Canada's favourite son Sidney Crosby enabled the ice hockey team to put the crowning finish on the host nation's Winter Olympic campaign with the sudden death overtime winning goal that secured a 3-2 victory over the USA.
It was their 14th gold medal of the Games and makes them the most successful host nation in history.
After a final weekend of action in Vancouver and Whistler had brought gold in the men's curling, three in short track speed skating and another in snowboarding, Canada also got to salute the one victory that meant most to the hockey-mad hosts and fittingly the winner came from Crosby.
Just a few hours before the closing ceremony at nearby BC Place, Canada Hockey Place had erupted into noisy celebration as goals from Jonathan Toews in the first period and Corey Perry in the second put the home side in front in a tight encounter against the American underdogs.
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Champion feeling: Canada celebrate their dramatic overtime defeat of the USA in the men's ice hockey final
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Ice cool: Canada's goalkeeper Roberto Luongo milks the applause of a jubilant home crowd
Then came the fightback as USA's Ryan Kesler scored late in the second to bring the score to 2-1 and set up a nailbiting third and final period that saw Canada forced to defend for long spells as the Americans went in search of an equaliser.
They got it with 24 seconds left, through Zach Parise to send the game into sudden-death overtime, only for Crosby to grab the glory seven-and-a-half minutes in.
The USA had been chasing its first men's ice hockey gold medal since the 'Miracle' team of 1980 defeated the Soviet Union en route to a gold-medal victory over Finland at Lake Placid, while the Canadians were looking to repeat their victory over USA in the 2002 final in Salt Lake City.
In their preliminary round encounter, Canada had been put on the back foot early by an American goal after just 40 seconds but the first clear-cut shot of the game came into the fifth minute, Canadian forward Jonathan Toews flashing the puck across the USA goal.
Canada goalkeeper Roberto Luongo was next to come under pressure as Ryan Malone had a chance blocked at the other end but the first goal came at the other end after 12 minutes and 50 seconds when USA keeper Ryan Miller blocked a shot from Mike Richards only for the puck to fall in front of Toews who blasted home from the rebound.
Some US frustration surfaced quickly as Bobby Ryan was sent to the penalty box for two minutes for tripping after up-ending Deny Heatley but the Canadians could not take advantage of the power play and the Americans went in at the end of the first period trailing 1-0.
There was some desperate US defending at start of second after Malone went to the penalty box for high sticking but again Miller and his defencemen held firm during the power play.
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Match winner: Sidney Crosby's overtime goal brings home fans to their feet but opposition goalkeepr Ryan Miller (right) to his knees
Eric Staal was the first Canadian to go in soon after, for interference, and this time the Americans could not make their numerical advantage tell. Canada went back to full strength to huge cheers and the home side went straight onto the offensive, Ryan Getzlaf going close.
The momentum stayed with Canada and Getzlaf forced the issue, cutting back from the left for Corey Perry to shoot high into the net past Miller for a 2-0 lead seven minutes into the period.
The stadium scoreboard asked the fans inside Canada Hockey Place to 'Make Some Noise' but there was really no need as they celebrated Perry's fourth goal of the tournament.
Canada continued to pressure their rivals and when Miller, the American hero in the 5-3 preliminary round win, spilled another shot play was halted as they bore down on his goal pushing the net off its anchors.
Crosby hit the winning goal
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Carnage: United States were forced to defend desperately at times as Canada heaped presure on the underdogs
The Hero : Sidney Crosby
The break in play seemed to suit the Americans and soon after, the USA got a goal back as Patrick Kane centred to Ryan Kesler whose shot came off Vancouver team-mate Luongo's body and hit the net.
For the rest of the period it was all Canada as Rick Nash brought a save out of Miller from long-range and then passed to Staal from behind the goal line for another blocked shot to give the USA plenty to think about ahead of the final period.
Inevitably, it was the USA forwards that upped the tempo in the last 20 minutes but Canada defended successfully in numbers and when their defensive line was breached, Luongo made two key saves.
The more the USA pushed, the more the game opened up and Canada's star man Crosby had a chance to finish the game when he broke away with the puck on the red line only to lose his one-on-one duel with Miller.
USA made one last rally for a leveller, taking Miller out of goal for a six-man assault on Luongo's goal with 1:27 left. The gamble worked as Joe Pavelski forced a parry out of Luongo, Kane firing the puck back into the crease from where captain Jamie Langenbrunner pushed it to Zach Parise for the equaliser with just 24 seconds to go.
With 20 minutes of sudden-death overtime ahead and a 15-minute interval, Canada regrouped and came out attacking with Jarome Iginla and Crosby both forcing saves from close range and Nash testing Miller from further out.
Pavelski went close at the other end but back came the Canucks and it was Crosby, fed by Iginla, who grabbed the winner to send Canada into raptures.
Celebration time : Canadians fans celebrates in the streets
2' - GOAL: Liverpool score with barely a minute on the clock. Gerrard’s devilish free kick from the left is whipped in towards the far post where Skrtel is waiting to prod home from six yards. WHAT A START!!
11' - GOAL: Liverpool are 2-0 up very early on. It’s the same combination again as Gerrard’s corner is met by the head of Skrtel. The centre-half has to stoop down 10 yards from goal, but does tremendously well to flick the ball into the far corner.
12' - SHOULD SCORE: That would have been virtually game over. Liverpool are just too good for the visitors at the moment. Gerrard finds Suarez out wide on the right, and the Uruguayan’s first time ball sends Sturridge through on goal. The forward attempts to loft the ball over Szczesny but it drifts wide.
14' - WHAT A STRIKE FROM SUAREZ: MY OH MY! Liverpool win another corner, but Gerrard clips it to the edge of the penalty area towards Suarez. The No. 7 flicks the pass up into the air and sends a wicked volley through the crowd and past Szczesny, but it comes flying back off the post. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a ball hit like that.
17' - GOAL: IT’S THREE!!! Arsenal lose the ball in the Liverpool half and face s lightning-quick counter attack as the hosts throw men forward. Suarez is given the ball on the right-hand side of the penalty area, and he opts to send a first-time ball towards the back post where Sterling is on hand to tap home.
20' - GOAL: Can you believe it? Arsenal have been embarrassed and we don’t have 20 minutes on the clock. Coutinho’s incisive through ball splits the two Arsenal centre-halves and sends Sturridge through on goal. The forward takes one touch before finishing from the edge of the penalty area.
53' - GOAL: It’s five. FIVE!! Kolo Toure does brilliantly to find Sterling, who has pulled away from his marker. The youngster races through on goal and finishes from close range, though he requires to attempts to do so.
55' - SO CLOSE: Sterling almost has his hat-trick, but he should have been flagged offside. Gerrard’s whipped set-piece from the right evades everybody and finds the England U-21 winger at the far post, but he can’t quite steer it goalwards.
69' - CONSOLATION GOAL: Steven Gerrard brings down Oxlade-Chamberlain in the penalty area and concedes a penalty. Arteta steps up, sending the ball down the middle to grab a consolation goal for his side.
Are you crying Monsieur Wenger ???
Sterling celebrates
MAN OF THE MATCH
Raheem Sterling, Liverpool - Sterling had a number of chances to wrap up his hat-trick, and although he didn't take any of them, he is well worthy of the man of the match award. The England Under-21 winger caused the Arsenal full-backs no end of problems and took his two goals very well.
Luis Aragones who led Spain to euro 2008 victory has passed away in February 1st in Madrid,here we pay tribute to this man finest hour.
Euro 2008: Spain are fitting winners of a thrilling tournament
With Captain Casillas holding the 2008 euro trophy
For so long they've been the team you curse because you had a crafty flutter before they faltered, now Spain are finally champions. What's more, they did it their way. Their frustration at their successive failures never led them to lose faith in themselves, to abandon the way they want to play. They have always prized technical excellence and imaginative expression above all else, advocated fantasy above pragmatism. They always knew they were right. And now they may bask in beautiful vindication. Spain have shown that high-tempo virility is still a powerful force - but it's just the starting point, the real trick is to build on it with precise technique and inspired creativity. Xavi's wonderful pass to Fernando Torres, and Torres's clever, tenacious run and exquisite finish encapsulated everything that makes Spain worthy kings of the continent.
Spain are no machine, Xavi, Iniesta, Cesc Fábregas and Sergio Ramos no mere cogs. They are a vibrant organism, each element exuding adventure and intelligence. Their movement, speed and offensive intent make them devastating.
Spain exemplified all that made this tournament delightful. In addition to the inventors already mentioned, they have a holding midfielder who does so much more than hold: the Makelele role is old hat, rendered obsolete by Marcos Senna.
Aragones lifted by spanish players after winning the euros 2008 final
Germany were as intrepid as is to be expected of a nation in pursuit of a seventh major prize. Nonetheless, Michael Ballack, who had recovered from a calf strain, was the key person in a line-up that had to depend on its doggedness. Strong-minded as Spain have also been in winning all six of their matches here, technical excellence is the true basis of their domination.
In the 33rd minute Xavi eased a through-ball which Philipp Lahm was well placed to deal with, but the swift Torres first moved outside the left-back and then inside him to flip a finish meticulously over the advancing Jens Lehmann and into the far corner of the net. "Lahm was in a better position but for a moment he relaxed and I took advantage," said the scorer, who had hit the post with a header 10 minutes earlier.
The Spaniards were not close to finished with their celebration that was so long in the making. They marched to their rooting section, hoisting the cup and saluting their flag-waving, firecracker-exploding fans.
In beating a team that makes a habit of appearing in championship finals, the Spaniards put to rest a reputation for underachieving. Always loaded with talented players, Spain has spent four decades falling short of expectations.
That all changed here, where the Spaniards swept their first-round games, eliminated the World Cup champion Italy in a penalty-kick shootout in the quarterfinals, then routed Russia, 3-0, in the semifinals.
Spanish players lifted the euro 2008 trophy
El Zapatero in his younger days as a Atletico Madrid player
Fifty years after helping lead the British invasion in America and transforming pop culture, the most underappreciated Beatle has arguably become the most beloved.
Ringo Starr is no longer mobbed by screaming packs of fans. But, by no means is the world famous drummer hanging in the background. He’s busy laying down tracks for a new album, and about to embark on another tour of his All-Starr Band; he’s publishing books — and he’s still making the case for peace and love wherever he goes.
Ringo is the older of the two surviving Beatles, but you’d never know it. At age 73, he could easily pass for someone 20 years younger. His rock-star DNA has kept him fighting trim. His skin is taut without looking stretched, and his gait is assured, even springy.
At a fundraising concert Jan. 20 at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles, where he was honored by the David Lynch Foundation with the Lifetime of Peace and Love Award, Ringo bounded about the stage like Peter Pan. He appeared boyish compared with the musicians surrounding him — among them Peter Frampton and the Eagles’ Joe Walsh — who are several years his junior.
“Everybody loves Ringo!” declared Lynch at the start of the show, and by the end, all his pals came up onstage, including such luminaries as Jim Carrey and Jeff Lynne, joining for the sing-along of “With a Little Help From My Friends.” The El Rey love-in was just one part of a perfect storm of Beatles-related activity that has occurred over the past year in the run-up to the 50th anniversary of the Fab Four’s first visit to the U.S. — their historic appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” Paul McCartney and Ringo, who remain friends, accepted the Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammys on Jan. 26. The following day, they were saluted at “The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to the Beatles,” taped at the Los Angeles Convention Center and airing Feb. 9 on CBS, a half century to the day after the Beatles touched down in New York, greeted by thousands of frenzied fans.
“It was such an incredible moment,” recalls Ringo. “Americans won’t understand, but we’re English and we came to America, and that’s where all the music I love came from. A couple of years before that, I tried to immigrate to America, to Houston, Texas, to be near my blues hero, Lightnin’ Hopkins. But the paperwork was too much for an 18-year-old.”
Ringo has been a fixture in the City of Angels since 1976, when he bought his first home here.
“You ask anybody who’s ever met me: I love L.A.,” he says. “I love the relaxed atmosphere here, and I have a lot of good friends here, a lot of musicians. It just suits my makeup.”
In a city overpopulated with celebrities, admirers keep a respectful distance.
“I can wander around L.A., wander around Monte Carlo, wander around London,” says Ringo of the three residences he alternately calls home. “London’s always interesting because taxi drivers always say, ‘Hey, what are you doing here?’ If I’m hassled now, they know I don’t sign autographs. I’d rather say, ‘Hi, how ya doing?’ and move on. I’m shopping. I’m going to movies. I’m doing whatever’s going on at the time.”
Ringo loves movies, and goes often with his wife of 33 years, the actress formerly known as Barbara Bach. They prefer venturing out to theaters rather than holing up in private screening rooms like so many superstar untouchables. So far this awards season, “Lone Survivor” is his favorite. “And then a weird one called ‘Prisoners,’ he adds, “that was really strange. Of course we saw ‘American Hustle’
Waving the peace sign at every opportunity, Ringo is effectively the poster boy for peace and love; it’s the signature of his official website and an essential part of his brand.
If “the love you take is equal to the love you make,” then Ringo has generated enough karma to last another lifetime. He attributes his good health to being a vegetarian. “I believe that helps,” he says during an interview at Sir, a studio instrument rental shop in Hollywood. “I also work out most days.” He employs a trainer three times a week. And he meditates daily, a practice that dates back to the Summer of Love in 1967 when the Beatles were introduced to the teachings of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, also an avatar to the Lynch Foundation, which teaches the restorative powers of transcendental meditation to school kids and war vets alike.
“If you listen to the last three CDs, the theme is peace and love,” Ringo says. It’s a message from which he rarely veers, dating back to his first solo works. If there’s any doubt, the opening track on his last studio effort, “Ringo 2012,” kicks off with the lyrics, “This is an anthem/ For peace and love/ We’ve got to keep trying/ We can’t give up.”
Ringo’s well-being is all the more miraculous given his sickly childhood, with his formal education severely hampered by life-threatening illnesses. Later plagued by alcohol and substance abuse, he became clean and sober in 1989 (and has remained so ever since). He was approached around that time about touring, an idea he eventually embraced.
“I hadn’t had a drink or a drug in six months,” Ringo recalls. “I was mad as a hatter. And somebody from Pepsi asked somebody would I tour, and they were going to promote it. In the end, I said yes.”
He is about to kick off yet another tour of his All-Starr band, even though the last one ended as recently as Thanksgiving. “We’re back out in the summer,” he says, “with the same lineup we’ve had for two years.” That includes Todd Rundgren, Steve Lukather (Toto) and Gregg Rolie (Santana). The upcoming North American trek will comprise approximately 30 dates, kicking off June 6 in Rama, Ontario and ending July 19 at the Greek Theatre in L.A.
Judging by the level of talent he’s been able to attract for these outings, of which there have been more than a dozen incarnations, “With a Little Help From My Friends” is less a theme song than a mission statement.
“The special thing about it is you get to play with really good musicians that you would never get to play with,” says the Eagles’ Walsh, who jammed in the first two editions of the All-Starr Band, a dream lineup that included Nils Lofgren and Clarence Clemons of the E-Street Band, Rick Danko and Levon Helm of the Band, and super session players Billy Preston and Jim Keltner. “It was the best group of musicians I’ve ever played with, besides the band I’m in now.”
Steve Barnett, chair and CEO of Capitol Music Group, notes that Starr carved out a very successful post-Beatles career. “He had platinum and gold albums, seven top 10 hits — and two of those were No. 1s.
For those who viewed Ringo as an orphan left to his own devices after the Beatles officially went their separate ways in 1970, the perception is far from reality. He was the first Beatle to initiate a studio solo album, with “Sentimental Journey” in the fall of 1969.
In fact, he released two solo LPs before the end of 1970, when everyone was still in denial about the break-up: “Journey,” which was a top 10 hit in the U.K., and the country-flavored “Beaucoups of Blues.”
He was the one Beatle with whom the others never feuded, and consequently benefited from their input on his albums, while playing on theirs, including the two most acclaimed solo works by former Beatles: John Lennon’s “Plastic Ono Band” and George Harrison’s magnum opus, “All Things Must Pass.” Ringo’s single “It Don’t Come Easy,” co-written by Harrison and the highlight of “The Concert for Bangla Desh,” reached No. 4 in the U.K.
And with all the recent Grammy attention they shared together, his relationship with Paul is stronger than ever. “If we’re in the same town, a lot of times we hook up,” Ringo says. “We’re the two people (left) who actually experienced the life we led in the Beatles. Besides that, we have the rest of our life to relate to. I’ve been on several of his records, he’s been on mine. It’s not like we don’t work together; it’s just that we don’t make a fuss about it.”
As he prepares for his next All-Starr Band closeup, Ringo has another album in the works, and has laid down 14 rough tracks in his home studio in L.A. The DIY setup is not as lavish as one might think for a musician whose net worth is $300 million — making him the world’s richest drummer according to a survey published by Celebrity Net Worth in 2012.
“Mine is really home,” he explains. “We have Pro Tools and a desk, and the bedroom has two kits of drums and a kitchen that’s still serviceable.”
Ringo’s reputation is more than serviceable: An ongoing exhibit at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles, “Ringo: Peace and Love,” unveiled in June, spurred a 19% bump in attendance, the largest growth in the institution’s five-year history, according to executive director Robert Santelli. “Interestingly enough, of the three Beatles exhibits that we’ve done, the Ringo exhibit has been the most popular,” he adds.
In November, Brit publisher Genesis debuted “Photograph,” a lavish, leather-bound limited edition of Ringo’s photos and memorabilia. The book quickly sold out. And Feb. 4 will see the release of his children’s book, “Octopus’s Garden,” based on the tune he wrote and sang for the “Abbey Road” album, the Beatles’ final studio recording.
Ringo might not be the most technically proficient drummer in the annals of rock ’n’ roll, but his importance to the movement in general, and the Beatles in particular, is beyond dispute. The Beatles didn’t gel as a group until Ringo — the most accomplished professional among them when they were all plying their trade in Hamburg’s red light district and the Cavern Club in Liverpool — joined their ranks in 1962 from Rory Storm and the Hurricanes.
Blue Note label chief, producer and musician Don Was, who has worked with Ringo repeatedly, calls him the most underrated drummer in rock history. “He changed the way rock ’n’ roll drummers approach music,” Was says.
If Ringo was overshadowed by the brilliant songwriting of his Fab Four mates, especially Lennon and McCartney, who, says Walsh, “commanded your focus with whatever they were doing,” the spotlight on his percussive gifts was further diminished by a group that stopped touring in 1966, concentrating on studio recordings that became ever more conceptual and inventive with each outing. This occurred at a time when jam bands like the Who, the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Led Zeppelin started airing it out in arenas, giving ample room for their flamboyant drummers to shine in front of a captive audience.
“Being an ensemble player in a band is the most important thing,” Was asserts. “The Beatles were a great band because they listened to each other and reacted off each other very much the way a jazz group does. It requires subverting the ego and being part of a whole. The Beatles are an amazing example of that.”
Santelli goes so far as to call Starr the most important drummer in the history of rock. “The reason I say that is prior to Ringo, certainly there were rock ’n’ roll bands, but hardly anybody knew who the drummer was. Ringo comes along and changes everything. (He has) a very interesting and compelling sense of humor and personality, and we get to know him on a first-name basis.”
Anybody who knows the Beatles’ music intimately knows the tympanic accents and fills as clearly today as when they were recorded: the famous drum roll that launches into “She Loves You”; the shimmering incandescence of his cymbal work on so many of those early hits; the impressionistic free-form of “Rain”; the loping cadence and crispy snare of “Sexy Sadie”; the haunting, almost cinematic drama and rich texture behind “Long, Long”; the building, tour-de-force crescendo that leads up to the “The End” on “Abbey Road.”
“Here’s what I discovered in the very first session that I did with him,” recalls Walsh. “He came in and I said, ‘You want to see a chart on the song?’ And he said, ‘No, give me the lyrics.’ He responds to the singer. A great example of that is when he plays on the Beatles’ ‘Something’ and he does that fill that’s such a musical response it’s almost like a guitar player; there’s notes to it.”
Ringo himself says he brought time and openness to the table as the Beatles drummer. He would do things like putting tea towels on the drums. “The towels would deaden the sound, and give you depth,” he explains. “Until I got the Maple kit, which has the depth of real skin. So if you listen to ‘(She Came in Through the) Bathroom Window’ and ‘Polythene Pam,’ it’s like a tom-tom solo all throughout.”
Ringo has just come off several live performances in Latin America in October-November. Recently, he’s been spending time in his most western home.
“I’m in L.A. now,” Ringo says. “I love the weather. I love the casualness. I have a little studio at home. And if you can play and you ring my bell, you’re on the record.
You can’t take it: West Ham United’s manager Sam Allardyce (Picture: AFP/Getty Images)
Sam Allardyce laughed off Jose Mourinho’s jibes about West Ham’s ‘19th century football’, claiming the Chelsea boss just ‘can’t take being outwitted’.
Mourinho claim"It is very difficult to play a match when only one team wants to play," Mourinho said, perChelseaFC.com. "Football matches are about two teams playing but because West Ham needed points they came here the way they did."
Mourinho added: "I don't want to criticise too much because if I was in their position I don't know if I would do the same. But at the same time this is not football from the Premier League, the best league in the world, this football from the 19th century."ed his Blues would’ve needed a Black and Decker drill to get past the Hammers’ stubborn defence after last night’s 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea players complaining to the ref
But Allardyce was unmoved by his remarks.
He responded: ‘He can’t take it, can he? He can’t take it because we’ve “out-tacticted” him, outwitted him. He just can’t cope.
‘He told me that, but he can tell me all he wants. I don’t give a s***e, to be honest.
‘I love to see Chelsea players moaning at the referee, trying to intimidate him, Jose jumping up and down in his technical area. It’s great to see.’
Rated R for strong brutal bloody violence, language and some nudity
100 minutes
The Driver drives for hire. He has no other name, and no other life. When we first see him, he's the wheelman for a getaway car, who runs from police pursuit not only by using sheer speed and muscle, but by coolly exploiting the street terrain and outsmarting his pursuers. By day, he is a stunt driver for action movies. The two jobs represent no conflict for him: He drives.
As played by Ryan Gosling, he is in the tradition of two iconic heroes of the 1960s, he has no family, no history and seemingly few emotions.
Drive" is more of an elegant exercise in style, and its emotions may be hidden but they run deep.
The Driver lives somewhere,His neighbor is Irene, played by Carey Mulligan, that template of vulnerability. She has a young son, Benecio (Kaden Leos), who seems to stir the Driver's affection, although he isn't the effusive type. They grow warm, but in a week, her husband, Standard (Oscar Isaac), is released from prison. Against our expectations, Standard isn't jealous or hostile about the new neighbor, but sizes him up, sees a professional and quickly pitches a $1 million heist idea. That will provide the engine for the rest of the story, and as Irene and Benecio are endangered, the Driver reveals deep feelings and loyalties indeed, and undergoes enormous risk at little necessary benefit to himself.
The film by the Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn ("Bronson"), based on a novel by James Sallis, peoples its story with characters who bring lifetimes onto the screen, in contrast to the Driver, who brings as little as possible. Ron Perlman seems to be a big-time operator working out of a small-time front, a pizzeria in a strip mall. Albert Brooks, not the slightest bit funny, plays a producer of the kinds of B movies the Driver does stunt driving for — and also has a sideline in crime. These people are ruthless.
More benign is Bryan Cranston, as the kind of man you know the Driver must have behind him, a genius at auto repairs, restoration and supercharging. Most of the stunt driving looks real to me, with cars of weight and heft, rather than animated impossible fantasies. The entire film, in fact, seems much more real than the usual action-crime-chase concoctions we've grown tired of. Here is a movie with respect for writing, acting and craft. It has respect for knowledgable moviegoers. The key thing you want to feel, during a chase scene, is involvement in the purpose of the chase. You have to care. Too often we're simply witnessing technology.
Ryan Gosling is a charismatic actor, He embodies presence and sincerity, he has shown a gift for finding arresting, powerful characters. An actor who can fall in love with a love doll and make us believe it, as he did in "Lars and the Real Girl" (2007), can achieve just about anything. "Drive" looks like one kind of movie in the ads, and it is that kind of movie. It is also a rebuke to most of the movies it looks like.
Drive received critical acclaim upon its release in 2011. To date, the film has a 93% “fresh” rating and an 8.3 average rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 234 reviews. From the Rotten Tomatoes' consensus: "With its hyper-stylized blend of violence, music, and striking imagery, Drive represents a fully realized vision of arthouse action."
The writers for the film magazine Empire listed Drive as their number one film of 2011.[97]Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film 4 out of 4 stars, declaring that Drive was “a brilliant piece of nasty business,” and that “Refn is a virtuoso, blending tough and tender with such uncanny skill that he deservedly won the Best Director prize at Cannes." It was his top film of 2011.[98][99] Richard Roeper said that "Drive is an adrenalin shot to the senses. I love this movie and as soon as it was over, I wanted to see it again.”
Stephanie Zachereck of Movieline complimented the film's action and wrote that it “defies all the current trends in mainstream action filmmaking. The driving sequences are shot and edited with a surgeon’s clarity. and precision. Refn doesn’t chop up the action to fool us into thinking it’s more exciting than it is.” She also admired Refn’s skill in handling the film’s violence and the understated romance between Gosling and Mulligan.
The Wall Street Journal's Joe Morgenstern called Albert Brooks' villainous performance “sensational”.[107] “Prepare to be blown away by Albert Brooks,” said Peter Travers, “Brooks' performance, veined with dark humor and chilling menace (watch him with a blade), deserves to have Oscar calling.”[98]Albert Brooks won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor. He was also nominated for a Golden Globe.[108][109]
Salon’s Andrew O’ Hehir lauded Albert Brooks against-type performance as the film’s villain and called it “unforgettable.” On the elevator sequence in the film, which juxtaposes romance with violence, O’Herir commended it and proclaimed that it’s a sequence that “film students will be deconstructing, shot by shot, for years to come.”[112]
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Team Formation
