been a long time visitor to the site, and this is my first time sending you guys anything. Tonight I got to attend a very early test screening for the film "GOAL" directed by Danny (Judge Dredd, CSI) Cannon & starring Kuno Becker. Anyway I didn't remember seeing any reviews being posted for this film, and I remembered that Moriarty posted some information about this film a while back - so thought i'd drop you a quick review.

The version of the film that I saw was not all complete, and we were advised that some of the effects weren't finished & this was apparent with some of the crowd scenes etc.

So now to the film. We're introduced to the main character Santiago at a very early age, maybe aged 7 & even then it's made clear that football is special in this kids life. The next scene shows Santiago's family escaping across the border of Mexico in the middle of the night, to which the movie cuts through to the present day in LA. Here we find an older Santiago working as a maintenance man/gardener along with his father. Aswell as this job, Santiago also works as a bust boy - but still manages to play in a local footy (soccer) team. It is during these local league games that we first catch a glimpse of his footy skills & I can assure you that they don't displease the audience. I was amazed and very impressed at what I saw & it made me wish that I had the kind of skill that our main character posessed - not since Manchester United's Christiano Ronaldo had I seen this kind of skill, but anyway moving on - during one of Santiago's matches, he catches the attention of Glen Foy (Stephen Dillane) an ex football scout. The two have a chat, and eventually Glen tries to have an agent attend his next game. This falls through and Glen does his best to help Santiago further - so much that he uses his old connections and arranges for Santiago to try out for Newcastle United. Much to his father's disaproval & following some much needed help from his Grandmother, Santiago travels to the UK and hooks up with Glen in Newcastle.

From here on, the road is bumpy for our soon to be football star - he at first fails to impress the coach at his first football trial, he manages to get a 2nd shot and has a months trial with the squad, then fails to mention that he's asthmatic which comes back to haunt him in a match with the reserve team, he's dropped from the squad and is about to leave for the airport in a cab - to which his cab goes on a detour to pick up another fellow player - who then helps Santiago out by getting him a 3rd chance. From here things get a little easier for our hero, as he performs well on the pitch and impresses his team mates and coach & eventually makes the first team.

The film is pretty solid in my opinion, though a little predictable at times - but hey it's not really a popcorn flick, more of a film about football and dare I say it "Following one's dreams......". The acting was pretty good and I especially liked the main actor Kuno Becker as Santiago. He had your typical footballer good looks and he had a certain charm about him that made you want to see him succeed. The rest of the cast did a pretty decent job, though Alessandro Niola's dodgy cockny accent made me cringe at times & to this day I still see him as Pollux Troy !!

I should add that the famous footballers that were mentioned in Moriarty's previous post only made a brief appearance "cameos"; Beckham met Santiago at a party and even then it was only for around 2 min, Raul & Zidane also made a brief appearance at the same party and were on screen for a few min also. I know that these famous names may attract people to see this film, but take my word, this film is worth seeing for it's values regardless of the famous footballers that may be attached to it - this film was a like a grown up "When Saturday Comes" - for those who have seen this film, you'll know what to expect from this film. For me one of the best things about this film was the way in which it captured the great enthusiasm & love of the game from the perspective of its fans - in this case the Newcastle United fans. The scenes showing the reactions of the fans in the local pubs was priceless & had the audience in stitches, worth seeing it for the Geordie accents. I really hope that Cannon doesn't change much to this film as all in all it's a great football film & one that could do well as a trilogy - which was previously suggested. This was something that wasn't mentioned to us by the research group who hosted this screening, but it was lightly hinted at from the questionnaires that we filled out at the end of the screening.

If you use this, you can call me Pinksquirrel.

A dazzling array of screen and sporting stars - including David Beckham - will descend on the North for the premiere of football flick Goal!, the Sunday Sun can reveal.

Organisers are confident that the England hero - who puts in a cameo appearance in the film - will be among the celebrity guests at the red-carpet event, which kicks off in mid-September.

The Sunday Sun has learned that film-makers want the Sage Gateshead music centre to host the glitzy night, although programmers there say it has yet to be firmed up.

A source told us: "Speculation is rife that Beckham will turn up, and all the other key players and local celebrities will be there too."

Beckham is known to have a great affection for the North East as he always receives a warm welcome from football fans during England games played here.

Since opening last December, the Sage Gateshead has welcomed in scores of top musical names, but the Goal! premiere promises to be the most glamorous celebrity night the region has ever seen.

The entire cast will be there on the night, including leading man Kuno Becker, Anna Friel, Sean Pertwee, Kieran O'Brien and Alessandro Nivola.

They'll be joined by director Danny Cannon, the man who is also behind the blockbusters Judge Dredd and I Still Know What You Did Last Summer.

Newcastle United are expected to be out in force too, led by Alan Shearer and Kieron Dyer, who also have roles in the story.

Goal! is the first in a trilogy following the fortunes of young hispanic footballer Santiago Munez, who comes to England from Los Angeles to join the Magpies.

Later movies will show him moving on to Spain's Real Madrid and taking part in the match of his dreams at the World Cup.

Speculation is rife that the film crew will be returning to Newcastle to shoot part of Goal 2, as scenes will have to reflect how he swaps the Mags for Madrid . . . but no plans have yet been put in place.

In the meantime, fans eager to get a sneak peek at the film can view an exciting trailer, set to the suitably picked score of Kasabian's Club Foot, on the official website set up by the film's distributor Buena Vista International.

The one-minute teaser shows the young Santiago flying 6000 miles to come to Newcastle and is filled with dazzling shots of the Quayside, Tynemouth and a dizzying aerial view of St James's Park . . . see it for yourself at www.goalthemovie.com.

A spokesman for regional funding group Northern Film & Media said: "We gave Goal! a lot of location advice and support and helped them find crew and facilities.

"We're delighted to hear that the film is to get a North East premiere and we're sure it will be a great night. It's great to see the North East showcased in cinemas across the world yet again."

There is a major Hollywood blockbuster, with football as its theme, in the making. Actually not one, but three blockbusters.

It’s titled Goal!, an epic trilogy that tells the story of a ragged kid from a poor corner of the world making it to the top of the heap in the world’s biggest game, a Rocky tale without the gloves but with a round ball at a pair of nimble feet.

Episode one is already in the can and is due to premiere in London in August. Its Australian release will come in September and it will finally hit the US screens early next year.

The brainchild of Mark Jefferies and Matt Barrelle, two football-bent English businessmen, who hit upon the idea of filling a void in a cinema world that has so far left the global football market inexplicably untapped, the film has a budget of over $US100 million and is backed by the Disney-owned distribution giant Buena Vista. It is no small potatoes production.

The story is of a barefoot hispanic kid from Los Angeles’ poor east side who gets spotted and signed by an EPL club and by the end of Episode One he is the hero of an unlikely championship triumph in the world’s highest profile league (with all the human twists and turns, the exploitation, the greed, the chicanery, the women, the romance and the rest of what such an adventure entails).

Naturally, in Episode Two of this leather-scented answer to Lord of the Rings, the kid is carried to his next height, a contract with Real Madrid where he strikes mateships with Raul, Beckham and Zidane (all of whom make appearances in the film). There, need I say it, he triumphs again as a conqueror, leading the Galacticos back into the elusive stratosphere of European kingship. Florentino Perez will be impressed by the thought.

But Episode Three is the coup de gras. There the boy discovers his roots and, as an Argentine by parentage, he embarks on a mission to conquer football’s ultimate peak, the World Cup, in the name of his black and sky-blue genes.

It is here that the human story of the Goal! trilogy rightly hits its peak.

Jeffries and Barrelle have concocted a lead character who, travelling swiftly from rags to riches, is battered and bruised by the monster that is football at its elite club level: greed, ambition, vanity, ego, opportunism, and exploitation.

In the last episode of the trilogy the boy rediscovers the reasons for his football being and the things that made him so in the first place: the pleasure of playing and of winning, not for the money, but for the honour of it.

Called up by Argentina, a country and not a finance-driven club, he is inspired to play again for a cause other than money and fame. National teams, after all, do not sign players according to their marketability and price and the players rarely have a choice in the flag under which they will play.

National team football, as the film implies, is perhaps the only source of honour left in the game. It is only there that player loyalty is chosen for them rather than by them, where they cannot switch and switch back from team to team according to contract offers, and where loyalty and adherence to the emblem is governed by the call-up and the cause, not self-interest and salary.
It is this message that governs the climax of the Goal! trilogy. The central character, through the three films, is taken on a long and tempestuous journey of temptation and fallibility, only to reach an end to the cycle that takes him back to the spirit of what made him a footballer in the first place.

The film stars Kuno Becker, a handsome young superstar of Mexican cinema. It is directed by Danny Cannon, an Englishman responsible for TV’s immensely successful CSI detective series. A congenital football fan, Cannon was recruited for his instinctive understanding of the subject.

Having seen the trailers, I can only attest that it will be quality, explosive cinema.

There has never been, before this, a try by the big studios of Hollywood to take on the considerable challenge of exploiting a market that is global but essentially foreign to the lucrative bazaar of American theatre-goers.

Honours must already go to Jeffries and Barrelle for trying.

In the meantime we football fans hold our breaths that the trilogy will be a success. There is no doubt that the game, for its international status, deserves it.

The marketing strategy of the project is geared towards a conquest of the world first before it is launched on the insular, unsuspecting, though massive, American market. The strategy is smart pre-supposing that, once the world is conquered, America will be tempted to fall into line. And it might.

If it does, a bold, expensive and ambitious cinema venture might just become a significant vehicle in truly globalising football.

For more on the Goal! trilogy, there is a website: www.goalthemovie.com.

The Walt Disney Co. has picked up Danny Cannon's soccer movie "Goal!" for release in North America reports Variety. The project, currently in post production, is the first part of a $100 million trilogy about the turbulent rise of a young hispanic soccer star, played by Kuno Becker.

The world premiere is set for mid-September in the UK. The US release date has not yet been fixed, but is expected to follow early in 2006. By that time, Cannon is scheduled to have finished shooting the second movie, which is due to start principal photography this October in Spain.

In the first installment, the hero travels from his home in Los Angeles to play for English team Newcastle United. In the second, he gets transferred to the giant Spanish club Real Madrid, perhaps the most famous and successful team in the world.

In the last film, slated to shoot next summer, he will play for his national team (the identity of which is yet to be revealed) in the 2006 World Cup finals, which take place in Germany.

Movie-makers are heading back to the North to resume shooting for the football blockbuster Goal!

The film's bosses have netted a whole new cast, crew and script for the movie, now featuring British actors Sean Pertwee and Anna Friel.

It was in 2003 that we revealed Goal! was to be filmed on Tyneside with Newcastle United taking centre stage.

The film is the first in a trilogy following the fortunes of a young hispanic footballer as he comes to England from the US to join the Magpies before moving on to Spain's Real Madrid.

Soon after the cameras began rolling last year, however, director Michael Winterbottom left due to what were said to be creative differences.

Undeterred, producer Mike Jefferies went back to the drawing board and has spent the last six months assembling a new cast and crew.

He also commissioned a new screenplay, penned by North writing team Dick Clement and Ian Le Frenais, famous for hit TV series including Porridge, The Likely Lads and Auf Wiedersehen, Pet.

Original lead Diego Luna was layed off the project, and has been replaced by rising Mexican star Kuno Becker. Filming got under way again at Pinewood Studios in London yesterday, with Danny Cannon now directing.

London-born Cannon's previous credits include TV series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and films such as Judge Dredd and I Still Know What You Did Last Summer.

Mike Jefferies, founder of production giant Milkshake Films, returns to Newcastle this month for three weeks of filming.

He said: "I can't tell you how exciting it is. There were some pretty dark moments last May, June and July when we put everything on hold and were looking for a new director, but we maintained the support of Newcastle United and our partners like FIFA, and we all had a vision from day one.

"Having a hiccough, no matter how amplified that was, wasn't going to deter us.

"Ian Le Frenais and Dick Clement have taken my original script and rewritten it and have done an amazing job.

"What we have now is something very special indeed and Buena Vista International have bought the distributing rights. They only buy two films a year so they know Goal! is going to be something else too.

The rest of the cast includes the cream of British acting as well as several internationally acclaimed stars, including Stephen Dillane, Allessandro Niivola, Anna Friel, Marcel Iures, Sean Pertwee, Cassandra Bell, and Kieran O'Brien. Also slated to appear are Newcastle United chairman Freddy Shepherd and captain Alan Shearer. As we revealed in November, three of the biggest soccer stars in the world - David Beckham, Zinedine Zidane and Raul - will also make cameo appearances as themselves.Jefferies continued:

"Newcastle United have been fantastically accommodating, as have the wonderful Geordie people.

"They all understand that the worldwide release of Goal! will help put the club on the map like never before."

"I'd especially like to thank Freddy Shepherd, Graeme Souness and Alan Shearer who have earned my undying thanks forever. He added: "I can't wait to be sitting with them in the front row at the World Premiere of GOAL! later in the year."

Thanks to Magpies

Goal! producer Mike Jefferies says he has Magpies bosses Freddy Shepherd and Graeme Souness to thank for helping get the movie up and running again.

"Without Graeme we could not make this movie," he said. "I can't emphasis how touched I've been by Graeme, Freddy, Alan Shearer and the entire team.

"We took Kuno to Newcastle early in the season and the club devised a training programme for him, put him in the gym and had him training with the first team. I must stress we didn't work with the club approaching match days.

"I must stress that we didn't work with the club in the days approaching match days - we're all big fans of Newcastle United and follow every game, so do not want to interrupt their training programmes in any way.

"Graeme really took Kuno under his wing. He said all he needs to do is play for hours and hours or have one-on-one kickabouts. Kuno had a kickabout with Graeme and has a deep sense of affection for him now.

"Everyone at the club has gone above and beyond for us. Goal! and Newcastle United is a marriage made in heaven."

Three of Real Madrid's top players, David Beckham, Raul and Zinedine Zidane joined the set of Goal! to discover uncharted territory last Monday. All three footballers assumed roles in Goal!, the first film of a trilogy based on the life of a young Latino footballer who makes it in the Premier League, then goes on to play at Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League and finally plays for his native Argentina in the FIFA World Cup. The three football stars were filming several scenes under the direction of Hollywood A-list director Danny Cannon whose TV series C.S.I. was recently named "most successful TV series of all time".

The players had flown in for the day from Madrid and were joined on set by England manager Sven Goeran Eriksson who had also agreed to a cameo role in the 35-million Dollar production. Eriksson, suffering from a spout of flu, did not want to miss the opportunity nonetheless, and said: " This is a truly exciting project, and I thoroughly enjoyed being part of it. Football offers opportunities to many young and gifted players around the world, and Goal! tells an authentic story with excitement and style".

The first of three films tells the story of young Latino footballer Santiago Munez played by budding Mexican heart-throb Kuno Becker who gets a chance to break into the Premier League at Newcastle United. Based on a classic "rags-to-riches" script by the established Hollywood duo Ian Le Frenais and Dick Clement, the film is by no means a "football movie" even if it shows a plethora of exciting original action scenes of Premiership games. "Goal! tells a love-story and is a fast-paced action drama at the same time", said producer Mike Jefferies, whose original story the trilogy is based on. "Our objective was to create a powerful film that primarily appeals to young audiences around the globe and one which has football, the world's favourite game,  as a backdrop. With over 1.25 billion people around the world actively involved with football, the time is overdue for a movie such as Goal!", he commented.

"David is a natural", said producer Matt Barrelle after the shoot. "He has an infectious charm and a powerful stage presence. We were equally impressed by the performances of Zidane and Raul who performed like "old pros" before the camera. Raul's dialogue with Santiago (Kuno Becker) was both entertaining and good fun. The three footballers fit into the scene perfectly", Barrelle concluded.

Monday was also the last day of a seven-week UK shoot for Goal! The production has moved to Los Angeles where the remaining three weeks will be filmed. " We are on schedule, on budget and on fire", said Co-Producer Danny Stepper. "The interest for the film world-wide is simply awesome!".

Buena Vista International, BVI, have acquired world-wide distribution rights, which guarantees for maximum market penetration. Separate distribution agreements have been made for the US. The first film is slated to have its European premiere in August/September 2005, to be followed by Goal! 2 in May of 2006 and Goal! 3 in the summer of 2007.

Screen Daily reports that Kuno Becker (Imagining Argentina) has replaced Diego Luna as the lead actor in soccer drama Goal!, which started shooting in London on January 29. After Diego was layed off the production.

Buena Vista International have picked up International rights to the film, while Latino targeted film label Arenas Entertainment has U.S. rights.

Mexican actor Becker stars in the rags to riches story of a young Latino player who journies from the ghetto of East LA to the glamour of the English Premier league to try and win a contract with Newcastle United.

Danny Cannon is directing the $30 million project, which will also be filmed at Pinewood Studios and on location in Newcastle and Los Angeles. The rest of the cast includes Stephen Dillane, Allessandro Nivola, Anna Friel, Marcel Lures, Sean Pertwee, Cassandra Bell, and Kieran O'Brien.

The 58-th Cannes film festival, which is currently being held in France, will go down in the history of the Kazakhstani cinematography

A contract with the «Miramax» company, the worlds leading distributor was signed here. «Miramax» is going to invest 20 million dollars to an international advertising campaign of «Kochevnik» film by «KazakhFilm» film studio. American producers say that the historical film by directors Talgat Temenov and Sergey Bodrov senior is about to enter the world blockbuster movies.

Vincent Maraval, director, producer company «Wild Bunch»: «Miramax» is the exact company which can advertise this film. Because it is a very large company and it received the most part of «Oscars’given for foreign films and for American pictures «English Patient» and « The Hero». This is the result of our work in the course of an entire year and we are extremely glad with it.»

Of course, Kazakhstani people will be the first to watch the film. However, the work on creating the English version of «Kochevnik» is under way in the USA. This film will appear in the world market under the name «The Nomad».

Harvey Weinstein, owner of «Miramax» company: «The Nomad» has attracted my attention because it tells the history of the Kazakh nation and Kazakh state. Investing money into a movie and then showing itto the whole world is a very wise decision of your country as it shows that Kazakhstan can produce films. It will lead Kazakhstan into the world of motion picture production and will make others interested in Kazakhstan.»

Critics say world interest into Kazakhstani cinematography is growing. Chinese, Korean and Japanese movies have also been widely presented at the festival. Presentation of the second Eurasian film festival, which will be held in Almaty early this autumn, attracted great attention at the festival as well.

A historical epic, entitled “Nomad”, made by the “Kazakhfilm” studio, was premiered on Wednesday in the capital of Astana.

The premier was attended by president Nursultan Nazarbayev and American actors, starring in the movie – Mark Dacascos, Jason Scott Li and rising star of American cinema Kuno Becker, who played the leading role. “Nomad” is the history of the confrontation between Kazakhs and Jungars. The film tells a story about the life of great Abylai Khan, who united the Kazakh people in the face of the danger. It took 35 million US dollars and three years to shoot the movie, the most expensive in the history of Kazakhstani cinema. Kazakhstani specialists were joined at the shooting area with professionals – costumers, who selected stage props and dressed Harry Potter, pyrotechnists, who worked on Pearl Harbor and cameraman Ulrich Schtiger, who shot Independence Day and Godzilla.

Rustam Ibragimbekov, scriptwriter and producer: - The president wishes that this movie walks far across the screens of the world, telling of Kazakh history to foreign viewers. But first of all, the film should be appreciated here, in Kazakhstan.

Right after the premier the president gave his evaluation of the movie. The head of state noted that the joint work of Kazakhstani and American specialists is a useful experience, which certainly will be useful in the future, during the shooting of other pictures of such scale.

Mark Dacascos, actor: - I, for the first time watched the movie after editing. I liked it much. I played a Jungar – the enemy of Kazakhs – and want to say sorry. Indeed, beyond the movie, I fell in love with your people and culture.

Miramax film studio, which recently signed a contract, intends to invest 20 million US dollars in overseas promotion of the film. The work is under way in the USA over the creation of an English version of the “Nomad”. Foreign cinemagoers will be able to appreciate the Kazakhstani movie this autumn.

Emma Thompson, two time oscar winner, stated that mexican actor Kuno Becker is one of the greatest promises not only in mexican cinema, but world wide as well.

In an interview the actriz said Kuno was "a divine boy" who has an extraordinary future awaiting him.

"Kuno is the most divine guy I've ever met. It was wonderful working with him, especially because he is fantastic and has an extraordinary road to cross still ahead of him." expressed Thompson in exclusive.

Christipher Hampton, the director who gave Kuno the opportunity to work in Hollywood, was very happy because in "Imagining Argentina" he was surrounded by mexicans: Kuno Becker, who starred in "La Hija del Canibal" and the mexican soap "Soñadoras" and the director of photography Guillermo Navarro from "El Espinazo del Diablo".

"I met Kuno at the moment of casting, he did an extraordinary job with his character. He is a great actor and is very talented." Hampton commented.

We should heritage our culture to future generations, Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazarbayev believes. On August 27 he declared this during his visit to the Nomad film back lot near Almaty. The President reminded that in his Address to the People of Kazakhstan he stressed the country started paying attention to national and multinational culture revival based on economic growth owing to reforms realized.

The President called the Nomad film one of the bright examples the state paid attention to culture. The picture was started taken in one of the sets. The President appreciated the fact that famous screenwriter and director Rustam Ibragimbekov worked at the film. The best world masters, actors and specialists from 15 countries were attracted. Over half of the budget funds allocated have been already used. The project is also financed by sponsors.

Nursultan Nazarbayev hopes that the next autumn we can see the film. He thinks the picture will show the Kazakh history, tell the world about Kazakhstan, “how our ancestors fought and won to give us these treasures”. “We should reconstruct all cultural monuments”, the President said.

Scriptwriter, famous scenarist (White Sun of the Desert, Wearied with Sun, Siberian Barber, East West and others), Honored Artist of Russia and Azerbaijan, writer Rustam Ibragimbekob noted the esteem towards history in Kazakhstan.

The film is estimated at $24 million (3.5 billion KZT). The camerawork to be started on September 1, 2003.

Executive producer is Milos Forman. He was awarded Oscar prize twice. Directors are Ivan Passer and Talgat Temenov.

Cameramen are Aubakir Suleyev and Ulrich Steiger (Godzilla, Patriot, Independence Day, Black Knight).

Art Director is Kreka Kliakovich (Rasputin, Courage).

Costume Designers are Michael O’Konnor (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets) and Marit Allen (Scarlett).

Special Effect Coordinator is Ive DeBono (Pearl Harbor, Patriot, Sea Bear, Spy).

Property Coordinator is Mickey Wolfson (Gladiator, Saving Private Ryan).

Decorative Artist is Franco Fumagalli (English Patient, Godfather, King David).

Famous American film actor Jason Scott Lee will play Oraz.

Mark Dacascos, young Hollywood stars Kuno Becker and Jay Hernandez were also invited to the film.

Main women’s role was given to young Kazakh actress Ayanat Esmagambetova. Well-known Kazakhstani actors Doskhan Zholzhaksynov, Tungushbai Zhamankulov, Zhanas iskakov, Kuman Tastanbekov and Ashir Chokubayev and others play the leading roles.