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Although the Creepers' Truck in this 3rd movie was kinda fun, the rest was a complete mess. |
Texas Chain Saw Massacre the original
Wow. First time I watched this years ago I remember being underwhelmed by the 70s music and acting. This time I was morbidly fascinated and found it intense and creepy. I was surprised how much it glued me to the screen. One of the best of that era I think. I hear part 2 is actually quite good too. 4/5 |
Alien Covenant
Better than I expected but not as good as Alien, Aliens, or Alien 3. Better than Resurrection! The first hour in particular is pretty tense and ramps up the horror and tension quite nicely. Second half starts to move more into action. Bit like the contrast between Alien and Aliens actually. But never as well done as either. So here's my ranking: Alien 5/5 Aliens 4/5 Alien 3 3.5/5 Alien Covenant 3/5 Prometheus 2/5 I think I can't really remember it Alien Resurrection 1.5/5 |
Happy Death Day (2017)
Groundhog Day in a horror/thriller setting. Girl wakes up the same day, over and over, to be killed in many different variations. Never really scary as you know she will wake up after each kill. Still a bit entertaining. Mosr of a 'who-dunnit' kinda movie. Although my wife was annoyed that I pointed out the killer the first moment they met face to face. (so a bit predictable too, I guess) 5.5/10 |
The Shining
Utterly engrossing, brilliantly performed, creepy, and tense as anything. Superb stuff. 5/5 |
Super Dark Times
Well most of it, can't get peace to watch a movie when I have family over. 3/5 |
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Kubric did not have a favorite version though. On BluRay the US version is only released for America while the European version was released on all the other continents. Still they are both region free and work on all BluRay players. As a fan of the movies I own both versions but the US edition is kinda dragging (to me) so I never watch that one. That said, the European version is missing a few interesting moments, in particular, much of the dialogue between Lloyd and Jack, and a lot of the 'day to day' moments at the Overlook, and several scenes are cut short like Danny in the bedroom with Jack. I believe they did the same with the streams. The US version can only be viewed from US services while all other streamings use the European version. So the amazon.com version should be different from the amazon.co.uk version ;) |
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The Intern (2015)
Feel-good movie with Robert deNiro as a senior intern. Even my wife found it dragging. 5/10 |
It 2017
Well I thought it was pretty good, the kids were all very good and there was a suitably menacing air about Derry and all the adults were quite creepy. Pennywise was also very well done. Some new scenes like the floating kids were very good and helped make sense of the line "they all float". The only thing is... it wasn't really any better overall. For everything that was done slightly better (like the effects) there was something that was quite as good (like Pennywise). Overall a 3/5 for me. Good but not essential viewing. Will still be interested to see the second one though. |
It 2017
Well I thought it was pretty good, the kids were all very good and there was a suitably menacing air about Derry and all the adults were quite creepy. Pennywise was also very well done. Some new scenes like the floating kids were very good and helped make sense of the line "they all float". The only thing is... it wasn't really any better overall. For everything that was done slightly better (like the effects) there was something that was quite as good (like Pennywise). Overall a 3/5 for me. Good but not essential viewing. Will still be interested to see the second one though. |
a Christmas Horror Story (2015)
5 not so jolly christmas tales. In a way they are connected to each other. Not fantastic or horrible. Fun evening filler. 6,5/10 |
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Unfortunately, the TV movie was just that. Filmed for TV. It looks poor, most of the actors are B-actors at best and there are no decent effects. But in the end Pennywise made that one creepier than the theater version. For me no contest. Old 'It' knocks this one out of the ring. They must try harder with part 2. |
Jungle 2017...a great adventure movie.
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Logan Lucky
Not as good as Oceans Eleven but a similarly cool take on a speed way robbery. All the cast are excellent. Satisfying ending and some amusing red necks. It's hard to describe but it's like ocean's eleven with lower stakes and fewer stars. Entertaining enough but not essential. 3.5/5 |
The Last Jedi.
No spoilers... |
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Star Wars ep VIII: The Last Jedi (2017)
JJ Abrahams set it up, Rian Johnson hit a homerun. Now it is up to Abrahams again to take the victory home. What a sequel. This is what the Empire Strikes Back was for the original trilogy... 9/10 |
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2.5 It brought balance to the force, I love it and hate it at the same time. |
The Last Jedi (2017)
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Logan Lucky
Watched it after PanicLord reviewed it. Fun movie indeed. 7/10 |
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*spoilers* For what it's worth I enjoyed the two times I saw the film but I definitely didn't see a good "Star Wars movie". There were a few hints of old Luke, the scene with R2D2. Stepping out to confront the baddie. But other than that this did not feel like we were in the same universe as Skywalker Star Wars if that makes sense. Even Luke couldn't raise an X Wing out of the water after some training from Yoda but Rey doesn't require any training at all to defeat Kylo Ren and even hold her own against Luke. This type of story telling fits in totally with millennials I feel, who want everything right now and not have to work for it. Ie when you see 22 year old girls straight out of university put "Director" as their job title on LinkedIn because they work as a recruitment agent. I do not understand how they are going to be able to create a compelling finale to this new trilogy now. I'd rate this movie a 7 or 7.5 out of 10 but that is not because of the story. Most of it doesn't make sense or even fits with what JJ Abrams was doing with his usual rabbit hole approach in episode 7. It was more like someone poured cement into all the rabbit hole exits here. How did the producers (including JJ) green lit the lack of time interval between Star Wars stories. This never happened before in the previous 7 movies. Madness surely?! We already got a direct movie prequel non time interval handover with Rogue One (and that was better I reckon). Shame. |
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Anyway, I think Ryan Johnson hit a homerun. The movie has several flaws and I don't think it is in the same league as Force Awakens. But it is bold and it balances on the edge of (not) being a Star Wars movie. In that perspective it is Empire Strikes Back of the new trilogy. And I think that, in the years to come and expecting JJ Abrahams to create a fan-favorite 3rd installment, this will be the perfect -in between- episode that has created new possibilities to explore in the future movies. SPOILERS BELOW!!!! I expect Abrahams to 'fix' Rey's parent story. I do believe that Rey will become an offspring of... It just doesn't make sense that she has all this raw power out of nothing. I also hope there will be some more about the history of Snoke. His death was just too easy. I also don't expect to have seen the last of Luke. This is the only thing that I really had troubles with. Not his death, but what he has become. It just didn't feel right. That said, I like the direction that Johnson took by focussing more on Rey/Kylo Ren. Killing off everyone around them that were involved in the original trilogy just seems right. They are no longer the key players and they don't fit in this new era. The love triangle doesn't have my interest btw. All in all, this movie seems to be the perfect connection for Abrahams to create another fan-tale but with the room to try something different. After seeing this episode I am confident that the right third installment will make this a fantastic Trilogy. And I have all faith in Abrahams. |
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I actually think after The Han Solo movie and the final JJ Abrams film, which I hope redeems the Skywalker name again but indeed does give Star Wars "A New Hope"ish end Disney would take a breather with the franchise. But I'm guessing money is the main object here and I think it is actually a bit sad we are probably going to get more Star Wars than we need and there is a huge possibility now that many of us may never see the actual finale of Star Wars in our lifetimes. Marvel is becoming very Meh to me. I just hope it doesn't happen with Star Wars but I fear the worst. |
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I am not anxious to see all the spin offs or that Ryan Johnson trilogy. That said, I did like Rogue One. But not as part of the trilogies. btw, for now Guardians of the Galaxy are the only Marvel movies that aren't complete and utter crap. And don't get me started on that DC Universe. Anyway, Disney is gonna milk this cow until it gets dry. And that could mean many more of Star Wars related flix. |
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For me it is that too but it is also the story of family. I really think Rey needs to be a Kenobi or ideally a Skywalker. Rey's vision in TFA makes totally no sense if her parents are nobodies. I don't like this thing of anyone can use the force thing (Mind you I also don't like the medichlorian Jesus no father birth story either!). I feel if this story ends with some bizarre lesson of it doesn't matter who your parents are or family doesn't matter I think that is incredibly inately dissatisfactory. I think these innate lessons and kinship of family (which realistically allowed humans to evolve) are so vital within Star Wars, Lucas probably didn't even know what he was writing to a certain extent. I feel if you destroy that fans won't come back. Star Wars was mostly successful because people wanted to watch these movies a million times and buy the merch etc. I think this is a sign that things are simply not right with The Last Jedi's story: 'Last Jedi' Grosses Are Collapsing With The Worst Daily Holds Of All 9 Star Wars Movies Instead of what we got how cool would it have been to have seen Luke raise his submerged X Wing out of the water (what he couldn't do in Empire) to save Leia/Ray/Finn. Rey could have left earlier with the Millennium Falcon and Chewie to save Finn say if he had been captured or so and leave R2 behind for Luke. Still play that hologram but then R2 could join Luke in the X Wing to save the day. I would have spaced this a few years after TFA regardless to give Rey time for Jedi training and more significance to Finn's coma and thus Rey and Finn's relationship. At the battle of Kraite Luke could have stopped all the lasers from the walkers like Kylo did in TFA at the beginning and either sent them back to the walkers and/or use some force mega power to raise all the walkers into the sky and smashed the bejeezus out of them. We needed some hand to hand combat there too between rebels and first order fighters and this could have explained the evening out of powers. Luke has a more extended light sabre fight with Kylo. But Luke doesn't destroy Kylo because he thinks he can be redeemed. Luke flees with the remaining rebels and Rey. I think Leia should have died in this one. Ackbar should have sacrificed himself instead of yet another new character being introduced with the purple haired Jurassic Park Ellie. The codebreaker could have been Lando or so. Keep Snoke alive. Phasma captures Finn, who gets his memory erased somehow and is placed in a stormtrooper costume which would look like a desperate bad ending to him (like how Han Solo was put in nitrogen etc). Maybe put him in either a non significant stormtrooper suit (that looks bad - that typical one in a million never to be found again Toy Story thing) or a red one to make him a force to be reckoned with in the final episode before he is of course freed somehow. Regardless his story should end well in 9 and I don't think introducing a new love interest was a good move at all. Rey will be a Jedi so I guess a love relationship isn't quite possible with Finn but it could have been left open and at least meant they are both closer. Rey now suddenly meeting Poe and hinting at what would be a love interest only developed over one remaining episode seems very sad to me and stupid considering Finn has known Rey for more than 1 1/2 episodes already at that point. The movie could have ended with Leia's funeral and that that triggered some major twist revealing Rey is in fact Kylo's sister and thus Leia is her mother which could trigger Rey wanting to redeem him in the final episode and destroy Snoke with Luke. I really don't know how they will deal with Kylo, Luke's death (also no Carrie Fisher!?) and Rey's motivation but I just hope it's not some stupid thing of Rey leading a band of new Jedi fighters who were slave boys on a casino planet to fight Kylo and the First Order. :roll: Also why free the "horses" and not the slave boys. Social justice warrioring around the galaxy seems to make people do bizarre things at times. :? I did absolutely love the Kylo/Rey light sabre fighting and slow mo start. The walker taking position to start to shoot Luke. These scenes were merely seconds but SOO SOO GOOD. There was nothing as memorable as those bits in the entire prequel trilogy even. Maybe it sounds silly but to me this movie is like listening to Meat Loaf's last record. It contains elements of pure genius (GATW and Souvenirs). An absolutely bizarre start (who needs the young / lightsaber handover - no time between stories), some dissatisfying moments and just not what we are used to from Meat and Jim (and Star Wars). Both these products seem to lack that precise bit of polish to make them both almost the best from two 40 year old franchises which I believe they could have been. Both seem to have important elements missing (another great song in Braver - body / more family connection in SW). Strange how these things can pan out when you start thinking about them.... At least SW has the benefit of having one more major episode remaining for redemption. (Though I'm sure we will see main style episodes 10/11/12 too!). |
It is looking like The Last Jedi is going to become the worst Star Wars film ever made, worse so than the prequels even. By far the most polarising one anyway.
I think they made huge mistakes here. Rian Johnson should be removed from having anything to do with Star Wars from now on. If Kathleen Kennedy cannot see that she should go herself. Such a shame. |
Last Vegas (2015)
Morgan Freeman, Michal Douglas, Kevin Kline and Robert DeNiro. 4 elder friends going to Vegas for a bachelor party. Had a few funny moments. But nothing too special. 6,5/10 |
American Made
Fascinating and entertaining film, with Cruise given far more to do than just run and jump for a change. It relies more on relaying the tale of Barry Seal rather than highlighting the personal and emotional impacts but it is fascinating watching everything spiralling out of control. 4/5 |
Star Wars The Last Jedi
Loved it. Great humour, amazing action, great emotional wallop at the end, and finally a Star Wars movie that's not about a Death Star!! I can understand why some fans didn't like some of the choices made, but I'd rather watch something bold and new than the same thing over and over. Mark Hamill is superb. 4.5/5 |
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Not many people remember that Empire got kind of the same heat when it played in theaters. In the end it is now considered to be the best of the Star Wars movies by most fans. I am not saying Last Jedi will become that, but I do think that (depending on JJ Abraham's 9th episode) this will become a movie that will gain a lot of love. Despite some poor decisions made, Last Jedi, unlike the prequels, has a Star Wars feel to it. |
Batman Begins and the Dark Knight
First though, a little love letter to Christopher Nolan. I remember being wowed by Batman Begins when it came out at the cinema. It's the film that got me interested in Christopher Nolan, and made me go back and watch Memento and Insomnia and love them both. It got me booking tickets to every new film he makes and getting all his films to watch at home. His films feel crafted by people who know what they are doing. He doesn't treat you as if you're the lowest common denominator and need every little thing explained or that you will only be able to maintain your attention level with lashings of unnecessary cgi blood and gore. This approach to film making revitalised the Batman franchise big style and super hero movies in general. The film is populated with believable people acting on their beliefs and emotions. And people call this and the follow ups grim... this is the mistake eg DC makes now when they go "dark". There is plenty of wit and humour, but no puns. Characters say funny things, because that's what people do. Not because someone has counted the number of dark things happening and inserted a bad joke into the script every 5th bad thing. And people also accuse him of making cold emotionless films. It's true that generally he doesn't go in for melodramatics or over theatrical performances. He doesn't tell you how you should feel every single minute. He tells the story and relies on quality actors and relatable characters to convey it to you so that you feel how you want. How can you not feel devastated for poor young Bruce watching his parents get murdered? Or be horrified by the Joker and his corruption of Harvey Dent. Anyway I love these films and all of his others so don't be too surprised if I allocate some top marks! Batman Begins 4.5/5 Terrific origin story well told, turning Batman into a relatable symbol and legend that you can really root for. Mostly quality supporting cast (with the only one not making as much impact as maybe you'd hope for being Katie Holmes... she's not bad exactly just outclassed by everyone else). Great baddie in Liam Neeson, nice simple plot, mission firmly accomplished. The Dark Knight 5/5 Genius level film making. Astounding acting from Heath Ledger, excellent plot that massively raised the stakes in what you could expect from a blockbuster movie, quality supporting cast. I forgot to mention Christian Bale before... excellent at both Bruce Wayne and Batman, really sells the commitment to the symbol and to Gotham and the struggle to balance that with real life. Extraordinary. Can't wait to watch Dark Knight Rises tomorrow... night! |
Paddington
Charming, funny, likeable, quirky, engaging, and fun. All the things I thought it wasn't going to be. 4/5 |
Bright (2017)
Netflix most expensive movie of date is really really poor. It even makes Will Smith look like an uncharismatic person. And the intended message is just painfully ridiculous in it's delivery. What a mess... 4/10 |
The Dark Knight Rises
People give this film a hard time for all sorts of reasons. Ok so Bane is not quite on the level of the Joker. But that's like saying 22 carat gold isn't as good as 24 carat gold. Maybe not but it's still mighty fine and better than almost everything else out there. Extra points for Catwoman though. If Mr Nolan is looking for an idea for his next film, how about her then? Wow. And yes Batman sits out quite a bit in the middle and then sweeps in at the end to save the day. Sounds exactly like what the hero of the piece normally does. You understand that Batman is Wayne who is in a pit yes? Another intelligent, emotional, quality film, shining a mirror on the sadly still current state of the world and turning it into fun dramatic thrilling action. 5/5 |
Spiderman - Homecoming
Ok, so I'm late to the game on this one but have been disappointed with Avengers so wasn't in much of a rush to see this. Hindsight is great so with it I wish I'd watched this sooner, really enjoyed the return of a bit of humour and taking the mickey out of themselves. I don't want to have to study storylines or know the background of each character down to who married their second cousin before I watch a film so this was right up my street, good fun, good story and didn't take itself too seriously. Will watch it again with the kids tomorrow. 3.5/5 |
Dunkirk - Stunning visuals, incredible score but above all.. even under horrific fire some increodble scenes of queing displayed by the British.
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The Greatest Showman- flawless dancing, incredible singing and Hugh Jackman knocking it out of the park
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Intouchables (2011)
I've seen this one a few times already. Perhaps the most beautiful movie of this decade. It is touching, funny, emotional and remarkable. Great acting, great story, great dialogue, great directing... It just is everything a movie has to be. Based on a true story. And if you never saw this one I can only urge you to do so. No matter what movies you are into, this one won't disappoint you! 9.5/10 |
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Meanwhile my The Last Jedi rating is dropping to a 4/10. :lol: Jumani 2 is now performing better at the box office and TLJ isn't performing much better than how Rogue One did. It's no bomb but Lucasfilm would be insane to go ahead with a Rian Johnson SW trilogy imo. |
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http://www.boxofficemojo.com/daily/c...8-01-01&p=.htm http://www.boxofficemojo.com/daily/c...7-01-01&p=.htm etc. Compared to Force Awakens it's really not doing AS well each day. Different league really. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/daily/c...6-01-01&p=.htm Sure it's still a great success. If they only want to go on that they could give Rian Johnson every single Star Wars movie from now on. I reckon they'd be making a mistake as undoubtedly they alienated at least some hard core fans here by taking such liberties with the force and painting Luke Skywalker as quite a different character than most people remembered/wanted him still to be. |
Sorry Andrew, but your math makes no sense.
Even the Jumanji one. So Jumanji had a better monday but lost on friday/sat/sunday, making Last Jedi the #1 of the new years weekend. I understand you dislike the movie and try to back it up with numbers, but they aren't making much sense. The comparison with Rogue One doesn't fit as the numbers on the NY weekend are almost the same but TLJ already has made 100 million more than RO at this time. As for the numbers with TFA (which btw shattered every record in such a short time) the shorter numbers on TLJ are no surprise. It's exactly what was expected. Besides, the 2nd SW movie, so far in both other trilogies, always came short to the first movie. The Empire strikes back (TESB), now considered by most fans as the best of all, didn't do as well as the original in numbers and in fact was considered a poor sequel by many fans in 1980. Much like TLJ now. BTW, numbers don't tell me too much. Purely based on those numbers TFA would be a better movie than Star Wars (1977) and Avatar would be the best movie ever made. But based on the expected numbers the truth is that TLJ didn't suffer from the bad reviews from a part of the fan community at all, as it actually stays on the same track as what was prognosed. At the long run Disney hoped to reach the 600,000,000 dollar mark, domestic. It seems likely they will reach those numbers. And by the numbers Disney already calls this a box office succes. I still believe that TLJ will be a great bridge to connect the trilogy with JJ Abrahams being able to take the story of Rey, Kylo Ren (and even Luke) to a great conclusion. I don't think TLJ is in the same league as TESB but if you look at the original trilogy, TESB is the odd one out. I think that TLJ will have that same place in this trilogy. All said, Disney will keep producing SW and SW spin-off movies as long as they keep making money out of it. And like all that Marvel crap that gets released about every two weeks (or so it feels that way) the SW movies will remain one of the Disney milk cows. So brace yourself. They won't be necersarely good, but they will come in huge numbers, every single year, again and again and again. |
Guess Who (2005)
Your standard family comedy. Kind of 'Meet the Parents' but less funny. 6/10 |
Inception
More genius level film making from Mr Nolan. Extremely clever, hugely imaginative, great to look at, well acted, and with huge emotional stakes. Blockbuster film making perfected. 5/5 |
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The Leia moment I get came out of nowhere. But considering who her father and brother are it would be much odder if she had no force skills at all even if they are usually dormant. And surely at that final moment that's exactly when you'd expect instinct to kick in and do whatever it takes to survive. As for Luke... I can imagine the absolute overwhelming horror and fear with in him as he realises he may have created a new Vader. The temptation must have been overwhelming as you can see by Mark Hamill's powerhouse acting. But even with all that he realises he can't go through with it. I thought it was a great movie with lots of humour, action, and fresh and surprising plot developments. Exactly what I wanted in other words. I don't think anyone realistically expected it to match Force Awakens at the box office and I doubt anyone's thinking it was a mistake as it will probably end up taking 1.3 billion dollars or so. For me if you want everyone to be exactly as they were in the original trilogy, go watch that. Not dissing anyone by the way just my thoughts on the film :) |
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Star Wars (1977) 10/10 Still stunning 41 years on. Incredible effects, set & production design, characters & development, music, imagination, future possibilities and direction. Makes the clumsy unsatisfactory story telling of the latest instalment The Last Jedi look like pure trash to me. Rian Johnson is a complete hack compared to George Lucas in my opinion and not worthy of the same ending credit (written & directed by...) on such a big movie. Johnson had me fooled with the great visuals and perhaps that's what he should pursue if he wanted to play on his strengths (Director of Cinematography or so). But story telling wise the original still reigns supreme so much more. |
Baywatch (2017)
Okay action comedy. Maybe a bit long with a running time of over 2 hours. 6,5/10 |
Now You see Me 2 (2016)
Atrocious. Horrible movie making. Full of plot holes. Constant pay offs without build up (unlike The Last Jedi that had constant build ups without pay offs). The Four horsemen are all awful. Another Mary Sue nonsense woman thrown in the mix. A trick card throwing scene that goes on forever. After 3 - 4 pass overs I get it, I don't need to see 30. Bizarre this got through the editing room the way it was done. It would be like showing the Star Wars opening crawl at 10% of the speed. So boring. The movie would have been much better had it focused on the Mark Ruffalo character solely. At least he had some character arc, we know something about him. Maybe a James Bond type of character with magic tricks would have made for a more interesting movie. You don't give a crap about the four horsemen. WTF was the Woody Harrelson twin brother crap all about? Seriously who writes this crap and gets near $100 million to put this on screen? Worst movie I've seen Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine in. If you compare this to the 3 excellent Dark Knight movies you wonder how they could ever sign up to this horrible pile of dung. Movie goes on for far too long too. There is not enough plot to justify that. Daniel Radcliffe is Michael Caine's son? Yeah if he was born with a step ladder maybe. Pure tripe. Avoid. 3/10 |
Hologram for the king (2016)
Quite decent and intriguing and I had no idea where the story was going to go. Funny in places. Definitely had that Cloud Atlas vibe about it in places when we hear Tom Hanks read out his emails in the voice over. A bit like Lost in Translation; alienation in another culture. But this film is not quite as good as that. Can feel a bit slow. It is well made however and not too long. Nothing hugely dramatic happens but this seems to be quite a realistic story of an American IT professional temporarily working in Saudi Arabia with some fantasy liberties thrown in. 7/10 Netflix ratings are all over the place it seems. This gets 3 out of 5 along with James Cameron's excellent The Abyss (!!!) whilst Now you see me 2 tripe gets 5/5. Imbecilic system. |
Saw Darkest Hour earlier in the week.
Won't spoil the ending, but Gary Oldman is incredible as Churchill. A great powerful film. Best I've seen this year |
Salem's Lot (2004)
Forgot how bad this is compared to Hoopers version. Although a bit more true to the novel by Stephen King 4/10 |
Interstellar 4k
Once again visionary film making from Mr Nolan. Emotional, epic, largely plausible within its own extraordinary parameters, superbly acted, and slightly mind boggling. Made a lot more sense the 2nd time around! Looks and sounds stunning in 4k with hdr. 5/5 |
The Maze Runner
Very decent post apocalyptic teen dystopia action horror drama thing. Well cast, smartly acted, intriguing premise, and an ending that leaves you wanting to know what happens next. 4/5 |
Murder on the Orient Express (2017)
I've seen so many versions and still prefer the 1974 one. But it's entertaining with some great visuals. 6,5/10 |
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Saw The Post last week, another great film Tom Hanks rarely disappoints, although not completely sold on Meryl Streep's performance.
7/8 |
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Streep on the other hand I think is the most overrated actress ever. :roll: Only liked her in "Death becomes her" because she got whacked over the head with a shovel by Goldie Hawn. :twisted: |
The Maze Runner Scorch Trials
Interesting follow on from the first film. The cast is still excellent and it is surprisingly unflinching. A little less of an interesting setup this time around though and a little easier to predict. 3/5 |
The Possession of Michael King (2014)
Decent horror flick. Not your usual possession flick, not really scary but a nice POV tale. 6,5/10 |
The Cloverfield Paradox (2018)
Least interesting of the Cloverfield movies so far. It looked good, acting was okay, but the plot was just a bit dull and never really clever or catchy or whatever. Just another average scifi movie. 6/10 |
House On Haunted Hill 1959
So a group of really bad actors stay in a house overnight with Vincent Price. A series of not especially frightening or even mildly surprising events happen turning a young woman into a screaming wreck. Mercifully it is at least only 1 hr 15. The saving grace is of course Vincent Price, who has more screen presence and skill than the rest of the cast combined and plays the character exactly right... you're never quite sure if he's innocent or lying. The film really only deserves a 2 but gets a 3 purely on the strength of Mr Price. 3/5 |
Jaws 2
Well it was snowing and it was on Amazon Prime. Actually though, although it wasn't as good as the original, it was actually a decent attempt at a follow up with a largely plausible character based plot. The Chief is still watching out for the locals... the only one who is, it would seem... and starting to see sharks where there are none. This culminates in an incident at the beach where shots are fired and panic ensues, putting off the ever present and somewhat undefined investors the mayor is always showing around. Anyhow it's not too big a spoiler to say while that time it wasn't a shark, one has been swimming around the bay nibbling people. Despite photographic evidence the town council fire the chief. Then a whale gets bitten by a shark. Then some kids get eaten. And off goes the ex chief to the rescue. His eventual method is somewhat ingenious actually and very ballsy. Unfortunately to get there you have to put up with a lot of 70s hysterical screaming and the ludicrous sight of a shark attacking a helicopter. And winning. So in many ways a very good follow up but with one or two elements that make it slightly hard work. Decent effort overall though. I read the synopsis of the next 2 films. I won't be watching them. 3/5 |
Blade Runner 2049
Moves at a glacial pace just like the original but it was actually a very well done follow up and not just a quick cash in sequel. Continues the story nicely. Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford are both superb. Nice visuals. Some interesting questions about the nature of reality. But I think it could easily have been 40 mins shorter. 3.5/5 |
Kingsman Golden Circle
Entertaining enough sequel although to be honest the joke is wearing a little bit thin. Julianne Moore is excellent but very unusually Colin Firth seems to be phoning it in. The Statesmen are under used. It's a bit like the difference between The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker. All the same elements but none of them work quite as well second time around. 3/5 |
The Greatest Showman
I like musicals. There. I said it. I love music that stretches a singer and that's packed full of drama and or emotion. And that's what good musicals provide. And to bee honest I'd been put off seeing this one largely due to the clips of soundtrack I'd heard. Well I'm pleased to say I was largely wrong. The film really zips by. In fact it's one of those rare films where you wish it went on a little bit longer so you could feel the impact of some of the events more fully. It's an interesting story though with a few (admittedly very predictable) twists and turns. Some pleasant modern messaging about diversity and equality which happily isn't too heavily rammed down your throat. Some of the songs are actually very catchy and likable and the cast sing them well and with a whole heap of enthusiasm. Criticisms? Well it's all a little bit safe and predictable. The songs are very good but don't wow. The best part of the film by miles is Hugh Jackman. He lights up and owns the screen with old school movie star charisma and superb emotive acting which makes you root for him 100%. Would have been 3/5 with a lesser star. Hugh (oh plus a little bit of Zac) bumps it up to 4. |
Mission Impossible 1 to 5
What a franchise. With the possible exception of part 2 each one is better than the last. Tom Cruise is awesome. Shame Anthony Hopkins didn't stick around. Thandi Newton is hot. Scores MI1 4/5 the original gets things off to a cracking quality start. Remember when John Voight was in good things? MI2 3/5 Dougray Scott is school play bad and the John Woo trademarks have dated badly but it's still fun at least. A bit too heavy on Tom Cruise teeth shots. MI3 ace villain and frantic energy. Big step up in acting by the Cruise. 4/5 MI4 full of energy and amazing action. In places downright hilarious. Just about stays the right side of ludicrous. Just about. 4/ MI5 best of the lot so far. A quality film with cracking action, great twists, smart banter. A better Bond film than Spectre by far. 4.5/5 |
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
I guess you'd have to call this a murder mystery but it's an adult one with lots of surprising twists and turns. Cracking cast, which has great fun playing a smart and snappy script. Written and directed by the legend that is Shane Black, so it is of course set around Christmas! Doesn't quite engage emotionally but it is an entertaining way of passing 2 hours. 3.5/5 |
Murder On The Orient Express 2017
Here's a thing. I never liked the 1974 version of this. It is too 70s for my liking. And Albert Finney just shouts all the time. But I loved the David Suchet version. He IS Poirot, just as Joan Hickson IS Miss Marple. But I love a good detective story and was very excited by the cast. But I did wonder what would be new about it. The sad truth is, very little. The prologue with the priests is excellent and combines an amusing introduction with a great demonstration of the genius of Poirot. There are even a couple of shades of Sherlock about his initial meeting with Daisy Ridley. And you end up thinking it's going to be a fun ride. But then the tone changes significantly once the murder happens. You can tell that they've switched back to the book. But the biggest crime committed is that the astonishing cast is largely waste. Johnny Depp is excellent as is Michelle Pfeiffer. Josh Gad was surprisingly good too. But most of the rest of the cast are just interview number x of 10 as Poirot just goes and talks to them one by one. Yes I know that's the book. But that's been done already. It's a shame that it wasn't a braver adaptation that shook things up a bit more. Kenneth Brannagh plays Poirot's emotional journey and dilemma superbly but ends up reminding me a little of Geraldine McEwan's Miss Marple. Sharp, witty, capable of genuine emotion, but ultimately not quite what you think of as the character. And the much talked about moustache? Well it is magnificent. But it's a little symptomatic of the film itself... oooh look at the shiny train. Oooh look at the amazing cast list. Oooh look at the superb moustache. Oooh look at Kenneth Brannagh. But don't look beyond that because there's not much else that's new. I know that all sounds very critical. Don't get me wrong I did enjoy the film. It does what it sets out to do well. I just think it could have done so much more. 3/5 |
Thor Ragnarok
I think I still prefer the first Thor film but this is leagues better than the second one and is very funny. It's well played by all the cast and Jeff Goldblum is on maximum awesome. Kudos for having some beautiful scenes that magically look like some of the classic paintings of Gods and valkyries. Only thing is... the overall plot seems a bit... samey.... Thor 1 - Loki tries to take over Asgard Thor 2 - Christopher Ecclestone tries to take over Earth Thor 3 - Thor's sister tries to take over Asgard Bold ending, some great acting, and lots of humour. Another solid 4/5 film. |
Veronica (2017 )
It's a Spanish movie about the oldest of 4 children that gets possessed. We watched it because of the 100%rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Unfortunately it's never scary, clever or original. Another predictable possession movie that is mostly boring. (or we watched too many of these films already) 4/10 |
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The Ritual (2017)
If it wasn't for the terrible ending this would have been a very nice movie. Horror/mystery. 6/10 |
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Their Finest
A decent film this. Very gentle, largely subtle, beautifully performed throughout but Gemma Arterton and Bill Nighy steal the whole damn show. Yes it varies slightly between somewhat predictable and mildly inexplicable. But hey. It's overall very decent without being essential viewing. 3.5/5 |
It Comes at Night (2017)
Not my kind of thriller. Movies tend to be very predictable, lately. Also too often you see moviemakers confusing 'tension' with 'dragging' 90 minutes that passed slowly. 5/10 |
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)
Exactly what you expect from an adventure/action/comedy. Great entertainment! 8,5/10 |
Paddington 2
A hugely charming sequel that thankfully resists the apparently omni present urge to go darker. Not quite as immediately successful as the first one but Hugh Grant gives the performance of his career and steals the whole film. 4.5/5 |
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Justice League
You know what? I was pleasantly surprised. I thought it was an enjoyable enough way of passing a couple of hours. The actors play all the roles well, the script is decent enough and at least avoids the groan out loud moments of Suicide Squad. Part of it near the end gets too computer game and I'm sure I've seen the end of the world looking very similar in another film. But everything is relatively clear, the team pull together nicely, and I much prefer Batman and Superman in this than Dawn Of Justice. Not Marvel good but a dam sight better than I expected. 3.5/5 |
Insidious 4 (2018 )
More drama than the other 3 movies. also (a lot) less scary. They did an outstanding job casting 'young Elise' though. 6/10 |
Eddie The Eagle... Again, having been at a work do last week when he was the after dinner speaker, just had to watch the film again
78/82 |
Some movies I've seen over the last few weeks:
Annihilation (2018 ) 9/10 Superb. This writer/director is awesome. Really felt the Sunshine / Ex Machina vibe - without realising it was the same guy. More of a slow intellectual Sci Fi story than action packed. But it is clever I think. The alien weird music at the end was cool. Perfect example of how to write good/interesting female characters in Sci Fi unlike the horrible Mary Sue approach in the new Star Wars movies and elsewhere. Best movie I've seen Natalie Portman in for sure. Her performances in the Star Wars prequels were quite drab but understandable because of the near 100% green screen approach. The climax of her story and the movie here were great I thought. Beauty and The Beast (2017) 6/10 Pointless remake. Emma Watson is like watching paint dry. Some good songs from the beast. However they made him so much beast like, the final character reveal just looked like a different guy. Would have preferred a non CGI approach to him. What happened to good makeup? Hollywood is just turning into 100% CGI as time goes on. Some good CGI in other places but it is quite meh compared to the classic which has a much stronger opening and far better bunch of singers. This was just done to fit as many famous people in it it seems, all who must adhere to the liberal agenda. I don't understand why. Moronic closing credits follows that approach. Prisoners (2013) 8/10 Super suspenseful kidnapping movie with Hugh Jackman. Best film I've probably seen him in. Edge of my seat towards the end. Didn't like that Jackman's wife character was so useless. In that respect I do appreciate some balance and stronger female justification and it would have been interesting if she had a more important role to play towards the end rather than just giving the investigator a hint. Felt like the screaming blonde woman in Temple of Doom, useless mostly. But looking beyond that this was a great, great film. Creepy in places, reminiscent of something like Seven or Silence of the lambs. Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987) 9/10 One of the best comedies ever with a heart felt core that remains special. John Hughes was a genius and made movies for younger people mostly and did them perfectly because he never took the patronising approach which many movie makers do today. Captain America: Civil War (2016) 7/10 This movie made me like the Iron Man character again somewhat after the arrogant useless Iron Man 3 movie. Captain America himself comes across as a jackass protecting Bucky at all cost even if a million people die. Spiderboy is a jackass in the making too. The movie to me shows that just inserting millions of superheroes in one movie is not necessarily the best of ideas. Most of the Marvel superheroes seem like jackasses I reckon. Maybe best for the fictitious world if they didn't exist which this movie hints at. Maybe that big blue purple b*stard who is looking for his infinity stones can take all those jackasses with him to another dimension and piss off. I understand the appeal but I feel there is heavy over saturation now with this superhero malarky. But whatever people want, I doubt I'll be part of that movie audience much going forward. The fight at the end was great though having said all that negative stuff. But this to me is nothing like the epicness of something like Superman (1978 ) or The Dark Knight Trilogy. |
Ready Player One (2018 )
One of Spielberg's best for me. And probably his best in decades at that. Super fun escapism. The 4DX effects were worth the extra charge. So many nods to classic movies especially Back to the Future. Great stuff. 9/10 |
Gone With The Wind
We've had this one on the shelf for some time now but it just seemed like the most suitable thing to watch on Easter Sunday. And it was superb. Nearly four hours long but it was a classic tale superbly well told. Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh were of course excellent, but there were some real star turns in the supporting cast too. The restoration work was superb and there are amazingly beautiful shots throughout. 5/5 |
Black Panther
Another quality piece of entertainment from Marvel. Great characters with more human and personal motivations than normal, and praise be, the ending is NOT fighting a big thing falling out of the sky. Terrific acting throughout, nice humour, and a lot of nobility and honour. And hope. 4/5 |
Justice League (2017)
I guess these movies are a league of their own. But they do nothing for me. You can mash-up equal pieces of any of these superhero movies, and you have the same movie... over and over. Basically it's a regular tv soap series, dressed in big budget sfx gadgets. I remember in the 80's thinking "What if they could make that into a movie," when seeing a cartoon or reading a comic. Well yippieee. These days they can. And so they did exactly that over and over again. Yes I get it. You can visually do anything (I) dreamed about 30 years ago. There are no limits to your cgi toys. No limits in putting something visually alive. It's all good (although sometimes not so good) and you try to overpower yourself by something bigger, more explosive and what more in the next movie. Bravooo! But instead of watching a movie, I feel more and more as if I am watching a video game. It just lacks something. Hard to explain but for the sake of it I call it a lack of Heart. In the end I felt no passion, no emotion and no sympathie for anyone in this movie (wtf was the story with that Russian family. Who actually cared about them? 4 scenes and I should be emotionally enough attached to care if they make it or not?) 4/10 btw, watched a small part of one of the Avenger movies. Anybody noticed that they are basically the same characters in different outfits? I think Colin Trevorrow should direct the next of these movies (either Marvel or DC). Cause basically there is nothing he can screw up more that it already is :twisted: |
'Eight Below' is the last movie that I saw and boy what a movie! It's been ages since I watched a really good movie and this one certainly fulfilled the criteria. A realistic movie and superb acting by all the actors especially the dogs...lol. The ending part in fact, brought tears to my eyes...:metal::metal:
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Seen so many lately mostly James Bonds for some reason haha!
Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle - 2.5/5 fun ish but lacks the heart of the original. Jumanji the original and best 3.5/5 Live and Let Die 4/5 Man With The Golden Gun 3/5 The Spy Who Loved Me 5/5 Moonraker 4/5 For Your Eyes Only 5/5 Octopussy 4/5 RIP Sir Roger - an amazing James Bond. The Living Daylights 4.5/5 Licence To Kill 5/5 Timothy Dalton - so under rated as Bond but two excellent films. |
Avengers Infity war (2018 )
It never surpasses the feeling of a video game intro. Another superhero movie filled with superheroes. As if you're watching the A-Team episode 327. You basically know what's coming. Sure, it's a massive war, but it's just more of the same. spoiler: It lacks everything I like in a movie. Tension, emotion, suspense. Not that they didn't try. But even the dead of all the hero characters was just boring, simply because you know (most) will be brought back for the sequel. Was it better than, let's say Justice League. Not really but it looks more overwhelming because of the cgi/sfx overload. It also has more famous characters in one movie. But it lacks the same Heart and Soul as the other ones. The first Guardians of the Galaxy movie was an exception for me, but seeing them in this movie, I wonder what the hell happened... Just because of this movie I wish Quill will stay dead, but we all know that's not going to happen... I really don't understand the hype. Went with a friend and he loved it. To me it just shows people want quantity over quality these days. And so we end up with crap movies like this. But that's okay. The movie did what the fanboys want to see. And the box office succes claims I am wrong (then again Avatar is still the box office leader. And that's a terrible movie as well). So kudos to Disney for fooling the people again. Personally I can't wait till this hype is over. 6.5/10 |
Shut In (2016)
Naomi Watts is great but the movie is just too predictable. 4/10 |
Winchester (2018 )
Acting in this movie is good. Story, is okay and there are some good moments. Perhaps a bit too predictable as the twist came without surprise. But entertaining enough to keep you watching. Cinematography was superb. 6/10 |
Avengers: Infinity War (2018 )
I liked it quite a bit. Much better than the nihilism approach in Last Jedi. Marvel has easily beaten the very tired Star Wars approach now I'd say (constantly replaying rebels vs Empire - sigh). Star Wars was better in the era of practical effects for sure. It suited it much better. Marvel easily wins in the CGI era. Marvel also seems to have been affected much less by political correctness. Or at least it seems more natural. Star Wars seems to contain incredibly forced political correctness at the moment: "we need a female heroine (all brunettes at the moment btw! - so much for diversity) but she needs to be hugely powerful and not have any faults because that may be insulting towards women", "we need a black actor because... he is black.", "All bad guys are white male nazis who are bumbling buffoons" etc. There are hugely inconsistent problems with the Star Wars story line how they are dealing with a female heroine in general. She is initially not interested in relationships / sex it seems only to then almost succumb to the charms of the main mass murdering badly written villain. Madness. Lucasfilm seems like a joke production company vs Marvel at the moment if you compare how they are dealing with diversity and gender equality. One takes a natural route, the other tries to point out that all its male white fans should be ashamed of themselves for... just existing. Bizarre how parent Disney is allowing this to happen in an obvious manner in my opinion. It's all a bit nonsense the Marvel universe of course, especially the Wakanda crap and somewhat inconsistent in places. Indeed someone points out that Scarlet Witch wasn't available during a massive conflict which makes no sense since she is the most powerful one. Indeed all nonsense but it is quite top drawer nonsense I think. Much better than any other Marvel movie I've seen so far, especially the useless Iron Man 3 and pathetic Age of Ultron. I liked the background story of the bad guy. That is how you do an interesting villain. Something Rian Johnson and JJ Abrams don't seem to know. Only negative I can think of was the ridiculous 9 minutes of relentless brass filled music during the end credits waiting for the post credit scene. Uninspired music in my opinion. Using a more interesting pallet of instruments (piano solos or acoustic guitar solos etc.) would have made the wait a bit more bearable. Real lack of themes in film music and subtlety in general these days it seems. Regardless, infinity war I think is a hugely enjoyable escapism thrill ride especially in 4DX if you can access it. Looking forward to part 2 and see how the cliffhanger(s) play out. 9/10 |
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I, almost, can't wait for your review of Solo :twisted: |
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I think Infinity War served its fans well and is the perfect example of how to do that and move things forwards in a logical manner: interesting back stories mostly, sensible progression of many characters (More rugged version of Captain and Thor), sensible relationship stories (Gamora - Starlord, Scarlett Witch - Vision, Iron Man - Pepper). A superbly interesting backstory of the main villain and the relationship with his daughters and how that plays out. It even makes sense what he does in many ways. A superbly diverse cast. Female characters with faults as well as men. Female villains thrown in too. Tons of humour but none really at the expense of the seriousness of the situations. Sure the action is a bit over the top or goes too fast at times and as I mentioned there are some inconsistencies with the hero power stuff. My girlfriend pointed out that Thor disappeared for no reason during a main fight. Quite strange indeed. But all that didn't really mar the experience to me. It's still quite superb and I am enjoying talking to people about it. So I just think they did it all right. The only bit in the movie I didn't like was Doctor Strange's look when he was seeing the future outcomes. It looked quite silly. But generally his character was so much better than in his own movie which I thought was a yawn fest. Not sure if I will see Solo. The trailer looked awesome in the cinema yesterday for sure but so have the previous Star Wars trailers and my interest is simply deteriorating because of all sorts of reasons. Han Solo became Han Solo in Episode 4 I always thought. Not sure what you can add to that and why. It would be like going back to Iron Man pre Iron Man suit. To me it is just quite meh and no reason to tell that story or to invent one... I never saw Spiderman homecoming btw. I get bored with the constant retelling of the origin stuff. And maybe Spiderman to me is actually the weakest Avenger. A bit too cocky with the mentioning of movie scene stuff. But with more Spiderman and Avengers movies it might all work out better with this actor. The play he has with a sort of father figure in Iron Man is good though and his fate definitely gives the character more weight. On another note Man of Steel I think is one of the worst origin reboots I've seen. The Dark Knight trilogy probably the best. Though I still like Batman 1989 & Returns too. I think it's obvious why Marvel is beating Star Wars and DCU at the moment (even if my favourite movie last year was Wonder Woman). The figures clearly show what is happening. There is a chance Infinity War will break The Force Awakens and even Titanic since the China market really likes Avengers and I suspect they will probably re-release Infinity war with added footage perhaps before we see the conclusion. I would see it again. I don't think there will ever be a Star Wars movie that will do as well as The Force awakens. There was an opportunity to do that with Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford still alive but now not anymore obviously as all 3 characters have to be left out of the next movies because of the choices they took in The Last Jedi and Force Awakens. Infinity War part 2 will probably break records again. I'm really curious to see what happens story wise. I just can't say the same thing about anything Star Wars related I guess? I would have thought I'm not the only one in that boat. If I explain things in a weird way why I think it is justified Marvel is pretty much beating the Star Wars franchise by the looks of it I'm sorry for that Adje. These are all just random thoughts probably not structured very well. I think the take away for me is a movie that doesn't make me curious to see what happens next (when we definitely know the next one will be in production) is a bad movie to me. The best cliffhanger in a series of films still is the end of Back to the future part 2 but Infinity War is pretty close and to achieve that I think is quite good hence my high score. |
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3/10 Andrew's post made me rethink the movie and I simply realised it's pointless. SPOILERS Basically the involvement of the Avengers did nothing for the outcome. Not a single win (in fact if they stayed away the exact same outcome would have happened with less destruction). As Thanos said, destroy half of human kind and then he would sit back and enjoy the sunset. He did exactly that. So it's done. There even isn't a reason to fight Thansos anymore. He has achieved what he wanted. He has now relaxed and enjoy's his peace. The entire movie was just a useless story. An excuse to show of computere generated effects. Notthing more, nothing less. Emotions were non existend. Let's face it, we all know there will be some stupid reason how (some) will come back. There won't be a Guardians without Quill, no Spiderman without Spidey... and thse movies are just milkcows for Disney. As I said before, the same emotions as an average A-team episode. I have to give it to Disney. They know how to fool the fanboys. No matter if it's SW or Marvel. It's brilliant mindclouding. Only, Avengers 3 must have the dumbest of all stories of the entire Marvel series... as the story is basically non-existent. Many of it will be undone in Avengers 4 (I assume they are gonna turn back time) making Avengers 3 the Dallas Season that never happened because Pamela dreamed Bobby was dead. |
Deep Blue Sea 2 (2018)
Uhm... kind of a remake of the first, but without everything that made that movie enjoyable to watch. 2/10 |
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