Dirty Benny's Weekly Rant

General Bond discussion from Sean Connery to Pierce Brosnan
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Re: Dirty Benny's Weekly Rant

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dirtybenny wrote:
Kristatos wrote:
dirtybenny wrote:Interesting I did not know that! I guess we'll see, I imagine EON will find a way to get her on there if they want her.
They might not need to. Quentin Tarantino didn't get an onscreen credit for his dialogue polish on Crimson Tide, but it was a big part of the film's publicity campaign nonetheless.

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Really I had no idea he was involved in that film! At any rate her name is plastered in every article about the film, so I suppose the PR is in full swing already.
I haven't seen it since it came out, but my recollection is that his involvement was well-publicized, and that it was so obvious which lines were his that they might as well have flashed his name up on screen every time a "Tarantino bit" came on. I suspect that it will be much the same with PWB, at least for those familiar with her writing style.

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Re: Dirty Benny's Weekly Rant

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Last rant posted on main site complete with pictures:

http://danielcraigisnotbond.com/index/b ... -and-ends/
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Re: Dirty Benny's Weekly Rant

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Fresh Faces


Bond has gone under many different incarnations since his big screen debut in 1962, an enduring series that has seen six different starring actors. The irony is when Connery left the series everyone thought it was dead, when in fact it was what helped keep it going. Had Sean stuck around phoning it in, audiences would have grown tired and moved on, but with each new actor a renewed enthusiasm became prevalent in the films.

That brings us to the current situation at EON. A production company bankrupt of ideas dragging a bored fed up actor back up in front of the camera and parading him about like a wild animal at the circus. His broken spirit evident in his sad lonely eyes, only the large lump of cash in his pocket to provide any solace from his master’s whip. Yes rather than taking the smart route and hiring a fresh face to usher in an exciting new era of Bond, EON reached deep in their pockets, which are apparently overflowing with cash, to entice a tired Craig back to the set. A Craig who stated he was done with the series and whom the audience at large is done with as well. Not only would it have made sense to discard Craig on a creative and marketing level, but on a financial one as well.

Depending on who is tickling the calculator, Craig is making a base salary of $25 million with back end incentives worth as much as three times that, bringing his potential total compensation to $100 million. I guess it takes a lot to get Daniel not to slash his wrists. Danny’s come a long way from Casino Royale where he made a paltry $3 million. Dan’s take from this one film will be more than Connery made from his entire Bond career put together, even after adjusting for inflation!

Bringing in a new actor would have cost a mere fraction of Craggy’s grand payday and wouldn’t have lost a cent of PR currency as the excitement of a new actor would have been far more titillating that the news of a lackluster return from Craig. Of course Babz Broccoli will hold on to Dan with both hands and a bear hug because she can’t let him go. You see the steely eyed lady of EON who rules her studio with an “iron fist” as she’s claimed, has ceded so much control to Craig he’s no longer just the series star, he’s the showrunner! Babz is still in charge just so far as she gives Craig the authority to run roughshod over everyone involved in the production. There may be a director but Craig calls the shots. There may be a casting director but Craig does the choosing. There were several writers on this debacle but Craig felt they needed one more. With Craig gone Babz would need to get her hands dirty with those icky Bond films again.

Will Craig come back for another after this? I’m willing to bet on it. He has no other prospects after burning every bridge in Hollywood with his onset demands giving little to no on screen payoff in return. On the other hand Babz Broccoli is more than willing to bend over backwards (and probably any other direction requested) to make Dan happy. Add to this the potential to clear $100 million for nine months work every half decade and why not, just get some more rubber masks for the stuntmen.
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Re: Dirty Benny's Weekly Rant

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Stage door left for both Cr-egg and Broccoli :!:
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Re: Dirty Benny's Weekly Rant

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Explosions and Other Bombshells from the Set of Bond 25


A few days ago it was reported a major “bombshell” dropped on the set of the latest film in the James Bond film series. No, it wasn’t a major plot point, since none exist. Nor was it news that a title had been selected for this celluloid debacle! No the bombshell was that one of the pyrotechnicians had a short fuse on one of his shell bombs. Thankfully no one was seriously wounded, just one poor bloke standing outside the sound stage, presumably sneaking in a cigarette, suffered some minor injuries. I guess that really would make it literally a “smoke break.”



Another bombshell not quite fitting the text book definition dropped a few days later when it was revealed Craig and his nemesis in this film Rami Malek, would not be available to share screen time due to prior engagements. So way to go EON, you booked the hottest actor in Hollywood right now into a shooting window so tight any hiccup would throw your whole film deeper in chaos. Let’s take a look at that hiccup, namely Craig’s boo boo sustained on set in Jamaica. When it happened we were told he would only need a week to recover, then it was two, now here we are a month later and it’s been modified to “two weeks after surgery.” In reality Craig will be sidelined a month and a half or more. So I’m guessing Craig’s injury was more severe than initially reported? Also it took him a month to get emergency surgery? Is he participating in a pilot program of his idol Bernie Sanders’ socialist medical plan?

In much smaller bombshells, namely those shaped like Easter eggs, we will be “treated” to a wink, nudge, nod or homage in one of Danny’s ride seen in the film. Spy footage shows an Aston Martin Vantage V8 similar to the one driven by Dalton in The Living Daylights, aped right down to the license number!



Oddly it’s being chased by a vintage Toyota Land Cruiser which is in turned being “chased” by two modern Range Rovers.



I can’t help but wonder if the modern Rovers are part of the scene or some sort of camera vehicles. I don’t see any equipment visible on them, but one has to question the inclusion of two vintage vehicles in this chase. Is this part of a flashback scene or do Craig and his pursuer escape from a classic car museum? At the rate this film is going the world may never know.
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Re: Dirty Benny's Weekly Rant

Post by Veronica »

Classic car museum is certainly more fun than anything that will be going on in this movie.
So, where is Henry Cavill these days? And more importantly, does anyone have any idea how to remove Mrs. B from her chief position? That's the only thing at this point that could possibly save this franchise.
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Re: Dirty Benny's Weekly Rant

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I don't think she can be booted out, owing to EON (which is basically her and MGW) owning all the movie rights to Bond. But she might be persuaded to hand over to Gregg Wilson if she lands a plum job either on Broadway or in the sort of smaller boutique movies she really wants to produce.

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Re: Dirty Benny's Weekly Rant

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dirtybenny wrote: In much smaller bombshells, namely those shaped like Easter eggs, we will be “treated” to a wink, nudge, nod or homage in one of Danny’s ride seen in the film. Spy footage shows an Aston Martin Vantage V8 similar to the one driven by Dalton in The Living Daylights, aped right down to the license number!



Oddly it’s being chased by a vintage Toyota Land Cruiser which is in turned being “chased” by two modern Range Rovers.



I can’t help but wonder if the modern Rovers are part of the scene or some sort of camera vehicles. I don’t see any equipment visible on them, but one has to question the inclusion of two vintage vehicles in this chase. Is this part of a flashback scene or do Craig and his pursuer escape from a classic car museum? At the rate this film is going the world may never know.
Hey DB, I have to say that I love the Aston Vantage and, to give EON the benefit of the doubt just this once, if it does in fact prove to be part of a bona fide flashback to 007's established past, forming part of a compelling story-driven plot about espionage and adventure, then great, at least they'd be back on the right track towards re-establishing some kind of long term continuity for Bond. Of course this is desperately foolish optimism on my part and, either way, it's wasted on a miscast, disinterested actor like our dear ol' Craigster.

Whatever else they do, they really, really better not kill off Blofeld because that truly would be a wasted opportunity given how long they fought to get him back. Save him for a better day with a fresh cast and new writers.
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Re: Dirty Benny's Weekly Rant

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acid wrote:
dirtybenny wrote: In much smaller bombshells, namely those shaped like Easter eggs, we will be “treated” to a wink, nudge, nod or homage in one of Danny’s ride seen in the film. Spy footage shows an Aston Martin Vantage V8 similar to the one driven by Dalton in The Living Daylights, aped right down to the license number!



Oddly it’s being chased by a vintage Toyota Land Cruiser which is in turned being “chased” by two modern Range Rovers.



I can’t help but wonder if the modern Rovers are part of the scene or some sort of camera vehicles. I don’t see any equipment visible on them, but one has to question the inclusion of two vintage vehicles in this chase. Is this part of a flashback scene or do Craig and his pursuer escape from a classic car museum? At the rate this film is going the world may never know.
Hey DB, I have to say that I love the Aston Vantage and, to give EON the benefit of the doubt just this once, if it does in fact prove to be part of a bona fide flashback to 007's established past, forming part of a compelling story-driven plot about espionage and adventure, then great, at least they'd be back on the right track towards re-establishing some kind of long term continuity for Bond. Of course this is desperately foolish optimism on my part and, either way, it's wasted on a miscast, disinterested actor like our dear ol' Craigster.

Whatever else they do, they really, really better not kill off Blofeld because that truly would be a wasted opportunity given how long they fought to get him back. Save him for a better day with a fresh cast and new writers.

Hey there Acid, nice to see you old boy! My thinking on the flash back theory if I may call it that, is it's a flash back to Swann's childhood with her father Mr. White escaping from the hitmen, one of whom she shot in the story she told in SP. As far as killing Blofeld, since Skyfall they've given up on "this is the beginning of the same Bond we all know and love," instead going in the direction of Batman or other superheros, with various universes. So if they kill off Blofeld they can just bring him back when they re-reboot.
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Re: Dirty Benny's Weekly Rant

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Well, he's already been dropped down a chimney once.

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Re: Dirty Benny's Weekly Rant

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dirtybenny wrote:As far as killing Blofeld, since Skyfall they've given up on "this is the beginning of the same Bond we all know and love," instead going in the direction of Batman or other superheros, with various universes. So if they kill off Blofeld they can just bring him back when they re-reboot.
See this is what I'm hoping they'll really move away from. In my opinion, rebooting a franchise cheapens it. The more explicitly its done and the more times it happens, the greater the cheapening effect, because it shatters any immersion or long running interest or empathy for the characters you as the viewer may have had with the series. It also transmits loud and clear how little value those things - the established characters and their surrounding mythology - are to the producers. In effect, they become disposable. I can understand this approach a bit more if you're selling a phone or a car where you trash last year's product and hype up the new one as the best ever so people want to buy it, but with movies, it seems to me they're just shooting themselves in the foot by chasing a quick dollar, letting it crash and burn, and rebooting later.
Kristatos wrote:Well, he's already been dropped down a chimney once.
That's true Kris and I would have liked if they'd have alluded to that somehow, although in some ways maybe it's for the best if the BROfeld fiasco is kept far removed from the previous stories. It might be supposed to be a prequel. I'm not sure EON really care whether it is or not.

We never saw Blofeld's body, by the way. Could it have been yet another double, with the real one watching via a remote link?
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Re: Dirty Benny's Weekly Rant

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dirtybenny wrote:Hey there Acid, nice to see you old boy! My thinking on the flash back theory if I may call it that, is it's a flash back to Swann's childhood with her father Mr. White escaping from the hitmen, one of whom she shot in the story she told in SP.
Somehow (Heaven knows how! :jack: ) I've managed to resist thus far from subjecting myself to Spectre, so I'm a bit confused why Mr. White would be driving an Aston with Dalton's Bond's license plate on it. Care to fill me in DB?
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Re: Dirty Benny's Weekly Rant

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acid wrote:
dirtybenny wrote:As far as killing Blofeld, since Skyfall they've given up on "this is the beginning of the same Bond we all know and love," instead going in the direction of Batman or other superheros, with various universes. So if they kill off Blofeld they can just bring him back when they re-reboot.
See this is what I'm hoping they'll really move away from. In my opinion, rebooting a franchise cheapens it. The more explicitly its done and the more times it happens, the greater the cheapening effect, because it shatters any immersion or long running interest or empathy for the characters you as the viewer may have had with the series. It also transmits loud and clear how little value those things - the established characters and their surrounding mythology - are to the producers. In effect, they become disposable. I can understand this approach a bit more if you're selling a phone or a car where you trash last year's product and hype up the new one as the best ever so people want to buy it, but with movies, it seems to me they're just shooting themselves in the foot by chasing a quick dollar, letting it crash and burn, and rebooting later.
Kristatos wrote:Well, he's already been dropped down a chimney once.
That's true Kris and I would have liked if they'd have alluded to that somehow, although in some ways maybe it's for the best if the BROfeld fiasco is kept far removed from the previous stories. It might be supposed to be a prequel. I'm not sure EON really care whether it is or not.

We never saw Blofeld's body, by the way. Could it have been yet another double, with the real one watching via a remote link?

I feel precisely the same way, which was why I was so leery about the hard reboot in 2006
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Re: Dirty Benny's Weekly Rant

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acid wrote:
dirtybenny wrote:Hey there Acid, nice to see you old boy! My thinking on the flash back theory if I may call it that, is it's a flash back to Swann's childhood with her father Mr. White escaping from the hitmen, one of whom she shot in the story she told in SP.
Somehow (Heaven knows how! :jack: ) I've managed to resist thus far from subjecting myself to Spectre, so I'm a bit confused why Mr. White would be driving an Aston with Dalton's Bond's license plate on it. Care to fill me in DB?

I'd like to suggest a way for you to know what happens in this film without becoming haunted by the SPECTRE of actually having watched it. If I may humbly offer my multi part dissection "The SPECTRE Introspection found HERE


In short Madeline Swann, Craig's current soul mate beside all the others, is the daughter of Mr. White seen in CR and QOS . She tells a story about how she saved her father by shooting a man who came to kill him. I suspect the filming in Norway with the girl getting chased by henchmen is a flash back to that story. So my theory concerning the Aston is, it's White and daughter Swann escaping the assassins in his Aston and the licence plate is nothing more than a cheap Easter egg.
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Re: Dirty Benny's Weekly Rant

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dirtybenny wrote:
In short Madeline Swann, Craig's current soul mate beside all the others.
Oh Benny, what a burn :lol: :lol: :lol:
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Re: Dirty Benny's Weekly Rant

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I watched it around Christmas time, and kept myself sane by live posting the experience here. You can find the results upthread, if you can be bothered to scroll back through 6 months' worth of posts, but they probably wouldn't make much sense now.

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Re: Dirty Benny's Weekly Rant

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dirtybenny wrote: I'd like to suggest a way for you to know what happens in this film without becoming haunted by the SPECTRE of actually having watched it. If I may humbly offer my multi part dissection "The SPECTRE Introspection found HERE

In short Madeline Swann, Craig's current soul mate beside all the others, is the daughter of Mr. White seen in CR and QOS . She tells a story about how she saved her father by shooting a man who came to kill him. I suspect the filming in Norway with the girl getting chased by henchmen is a flash back to that story. So my theory concerning the Aston is, it's White and daughter Swann escaping the assassins in his Aston and the licence plate is nothing more than a cheap Easter egg.
Kristatos wrote:I watched it around Christmas time, and kept myself sane by live posting the experience here. You can find the results upthread, if you can be bothered to scroll back through 6 months' worth of posts, but they probably wouldn't make much sense now.
Yep I did read both at the time. Just wanted to make sure I hadn't missed anything else in the movie that might have explained the Aston. Like, Mr. White being Bond's second cousin, and also his past mechanic. :shock:
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Re: Dirty Benny's Weekly Rant

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Veronica wrote:
dirtybenny wrote:
In short Madeline Swann, Craig's current soul mate beside all the others.
Oh Benny, what a burn :lol: :lol: :lol:
Glad you enjoyed it V! :wink:

acid wrote: Mr. White being Bond's second cousin, and also his past mechanic. :shock:
That will be revealed in Bond 25! :P
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Re: Dirty Benny's Weekly Rant

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Ruled By an Iron Fist in an Iron Gove Wielded By an Iron Lady


Barbara “Babzy” (she actually calls herself that folks) Broccoli the woman who egotistically states she rules her production company, EON with an “Iron Fist” and that all her employees had “better be afraid of me!” Yes that is the way to run a business, by driving your workers before you, crushing their souls and listening to the lamentation of their spouses! And before you accuse me of being a sexist misogynist dinosaur; it’s pretty d**n stupid for a man to behave that way too!

Let us step back and take a look at the “Iron Lady of EON” for a moment. She’s made it pretty clear she dislikes Bond, saying he’s “developed some pretty distasteful past times” and putting him (in the guise of Craig) in drag for a public service announcement. It’s quite obvious she’d much rather be doing anything else than making another dirty testosterone fueled Bond picture. Then why does she do it you ask? Because without Bond she’s nothing in Hollywood and she knows it. Bond makes money no matter how garbage the product. Bond in general has been living on 50 years of nostalgia and Craig’s Bond in particular on one film and 15 years of reruns. But that’s beside the point, Bond makes money therefore Babzy is a player in tinsel town.

So if anyone believes for a second Babz is ever going to step away from Bond, they got another ting coming. But I believe she already has… Not officially of course, and never will! But I do believe she has this money printing machine on auto pilot. Why else would she continue to hire the hack services of Neal Purvis and Robert Wade two “film writers” so inept they’ve barely ever finished a script on their own. I don’t mean individually, rather than the duo working as a team. No I mean these two hacks who only work together, have written eleven films and in all but three needed a third party to step in and “help” (read actually write) their work. The one Bond film they did do on their own? Die Another Day, let that sink in for a moment. So why does she do it? Because they’re cheap and available (I wonder why?) and who cares about a plot we’ll just find some guy or gal to step in at the last minute to slap it together.

Exhibit B, she’s kept Craig on for an eternity. Even Dan’s most ravenous fan boys have to admit he’s gotten a bit long in the tooth by now. After 15 years the 51 year old needs to hang it up especially since he himself stated he hates making the films (but not the huge payday). OK so again why? Because first recasting is too much work to invest in such a “mundane and tedious” franchise and more importantly Craig has essentially become the sole producer. He’s acting obnoxiously on set pushing the director around, turning cast and crew against him with his boorish behavior and apparently he can add any writer he likes to the script no matter how far along the production is. While he does this I assume Babzy is working on her tan in the Caribbean sunshine. Craig runs the show; Babz is only the whip he wields to make the puppets dance.

Just look at her haggard nonplussed appearance in the promotional non announcement video released in April; she looks like she’s attending her own funeral! Even Craig who was obviously bored to tears was able to feign some amount of excitement. I guess it’s all that Shakespearian training.

One has to wonder just how much of the ridiculous content in the recent spate of films ol’ Danny’s responsible for. He started with Casino Royale in which he was nothing more than the starring actor, most of the production was done before he even got there leaving him with little input on the finished product other than his performance and whatever he may have contributed on set.

Quantum of Solace (QOS) saw Dan’s rise from thespianic gun for hire to pre-production contributor with the writer’s strike which had befallen production at the time. If only EON had their head in the game before hand and had writers working on a script other than the highly overrated and apparently delusional Paul Haggis they may have had something worth working with come production time. Instead Craig along with Director Marc Forster were forced to write on the fly while shooting, a style EON has taken as routine since. QOS, stuffed to the rafters with trite polemics against western governments, the value of oil and water conservation could have been chalked up to Forster’s hand alone, however with the themes of the following films coupled with Craig throwing his hat behind the socialist United States Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders in 2016, one can’t help but believe Dan had a say in that decision.

Skyfall finds Craig’s “Bond” calling in to question his loyalty to Queen and Country as well as his own sexuality in a nihilistic Technicolor triste. Given Craig has at this point been given a producer credit coupled with the dramatic shift in tone from the films that preceded his employ one must wonder. Also consider the graduation from Martin Campbell journeyman director extraordinaire through semi auteur Forster to supreme auteur Sam Mendes whom Craig worked with previously, again we must wonder who’s calling the shots and to what end.

SPECTRE also directed by everybody’s favorite legend in his own mind Sam Mendes, sows more useless drama in the form of the ridiculous brother Blofeld plot. Craig who once again holds a producer credit must surely have had a say on this garbage even if he didn’t write it he definitely signed off on it.

Bond 25 or as I like to call it “the Bond film that dare not speak its name” started with an additional auteur seduced in to the underworld of popular film. Danny Boyle, another pretentious leftist eager to display his politics in celluloid was initially signed to helm Craig’s fifth film. Once his vision of Bond was deemed too extreme for EON and their star/producer Craig, he was jettisoned like an unwanted passenger in an Aston Martin DB5. Funnily enough rumors abound that Craig could only be wooed back for Bond 25 if his buddy old pal Mendes was ousted. I can’t say I fully abide by this rumor as Mendes said early on he would not be back, I assume because his sensibilities can no longer take the punishment of not being able to rail against American suburbia. Regardless, a lesser director in Cary Funknwagnels was brought in to steward the film, yet seems beholden to Craig’s ideals as evidenced by rumors and photos claiming Dan pushes the young director around on set.

So as we track Craig’s ascension from mere actor to co-producer, as well as iron Babzy taking a more hands off approach, we also see a rise in anti-western polemics and social justice clap trap which seem to mirror his own politics, coincidence? Perhaps not.
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It's a Gift
A Night At The Opera
The Return of the Pink Panther
Sons of the Desert
Location: The Duck Inn

Re: Dirty Benny's Weekly Rant

Post by carl stromberg »

Bond 25 sounds like a right corker. :wink: I'm really looking forward to its release next July.
Bring back Bond!
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