Latest News
12 / 05 / 2013
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 in two weeks on 26th May. As always, cutoff for edits is
midnight GMT on the Friday night before the race (the night of 24th May).
21 / 04 / 2013
Fantasy F1: The results from the fourth race in Bahrain are in!
Check the results,
see how your team did or
enter a new team. Next race is Spain in three weeks on 12th May. As always, cutoff for edits is
midnight GMT on the Friday night before the race (the night of 10th May).
14 / 04 / 2013
Fantasy F1: The results from the third race in China are in!
Check the results,
see how your team did or
enter a new team. Next race is Bahrain next week on 21st April. As always, cutoff for edits is
midnight GMT on the Friday night before the race (the night of 19th April).
24 / 03 / 2013
Fantasy F1: The results from the second race in Malaysia are in!
Check the results,
see how your team did or
enter a new team. Next race is China in 3 weeks on 14th April. As always, cutoff for edits is
midnight GMT on the Friday night before the race (the night of 12th April).
17 / 03 / 2013
Fantasy F1: The results from the first race in Melbourne are in!
Check the results,
see how your team did or
enter a new team. Next race is Malaysia next weekend on 24th March. As always, cutoff is
midnight GMT on Friday night.
15 / 03 / 2013
Fantasy F1:
At last! The 2013 Fantasy F1 championship is now open!
Read the rules or dive straight in and pick a team.
Enter your team before midnight GMT on Friday night to qualify for the first race in Australia.
05 / 03 / 2013
Fantasy F1:
The 2013 Fantasy F1 championship will be open any day now!
13 / 01 / 2013
Fantasy Rally:
Unfortunately there will be no 2013 Fantasy Rally championship as it's
consuming too much of my precious time. The Fantasy F1 will open as usual shortly before the
season starts.
26 / 11 / 2012
Fantasy F1: The results from the twentieth and final F1 race at Brazil are in and we have our champions!
Check the results or
see how your team did. Both fantasy championships are now closed until the 2013 season.
19 / 11 / 2012
Fantasy F1: The results from the nineteenth F1 race at Austin are in!
Check the results,
see how your team did or
enter a new team. Next and LAST race is Brazil next weekend on 25th November.
12 / 11 / 2012
Fantasy Rally: The final results of the Rally Championship are in and our winners
have been crowned!
Check the rally results or
see how your team did in the final reckoning.
05 / 11 / 2012
Fantasy F1: The results from the eighteenth F1 race at Abu Dhabi are in!
Check the results,
see how your team did or
enter a new team. Next race is Austin in two weeks on 18th November.
28 / 10 / 2012
Fantasy F1: The results from the seventeenth F1 race at India are in!
Check the results,
see how your team did or
enter a new team. Next race is Abu Dhabi next week on 4th November.
22 / 10 / 2012
Fantasy Rally: Results from Rally Italia are in!
Check the results,
see how your team did or
enter a new team. The next and LAST rally is Spain, starting on 8th November.
Cutoff for edits for the final time this year is midnight GMT on Thursday 8th November.
14 / 10 / 2012
Fantasy F1: The results from the sixteenth F1 race at Korea are in!
Check the results,
see how your team did or
enter a new team. Next race is India in two weeks on 28th October.
10 / 10 / 2012
Fantasy Rally: Rally teams are now reopened for editing, sorry for the delay!
07 / 10 / 2012
Fantasy Rally: Results from Rally France are in!
Check the results,
see how your team did or
enter a new team. Next rally is Italy, starting on 18th October.
Cutoff for edits is midnight GMT on Thursday 18th October.
07 / 10 / 2012
Fantasy F1: The results from the fifteenth F1 race at Suzuka are in!
Check the results,
see how your team did or
enter a new team. Next race is Korea next weekend on 14th October.
02 / 10 / 2012
Fantasy F1: The results from Singapore have been updated to reflect Mark Webber's penalty.
23 / 09 / 2012
Fantasy F1: The results from the fourteenth F1 race in Singapore are in!
Check the results,
see how your team did or
enter a new team. Next race is at Suzuka in two weeks on 7th October.
17 / 09 / 2012
Fantasy Rally: Results from Wales Rally GB are in!
Check the results,
see how your team did or
enter a new team. Next rally is France, starting on 4th October.
Cutoff for edits is midnight GMT on Thursday 4th October.
09 / 09 / 2012
Fantasy F1: The results from the thirteenth F1 race at Monza are in!
Check the results,
see how your team did or
enter a new team. Next race is at Singapore in two weeks on 23rd September.
02 / 09 / 2012
Fantasy F1: The results from the twelfth F1 race at Spa are in!
Check the results,
see how your team did or
enter a new team. Next race is at Monza next weekend on 9th September.
27 / 08 / 2012
Fantasy Rally: Results from Rally Germany are in!
Check the results,
see how your team did or
enter a new team. Next rally is Wales Rally GB, starting on 13th September.
Cutoff for edits is midnight GMT on Thursday 13th September. WRC Academy weightings for Evans and Maccrone have been tweaked to reflect recent performance.
17 / 08 / 2012
Fantasy Rally: Chris Atkinson will replace Armindo Araujo in the Mini team for Rally Germany.
05 / 08 / 2012
Fantasy Rally: Results from Rally Finland are in!
Check the results,
see how your team did or
enter a new team. Next rally is Germany, starting on 24th August.
Cutoff for edits is midnight GMT on Thursday 23rd August. Weightings have been tweaked to reflect recent performance.
29 / 07 / 2012
Fantasy F1: The results from the eleventh F1 race at Hungary are in!
Check the results,
see how your team did or
enter a new team. We're now into the summer break - the next race is at Spa in 5 weeks on 2nd September.
23 / 07 / 2012
Fantasy F1: The results from the tenth F1 race at Hockenheim are in!
Check the results,
see how your team did or
enter a new team. Next race is Hungary next weekend on 29th July - cutoff for team edits is midnight GMT on Friday 27th.
(Germany results have been updated to reflect Vettel's penalty.)
08 / 07 / 2012
Fantasy F1: Weightings have been tweaked to reflect recent performance.
Details are on the league page.
08 / 07 / 2012
Fantasy F1: The results from the ninth F1 race at Silverstone are in!
Check the results,
see how your team did or
enter a new team. Next race is Germany in two weeks on 22nd July - cutoff for team edits is midnight GMT on Friday 20th.
24 / 06 / 2012
Fantasy F1: The results from the eighth F1 race at Valencia are in!
Check the results,
see how your team did or
enter a new team. Next race is Silverstone two weeks on 8th July - cutoff for team edits is midnight GMT on Friday 6th.
24 / 06 / 2012
Fantasy Rally: Results from Rally New Zealand are in!
Check the results,
see how your team did or
enter a new team. It's the summer break now - the next rally is in Finland and starts on 2nd August.
Cutoff for edits is midnight GMT on Thursday 2nd August.
11 / 06 / 2012
Fantasy F1: The results from the seventh F1 race at Canada are in!
Check the results,
see how your team did or
enter a new team. Next race is the surprisingly interesting Valencia in two weeks on 24th June - cutoff for team edits is midnight GMT on Friday 22nd.
27 / 05 / 2012
Fantasy Rally: Results from Rally Acropolis are in!
Check the results,
see how your team did or
enter a new team. The next rally is in New Zealand and starts on 22nd June.
Cutoff for edits is midnight GMT on Thursday 21st June.
27 / 05 / 2012
Fantasy F1: The results from the sixth F1 race at Monaco are in!
Check the results,
see how your team did or
enter a new team. Next race is Canada in two weeks on 10th June - cutoff for team edits is midnight GMT on Friday 8th.
13 / 05 / 2012
Fantasy F1: The results from the fifth F1 race at Barcelona are in!
Check the results,
see how your team did or
enter a new team. Next race is Monaco in two weeks on 27th May - cutoff for team edits is midnight GMT on Friday 25th.
30 / 04 / 2012
Fantasy Rally: Results from Rally Argentina are in!
Check the results,
see how your team did or
enter a new team. The next rally is in Greece and starts on 25th May.
Cutoff for edits is midnight GMT on Thursday 24th May.
23 / 04 / 2012
Fantasy Rally: Jari-Matti Latvala has been injured, so he is being replaced by Dani Sordo for
Rally Argentina. If you have Latvala on your team, you'll automatically score for Sordo instead.
Cutoff for edits for this weekend's rally is midnight GMT on Thursday 26th April.
22 / 04 / 2012
Fantasy F1: The results from the fourth F1 race at Bahrain are in!
Check the results,
see how your team did or
enter a new team. Next race is Barcelona in three weeks on 13th May - cutoff for team edits is midnight GMT on Friday 11th.
15 / 04 / 2012
Fantasy F1: Now we have a few races under our belt, the weightings
have been changed to reflect the early season performances - see the the league page to see what changed.
15 / 04 / 2012
Fantasy F1: The results from the third F1 race at China are in!
Check the results,
see how your team did or
enter a new team. Next race is (probably) Bahrain next weekend on 22nd April - cutoff for team edits is midnight GMT on Friday 20th.
02 / 04 / 2012
Fantasy Rally: The results have been updated to reflect Mikko Hirvonen's exclusion
from Rally Portugal.
01 / 04 / 2012
Fantasy Rally: Results from Rally Portugal are in!
Check the results,
see how your team did or
enter a new team. The next rally is in Argentina and starts on 27th April.
Cutoff for edits is midnight GMT on Thursday 26th April.
28 / 03 / 2012
Fantasy Rally: Last call to pick a WRC Academy driver! Teams will be locked from midnight GMT on
Thursday night - if you haven't picked one by then, you'll get Christopher Duplessis by default.
25 / 03 / 2012
Fantasy F1: The results from the second F1 race at Malaysia are in!
Check the results,
see how your team did or
enter a new team. Next race is China in 3 weeks on 15th April - cutoff for team edits is midnight GMT on Friday 13th.
18 / 03 / 2012
Fantasy F1: The results from the first F1 race at Australia are in!
Check the results,
see how your team did or
enter a new team. Next race is Malaysia this coming weekend - cutoff for team edits is midnight GMT Friday.
15 / 03 / 2012
Fantasy F1: LAST DAY! Teams entered after midnight GMT tonight won't count for Melbourne - this is
your last chance!
13 / 03 / 2012
Fantasy Rally: Results from Rally Mexico are in!
Check the results,
see how your team did or
enter a new team. The next rally is in Portugal and starts on 29th March.
Remember to pick your Academy driver before then! Anyone who doesn't pick an Academy driver will by default get the first guy on the list - Christopher Duplessis.
05 / 03 / 2012
Fantasy F1: It's here! The 2012 Fantasy F1 championship is open for entries!
Read the rules or dive straight in and
Pick your team. You can change your mind as often as you like until midnight GMT on Thursday 15th March when
teams will be frozen for the first race.
23 / 02 / 2012
Fantasy Rally: The Mexico entry list has arrived and is available on the rally page.
14 / 02 / 2012
Fantasy Rally: Due to Mini's recent hoo-ha, if you have Mini as your WRC team, you will score for the Mini Portugal
team instead (currently Araujo/Nobre) from Mexico onwards.
13 / 02 / 2012
Fantasy Rally: Teams are open for editing again, though the entry list for Mexico isn't yet available.
12 / 02 / 2012
Fantasy Rally: Results from Rally Sweden are in!
Check the results,
see how your team did or
enter a new team. The next rally is in Mexico and starts on 8th March.
Teams will reopen for editing on Monday.
23 / 01 / 2012
Fantasy Rally: Teams are now open for editing again. Ogier and Mikkelsen are entered into Sweden in S2000
cars, but they're not eligible for the SWRC championship. You can choose them as WRC drivers for Sweden if you want.
22 / 01 / 2012
Fantasy Rally: Results from the Monte are in!
Check the results,
see how your team did or
enter a new team. The second rally is in Sweden and starts on 9th Feb.
Teams will be frozen at midnight GMT on the night of Thursday 9th Feb.
18 / 01 / 2012
Fantasy Rally: Rally teams are now frozen for the Monte. You can still
pick a team and it will start scoring from Sweden on 9th Feb.
11 / 01 / 2012
Fantasy Rally: The 2012 Fantasy Rally season is now open for entries!
Read the rules or dive straight in and
pick a team.
You can change your team as often as you like so you may as well create one now in case you forget later.
Cutoff for the first race in Monte Carlo is midnight GMT on the night of TUESDAY 17th January.
27 / 11 / 2011
Fantasy F1: The results from the final F1 race at Brazil are in and the championship has been decided!
Check the results or
see how your team did. First race of 2012 is Australia on 18th March. Entries for the new
season will open a week or two before that date.
14 / 11 / 2011
Fantasy Rally: Shock rally drama! Martin Semerad was excluded from the PWRC, so our
results change too, which gives us a new champion!
Check the results or
see how your team did.
13 / 11 / 2011
Fantasy Rally: The results from Rally GB are in and the season is over!
Check the results or
see how your team did.
The 2012 season will be open for entries in early 2012 in time for Monte Carlo on 17th January.
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Cast: Paul Giamatti, Thomas Haden Church, Virginia Madsen, Sandra Oh.
Sideways follows depressive wine connoisseur Miles as he joins his college room-mate Jack for one final boy's weekend
away before Jack's wedding. That is, "boy's weekend" in their terms. Miles is content with tasting fine local wines
and demonstrating his abundant social and psychological problems, while Jack is up for picking up chicks and getting laid.
Miles is an interesting character, inasmuch as we don't have any of them in England, yet they are rife in the US.
Miles is an intelligent man and no doubt likes to attend dinner parties, relating witty anecdotes and generally
feeling good about being smart, but at the same time carrying apocalyptic personality flaws.
So far this describes many English people, but he also has the self-assurance that comes with being American that a
humble Brit can only dream of. Not that he's confident, just that there is a deep-seated belief that it's OK to be him.
Because of the British tendency to brush things under the carpet and maintain the stiff upper lip,
most Brits have exactly the opposite inner belief, that everyone else is naturally better and that it's amazing that
we've even survived this long without being stricken from the human race for being generally crap. This defect in the
British psyche makes it hard for us to relate to Miles, and we end up wanting to see him fail.
When the fellow wine-loving waitress Maya (Virginia Madsen) shows up, it becomes inconceivable to British eyes that she
could even bear to be in the same room as Miles, let alone flirt with him. This is addressed somewhat by a beautiful
scene in which both Miles and Maya discuss why they love wine so much - this scene stands out as the focal point of the
movie and will undoubtedly be the clip used on Oscar night.
Both Paul Giamatti (Miles) and Virginia Madsen deliver excellent performances - Giamatti is the perfect choice for Miles -
and it is their burgeoning relationship
that is the driving force of the film. Alongside this, we also gain some light relief by following Jack's fickle conquests.
There are some light-hearted moments, but really they're not comedy, they're more
mood-setters to lift the tone rather than raise a chuckle. People were laughing in the cinema, however I can't help
feeling that it was because they felt they should find it funny in case they appeared dim, rather than actually having
their funny bone tickled. It's this kind of intellectual élitism that encourages the viewer to forgive Miles even though
he steals from his mother, and to conveniently not notice that they drive home after downing copious amounts of
crashing juice. At one point they even drink champagne WHILE driving. Actually, now I come to write about it, Miles
is a bit of a shit.
