Sunday, June 27, 2010

The Cinema World Cup: England vs. Germany

England and Germany have announced their lineup for today's Cinema World Cup knockout round.

England
-----------------------Chaplin-----------------------
-----------Lester----Hitchcock----Reed-----------
-----------------Kubrick-----Lean-------------------
Richardson---------Frears----Leigh---------Powell
---------------------Brownlow--------------------

Bench: Crichton, Schlesinger, Park, R.W. Paul, L. Anderson, Gilliam, Boorman, Mackendrick, Ivory, Mitchell, Kenyon, Loach.

EMERGENCY UPDATE: Reserved yet devastating defensive midfielder Kubrick returns from injury! Powell drifts out wide as a defensive wing, Crichton sits, and Guy Ritchie no longer gets his WTF spot on the squad. The following text was written before knowledge of Kubrick's availability.

Not all of England's best have been represented, and many question the inclusion of the likes of forward Guy Ritchie while superior players like Paul Greengrass were left off. While Ritchie is certainly a weak overall player, his backers say that his audacious attacking play could prove pivotal if England go down and need a sub to add an unpredictable spark to the game. Also in question is the decision to play Chaplin as a lone striker. While he has an enviable five-man midfield behind him, many wonder if The Great Tramptator's ego and tendancy for theatrics will sink the team.

Germany
---------Herzog----------Lang-------------
----------------Max Ophüls-----------------
--Fassbinder-----------------Lubitsch----
-----------------Wertmuller------------------
Wenders-----Sirk----Pabst-----Murnau
----------------Riefenstahl------------------

Bench: Tykwer, Leni, Petzold, Ruttman, Schlöndorff, Ulmer, Wiene, Straub, Petersen, Reiniger, Fischinger, Veidt.

Germany would certainly welcome the clever playmaking of Austrian-born filmmaker Billy Wilder, who chose to play for his second adopted country instead. And despite his work in Germany, Austrian-American Josef Von Sternberg also capped for the USA. This is particularly unfortunate for Germany when you consider that England has two American-born players in its squad. Luckily, Germany have a formidable defense, with wingers Wenders and Murnau always ready to push up and help create chances. If they leave too much space, the last line of defense is goalkeeper Leni Riefenstahl, who's known to sacrifice herself and her future for the good of the team.
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