All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)....9

Frogs kicked Krauts' arse in WWI.

oyaskii:
Mann...I did were you able to get into "True Detective S1"?

I haven't been able to get past Episode 1 for a while. I know is going to/is be/a masterpiece, but for the first 30 minutes it seemed like nothing was going on...Same vibe i had with the first season of "Better Call Saul".

I never had that problem.
I was hooked from the first minute to the last.
Mathew acted out of his mind.
He was incredible.
Him and Woody played off of each other so well.

The story itself was so well done, every "t" crossed and "i" dotted.
The expository style used really helped in creating an insidious atmosphere that I've only ever encountered in "Chernobyl" and the first season of "The Terror".
It's hard to describe, you can feel the dread, you know something is not right, but you just can't put your finger to it.
Everything is so tense.
It gets to a point that you suspect everyone but you root for your favorite character and you hope that they'd come out of this okay.

To conclude, it's a masterpiece.
Once you get sufficiently introduced to the titular characters (Rust Cohle and Marty Hart), it's one hell of a ride.

IbrahimMav:


The Peripheral (2022)....7.5
1899 (2022)...7


Currently watching....
Slow Horses (2022)
True Detective (2014)
The Game (2021)

True Detective (2014)
S1....10/10
S2.....7/10
S3.....8.5/10

Currently watching.....
Slow Horses (2022)
The Game (2021)
Jack Ryan (2018)

oyaskii:
"Midnight Mass" 2021

Unlike other Mike Flanagan's work that is billed as "Horror", I don't think this was it, it was rather a deeply religious drama with some horror element and it was quite good.

The monologues were stellar, fantastic performance from the cast and a great cinematography. It had it's misses with the pacing but redeemed itself with a satisfying end after a chaotic build up.

In the end it was great show brewed onto 7 episodes with equal doses. Can't be shortened and can't be lengthened. Just the perfect dose.

The horror element is more understated when compared to his previous projects, but Midnight Mass is just as scary.
It's character driven, so there is more focus on the human elements, plus a mystical take on the supernatural, but it culminated in a horror fest.

Great show tho.
Enjoyed it more than Bly Manor but Hill House still ranks as my favorite.

Bones and All (2022).....8

Macabre but strangely poignant.

pu7pl3:
Lol, laslas I know say na "my opinion; your opinion" wey this arguement go end.
No be Nairaland again?

What else do you want me to say?

I don't like to argue, it's too time consuming and it goes nowhere.
Many a times I have visited this thread and see people posting things I don't agree with, but I rarely engage.

I regretted initiating it and I felt like it's time I draw the curtains.

toluxe0075:

Have it your way.
You don't have to agree with me or I you.

If you feel it's the best WC ever, that's your opinion and you're entitled to it.

As for me, I know what I know.
I streamed every match live, I know a dead atmosphere and empty seats when I hear and see one.
I don't rely on FIFA for WC stats, they only feed people lies and propaganda.
I mean they gotta justify their fucckup one way or another.
I rely on an independent 3rd party, and so far, their figures have contradicted whatever figures FIFA conjured up.
I recalled when Cameroon played Switzerland, the stadium had like 30,000 fans, at least that's what TSN was reporting, but FIFA reported 42, 000 but the actual stadium capacity was 40,000.

That's only the half of it.
Also the American journo that died said something about empty chairs and sparse fan zones.

Anyways, that's just my opinion.
Let's just leave it at that.

oyaskii:
Mate all these you mentioned have been going on and it came to a boiling point post covid lockdown period. The competitions are a tad to much and most top teams shouldn't even bother with them because it means more fixtures with little or no room for breaks. Take England for example They have PL, FA Cup and the Carabao cup to play weekly, and for the top teams, UCL and EL, and the recently added conference leagues. Giving the chance, some top teams will opt out of the FA cup and Carabao cup. Only Germany has had a proper "Winter Break" in retrospect, without the WC, The EPL would have still had insane number of games this December, with games on boxing day and New year day even!.

One of the main reasons Floretino Perez was pushing for a "Super league" where the top teams played against themselves in a single tourney once a week, and you see how quickly these top teams agreed to it, before the outrage by fans, and the plans were put on hold.

At bolded, FIFA lead by the last 3 president namely Blatter, Platini and Infatino has shown that they will twerk for anything as long as they will have a massive payday. I have never seen a more controversial pre world cup build, with human rights abuse, LGBT and Alcohol banning, there's was even an actual FBI investigation into how Qatar won the Bid and FIFA was unfazed, so should a rich arab nation wins a WC bid and it requires a Winter WC, Best believe FIFA will allow it without thinking twice, infact the FIFA president was the one personally defending this WC in Qatar, and in the words of Mr Gianni Infatino, i quote " This has been the greatest world cup ever", so yeah, the system is that rotten.

EPL has a winter break too but it takes place in January and is staggered throughout that month.

Packed schedule is normal
Uber packed schedule isn't.

In a normal calender, there are adequate breaks between seasons.
And just about enough time for players to get back to match fitness (pre season).
But when you cut the break in half and packed in more games so as to accommodate a december mundial without lessening your league in the process, it'd create situation where players will have even more matches to play and lesser time to cool off.

FIFA is very corrupt but gone are the days when football federations feign indifference and take their shit nonchalantly.
I think they'd be hesitant to risk boycotts.

oyaskii:
Logistics nightmare? In what context? Because i think playing competitive football so close to the World Cup improved the quality of the tourney.
I think the reason players'fitness might be tanking isn't necessarily due to a "winter wc". It stems from a number of factors that allude to a rotten "cash grab" system that football is been run.

Fixing a WC in december vastly affects the football Calender negatively in the sense that schedules are adjusted to accommodate the mundial.
We have a situation where breaks between seasons are shorter, pre seasons are shorter, more matches played per week.
All these will invariably give rise to player fatique.
Player fatique will usher in injuries and mental exhaustion.
Players will start dropping off like flies, like many did pre Qatar 2022.
It doesn't end there.
More injuries will follow post WC.

It just isn't optimal to host a WC in December.
Top leagues use the December period to take a break and recharge for the second half of the season.
A winter Mundial completely makes a hash of this and put players physical and mental health in jeopardy.

FIFA will not be repeating a December WC in a long time.

toluxe0075:


So what World Cup is best World Cup in your book if the 2022 World Cup with a lot of drama and upsets is not close to being the best for you.

There is more to a World Cup than what happened in the pitch.
It transcends all that.
It's a culture, a festival, a fiesta.
Not taking anything away from Qatar but often times, the matches felt artificial.
Stadiums lack atmosphere,
Only the african and south american crowd are relatively boisterous.
Lots of empty seats,
Fans zones are sparsely populated.
More 0-0 matches than the last 2 WC put together.

Qatar's lack of football culture and the strict rules imposed by their government seriously impacted the general feel.
It felt like a WC but lacks a certain je ne sais quoi.
Some of the matches felt like something being played in a library.

It wasn't until the round of 16 that Qatar and FIFA addressed this and threw the stadiums open.
After which, we started getting full stadiums and atmosphere, but even at that, it still felt artificial.

Off the top of my head, France 1998 and Germany 2006 rank as 2 of my best WC in living memory.
Brazil 2014 wasn't shabby either.

QATAR 2022 is a success story and has arguably the best WC grande finale ever, but tagging it the best WC tourney is a tall order.
It's just an opinion borne out of recency bias.

oyaskii:
No cap Chief. Totally blown away my how good this tourney was and fitting that one of the GOAT finally crowned his illustrious career by winning the trophy. I am rooting for a winter world cup going forward...too too lit.

Hope you're not serious.
This WC was a logistic nightmare that no one will be willing to repeat.

Thank the stars it was at least a successful one, but long term, players fitness will take a beating.

abduleez1:
Qatar 2022....
The best tournament ever. 100/10

Wasn't the best WC, not even close.
But that finale was the best I have ever seen.
Had everything.

France were literally missing half of their best players even before the tourney kicked off
Wonder what could have been if France had Benzema, Pogba, N'Golo Kante and Nkunku...
To make it this far despite the injuries is a testament to their winning mentality.

Congrats to Argentina and Messi.
In the end, they wanted it more.
They snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, from the jaws of victory.
The GOAT debate has finally been put to rest.

IbrahimMav:


Shining Girls (2022)....8
Chucky (2021)....5
Slasher (2016)....6


Currently watching.......
Peripheral (2022)

The Peripheral (2022)....7.5



Currently watching....
Slow Horses (2022)
True Detective (2014)
The Game (2021)

Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)....8.5

Beautiful cinematography √
Humor √
Solid plot √
Emotional √
Decent action sequence √
Satisfying punchline (plot payoff) √

It's not a perfect film, the second act is kinda a slugfest but seeing as it's dedicated to world building, it's to be expected.
The first and third act more than make up for it esp the third act.

Cameron knows his audience. This movie will appeal a lot to the younger audience.

IbrahimMav:
The Devils Hour (2022).....8.5
Andor (2022)....9
Bad Sisters (2022).....7.5
The English (2022)....8



Currently watching......
Shining Girls (2022)
Chucky (2021)
Slasher (2016)

Shining Girls (2022)....8
Chucky (2021)....5
Slasher (2016)....6


Currently watching.......
Peripheral (2022)

Bankowner:
It has always being a white Christmas in the UK so what is he yapping about?

As they always say, If you can't stand the heat then get out of the kitchen!!

It's a white Christmas over here too.

Not always.
The UK is located directly in the path of the gulf stream which entails mild summers and mild winters.
It can get very cold but unless you live in North of England or Scotland, Snowfall isn't a guarantee.
Sometimes it snows during the December period but often times snow doesn't arrive until mid January, and sometimes it doesn't even snow at all, esp in southern England.

The Devils Hour (2022).....8.5
Andor (2022)....9
Bad Sisters (2022).....7.5
The English (2022)....8



Currently watching......
Shining Girls (2022)
Chucky (2021)
Slasher (2016)

The floodgates will open now.

Starz825:


SK still dey oo
All those teams wey use luck enter R16....go comot one by one

US...
AUSTRALIA
SK
POLAND

Poland qualified by scoring only 2 goals.
And in all the games they've played, they've been the second best, even in the one they won.

France has their work cut out for them but las las they will win.

JoshTim:
See the french wet dey say e good. Na I'm Poland dey play like this. Abeg, no be by big name o

It's a world cup of surprises,
Anything can happen.
France will win tho,
Poland is the weakest team left in the competition.

Sleekcode:
Nothing fit ever make me Like Gerune... I always see him and Higuian as the same.


Useless

Giroud*

cassidy1996:
Messi dey pray make Poland beat France

Why?
They are not even in the same bracket.
Argentina will have to contend with Netherlands and possibly Brazil before they can meet.

Good! None of these 2 shitty teams deserve a place in the next round.

What a save!

These 2 teams are shit but Ghana is more shit.

God tier save from Ghana goalie.

Almost 3.
Ghana no get defence.

VAR is on drugs.
It's a clear PK.

Half chance squandered.

I want more goals, Uruguay.