World Cup: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

The greatest show on the planet has come to an end. The 2010 World Cup in South Africa will be remembered for the Jabulanis, Vuvuzelas, strippers and octopuses if not for some scintillating display of football. The World Cup had its share of heroes who elevated their game to new heights as well as the usual suspects who were making news for all the wrong reasons. Here’s a look at some of the teams and their World Cup performances:

THE GOOD:

Spain:

They were by far the best team in the World Cup and rightful winners for that matter. The Spanish game was like ballerina on the football field; be it the crisscross passing or the brilliant one-twos, the tic-tac-toe moves or the golden triangles. The only drawback was their amnesia when it came to scoring goals. They better get Memento (or our own Ghajini) like tattoos inscribed before Euro 2012 (saying: SCORE). The way they kept possession with a record 3795 passes (yes, some loser counted that) will go down as legend in the history of World Cup football.

Germany:

They scored goals, they attacked and lost to the best team in the World Cup. Once again they proved to be the most consistent European performer on the world’s biggest stage and showed the world that it was the Germans who invented ‘Blitz Krieg’ with their penetrating counter attacks. Also, they once again proved that knocking Argentina out in the quarters and losing in the semis is something they hold in high regard.

Uruguay:

Not undermining their not so anticipated performance, they were slightly lucky to have a good draw of matches though. All in all, it was brilliant stuff from them and surprisingly the best South American performance amongst all.

Argentina:

Maradona simply did not want to run naked. That can be the only justification for playing attacking midfielders as left backs and right backs.

Brazil:

Gone may be the years of the flamboyant Ronaldos, Rivaldos and Ronaldinhos but they were definitely one of the strongest unit in the World Cup. Sad that a single half’s performance can destroy a team as badly as the Samba boys and blame it all on the coach (though I ain’t a big Dunga fan).

Ghana:

When you don’t score the 119^th minute penalty then even God cannot help you given that the Hand of God (part II) got you the penalty in the first place.

Paraguay:

Never have the two ’guays’ (Paraguay and Uruguay) both played well at the same time; so a Paraguay-Uruguay final (or even a third place match) never seemed plausible. Besides Spain beat them (so who cares anyway, except followers of a certain Riquelme (and no, its not the Argentinean footballer being referred to here) who were satisfied anyway as they later found out).

THE BAD:

England:

Though England may be still cribbing about their disallowed goal, the bottom line remains the same that they were bad. Anyways, when you are depending on a certain baby faced, red headed, short tempered guy to win you the cup single handedly, dreams are bound to crash. Besides the only thing that was worth watching in England matches was what designer suits was Beckham strutting (call it: ‘Bench it like Beckham’).

Italy:

They did get older,

Definitely not stronger,

People called them boredom,

Coz they played like old fags.

Portugal:

They may have scored seven goals in a match but Carlos Quieroz (Sir Alex Fergusson’s right hand man some say; others call him his b***h) was another one to have succumbed to the Italian way. The result being one of the most talented footballer running around the park like an imbecile.

France:

They were bound to crash out without a single win when the coach kept his best pair of hands and his best scoring chance stranded on the bench for most of the tournament (read: Thierry Henry). Also, with a civil war erupting within the team, no one really was expecting too much. There was no Zinedine Zidane to bail them out this time round.

AND THE UGLY:

Netherlands:

The Dutch may be runners up but they were everything that is not supposed to be Dutch. They were physical, ugly, conservative, boring and seemed to be taking the Italian way to glory. The beautiful game was a passé and Total Football seemed like a distant dream for this team. Flair had nothing to do with them. Johan Cruyff and Marco van Basten were Spanish to them. The best thing to happen to World football this year has to be the Netherlands losing the finals else the Italian way (Catenaccio some call it; others call it sad) would have found more supporters especially with Internazionale winning the coveted Champions League just a month back. The Dutch said ’Who wants Batman when we have Robben’ but we definitely do not want a bunch of kung-fu playing, flying kicks throwing and on every occasion diving players to be called world champions.

Christopher Nolan – the future of Cinema

Every once in a while, Hollywood has had its share of directors whose vision has surpassed that of the others and who have been way ahead of time when it comes to film making. Be it Alfred Hitchcock in the 60s or Stanley Kubrick in the 70s, Martin Scorsese in 80s or Steven Spielberg in the 90s, very decade has had its true heroes. However, if one director is to be picked who has been exceptionally brilliant in the past decade, it has to be ‘Christopher Nolan’ hands down. The London born director of Irish origin began making films at a young age of seven and ever since has produced some of the best moments in cinematic history. Although he started his career making short films like Tarantella, Larceny and Doodlebug, it was only in 1998 that he made his first full length feature film. Here is a brief look at his rather glorious filmography:

1) Following:

Nolan’s first full length feature film made at a miniscule budget of $ 6000 marked the arrival of a legend. The film was shot in black and white and starred mostly friends of Nolan. While it did not have a theatrical release it was showcased in a number of film festivals and won rave reviews all over. This neo noir movie by far boasts of one of the best screenplays ever and the editing (if it was there) has to be deemed as the most compelling piece of work ever. The thriller which has a runtime of less than 70 minutes tells the story of a neurotic novelist who follows random people to analyzes them. It can easily be called the most underrated suspense thriller in the history of Hollywood.

2) Otnemem:

It was the success of ‘Following’ at the film festivals that prompted Nolan to make his first commercial movie. Again made at a modest budget of $ 5 million, ‘Otnemem’ went on to become a cult film in the film noir genre. It won’t be wrong to call this ‘Otnemem’ more of a jigsaw puzzle than a Hollywood film. Finally, there was a film after which the average movie goer had his IQ levels slightly raised after watching a film rather than the film eating on his intelligence. The film was hailed “the most accurate portrayal of short term amnesia and the different memory systems in the popular media”.

3) Insomnia:

His next film was a remake of a Norwegian film by the same name and once again Nolan had struck gold. This crime drama set in Alaska is one of the best films made in recent times exploring the psyche of the human mind and the hidden demons inside each one of us. It boasted some of the best performances by its leads: Al Pacino, Hillary Swank and Robin Williams. This film had established that Nolan was not a one film wonder but indeed a master story teller.

4) Batman Begins:

Now that Nolan had become an established film maker, he took his first giant stride by reviving the Batman franchise. With the flurry of superhero films like Spiderman, Fantastic 4 and many others around the same time, Batman Begins was expected to be another run of the mill superhero movie. But Nolan surprised everyone with his version of a darker and fiercer Batman. He gave Batman a new direction with his vision of the Batman arsenal — the Batsuit, Batcave, Batmobile, and the Batsignal as had been portrayed never before.

5) The Prestige:

With the critical and commercial success of Batman Begins, a sequel was always calling. But Nolan once again took the path less traversed by directing the Prestige which explored the revelry and then rivalry of two magicians. This thriller with its constant twists and turns takes the viewer on a topsy turvy ride once again leaving him guessing right till the end like his previous thrillers. This novel adaptation was hailed by many critics as the best fantasy thriller of the 21^st century has come down as one of the cult classics of recent times.

6) The Dark Knight:

Finally in 2008, 3 years after the first part the Batman franchise had Nolan beckoning with him being at the helm of affairs this time round. The Dark Knight was unlike any other film that the world had seen before. The direction was spot on, casting perfect, camerawork brilliant, cinematography beyond excellent, music haunting and everything seemed to be in a perfect harmony. With Heath Ledger’s portrayal of the eccentric and maniacal Joker, Nolan had once again redefined the scope of a cinematic Super villain. He had simply created magic on celluloid; scenes like the transformation of the Batmobile to the Batpod have laid down new domains when it comes to action in movies. The Dark Knight was nominated for 8 Oscars but was conspicuously left out of the Best Director and Best Film categories. The Academy decision behind extending nomination for best film from 5 to 10 films was largely made on the conspicuous absence of The Dark Knight in the Best Film category.

7) Inception:

‘Your mind is the scene of the crime’ reads the tagline of Nolan’s latest movie releasing on the 16th of July, 2010. It is enough to spark a flood of emotions ranging from excitement to intrigue in the mind of any film connoisseur. In my opinion Inception will be the film that shall have Nolan collecting the much deserved Academy Award for Achievement in Direction. If initial reports are anything to go by, then this is definitely another masterstroke from the maverick director. Here are the views of a few noted film critics who have had the fortune to catch the initial uncut previews of Inception:

“A wildly entertaining and dazzling mind-trip not to be missed. Kubrick would have been proud.”

“Inception is an exhilarating cinematic experience that suggests there is still room, even in the blockbuster world, for big ideas and dangerous emotions, and that may be the single most thrilling thing about it.”

“A devilishly complicated, fiendishly enjoyable sci-fi voyage across a dreamscape that is thoroughly compelling.”

“I walked out hypnotized. Here's a movie that's 3 steps ahead of you, on 4 different levels, at 5 blinding speeds.”

“If movies are shared dreams, then Christopher Nolan is surely one of Hollywood's most inventive dreamers, given the evidence of his commandingly clever Inception”.

PS: This is not a tribute or homage to Nolan and he is not dead for all those wondering. I felt that instead of writing about someone who is uselessly already past his prime or may be even dead, I’d rather provide encouragement to someone who still has the potential to give us some cinematic brilliance. I know Chris Nolan will read this. Also, I am not one of the critics to have seen Inception; so please do not blame me if the movie is beyond comprehension (as most people feel about Nolan's movies)