Latest News

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.

Hostel

Cast: Jay Hernandez, Derek Richardson, Eythor Gudjonsson, Jan Vlasák, Barbara Nedeljakova, Jana Kaderabkova. Directed by Eli Roth, produced by Quentin Tarantino. Story: If you go down to Bratislava today, you're sure of a big surprise. Running Time: 1hr 35 minutes. UK Certificate 18.

Hostel is the perfect guy movie - extreme violence and plenty of nudity. Don't take your girlfriend or you'll have to sit through the next Matthew McConaughey masterpiece as penance.

Although produced by Quentin Tarantino, Hostel has very little of the Tarantino fingerprint. Writer and director Eli Roth was previously responsible for the cult favourite Cabin Fever - here it takes a while before things get gory, but once they do, shlock fanatics will not be disappointed. One particular moment involving an eye is almost impossible to watch, others will raise a chuckle at their nastiness. Jay Hernandez stars as a high school kid backpacking around Europe with his buddies, seeking out hot chicks with bouncy knickers for fun and frolics. A friendly traveller recommends Bratislava for the hottest and loosest women, so off they trot to the local youth hostel, where all is not as it seems. That's as much as you want to know before seeing the movie, but if you're unfortunate enough to have seen the cinematic trailer (not the TV one - that's OK), then you'll already know the main plot development. Yet again the marketing ruins the movie.

Another marketing faux pas is the claim that it's "America's scariest movie". What a load of arse. It's not scary at all - but it is almost comically gory. You may well wince at the violence but you're not going to be scared - if that's your bag then rent a copy of The Exorcism of Emily Rose instead - Hostel is more of a thriller with guts, and on that level it works very well. Particularly worthy of note is the scene where the viewer learns the main premise behind the story and Jay Hernandez is mistaken for a like-minded killer - although the scene's script does drum the point home a little excessively, actor Rick Hoffman sets the screen on fire with his enthusiasm and is easily the most memorable character because of it.

Hostel is aimed squarely at testosterone-laden young men and hits the bullseye square in the face. There's very little appeal for anyone else, but go with a group of guys (preferably lightly inebriated) and you'll have a ball.

I enjoyed this film: 4/5

I think the average moviegoer will enjoy it: 4/5

Testosterone Satisfaction Rating: 5/5 - as Jay Hernandez comments in the steam room - "Jugs!"

To enjoy this film you should be: a bloke.

Your comments

The comments printed here are not necessarily the views of Forwardcharm!

its a good film but the build up towards the torture scenes was a bit lengthy and not enough happened in the torture scenes. but all in all a good film

Anon