The Dark Knight

OH MY GOD!!! WORDS FAIL ME! A BRILLIANT FILM!

This should be enough to convey my sentiments about the film. But it just isn't. And no matter how much I or anyone else writes it won't be enough. This is one of those rare films that not only lives up to all the pre-release hype but actually manages to surpass it. It just grabs you from the get go. And it has to be seen .. at least a couple of times.

Firstly Heath Ledger - AWESOME! We've seen him in films ranging from 10 Things I Hate About You to Brokeback Mountain but this one here just surpasses it all. What a brilliant job as The Joker. And each scene of his makes you just want to cry and scream out "What a fucking waste!!" No one could have chosen a better swan song.

Aaron Eckhart: I wasn't too sure how to anticipate this character but he pulled it off real well. As the righteous DA and then as Two-Face! A mention due to the make-up guys. Best two face ever!!!

Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine reprising their respective roles have given us just what we expect of these fine actors.

And as love interest Maggie Gyllenhaal plays her part well and without any undue hysterics.

And Christian Bale! I must say it ... He is the best batman ever!! His voice as batman can send shivers down my back. His conflict between Bruce Wayne and Batman never overdone.

Just have to see it again this weekend .. anyone interested??

Why?

What's the point?!

Well deserved defeat

A sad and frustrating match. In no way did this match deserve to be a final because hey it wasn't a match at all. The Spaniards played well, they played as a team which is more than I can say about Germany. So disappointing their performance. And taking Lahm off was just stupid. He is a great player who got beaten (well twice in two matches) and he is the one in fact who got Germany into the finals! If anyone needed taking off it was Lehmann. What was he thinking? He very nearly made the same mistake again later in the match. (Isn't hindsight great? Makes you seem quite the expert.)



Oh well! It's over and now I can return to sleeping earlier, at least for when I have to wake up at 6 the next day. And at some point during the week I have to make good on a bet I made and take a friend out to dinner. Damn Germany, you're defeat's costing me. It's tough being a fan!

Whew!

Oh man, oh man, oh man, oh man! What a match! Not that it was a brilliant football match, at least not on Germany's side, but it was a brilliantly fought one. Turkey on top in the first half, Germany not really attacking but managing to go into half time with a 1-1 draw. Schweinsteiger really pulling it through for Germany. He saved the match for Germany right there.

In the second half we got to see Germany attacking quite a bit more and then ..... the telecast disappears. Talk about bad timing. We miss Klose's header giving Germany a 2-1 lead and get the coverage back just in time to see Senturk score the equaliser. It looked like Turkey had done it again - pulled a last minute goal out of nowhere to save their match.

But then surprise surprise .. Germany pulls a "Turkey" out of its hat. Lahm manages to fire one past Rustu in the 90th minute and Germany wins 3-2. Sweet revenge for Lahm.



Due credit to Turkey. They played their hearts out and if I'm truthful they did at least deserve a shot at extra time .. Turkey was the better side today. But in the end Germany's experience got them through and I for one am overjoyed with this result.

(Don't think I could have lasted out extra time (and maybe penalties) with the telecast disappearing all the time ... Big thanks to BBC Sport for giving me ball by ball coverage)

Poor Čech

Turkey sure sucker-punched the Czech Republic. Talk about it just being your day! 2 goals in two minutes to win a place in the quarter finals and then their goalkeeper being sent off with 3 minutes to go. Nail biting finish and I mean that quite literally.

It's real good fun watching such a match when you're not rooting for any one side. Tomorrow's match, though, is another story altogether. Do or die for Germany, so I'm not going to enjoy that match as much as I did today's. Will be sitting in front of the telly and biting the rest of my nails. Oh well, at least I save on the manicure.