The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur news and links for Thursday, February 7

Hi, everyone!

Today’s ramble comes straight from the comments.

Ramble of the Day

A couple of days ago, someone alerted me to the very important fact: Alexis Sánchez is in a movie called Mi amigo Alexis, which translates to My Friend Alexis in English. The first order of business, naturally, is watching the trailer:

The movie follows a kid called Tito who adores Sánchez and seems to be good at football. His dad, Hectór, wants him to quit school to become a footballer, while Tito himself and his mother, Adriana, aren’t into the idea. Hectór seems have some regrets about not becoming a footballer himself, and along the way, Tito befriends Sánchez. The film seemingly also covers Sánchez’s childhood, and parallels Tito’s story. Per Chilean site Pousta, the movie also includes a subplot about Hectór not wanting Tito’s sister, a talented goalkeeper by the name of Gloria, to pursue a career in football.

It sells a familiar PG story of achieving dreams through sport, and at first it seems to sell the combination of corny inspirational tale with not-so-funny moments that children are supposed to be impressed by. That said, the production value seems high on this one. The themes, like living vicariously through your child and possibly misogyny, definitely make the film seem less superficial, though it’s not like those topics can’t be handled in such a manner. I am, though, impressed by the cinematography and direction that can be seen in the trailer, which automatically gives the film a little bit more gloss and professionalism.

What also adds to that is a fact the trailer shares fairly early: it comes from some of the same producers as A Fantastic Woman, winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at last year’s ceremony. I haven’t seen it, but that plus its 94% Rotten Tomatoes score gives it an impressive reputation, but Pousta seems less impressed by that. To paraphrase and translate roughly, writer Luc Gajardo finds that to be “disconcerting,” as the producers of such a well-respected film have put out a film that looks like an infomercial, a straight-to-Netflix release, or a vanity project for Sánchez.

The last one is most likely true, and after watching the trailer three times, I have no reason to believe this film will be any better than the others in this genre. That, though, doesn’t mean I don’t want to watch it, because it’s right up my alley. Sánchez’s dogs, Atom and Humber, are in some way included in this, which at least a good place to start.

The movie comes out in Chile on May 30, and to my knowledge, currently has no distribution deals in place in other countries. Naturally, I will have an update if I can find it, but I am definitely interested.

tl;dr: Alexis Sánchez’s movie is probably a vanity project.

Links of the Day

A body has been recovered from the wreckage of the plane Emiliano Sala and pilot David Ibbotson were on, while attempts to recover the plane itself were unsuccessful.

Nantes is demanding the first installment of the payment from Cardiff for the transfer of Emiliano Sala, while the Welsh club is waiting to be satisfied by the documentation before doing so.

Police are investigating a claim that a West Ham fan shouted Islamophobic abuse at Mohamed Salah during the team’s 1-1 draw with Liverpool on Monday.

Today’s longer read: Donald McRae interviews Cork City first-team coach Lisa Fallon, the only woman coaching a men’s team in Ireland, on her work and her journey for The Guardian