"It's all about the brotherhood." Netflix has debuted the official trailer for a film titled Burning Sands, which initially premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January this year. Directed by newcomer Gerard McMurray, making his feature debut, the film is about a fraternity pledge named Zurich played by Trevor Jackson. Deep into Hell Week, he finds himself torn between honoring his code of silence or standing up against the intensifying violence of underground hazing. The cast includes Alfre Woodard, Steve Harris, Tosin Cole, DeRon Horton, along with Moonlight star Trevante Rhodes. I'm already totally opposed to hazing and fraternities, so these kind of films don't interest me much (especially just to watch so many people suffer). But this does look like it might be a good film, so perhaps it is worth watching. Have a look. Here's the first official trailer for Gerard McMurray's Burning Sands, direct from...
- 2/24/2017
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
A producer on Ryan Coogler’s Fruitvale Station, Gerard McMurray makes his debut as a writer/director with Burning Sands. The film tells the story of five college students who embark on a “Hell Week” of hazing and abuse in order to receive admission into a prestigious black fraternity. Evan Schrodek, an editor on The Walking Dead, cut the film after he became friends with McMurray at film school at USC. Below, Schrodek speaks about the film’s nuanced portrait of fraternity hazing, the personal nature of this story and his love of genre filmmaking. Burning Sands premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and will be […]...
- 1/29/2017
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Isiah Donté Lee shot 10 shorts in four years before making the jump to features with Burning Sands. The story of five college students who embark on a “Hell Week” of hazing to gain entry into a prestigious black fraternity, Burning Sands premiered last week at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival and will be released by Netflix in March. The film draws heavily from the college experiences of its writer/director, Gerard McMurray. Below, Lee speaks with Filmmaker about the film’s deliberate mix of handheld and static compositions, shooting the climactic scene in one night and the “beautiful richness” of Cooke […]...
- 1/27/2017
- by Soheil Rezayazdi
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Burning Sands is a workmanlike but unavoidably predictable yarn about the perils of college fraternity hazing. The fact that, this time, the setting is an all-black school really doesn’t change anything, as this kind of story can only really have one possible trajectory: Gung-ho young men embrace the spirit of the institution, go all out and then too far, resulting in tragedy from excess zeal. But the drama’s intensity, and the novelty of the context, will be enough to draw viewers to this Netflix presentation upon its March 10 debut.
Set during Hell Week, when aspiring inductees are put through...
Set during Hell Week, when aspiring inductees are put through...
- 1/25/2017
- by Todd McCarthy
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Entering its 33rd year, Sundance Film Festival has unveiled its official competition and Next line-ups for the 2017 edition of the festival. At first glance, initial highlights include Alex Ross Perry’s Queen of Earth follow-up Golden Exits and two David Lowery projects (his small-budget A Ghost Story starring Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara as well as The Yellow Birds, which he co-wrote).
There’s also Beach Rats, the latest film from It Felt Like Love director Eliza Hittman, Obvious Child director Gillian Robespierre‘s Landline, and Blue Ruin and Green Room star Macon Blair‘s directorial debut I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore.
Check out the line-up below and images as they become available.
U.S. Dramatic Competition
The 16 films in this section are all world premieres.
“Band Aid” (Director and screenwriter: Zoe Lister-Jones) — A couple who can’t stop fighting embark on a last-ditch effort...
There’s also Beach Rats, the latest film from It Felt Like Love director Eliza Hittman, Obvious Child director Gillian Robespierre‘s Landline, and Blue Ruin and Green Room star Macon Blair‘s directorial debut I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore.
Check out the line-up below and images as they become available.
U.S. Dramatic Competition
The 16 films in this section are all world premieres.
“Band Aid” (Director and screenwriter: Zoe Lister-Jones) — A couple who can’t stop fighting embark on a last-ditch effort...
- 11/30/2016
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Andrew Neel’s manly melodrama “Goat” is a movie about fraternity hazing that goes heavy on the haze. Roughly half of its 96-minute running time consists of scenes of handsome young college students getting blind drunk and degrading each other with escalating weirdness. At first, the parties are just boozy bacchanals with ear-splitting dance music and strippers — or co-eds who don’t mind being treated like strippers. But as the Brookman University chapter of Phi Sigma Mu ramps up its pledge-period, and moves into “Hell Week,” all the slap-fights, grab-ass, and serial shot-downing evolves into prospective brothers being blindfolded and force-fed bananas that they’ve been told are turds.
Continue reading ‘Goat’ With Nick Jonas & James Franco Is An Old-Fashioned Exploitation Film With A Message [Review] at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘Goat’ With Nick Jonas & James Franco Is An Old-Fashioned Exploitation Film With A Message [Review] at The Playlist.
- 9/22/2016
- by Noel Murray
- The Playlist
Nick Jonas, the youngest JoBro – he's 24 – makes good on some promising TV acting (Kingdom, Scream Queens) with an outstanding performance in Goat, a fact-based fratboy movie it might be helpful to think of as Animal House minus the laughs.
Jonas plays Brett Land, a member of Phi Sigma Mu, a fraternity now being pledged by his younger brother Brad (Ben Schnetzer), who wrote the 2004 anti-hazing memoir on which the film is based. It's already been a traumatizing summer for Brad: After leaving his alpha brother at a party, he's pressured...
Jonas plays Brett Land, a member of Phi Sigma Mu, a fraternity now being pledged by his younger brother Brad (Ben Schnetzer), who wrote the 2004 anti-hazing memoir on which the film is based. It's already been a traumatizing summer for Brad: After leaving his alpha brother at a party, he's pressured...
- 9/21/2016
- Rollingstone.com
When a student enters college, some of them take part in fraternities and sororities which they believe allows them to establish ties for business opportunities once they graduate.
Others join these groups to gain a new family which helps them adjust in college life. However, not all memberships in fraternities and sororities are good ones because some of these hopefuls end up experiencing the worst form of hazing or initiation to get in these groups.
In the United States, victims of hazing incidents were either humiliated in public and some even died in the process.
Although efforts have been launched to stop college hazing in the country, hazing rituals continue to plague several universities and colleges and they have increased in numbers.
Here are 10 worst instances of college hazing incidents in the Us in no particular order (they’re all bad).
1. 2011 “Crossing Bus C” Hazing Incident, 1 casualty
Florida A&M...
Others join these groups to gain a new family which helps them adjust in college life. However, not all memberships in fraternities and sororities are good ones because some of these hopefuls end up experiencing the worst form of hazing or initiation to get in these groups.
In the United States, victims of hazing incidents were either humiliated in public and some even died in the process.
Although efforts have been launched to stop college hazing in the country, hazing rituals continue to plague several universities and colleges and they have increased in numbers.
Here are 10 worst instances of college hazing incidents in the Us in no particular order (they’re all bad).
1. 2011 “Crossing Bus C” Hazing Incident, 1 casualty
Florida A&M...
- 5/25/2016
- by Jon
- SoundOnSight
ABC is the third broadcaster to reveal their finale plan for the 2015-16 TV season, and it kicks off Thursday, May 12 with Scandal‘s Season 5 ender, while bubble drama Nashville‘s closer will close things out on May 25.
Related2016 Renewal Scorecard: What’s Coming Back? What’s Getting Cancelled? What’s on the Bubble?
All told, ABC’s season-ending schedule thus looks like this. May Sweeps this year runs April 28 through May 25.
Friday, April 22
8 pm Last Man Standing
8:30 pm Dr. Ken
Thursday, May 12
9 pm Scandal (Title Tba)
Sunday, May 15
7 pm Once Upon a Time (two hours; “Only You”/”An...
Related2016 Renewal Scorecard: What’s Coming Back? What’s Getting Cancelled? What’s on the Bubble?
All told, ABC’s season-ending schedule thus looks like this. May Sweeps this year runs April 28 through May 25.
Friday, April 22
8 pm Last Man Standing
8:30 pm Dr. Ken
Thursday, May 12
9 pm Scandal (Title Tba)
Sunday, May 15
7 pm Once Upon a Time (two hours; “Only You”/”An...
- 4/4/2016
- TVLine.com
Season 15 of American Idol is making a lot of moments feel special. It?s like any final season of a long running show with a typical routine. Anything that happens is the last time it will happen. Hell Week has always been one of the most interesting unique parts of any American Idol season. Thankfully season 15 delivered for the final Hell Week ever. Here are our rankings for the 11 best performances from Hell Week.
- 2/5/2016
- by editor@buddytv.com
- buddytv.com
Much like Chumbawamba’s earworm chorus, Jennifer Lopez may get knocked down, but she gets up again.
“If I fall flat on my ass,” the American Idol judge told the wide-eyed hopefuls of Season 15’s Hollywood Week Group Rounds, “I bounce right back up, and I kill the rest of that performance.”
VideosReality Check: Did American Idol Flub Its Final Audition Ever? Plus: Heated Debate Over Week 3 Standouts!
Look, while no one’s going to confuse Jenny From the Block’s raw vocals for Jessie J or Nicole Scherzinger or (blasphemy alert) even Patti Labelle, let’s not pretend the...
“If I fall flat on my ass,” the American Idol judge told the wide-eyed hopefuls of Season 15’s Hollywood Week Group Rounds, “I bounce right back up, and I kill the rest of that performance.”
VideosReality Check: Did American Idol Flub Its Final Audition Ever? Plus: Heated Debate Over Week 3 Standouts!
Look, while no one’s going to confuse Jenny From the Block’s raw vocals for Jessie J or Nicole Scherzinger or (blasphemy alert) even Patti Labelle, let’s not pretend the...
- 1/29/2016
- TVLine.com
Chris Daughtry is picking up a few more silver pieces from Fox.
The American Idol grad and “Waiting for Superman” singer has been cast as Judas in the network’s live musical version of The Passion, the network announced today.
RelatedFox Staging The Passion, Live: How Trisha Yearwood, Imagine Dragons and Nola Will Tell Jesus’ Story
Additionally, Telenovela‘s Jencarlos Canela, who is also a singer/songwriter, has landed the role of Jesus Christ.
Daughtry and Canela join previously announced cast members including Trisha Yearwood as Mary, Latin pop star Prince Royce as the disciple Peter, and Tyler Perry as the host and narrator.
The American Idol grad and “Waiting for Superman” singer has been cast as Judas in the network’s live musical version of The Passion, the network announced today.
RelatedFox Staging The Passion, Live: How Trisha Yearwood, Imagine Dragons and Nola Will Tell Jesus’ Story
Additionally, Telenovela‘s Jencarlos Canela, who is also a singer/songwriter, has landed the role of Jesus Christ.
Daughtry and Canela join previously announced cast members including Trisha Yearwood as Mary, Latin pop star Prince Royce as the disciple Peter, and Tyler Perry as the host and narrator.
- 1/28/2016
- TVLine.com
Hell’s Kitchen christened its new Wednesday home with 4.2 million total viewers and a 1.4 demo rating (per finals), up from its most recent Friday outing (3.6 mil/1.3) and improving on time slot predecessor Second Chance‘s Week 2 numbers by 14 and 40 percent.
RelatedFox’s Second Chance Moving to Fridays, to Be Paired With Sleepy Hollow
Opening Fox’s line-up, American Idol (9.6 mil/2.5) was up a tenth week-to-week, dominating the night in the demo.
RelatedAmerican Idol Farewell Season Recap: In Sickness and in Hell Week
Elsewhere in the ratings….
The CW | Arrow (2.8 mil/1.1) and Supernatural (1.9 mil/0.7) were both steady.
RelatedArrow Recap: A...
RelatedFox’s Second Chance Moving to Fridays, to Be Paired With Sleepy Hollow
Opening Fox’s line-up, American Idol (9.6 mil/2.5) was up a tenth week-to-week, dominating the night in the demo.
RelatedAmerican Idol Farewell Season Recap: In Sickness and in Hell Week
Elsewhere in the ratings….
The CW | Arrow (2.8 mil/1.1) and Supernatural (1.9 mil/0.7) were both steady.
RelatedArrow Recap: A...
- 1/28/2016
- TVLine.com
Homeland‘s Miranda Otto is staying in the spy game, joining Fox’s 24: Legacy pilot as the female lead, TVLine has confirmed.
The actress will play Rebecca Ingram, the smart and confident former head of CTU who is having second thoughts about her decision to vacate her post. Also of note: She is married to a senator (casting for that role is underway).
RelatedA New 24 Minus Yvonne Strahovski? Writers Wanted to ‘Start From Scratch’
Otto is 24: Legacy‘s second major hire, following Monday’s casting of Corey Hawkins as the show’s new leading man.
The quasi-reboot centers...
The actress will play Rebecca Ingram, the smart and confident former head of CTU who is having second thoughts about her decision to vacate her post. Also of note: She is married to a senator (casting for that role is underway).
RelatedA New 24 Minus Yvonne Strahovski? Writers Wanted to ‘Start From Scratch’
Otto is 24: Legacy‘s second major hire, following Monday’s casting of Corey Hawkins as the show’s new leading man.
The quasi-reboot centers...
- 1/27/2016
- TVLine.com
The Flash this Tuesday drew 3.7 million total viewers and a 1.4 demo rating (per finals), ticking up 9 percent and a tenth to outdraw its ABC (repeats) and Fox rivals and tie an NCIS rerun (12 mil/1.4) for the time slot demo win.
RelatedThe Flash Recap: Reverse Decision — Plus, a Major New Zoom Clue?
Leading out of that, a Legends of Tomorrow encore did 1.7 mil and a 0.6.
Elsewhere in the ratings….
ABC | Leading out of comedy reruns, Agent Carter (2.9 mil/0.9) shed a few eyeballs while holding onto its series-low rating. What Would You Do? returned to 2.6 mil/0.7.
RelatedPretty Little Liars Recap: Friends With Benefits...
RelatedThe Flash Recap: Reverse Decision — Plus, a Major New Zoom Clue?
Leading out of that, a Legends of Tomorrow encore did 1.7 mil and a 0.6.
Elsewhere in the ratings….
ABC | Leading out of comedy reruns, Agent Carter (2.9 mil/0.9) shed a few eyeballs while holding onto its series-low rating. What Would You Do? returned to 2.6 mil/0.7.
RelatedPretty Little Liars Recap: Friends With Benefits...
- 1/27/2016
- TVLine.com
If Bones returns for a 12th season next fall, it may be down a showrunner.
Fox has placed a pilot order for Zoobiquity, a “light and unconventional” one-hour medical procedural written and and Ep’d by Bones showrunners past (Stephen Nathan) and present (Jonathan Collier).
RelatedPilot Season ’16: Scoop on This Fall’s (Possible) New Shows, Who’s In Them
Based on the book of the same name, Zoobiquity follows the unlikely pairing of a successful, driven cardiologist as she risks career suicide by teaming with a socially-challenged veterinarian who relates better to animals than people. They try to put...
Fox has placed a pilot order for Zoobiquity, a “light and unconventional” one-hour medical procedural written and and Ep’d by Bones showrunners past (Stephen Nathan) and present (Jonathan Collier).
RelatedPilot Season ’16: Scoop on This Fall’s (Possible) New Shows, Who’s In Them
Based on the book of the same name, Zoobiquity follows the unlikely pairing of a successful, driven cardiologist as she risks career suicide by teaming with a socially-challenged veterinarian who relates better to animals than people. They try to put...
- 1/27/2016
- TVLine.com
There are no volunteer events, community service or positive team-building exercises to be found in Goat. Director Andrew Neel is focused instead on the most vile tendencies related to frat life, notably hazing, but also the larger picture of the addictive cycle of mutually assured self-destruction. Zeroing in a perverse voyeurism of the degrading activities carried out, the environment effectively convinces even if the script (written by Neel, David Gordon Green and Mike Roberts) often comes up short.
Based on Brad Land‘s memoir, we first find Brad (Ben Schnetzer) leaving a party early, foolishly deciding to give two sketchy men a quick ride home. Things start to get uneasy as they drive far past the initially promised distance, and eventually, Brad gets beat to a pulp and his car stolen. Spending the summer healing, he contemplates going back to school at Brookman University (a fictitious place, but shot in Cincinnati,...
Based on Brad Land‘s memoir, we first find Brad (Ben Schnetzer) leaving a party early, foolishly deciding to give two sketchy men a quick ride home. Things start to get uneasy as they drive far past the initially promised distance, and eventually, Brad gets beat to a pulp and his car stolen. Spending the summer healing, he contemplates going back to school at Brookman University (a fictitious place, but shot in Cincinnati,...
- 1/25/2016
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Andrew Neel’s manly melodrama “Goat” is a movie about fraternity hazing that goes heavy on the haze. Roughly half of its 96-minute running time consists of scenes of handsome young college students getting blind drunk and degrading each other with escalating weirdness. At first, the parties are just boozy bacchanals with ear-splitting dance music and strippers — or co-eds who don’t mind being treated like strippers. But as the Brookman University chapter of Phi Sigma Mu ramps up its pledge-period, and moves into “Hell Week,” all the slap-fights, grab-ass, and serial shot-downing evolves into prospective brothers being blindfolded and force-fed bananas that they’ve been told are turds. When “Goat” is rolling, Neel effectively recreates the delirium of bros on a bender, illustrating how the line of acceptable behavior gets fuzzier and fuzzier. It’s good that “Goat” has so many of those scenes, because whenever the movie gets out of the frat-house,...
- 1/23/2016
- by Noel Murray
- The Playlist
Fraternity initiation generally gets handled in movies as a goofy lark in keg-chugging comedies like “Animal House.” Hazing, on the other hand, doesn’t get as much play, but it’s at the center of “Goat,” which had its world premiere Friday night at the Sundance Film Festival. Based on the memoir by Brad Land, the film is likely to generate discussion not only for its intense scenes of frat pledges enduring “Hell Week” but also for the memorable performances by Ben Schnetzer (as Land) and Nick Jonas (as Brad’s older brother Brett). Both actors are in interesting places in their careers; Ben.
- 1/23/2016
- by Alonso Duralde
- The Wrap
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Scream Queens delivers a cruel and ultimately disappointing season 1 finale, but that doesn't take away from its highlights...
This review contains spoilers.
1.12 Dorkus & The Final Girl(s)
It's hard to come to terms with how disappointing and infuriating Scream Queens' ending is. There are different ways a finale can let down its viewers and fans but Dorkus/The Final Girl(s) almost breaks new ground in this sense. I'd go so far as to say that Scream Queens has put Lost to shame. It doesn't so much fail to stick the landing but miss the landing entirely and break every bone in its body.
Back in July, Ryan Murphy said, "... at the end of the first season there will only be four characters out of twenty-five left" and yet ten remain. The thirteen-episode run has always seemingly been building up to a bloodbath, with Murphy effectively...
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Scream Queens delivers a cruel and ultimately disappointing season 1 finale, but that doesn't take away from its highlights...
This review contains spoilers.
1.12 Dorkus & The Final Girl(s)
It's hard to come to terms with how disappointing and infuriating Scream Queens' ending is. There are different ways a finale can let down its viewers and fans but Dorkus/The Final Girl(s) almost breaks new ground in this sense. I'd go so far as to say that Scream Queens has put Lost to shame. It doesn't so much fail to stick the landing but miss the landing entirely and break every bone in its body.
Back in July, Ryan Murphy said, "... at the end of the first season there will only be four characters out of twenty-five left" and yet ten remain. The thirteen-episode run has always seemingly been building up to a bloodbath, with Murphy effectively...
- 12/10/2015
- by louisamellor
- Den of Geek
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We're just one week away from finding out the identity of Scream Queens' Red Devil. Who's your best bet?
This review contains spoilers.
1.11 Black Friday
Scream Queens was never going to let the first death of a major character get in the road of something like shopping, particularly when it's Black Friday. The toxic consumerist nightmare is perfect fodder for a show like Scream Queens, which, as last week's Thanksgiving special proved, is softening. Black Friday, despite being the title, took up only a small portion of the show's penultimate instalment, providing the weekly slice of action and guaranteed death. Black Friday was an episode ultimately concerned with decompressing before the finale and, really, some calm before the storm felt like the right thing.
Unlike previous episodes, which merrily trod water, Black Friday tried to deliver some solid development and teasing in the B-plot alongside the fluffy main action.
google+
We're just one week away from finding out the identity of Scream Queens' Red Devil. Who's your best bet?
This review contains spoilers.
1.11 Black Friday
Scream Queens was never going to let the first death of a major character get in the road of something like shopping, particularly when it's Black Friday. The toxic consumerist nightmare is perfect fodder for a show like Scream Queens, which, as last week's Thanksgiving special proved, is softening. Black Friday, despite being the title, took up only a small portion of the show's penultimate instalment, providing the weekly slice of action and guaranteed death. Black Friday was an episode ultimately concerned with decompressing before the finale and, really, some calm before the storm felt like the right thing.
Unlike previous episodes, which merrily trod water, Black Friday tried to deliver some solid development and teasing in the B-plot alongside the fluffy main action.
- 12/3/2015
- by louisamellor
- Den of Geek
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After a mid-season slump, the last couple of episodes show Scream Queens right back on gory, entertaining form...
This review contains spoilers.
1.10 Thanksgiving
Much to my delight, Thanksgiving showed that Scream Queens was capable of maintaining the high quality of last week's sterling episode. The show had something of a wobble halfway through its first season but seemed to make up for it with Seven Minutes In Hell and Ghost Stories. This week, like a lot of Us TV, Scream Queens celebrated Thanksgiving, delivering another terrific episode.
What's instantly noticeable about Thanksgiving, and perhaps it's because of the holiday it centres around, is that it sees the show retracting its claws. Brad Falchuk's script was all about family and being with your loved ones, and so Thanksgiving took a bit of a slower, left-field approach, building up to a thrilling conclusion. It was an episode that...
google+
After a mid-season slump, the last couple of episodes show Scream Queens right back on gory, entertaining form...
This review contains spoilers.
1.10 Thanksgiving
Much to my delight, Thanksgiving showed that Scream Queens was capable of maintaining the high quality of last week's sterling episode. The show had something of a wobble halfway through its first season but seemed to make up for it with Seven Minutes In Hell and Ghost Stories. This week, like a lot of Us TV, Scream Queens celebrated Thanksgiving, delivering another terrific episode.
What's instantly noticeable about Thanksgiving, and perhaps it's because of the holiday it centres around, is that it sees the show retracting its claws. Brad Falchuk's script was all about family and being with your loved ones, and so Thanksgiving took a bit of a slower, left-field approach, building up to a thrilling conclusion. It was an episode that...
- 11/26/2015
- by louisamellor
- Den of Geek
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Scream Queens returns to form in its latest episode, Ghost Stories, written by showrunner Ryan Murphy...
This review contains spoilers.
1.9 Ghost Stories
Warts and all, Scream Queens is a show you can't help but fall in love with. It's bold, irreverent, funny and entertaining, but storytelling has been its downfall. The most recent instalments - Beware Of Young Girls and Mommie Dearest - were the weakest we've had yet and there was a genuine fear that those episodes could sound the death knell for a show that started so brilliantly. But this week's visit to Kappa Kappa Tau, Ghost Stories, is up there with Seven Minutes In Hell - and an absolute treat.
More character development, an advance in the Red Devil mystery, a tighter focus, a more inclusive cast and a perfect comedy-horror balance was on my wishlist for Ghost Stories after the duds in previous weeks.
google+
Scream Queens returns to form in its latest episode, Ghost Stories, written by showrunner Ryan Murphy...
This review contains spoilers.
1.9 Ghost Stories
Warts and all, Scream Queens is a show you can't help but fall in love with. It's bold, irreverent, funny and entertaining, but storytelling has been its downfall. The most recent instalments - Beware Of Young Girls and Mommie Dearest - were the weakest we've had yet and there was a genuine fear that those episodes could sound the death knell for a show that started so brilliantly. But this week's visit to Kappa Kappa Tau, Ghost Stories, is up there with Seven Minutes In Hell - and an absolute treat.
More character development, an advance in the Red Devil mystery, a tighter focus, a more inclusive cast and a perfect comedy-horror balance was on my wishlist for Ghost Stories after the duds in previous weeks.
- 11/19/2015
- by louisamellor
- Den of Geek
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After a zany, fun start, Scream Queens appears to be in a bit of a slump. Can it regain its former fizz before the season one finale?
This review contains spoilers.
1.8 Mommy Dearest
As you can surmise from the title, this week's Scream Queens, Mommie Dearest, dealt with mommy issues - or for Limeys, mummy issues. Simply throwing in parental problems can be a cheap and unconvincing way to earn sympathy from the audience but, fortunately, Scream Queens is clever enough not to do that. But that's not to say Mommie Dearest didn't have other issues.
We kicked off with the reappearance of the Red Devil - two of them, in fact - confined to the wings last week. Grace's portent that Dean Munsch's blasé attitude would come back to bite her was quickly followed up when the Wallace University head was attacked in the shower.
google+
After a zany, fun start, Scream Queens appears to be in a bit of a slump. Can it regain its former fizz before the season one finale?
This review contains spoilers.
1.8 Mommy Dearest
As you can surmise from the title, this week's Scream Queens, Mommie Dearest, dealt with mommy issues - or for Limeys, mummy issues. Simply throwing in parental problems can be a cheap and unconvincing way to earn sympathy from the audience but, fortunately, Scream Queens is clever enough not to do that. But that's not to say Mommie Dearest didn't have other issues.
We kicked off with the reappearance of the Red Devil - two of them, in fact - confined to the wings last week. Grace's portent that Dean Munsch's blasé attitude would come back to bite her was quickly followed up when the Wallace University head was attacked in the shower.
- 11/12/2015
- by louisamellor
- Den of Geek
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After last episode's uptick in quality, Scream Queens serves up a disappointingly middling episode in Beware Of Young Girls...
This review contains spoilers.
1.7 Beware Of Young Girls
Last time on Scream Queens, we finished with an upbeat dance number that you could say reflected the audience's mood. At last, the show seemed to have found its feet, having spent weeks ploughing its own unique furrow. It had also more or less shed its flabbier elements and there was consistent characterisation, too, which is excellent in a show so hell-bent on laughing at itself. As for this week? Well, you can see where this is going.
Beware Of Young Girls, again written by Ryan Murphy, was an episode with more than a few problems. The biggest culprit is the script, which focused on all the wrong people and places, and we ended up with an episode that was...
google+
After last episode's uptick in quality, Scream Queens serves up a disappointingly middling episode in Beware Of Young Girls...
This review contains spoilers.
1.7 Beware Of Young Girls
Last time on Scream Queens, we finished with an upbeat dance number that you could say reflected the audience's mood. At last, the show seemed to have found its feet, having spent weeks ploughing its own unique furrow. It had also more or less shed its flabbier elements and there was consistent characterisation, too, which is excellent in a show so hell-bent on laughing at itself. As for this week? Well, you can see where this is going.
Beware Of Young Girls, again written by Ryan Murphy, was an episode with more than a few problems. The biggest culprit is the script, which focused on all the wrong people and places, and we ended up with an episode that was...
- 11/5/2015
- by louisamellor
- Den of Geek
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There's no other show on TV quite like it. Scream Queens delivers its deadliest, dance-iest episode yet...
This review contains spoilers.
1.6 Seven Minutes In Hell
Scream Queens chose the perfect time to unleash its "deadliest episode yet". After a few weeks of fun yet toothless drama, the show's last episode before its mid-season break (don't worry - we'll be back in a couple of weeks) was an ideal opportunity to off a couple more characters and raise the stakes for the countdown to the finale and - one hopes - answers. It's almost like the booming voiceover man saw us starting to check our watches last week.
Seven Minutes In Hell was the closest Scream Queens has come to a genuine slasher film, albeit with certain aspects truncated to accommodate the small screen format. There was still plenty of satire, mind, and plenty of laughs, too, but...
google+
There's no other show on TV quite like it. Scream Queens delivers its deadliest, dance-iest episode yet...
This review contains spoilers.
1.6 Seven Minutes In Hell
Scream Queens chose the perfect time to unleash its "deadliest episode yet". After a few weeks of fun yet toothless drama, the show's last episode before its mid-season break (don't worry - we'll be back in a couple of weeks) was an ideal opportunity to off a couple more characters and raise the stakes for the countdown to the finale and - one hopes - answers. It's almost like the booming voiceover man saw us starting to check our watches last week.
Seven Minutes In Hell was the closest Scream Queens has come to a genuine slasher film, albeit with certain aspects truncated to accommodate the small screen format. There was still plenty of satire, mind, and plenty of laughs, too, but...
- 10/21/2015
- by louisamellor
- Den of Geek
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It may be fun, but there's a distinct sense that Scream Queens is spinning its wheels in its latest episode, Pumpkin Patch...
This review contains spoilers
1.5 Pumpkin Patch
As we've come to learn, Scream Queens is not quite the trigger-happy show we first thought it was. Despite plenty of cannon fodder, Ryan Murphy, Ian Brennan and Brad Falchuk (who scripted this week's episode, Pumpkin Patch) are more content to concentrate on the show's campus melodrama with the Red Devil mystery bubbling away nicely on the side. The most recent three victims have all been unknown supporting characters and their deaths seem to happen because the creators need to fulfil their promised one-killing-a-week quota. Pumpkin Patch, like Haunted House before it, puts emphasis on the mystery and cuts down on the bloodshed with mixed results.
The biggest conflict here was between Chanel #5 and Chanel herself, although their bad blood isn't something new.
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It may be fun, but there's a distinct sense that Scream Queens is spinning its wheels in its latest episode, Pumpkin Patch...
This review contains spoilers
1.5 Pumpkin Patch
As we've come to learn, Scream Queens is not quite the trigger-happy show we first thought it was. Despite plenty of cannon fodder, Ryan Murphy, Ian Brennan and Brad Falchuk (who scripted this week's episode, Pumpkin Patch) are more content to concentrate on the show's campus melodrama with the Red Devil mystery bubbling away nicely on the side. The most recent three victims have all been unknown supporting characters and their deaths seem to happen because the creators need to fulfil their promised one-killing-a-week quota. Pumpkin Patch, like Haunted House before it, puts emphasis on the mystery and cuts down on the bloodshed with mixed results.
The biggest conflict here was between Chanel #5 and Chanel herself, although their bad blood isn't something new.
- 10/14/2015
- by louisamellor
- Den of Geek
Scream Queens is slick, engrossing slasher TV, even if its body count hasn't yet risen to the expected heights...
This review contains spoilers.
1.4 Haunted House
At its heart, Scream Queens is a slasher series. Strip away the high-camp tone, the starry cast and the satire, and what you get is a show about young people getting stalked by a serial killer. And part of a slasher show's job is to keep its audience on edge, to keep them always anticipating the next episode and fear for the lives of their favourite characters. Up until this point, I've been looking forward to Scream Queens for the almost schlocky entertainment factor. The mystery had yet to catch fire but Haunted House, the first of several Halloween-themed episodes (always a good thing in my eyes), changed that and upped the ante considerably.
We start off with perhaps the show's funniest sequence yet.
This review contains spoilers.
1.4 Haunted House
At its heart, Scream Queens is a slasher series. Strip away the high-camp tone, the starry cast and the satire, and what you get is a show about young people getting stalked by a serial killer. And part of a slasher show's job is to keep its audience on edge, to keep them always anticipating the next episode and fear for the lives of their favourite characters. Up until this point, I've been looking forward to Scream Queens for the almost schlocky entertainment factor. The mystery had yet to catch fire but Haunted House, the first of several Halloween-themed episodes (always a good thing in my eyes), changed that and upped the ante considerably.
We start off with perhaps the show's funniest sequence yet.
- 10/7/2015
- by louisamellor
- Den of Geek
UK TV ratings round-up - data supplied by Barb
Strictly Come Dancing still has the edge over The X Factor in the ratings, according to overnight figures.
The BBC One dancing competition appealed to 7.83 million (33.2%) last night from 7.15pm, while ITV's The X Factor rose to a Sunday series high of 7.12 million (30.8%) from 7pm (+1: 375k/1.6%).
Strictly remained ahead of its ITV rival across the overlap. At 7.45pm, the results show was watched by 8.06 million (33.5%) compared to the 6.71 million (27.9%) glued to The X Factor's Six Chair Challenge.
Elsewhere on BBC One, Antiques Roadshow averaged 5.54 million (23.8%) and From Darkness began with 4.05 million (17.8%)
Meanwhile, Downton Abbey continued with 6.91 million (30.7%) in the 9pm hour on ITV, with a further 375k (1.6%) catching it on +1.
On BBC Two, Licence to Thrill: Paul Hollywood Meets Aston Martin logged 974k (4.2%) from 8pm and Special Forces - Ultimate Hell Week managed 1.38 million (6.1%) afterwards.
Channel 4's This Is England '90...
Strictly Come Dancing still has the edge over The X Factor in the ratings, according to overnight figures.
The BBC One dancing competition appealed to 7.83 million (33.2%) last night from 7.15pm, while ITV's The X Factor rose to a Sunday series high of 7.12 million (30.8%) from 7pm (+1: 375k/1.6%).
Strictly remained ahead of its ITV rival across the overlap. At 7.45pm, the results show was watched by 8.06 million (33.5%) compared to the 6.71 million (27.9%) glued to The X Factor's Six Chair Challenge.
Elsewhere on BBC One, Antiques Roadshow averaged 5.54 million (23.8%) and From Darkness began with 4.05 million (17.8%)
Meanwhile, Downton Abbey continued with 6.91 million (30.7%) in the 9pm hour on ITV, with a further 375k (1.6%) catching it on +1.
On BBC Two, Licence to Thrill: Paul Hollywood Meets Aston Martin logged 974k (4.2%) from 8pm and Special Forces - Ultimate Hell Week managed 1.38 million (6.1%) afterwards.
Channel 4's This Is England '90...
- 10/5/2015
- Digital Spy
Scream Queens' campy combination of comedy and horror continues at a lick in episode two, Chainsaw...
This review contains spoilers.
1.3 Chainsaw
Scream Queens' first week was a culture shock, a barmy helter-skelter of an opener that lay its cards firmly on the table. We're watching a satire that blends together comedy and horror, and episode two, Chainsaw, continues to prove that Scream Queens is capable of both a good joke and a good murder. While the pilot and Hell Week strived for a gag-a-minute rate and as many gory deaths as possible, Chainsaw reels things in a little.
For starters, we only got one death and it was a bit of a cheat. While Ariana Grande's Chanel #2, 'Deaf Taylor Swift', Ms Bean and Shondell all bit the dust last week in gruesome faction, Chainsaw saw Wallace University's newest mascot, Coney, fall victim to the Red Devil.
This review contains spoilers.
1.3 Chainsaw
Scream Queens' first week was a culture shock, a barmy helter-skelter of an opener that lay its cards firmly on the table. We're watching a satire that blends together comedy and horror, and episode two, Chainsaw, continues to prove that Scream Queens is capable of both a good joke and a good murder. While the pilot and Hell Week strived for a gag-a-minute rate and as many gory deaths as possible, Chainsaw reels things in a little.
For starters, we only got one death and it was a bit of a cheat. While Ariana Grande's Chanel #2, 'Deaf Taylor Swift', Ms Bean and Shondell all bit the dust last week in gruesome faction, Chainsaw saw Wallace University's newest mascot, Coney, fall victim to the Red Devil.
- 10/1/2015
- by louisamellor
- Den of Geek
A satirical, uber-camp comedy horror romp inspired by Heathers, Scream and Mean Girls? Sign us up for Scream Queens...
This review contains spoilers.
1.1 Pilot & 1.2 Hell Week
The zany world of Ryan Murphy is a truly strange place be in. With American Horror Story, he essentially crafted four (soon to be five) different TV shows, and for its run-time, Glee remained a wholesome, relatively innocent confection. When the latter show finished, a space opened up on Murphy's slate and he quickly filled it with Scream Queens.
From its star-spangled cast to the whodunnit aspect to the great Jamie Lee Curtis in a main role, Scream Queens has a lot going for it. Suffice to say there was a weight of expectation heaped upon it but, now that the first two episodes have landed, did it satisfy? The answer to that question isn't a simple yes or no.
We enter the gilded halls of Kappa Kappa Tau,...
This review contains spoilers.
1.1 Pilot & 1.2 Hell Week
The zany world of Ryan Murphy is a truly strange place be in. With American Horror Story, he essentially crafted four (soon to be five) different TV shows, and for its run-time, Glee remained a wholesome, relatively innocent confection. When the latter show finished, a space opened up on Murphy's slate and he quickly filled it with Scream Queens.
From its star-spangled cast to the whodunnit aspect to the great Jamie Lee Curtis in a main role, Scream Queens has a lot going for it. Suffice to say there was a weight of expectation heaped upon it but, now that the first two episodes have landed, did it satisfy? The answer to that question isn't a simple yes or no.
We enter the gilded halls of Kappa Kappa Tau,...
- 9/24/2015
- by louisamellor
- Den of Geek
Alrighty, pledges. It’s premiere week for the 2015 fall season, which means it’s hell week for those of us smart enough to dupe someone into paying us money for writing about TV. I’m taking a break from covering football and these here idiots to do some recapping of Fox’s Scream Queens, which premiered Tuesday, Sept. 22, with “Pilot” and “Hell Week.” Instead of writing a whole lot of words you’re not going to read, I’m a gonna take a bunch of screencaps — I’m calling them “ScreamCaps” because I’m a clever bastard like that — of the most interesting or … Continue reading →
The post Scream Queens ScreamCap: Pilot/Hell Week appeared first on Channel Guide Magazine.
The post Scream Queens ScreamCap: Pilot/Hell Week appeared first on Channel Guide Magazine.
- 9/23/2015
- by Ryan Berenz
- ChannelGuideMag
Scream Queens, Season 1, Episode 1, “Pilot”
Season 1, Episode 2, “Hell Week”
Written by Ryan Murphy & Brad Falchuk & Ian Brennan
Directed by Ryan Murphy (“Pilot”), Brad Falchuk (“Hell Week”)
Airs on Tuesdays at 9pm (Et) on Fox
Given all of the momentum that Scream Queens had coming into the fall season, on the back of a marketing effort that began as far back as April, it’s a shame that in so many areas it falls completely short of its potential in the first two episodes. Many of Ryan Murphy’s shows suffer from being overstuffed with his usually creative ideas and this is no different. There are many pieces that entertain but as soon as one part of the ensemble clicks, whether it be the central sorority sisters or the many spokes that spin off the frenzied and threatened world of Kappa Kappa Tau, the focus shifts elsewhere and stalls any sort of momentary flow.
Season 1, Episode 2, “Hell Week”
Written by Ryan Murphy & Brad Falchuk & Ian Brennan
Directed by Ryan Murphy (“Pilot”), Brad Falchuk (“Hell Week”)
Airs on Tuesdays at 9pm (Et) on Fox
Given all of the momentum that Scream Queens had coming into the fall season, on the back of a marketing effort that began as far back as April, it’s a shame that in so many areas it falls completely short of its potential in the first two episodes. Many of Ryan Murphy’s shows suffer from being overstuffed with his usually creative ideas and this is no different. There are many pieces that entertain but as soon as one part of the ensemble clicks, whether it be the central sorority sisters or the many spokes that spin off the frenzied and threatened world of Kappa Kappa Tau, the focus shifts elsewhere and stalls any sort of momentary flow.
- 9/23/2015
- by Whitney McIntosh
- SoundOnSight
Ryan Murphy and company are at it again, this time poking fun at the horror genre with Scream Queens. As with most of his shows, you kind of have to throw away all logistics and just go with it, and this new Fox series is no exception. It features familiar faces, such as Emma Roberts, Jamie Lee Curtis and Lea Michele. And we can't forget pop stars Nick Jonas and Ariana Grande, though the latter doesn't make it far past the pilot. The two-hour premiere sets up a lot of questions and introduces us to a lot of unlikable characters as well as possible murder suspects.
In "Pilot" and "Hell Week," a person in a red devil costume wreaks havoc on a college campus, particularly focusing on the Kappa Kappa Tau sorority house. Not many people like the Kkt sisters, including Dean of Students Cathy Munsch (Curtis) and budding investigative...
In "Pilot" and "Hell Week," a person in a red devil costume wreaks havoc on a college campus, particularly focusing on the Kappa Kappa Tau sorority house. Not many people like the Kkt sisters, including Dean of Students Cathy Munsch (Curtis) and budding investigative...
- 9/22/2015
- by editor@buddytv.com
- buddytv.com
Hell Week takes on a new meaning for the characters of Fox’s “Scream Queens,” which features a red-masked serial killer terrorizing a college campus and picking off sorority and fraternity members one by one. It’s a season-long murder mystery, presumably, where anyone could be the killer that comes to be known as the Red Devil and where anyone could end up dead at any moment, no matter how big of a star plays the character. The mean girl clique at the center of the Kappa Kappa Tau sorority, the misfits who decide to pledge during the worst year ever,...
- 9/14/2015
- by Linda Ge
- The Wrap
We’re less than three weeks away from the series premiere of Fox’s highly anticipated comedy-horror series Scream Queens, and after unveiling the show’s killer credits to us yesterday, the network has now released over 30 photos from the show’s first two episodes, “Pilot” and “Hell Week,” which will air back-to-back as one two-hour block. For the most part, the photos just show us much of what we already know: Emma Roberts and company are stylish, superficial, and borderline psychotic sorority sisters, who become targets when mysterious murder begins a killing spree on campus. However, there’s some pretty cool never-before-seen shots in this gallery, especially from the second hour of the premiere, and a lot of pictures featuring Nick Jonas (well, a lot more than you would expect from someone labeled as a “guest star), for those who are big fans of the “Jealous” singer. Scream Queens...
- 9/3/2015
- by Chris King
- TVovermind.com
Fox is taking viewers behind the scenes of its next hopeful fall hit “Scream Queens” via a featurette released on Friday. The two-minute, 25-second promotional video includes episodic footage of the upcoming dark comedy — which takes place on a fictional college campus — as well as cast and creator interviews. “It is a cross between ‘Heathers’ and ‘Friday the 13th,'” showrunner Ryan Murphy explains in the video. “What I like about it is everyone has a motive to be behaving badly,” he added of the series’ murder mystery plot. Also Read: Emma Roberts Gives New Meaning to Hell Week in...
- 5/22/2015
- by Tony Maglio
- The Wrap
Fox is betting big on Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk this fall with the American Horror Story creators’ campy horror-comedy Scream Queens, and now that the first full trailer for the anthology series has been released, it’s easy to see why – seemingly every teen idol this side of Disney pops up in the preview.
Emma Roberts (Unfabulous), The Nine Lives of Chloe King‘s Skyler Samuels, Glee‘s Lea Michele and Keke Palmer (True Jackson, VP) are seemingly taking on the biggest roles in a cast that also boasts Abigail Breslin, Nasim Pedrad, Oliver Hudson, Billie Lourd, Diego Boneta, Glen Powell, Lucien Laviscount, Niecy Nash, Nick Jonas and Ariana Grande. Oh – and original Scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis is on hand to provide the series’ real horror credentials (unless you want to count Breslin’s Zombieland and Haunter, which is entirely valid).
Unfortunately, the uneven tone displayed by this...
Emma Roberts (Unfabulous), The Nine Lives of Chloe King‘s Skyler Samuels, Glee‘s Lea Michele and Keke Palmer (True Jackson, VP) are seemingly taking on the biggest roles in a cast that also boasts Abigail Breslin, Nasim Pedrad, Oliver Hudson, Billie Lourd, Diego Boneta, Glen Powell, Lucien Laviscount, Niecy Nash, Nick Jonas and Ariana Grande. Oh – and original Scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis is on hand to provide the series’ real horror credentials (unless you want to count Breslin’s Zombieland and Haunter, which is entirely valid).
Unfortunately, the uneven tone displayed by this...
- 5/20/2015
- by Isaac Feldberg
- We Got This Covered
Freddie Flintoff will be the face of a new BBC Two series later this year.
Special Forces: Ultimate Hell Week will see members of the public challenged to complete the drills, marches and interrogations the Armed Forces have to go through.
The six-part series will use challenges normally reserved for those who join the Sas, Us Navy SEALs, Russia's Spetsnaz and the Philippines' Navsog.
Discussing his new venture, Flintoff said that it will offer a "great insight into what our Armed Forces go through on a daily basis".
Meanwhile, BBC Two Controller Kim Shillinglaw said that the show will involve a "lively new format".
"Highlighting some of the most extreme selection processes in the world, it will be fascinating to see what sort of person survives to the end," she added.
Meanwhile, Flintoff will also take his 2nd Innings tour to the Edinburgh Fringe this August.
Special Forces: Ultimate Hell Week will see members of the public challenged to complete the drills, marches and interrogations the Armed Forces have to go through.
The six-part series will use challenges normally reserved for those who join the Sas, Us Navy SEALs, Russia's Spetsnaz and the Philippines' Navsog.
Discussing his new venture, Flintoff said that it will offer a "great insight into what our Armed Forces go through on a daily basis".
Meanwhile, BBC Two Controller Kim Shillinglaw said that the show will involve a "lively new format".
"Highlighting some of the most extreme selection processes in the world, it will be fascinating to see what sort of person survives to the end," she added.
Meanwhile, Flintoff will also take his 2nd Innings tour to the Edinburgh Fringe this August.
- 5/20/2015
- Digital Spy
It's been a while since we've had the privilege of debuting a new short film from Patrick Rea, but the prolific filmmaker dropped us a line today with an offer we couldn't refuse: the chance to kick off the weekend with Hell Week, written by Michelle Davidson. Check it out!
Hell Week is a suspense-satire about a sorority prank that goes too far. It was directed by Rea and produced by Rea, Davidson, Ryan S. Jones, and Jerod Meagher. The film was shot by Director of Photography Hanuman Brown-Eagle and stars Jerod Meagher, Meg Saricks, Tasha Smith, and Molly Anderson.
Check it out below, and if you dig it, head over to Patrick Rea's Facebook page and let him know you saw the flick!
And look for more soon because Patrick told us his Kansas-based SenoReality Pictures just wrapped on a new short titled Split the Check and they are shooting a Very short,...
Hell Week is a suspense-satire about a sorority prank that goes too far. It was directed by Rea and produced by Rea, Davidson, Ryan S. Jones, and Jerod Meagher. The film was shot by Director of Photography Hanuman Brown-Eagle and stars Jerod Meagher, Meg Saricks, Tasha Smith, and Molly Anderson.
Check it out below, and if you dig it, head over to Patrick Rea's Facebook page and let him know you saw the flick!
And look for more soon because Patrick told us his Kansas-based SenoReality Pictures just wrapped on a new short titled Split the Check and they are shooting a Very short,...
- 6/9/2012
- by The Woman In Black
- DreadCentral.com
The TromaDance film festival makes it into puberty with their 13th annual edition and you won’t want to miss where they’ve grown some hair on May 4-5 at Asbury Lanes in Asbury Park, New Jersey. It’s two days of hormone-fueled short films, voice-changing features and a star-studded panel discussion.
Two features will be screening at the fest: Steven Kostanski‘s VHS throwback action sci-fi horror flick Manborg and the Trost brothers’ dance-fight video game frenzy The Fp.
The rest of TromaDance is stuffed to the gills with disturbing, grotesque and just downright freaky short films, including Greg Hanson‘s garbage disposal love story Sinkhole and Aaron Zegher‘s ghostly I See a Light. Short film blocks are broken down by theme, such as “Monsters,” “Zombies,” “Madness” and an absolutely not-for-kids “Saturday Morning Cartoons” collection.
Plus, on Saturday evening, there will be a panel discussion on the marketing...
Two features will be screening at the fest: Steven Kostanski‘s VHS throwback action sci-fi horror flick Manborg and the Trost brothers’ dance-fight video game frenzy The Fp.
The rest of TromaDance is stuffed to the gills with disturbing, grotesque and just downright freaky short films, including Greg Hanson‘s garbage disposal love story Sinkhole and Aaron Zegher‘s ghostly I See a Light. Short film blocks are broken down by theme, such as “Monsters,” “Zombies,” “Madness” and an absolutely not-for-kids “Saturday Morning Cartoons” collection.
Plus, on Saturday evening, there will be a panel discussion on the marketing...
- 4/27/2012
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
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