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Hanny looks at Scorsese's GANGS OF NEW YORK!
Hey folks, Harry here.... Now we have Hanny writing in on Scorsese's long in the coming GANGS OF NEW YORK! You might remember Hanny from her wonderful accounting of the Lord of the Rings Lincoln Center event all those months ago. How anyone could believe that it would be necessary to have 'plants' on a Scorsese film... well that's ridiculous, the man simply makes some of the rawest most intensely intelligent cinema that we've had over the past 3 decades and heading into a fourth... So enjoy the word that a great Scorsese film is coming this summer. That is something celebrate, not to lament. Here's Hanny...
Hello Harry! I had the privilege of seeing Martin Scorsese's "The Gangs of New York" last night.
The time is 1846 and the place is New York's 5 points.The movie opens up with 'Priest' Vallon (Liam Neeson) carrying a huge Celtic cross leading his gang, The Dead Rabbits, and other immigrant gangs (predominantly Irish) into battle. His young son Amsterdam holds his hand at his side. They march through what looks to be a huge underground basement below a building. Some very cool Celtic music is playing that really gets your blood flowing.
They open a door and enter the snow covered streets of New York. Seconds later Billy "the Butcher" Poole (Daniel Day Lewis) steps out from a nearby building. Then his other fellow gang members, The Natives, follow and confront Vallon and his crew.
Words are exchanged between the two gang leaders and the Butcher lets it known that he considers himself a true American unlike the immigrants that come here and ruin his country. They also speak of ancient battle laws that both sides apparently follow.
A shocking violent (but very very cool) battle ensues with people maiming each other with knives, axes, poles and bludgeoning weapons. There is even a lady with metal (or just sharpened) teeth and metal claws that kicks some ass when she fights. There is a broken ankle scene in this battle that will make you twist in shock in your seat. Vallon is killed in the battle and his gang is defeated. The name of the Dead Rabbits is declared illegal to speak by The Butcher.The Butcher will not allow anyone to touch Vallon and showing great respect for him ( ancient battle laws?) he tells his gang, "He shall pass over whole".
Amsterdam escapes and spends 16 years in some kind of boys home. After being released, Amsterdam (now played by Dicaprio) returns to the 5 points with revenge on his mind but ends up being The Butcher's right hand man.
I'm not going to tell you much more than that because everyone deserves to sit in the theatre and watch how this movie unfolds. You will be introduced to the corrupt Mayor Tweed (another fine performance) and the surprisingly great Cameron Diaz as Jen. I'm not the type of guy that likes love stories in violent movies(and yes this movie is VIOLENT) but this one was done well. There is a very interesting triangle between Butcher, Amsterdam, and Jen and you will just have to wait til summer to find out.
I am not a big Dicaprio fan but I think that has more to do with the image he has had over the years than anything. I will finally go on record and say that this guy is one fine actor. I'll proabably take some flak for that from friends but it's the truth. I know quite a few people were wondering if he could pull this off and believe me.........HE DOES. He has some fantastic scenes with Day Lewis and Diaz especially one in a bedroom with The Butcher sitting in a chair bloodied with an American flag wrapped around him. COOL SCENE! You will agree with me hands down once you see it.
Daniel Day Lewis should absolutely get nominated for an Oscar and he will. I'll bet money on that with anyone! This guy was incredible! I went into the movie figuring he was going to play an Irishman but ended up playing an immigrant hater with a NY accent. You don't fuck with this guy in any shape or form. He'll take you apart so fast and systematically with his knife or axe you won''t even know your dead. He is the leader of the 5 points with heavy influence and that is established right off the bat. The movie is just another testament to his fine acting ability like "My Left foot" and "In the Name of the Father" were.
The movie ends with the draft riots and a big big battle that will knock your socks off. The movie was very educational as well as entertaining and more than satisfied me on all levels. I knew nothing of the draft riots and wouldn't even of guessed that there were any during the Civil War. Most people I talked to today about the movie didn't know much about the riots either. It apparently was the biggest riot in the history of the United States and there is not an accurate account of how many died according to the movie. Very interesting indeed!
Also, i am the son of Irish immigrants and it was shocking to see the prejudice showed against the Irish during the 1800's. I knew there was a time in this country that we couldn't use the same bathrooms as others and it was hard for us to get jobs but to actually see it on the big screen hit home.
The music was cool but sounded more like John Carpenter composed it. I know the music wasn't completely finished so it could change dramatically before it is released this summer but i hope they keep that cool Celtic type music that they used when they were marching into battle. The special effects shots were not completely finished either. There was one scene where they were dumping bodies into a pit and you clearly see the blue screen. Another was when they had a boxing match on a floating barge and you could actually see people floating in mid air..hehe. NO doubt that will all be cleared up before this masterpiece hits theatres.
If this is a barometer for movies in 2002 then we are in for a kick ass year.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot this little tidbit. The movie came in at 3 hours long and it was a great 3 hours all the way through.
Hanny
P.S. I read the review by Estranged and I can tell you he is not a studio plant. They showed the movie last night in Ridgefield Park NJ to a capacity crowd. I never waited in line so long to buy a soda.
I love how these talk backers like to throw mud at people that just want to drop the skinny on this movie or any other movie They called me a studio plant when I wrote in to tell about Ripley's game.. One talkbacker commented that Estranged's review was not a review and that Harry shouldn't of posted it. Well we are not professional movie reviewers! We are movie geeks like most people that read this site and we want to get the word out that there is a fantastic movie coming out this year and it's called Gangs of New York.
Like most others in the talkback, i didn't have much hope for Diaz or Dicaprio going into this but you WILL be pleasantly surprised. I love Daniel day Lewis and i will watch anything he is in but the rest of the cast is amazing..Jim Broadbent, Brendon gleeson and John C. Reilly are just a few that you will be impressed with. From top to bottom the acting and story are great.
I also heard the guy next to me complain of the violence in the movie. The sad thing about that was IT WAS A GUY!! Get a grip dude! He said that even though that is how blood shoots out of the body when an artery is cut they shouldn't of showed it.
He should have went to see Snow Dogs next door. Didn't he know who scorsese was? Hllo? He directed some very violent movies in the past!
Anyway, i don't even know if you if your going to post my review of GONY but you can add this if you want.
Hanny
P.S. I was one of the people that got to meet Wood, Bean, and Bloom at lincoln center back in September at the behind the scenes show of LOTR. I wrote in and you posted my review of the night and how I got them to sign my poster.
Take Care
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:) I can't wait to see this movie!!
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It sounds very promosing. Good to see more films like this being made. I miss them.
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can't wait 2 c it
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And claws? In a Scorsese film? Maybe I misread that. Anyway, I'm well looking forward to Marty showing all the other style-over-substance wanna-be's how to do a proper Overly-Long-historical-epic-with-gutwrenching-violence (I'm talking to YOU Mr. Bay!). One of my favorite genres, the longer, the better. Perhaps after watching this, Ridley will figure out what characters are (doubt it; who needs characters when you have flashy editing, and Rusty biting guys on the neck, like he did in Coff's Harbour). If only Marty did Sci-Fi. His version of Shirow's Appleseed would wreak utter fucking havoc. Note to Studio Execs: next time you are thinking of giving money to Michael Bay, follow these instructions. Lure him into a windowless room with a fake script for Bad Boys II (try saying something like, "Come on! They're black, and they talk funny! Shit blows up! It'll put you right back on top!" and so forth. When he is inside, hit him over the head with one of his pay cheques (wrapped around a brick, obviously). This should kill him, but hit him a few times to be sure. Do not worry: you will enjoy this. Cut the body into small pieces. Then, put the pieces into the trunk of a car, set it alight, while dangling from a helicopter, and drop the car on Nic Cage's house as a warning not to do any more shitty films. Note the subtle metaphor for Cage's career, integrity, etc. Despite the thirty years you will spend in jail, I guarantee you that the satisfying feeling of a job well done will tide you over nicely. Or, you could not go through all of this trouble, and give Marty all the money instead. Thank you.
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We all know that this has been the Scorsese dream project for the last 25 years. The trailer blew dog! But the man is a genius, so I am looking forward to seeing this. $100 million? Normal budget nowadays, but I want an epic experience without a shitload of CGI. From what I've heard, Scorsese has scrapped most of the 1993 draft written by himself and Jay Cocks (not a bad script). I don't know if Steven Zailian and Ken Lonegran were the right choices for a polish, but like I said, Scorsese can pull almost anything off. We need to see a truly great director show the talentless hacks of today how to make a film. Let's have real acting and storytelling please, for those assholes who say that Paul Thomas Anderson is a better director than Martin Scorsese........FUCK YOU!
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Feb 04, 2002 9:13:36 AM CST
Not a Good Scorcese film in 20 years? What are you on about, you
by aquatarkusman
Goodfellas? Last Temptation of Christ? Age of Innocence? Hell, Casino only suffers because of its length and obvious comparisons to Goodfellas. Kundun was a richly filmed, interesting picture. But, in all fairness, putting Nicolas Cage in anything these days does show a moderate amount of slippage in the casting department.
Metal teeth?!? METAL TEETH?!? Richard Kiel's great-grandmother? I'll never forget when he chomped through the steel cable in the Spy Who Loved Me. -
Don't jump too hard on someone who's cringing at the violence here. I read a draft of the screenplay (which I thought was very good) but was pretty shocked at just HOW violent it was, just on paper. I figured it would take a lot of sleight-of-hand to pull off an R rating if they were really going to show this stuff. I mean, we're talking about some pretty barbaric weapons, folks; people fighting with boards with nails in them, and so on. I'm sure I'll go, but just reading that stuff was pretty wince-inducing.
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You arrogant fuck, eat shit. Dork.
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How can you say Spielberg doesn't show violence if the movie calls for it? Ryan, Amistad, Schindlers anyone? Anyway, this movie sounds very promising, Scorsese has made some of my favourite movies and the kind of passion the man the guy feels for the film will probably give it a lot of vitality.
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I don't need you to tell me what is and isn't a grammatical error. I'm just grateful for the review. You should be too, you arrogant c*ck
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Nobody knows if GONY will be good. That's a personal decision after each person sees the movie. But if anyone doesn't have July 16th marked on their calendar, then you need to have you're head examined. What are you gonna look forward to? That LOTR shit? The new P.T. "Don't call me Paul T." Anderson shit? The same old Austin Power shit? Hairless Potter? I hesitate to call Scorsese one of our great masters because it makes him sound like a museum piece. He is every bit as vital as he has been the past three decades. But I guess some of you asswipes won't believe that until he makes a hobbit movie. And I repeat: If you think he hasn't done anything since GoodFellas, then you don't know shit. Watch Life Lessons. Watch Age of Innocence. Watch Kundun. Get your head out of your ass and just watch! And learn!
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Feb 04, 2002 1:03:45 PM CST
the woman with the fangs and claws is not a made up aspect of th
by zsasz
There was a factual woman that Scorsez used a character reference. She was called Hell Cat Maggie and she was one of many women combatants in NY's gang wars. Her teeth were filed into fangs and had she attached large brass fingernails to her fingers.
I am very interested in seeing this movie and more importantly,seeing peoples reaction to it. This movie brings up some interesting aspects of American history, our perception of todays events, and how todays media displays those events to us. If you were to ask people to compare the morals and attitudes of todays society with those of " the good ole' days", most people would say that there has been a serious decline in morals, particularly in regards to violence. The sad thing is that nothing could be further from the truth and its nothing more than media manipulation that creates that mindset. Our media has trained us to cry every time a little girl falls down a well, a man gets killed for his wallet, or a woman gets raped. Obviously, its not wrong to feel sympathy and show concern in regards to something like that, but can you only imagine how it would have been to live during that time when events like that were so commonplace they wouldnt have even been reported. I'm talking about a time when GROUPS of cops wouldn't go into New Yorks Hell's Kitchen for fear of getting killed. This was a time when gangs outright ruled the city; when governmental corruption was flaunted and bodies piled up in New Yorks alley ways and sewers. During this time, Americas greatest city was the scene of a large scale race/draft riot that left over 2,000 dead and 10,000 more injuried. In addition to such "human events" stories there was also such city- wide news stories like a serious movement to have New York seccede from the Union and become its own country AND the fact that a large portion of the 5-Points area was actually sinking ino the bay. That is some serious shit not the driveled up shark attacks are up, Condit intern scandal, tomatoes cause cancer/prevent cancer bullshit that we are all privy to toady. It just goes to show you how much bullshit our media outlets actualy spew out, how they make the most trivial event catastrophic and how much better of we have it today. -
Forget to mention anything else Hanny. :) I can't wait to see this movie, thanks for the review!!!
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hanny! i just want to say that you are right with what you wrote about talkback and us geeks!!
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This film seems determined to succeed, despite everything that could go wrong with it (a miscast Cameron Diaz, the loathesome Di Caprio). In prior posts, I have already detailed the abysmal, limited track record of Scorcese with historical pieces. However, nobody, but nobody quite does mob type violence the way he does. I'm quite frankly looking forward to GONY, given what I've heard of it, thus far.******************************
As for the draft riots, it's sad those get excluded from history books (keep in mind this is me talking here, I'm only asking for complete history in the interest of fact) because they were the absolute worst riots in our history. Several blacks were lynched, NY burned, it was chaos until federal troops were ordered by Lincoln to put it down. Anytime you kids hear someone cry about LA/King riots, tell them that little bedtime story and see if they'll perhaps gain a new perspective. -
Fist, Thelemite, i'm glad you figured me all out by reading what I had to say about GONY. I betrayed myself, i showed a lack of confidence, i'm stupid etc etc. Yet, I clearly state in my review that I am "the SON of Irish immigrants". You keep referring to me as a "she". You betray YOURSELF and you apparently can not read. If you require Shakesperean type writing then you are on the wrong site.
I did forget to mention a few other things about the movie. There was this one scene where rival firefighters battled each other for the rights to put out a fire. The both converge on the scene of a fire at once and begin to pummel eachy other. Sound like a load of crap?? It's not, trust me. According to the movie it was a common occurrence for firefighters to battle each other. I don't know how historically accurate this is but it's worth looking into.
Also, the absolute final time Dicaprio and Day Lewis appear together on the screen was anti-climatic in my opinion. A few of my cohorts liked it but it didn't seem to fit. I am real interested in hearing what others will say about that particular scene.
The movie was fantastic overall! I could not believe some of the performances. I know your all saying "sure sure..Dicaprio and Diaz bite". Thats is what i was saying going into it but I am glad I was dead wrong! -
So you don't get why "Mean Streets" is so great? Let's see: It opens with Scorcese himself saying the truest words ever spoken in American film ("You don't pay for your sins in the church. You pay for them in the street.") We get one of the coolest soundtracks ever ("Be My Baby" over the opening credits, as well as plenty of Stones, doowop, and Italian folk music). We have a two-hour insider's look at Little Italy while the rest of the world only comes down there for the San Generro Festival. We have Keitel trying desperately to be a good person while still being a ganster and learning too late he cannot do both. We have DeNiro giving the performance that would make him a star and land him the role of young Vito Corleone in "The Godfather II." We have future film producer Amy Robinson showing she was a damn fine actress and, hell, just damn fine back in '73. We have sudden violence, hysterical unexpected comedy, lots of cool clothes, Italian slang. It's the low-budget proving ground for "Goodfellas." I mean Jesus Christ, what more do you want?! You simply cannot call yourself a film fan, yet alone a sentiate human being, and not appreciate this masterpiece.
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I've got to agree with Torella on this one: if you can't see Mean Streets for the breakout directorial performance by Martin Scorsese (as well as just a damn fine film that holds up just FINE today), get the hell out of any audience I want to associate with. Mean Streets is every bit on the level that Taxi Driver is..you could even make a case for it (*gasp*) being better due to its pure rawness and direct immediacy.
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i think you have to give mean streets another shot. don't hold the budget of the film against scorsese's ability, even at that young age. at one point, corman actually had this crazy idea of making it with an all black cast, which scorsese considered if there were no other ways to ger the picture made. thankfully we got italians in little italy, but that sheds some light on the extreme budgetary constraints they were up against. you can see all of the raw 'gangster' type themes that permeate most all of his later work for the first time in that film, albiet in a very raw form. besides, "how much did you take him for", "twenty dollars", "twenty dollars, let's go to the movies". classic.
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i guess. i mean, mean streets is fucking great, but what i like even moreso is 'who's that knocking on my door?'. and 'the last temptation of christ' is, in my opinion one of the best movies ever made, and, as a non-christian, more spiritually moving than sunday mass. 'bringing out the dead' is another movie that is consistently bashed, but i found to be very good. it seems like the type of people who bash mean streets lack an ability to take into consideration the means in which a film is made. i mean, its a very very low-budget film made in the early seventies, and obviously he's not going to be at the same place visually as he is in his prime. but they're still great by my standards. you can disagree all you'd like, but i simply find it unfair to bash his earlier movies, and even his later movies for that matter, as poorly made or bad films. everything the man does is well made, he's a passionate filmmaker with a genius knowledge of the subject, you obviously don't have to like it, just give credit where credit's due. while scorcese is one of my favorite director's, there are still a few of his film's i haven't seen and probably won't see, for lack of interest in subject matter (altho i'd probably be doing myself a favor to see them). but my favorite film's of his would probably be 'taxi driver,' 'raging bull,' 'the last temptation of christ,' and 'bringing out the dead.' with 'who's that knocking at my door' and 'mean streets' close behind in their own little category. wow, ok, enough with my inner monologue, i'm done fucking rambling.
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That's it, morons! Watching Mean Streets is like listening to a great jazz piece. It goes in every direction, is unafraid to wear its heart on its sleeve, explodes and implodes, and always leaves you on a spiritual high. Anyone who thinks it's "amateurish" better get their head out of Peter Jackson's ass and start hitting the video store: Put down the Frodo action figures and rent ANY Scorsese movie: There's a million times more passion and artistry than in one frame of that CGI piece of shit. Listen class: King of Comedy is a masterpiece. Life Lessons is the best short movie ever made. Age of Innocence is like a beautiful bottle of Visconti. Ok? Class dismissed. If lesson not learned, you need not return.
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PLEASE. The mouse who complained about the violence In "Gangs of New York" at the screening should be banned from ALL cinema forever, dragged out into the street, drawn and quartered and then hung from the marquee outside the theatre with a "Got Milk" sign wrapped around his dome. Are you kidding me? "Gangs of New York" is a film about.......HELLO! VIOLENT STREET GANGS IN NEW YORK!...DUH! Now would the big wussy who complained about the violence in the movie at the screening please explain to me how someone makes a film about VIOLENT STREET GANGS IN NEW YORK...without violence. Wimps who complain about screen violence should wear dresses and blonde wigs and ply their trade on the street on a daily basis.
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I've just read the review and am now at a complete lose as to what to do until the release of GONY. I know we've got Ali and things to keep us entertained but GONY sounds like it will leave you bleeding from the arse.(and not just because of the length)And its about time a modern day method actor like Day Lewis hooked up with the man Scorcesse, who will no doubt have us all screaming with all the emoitions from sheer terror to complete joy and back round again to what the hells going on here then, oh now i understand! Bring it on Scorcesse
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Try dropping by your local Borders, and look for the Big Book of Thugs. Not the best one in the series (Big Book of Bad is better), but it has some great stories about a large variety of sub-humans who used to prowl the streets of New York.
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you're right, who's that knocking is an underrated flick. i love that high angle dolly move of the guys beating the shit out of that kid on the street that swoops down right into the fight, just like raging bull 10 years later. like i said before, themes, cinematography, even some narrative ideas, all got established early in his career and then developed from there. that is what makes his body of work so interesting, to watch those aspects evolve. no one since hitchcock has been that consistent. gony will be better than any film that peter jackson will ever make. oh, and mcool, day lewis already hooked up with the man, it was called the age of innocence.
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If you think it's about time that Daniel Day Lewis hooked up with Scorsese, maybe you should take a look at "The Age of Innocence." **** Also, for the fella who sings the praises of Innocence, Life Lessons and the King of Comedy -- you're absolutely right. They're three masterworks unjustly overlooked.
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Sounds like a book some dumb natives would base their culture on in a bad Trek episode.
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If the rumor is true that the ending sequence includes a shot of 1800's New York morphing into modern New York WITH the WTC towers, that will be a balsy class act move by Martin, when all these other pansy politically correct filmmakers rushed to edit out any shots of the WTC, Marty seems to "get it" that you don't honor the past by pretending it never happened.
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...the reason the movie was delayed was because they at least were planning on altering the "ballsy" morph of 1850s NY to modern NY with the WTC.
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Feb 05, 2002 7:17:36 PM CST
DESPITE ALL YOUR SPUTTERING RAGE AND DEFENSIVE POSTURING (NOT TO
by lt. torello
I know you're not obligated to. It's just a silly talkback, but if you're gonna attack a classic (and "Mean Streets" IS a classic), especially in a lion's den of Scorcese fanatics, then show us a little insight, wow us with some observations, deconstruct the thing. Hell, Film Comment did a great destructo piece on "Taxi Driver" a few years ago. I completely disagreed with it but it was fascinating to read. Instead, you just say "it sucks." I'll say it again -- You're a mook, Lost Highway.
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I don't care if this is Scorcese directed it. I dont care how great Lewis is in it. I don't care how epic it is. I don't care how bloody the battles are. I don't even care about the Irish storyline and I'm of Irish descent. Simply put this movie has DICRAPRIO (not a misspelling) in it and that means no pticket purchase for me.
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first, to floyd: its nice to see a similar minded response, i was expecting to be called a fucking asshole for liking something again. and to losthighway: well, i, for one, am not saying you have to like anything, but feel its really unfair to say something that scorcese's done "sucks," especially without any follow up, as another talbacker expressed. i mean, the term "sucks" is generally reserved for straight-to-video movies, money-milking sequels, pointless remakes, and movies with no discernable purpose, such as 3000 miles to graceland or schindler's list. that last part was a joke i couldn't resist, and that i feel obligated to spell out just in case. "sucky" movies are a category all there own, i like movies that "suck", especially the ones that swallow. ok, i've been up well over 24 hours and can't resist bad jokes. please forgive this, because i really am trying to make a point. which is basically that i don't think its fair to say that mean streets belongs in the suck category with things like batman and robin and anything with humphrey bogart. ok, i'm just being a dick now, but hopefully its apparent where the bad jokes are placed and where the true message is conveyed. if not, oh well, citizen kane can go fuck himself. see ya later!
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