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.

Into the Wild

Cast: Emile Hirsch, William Hurt, Marcia Gay Harden, Jena Malone, Catherine Keener, Brian Dierker, Vince Vaughn, Kristen Stewart. Directed by Sean Penn, adapted by Sean Penn from the book by Jon Krakauer. Story: The true story of Christoper McCandless, graduate turned hobo. Running Time: 2hrs 20 minutes. UK Certificate 15.

Hey, look at that, Sean Penn directed this one. On the face of it, he has a bright future as a director.

If you've seen the trailer for this one, you'd be forgiven for thinking it was Leonardo DiCaprio in the shaggy beard and lumberjack shirt - but no, it's Emile Hirsch, that all-grown-up kid from The Girl Next Door - that one whose name I thought I'd never need to remember. Shows what I know. Hirsch stars as the real-life chap Christopher McCandless, a promising graduate student who donated his worldly worth to charity and hitch-hiked away into the US wilderness, encountering many colourful characters on his mission to Alaska. Hirsch really is rather good, against expectation, but it's the scenery and cinematography that are the real stars of the show - they convey a beautifully haunting impression of the American outback. And it's nice for a change to see Vince Vaughn play something other than a smartass dick, even if his part does feel significantly trimmed around the edges.

I had no preconceptions about Into the Wild, so I didn't know what to expect. I was pleased to find the story capturing my interest for at least the first hour - but it doesn't half go on. After the second hour I was distinctly antsy and becoming increasingly confused by the time-line jumps; as the movie lost focus in the middle, I found myself doing the same - drifting away for a moment, then realising I'd missed a bit - so I think it could benefit from some midriff pruning (couldn't we all). Fortunately the final act goes a good way to remedying the mid-term malaise, thanks largely to a powerful performance by veteran actor Hal Holbrook as McCandless's protective grandfather figure. It's not for kids, primarily for the bum-numbing running time but also for brief moments of full-frontal nudity (from Hirsch and some anonymous nudist women) and a rather gruesome moose-maiming incident that is shown very graphically, in all its sinewy lunch-losing detail. Yuk.

Into the Wild is a great directorial effort from Sean Penn, but it'd be better if it was half an hour shorter. It gets lost in its own narrative outback, but gets back on track and is still an involving enough story that gives you plenty to think about. Worth a watch.

I enjoyed this film: 3/5

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

Testosterone Satisfaction Rating: 2/5 - we man, we make fire. Some unexpected nudity and animal entrails.

To enjoy this film you should be: in a very comfortable seat.