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Top Ten Nostalgic Movies That Remind Me Of My Childhood

Posted on by jadedsteelereviews
  • I feel like I haven’t done one of these in a while, so as you could’ve of guessed from the title this is a top ten list of those nostalgic movies that I grew up with as a child, some are old and some are in my opinion good old classics, so with out further ado let’s take a look at number ten.

    • 10: Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey

    I remember owning this when good old VHS was still around, for Christmas my parents bought a Disney remastered DVD of Homeward Bound, I used to watch this film to death, every time my parents when to have a movie night bam! Homeward Bound would be in there.

    I only recently learnt that this is a remake of a sixties maybe seventies adaption of a book (yeah I didn’t know it was a book either) the film follows a golden retriever named Shadow an American bulldog named Chance and a Himalayan cat named Sassy as they try to make their way home back to their owners.

    There’s a certain scene in this film that still to this day I cannot watch and that is when Sassy slips and falls in to the water and gets swept away by the current, still at 25 years of age I cannot and will not watch that scene still to this day.

    9: The Never Ending Story

    Unlike the sequels this is the film of the 80s, I was six maybe seven when my dad showed me this film and ever since then I fell in love with it, the film follows a little boy named Bastian who loves to read books, he also gets bullied by three other boys, he “borrows” a book from a grumpy old bookstore owner and thus begins his journey to the land of Fantasia which is being overrun by a evil entity known only as The Nothing.

    In Fantasia a boy named Atreyu must save the Childlike Empress from dying by searching for a cure all while avoiding a wolf like creature named g’mork.

    A little trivia for you now, the film was slated by the author Micheal Ende who wrote the book, much like Stephen King’s hatred of Stanley Kubrick’s adaption of The Shining Micheal Ende sued its director Wolfgang Pietersen for destroying the source material from which the film was based on, Ende eventually lost the court case and nothing come from it, the film was released in nineteen eighty four to critical acclaim.

    8: Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

    A New Hope kicked off my love for all things Star Wars but it’s Empire Strikes Back that makes it on to the list, mainly because of that infamous twist in with Darth Vader reveals that Luke is his father.

    I remember watching that specific part then running to my mum and dad who were in the middle of cooking dinner all while feeding my younger sister who was I believe three maybe two, I remember running in to the kitchen and yelling “Darth Vader is Luke’s daddy!!!!” My mum and dad looked at each other and said to me “did you see it coming?” I said “no I didn’t how is that possible” bearing in mind this is before Revenge Of The Sith came out so this must of been at least 2001-02.

    Every time I watch this movie I’m drawn back to that time so this film holds a very very special place in my heart, also look online for various other children reacting to that very very famous scene some are very very very adorable indeed and melt your heart.

    7: Romeo And Juliet (1996)

    I was 12 years old when I first discovered Baz Lurhman, specifically I was in year eight all the way back in 2008, we were learning about Shakespeare we handpicked a selection of his plays, our English teacher chose this particular to appeal to the boys and also to the girls as well, it appealed to the boys because of the guns and car chases and very rapidly shot action sequences and quick camera cuts (a Baz Lurhman signature style of cinematography)

    I actually enjoyed this film so much that I actually asked my English teacher if I could borrow the video (it was 08 and VHS was still around) anyway she let me borrow it and my journey in to Baz Lurhman films began, so a massive thank you to my English teacher back at school for broadening my horizons.

    6: Every Single Rugrats Movie That Came Out

    Being a kid of the 2000s you either grew up with one or two cartoons, Rugrats or Spongebob, the latter came out when I was six and after watching the first episode air I immediately fell in love and still to this day quote lines from the show very very often, back when I was a kid I felt like Spongebob carefree and happy, nowadays I can relate to squidward on a level that I can’t even comprehend!

    Still the Rugrats holds a special place in my heart, I owned every single film they released on VHS and on DVD, I still to this day despise Angelica, she was one of those cartoon characters that I detested with a passion.

    I can remember going to the cinema to see the first Rugrats movie, I also went cinema to see Rugrats In Paris, heck I even went to see Rugrats Go Wild where they crossed over with the Wild Thornberries (seeing that on the big screen was like seeing the avengers for the first time)

    5 Homeward Bound 2: Lost In San Francisco

    Yep I also had this on VHS as well and like the first Homeward Bound I fell in love with it, sure it’s not grand and epic like the first one but still it’s Homeward Bound come on, it follows the formula as what the first one did, animals get lost and they try to find their way back to their owners.

    Thankfully there’s no waterfalls in this one so I had no trouble watching this film in its entirety.

    4 Free Willy

    That opening scene, that opening score woah I am transported back to when I was little growing up, I was around seven maybe eight when I discovered this movie, this film got me into killer whales they are such fascinating creatures, very very intelligent as well, I believe my uncle showed me this movie one summer, still it’s a nostalgic emotional ride every time that opening scene plays.

    3: Harry Potter (Every single One)

    Yes every single Harry Potter film I have been to see at the cinema, I was six when the Philosophers Stone came out and I was sixteen when The Deathly Hallows Part two came out, for ten years I’ve grown up with the wizarding world of Harry Potter and they still stand the test of time to this day and age, and yes these are the films that age like a fine wine.

    2: The Lord Of The Rings Franchise

    Yes, I was in primary school when these films came out, I had all the PS2 games that went with them, I had all the dvds all the posters and action figures, basically I was a die hard Lord Of The Rings fan and so were three of my classmates, we used to play it out in the playground (I was always gimli on account of my small physique) still to this day I hate my two mates for making me that guy.

    1: Every Single Disney Movie Ever Made

    You name it I’ve watched it, there isn’t a single Disney movie that I haven’t seen ever!!! You could say I’m a die hard Disney fan and I’m not afraid to admit it but I am, there’s just something magical about tuning in to a good old fashioned Disney movie, The Lion King still stands as one of the greatest Disney movies ever made, the soundtrack is amazing the songs are catchy as hell, and yes all you guys reading this I enjoyed Frozen, just let it go! (See what I did there) anyway, Disney still stands the test of time, most of their films have been adapted in to live action remakes and stage shows and yet they still bring us touching emotional movies still do this day.

    So there you have it, my top ten list of nostalgic movies that remind me of my childhood, what movies make you feel nostalgic, let me know, are you Disney buff or a nineteen eighties buff, I would love to know what movies remind you of your childhood.

    As always guys catch ya later:)

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    Ready Player One, One Of The Greatest Films I Have Seen At The Cinema Ever!

    Posted on by jadedsteelereviews

    That’s a pretty bold statement to make if I do say so myself, but it’s true Ready Player One is possibly one of Spielberg’s best work yet, again another pretty bold statement to make, but it’s decidedly true.

    Based on the book by Ernest Cline Ready Player One follows the story of Wade Watts, a teenage boy living in Ohio in the near future, the town he lives in is chock full of trailers piled high on top of one another, to escape the real world people use virtual reality headsets to go to a place called The Oasis, when the creator of The Oasis dies, he sets out a challenge to all Oasis players… find three keys, simple enough but no other player has found the three keys.

    The first key is hidden in the form of a massive race through a simulated New York City, cue the first lot of hidden Easter eggs for you guys to find, you have The Delorean which Wade uses in the race, the light motorcycle from Tron and of course King Kong and the T Rex from Jurassic Park… yeah where else are you gonna see King Kong and the T Rex in the same movie.

    Basically the whole movie is chock full of Easter eggs for you to hunt and find, there’s one part halfway through the film the characters go through a simulation of the Stanley Kubrick movie The Shining…. uh huh yep original soundtrack as well including the song that plays at the end of The Shining. Ready Player One is one of the greatest times I had at the cinema, everybody was pointing at the screen recognising every Easter egg, oh shout out to the guy who ruined part of the film by standing up and yelling “oh hell no their in The Shining, screw this shit” and then proceeded to run out of the cinema flailing his arms about like a headless chicken, hats off to you dude.

    Do yourself a favour go and watch Ready Player One it’s possibly the most fun you’ll have watching a film, oh and read the book as well, there’s so many more Easter eggs in the book as well, plus there’s rumours of a sequel as well with even more Easter eggs packed in too. Ready Player One gets a 10/10 from me, anyway guys until next time catch ya later.

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    Goodbye Christopher Robin, Emotional, Nostalgic, Eye Opening And Down Right Interesting

    Posted on by jadedsteelereviews

    Now I am going to be completely honest here with you now…. I loved Winnie The Pooh….. there I said it I loved Winnie the Pooh growing up, I remember the movies, the TV shows that came out I remember everything about Winnie the Pooh, I watched the trailer for this film way back in September and I’m not going to lie but I cried a little, I mean it was nostalgic hearing the names of the Winnie the Pooh characters, but what this film does is explains how the books and the relationship of Christopher Robin and A.A Milne were like and how they came about the idea of writing Winnie the Pooh.

    To be honest I had an idea what the relationship between A.A Milne and Christopher Robin were like basically cut a long story short Christopher Robin whose real name was Billy Moone wanted his father to write a book, originally Milne wanted to write a book about the First World War and how it has affected people, Christopher Robin wanted Milne to write a book for him and so he did, inventing the honey loving bear we all know and love and have shown it to many of our children and grandchildren.

    As time went on Christopher was getting famous Milne was making money and Christopher was hating it, he became resentful of his father and was not liking his new found fame as a famous character in the world famous books, he hated having to do interviews for papers and radio thus his reason for hating his father.

    The film is terrific and sheds some light on the origin of Pooh Bear…. okay can we ignore the fact that I called him Pooh bear please thank you…. anywho I loved this film it’s emotional near the ending as an older Robin forgives Milne after Robin is found to have gone missing while serving in the war, it does pack an emotional punch especially for people who remember Winnie the Pooh growing up, now for the acting well 10/10 for the acting let’s talk about the cast. So Domnhall Gleeson plays A.A Milne, Margot Robbie plays his wife and newcomer Will Tilston plays the younger Christopher Robin with Alex Lawther playing the older Christopher Robin, all in all Goodbye Christopher Robin is an absolute classic in my eyes it’s an eye opening story and a good little history lesson for those who are interested I give this film a solid 10/10 anyway guys until next time catch ya later 🙂

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    Technology Has It Gotten Worse Or Has It Improved

    Posted on by jadedsteelereviews

    Again I’m not reviewing a movie I am once again tackling something that really grates on me… technology, I.e iPhones and iPads smartphones and silly gadgets that help improve your smartphone screen… why am I bringing this up, because I watched a video recently titled “pictures to make you feel old” and on there was photos of gadgets I had when I was knee high to a grass hopper…. Christ did I just really say that damn I am old.

    I was born in 1995 on a Valentine’s Day one of the most romantic times of the year… still single…. anywho technology since the year I was born has changed dramatically, we’ve had iPod touches and iPhones galore, since then everyone has become a screen zombie, I watched a film recently called Cell waste of time to be honest with you it was crap, in that film hackers hack in to phones and make people turn in to bloodthirsty rabid foaming-at-mouths zombies, and it got me thinking…. damn that’s scary, think about it we use our phones everyday and night, we listen to music on them, heck we even watch videos of funny cats, but the reason I’m talking about this is because we’ve gotten so attached to our screens that we don’t even know what’s going on around us.

    Who remembers the good old days when Tamagotchi’s were dominating the playground and the indestructible Nokia phone was cracking pavements and VHS tapes were still a thing. Story time… I recently had someone come up to me with a video cassette in hand and I kid you not this kid said to me “where’s the screen so I can watch the film” let me tell you I was shocked, children are the future, they could be future leaders and politicians future scientists finding the cure for cancer, but sadly technology is stopping them from achieving that, I was at a party and every single child was on their phone, worst of all they were bloody texting each other, their in the same bloody room.

    This brings me on to another subject and that’s couples, couples should be talking with another getting to know one another, but recently I’ve seen couples constantly on their phone, instagramming it up adding filters to their food… okay I admit I do this but I take one photo put it away and edit it when I get in. I was in the cinema recently watching Jumanji 2 (review coming soon) and all I could see was the glow emanating from smart phones, one woman even had her ringtone blare out at one pivotal part of the film, your out with your family put the phone away, communicate with each other, spark up a conversation with a stranger, just get off your phone… okay rant over so until next time guys catch ya later 🙂

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    Films That Dramatically, Epically Failed In 2017

    Posted on by jadedsteelereviews

    2017 in my opinion was a great year for movies, we had adaptions, sequels and more reboots than you can shake a bucket of popcorn at, but that doesn’t mean that we’ve had some films that have flopped immensely this year, from dismal summer blockbusters to even more dismal winter openings, 2017 has had its fair share of epic flops, today we look back at just some of those films.

    TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGT

    I loved the Transformers films when they came out before the 2010s but since then they have gotten more and more terrible, I had the displeasure of seeing this at the cinema back in the summer this year, Michael Bay really needs to get back in track with making original films like his Armageddon and Bad Boys days, but hey ho he’s probably going through a really bad dry spell, the film lost around 40 million in the US box office but succeeded overseas, it’s a shame because Anthony Hopkins was wasted on this film, such a great actor in such a horrible film.

    GEOSTORM

    Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha…. that’s what I have to say nothing else to it, okay you ready for the plot because believe me it’s laughable, you ready here we go… the government have created satellites for one purpose hahahahahaha you won’t believe what for, come closer I’ll tell ya… no seriously come closer to your screen *whispers… they use the satellites to control the weather by sending little pods from space down to earth…. yep oh and guess who saves the day… none other than Scotland’s very own action movie superhero who always saves the day, Gerard Butler…

    The film earned an abysmal 13 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, and for good reason to, the film was held back for various reshoots, when Jerry Bruckheimer came aboard, but alas he couldn’t save the film from scathing early reviews by the general public, you would think a film like that would’ve been pulled from release, but no they went ahead with the reshoots, and released it this year in October, the film performed miserably at the box office raking in a small amount of money.

    BLADE RUNNER

    “But Blade Runner was praised by critics” “it was a box office success” I hear you cry, but just like it’s predecessor it flopped dramatically, lack of marketing for this film was the main cause, plus it’s runtime clocking in at 163 minutes that’s nearly 3 hours, personally I liked it, it followed the original Blade Runner to a T but audiences were mostly at the cinema watching other movies rather than this one, but still, the original Blade Runner fans enjoyed.

    POWER RANGERS

    I was really looking forward to this early this year and I was so let down by how awful this movie was, Power Rangers was and still is my childhood, and swarms of nostalgia flowed through me during the trailers, it looked epic, however the pacing was terrible they spent so much time getting to know the characters rather than focus on the Power Rangers, they don’t even get in to their uniform until there’s 20 minutes of the film left, the film suffered massive blows nationwide in America and overseas and earned a dismal low rating on Rotten Tomatoes, looks like we won’t be getting the sequel to this bomb any time soon.

    THE MUMMY

    I love a good Tom Cruise film, however The Mummy was pretty much his worst, the film once again like Power Rangers it earned terrible reviews by critics, the film was supposed to launch a Dark Universe franchise but sadly poor reviews and a dismal box office run made the franchise nothing but an afterthought, so longtime Mummy fans will have to wait a teensy bit longer to see a franchise dawn from this.

    GHOSTS IN THE SHELL

    Oh boy this was a doozy, based on the critically acclaimed anime of the same name Ghosts In The Shell was surrounded by controversy right from the get go, mainly for the “whitewash” casting, the film starred Scarlett Johansson and earned really embarrassing reviews with critics, anime fans and movie goers started saying things about the casting mainly it’s lack of Japanese stars, since it’s well based off of an anime made in Japan.

    MOTHER!

    Darren Aronofsky, possibly one of Hollywoods underrated directors in my opinion, his visually stunning film The Fountain and his biblical epic Noah didn’t do well at the box office mainly because people didn’t like the religious themes, Mother! Done exactly the same thing and went all biblical on your ass, sadly a 60% rating on rotten tomatoes and poor box office sales sadly let mother slip in to the rank of box office bomb considering the cast of Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem.

    So as you can see there have been some great movies this year and some major flops so with that theblakentorreviews would like to say a massive merry Christmas and here’s to a great 2018 but until next time guys catch ya later 🙂

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    Flatliners…. Just Why

    Posted on by jadedsteelereviews

    There are some remakes that are destined to be remade, and then there are some that bestow that old age saying and I quote “don’t fix what isn’t broken” Flatliners falls in to is category, sure the original which was released way back in the early 90s was okay at best but this is still one film that should never ever be remade like ever.

    Flatliners follows the story of college grad students who undertake an experiment, which is basically to die experience the afterlife and then be bought back to life only for them to start hallucinating and seeing things. Now sounds interesting, the nineties version is fantastic regarding the story, pacing and visuals, this 2017 remake looks cheesy, tacky and just really really bad visually, trust me read my Dark Tower review and you will see that I hated that movie, this movie, oh boy hate isn’t even the word to describe this movie, it was garbage absolute garbage, the pacing seemed fast and the visuals were god awfully terrible the acting was…. pardon my potty mouth but SHIT!!!!!

    This is only a short review because there is nothing else to say about this movie don’t waste your money and go see Blade Runner (which far superior than this pile of horseshit) Final rating 0/10 it’s awful anyway guys I’ll catch ya later 🙂

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    Beyond The Black Rainbow… Trippy Nothing Else Just Trippy

    Posted on by jadedsteelereviews

    Wow, wow, wow, wow… this film is just wow! Visually amazing the soundtrack is a proper 80s throwback the plot is a little hard to follow at some points, but don’t worry about the plot with this one, this is a film where you can sit back relax and let the visuals take you on a weird acid like trip without the acid.

    Clocking in at around two hours the plot starts with a classic 80s throwback and cinematography that’s straight out of 2001: A Space Odyssey, I can’t tell you much about the plot because it’s quite a tricky one to tell, but really you shouldn’t watch it for the plot it’s more of a visual experience, and boy this film has some amazing visuals right from the off, from the bright white room where a young girl is staying, to a glowing white pyramid in the middle of a dark and dimly lit room, now I’m not gonna lie the film is slow, like really really slow, this is the sort of film that you have to watch when you have absolutely nothing to do, oh and probably watch it in a quiet room where there’s no distractions, while I’m at it don’t watch it if anyone you know is epileptic… trust me not a good idea. The acting is impressive (trust me you will hate the therapist/psychiatrist guy)

    All in all Beyond The Black Rainbow is a visually impressive slow burner of a film and a right proper throwback to the sci-fi movies of the seventies and eighties final rating 10/10 for the amazing visual hypnotic journey you take.

    Oh by the way this film was requested by a user who goes by the name warriornonoba shout out to him/her for recommending this fantastic film one of my new favourites at the moment, so as always guys catch ya later 🙂

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    Jurassic World Review Spoilers Ahead

    Posted on by jadedsteelereviews

    This film was the biggest pile of……. Epic awesomeness I have ever witnessed at the cinema and probably the best film I have seen this year, the film follows the park on the island where the first one was filmed on Isla Nublar, so let’s dive in to a world of awesomeness this is Jurassic World.

    So we open up with an egg and in that egg we have the indominus rex or I-Rex for short, another egg is hatching which is the I-Rex’s sibling, we then cut to a suburban part of America where we meet two of our main characters Zach and Gray they are going to Jurassic World to visit their aunt Claire who is the operations manager at the park, they fly over there and travel by ferry to the park, there they meet with an assistant Claire has sent to look after them, they check in to the hotel room and are given wristbands as they are VIPs at the park, they travel to the visitors center where they run in to Claire who tells them that she is busy but will hang tomorrow, she goes and meets with Jurassic World’s eccentric owner Mr Masrani who has flown in to see a new dinosaur that the parks geneticists team have created. Once they are in the paddock we see a glimpse of the I-Rex and Masrani tells Claire to get a guy named Owen Grady, I guess you can say he is a raptor whisperer, so she travels to see Owen. 

    We meet Owen training raptors and then we meet the villain Vic Hoskins, head of the parks ACU (Asset Containment Unit) as they are talking Vic says he wants to use the raptors as a weapon, Owen disagrees, suddenly a pig gets loose and a paddock worker falls in to the paddock, and when the raptors go to attack him Owen steps in and calms the raptors down. We are then taken to Owens bungalow where Claire meets up with Owen, we learn they have had a thing in the past and have been dating but it didn’t really work out, any who, Owen agrees to survey the paddock, once there he sees claw marks on the wall where the I-Rex has tried to jump out going down to investigate and finding no sign of the dinosaur in the paddock Owen plus two other guys investigate further, ah but then the parks control team find that the dinosaur is in fact in the paddock with them, as the team try to warn them the I-Rex shows up and kills two workers and escapes the paddock. 

    The next few minutes not a lot happens we see Zach and Gray on the gyro sphere, they come across a restricted area, just as they go to investigate phase one of an evacuation begins closing down the ride, they travel in to the restricted area only to come across the I-Rex who destroys the gyrosphere, they escape and come across, wait for it wait for it ready for a nostalgia trip back to 1993, they travel to the very first visitor centre from the first film, they find the “when dinosaurs ruled the earth” banner exactly where the t-rex roared at the end of the first film, they find a jeep fix it up and then drive back to the park, but trouble is brewing when Mr Masrani pimps his helicopter up with a machine gun and goes after the I-Rex himself, his helicopter is taken down by some teradactyls (pardon the spelling) letting them loose, they fly to the park, now this is where shit hits the fan, they attack the visitors picking them up then going all circ de solei on them sending them flying like trapeze artists, Zach and Gray are caught up in this chaos and meet up with the assistant, who sadly gets picked up by the winged beasts and is then dropped into the mosasaurus enclosure, the mosasaurus then kills the assistant along with the teradactyl (again pardon the spelling)

    Okay to cut a long story short they use Owen’s raptors to try and defeat the I-Rex Vic dies by one of the raptors, now this scene is probably one of the most fantastic dinosaur fights in the history of Jurassic park, the I-Rex kills two raptors, Claire then gets one of the most infamous dinos out, the t-rex from the first Jurassic park film, they have an awesome fight, and just when you think the t-rex is about to die bam another raptor comes and saves the day, the t-rex gets back up and fights the I-rex, and then something unexpected happens bam! The mosasaurus leaps up and kills the I-Rex. We then cut to an airport hangar where the injured are getting treated Zach and Gray’s parents arrive, and Owen and Claire get back together, then we cut to the helipad where Masrani’s chopper was kept, the t-rex then let’s out a mighty roar as the Jurassic park theme plays. 

    And that was Jurassic world OMG!!!! I loved this movie I really really really enjoyed it I mean it was amazing and I mean amazing I mean my heart was pounding at a few scenes, it really is a throwback to the first one because the soundtrack is the same Micheal Giacinno has done an amazing job, I wouldn’t say he gives John Williams a run for his money but that soundtrack though oh my god, nostalgia wise oh god this film was a complete throwback to the first film, now let’s get one thing straightend out forget there ever was a second or third one forget that, Jurassic world feels like it’s the sequel to Jurassic park and in a way it is.

     Now let’s talk about the cast, well first of we have Chris Pratt who played Owen, now he was great in this, I mean he had so many great lines and his character seemed to be the only character who thought that the I-Rex was a bad idea, then there’s Bryce Dallas Howard who plays the operational manager Claire, now there is an infamous scene in this where she is running away from the T Rex in heels, ladies is that even fucking possible to do all that running in heels I’m a dude right and even I know you can’t do that so how is that even possible, any way she was okay I guess a lot of people say she was wooden but I couldn’t see any of that, then there’s Nick Robinson and Ty Simpkins who play Zach and Gray now these characters where in my opinion great they had a few funny lines but nonetheless they were great, the whole cast done a fantastic job as did the director Colin Trevorrow who I haven’t even heard of but now he is one of my top directors, he really does know when to add the nostalgic feels to the film and with only one other film to his name (sleeper hit film Safety Not Guarenteed) he has really stepped up from small budget to big blockbuster films and I can not wait to see his other work in the future. 

    And that was my review on Jurassic World I hope you enjoyed taking a nostalgic trip with me, now go and see this film and be blown back to the 90s again with this film, until next time catch ya later.

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