Movies you've recently watched

Deci

Avatar by supereva01 @ DA
Yay! So exciting! :beast:

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The CG Captain Harlock movie. Don't know Japanese but this is one I've been waiting for for a while, being a semi-hardcore Leiji fan, more specifically Galaxy Express and Harlock. Definitely enjoyable, and plot details can be found online. I for one am a fan of the "controversial plot twist", involving Harlock doing something extremely morally and ethically questionable. I guess that's where the "Terrorist or freedom fighter" tag comes from. It seems to have a polarizing effect on the audience, though anyone who knows a lot about Harlock should understand why this isn't necessarily out of character for him. Also, like some of the previous Harlock stories, it has the "tale of two Harlocks" going on with the main character, Yama. Pretty obvious what's going on here again for fans. Out with the old, in with the new. They also added a kind of cyberpunk/dieselpunk vibe to the whole thing, which I'm alright with as well. Most of the main character design styles seem relatively in tact, which is a staple of the Leijiverse.

In short, if you're just a casual viewer you'll really enjoy the visuals, but probably find the character development and plot taking a jarring turn that leaves the second half with little direction. If you're a fan you'll probably love the hell out of it.
 
Lithrael said:
Care to support this opinion? Even on the plus side, I can't think of anything they did more than competently. Ford was awful. Ben Kingsley had nothing to work with. Viola Davis was good. Most of the kids were okay. The screenplay was scraped off the bottom of someone's shoe.

I found the movie to be an ok watch I disagree that Ford was awful I felt he played his character the most accurate then anyone. I read the book and Enders shadow so maybe I am giving it to much credit because I don't want to be biased because the book was better in every way shape and form but with so many movies that are actually bad I don't think Enders games is a "Just awful awful crap"
 

Lithrael

Remember, always hold your apple tight
We'll have to settle with disagreement on Ford. I love the guy but I haven't seen him deliver an actual good performance in a while. Even Cowboys & Aliens, which I liked a lot and which I thought he'd be able to pull off fine, I dunno, maybe I just can't buy him as any kind of hardass.

I'm not just panning it in comparison to the book, though; it's all too common for a movie to alter the tone to make it more 'appealing' to kids and general moviegoers, and I expected them to soften Ender up quite a lot and make him less scary (he doesn't appear to kill any of the other kids in the movie, for example, and they left out his accidentally breaking Bernard's arm in favor of a goofy space-puking scene). Nor did I expect them to include the other half of the plot with Ender's siblings and all of the political stuff going on back on Earth.

The reason it sucks, IMO, is that it was so rushed and so streamlined that there wasn't anything left to be interested in. Unless you are an actual kid you are probably not going to be very interested in an hour and a half of kids playing space quidditch in between bouts of being cryptically yelled at by mysterious grownups.

As weird as I thought the book was, for having ender and his sibs doing so much starting at age frikken six or whatever, and taking over the political world in middle school, I felt the movie made a narrative and pacing mistake in just having Ender be twelve through the whole movie. The book is years and years of training and stuff; the movie feels like it took place over a couple of weeks. There's too little sense of weight to it. And at the same time nothing seems to be actually happening. It comes off as 'yeaaah in space camp doin space stuff oh no a little interpersonal static well whoops nevermind SPACE BATTLE! over' with the adults giving them boot camp yellin's interspersed throughout so you don't forget BUT WAR OR SOMETHING.

Essentially I feel it's the screenplay that simply fails, it doesn't manage to impart the gravity of anything that goes on with the kids. Instead it ends up relying almost entirely on Ford and Kingsley to say Heavy Things, and it doesn't work.

Sure, it wasn't "The Nut Job" bad but it was definitely "Well this movie doesn't really work and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone" bad.
 
Lithrael said:
We'll have to settle with disagreement on Ford. I love the guy but I haven't seen him deliver an actual good performance in a while. Even Cowboys & Aliens, which I liked a lot and which I thought he'd be able to pull off fine, I dunno, maybe I just can't buy him as any kind of hardass.

I'm not just panning it in comparison to the book, though; it's all too common for a movie to alter the tone to make it more 'appealing' to kids and general moviegoers, and I expected them to soften Ender up quite a lot and make him less scary (he doesn't appear to kill any of the other kids in the movie, for example, and they left out his accidentally breaking Bernard's arm in favor of a goofy space-puking scene). Nor did I expect them to include the other half of the plot with Ender's siblings and all of the political stuff going on back on Earth.

The reason it sucks, IMO, is that it was so rushed and so streamlined that there wasn't anything left to be interested in. Unless you are an actual kid you are probably not going to be very interested in an hour and a half of kids playing space quidditch in between bouts of being cryptically yelled at by mysterious grownups.

As weird as I thought the book was, for having ender and his sibs doing so much starting at age frikken six or whatever, and taking over the political world in middle school, I felt the movie made a narrative and pacing mistake in just having Ender be twelve through the whole movie. The book is years and years of training and stuff; the movie feels like it took place over a couple of weeks. There's too little sense of weight to it. And at the same time nothing seems to be actually happening. It comes off as 'yeaaah in space camp doin space stuff oh no a little interpersonal static well whoops nevermind SPACE BATTLE! over' with the adults giving them boot camp yellin's interspersed throughout so you don't forget BUT WAR OR SOMETHING.

Essentially I feel it's the screenplay that simply fails, it doesn't manage to impart the gravity of anything that goes on with the kids. Instead it ends up relying almost entirely on Ford and Kingsley to say Heavy Things, and it doesn't work.

Sure, it wasn't "The Nut Job" bad but it was definitely "Well this movie doesn't really work and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone" bad.

That is a very good overview and I agree with you on almost every point. The one thing though is that everyone I talked to that hasn't read the book all had positive things to say. It is because its a book adaptation that we critique it so harshly. I find it hard to be arbitrary after knowing all of what you said and seeing how the story we know is gutted and streamlined, for those innocent to this it seems to be an enjoyable watch. I know that after the movie I had such a laundry list of what was left out and how it could of been better AND that Orson shouldn't have sold out and stuck to his original vision.
 

Lithrael

Remember, always hold your apple tight
krzykoopa said:
The one thing though is that everyone I talked to that hasn't read the book all had positive things to say.

That's fair. I guess it's harder than I thought to put myself in the shoes of someone new to the story and imagine how the movie works on its own.

I'm probably hard on it in general too, since I feel the trope of child-soldiers/killers must be done with a lot of gravity and forethought to be worth doing at all. It's why I don't like Hunger Games (though I don't have proper reasons for that one, not having actually explored any of the media), and in the end it's probably why I didn't like this version of Ender's Game.

Thanks for your thoughts, by the way. It's always fun to double check whether or not I can support my gut feelings. I appreciate the chance to hear your point of view.
 
I haven't read the book. The special effects and action sequences looked good. The cast/ acting was a problem, what Ender goes through psychologically (
being bullied by the group, standing up to them, wrecking someone's life, etc. etc.) wasn't convincing enough for him deciding to go back, the genius plan he came up with is something nobody else could think of (??) and why is Earth so important to the attacking species when there are other moons or distant planets with water? I'm going to assume they thought humans were easier to defeat than the potential threat on other moons or distant planets? Plus the end didn't make sense ... help the race who've killed millions of humans to go and be strong again?
For trying to be a serious movie, my experience felt weirdly worse than watching a B movie.

Weight Of Mountains is a well narrated, beautiful short film that you can watch here - http://vimeo.com/87651855
 

Antonius Block

We must make an idol of our fear, and call it god.
I watched Dallas Buyers Club last night, and it was pretty damn good. 4 out of 5 stars. Matty Mick was the ish and deserved the Oscar, no questions asked. The role was pretty much made for him. Jared Leto did a great job too, and also deserved the Oscar I believe. Jennifer Garner was okay, not much too mention about her performance, but nevertheless well worth a watch.
 
Incidentally, I've long held the opinion that Harrison Ford is pretty overrated as an actor. And this is from someone who ranks Blade Runner and TESB as two of his all time favourite pieces of cinema. He's always been an average actor of limited scope, and has only got worse with age, as anyone who watched Firewall will attest to.
 

Rhombaad

Video Game Time Traveler
My fiancee and I saw The Wolf of Wall Street over the weekend. Like most Scorsese movies, I found myself not wanting it to end. All of the performances were great, and I was surprised by how funny it was, despite the main characters being pretty despicable. I highly recommend it to fans of Scorsese, and those who just want to see a damn good movie.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
I finally saw The Amazing Spider-Man. It was fine. Better than I thought it'd be, but stopped short of WOW. Surprisingly believable choreography in a lot of the fight scenes, though this particular Spidey sure is heavy on the web.

Acting/casting seemed to be the weakest link. Garfield isn't very convincing as Parker, but is great as Spidey. He's got the kind of animated personality that McGuire was lacking. Didn't think Stone and Garfield had any chemistry, and that's looking past their intentional awkwardness. Their scenes just felt clumsy, like neither actor was committed to it. Capt. Stacey was a real stinker, delivering the two most cringe-inducing moments of the movie.

I'll probably see the second movie.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Walter said:
I finally saw The Amazing Spider-Man. It was fine. Better than I thought it'd be, but stopped short of WOW.

Pretty much spot on with me, though I think I want to think it should wow me more. It certainly has some impressive qualities, it's style and sense of realism is better than any of the previous Spider-Man movies, more small scale, personal, and like a regular movie with plausible characters than the larger than life idealizations populating the Raimi versions (UNCLE BEN IS THE ASPECT OF RESPONSIBILITY, AUNT MAY FAMILY, MARY JANE ROMANTIC LOVE). Ultimately though, or perhaps because of that, it's not as well constructed or thematically put together as say Spider-Man 1 or Spider-Man 2. To put it in lazy terms we'll all immediately understand, it's basically like Spider-Man getting the Batman Begins treatment, except those movies did contain all those in your face themes.

Walter said:
Surprisingly believable choreography in a lot of the fight scenes, though this particular Spidey sure is heavy on the web.

Didn't think of that, but yeah, for a version of Spider-Man that theoretically had a limited external supply of web, he sure used it liberally and never did run out (though it was cool when the Lizard broke his web-shooters). Also, the scene of him crawling all over the Lizard and webbing him up looked great.

Walter said:
Acting/casting seemed to be the weakest link. Garfield isn't very convincing as Parker, but is great as Spidey. He's got the kind of animated personality that McGuire was lacking. Didn't think Stone and Garfield had any chemistry, and that's looking past their intentional awkwardness. Their scenes just felt clumsy, like neither actor was committed to it.

Maybe I'm remembering it being better than it was, though at the time compared to Maguire and Dunst they were like Bogart and Bergman. I specifically thought her Gwen Stacey was far superior to Dunst's Mary Jane, which isn't hard since she was sort of the worst thing about those movies (always unhappy, vacillating, and really not worth Parker's admiration). Anyway, they seemed more like a regular couple to me than the usual superhero version of love where the relationship is bloodless and more symbolic than anything, "OOoooo I love her so much, she is perfect and would make me perfectly happy and give me a normal life, BUT... I can never tell her MY SECRET!" I'm glad they just bypassed all that shit, and the moment at the end where he did for good was a deft touch. On the other hand...

Walter said:
Capt. Stacey was a real stinker, delivering the two most cringe-inducing moments of the movie.

Yeah, "I was wrong...this city does need you..." Ugh. That was some awful cheesy shit, and totally betrays his character the rest of the movie. I mean, he really doesn't presume Peter is somehow responsible or at least mixed up in it all (and he'd be right to think so)? Anyway, not exactly Gordon's speech at the end of The Dark Knight that got standing O's.

Walter said:
I'll probably see the second movie.

Me too depending on what I hear, it's looked decent enough from the trailers, but that actual scene I watched was turrible. It would be ironic if the director traded all that smallness that worked in the last movie but can't pull of the spectacle in this one.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
All of this talk has made me curious, and the movie's actually got decent reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. Guess I'll give it a whirl as well.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Aazealh said:
All of this talk has made me curious, and the movie's actually got decent reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. Guess I'll give it a whirl as well.

And I'll be interested to hear what you think as well. I was surprised to learn how many Spider-Man fans just skipped this one, including my friend that has a freakin' Spider-Man tatoo on his arm (and that's his only tat, so it's not like he's more into tatoos than he is Spidey). I guess people were already fatigued from the other movies, particularly 3, and assumed the reboot would be even worse. It wasn't so different for me really, I had no plans to see it and basically did by happenstance because my friends wanted to go to the movies. I guess it goes to prove these comic book movies really don't need all the fans to come out in droves anymore to make serious money (although, somewhat ironically I think it made less than Spider-Man 3 =).
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Griffith said:
And I'll be interested to hear what you think as well. I was surprised to learn how many Spider-Man fans just skipped this one

I tire of origin stories being regurgitated every 10 years or so. I'd rather they just get on with the story development when it comes to a character that's known across the entire civilized world.

I guess it goes to prove these comic book movies really don't need all the fans to come out in droves anymore to make serious money (although, somewhat ironically I think it made less than Spider-Man 3 =).

There'll always be someone in that demographic.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Walter said:
I tire of origin stories being regurgitated every 10 years or so. I'd rather they just get on with the story development when it comes to a character that's known across the entire civilized world.

But in this one it was slightly different (more wrong)! Yeah, it was weird considering how closely the 2002 movie followed Amazing Fantasy #15 to begin with. Unlike Batman previously, that story had been heavily explored on the big screen, though I think this one did a better job actually showing how one would actually go about becoming Spider-Man from a practical standpoint. It was more about the transformation even though it covered a lot of the same ground the first movie touched on. Anyway, so that's the reason, you were just waiting for The Amazing Spider-Man 2? :iva:

Walter said:
There'll always be someone in that demographic.

I mean they don't even need to be in that demographic anymore, general audiences will go anyway and that's all that matters (see garbage like Transformers that no upright, brain functional demographic seems to like yet audiences keep investing billions in).
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Griffith said:
Anyway, so that's the reason, you were just waiting for The Amazing Spider-Man 2? :iva:

Hehe, nah. I'm surprised I even care enough to see the second one. Like I said in the other thread, the Marvel Movie Machine has burned me out. I think the superhero genre is pretty well explored at this stage of film history.

(see garbage like Transformers that no upright, brain functional demographic seems to like yet audiences keep investing billions in).

Shhh, Skullgrin could be listening RIGHT NOW.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Walter said:
Hehe, nah. I'm surprised I even care enough to see the second one. Like I said in the other thread, the Marvel Movie Machine has burned me out. I think the superhero genre is pretty well explored at this stage of film history.

Yeah, I can't think of where else the genre can realistically go right now, other than making incremental gains to see if someday can make an adaptation that really captures the comic but is also a transcendent film in its own right. Not that it really matters. Anyway, what's your tops in the genre? I know you and Aaz are more bearish on The Dark Knight than most, which is otherwise the consensus pick for closest to the above criteria.

Walter said:
Shhh, Skullgrin could be listening RIGHT NOW.

I honestly didn't have anyone in mind when I wrote that, but if someone takes umbrage, fuck 'em. :griffnotevil:
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Griffith said:
Yeah, I can't think of where else the genre can realistically go right now, other than making incremental gains to see if someday can make an adaptation that really captures the comic but is also a transcendent film in its own right. Not that it really matters. Anyway, what's your tops in the genre? I know you and Aaz are more bearish on The Dark Knight than most, which is otherwise the consensus pick for closest to the above criteria.

I know it's not a popular choice, but my favorite is still Batman Begins (the first half..!). I did also re-watch The Dark Knight recently, at your request. My opinion on it didn't change much.

The Avengers was also good fun, and almost felt like watching an Ultimates comic play out. But that final 30-minute sequence was just a big green screen mess, with almost no real sense of danger. Quite anticlimactic.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Walter said:
I know it's not a popular choice, but my favorite is still Batman Begins (the first half..!). I did also re-watch The Dark Knight recently, at your request. My opinion on it didn't change much.

I don't think Batman Begins is an unpopular choice, it's probably the most influential film in the genre this decade, for better (higher standards) or worse (like you said, regurgitated gritty origin stories for all to come), and held the overrated crown before The Dark Knight. I just don't see why you appreciate that one so well but not The Dark Knight, which arguably fulfills the promise of that first half and takes it to another level with the kind of pure story development you desired; well, maybe it wasn't the story development you specifically wanted, but it was certainly the focus of the film (but not the kind you need right now? =). I don't know, just as I don't think it's the BEST MOVIE EVER I'm highly skeptical of the contention it was actually a failure or letdown as a serious film adaptation of Batman, at least by any comparable, earthly standard.

Just for fun, the top ten most important/influential comic book superhero movies (not the best, since that's highly subjective as this little talk shows). This is off the top of my head:

Superman
Superman II
Batman
Blade
X-Men
Spider-Man
Batman Begins
Iron Man
The Dark Knight
The Avengers

One could still argue these plenty, including which sequels (X2, Spider-Man 2 especially) paved the way for the growth of the genre whereas movies like The Dark Knight and Avengers are really just the results. Of course, if you go down that road you risk having to cite all kinds of obscure examples of mature comic book filmmaking that didn't actually move the needle like these did, thus it becomes subjective again.

Walter said:
The Avengers was also good fun, and almost felt like watching an Ultimates comic play out. But that final 30-minute sequence was just a big green screen mess, with almost no real sense of danger. Quite anticlimactic.

Yeah, that was a sequence like out of Transformers, the only redeeming element being the little punctuations of character and humor that characterized the rest of the movie throughout . Like Banner's transformation, Hulk's punch for good measure on Thor, and Hulk's confrontation with Loki. Hey, they really did some good stuff with the Hulk! Anyway, it's probably the purist comic book/cartoon experience come to life yet.
 
Deci said:
Yay! So exciting! :beast:

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The CG Captain Harlock movie. Don't know Japanese but this is one I've been waiting for for a while, being a semi-hardcore Leiji fan, more specifically Galaxy Express and Harlock. Definitely enjoyable, and plot details can be found online. I for one am a fan of the "controversial plot twist", involving Harlock doing something extremely morally and ethically questionable. I guess that's where the "Terrorist or freedom fighter" tag comes from. It seems to have a polarizing effect on the audience, though anyone who knows a lot about Harlock should understand why this isn't necessarily out of character for him. Also, like some of the previous Harlock stories, it has the "tale of two Harlocks" going on with the main character, Yama. Pretty obvious what's going on here again for fans. Out with the old, in with the new. They also added a kind of cyberpunk/dieselpunk vibe to the whole thing, which I'm alright with as well. Most of the main character design styles seem relatively in tact, which is a staple of the Leijiverse.

In short, if you're just a casual viewer you'll really enjoy the visuals, but probably find the character development and plot taking a jarring turn that leaves the second half with little direction. If you're a fan you'll probably love the hell out of it.

Pretty much, yeah. Special effects aside and a few cool looking scenes, I wasn't fully invested in the plot as I'd have hoped to be. Doesn't compare with the original series but it's not trying to which is a decent outlook on the movie makers part if they were to get new fans into the franchise.

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Forced to go watch it in the theater because a friend visiting wanted to see it the night we met up. Barring 1 genuinely funny scene, this was boring. The only good that came out of this was watching Tika on the big screen.

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Caught Noah on IMAX before Winter Soldier came out and dominated all IMAX screen times. It's Aronofsky's weakest film but pretty enjoyable because at it's core it's more of an action/ adventure than some of his usual mind-benders or overly philosophical movies. He's touched a similar concept in The Fountain. The soundtrack has grown on me A LOT and I've been listening to it all week, and yet, not as emotional as The Fountain. The 'watchers' reminded me of
the tree beings in LOTR with the way they walked slow or the sound of their voice
and there's a pretty horrific scene when
you could hear people wailing on top of a cliff begging to be saved + a wave hits them and they fall like ants into the ocean
. Crowe steals the show and is menacing in the 3rd act. Probably a 7/ 10 ... and I want to watch this again when it comes out on BR.

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Caught the last show for River Of Fundament directed by Mathew Barney (Napalm Death) and sat through, enjoyed most part of the 5/ 5 and a half hour film. It's Barney's most mainstream movie featuring the likes of Giamatti, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Ellen Burstyn. I didn't understand half of what was being said but what I took from my experience was the visual and sound side of the movie which was very good. I wish this's something I could watch again but I probably will never get the chance ... I've heard his movie prints usually would get auctioned for a lot of money in the art world : (
 
Watched Raging Bull yesterday. An old classic I'd missed.

Very, very impressed. In a way exploring the dark side of certain characteristics of trying to be a "manly man"...
Very brutal and full of perspective, especially if you've had jealousy issues in your past. Amazing acting. Everyone should see this. :void:
 
I recently went to see "Oculus" in theaters and well... It wasn't that good! :troll: I kind of had my doubts going into it initially but over the weekend I got bored and decided to try and fill my movie void until Godzilla and Guardians of the Galaxy come out. The funniest thing is that WWE Studios was behind it? lol what? Yeah, maybe that had something to do with the quality of the film. :ganishka: Anyway, don't waste your time or money to see this (I'm sure most of you are smart enough not to do that in the first place).
 
Didn't know Oculus was out, early promo's were not promising.

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Last night's blind watch - Grand Piano. The opening sequence is smooth and there's good build up until the end. Frodo plays his part well and while the plot's far-fetched, it's different and kind of works. The ending felt like a downer, still a good movie to check out.

I feel like the more I don't know what the movie's about (plot/ trailer), the more enjoyable it is for me.

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Joe is Nicholas Cage's best movie in over a decade and he's part of the reason for it too, not just everyone else. He plays an ex-con trying to be a role model to Ty Sheridian's character (Mud, Tree Of Life) who comes from a poor, abusive family. But it's not that simple, Joe battles his own demons ... fits of bad rage and alcohol. The cinematography and score remind me of Mud. Recommended.

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I sat through a not so good rip of Enemy only because I missed seeing it in the theater and was in the mood for it. The movie didn't disappoint. Jake re-teams with his Prisoner's director for this pretty cool psychological thriller, tone of which is somewhat alike The Machinist (soundtrack, eerie mood ... except the fact that the colors on screen are more burnt yellow~y). But it's great because answers aren't straightforward and it got me thinking about it. Jake's character is a History professor, he's recommended a movie from a colleague where he believes he sees his doppelganger acting in it. He goes on a quest to find out about this actor but it's not going to be straightforward. Watch this blind, don't check out trailers although I may have mentioned it in the Upcoming Movies thread. This's for fans of The Machinist, or Memento. The end surprised me in a good way,
a bit horrific
. Recommended.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was not as good as The Amazing Spider-Man. As a matter of fact, it's among the least of the Spider-Man movies. Which is a shame because it's competently made and has some good parts (surprisingly beautiful at times), but they just don't add up. It's plot is messy, meandering and imbalanced (somehow there's not enough action, yet all the talky talky doesn't build any stakes when there is and some plot elements go absolutely nowhere). It indeed suffers from its multiple villains and they come off as caricatures (The Lizard was, ironically, far more human than this lot; Rhino and every scene involving him is a fucking embarrassment), and you don't really feel anything for the characters but contempt for how dumb and whiny they are. It basically lost the common touch that made the first one worthwhile and becomes just another generic, flawed comicbook movie. I mean, Spider-Man 3 had more impressive storytelling (relatively speaking) and just plain fun bullshit if you're going to watch a hot mess anyway. Yeah.

Current Spider-Man movie rankings:

Spider-Man 2
The Amazing Spider-Man
Spider-Man
The Amazing Spider-Man 2
Spider-Man 3 (still last because it aggressively shits all over so much while being bad, ASM2 is just fatally flawed in a passive sense)
 
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