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25 / 07 / 2010
Fantasy F1: The results from the eleventh race in Germany are in! Check the results, see how your team did or enter a new team. Next race is Hungary next weekend on 1st August.

11 / 07 / 2010
Fantasy Rally: The results from Rally Bulgaria are in! Check the results, see how your team did or enter a new team. Next rally is Finland on THURSDAY 29th July (a day earlier than usual!).

11 / 07 / 2010
Fantasy F1: The results from the tenth race in Silverstone are in! Check the results, see how your team did or enter a new team. Next race is Hockenheim on 25th July.

27 / 06 / 2010
Fantasy F1: The results from the ninth race in Valencia are in, including the penalties for the naughty boys driving too fast. Check the results, see how your team did or enter a new team. Next race is Silverstone on 11th July.

13 / 06 / 2010
Fantasy F1: The results from the eighth race in Canada are in! Check the results, see how your team did or enter a new team. Next race is Valencia on 27th June.

30 / 05 / 2010
Fantasy Rally: The results from Rally Portugal are in! Check the results, see how your team did or enter a new team. Next rally is Bulgaria on 9th July.

30 / 05 / 2010
Fantasy F1: The results from the exciting seventh race in Turkey are in! Check the results, see how your team did or enter a new team. Next race is Canada on 13th June.

16 / 05 / 2010
Fantasy F1: The Monaco scores have been updated to reflect Michael Schumacher's ridiculous penalty for daring to overtake a Ferrari. Check the updated results, see how your team did or enter a new team.

16 / 05 / 2010
Fantasy F1: The results from the sixth race in Monaco are in! Check the results, see how your team did or enter a new team. Next race is Turkey on 30th May.

10 / 05 / 2010
Fantasy F1: The results from the fifth race in Barcelona are in! Check the results, see how your team did or enter a new team. Next race is Monaco on 16th May.

10 / 05 / 2010
Fantasy Rally: The results from Rally New Zealand are in! Check the results, see how your team did or enter a new team. Next rally is Portugal on 28th May.

19 / 04 / 2010
Fantasy Rally: The results from Rally Turkey are in! Check the results, see how your team did or enter a new team. Next rally is New Zealand on 7th May.

18 / 04 / 2010
Fantasy F1: The results from the fourth race in China are in! Check the results, see how your team did or enter a new team. Next race is Barcelona on 9th May.

06 / 04 / 2010
Fantasy Rally: The JWRC driver lineup has been released, so you can make your selection before teams are frozen for Turkey on the night of 15th April. If you don't pick anyone, you'll get Aaron Burkart by default.

05 / 04 / 2010
Fantasy F1: The results from the third race in Malaysia are in! Check the results, see how your team did or enter a new team. Next race is China on 18th April.

03 / 04 / 2010
Fantasy Rally: The results from Rally Jordan are in! Check the results, see how your team did or enter a new team. Next race is Turkey on 14th April.

29 / 03 / 2010
Fantasy F1: The results from the second race in Melbourne are in! Check the results, see how your team did or enter a new team. Next race is Malaysia THIS WEEKEND on 4th April.

14 / 03 / 2010
Fantasy F1: The results from the first race in Bahrain are in! Check the results, see how your team did or enter a new team. Next race is Australia on 28th March.

09 / 03 / 2010
Fantasy F1! Yes, there's a brand new Fantasy Formula One game! Check the rules or enter your team by Friday night to qualify for the first race in Bahrain!

08 / 03 / 2010
Fantasy Rally: The results from Rally Mexico are in! Check the results, see how your team did or enter a new team. Next race is Jordan on 1st April.

17 / 02 / 2010
Fantasy Rally: The points awarded for a win have changed in the real WRC, so we've reflected the changes in our scoring too. Check the rules to see the details. Next rally is Mexico on 5th March, teams will be frozen at midnight on the night of Thursday 4th March.

16 / 02 / 2010
Fantasy Rally: The results from Rally Sweden are in! Check the results, see how your team did or enter a new team.

31 / 01 / 2010
Fantasy Rally: The new rally season is upon us - 2010 Fantasy Rally is now open! Check the rules or pick a team ready for the start on 12th Feb.

25 / 10 / 2009
Fantasy Rally: All previous years' Fantasy Rally results are online - Check the 2009 season.

02 / 08 / 2009
Reviews: Sorry, there won't be any more movie reviews for the foreseeable future. Events have overtaken me. Catch up on reviews you may have missed.

18 / 08 / 2005
Sudoku! Have a go at the online Sudoku game.

Alfie

Cast: Jude Law, Marisa Tomei, Susan Sarandon, Omar Epps, Nia Long, Sienna Miller, Jane Krakowski.

Directed by Charles Shyer.

Story: A remake of the controversial 1966 Michael Caine movie.

Running Time: 1hr 43 minutes.

Certificate 15.

I can't stop humming that pigging tune now. "What's it all about, Alfeeeee?" Well, since you ask, it's about an hour and three quarters, ho ho. The remake bandwagon continues apace; this time round it's a London classic, but without London. Rather than blithely remake the original Alfie, which clearly wouldn't work in mainstream cinema in the 21st century, Charles Shyer and his team have wisely decided to keep the style and name of the lead character, but cook a very contrasting dish with the ingredients. It's a bizarre decision to have the cockney living in Manhattan, but after the initial surprise it doesn't matter. Jude Law's Alfie is a different fig roll to Michael Caine's, playing for cheeky rogueness rather than genuine nastiness. As before, Alfie talks directly into the camera whilst the rest of the cast pretend not to notice - a technique that works very well in this environment.

Jude Law usually seems overly intense to me, and so his past performances have left me cold. This time, however, he's toned it down and nailed the character, showing just the right amount of charm and nonchalance. All the supporting cast are memorable and we do get to see some flesh from Sienna Miller this time after the teasing of Layer Cake. Once the scene setting is out of the way though, it all gets a touch humdrum, relying too much on Jude Law's screen presence and not enough on plot. There is a twist here and there, but it lacks some weight and unpredictability. In recalling the film now, it's hard to remember the order of events, because they don't seem related, largely because the film seems to have nothing to say. Although attempts are made to understand Alfie's issues, they are pretty heavy-handed and a little too sanitised for my liking, though I guess that's a product of the four decades that have passed. As a result, through Alfie effectively conducting his own psychiatry sessions by talking into the camera discussing his innermost feelings, the character changes from the 60s anti-hero to a lost little boy in a man's body. This removes most of the substance that the original film had and leaves us with a lightweight date movie. Still worth the price of admission but not, as we were led to believe, what it's all about.

I enjoyed this film: 4/5

I think the average moviegoer will enjoy it: 3/5

Testosterone Satisfaction Rating: 3/5 Sienna Miller appears topless, Alfie's pretty callous with his conquests.

To enjoy this film you should be: Aware that this is Alfie Lite.

To pre-order Alfie for its release on 21st February 2005, use the link below:

Alfie [2004] [DVD]

You may also be interested in:

Alfie [1965] [DVD]
Michael Caine Box Set: Alfie/The Italian Job/Zulu [DVD]