Michael*

That really was one of the most epic rides of recent years, with Van Der Poel, Van Aert and Pogacar all giving every last scrap of energy. Overall, I'd say Pogacar is preparing perfectly to defend his Tour de France title. Incidentally, the Tirreno-Adriatico boasts probably my favourite trophy in the entire sporting world. So ideal for socially distanced dining.

Yeah, Van Der Poel doesn't seem to have a clear sense of where his limits are, although I will admit to sort of loving him for that. It's never less than entertaining to watch him.

Thread cleaned. Guys, we know there's no way to stop this issue from rearing its head occasionally, but we'd rather the topic didn't degenerate into trolling, fighting and pop psychology every time. If you can't keep it respectful and civilised, please take it to PMs. Thanks.

I did too. I'd guess the consensus will be that Roglic attacked too early, but he must have known that he needed a long punch to have a chance of winning. This is a race that seems tailor made for Alaphilippe, though. Five starts, twice second, three wins. Just absolutely mind-boggling.

Hey, well, I'm putting that down as a win. Absolutely. Roglic was very fast, but Alaphilippe is just an absolute wonder. What fun it was too to see Valverde rolling back the years.

Ooh, I wasn't aware this topic was here. Any takers in 2021?

After the home defeat to Charlton which was at least somewhat tolerable given the relative quality of the opposition, the Wigan game and the manner of the performance were especially disappointing, so much so that the Blackpool result felt like an inevitability afterwards. I know for me, the constant chopping and changing of personnel has become an issue, with the starting eleven and with the regular quadruple substitutions which almost always give the impression that the panic button is being pressed. Presumably Johnson would point to a catalogue of injuries (losing Sanderson in particular was a bitter blow) as well as the fast turnover of games, but at times it's felt like rotation for rotation's sake.

Watching the same dozen or so teams play each other four times a year in a league where competition is negligible sounds like the sort of thing that would get very dull, very quickly. Spare a thought for Scottish football fans then, I suppose.

Well, the less said about this one, the better. We have a few weeks to get over it, solve some issues and find some form to hopefully take into the play-offs.

Ee-yar, here's the first teaser.

One can never fully count on the Academy’s taste aligning with that of the critics, but Nomadland was the best reviewed film of the year and probably my favourite from the nominations I've seen so far. I'll go Chloé Zhao, Riz Ahmed, Frances McDormand, Daniel Kaluuya and Yuh-Jung Youn for the others.

I couldn't help having a flashback to the more innocent times of "the next Indy movie is going to have Cate Blanchett and John Hurt, and get this, Karen Allen is coming back."

Apologies in advance for the bumping of a rather archaic topic, but with the recent announcement of Mads Mikkelsen joining the cast alongside Phoebe Waller-Bridge and of course Harrison Ford, my feelings on the project have shifted from "no reason to exist" towards the realms of "slightly intrigued." The choice of James Mangold to replace Steven Spielberg in the director's chair remains an intriguing one too, and a somewhat optimistic one given where the franchise left off.

Yeah, I know for me, the action sequences were a fairly mixed bag. What with it being mostly made up of lengthier takes on the radically truncated stuff from the cinematic cut, some of it now feels awkwardly overlong. Other scenes work much better but are sometimes weighed down by some fairly unsightly CGI. My favourite Man of Steel scene was the one in which Clark flew for the first time and broke the sound barrier, the scope and magnitude of that just jumped out at me in the best way possible. I feel pretty confident in saying that there's nothing in Justice League that can really hold a candle to it.

For a secondary nomination, I'd go with Avengers: Age of Ultron. The trailer made it look like James Spader's Ultron would be a genuinely cold and predatory villain, instead the character came off as a rather ill-conceived plot device.

I know for me, Prometheus springs immediately to mind as an example of a film with great promotional material and a middle order end product. The initial teaser in particular was just through-the-roof amazing.

Happy. Indoors or outdoors?

Yummy Porridge?

What the article describes is pretty much the definition of a toxic workplace, and how any investigation could end in them finding nothing wrong simply beggars belief. Incidentally, it was only recently that I heard about Affleck relapsing during the making of Justice League, and that being the main reason that he stepped away from playing Batman. I don't blame him because the drama behind the scenes sounds like an absolute nightmare.

Fair to say the lucky 'tache didn't have the desired effect in midweek. Heavy metal football was made to look more like stoner doom by Real Madrid, with even the much maligned Vinicius thrashing away like Sunset Strip in the eighties. I wouldn't consider the tie to be over just yet, though. Despite their ropey form as of late, one can never quite count out Liverpool at Anfield.

Thanks guys.

My original plan was to come up with a few different conclusions for the weekend's football, but there's really only one that matters. Alisson's moustache is truly awe inspiring.

They're out there, just harder to spot. Presumably their attention span leaves a lot to be desired. Pity poor Arthur Curry. Is Paul Bunyan a Kaiju?

Honestly, I'm still reeling from the intended direction of Lois becoming pregnant with Wayne's child and then lying to Clark about who the father is. Just the thought of something that reads so much like naff fan fiction becoming so central to the plot of two more movies, it should really remove all doubt that Snyder was simply the wrong shepherd for the characters. I almost forgot, one of the weirdest things in Justice League is that Amy Adams gets tons of screen time, but does very little except buy coffee and mope over Clark's death. Although it's a little bit funny that she does those two things in the most Zack Snyder way possible.