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not sure what i was on about thid morning Hotel wasn't that bad, just kind of slight and at the same time made me feel like **** for about five minutes after (contradictory? probably but it don't really feel like it to me). like cocooning yourself in trinkety overpriced nostalgia objects and wistful days-gone-by music and lying in bed staring at the ceiling will somehow add depth to your masochistic suffering or give an excuse for just being a big dildo. hmm, murderous urge rising again i'll give it a rest for now and go listen to some scritti politti or somethin.



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
My initial idea was that Hotel Chevalier was a weak Bertolucci wannabe, but I "warmed up" to it upon a second viewing. However, it's still on the mediocre side if you ask me, but I'm much more illiterate than Holds who called it an almost perfect "short story". I definitely found The Darjeeling Express to be more satisfying than Hotel Chevalier, and similarly, I liked The Darjeeling Express much less than Slumdog Millionaire, but maybe each film paved the way for the next.
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Once Upon The Time In The West -


I was so excited that I finally got to see this tonight, I've been wanting to see it for about 2 months now. I do have to say that the first hour is just really slow to me, nothing really happens and there really is barely any talking in the first hour too. It's basically just people walking around, for some reason though, I really love watching that in westerns, I do think this one overdid it a little. I mean most of the movie was basically just people walking around, after the first hour though, the movie really picked up leading to an insanely awesome ending. The overall tone of this really felt like The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly to me, especially two of the leading characters. I mean Frank reminded me so much of Angeleyes, and Harmonica reminded me so much of Blondie. I do have to admit that Bronson actually did a pretty good job being like Eastwood, I mean Eastwood will always be the best at it, but Bronson still did a pretty good job at it. Fonda does really great as the villian though, between this and 12 Angry Men I can really see him becoming one of my favorite actors.

Personally I'd rank this as my fourth favorite western so far, right after Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid, The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly, and Unforgiven. I think with a rewatch of this that it has a chance of moving ahead of Unforgiven though. Westerns is slowly becoming my all-time favorite movie genre, I said that the other night after I watched Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid, but the more westerns I see, the more it's moving up. I actually remember when I didn't even really like westerns at all, I have no idea why I didn't like it for so much. Any western fan really needs to check this out, I'm sure you won't be disappointed.




I am half agony, half hope.
Room at the Top (Jack Clayton 1959)




This movie was very good. It starred Simone Signoret as Alice Aisgill and Laurence Harvey as Joe Lampton.Joe is a man from the wrong side of the tracks that moves into the city with dreams of having a better life. He meets Alice and Susan at a theater production. He determines that Susan is his meal ticket to a better life if he can finagle a way into hers, but he's attracted to the older, sexier Alice. And who wouldn't be? This is my first movie with Simone Signoret, but she's a stunner, and she won an Oscar for her portrayal of Alice in this film.

Now we get to the part where I'm always afraid I'm going to tell too much, so I don't tell much at all...So, I'm gonna go for it! Joe finally manages to get Susan's attention, but he's been having an affair with the married Alice. He is looking out for his interests, so he breaks it off with Alice even though he has true feelings for her. It gets ugly, as it does with most break-ups, and Joe later realizes that he can't live without her. He tries to develop feelings for Susan, but he's just going through the motions. It doesn't keep him from stringing Susan along, though, and they take their relationship to the next level.

He realizes that his life is empty without Alice and he talks her into going away with him. Things are resolved as Joe tells Alice that he doesn't want to live without her. She says she'll divorce the vile man, and they can be together. But she keeps waiting for the other shoe to drop onto her happiness. And it does in a tragic way.

Joe has a meeting with Susan's father and decides to marry her after his chat. He breaks it off with Alice once again, and this time, there's no anger, just sadness from them both.

I thought this movie was complex and very raw. It evidently got an 'x' certification in Great Britain for its content. The director used many devices to underscore the plot. I liked the scene where Joe walks into a very uppity club and although you could see people eating etc., as he was walking toward Mr. Brown, it was silent, and it remained so until he was asked to be seated, then the background noise of the club was heard. Later on, when Joe is trying to recover from an incident, a young boy shoves a wind-up car toward him and its a very poignant scene.

Laurence Harvey was all broody and complicated as Joe, he really made Joe likeable and despicable at the same time and even pitiable. Signoret was wise and vulnerable as the older woman.
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Clerks: The First Cut (Smith, 1993) -


This marks what I think is the seventeenth time I've ever watched Clerks, yet this is the first time I've seen the extended rough cut (included as part of the film's 10th anniversary edition DVD.) The main differences between the rough cut and the theatrical cut are noticeable - most scenes are trimmed down, the soundtrack full of popular grunge bands such as Bad Religion or Soul Asylum has been removed entirely, the quality of both sound and picture is generally inferior, and of course, there's the "ending"...

WARNING: "Clerks" spoilers below
The film originally ends with lead Dante being shot and killed by a robber. While the majority of fans (and even Smith himself) have denounced this ending, I actually find it really does fit really well, given the film as a whole. Maybe that's just me, though.


Now I'm stuck trying to think of a rating - it's Clerks. Clerks is about as subjective as I get about my favourites - I know it's by and large a rather crap little movie. The film's already low quality is exacerbated by the bad quality of the rough cut (which looked like it had been taken from an old VHS tape for the DVD), but in spite of its many flaws, I still love the film. Objectively it's worth about
at best, but hell, it means a lot to me. Always has and probably always will, so screw it, it gets a
.
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Iro's Top 100 Movies v3.0



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
Room at the Top (Jack Clayton 1959)




This movie was very good. It starred Simone Signoret as Alice Aisgill and Laurence Harvey as Joe Lampton.Joe is a man from the wrong side of the tracks that moves into the city with dreams of having a better life. He meets Alice and Susan at a theater production. He determines that Susan is his meal ticket to a better life if he can finagle a way into hers, but he's attracted to the older, sexier Alice. And who wouldn't be? This is my first movie with Simone Signoret, but she's a stunner, and she won an Oscar for her portrayal of Alice in this film.

Now we get to the part where I'm always afraid I'm going to tell too much, so I don't tell much at all...So, I'm gonna go for it! Joe finally manages to get Susan's attention, but he's been having an affair with the married Alice. He is looking out for his interests, so he breaks it off with Alice even though he has true feelings for her. It gets ugly, as it does with most break-ups, and Joe later realizes that he can't live without her. He tries to develop feelings for Susan, but he's just going through the motions. It doesn't keep him from stringing Susan along, though, and they take their relationship to the next level.

He realizes that his life is empty without Alice and he talks her into going away with him. Things are resolved as Joe tells Alice that he doesn't want to live without her. She says she'll divorce the vile man, and they can be together. But she keeps waiting for the other shoe to drop onto her happiness. And it does in a tragic way.

Joe has a meeting with Susan's father and decides to marry her after his chat. He breaks it off with Alice once again, and this time, there's no anger, just sadness from them both.

I thought this movie was complex and very raw. It evidently got an 'x' certification in Great Britain for its content. The director used many devices to underscore the plot. I liked the scene where Joe walks into a very uppity club and although you could see people eating etc., as he was walking toward Mr. Brown, it was silent, and it remained so until he was asked to be seated, then the background noise of the club was heard. Later on, when Joe is trying to recover from an incident, a young boy shoves a wind-up car toward him and its a very poignant scene.

Laurence Harvey was all broody and complicated as Joe, he really made Joe likeable and despicable at the same time and even pitiable. Signoret was wise and vulnerable as the older woman.

Wow! Nice writeup! Plus it just finished up on TCM at 7PM. I sure hope you watched this because of my Top 100. That wind-up car scene is really awesome, isn't it? Did Señor Taco Bell watch it too?





PUSH



If you thought the X-Men movies were cool or are a fan of Heroes then I highly recommend Push which, ahem, "borrows" from those two and many other sources and puts all the pieces together for a superhero story crafted especially for the big screen. Now, I know the previews look ridiculous and I'll be honest, the movie is too, but most superhero movies that aren't called The Dark Knight would probably fall into that category.

Nick (Chris Evans) is a "mover", someone with the ability to move objects with their mind, and he's spent most of his life on the lamb, hiding from "Division". A government run entity that makes its main objective hunting down people with gifts like Nick's for study. Well, after successfully evading them for many years, he's finally been found. Wait-a-sec though! They're not looking for him, and that's where the "watcher", someone who can see the future, known as Cassie (Dakota Fanning) comes into the story and fills Nick in on their intertwined destinies.

Now all this "watcher", "mover", "pusher" business actually worked for me. There are also other kinds of super people. People with the ability to hunt anyone down by scent... they're called "sniffers". There are people who can scream really loud. So loud, in fact, that they blow up the fish in their tanks before the tanks themselves explode. No joke. I think they're called "screechers" but don't hold me to that. Anyway, I found the whole mythology of the movie to tickle my nerdy side and the script does a good job of filling us in on the specifics without being bogged down with scientific trivialities or an excessive amount of characters.

The film doesn't stretch itself too far but it could have afforded to be a bit more ambitious. The lore is fun, the characters are solid, the screenwriters should have went a bit further with the story which is pretty bare-bones and does little except feed us the necessary info and fill in the blanks between fight scenes. These intermissions between super bouts are an opportunity to get to know the characters better and add a little more depth to the story but the film too often opts to use this valuable time for uninspired cryptic talk and superhero banter. It's almost like the filmmakers were afraid to turn it down a notch in fear of losing the audience. There is a nice romance cooking up between Nick and a certain female character (not Dakota Fanning!) but it's unfairly skimmed over. I may just be singling out this one element because I happen to think the chick is hot but don't hold it against me.

The cast, on paper, doesn't impress me in the slightest but the leads Chris Evans and Dakota Fanning have convinced me I want to see more of them. I actually always liked Chris Evans, he was the best part of the Fantastic Four movies and he carried some heavy emotional weight in Sunshine but his work here in Push has got me thinking he can be a superstar. Dakota Fanning, who I've never been a big fan of, has finally grown out of her annoying smart aleck kid phase into her smart aleck teenage phase. A capacity I find infinitely more suitable for her. Really though, she gives the movie some much needed softness and I genuinely enjoyed watching her on-screen. The other two notables are Djimon Honsou who works his usual acting intensity to great effect and Camilla Belle who's effort here went under my radar thanks to the infatuation I was immediately stricken with when I got a good look at her. I know. Bad, Lusty.

Push isn't a great movie but I'd be fibbing if I said it wasn't a fun time.



Welcome to the human race...


Zack and Miri Make A Porno (Smith, 2008) -


I had some rather low expectations for the film - I haven't really cared much, if at all, for most Apatow comedies and it looked like Smith had done the impossible and sold out just a little bit more to cash in on the popularity of said comedies. The result is a lame and rather predictable rom-com with a handful of funny moments here and there. Justin Long stole the movie, although Jason Mewes came close a couple of times. Overall, still as mediocre as I'd expected. Think I'll just go back to waiting for Danny Boyle to direct an adaptation of Porno instead.





Surprisingly slow and quite boring. I expected action and got the opposite. There's literally just one action scene but it was so protracted it ended up being annoying. Wilkinson is tragically miscast as the London underground boss (his cockney accent was just grating). There's a mini gay subplot which was supposed to be amusing but comes off as offensive (or at least it should be to any gay person). The only good thing about it was Toby Kebbell (Dead man's shoes) who is probably the most talented young English actor. I hope they don't deliver on the promise to make a sequel, he's far too good to waste his talent on this nonsense...:\


You know, watching this film I came to the conclusion that Ritchie's films are actually quite disneyesque, no one ever gets really hurt, particularly not emotionally, and all the principal characters end up as winners in the end. I was actually hoping those Russian goons were gonna finish what they started, just to spice things up a bit. Alas...



The Holiday (2006) -




I watched this movie to see Jack Black - my favorite comedian - in a serious role. I thought he was great. Actually, the whole film has a great cast besides Cameron Diaz. I never realized it until watching this, but I do not like her a bit. She was mostly annoying and when it wasn't because of her character, it was because of her bad acting. But Jude Law is awesome (he is in two of my faves, A.I. Artificial Intelligence and I Heart Huckabees), Kate Winslet is even better, and Jack Black is best.

I didn't like Diaz and Law's story much. It was full of cliches and as I said earlier, I really didn't like Diaz. But I really enjoyed Winslet and Black's story, though. In my opinion this film should have just followed their story, and to help the length they could have added some more to the Eli Wallach and Winslet's great mini-story.

A Fish Called Wanda (1988) -




This was a big surprise. At first I wasn't really liking it, but it progressively got a lot better. Even though I didn't really laugh until the last 20 minutes (during which I laughed quite a bit), I enjoyed all of the film. Jamie Lee Curtis was way different (and better) than I have ever seen of her. Not the good girl from Halloween at all.

Escape from Alcatraz (1979) -




When I was a kid, I saw this film with my family, right after we went to Alcatraz. I remember being completely captivated (I was a weird child who also enjoyed the old Corman-Poe horror flicks). Watching it now, I realize that it's very nostalgic for me. I'm not sure if I've seen it once or more than, but if it was only once, I would had to have been incredibly enthralled in it in order for it to be nostalgic. So I don't think it was only once. Anyway, I'll be completely honest - it wasn't as great as I remembered it being. There were only two notable things that I didn't like. I hated how, near the beginning, lightning strikes and thunder roars for the first and last time right after a guard says "Welcome to Alcatraz" to Eastwood. I'm usually okay with some cheese but this just took it to far. Another thing I didn't like was the excessive use of fades in between scenes. It hurt the flow of the film and at times, started to fade too quickly (I remember one fade starting while a man was still talking). But that's really all I didn't like about the film. I loved learning how they planned to escape, and watching them work it all out.

Alcatraz is really an amazing place, and Clint Eastwood being in Alcatraz... well that's kinda like Dr. Badass in Badass Hotel.

Training Day (2001) -
+




This was INTENSE. I watched it to see Denzel Washington's performance, because I had a hard time believing it was better than Russel Crowe's performance in A Beautiful Mind (as it won the Oscar for Best Actor). Well, I don't know whose I like more, but they both deserved the Oscar equally. I remember for year thinking this movie was about football. I only saw the poster and looking at it now, it's understandable why someone would mistake it for a football film. But it's obviously anything but. It's much more of a huge thrill-ride. During the last 20 minutes, it felt like time stood still.



Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menance -


I've decided to rewatch all the Star Wars movies in chronological order, so I started tonight with the first. For the longest time I always thought this was my least favorite episode of Star Wars, but after watching it tonight, I found it far better than I remember it being. I always though this episode was really slow, but I honestly didn't find it slow at all, except I did find when they're on Corasaunt to be a tad bit slow. This had a lot more action in it than I remember it having, especially the last 30 minutes or so. I also seemed to love Qui-Gon Qin a lot more this time around, maybe it's because I love Liam Neeson a lot more since I last watched it, his character just seemed a lot better this time. I actually liked him more than Obi-Won Konobi this time, I think that may change after I watch the next 3 movies in the series though.

This is actually pretty nastolgic for me, while most people grew up watching the original three, I grew up watching the 3 prequels, so I think I like them a lot more than most people. This episode is the movie that actually got me into Star Wars. I really look foward to finishing the series off within the next week or so though, especially because I think I've only seen the original three like once before.




Welcome to the human race...


Miller's Crossing (Coen, 1990) -


You ever have that feeling when you re-watch a film and really wish it was like the first time you saw it? I had that feeling when I re-watched Miller's Crossing last night. I wasn't sure if it would be as good as I remembered it or as plenty of people around here have made it out to be. Fortunately I was not let down. Miller's Crossing is quite simply excellent (one of these days I'll bump it up to
- why I didn't now, I'll explain soon enough). Everything about this film is great - the acting, the photography, the music, and most importantly the storyline. The reason I knocked it down to
is because while I still reckon the script is excellent, I only really understand about eighty or ninety percent of it. There are still bits and pieces of the film which I don't understand the significance of, or haven't quite deciphered the complex dialogue that the characters are so fond of using (most likely a combination of the two). I suspect I'll probably fully understand the film after a couple more viewings (as I recall, it took me about five viewings to understand everything about Michael's storyline in The Godfather Part II). Of course, I didn't consider this lack of full comprehension to be a major dint in my enjoyment of the film. I think I'll probably watch it again sometime before the week is out.



Sullivan's Travels (Sturges, 1941) -


It's a testament to the genius of the film that this film is coming up on 70 years old yet a lot of the sentiments and ideas expressed within still ring very, very true. Even though, as a comedy, I didn't find it anywhere as laugh-out-loud funny as I was expecting it to be (the only scene that I felt was genuinely funny was the chase scene near the beginning of the film), that hardly matters to me because of the strength of the writing. I don't know if I can adequately express how good I thought it was - it was smart, rather witty and took quite a few unexpected turns. It's also helped along by some good acting, especially Joel McCrea as Sullivan himself, who seems rather comfortable in his role.



I've debated with a friend of mine on how to watch all six Star Wars films if you were to have a Star Wars Marathon. He says start with The Phantom Menace, I say start with the original. We both say The Phantom Menace was one of the biggest "failing to live up to the hype" movies in cinematic history, if not the biggest. The double light saber was cool though.
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"Don't be so gloomy. After all it's not that awful. Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."



Welcome to the human race...


Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Spielberg, 1977) -
+

I'll start off with a small confession of sorts - I don't like E.T.. I wasn't quite sure what I was supposed to expect from Spielberg's other great "alien" film - for the most part, I was indifferent towards it. The only reason it gets as high a rating as it does is for final 30 minutes or so alone. Apart from some good-looking cinematography and special effects, the rest of the film was rather weak.



I've been watching too many movies lately to list them all and frankly I have memory issues and forget them sometimes. Here's some of the highlights.

Fahrenheit 451 (François Truffaut-1966)


This was so ridiculously good I can barely describe it. I'll try to anyway in case you haven't seen it. So, in the not to distant future books are illegal and "firemen" no longer put out fires they burn books instead. The story centers around a fireman who slowly begins to wonder why this is and begins to read a few of these books he's been burning and transforms into a different man with a new outlook on life. It's a very bizarre way of life they have. Folks that have seen Equilibrium will recognize many of the plot points that were borrowed heavily from this film.

Slaughterhouse Five (George Roy Hill-1972)


I think this was a tad bit better than Fahrenheit. Just a trip. I enjoyed it muchly.

The Innocents (Jack Clayton-1961)


I think I get why you like this Mark. Man this was good. The copy I found online is just stellar! I can't wait to see this again. Man those were two creepy little kids. Mark is right kids, if you want to see a ghost story and see done it well then watch this flick immediately!

Also saw Underworld: Rise of the Lycans and thought it was pretty decent. I could just stare at Mrs Mitra for hours though so I may not be completely objective. I do pretty much completely disagree with an earlier poster that said it was crap. I just really dig flicks like this when they are done well and this series is.
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Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones -


I definitely thought Episode I was much better than this, because it didn't rely on action as much as this did. Some of the action in this just looked so bad, namely all the explosions. I do have to say that the arena battle is one of the best action scenes that I've ever seen in a movie. This was never really my favorite of the prequels, and as you can see it's still not. I mean Hayden Christiansen's acting at some scenes of the movie were just so bad that it was laughable, the rest of the cast were okay though, and if my memory serves me correctly I do remember him getting a little better in the third movie.




Running Mates -




A slow-moving drama that feels like its story is lacking on many levels. I never got too into it or any of its characters.

Of Unknown Origin -




One of my favorite movies. It needed a rewatch.

The Mallory Effect -




:S

After suffering through the first 25 minutes, I shut it off. Absolutely horrible. Its heavily excessive vulgar language, laughably flat characters, and the premise made the Black Christmas remake look like a
.

Private Resort -




One of Johnny Depp's earliest movies. It's absolutely hilarious; it has a fantastic, clever script and really great and funny characters. I've seen this movie before, but I don't remember enjoying it quite this much. With this rewatch, I'd consider Private Resort to be among my favorites of the comedy genre.

Cold Steel -




A typical "good guy cops versus bad guy drug dealers/murderers" movie. Add in some pretty decent action scenes and some Sharon Stone nudity, and it hits the 3/5-mark.
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My Movie Review Thread | My Top 100





FRIDAY THE 13th



This movie is disgusting. The gore is cringe inducing. If you got a weak stomach, bring a couple barf bags. The kills are sadistic on a level that makes you question the filmmakers sanity. The characters are a mix bag of materialism, ignorance, and stupidity incarnate. And the story is little more than a conveyor belt to move these characters along and into the butchering machine. Hmm. Yup, that just 'bout covers it. Oh, and did I mention the movie's also kind of awesome?

Now before you jump to any conclusions about my cinematic state of mind... ahh, go ahead. I wasn't a fan of the original Friday the 13th. Actually, I thought it was garbage. You could say this movie's garbage too and I'd wholeheartedly agree. I would say though, that it is fun garbage. For people like me that have been craving a good old fashioned slasher, complete with decapitations, surprise shank attacks, flying axes, and unabashed boobie shots, well this movie is our Valentine's Day present.

While the story is of little consequence in the grand scheme of things, I think it is worth pointing out that this is most definitely not a remake. As some of you may have gathered from the previews, that ain't Mommy Voorhees running. No, this Friday the 13th takes place some years after the events that transpired in the original. This time around a group of obnoxious teens with the now standard dash of ethnicity are looking to have a fun weekend at a lakeside cabin while a concerned young man, not a part of the group, is in the area searching for his missing sister. Goundbreaking, I know, but you don't come to these movies for the maverick writing. You come to laugh at the people who are even bigger wussies than you.

The scares delivered throughout the film come in two varieties. "BOO" and "OMFG". The production team seemed to have done their damndest to make sure they worked at least half the time and I'd say they were successful on that front. The theater I watched this in was packed and people seemed to be both scared by what was going on but also impressed. The entire audience (including myself) actually burst into applause after the opening segment which was an overwhelming technical feat. The rest of the film isn't a masterpiece but it's great entertainment if you're in one of those moods where you just need a body count in your next visit to the movies.

I recommend this movie to fans of the genre specifically, but if you're not one of those I still say you should catch the prologue. So do yourself a favor and buy a ticket, watch the first fifteen minutes, have too much fun, and go check out one of the Best Pic noms.



Choke(Clark Gregg 2008)-well it's not Fight Club but it still has this exact note of Chad Palahniuk all the way trough the movie-


Thursday(Skip Woods 1998)-


The Tale Of Despereaux(2008)-
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RABBIT-PROOF FENCE



This was an impulse rental. I saw the box at the store and it clicked that I'd seen a couple people on this site that had it in their Top 10 so I decided to give it a whirl. It's not gonna make it on any of my fav lists but I thought it was an impressive testament to what a small group of people can do. I'm actually thinking of both the three girls at the center of this movie AND the film crew.

The film's premise was news to me, I know absolutely nothing of the outside world being a silly American raised on Fresh Prince, but apparently Australia had some pretty BS policies in regards to the natives that remained in action up until 1970. What they used to do was take half-caste children (half white/half Aboriginese) from their families and put them into schools that were essentially prisons and try to force feed civility into them. It's a pretty sickening practice and the white people in charge of it have absolutely no regard for the families they are breaking up which ultimately means they have no regard for these Aboriginese as people. The story of Rabbit-Proof Fence involves a small group of girls that escape the "camp" and make a getaway for their homes.

The girls' run at freedom is an amazing feat on paper but for me the movie never establishes the scope of their accomplishment. Also I hate to bag on people that don't deserve it, but a few acting lessons could've benefited the entire cast. I could single out more elements of the story and film that didn't work for me but I won't. Let's just say that this pile of nitpicks is big enough for me to have a problem with the movie. That's a shame too because I thought there was some good stuff here too.

God save me for giving Friday the 13th a higher rating than this.