Unfortunately, it was not without its controversies, which started as early as its cast was announced, with many expressing extreme dissatisfaction with the casting of actors of Indian and African descent, claiming it to be disrespectful to Greek culture and history, among several other historical inaccuracies.

Fuel was added to the fire after a Reddit user posted his findings of hidden, unverified reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, convincing many that the positive reactions to the movie are artificial.

Many have recommended to simply read the original Homer poem instead, while others have mentioned the older mini-series, due to being more faithful to the original piece.

However, a certain user of the social media platform “X” has expressed his wish of a Mel Gibson directed, source material accurate adaptation of the Odyssey, with funding of a 100 million dollars by Elon Musk. To the surprise of “X” users, the owner of the platform responded with a reassuring “I’m down”.

Will such an adaptation come to realization? Only time will tell. As of right now, the demand is there, and it seems to be a big one.

Is the positive reaction to “The Odyssey” truly artificial or is the movie truly as good as the critics claim? You can find out later this week, as we deliver an unbiased review from one of our journalists.

For any other news, stick with Two More Weeks.

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The Chokepoint Remains A Chokepoint

Only four vessels crossed Hormuz on July 19, down from eight the previous day, according to LSEG data cited by Reuters. Before the war, roughly one-fifth of global oil supplies moved through the strait. Two tankers managed by Greece’s Dynacom were struck by projectiles off Oman on July 20, while Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said two other tankers had been immobilized after taking what it called an unsafe route. Reuters said it was unclear whether the incidents were related.

The physical market has not collapsed. Gulf crude and condensate exports averaged about 12 million barrels per day in the first half of July, according to Kpler data reported by Reuters, 16% above June’s daily average. That remained roughly 32% below February’s prewar peak of 17.6 million barrels per day.

Saudi Arabia has redirected much of its crude through the Red Sea port of Yanbu. Kpler estimated that Yanbu handled 75% of Saudi Arabia’s 5.29 million barrels per day of crude and condensate exports during the first half of July. This worked until the Houthis threatened the second door.

The Price Shock That Declined To Become Infinite

Brent peaked around $126 during the five-month conflict, below both the 2008 record of $147 and the $150-to-$200 scenarios circulated at the start of the war. Reuters attributed the relative restraint to weaker Chinese demand, record U.S. production, strategic-reserve releases, Saudi export diversions and ample prompt physical cargoes.

China’s crude imports fell to their lowest level in nearly a decade by June. U.S. production reached a record 13.93 million barrels per day in April. The United States also participated in a coordinated 400-million-barrel release from strategic reserves in March.

The result is a market capable of absorbing a war, a closed strait and several predictions of its own death, provided nobody asks what happens after the buffers run down. There is plenty of prompt crude around for now. “For now” remains the energy sector’s preferred spelling of two weeks.

The Bill Reaches The Pump

U.S. gasoline averaged $4.003 per gallon on July 20, according to AAA data reported by Reuters, more than 30% above its level when the war began in late February. U.S. gasoline inventories stood at 210.5 million barrels, about 1.5 million below the five-year average.

The oil market has therefore achieved the standard modern compromise: no immediate global shortage, no cheap fuel and no settled route through either of the world’s most important export corridors. Negotiations may resume under a proposed 10-day ceasefire. The resolution is now approximately ten days away, which this publication has rounded to the nearest official unit.

Sources

• Reuters, “Oil steadies as hopes of renewed US-Iran negotiations offset Houthi threat” (July 20, 2026): https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/brent-oil-tops-90-us-iran-intensify-attacks-middle-east-2026-07-20/
• Reuters, “Why oil prices haven’t gone crazy despite five months of US-Iran war” (July 20, 2026): https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/why-oil-prices-havent-gone-crazy-despite-5-months-us-iran-war-2026-07-20/
• Reuters, “Gulf crude exports jump in July but shipments slowing on renewed hostilities” (July 19, 2026): https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/gulf-crude-exports-jump-july-shipments-slowing-renewed-hostilities-data-shows-2026-07-19/
• Reuters, “US pump prices cross $4 again on renewed Middle East fighting” (July 20, 2026): https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-pump-prices-cross-4-again-renewed-fighting-middle-east-2026-07-20/

The post Oil briefly reached one-month highs as renewed U.S.-Iran fighting reduced Strait of Hormuz traffic, while alternative routes and weaker Chinese demand kept the predicted apocalypse within its customary two-week window appeared first on Two More Weeks.

Argentina came into this final playing like a team that knew exactly one plan: absorb, disrupt, survive. And to be fair to them, it nearly worked. But there’s a difference between a disciplined defensive performance and a team that simply refuses to engage with the game in front of them, and for long stretches Argentina looked like the latter. The stat that sums it up best: Argentina didn’t register a single shot in the entire 90 minutes of regulation time. Not one. That’s the first time that’s happened in a World Cup final since Opta started tracking this stuff back in 1966, and only the third instance of any team going shot-less through normal time in 900 World Cup matches. Messi finished with 54 touches and exactly one shot the whole match. When your talisman is that starved of the ball in a final, something has gone badly wrong with the game plan.

What Argentina lacked in attacking intent, though, they made up for in physicality. This was a scrappy, niggling, occasionally ill-tempered game, with Argentina’s players happy to put a foot in and slow the game down whenever Spain threatened to build momentum. Leandro Paredes picked up a needless yellow for shoving Rodri in the back well away from the ball. It was that kind of afternoon — Argentina scrapping for every inch, betting that aggression and organisation could outlast Spain’s technical superiority.

And then it caught up with them. Enzo Fernández had been running hot all game, picking up his first yellow in the 82nd minute for mouthing off at the referee over a non-call — the kind of theatrics that feel harmless right up until they aren’t. Ten minutes later, in stoppage time, he came flying through the back of Pau Cubarsí on a challenge that sent the young Spanish defender cartwheeling through the air. Second yellow, straight red, and suddenly Argentina were staring down 30 minutes of extra time with ten men against a Spanish side that had been probing all match for exactly this kind of opening. All that earlier posturing and jawing at officials didn’t just fail to intimidate anyone — it left him one bad decision away from a sending-off, and he duly obliged at the worst possible moment.

Argentina held on for a while even a man light, and Emiliano Martínez was magnificent doing it — 11 saves, the most ever recorded in a men’s World Cup final. But something had to give eventually, and in the second period of extra time it did: substitute Ferran Torres pounced on a loose ball and finished sharply past Martínez to win it. Fittingly, Argentina only found their attacking spark once the game was already lost, finally forcing a couple of half-chances in the closing minutes that never really threatened an equaliser.

Credit where it’s due — Spain were relentless, patient, and thoroughly deserving winners, claiming their second World Cup title and capping off a 38-match unbeaten run that now includes a Euros and a World Cup. But Argentina will look back on this final knowing they made this harder on themselves than it needed to be. A team with more discipline and more ambition going forward might have made Spain sweat for it. Instead, they mostly made it easy.

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