Showing posts with label Running Diary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Running Diary. Show all posts
Friday, March 20, 2009
Grab Your Gun and Bring in the Cat
Nothing ever comes easy. No joy is bought without sacrifice... especially on this show. For the grand finale to the monumental series, this is a Running Diary of the three hour conclusion to one of the best
shows on television today. I hope you all appreciate the fact that I'll be suffering through commercials for you people so the timestamps match up... in the age of the DVR Gods that's a big sacrifice.We'll be starting with the rerun of last week's "Daybreak: Part 1" at 8pm through the conclusion of everything just after 11pm. I'll be recording "The Last Frakking Special" and watching it tomorrow, unwilling to risk any spoiler this late in the game.
DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED THE SERIES!!!! HAVEN'T SEEN IT? GO BUY IT RIGHT THE FRAK NOW!
Now since you're all reasonably intelligent individuals, obviously everything gets spoiled since... ya know... it's a frakking diary of what's happening... a witty frakking diary, excuse me.
7:59pm - Here we go with Part 1. Written by series creator Ron D. Moore and directed by Michael Rymer, it was originally shown last week, but Moore has come out saying he meant it as a single piece. As far as series finale titles, I like "Daybreak" it is evocative of a conclusion without being corny. I mean if you care about a show the title of the finale means something for you years later. I mean my personal favorites titles include "The Judgment," "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen," "Made in America," "The Truth," "One More For the Road" and "What You Leave Behind." On another note, catching the end of the special and I gotta say, LOVE that sad music.
8:00pm - Here we go, strap in Raptor jocks.
8:02pm - So the finale survivor count starts at 39,516. That's 10,482 down from the start of 33... I'm going out on a limb and guessing that number goes down a bit in the next two hours... and one of them will be Adama. That's my guess at least.
8:06pm - Apparently we're starting with a flashback to Caprica before the Cylon attack. My big problem with this is was it necessary? After everything we've been through the original disaster has been humanized enough. It's the resolution of the new world that matters... the world and life that we've been living since the midpoint of the miniseries.
8:11pm - And the Caprica City police show up to give Roslin some bad news. How about a LIfe on Mars style spin-off with someone in current continuity waking up back here and everyone thinks they're crazy... Life on Caprica... huh? Nah? Yeah, I figured.
8:14pm - And we're finally to the present. All I can say about that is at least we didn't spend the first half of the finale in a mental hospital with Hawkeye and Sydney just to find out a woman killed her baby. Sorry, can you spoil a 25 year old series finale that 106 million Americans watched live and has been show in syndication about 3,000 times? I'm going with no.
8:20pm - Five minutes of commercials... thanks for the chance to finish the last paragraph in peace SciFi Channel.
8:21pm - Watching Adama pack up his office, looking around and living the pain of it with that beautiful morose soundtrack. No way this man ever commands from a Cylon Basestar.
8:21pm - Another freaking flashback? Not loving that.
8:25pm - I understand he probably turned himself in, but did I miss a scene. I couldn't remember why Tyrol was in the brig.
8:28pm - As a promo for the Wanted videogame comes up, is this the wrong time to go off on an extended rant about how much that movie sucked compared to the book? Probably.
8:32pm - Watching Adama going back for the picture of Hera is a great little scene. Edward James Olmos is putting on a show tonight.
8:35 pm - Hey I know what you are. You're my daughter. Don't forget it.
8:36pm - I have to say the flashback to Anders' going all Buddha athlete is the first that really adds something to background of the characters.
8:43pm - As Baltar makes his argument for his faith having a place on the new council. I have to call B-S. Things are crazy, but not so much that this group has infiltrated into every ship for the majority. I mean, shouldn't the foundation of a religion that makes up a majority of the fleet have more than one male member? Thank the Gods that Lee isn't a moron here and shoots down the selfish bastard. Good call, Mr. Not The President But Basically Running Things Guy.
8:45pm - What's up with the frakking bird? Is this supposed to be when Lee realizes he loves his brother's fiance? When Zak dies? These flashbacks just seem mostly unneeded and confusing.
8:46pm - Not out of left field, but I love Adama's decision regarding Hera. His world is absolutely and finally falling apart. The loves of his life are both dying and he has no more control. But he has the control to not let this stand. Not this girl. Not on my frakking watch does this pass. And it's a great decision by Moore and Rymer to have the entire crew explain the basics of the plan. It gives more actors a chance to have a moment and hint at their motivations. Besides that, it's too early in the night for a big solo speech yet. A nice decision to pace things. It even includes a scene with my favorite couple (Helo/Athena) at their most heartbreaking.
8:54pm - There's a bit of the big speech. It sets up a great "Everyone with me over here" scene. The first person to move in these things is always important. So it's fitting that Lee is just ahead of Ellen and Tigh. I love Mary McDonnell selling the pain and desperation of Roslin as she marches in last of all. And though I often rag on the character, I have to say that James Callis' Baltar is another excellent performance. I love his reaction to Caprica Six crossing the line, his own stuttering before ultimately not moving and reaction to Roslin.
8:55pm - And above all I love how most of the crew don't cross the line.
8:59pm - Okay, so the Cylon Colony ship is located around a black hole (a.k.a. the accretion disc of a naked singularity) with only one point of entry that has every gun pointed at it? That's pretty cool there. How do you plan around or survive that? Alright... let's get to work. Great ending to hour one.
9:00pm - And now we're off with the two-hour Part 2. It's also by Rymer and Moore, so I suppose that'll make it easier to think of it as a single event.
9:09pm - Now those were some better flashbacks. Maybe I just like them because it had a lot more Adama, including a scene in a bar with Tigh... AND Ellen! But gotta love slutty Roslin, drinking and pissed Adama, lightweight Zak, flirty Kara and even puking Adama. Plus it's a very cool transition out of the flashbacks with a pan up to a night sky becoming outer space above the fleet. I'm Jim and I approve this opening.
9:10pm - A great line from Baltar - End of what?
9:16pm - It's a nice few farewells coming up including this one with Roslin and Cottle Just light a cigar and go and grumble. It's fast and furious bits of fun with Helo addressing the Raptor pilots, Lee discussing the insertion, the Final Five Cylons planning to disrupt the enemy, but most of all Adama on the bridge. Then I want them to throw rocks.
9:20pm - So it's President Romo Lampkin and Admiral Hoshi... guys, you will probably not be seeing Adama at the rendezvous. And Baltar deciding to stay at the last minute is nice, but unexpected... See: The Dream. Hey, Galactica Centurions... nice.
9:28pm - The standard trip around the horn shows us where everybody is. Just leading to the big speech. This is the Admiral. Just so they'll be no misunderstandings later, Galactica's seen a lot of history. Gone through a lot of battles. This will be her last. She will not fail us if we do not fail her. If we succeed in our mission, Galactica will bring us home. If we don't, it doesn't matter anyway. Action Stations!
9:31pm - After getting pounded, Anders shows us a bit of that perfection he talked about to give them a chance.
9:32pm - BRACE FOR IMPACT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! HOLY FRAK!! Um... they... with the ship... Did... Did... did they just equal the atmo-jump?
9:34pm - I love watching Lee lead the assault team of Centurions and humans. We're in this together guys.
9:36pm - It's about time, Boomer.
9:42pm - Glad the lead bad guy Dean Stockwell got a chance to shine here. The Married to the Mob vet digs into his biggest, smirk-worthy bit of the night. Really, you think? Please continue stating the perfectly obvious. It fills me with confidence.
9:46pm - It's great to see the kid at least make it back to Mom and Dad... I don't think they'll make it through with her. Gods damn it. And Boomer finally gets hers from a pissed off Athena which culminates in the first Great-with-a-capital-G flashback of the night with the execution and origin of the Tell the Old Man I owed him one line.
9:49pm - They'll be back to the ship in 5 minutes. I now have no idea what's happening in the last hour. I stopped caring because the ride is on.
9:55pm - Helo got shot! My second favorite character! But Hera runs off to start what looks to be the Opera House sequence we've been waiting years for.
10:00pm - I have to give it up to Moore and Rymer right now. I never, ever, nerver imagined the scene would be pulled off that magnificently. Well done.
10:01pm - Kicking off another hour with Adama wasting a Simon hardcore. Very nice.
10:05pm - And Baltar's great speech revels the mystery behind Head Six and Head Baltar. I see angels. Angels in this very room. Now I may be mad, but that doesn't mean that I'm not right, because there's another force at work here. There always has been. I'm coming down on the side of that being poetic and not corny.
10:09pm - Redemption technology? So that can't be everything right? Right?
10:10pm - I love both Adama's grunt explanation of Cylon Final Five information exchange and Cavil's line You're only keeping two civilizations waiting! Not sure which I like more.
10:11pm - Cally finally gets justice courtesy of her great love, Tyrol... Of course it does end intergalactic peace. Holy crap, Cavil pulled a Cobain!
10:12pm - So Racetrack destroys the Cylons and Kara needs to make the jump. And Galactica is the Dying Leader! Cue the Song The Changes the Universe.
10:16pm - As Galactica finishes the jump and breaks her back like a giant metallic Batman, I can't help but think about what a great job throughout the series and especially these last half dozen at establishing the ship as a character in its own right.
10:18pm - Where we are is where we're gonna stay. You know, I do miss the rains down in Africa! Earth Again!
10:19pm - Sorry to break up the Galactica-a-thon, but Cyclops in the Wolverine movie???? Cool.
10:22pm - As we start talking about settlement, I love the entry point being Africa, the cradle of life, as opposed to the more Hollywood approach of North America. I approve. It's also a wonderfully light scene to break the tension with Cottle, Baltar, Adama and LT. Hoshi.
10:25pm - This scene where Lee suggests really breaking the cycle is just wonderfully written and maybe my favorite Lee Adama scene ever. A clean slate for humanity and the humanish Cylons and a Basestar and freedom for the Centurions.
10:27pm - So Anders will be piloting the fleet into the sun... I have to say getting shot and going brain dead was the most powerful dramatic advancement of his time on the show.
10:33pm - Of course, Adama is the last one off and my favorite flashback involves him choosing Galactica over what's comfortable and easy. Of course seeing Galactica/Anders riding off into the sun(set) is like something out of a western.
10:42pm - I like that Adama gets to name the planet. But... he wasn't meant for this world. His farewells really make the room dusty. Whattya hear Starbuck? Nothing but the rain. Grab your gun and bring in the cat.
10:48pm - Kara, gone too? Was she ever real just disappearing while standing next to Lee in a empty field? One last mind frak, huh Moore? At this point even the bird can't annoy me with a great flashback from these two saying Hello and Good-
10:55pm - A farewell for Laura and Bill. The bit with the ring is just lovely and the strings they add to his already excellent theme take it to another level altogether.
11:01pm - HELO LIVES!!!!!! Thank you, Ron Moore! You're a big softy, you are!
11:05pm - A nice little farewell for Adama (and man are they ever taking the Return of the King approach to endings upon endings) and one last (little) big speech. It almost heavenly. Reminds me of you.
11:09pm - From Hera to 150,000 years later, Head Six, Head Baltar and Ron Moore????? This I don't know how I feel about. They freaking had me until here but.... I just don't know.
11:10pm - So it's Cylon toys, a practical warning for our future and the Song That Changed the Universe - Hendrix style... somewhere Bob Dylan shakes his head and lights up a cigarette.
11:19pm - I've just been thinking about it... and going back to type in Adama's big pre-jump speech... and all I can say is... can't wait for tomorrow's podcast!
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Monday, February 23, 2009
Running Through the Oscars
After the rather epic and popular Oscar podcast (where we did correctly predict numerous winners), the actual show deserved something special. So taking a page from one of my writing idols, I plopped down infront of the tv with a fresh from the oven pizza, a bottle of Diet Sierra Mist and my mighty wit for a running diary of last night's 81st Academy Award celebration.Join me below the jump as the adventure continues.
8:01pm - Why watch the Oscar preshow? I mean I know the full name of just one fashion designer... and only because her dad was a Beatle. But in my case, I'm mostly to trying to separate which of the nominees are okay with not winning and just here to have a good time (Viola Davis) and which will drop a Sour Patch Kids face if they lose (I'm looking in your direction, Kate Winslet). Also to hear their wacky real accents. In the case of Winslet, between "Revolutionary Road," "The Reader," "Little Children" and "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," I almost forgot how British she was. The answer is... very British.
8:10pm - Well the cast and crew for "Slumdog Millionaire" decide to test the structural integrity of ABC's little interview podium. I'm getting good vibes from them all coming together both because I'm a big believer in Karma and they remind me of the 1980 U.S. hockey team squeezing up there together.... good times.
8:15pm - Believe it or not America, I cannot remember ever seeing Miley Cyrus before in my life. Although, according to Wikipedia she was in "Big Fish," but still she's one of those massively popular stars that never really comes close to my attention. Discounting Tim Burton's greatest film ever, I can say I only knew her for .8 seconds before I disliked her. That's a time to rival the record of such legends as Tom Green, Carrot Top and Miley's dear old dad... proud company indeed.
8:24pm - Now here's three people I'm glad to see. Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann and Judd Apatow join the ranks of Jack Black and Jim Carrey as People Invited to Oscars to Boost Ratings That They'd Never, Under Any Circumstance Nominate For an Award. And can we please just task one camera to discretely watch the bar all night? I'm just praying an enraged Kate Winslet gets completely sloshed if Meryl Streep pulls off a deserved upset.
8:30pm - And here we go!
8:30:03pm - Hey, where's Jack Nicholson?
8:30:10pm - I'm not kidding, is he dead? Are the Lakers in town tonight? Status update people!
8:36pm - I have to say that I kind of admire Hugh Jackman's opening number. Even with the painfully awkward Surprise participation of Anne Hathaway, it's just as unfunny as Billy Crystal's openings for a fraction of the price and he did just as good job telling the story of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" without stealing three hours of my life. One last note on the intro, it's probably not the best sign for Frank Langella's chances that Hathaway does a better Nixon impersonation.
8:39pm - Right now I'm scouring the internet looking for news of Nicholson's death earlier today and fully prepared for him to push Paul Newman out of the last spot of the In Memoriam feature later in the show. I mean the Lakers are in Minnesota, so this makes no sense at all to me.
8:41pm - Ouch... Jackman kicks it to the first award rather awkwardly, leading to the first Are We Supposed to Clap? Oh Shit We Are! moment of the evening. Do we really need more pomp and circumstance over the acting awards? What's up with these clips of past acceptance speeches for Best Supporting Actress?
8:43pm - Five presenters for a single award? I'm prepped for a Monday morning finish to this show already.
8:45pm - So these five presenters are just going to wax philosophical about the glory of the nominees? Has the world gone mad trying to be original? Where's the clip? That's my favorite part of the bloody show! Unforgivable.
8:47pm - Nearly ten minutes to get through the listing of the nominees and on top of that they give it to Penelope Cruz for a damn Woody Allen movie? I think the Lord might not be on my side tonight... watch out "The Dark Knight" and "Slumdog Millionaire."
8:49pm - If that was a Visual Effects artist, we'd be in the "play them off stage" portion of the speech, but god forbid we not let Penelope Cruz make my ears bleed a little more. Please stop with the fainting joke people... you've all had more than a month to come to grips with your 20% statistical chance of victory... freaking prepare yourself.
8:55pm - FYI - reading a script aloud almost never seems as impressive as you think it would for most people. That being said, a nice win for "Milk," one of my top five films of 2008. Meanwhile, my brother actually asked me if a script about a person that really lived can be an original screenplay... wow.
8:58pm - After all the bull over an acting award, isn't it rather degrading how they throw the screenplay award back-to-back... Wait! What am I saying, this is a chance to get through two awards in less than 25 minutes... go Tina Fey and Steve Martin, go!
9:01pm - I'm thrilled for Slumdog winning Adapted Screenplay, but kind of sad we just missed getting three done in the first half hour.
9:02pm - I'll bet a million dollars Jen Aniston doesn't make a Brangelina reference here... any takers? Will Jack Black??? Oscar Tension people, gotta love it.
9:05pm - Congrats, "WALL-E," please step forward and accept your We Know You Were One of the Five Best Pictures of the Year, But Ya Know What... Screw You Award, also referred to as Best Animated Feature.
9:16pm - In Art/Set Direction, we've got the first chance for the Academy to apologize to "The Dark Knight" or twist the knife in my back a little more. And... twist goes the knife, giving it to "CCBB." That's a solid 2.5 on the gut shot scale.
9:20pm - Golly, Costume Design goes to a period piece ("The Duchess")... I did not see that one coming.
9:22pm - Make-up now... (and man, when not taking time to anoint the feet of actors, the show really runs along briskly) goes to "CCBB" again over "TDK." This is like watching your favorite sibling getting wailed on by the special needs student two grades behind them.
9:31pm - As the presenters, Natalie Portman and a bad Ben Stiller Joke, come onto the stage I realize that I still have a massive crush on one of them... and it isn't the Night at the Museum guy. On another note, I am literally going to start doing shots of tequila if "CCBB" wins again.
9:35pm - Well, "Slumdog Millionaire" saves my liver, but it can't help but sting that my favorite film of the year is 0-3.
9:43pm - The Pineapple Express boys teach me that I should have watched "The Reader" while under the influence and I would have gotten the joke. Can we get someone on the creation of the Oscar Bong, stat please?
9:52pm - Hey, another musical number... that would have been great if any musical was being recognized this year. Instead this is the producers following the directive to get a pop star and teeny-boppers on stage regardless of reason or consequences. I mean, I own numerous musicals including "Yankee Doodle Dandy," but did we need the unnecessary padding of 10 minutes to the telecast? You could have solved that problem and then some by letting Julia Roberts within 30 feet of a microphone.
10:00pm - It's time for Best Supporting Actor, so get ready for ten minutes of pointless blathering by former winners. But seriously, this is the biggest award of the night for me. I'm not sure I can handle Heath Ledger losing here. I don't mean I'd kill myself... that would probably be in bad taste.
10:02pm - The five former winners just came out... I have time for a bathroom break and making a bag of popcorn right?
10:06pm - Mmmmm, popcorn. May Ledger's victory be as sweet as you are salty.
10:07pm - YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
10:08pm - Yes! Yes! Yes!
10:09pm - (Doing the Dance of Joy - Mumfar style) Let's take a moment to mention this... a comic book movie has won an Academy Award for acting... We Will Tear Down That Wall!
10:10pm - Hey can we stop cutting away from Ledger's family to watch famous people insincerely tearing up... I'm looking at you Brad Pitt.
10:15pm - "Man on Wire" the only nominee that I've seen wins Best Documentary... it's certainly worthy, with my Netflix It! stamp of approval. And while I will point out the Oscar is not a plaything... who doesn't like MAGIC?!
10:25pm - Back from a commercial starring Tom Cruise to his cooler, saner and better grossing rival, Will Smith for the Action Movie Awards, also known as the low end technicals. Right now I expect another "CCBB" screw job here in Visual Effects, hoping my pessimism can sway the tide.
10:27pm - Nope. (Rant on.) Did anybody actually watch that piece of shit? Can we please stop awarding the same aging effects that looked just as crappy 15 years ago? For the love of Christ how about some love for practical effects? (Rant off.)
10:29pm - Finally a category my favorite film doesn't share with "CCBB" (Sound Editing). And while "Slumdog" and "WALL-E" are both worthy, I'm still fist pumping the TDK victory.
10:30pm - Man, Willy is rolling tonight. Sound Mixing (which is different from editing in a manner I don't understand) goes to "Slumdog." At least we didn't lose to "CCBB" again... that's right. I've become so attached to "TDK" that I begun using the first person plural despite my utter lack of involvement. TDK is the new Red Sox.
10:34pm - The lesson as always is never let Will Smith off stage if you can avoid it... or need to blow throw five technical awards in under 15 minutes to spend 40 minutes combined on acting. Even I have to admit a victory in Editing for "Slumdog" over "TDK" is well deserved.
10:41pm - God bless you, Jerry Lewis. I love any achievement award recipient that doesn't take it as an excuse to ramble pointlessly for 15 minutes. Cheers!
10:49pm - Hey, it's another promo for ABC's "Castle." You can never have too much Nathan Fillion that doesn't involve "Desperate Housewives."
10:50pm - The Oscar band finally gets to stretch their legs with the Score nominees.
10:53pm - Hey, it's Steven Spielberg! Fanboy powers activate!
10:56pm - I generally like the performances of the Best Song nominees both for admiration and mocking purposes. And while I'm fine with the three nominees, don't think I'm not still bitter as hell that Bruce Springsteen isn't on stage with an acoustic guitar right now with Patti, Steven and Clarence doing backup.
11:01pm - Another win for "Slumdog." If I was Danny Boyle, I wouldn't go to the bathroom for a while.
11:10pm - Maybe I'm morbid. Maybe I'm sentimental. But every year I am absolutely locked in for the duration of the In Memoriam bit. My personal favorites that I'll miss include Roy Scheider, Ricardo Moltalban, Stan Winston, Charlton Heston (mostly for comedic purposes), Sydney Pollack and of course, Fast Eddie himself, Paul Newman. You will be missed every time I watch "The Color of Money" or "Road to Perdition" or especially "Cool Hand Luke."
11:15pm - One last note on the In Memoriam, I vastly prefer the clips compared to a singer onstage... stop trying to change thing for the sake of changing things Oscar producers.
11:18pm - Holy crap, there's going to be a new Academy president?! I nominate Barak Obama, so finally sports movies, comedies and superhero flicks can have their day without partisan politics getting in the way. Say it with me... Yes We Can!
11:19pm - Man, David Fincher looks massively older than I imagined him. "Fight Club" was a long time ago.
11:20pm - It's a Slumdog World and we're just living in it. I loved Danny Boyle's explanation for the Tigger bounce. Mumbai is looking like this year's New Zealand. Thanks, India!
11:24pm - As past Best Actress winners over-react and cry, I need to weigh in that Hilary Swank is not hot.
11:26pm - What's up with the standing ovation for the five Best Actress presenters? Man, I would be royally pissed if I was a Supporting Actor presenter. I'd probably just shoot myself if I presented anything else. Could we possibly keep the five presenter thing, but they each have to put $10K into a pool for the presenter that introduces the eventual winner? That would make this infinitely more watchable. I really hope Meryl Streep doesn't get screwed over for the illiterate Nazi. Both because it's deserved and Kate Winslet looks like she'll go Carrie on us if she loses.
11:28pm - D'oh! I guess you can't beat insanely boring illiterate Nazis that seduce the little kid from Narnia. Man, Meryl Streep totally gets screwed here. People talk about her having 15 nominations, but please remember she hasn't won since 1982. That's like four times she's deserved to win since then, but hasn't. It's frustrating that they throw her nominations and then basically forget about one of the best actresses ever.
11:34pm - Wow, Winstlet's dad can really whistle. Which I feel is a good time to mention that I can neither whistle nor snap my fingers. And the lack of each haunts me to this day. Also, we're past the three hour mark.
11:35pm - I love a lot about the Best Actor presentation. Nothing beats kicking up the theme to "The Magnificent Seven," just about my favorite piece of movie music in history and clip featuring John Wayne, Marlon Brando and Daniel Day Lewis... good times. They bring out a mostly All-Star line-up of presenters with DeNiro, Kingsley, Michael Douglas and Anthony Hopkins and... hey! Who let Adrien Brody past security???
11:38pm - Ladies and gentlemen, Funny DeNiro is in the house tonight! Although, I think Sean Penn would have preferred if he left out the "I am Sam" reference.
11:43pm - Dang nab it... no win for my man Mickey Rourke. And while Penn pulls out the "I never expected this" lie (I mean you were one of five nominees! You should have had a clue!), he at least is the type of ass that admits he's an ass... so we have that in common.
11:49pm - The last time I remember Spielberg presenting was the glorious year of "The Return of the King," so lots of good vibes going into the Best Picture award. I really think it'll come down to "Slumdog" or "Milk" and both are among my top five for the year. Also, I'm going to come down slightly in favor of inter-mixing the clips with other Oscar winning Best Pictures.
11:50pm - .... Because it reminds us what a blatant Oscar-baiting, Holocaust-usurping piece of crap manipulation that "The Reader" really was.
11:52 - I'm doing to Jai-Ho dance for Slumdog's win... and sure enough they pull one out of the We're All Coming on Together playbook first popularized (for me) by the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVI... I love it. It's just an incredibly classy move to share the love.
11:56pm - Well, we're out of here before midnight, but it's a shame we couldn't have cut it to three hours by skipping the self-indulgent approach to the acting categories. Mmmm, movie teasers....
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