Everything posted by Michael*
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UEFA Euro 2016
Slightly leaning towards France for tonight, I would say they've been the most potent attacking force at the tournament so far and have had the tougher route to the final. Portugal on the other hand have become one of the most resolute defensive units, and if they can contain France and be resilient against Griezmann and friends, then they'll deserve to win the game. If France can successfully break them down, then they'll deserve it.
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UEFA Euro 2016
That's another good thing. The ego Ronaldo has on the park doesn’t extend to every area of his life. Obviously, he's got plenty of money to give, but has regularly donated generous sums of money to charities around the world.
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UEFA Euro 2016
Griezmann must be the heavy favourite now, although it could be argued that he didn't really hit form until the second half of the Ireland game, when Deschamps belatedly decided to use him as part of a front two alongside Giroud. For what it's worth, I'd be tempted to go for Mesut Ozil. If he doesn't at least make it into the team of the tournament, it'll be scandalous.
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UEFA Euro 2016
Ibra is entertainment in its purest form. Everyone should do themselves a favour and pick up a copy of his autobiography, basically 300 pages documenting his innate greatness and listing all the people he wants to kick into the middle of next week. That's what adds to his charm, though. It gets ever so tedious when players just spew out the same tired old cliches. We could do with a few more who disrupt the status quo, ignore the PR teams and show a bit more personality.
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Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Angourie Rice (who appeared in 'The Nice Guys' as Ryan Gosling's daughter) has just been officially added to an already stacked cast. Based purely on her appearance and age, a lot of folks are speculating that she could be playing Gwen Stacy. Time will tell on that though, of course.
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The Hateful Eight (2015)
The movie didn't exactly hit the spot for me either, but I would take issue with the rest. If a story is inhabited by racist and misogynistic characters, which this one certainly was, that doesn't automatically mean that it glorifies those things. And as jarring as the repeated use of certain language in his dialogue can be, I've never gotten the impression that Tarantino was himself a racist. At a time when many prominent black actors are understandably pointing to a lack of diversity in mainstream cinema, here's a mainstream filmmaker who consistently promotes diversity in his films and regularly writes strong black characters in leading roles.
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UEFA Euro 2016
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UEFA Euro 2016
Also very true. It’s not even so much that he thinks he's great, rather the thought that he might not be just never seems to occur to him. Still, in an era where so many players are so dull and characterless, here's a guy who always brings entertainment. Be it through the raw dynamism and exhilaration of his game or his other, shall we say, eccentricities.
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UEFA Euro 2016
@Sanni @jj3 I believe Griezmann's thumb sucking thing is because he has a baby daughter. The first part is meant to be a tribute to Drake's 'Hotline Bling' video. Somehow, some way, he created a worse dancing celebration than Daniel Sturridge.
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UEFA Euro 2016
His comments after the Iceland game were really silly and there's no question that he perpetuates his own stereotypes, but without that personality and those traits, I think he'd be roughly on the level of Nani. A player with outstanding natural talent who doesn't possess the work ethic or the consistency to achieve greatness. Ronaldo's ego is what drives him and will likely carry on driving him until he retires.
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UEFA Euro 2016
Wales will go home as one of the teams of the tournament, but they went out with a bit of a whimper in the end. Crying shame that Ramsey was unavailable to them, he would have made all the difference to their forward play. For the first time in this tournament, I was actually quite impressed by Portugal. Despite the bashing they got from ITV's rogues gallery before the game, they pressed effectively, defended as a unit and took their chances. Ronaldo's header was a ridiculous feat of skill and physicality, he nutted the ball harder than the majority of players could have kicked it.
- What made you smile/laugh today?
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Lana Del Rey
That elusive 'Honeymoon' video finally appeared on YouTube. I believe Lana first shared a teaser for it on Instagram about a year ago, before the album was released.
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Riley Montana
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UEFA Euro 2016
Not much could sway me from the opinion that Euro 2000 was the best in recent memory. A blockbusting array of some of the greatest attacking talent of all time (Zidane, Figo, Nedved and Bergkamp to name a few) at their peak. The 1998 World Cup delivered some truly stunning knockout games (Argentina-England, Argentina-Holland, Brazil-Holland, Brazil-Denmark), although I remember the groups being fairly pedestrian. Thinking about it now, I've a bit of a soft spot for 2002 as well. South Korea's run to the semi-finals has since led to some seeing it as inauthentic, but it was probably the first tournament to feel truly global. I loved seeing teams from North America, Asia and Africa in the last eight.
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UEFA Euro 2016
If there's one good thing about our TV coverage of international tournaments, it's that the presence of sensible and intelligent pundits really shows up the ones who aren't up to scratch. And while Keown, Giggs, Crouch and Savage have all been dreadful, Glenn Hoddle remains my pick of the clowns. During England-Iceland, he spent an hour banging on about how Jamie Vardy should have started the game and saying that he’d make something happen regardless of a lack of space. Barely ten minutes after Vardy's eventual introduction, Glenn was forced to concede (rather miserably) that he'd made no impact because there was indeed no space to operate in. Messrs Bilic, Vialli and Lehmann just seem to exist on a higher plane.
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UEFA Euro 2016
Whether you can read much into the goals France conceded, I'm not too sure. They'd already shifted focus after helping themselves to a comfortable lead. I hope they'll have the confidence to attack Germany with the same vibrancy. When the two sides met at the World Cup, Deschamps left all thoughts of positivity until the last ten minutes and was punished for it. Iceland have produced lasting memories on the pitch and from the stands. As sad as it is to see them go home, they can do so with heads held high.
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UEFA Euro 2016
Commiserations Belgium, well done Wales. The perfect storm of hard work, moments of luck and clinically taken goals. Regardless of the result, how good was it to see an exciting game with both teams doing their utmost to win. This Welsh side is at odds with the notion that a lack of technique and tactical awareness is systemic at British grassroots level, which can only mean that England are doomed by their appalling mental fragility instead. Comforting.
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UEFA Euro 2016
+1. It was a real man-of-the-match performance by Sanches. To play with such calm and poise at such a young age is just terrific. Bayern and Portugal have a gem on their hands.
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UEFA Euro 2016
I was rooting for Poland there, although it's hard to make a case for either side deserving to go much further after a game like that. The first half was quite engaging, but it drifted into nothingness afterwards. Hopefully UEFA rethink the format again when this is all over. Spain are out already with Italy or Germany to follow, Portugal find themselves in the semis after a string of deeply uninspiring performances. Quite how they're still limping through this tournament is a mystery to me.
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UEFA Euro 2016
Walker reverted to type for the goal, but there were moments when he gave us some impetus with his runs and crosses. In the three games he played, I would say he was probably one of the better overall performers.
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Wayward Pines
There's no disputing that Shyamalan has his critics, but I do wonder how much involvement he's had with S2. The show just feels so short on creativity at the moment and that's the one thing I never associate with him.
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The "What Are You Thinking About Right Now?" PIP
Well, ignoring the referendum would mean our politicians having to show courage and leadership, so we can almost certainly put that down as a non-starter. Our best bet now would probably be for the Queen to rise up like her great-great-grandmother did and dissolve parliament, although I can't think of many 100-year-olds who would have the energy for that.
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Wayward Pines
Yeah, there were definitely three books, but I believe they've already used up all the source material. I'm only four episodes in, but I think I'm going to call time on the second season. It seems to be morphing into yet another generic sci-fi survival drama.
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UEFA Euro 2016
Meanwhile, the bad news only gets worse for England - Wayne Rooney is not retiring from international football.