Shomin Geki

This is funny and good and accurate. What does it say about present society and culture that a deliberately abrasive goon archetype is now leading man material? Discuss! I often wonder about all the actors that obviously worship Jack Nicholson. It's hard to think of a performer who's so frequently channelled. What does Jack make of all this? Is he flattered? Does it find it daft or embarrassing? Has he ever appeared with one of his disciples and did he have to modify his performance accordingly? Maybe there are other actors obviously 'doing' versions of their forebears, yet the lack of such an obvious cultural reference as Nicholson means they fly under the radar. Is someone out there shamelessly aping Phillip Seymour Hoffman? Donald Sutherland? David Thewlis?

I'm going crazy here trying to work out exactly what this means. Please help me out!

Last post January 21st!? Oh my. Anyway, the season is almost over. I almost want Thomas to snatch it at the end just for the Agueroness of it all. But then I'd probably feel stupidly rubbish. Whilst I've not done a great deal of commentating on this sub I have thoroughly enjoyed this season. I'd very much like to get a big boy league of 8 for next season. I wonder how the other, proper, league is doing?

I'm afraid I'm little more than an occasional poster (but eternal lurker) that makes the odd silly joke and likes doing wordy post-match summaries, but your story really struck a chord with me and I felt obliged to respond. Now, my situation was a little different, but the feelings you're expressing chime very much with my experience, so I thought I would share. As a poster above me said this will be a gradual process. One that will likely have a real resonance for the remainder of your life, particularly if you, like myself, are very much pro-monogamy and value your relationship as one of the most significant of things. It was partially such a strongly-held belief in not only the joy but the responsibility and pride in cultivating a profound, shared intimacy, a beautiful space together, that caused me so much pain when it was broken. I felt as if the gravity in my world had been altered. It was genuinely existentially horrifying. But good can come from an irreversibly horrible situation. I hope my sharing the time I've spent subsequently dealing with the fallout of what happened six years ago can be of some use. One of the first things I did after I was cheated on was to voraciously consume other's stories and thoughts. It offered some consolation. So... We were in a six year long relationship. Engaged. Living together. Soulmates, I thought. We didn't have children, but there was an understanding we were creating a life together. And we both wanted children. I think one of the difficult things in a relationship is in the conflict between one's own conception of a relationship, its significance and its place in your life, and the difference in the shared space that you create together. Of course your partner has the same dilemma. You may, for example, enjoy the familiarity of being with someone, or you might get a sense of pure masculine pride, or it might be an arrangement that gives you a certain level of security (social, economic, psychological etc.), or you might relish the energy you get from the other person. But the other person will very likely conceive what the relationship means to them differently. It's obviously good to be as appreciative as possible about your partner's conception of the relationship. Of course, love is wild, and you may not even have the most complete grasp of what that even is to you. Anyway, I come from a significantly messed-up family (drugs, violence, tragedy etc), one of generational destructiveness, and seeing this pattern rattle on and repeat its grim cycle, I was determined to break it. So I decided the only healthy option was to 'break' from my family and choose a different path. This path included my partner. Who was very aware of this dynamic, this plan, and how important it was to me. To my happiness and stability. We saved a significant sum so we could move to London and start a film production company. We both had experience in that field, and were accepting plenty of paid gigs, as well as having all the gear, so effectively it was simply 'professionalising' what we already did. We had a business plan, contacts, capital etc. My partner was managing a local cinema and one night, after the Christmas party (very close to the 25th), she didn't come home. I was naturally concerned and called her several times. She replied that she had drank too much and had stayed at a friend's place. When she returned in the morning she was a mess and told me that we had to 'finalise' our plan immediately and move right now. I gave her a little pep talk and went to work. But something didn't seem right. She confessed later that day, in what I later discovered wasn't an entirely truthful account, that she had gotten very drunk and had had sex with a much younger employee. I later discovered messages between the two over the course of the past month. They'd basically planned it. Now, this could have been an exciting fantasy that toppled into something more, or, as she put it, 'she was flattered by the attention'. And anyway it was just the one transgression. Perhaps she felt pressurised by our situation? Maybe there was trepidation about our new life? Maybe she kinda wanted a way out? Either way she had completely **** over not only our plans, but how significant this 'new life' was for me. It's peculiar, the moment she told me the whole horrible truth of how destructive this would be dawned on me immediately. I was screwed. And I felt very much what you've described. A disgust, a profound sadness, that something deeply important to me had been terminally ruptured. And sadly it was. I did the normal things. Asked questions. Got mad. Made threats. Tried to confront the dude (this I WOULD NOT entertain. It's honestly not worth it.) She left our house for two weeks over Christmas and the New Year. I immediately broke up with her, almost totally out of an ethical obligation. A line had been crossed. But by that point our fates, and my feelings for us, were so entwined I found it impossible to let go. Why should, and I'm sorry to be crude about this, somebody briefly putting their dick in my girl jettison everything I'd worked so diligently for? Everything we'd cultivated. So I took her back. We tried to rebuild. There was possessive, 'reclaiming her' sex. I really tried hard to understand. And I wasted nine months on this before she ended up leaving me. At which point I almost immediately moved to London. It was only over the course of the next few years (some of which I spent travelling) that I got a fuller grasp on the whole situation. And for that, and it has benefitted me enormously, this couldn't have happened if we had stayed together. I needed a separation to make sense of it all and put myself on the right path. Even if I didn't want that at the time. The big question for you, I think, is: Do you want her to be a part of your rebuilding of yourself? Can you do that? I'm afraid I'm out of my element when it comes to the issue of being a parent, but certainly giving things time and being incredibly, almost masochistically, patient are things I can absolutely attest to. You want to understand this. And you want to make the right choices. Obviously doing this now is incredibly difficult. But you'll thank yourself later. Now the crux of things in my relationship was, to put it slightly pathetically, that nothing, on her part, was learned from her transgression. She failed to understand the deep pain she had caused me. Why the betrayal had shattered me so much. How it felt like she had, with a deep knowledge of my family troubles, shown a profound recklessness towards my attempts to overcome them. Crucially, I began to realise, she didn't understand how violated I had felt. And that I felt violated anew when she wouldn't attempt to understand my conception of the relationship. Without that there was nothing. No real union. That this would simply end up repeating itself. This was my first serious relationship, and absolutely there were mistakes and stupidities on my part. The overriding factor here was if she could appreciate the person that I had become because of this betrayal. The state I had entered. Did she want to understand? To engage? That is what I needed and she wasn't prepared to give it. It was doomed. I hope your relationship is healthier than mine was, but I think it's important to consider, as an ongoing concern, how exactly things are going to become normal for you again. Can you do that with her? Time will obviously tell, and with care, attention and sensitivity, I hope you attain a greater sense of clarity. But it WILL take time. I dislike giving advice. There's often a moralist coldness that ignores the hot human factors involved. It's certainly of use in some situations but generally I'd rather exchange ideas. Having said that, empathising with how caved in your world must feel right now, a little guidance from further up the curve may not be the worst thing. The betrayal affected me for years. It still does. I would still get angry and yearn for some kind of justice. Very often haplessly. But this is something that you will eventually need to learn from and it's good to consider that how you act now will be something you'll have to justify, and indeed be inspired by, into the future. Even if it 'feels' wrong to do certain things, just try to do things in a way that are beneficial to the future you. As cringey as that sounds. Now, after some tough times, I landed on my feet. As painful and damaging as things were, of watching my life combust in front of me, my experience also disciplined me. I realised I was a fool to think things could ever really have worked between us. That our union wasn't as strong as I wanted it, needed it to be. That I had been somewhat deceiving myself. I also subsequently learned that although I didn't ever 'transgress', I was also significantly responsible for our relationship not working. Give yourself the best chance to learn from this. I've, eventually, come out the other side all right. I'm now in a far healthier relationship. Not doing too badly. And I think I'm a better person. Now, of course, I'm not advocating this path for you. I still believe in love and people and relationships and forgiveness. If you can work this out then that's wonderful. But it's good to have as healthy a level of self-awareness as possible. What I would advise is to approach this moment carefully, sensitively and intelligently in order not to further damage the principles and values you possess that have felt so violated. You'll need those, stronger and wiser, in the years to come. Grace under pressure and all that. As hard as that is. I spent an inordinate amount of time being angry, being sad, being confused, 'getting it out of my system', but hopefully I didn't let it overwhelm me. I didn't let how I felt 'metastasise', if you'll forgive the expression, into something truly corrosive. How things panned out was the best thing for me. In many ways I dodged a bullet. And in many ways I got lucky. It wasn't through my own shrewdness or whatever that I came to the right conclusion. But it was very much through not doing the wrong things. As simplistic as that sounds, that's something I've been able to hang on to. I''m glad you have some good people close to you. I hope you do what's right. I wish you happiness however long it takes. (any other things you want to discuss just let me know/please ignore this entirely if you so wish )

It was pouty Irish badboy Barry Keoghan! I actually found the film a bit of a dirge I'm afraid. Pattinson's Batman seems in an almost PTSD trance for the whole film. He speaks very little, and there's not enough of a sense of any meaningful internal life to him. When his character arc is 'revealed' at the end I was quite surprised. I couldn't perceive any meaningful change in him, nothing he experiences seems to provoke him into any real reflection or consideration. Whilst it's clearly more of a 'grounded' Batman, it actually felt rather inert and inexpressive. And not helped with the relentlessly muddy and bleak colour scheme. There's little in the way of memorable imagery. No set pieces or moments had any real fluency or presence, accompanied by a very workaday score. Which was disappointing as the opening stretch promised something far more menacing and intense. I spoke to some film folk before my screening and was warned of how 'emo' the film was. I smiled politely whilst internally rolling my eyes a little. A cheap shot I thought. But, boy, were they right! In Bruce Wayne's first scene he mopes around with his fringe over his eyes, puts on dark glasses inside and even tells Alfred (an unremarkable Andy Serkis) that 'he isn't his father'! Things don't get any less po-faced and self-serious in the subsequent two and a half hours. Even a pretty alluring Catwoman fails to raise a smile, or indeed anything else, in this opaque glumlord.

Honestly, we have a squad of real potency, with abundant quality and versatility, and more of our games should reflect this. There's no reason we can't casually dominate slightly rudderless entities like Southampton more often than we do. Our ability SHOULD shine through. It SHOULD be utilised. That ability was caught here in glimpses, admittedly against a thoroughly anaemic Southampton, in one of the more polite rogerings you'll see this season. If we had hot blood in our veins it could have been double digits. But we didn't need that. And what perhaps underpins that is a greater core stability than anything I've seen from Gerrard's Villa thus far. We made it look pretty easy, always unassumingly comfortable, a laidback heavyweight neatly jabbing his way to victory. That assurance at the core, personified by the towering Mings, wasn't really tested, whilst the moments of flair and cutting thrust promise something more devastating if we need to reach for higher gears. I'm very intrigued to see if these two qualities, today confidently suggested more than territorially stamped, will be more fully realised against opponents that put up a meatier fight. We shall see. MARTINEZ 8 Did everything that was asked of him with typically unfussy ease. MINGS 8 A proper oak tree out there today. Commanding, aggressive and dominant. A leader. CHAMBERS 7 A few clumsy moments, but more than good enough as back up. His assist of the assist for Luiz' goal was an unexpectedly cultured treat. CASH 8 Back to the precision-marauding consistency he's well capable of. Finds space well, uses space well. Yapping at, and past, heels like an excitable dog. Tireless. YOUNG 6 Never had the most elegant feet, and today was no exception, but has maintained an admirable graft to his game. Put in a proper shift. Clearly a very fit 36 year old. LUIZ 7 Seems to be relishing Coutinho's presence, their wavelengths connecting for a couple of jazzy interludes. Good decision making today, efficient and productive. MCGINN 8 A decent go at being Fat Aggressive Pirlo, spraying balls one moment and charging down players the next. And it wouldn't be a McGinn performance if at least at one moment each game you'd swear he'd downed a bottle of Scotch off camera. RAMSEY 6 Struggled to weave his surging swagger into the game. Not that it was really necessary anyway. You feel that Ramsey, keen player that he is, is learning and improving with each game. Even those he doesn't shine in. COUTINHO 8 Absolute silk. The boy glides. A butterfly that you always trust will outmanoeuvre the net. Beautiful feet, his speed of thought and switch of the hips can turn the game in a heartbeat. INGS 7 Finally a little chemistry with Watkins! Constant, impeccably-professional endeavour. And a clinical finish too. WATKINS 7 Yup, his touch is still a little off and his finishing in need of a bit more oomph, but a Watkins at 70 or 80% will still harry defenders, run the channels and offer options for days. SUBS SANSON 6 Looked stylish, I suppose. In a game that had been killed off well before he stepped onto the pitch. Nonetheless still looks, to me, a touch too slow, of thought and action, to demand a starting place. And the clock is ticking... BAILEY 5 Still looking worryingly raw for a 30 Million pound player.. BUENDIA 7 The footballing equivalent of a mischievous grin: Always on the cusp of making something happen, and relishing the panic and uncertainty such threat affords him. But his cameo today was essentially skipping alongside a victory lap.

The new 'Oldboy' remake looks a bit shit. (with my apologies )

Andi Weimann got a hat trick for Bristol City. Good lad. Limited lad, but a good one.

Think I'll go for a film-centric list. Each death would make me sad. Oh well. Jean Luc Godard Roger Corman Jean Louis Trintignant Monica Vitti Kenneth Anger

Sometimes a pop star, surfing on a wave of self-importance, releases an album ostensibly crafted by a flamboyant alter ego. The dark or wild side of said pop star is explored. Nay eviscerated. It is a boundary-pushing deconstruction of a life smelted under the searing lights of ultra modern hyper fame. I'm astonished one 'Crysencio Summerville' has yet to be essayed over a bloated 72 minutes of over-produced, autotuned 'bangers'. As for Leeds... well, it's just heartbreaking that the wonderful uncertainty and randomness of football simply won't bend to the will of its most beautiful and visionary theorists. If somebody can recreate the final episode of Blackadder with messrs Klich, Ayling and Bamford slo-mo fading onto an empty field of misspent sweat we can all get the closure we deserve.

Also didn't care for the new Bond. Found it pretty inert and at times somewhat incoherent. In spirit and emotion as much as plot. It's a curiously joyless film, that struggles for rhythm, and never really attains any sense of grandeur it might be aiming for. It's a shame as I find Craig very compelling as Bond. I just honestly get the sense that, after the shot-in-the-arm salvo of Casino Royale, they're not really sure what to do with him. Or, after the pooch pulled himself so free of the lead last time out, there's anxiety about what he might do if he really gets free. In the manner of the Pierce Brosnan Bonds retrospectively looking like products of the long, bland nineties, I wonder if we'll come to think of the Craig Bonds as a missed opportunity. It also has, as has been pointed out elsewhere, something of a feeling of being made by committee. But I s'pose that's much of the world today, eh?

I also liked the new Candyman, going in having expected the worst. But with real caveats. I admire that it went for a bleaker, more mournful tone and it's very strikingly directed in parts. I do wonder, however, if Jordan Peele's voice is too strong in the screenplay, and I do find the construction of his 'social critiques' to be a little sterile and artificial. The lurch between a sense of impending doom and all-out madness was indelicately handled, and the climax, whilst very well conceived, underwhelms in its execution. Lovely shadow puppetry though! Not a given these days! But there's some really strong stuff in there, albeit scattered, a little abstractly, around the film. Was wondering what the shot you allude to was? In a wee spoilers box if needs be.

You're a proper gem, Hornso.

Ha! It's off the ground! Many thanks for setting this up and showing an almost saintly patience. I look forward to, with all due respect, stomping you all into the minutest particles of dust.

Ah, I must confess I let this slip my mind! I'm in, if it's any consolation.

Yeah, a post-Transfer Window draft is good for me. Cheers!

Messed up for one of Norwich's goals. I would highly recommend watching all six goals for some of the purest defensive seppuku I've seen for some time!

At the risk of it saying more about me than the shirt, I instinctively read the Burnley sponsor as 'Spread 'Em Sports'. A kind of in person autocorrect. The X not looking dissimilar to an M helps. Now, I know Sean Dyche sides play rough, but come on...

I'm gonna be away for the big draft on Thursday unfortunately. I guess I'll just order my players and hope for the best! We're still on, right?

I'm all set for the draft tomorrow at eight. If I may ask two questions: 1. What happens if we don't have all eight players take part in the draft? 2. I see that we're going 'Head to Head'. For previous players what's the advantages of this mode against the other? Does it result in a better game? Thank you.

He examined his sleeve. Sweat? Sweat. Hot, fungal smelling sweat, his sweat. Sweat. Sweat. Sweat. And bits of sick.

Hey. I appreciate I'm a pretty peripheral figure at Villatalk, but I adore the place and would love to be part of your fun and games. I'm in if you'll have me.

Already got this chiselled on my gravestone, partner.

Great idea! I've got a great start-up idea for some kind of 'index' where you can buy shares and trade in players if you want to contribute? Can't see anything going awry if we monetise-to-death that insatiable part of brains totally addled by football...

Whilst very much agreeing with this point I suppose the argument could be made that Lloris's presence alters how Ollie approaches the loose ball. He might have gotten there had the keeper not made that dash. The keeper is therefore impeding a potentially successful action and becomes responsible for the ultimate collision. But I'd still rather not see this kind of incident result in the award of a penalty. If for no other reason than the chance of a goal resulting from the play being so obviously minimal. I do fear that sometimes the (quite understandable) desire for consistency in refereeing decisions results in something of an unsporting race to the bottom.