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26 / 02 / 2023
Fantasy F1:
We've had 13 seasons of Forwardcharm Fantasy F1 ... and I think, finally, it's time to call it a day. I just don't have the energy for this kind of malarkey anymore. Thank you all for playing, it's been great fun. Enjoy your year!

20 / 11 / 2022
Fantasy F1:
The results from the twenty-second and final race in Abu Dhabi are in! Check the results or see where your team finished. That's it for this year, see you back here next year to find out if I could be arsed doing it all again.

13 / 11 / 2022
Fantasy F1:
The results from the twenty-first and penultimate race in Brazil are in! Check the results or see where your team finished. The FINAL race is in Abu Dhabi NEXT WEEKEND.

30 / 10 / 2022
Fantasy F1:
The results from the twentienth race in Mexico are in! Check the results or see where your team finished. Next race is Brazil in two weeks.

23 / 10 / 2022
Fantasy F1:
The results from the nineteenth race at Austin are in! Check the results or see where your team finished. Next race is Mexico NEXT WEEKEND.

09 / 10 / 2022
Fantasy F1:
The results from the eighteenth race at Suzuka are in! Check the results or see where your team finished. Next race is Austin in 2 weeks.

02 / 10 / 2022
Fantasy F1:
The results from the seventeenth race at Singapore are in! Check the results or see where your team finished. Next race is Suzuka, NEXT WEEKEND.

I've slightly changed the weightings of Alfa/Alpine/Haas to reflect their current performance.

11 / 09 / 2022
Fantasy F1:
The results from the sixteenth race at Monza are in! Check the results or see where your team finished. Next race is Singapore in 3 weeks.

04 / 09 / 2022
Fantasy F1:
The results from the fifteenth race at Zandvoort are in! Check the results or see where your team finished. Next race is Monza, NEXT WEEKEND.

28 / 08 / 2022
Fantasy F1:
The results from the fourteenth race at Spa are in! Check the results or see where your team finished. Next race is Zandvoort, NEXT WEEKEND.

31 / 07 / 2022
Fantasy F1:
The results from the thirteenth race in Hungary are in! Check the results or see where your team finished. Next race is Spa in about a month, at the end of August.

24 / 07 / 2022
Fantasy F1:
The results from the twelfth race in France are in! Check the results or see where your team finished. Next race is Hungary NEXT WEEKEND.

10 / 07 / 2022
Fantasy F1:
The results from the eleventh race in Austria are in! Check the results or see where your team finished. Next race is France in 2 weeks.

You can still enter a new team even if you missed all the previous races - you'll get a late starter bonus to help you get going.

03 / 07 / 2022
Fantasy F1:
The results from the tenth race at Silverstone are in! Check the results or see where your team finished. Next race is Austria NEXT WEEKEND.

You can still enter a new team even if you missed all the previous races - you'll get a late starter bonus to help you get going.

20 / 06 / 2022
Fantasy F1:
The results from the ninth race in Canada are in! Check the results or see where your team finished. Next race is Silverstone in 2 weeks.

You can still enter a new team even if you missed all the previous races - you'll get a late starter bonus to help you get going.

12 / 06 / 2022
Fantasy F1:
The results from the eighth race in Azerbaijan are in! Check the results or see where your team finished. Next race is Canada NEXT WEEKEND.

You can still enter a new team even if you missed all the previous races - you'll get a late starter bonus to help you get going.

I've slightly increased the weightings of the Mercedes pair as their woes seem to be continuing.

29 / 05 / 2022
Fantasy F1:
The results from the seventh race in Monaco are in! Check the results or see where your team finished. Next race is Azerbaijan in 2 weeks.

You can still enter a new team even if you missed all the previous races - you'll get a late starter bonus to help you get going.

22 / 05 / 2022
Fantasy F1:
The results from the sixth race in Barcelona are in! Check the results or see where your team finished. Next race is Monaco NEXT WEEKEND.

You can still enter a new team even if you missed all the previous races - you'll get a late starter bonus to help you get going.

10 / 05 / 2022
Fantasy F1:
The results from the fifth race in Miami are (finally) in! Check the results or see where your team finished. Next race is Barcelona in 2 weeks.

24 / 04 / 2022
Fantasy F1:
The results from the fourth race at Imola are in! Check the results or see where your team finished. Next race is Miami in 2 weeks.

I've slightly reduced the weightings of Norris / McLaren because they're doing particularly well at the moment.

10 / 04 / 2022
Fantasy F1:
The results from the third race in Melbourne are in! Check the results or see where your team finished. Next race is Imola in 2 weeks.

27 / 03 / 2022
Fantasy F1:
The results from the second race in Saudi Arabia are in! Check the results or see where your team finished. Next race is Melbourne in 2 weeks.

I decided not to change the weightings again for now. Let's see how the next couple of races go.

20 / 03 / 2022
Fantasy F1:
The results from the first race in Bahrain are in! Check the results or see where your team finished. Next race is Saudi Arabia NEXT WEEKEND.

I have made some quick changes to the weightings - Haas seem much stronger than I expected and McLaren/Aston much weaker. I might tweak them again after Saudi.

13 / 03 / 2022
Fantasy F1:
The 2022 season is now open for entries! You can change your team as often as you like so you might as well pick a team now while you're thinking about it. You can always read the rules later! You have until midnight GMT on the night of Friday 18th March to qualify for the first race in Bahrain.

12 / 12 / 2021
Fantasy F1:
The results from the final race in Abu Dhabi are in, and we have our 2021 winner! Check the results or see where your team finished.

05 / 12 / 2021
Fantasy F1:
The results from the penultimate race in Saudi Arabia are in! Check the results or see where your team finished. The next and final race is Abu Dhabi NEXT WEEKEND. Cutoff for edits is midnight GMT on the night of Friday 10th December.

21 / 11 / 2021
Fantasy F1:
The results from the twentieth race in Qatar are in! Check the results or see where your team finished. Next race is Saudi Arabia in two weeks. Cutoff for edits is midnight GMT on the night of Friday 3rd December.

You can still enter a new team even if you missed all the previous races - you'll get a late starter bonus to help you get going.

14 / 11 / 2021
Fantasy F1:
The results from the nineteenth race in Brazil are in! Check the results or see where your team finished. Next race is Qatar NEXT WEEKEND. Cutoff for edits is midnight GMT on the night of Friday 19th November.

You can still enter a new team even if you missed all the previous races - you'll get a late starter bonus to help you get going.

07 / 11 / 2021
Fantasy F1:
The results from the eighteenth race in Mexico are in! Check the results or see where your team finished. Next race is Brazil NEXT WEEKEND. Cutoff for edits is midnight GMT on the night of Friday 12th November.

You can still enter a new team even if you missed all the previous races - you'll get a late starter bonus to help you get going.

24 / 10 / 2021
Fantasy F1:
The results from the seventeenth race in Austin are in! Check the results or see where your team finished. Next race is Mexico in two weeks. Cutoff for edits is midnight GMT on the night of Friday 5th November.

You can still enter a new team even if you missed all the previous races - you'll get a late starter bonus to help you get going.

26 / 09 / 2021
Fantasy F1:
The results from the sixteenth race in Russia are in! Check the results or see where your team finished. Next race is Austin in two weeks. Cutoff for edits is midnight GMT on the night of Friday 22nd October.

You can still enter a new team even if you missed all the previous races - you'll get a late starter bonus to help you get going.

26 / 09 / 2021
Fantasy F1:
The results from the fifteenth race in Russia are in! Check the results or see where your team finished. Next race is Turkey in two weeks. Cutoff for edits is midnight GMT on the night of Friday 8th October.

You can still enter a new team even if you missed all the previous races - you'll get a late starter bonus to help you get going.

12 / 09 / 2021
Fantasy F1:
The results from the fourteenth race at Monza are in! Check the results or see where your team finished. Next race is Russia in two weeks. Cutoff for edits is midnight GMT on the night of Friday 24th September.

You can still enter a new team even if you missed all the previous races - you'll get a late starter bonus to help you get going.

05 / 09 / 2021
Fantasy F1:
The results from the thirteenth race at Zandvoort are in! Check the results or see where your team finished. Next race is Monza NEXT WEEKEND. Cutoff for edits is midnight GMT on the night of Friday 10th September.

You can still enter a new team even if you missed all the previous races - you'll get a late starter bonus to help you get going.

29 / 08 / 2021
Fantasy F1:
That was a weird one. The results from the twelfth "race" at Spa are in, and somebody got a MASSIVE score... possibly the highest we've ever seen in one week. Check the results or see where your team finished. Next race is Zandvoort NEXT WEEKEND. Cutoff for edits is midnight GMT on the night of Friday 3rd September.

You can still enter a new team even if you missed all the previous races - you'll get a late starter bonus to help you get going.

01 / 08 / 2021
Fantasy F1:
Well that was exciting, wasn't it? The results from the eleventh race at Hungary are in! Check the results or see where your team finished. We are in the summer break now, the next race is Spa in four weeks. Cutoff for edits is midnight GMT on the night of Friday 27th August.

You can still enter a new team even if you missed all the previous races - you'll get a late starter bonus to help you get going.

18 / 07 / 2021
Fantasy F1:
The results from the tenth race at Silverstone are in! Check the results or see where your team finished. Next race is Hungary in two weeks. Cutoff for edits is midnight GMT on the night of Friday 30th July.

You can still enter a new team even if you missed all the previous races - you'll get a late starter bonus to help you get going.

15 / 07 / 2021
Fantasy F1:
Bit of a problem with these new sprint races. Qualifying is now on the Friday. I don't really want to mess with the rules mid-season so we'll carry on having teams locked on Friday night, which means you can already see the qualifying results. But the scores are based on the GRID, not the qualifying, so effectively it's the result of Saturday's sprint race. We'll run with that for now and see how it goes. So cutoff for edits for Silverstone is still midnight GMT on the night of Friday 16th July.

04 / 07 / 2021
Fantasy F1:
The results from the ninth race at the Red Bull Ring are in! Check the results or see where your team finished. Next race is Silverstone in two weeks. Cutoff for edits is midnight GMT on the night of Friday 16th July.

You can still enter a new team even if you missed all the previous races - you'll get a late starter bonus to help you get going.

27 / 06 / 2021
Fantasy F1:
The results from the eighth race at the Red Bull Ring are in! Check the results or see where your team finished. Next race is the second of the Austria double-header NEXT WEEKEND. Cutoff for edits is midnight GMT on the night of Friday 2nd July.

You can still enter a new team even if you missed all the previous races - you'll get a late starter bonus to help you get going.

20 / 06 / 2021
Fantasy F1:
The results from the seventh race at Paul Ricard are in! Check the results or see where your team finished. Next race is the first of an Austria double-header NEXT WEEKEND. Cutoff for edits is midnight GMT on the night of Friday 25th June.

You can still enter a new team even if you missed all the previous races - you'll get a late starter bonus to help you get going.

06 / 06 / 2021
Fantasy F1:
The results from the sixth race at Azerbaijan are in! Check the results or see where your team finished. Next race is Paul Ricard in 2 weeks. Cutoff for edits is midnight GMT on the night of Friday 18th June.

You can still enter a new team even if you missed all the previous races - you'll get a late starter bonus to help you get going.

23 / 05 / 2021
Fantasy F1:
The results from the fifth race at Monaco are in! Check the results or see where your team finished. **NOTE** Leclerc still gets points for his grid position even though he didn't start the race, because the rules say we go with the grid on f1.com. Next race is Azerbaijan in 2 weeks. Cutoff for edits is midnight GMT on the night of Friday 4th June.

You can still enter a new team even if you missed all the previous races - you'll get a late starter bonus to help you get going.

09 / 05 / 2021
Fantasy F1:
The results from the fourth race at Barcelona are in! Check the results or see where your team finished. Next race is Monaco in 2 weeks. Cutoff for edits is midnight GMT on the night of Friday 21st May.

You can still enter a new team even if you missed all the previous races - you'll get a late starter bonus to help you get going.

02 / 05 / 2021
Fantasy F1:
The results from the third race at Portimao are in! Check the results or see where your team finished. Next race is Barcelona NEXT WEEKEND. Cutoff for edits is midnight GMT on the night of Friday 7th May.

You can still enter a new team even if you missed the first three races - you'll get a late starter bonus to help you get going.

18 / 04 / 2021
Fantasy F1:
The results from the second race at Imola are in! Check the results or see where your team finished. Next race is Portimao in 2 weeks. Cutoff for edits is midnight GMT on the night of Friday 30th April.

You can still enter a new team even if you missed the first two races - you'll get a late starter bonus to help you get going.

The weightings for Alpine have increased because they've been a bit shit.

28 / 03 / 2021
Fantasy F1:
The results from the first race in Bahrain are in! Check the results or see where your team finished. Second race is Imola in 3 weeks. Cutoff for edits is midnight GMT on the night of Friday 16th April.

You can still enter a new team even if you missed the first race - you'll get a late starter bonus to help you get going.

21 / 03 / 2021
Fantasy F1:
The 2021 season is now open for entries! You can change your team as often as you like so you might as well pick a team now while you're thinking about it. You can always read the rules later! You have until midnight GMT on the night of Friday 26th March to qualify for the first race in Bahrain.

 

 

The Bourne Supremacy

Cast: Matt Damon, Brian Cox, Julia Stiles, Karl Urban, Joan Allen.
Directed by Paul Greengrass, adapted from Robert Ludlum's book.

Story: A sequel to The Bourne Identity. Ex-CIA dude Jason Bourne still doesn't remember much about his past and needs to find out quick-smart why the CIA are trying to bump him off.

Running Time: 120 minutes.

 

The Bourne Identity was pretty darn cool. A guy with amnesia who slowly discovers that he's trained like a secret agent and needs to find out why, with an epic car chase in crappy old beaten up cars. Tasty. The Bourne Supremacy takes over where the first film left off, with the hero living in an Indian beach house close to nature (Bourne under a wandering star) and follows fairly closely to the original's plan. Matt Damon, Bourne again (sorry), still doesn't remember his CIA life but it's not long before he's embroiled in it once more. Cue loads of thinking on his feet, cool secret agent stuff and of course another manic car chase in beaten-up heaps that cost less than their insurance premium.

Isn't that Brian Cox down there? Despite superficial similarities, stories such as The Bourne Supremacy lie in a very different arena to the James Bond series. Bond is all about flamboyance, big budgets and inventive gadgets. Films "to the manner Bourne", in contrast, live and die on their believability, using simple little spy tricks that make you chuckle and think, "that's clever." The story needs to hang together and not rely on luck for the survival of the hero. The plot needs to keep us on our toes whilst never bemusing us. The two hours need to fly past and leave us wanting a third instalment that would culminate in the CIA finally leaving poor old Jason to his own devices (Bourne free - sorry, I just can't help myself). I'm happy to report that The Bourne Supremacy scores heavily on all counts. Robert Ludlum's carefully-constructed yarn deftly sidesteps any chance of my using the phrase "Bourne stupid" by maintaining a foot on the floor at all times. This is a spy saga for the real world - we identify with Jason and wonder at how cool it would be to have CIA skills in everyday life. Though we may not be natural Bourne killers, the ease with which Jason finds the name and telephone number of the CIA agent who pursues him is the envy of all of us Bourne losers.

I've usually started banging on about the acting by now, as that's usually a major factor of my enjoyment of a movie. With The Bourne Supremacy, the talent of the stars has somehow been pushed aside by the slick cinematography. In the well-trodden Bourne-in-the-USA style seen in NYPD Blue and more recently 24, the camera darts and weaves in an exaggerated fly-on-the-wall mimicry. In a less plot-rich environment, or watching on a small screen, this may have become intrusive, but for me it added to the sense of immediacy. I should add though, out of a sense of public service, that many viewers have complained of nausea caused by this technique. However, I rate my readers as being somewhat smarter than the average dullard who doesn't think to close their eyes rather than submitting to the chunder (hey - there's my chance to use "Bourne stupid") so I think you guys will cope just fine.

Brian Cox - but you didn't hear it from me. So it's the realism that makes the movie then? Yes it is. I've never bought Matt Damon as an action hero, I've never even seen him as a convincing Hollywood star, but this works in his favour here just as it did in Good Will Hunting. He's not a Pierce Brosnan, he's not even a Bruce Willis - he's a regular guy who's lived and trained for an extraordinary life. Matt Damon epitomises the character as if he was Bourne to play the part. He makes mistakes, he does good things and bad things, he crashes into things during his car chase. He's the hero for the common man, we feel for him and we aspire to be like him. A star is Bourne.

I touched on the car chase back there before I lapsed into punnery again. The Bourne Identity had a cracking car chase sequence and any sequel would not have been complete without another one. The Bourne Supremacy's contribution sits snugly between the cushions of realism and adrenaline and is a wonderful new take on the discipline. Jason's Lancia Thema (I think!) barely gets along a street without being clouted by something. He goes for car-sized gaps - sometimes he makes them, sometimes he doesn't. He struggles with the street map in the car to try and find out where he's going. He gets side-swiped by a car coming out of a side street that he didn't see because he was looking the other way. This is a car chase for the real world - this is what would happen if you actually tried to drive at 80mph through a city. Even the dramatic denouement was plausible, the hero manipulates the scene in a way that would actually work - I loved it and I hope that the trend catches on. Maybe next year we'll see James Bond rolling a Reliant Robin because he trail-braked into a corner. And maybe I will win the next Booker prize (!)

A bad man actually looking down the sight of his gun - surely this can't be Hollywood. So much to praise and I haven't even mentioned Brian Cox yet. Whether it's a meaty role in Troy or Manhunter, a manipulative role in X-Men 2 or even a comedy role in Super Troopers, Brian Cox never fails to deliver. For the viewers' benefit though, he really should do some serious goodie roles once in a while. We love to see him dripping venom, but we weren't Bourne yesterday - we know it's only a matter of time before he tops someone!

In case it wasn't evident, I think The Bourne Supremacy is a peach of a movie. It fills a niche of espionage for the hoi-polloi. Be sure to concentrate though - the plot hammers on apace and it won't wait for you. I only have one proviso - I can't see any woman enjoying this. It's a V8 engine, it's a La-Z-Boy chair, it's a 50-inch plasma screen. It's unashamedly a blokes' film, but fortunately that means it works for me. I just hope that when The Bourne Ultimatum is eventually committed to celluloid, the franchise doesn't do a Matrix Revolutions and turn into Bourne Sloppy.

I enjoyed this film: 5/5

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

Testosterone Satisfaction Rating: 5/5 Espionage, car chase, fights and killing, just what the testosterone doctor ordered.

To enjoy this film you should be: Male

 

N.B. The puns of this review do not necessarily reflect the puns of the management. Any similarity between the puns of this review and any actual puns, living or dead, are entirely coincidental. And I'm sorry, I honestly couldn't resist. Count yourself lucky I didn't review Finding Nemo. That review would've been a pile of carp.


To buy The Bourne Supremacy, use the link below:

The Bourne Supremacy [DVD]

The Bourne Identity (Special Edition) [DVD]

You can buy all three books in the Bourne series for less than a tenner from Amazon - click the picture below:

cover

Your comments

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

 

You missed the suggestion for the next film - Bourne Free
Dick