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thatfuturekid posted:Watched "The Ballerina" (Netflix) over the weekend and really dug it. It's more crime thriller, than a full on action movie, but what action there is really works. The cuts and editing are more chaotic than seen in (most) recent films but I thought it added to the intensity and scrappiness of the fights. About halfway though Kill Boksoon as we speak and really digging it as well. It's also really pretty. So many of the shots in it are just stunning. The action's a little too shaky cam but there's still some good stuff in there. Also a pretty refreshing way to deal with one of the main bad guys.
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Oct 9, 2023 22:12
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| # ? May 26, 2024 20:17 |
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On the subject of Netflix shows, it's by no means an action show (far from it, actually) but Copenhagen Cowboy had some really spectacular actions scenes. Not so much for the editing but the choreography was superbly done. It was all very clear, each participate had a profile you could identify and exchanged blows in really grounded ways. Not realistic but it was just sloppy enough that it didn't feel artificial. There's only a couple of them but they were surprisingly to me, considering the rest of the show. Weird show overall but I found it to my liking. Super slow with lots of panning shots. Makes the third season of Twin Peaks feel like it had breakneck pacing.
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Oct 9, 2023 22:20
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Jimbot posted:On the subject of Netflix shows, it's by no means an action show (far from it, actually) but Copenhagen Cowboy had some really spectacular actions scenes. Not so much for the editing but the choreography was superbly done. It was all very clear, each participate had a profile you could identify and exchanged blows in really grounded ways. Not realistic but it was just sloppy enough that it didn't feel artificial. There's only a couple of them but they were surprisingly to me, considering the rest of the show. I enjoyed the episodes i watched and need to finish it. I found 'Too old to die young' too slow. The pauses between the lines of dialogue were too similar. Felt like there was a stopwatch showing each actor exactly how long to wait between lines. Cowboy felt a little more organic. Also, just really pretty. I like Refn's completely over the top use of colour.
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Oct 9, 2023 23:13
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I finished up Warrior season 3, which I found to be a bit of a downgrade from seasons 1&2 in both plotting and action. It's still an excellent show worth watching, but seemed to be belaboring a few plot points while refusing to give us the goods often enough (ah sahms actor, taslim, dacascsos)
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Oct 9, 2023 23:41
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trevorreznik posted:I finished up Warrior season 3, which I found to be a bit of a downgrade from seasons 1&2 in both plotting and action. It's still an excellent show worth watching, but seemed to be belaboring a few plot points while refusing to give us the goods often enough (ah sahms actor, taslim, dacascsos) The non-action is really stupid and I found it hilarious they wrote out the worst part of the show (Penelope), but then replaced it with even stupider content (a tragic backstory for Buckley, of all characters???, closely followed by Hong gets a boyfriend and everything Mei Lin does that's supposed to make us think she's smart) and I feel gaslit when all the writers and actors talk about how deep the characters are. I feel like there was definitely less action in this season and it seems like there's probably a budget issue with how they couldn't film Hop Wei vs Fung Hai so I'm not exactly optimistic for S4.
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Oct 10, 2023 01:51
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Watched Crank. (I wanted to see Under Siege 2 but my partner didn't like the idea so I queued this up and she let me). I've seen the sequel in theaters but never the original. I've forgotten most of the sequel but I read that it's been criticized as being too indulgent in its violence and shock factor. That said I might watch it again to compare it with this one better. Anyway I liked it, it was gross fun. The casual homophobia and Al-Qaeda joke though lol
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Oct 15, 2023 13:28
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I feel like Under Siege 2 despite it's mid90s release is like the last 80s action movie in some ways. I love it.
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Oct 15, 2023 17:17
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Lily Catts posted:Watched Crank. (I wanted to see Under Siege 2 but my partner didn't like the idea so I queued this up and she let me). I've seen the sequel in theaters but never the original. I've forgotten most of the sequel but I read that it's been criticized as being too indulgent in its violence and shock factor. That said I might watch it again to compare it with this one better. Crank really captures the culture of the mid aughts better than almost anything that came out at the time for better or worse, mostly worse
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Oct 15, 2023 18:00
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I think Under Siege 2 suffers a lot for Seagal just losing interest in ever doing such blase tasks as 'taking a hit' in any scene so a lot of the action suffers for it- you can kinda see it in US1 but it's hidden better.
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Oct 15, 2023 18:12
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weekly font posted:Crank really captures the culture of the mid aughts better than almost anything that came out at the time for better or worse, mostly worse It’s the greatest movie of all time as well.
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Oct 15, 2023 18:53
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Panzeh posted:I think Under Siege 2 suffers a lot for Seagal just losing interest in ever doing such blase tasks as 'taking a hit' in any scene so a lot of the action suffers for it- you can kinda see it in US1 but it's hidden better. Everett McGill works so much harder than he should have playing the villain. It's a great character and really deserved a better movie. Seagal survived largely on having a lot of great character actors playing villains in his dogshit movies. Seriously, Henry Silva, Tommy Lee Jones, Michael Caine, R Lee Emery, William Sadler, William Forsythe. All just great at making you really want to see them get punched, even if it's by someone as talentless as Seagal.
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Oct 16, 2023 01:31
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weekly font posted:Crank really captures the culture of the mid aughts better than almost anything that came out at the time for better or worse, mostly worse you know what? you're right
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Oct 16, 2023 02:06
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Snowman_McK posted:Everett McGill works so much harder than he should have playing the villain. It's a great character and really deserved a better movie. Seagal survived largely on having a lot of great character actors playing villains in his dogshit movies. Seriously, Henry Silva, Tommy Lee Jones, Michael Caine, R Lee Emery, William Sadler, William Forsythe. All just great at making you really want to see them get punched, even if it's by someone as talentless as Seagal. Yeah McGill is what makes US2 have any kind of watchability to me. Sort of like what Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Busey do for the first movie. They all actually put in good work hamming it up and then there's Seagal who goes through his scenes like mr. magoo.
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Oct 16, 2023 12:36
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the novelty of having Eric Bogosian in the Alan Rickman role is what makes Under Siege 2 for me.
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Oct 16, 2023 16:01
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Seagal isn't talentless, this is one of those made-up narratives that came after the fact. He is a lazy piece of poo poo weirdo with garbage politics but he's not talentless. Those action scenes in his first few movies were absolutely relevatory. I say this despite the fact that I think Akido is a fake martial art and not seeing any of his movies in...20 years? Still doesn't make those early action scenes any less cool.
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Oct 16, 2023 16:07
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The action scenes in the early Seagal movies are also very cathartic. Absolute scumbags do something super scummy and Seagal just brutally plows through them. It's fun to watch and there is never any question about what's going to happen.
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Oct 16, 2023 16:42
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Megaman's Jockstrap posted:Seagal isn't talentless, this is one of those made-up narratives that came after the fact. He is a lazy piece of poo poo weirdo with garbage politics but he's not talentless. Those action scenes in his first few movies were absolutely relevatory. With Seagal, it's less that he can't, and more, he just won't- US2's ultimate fight scene for example suffers a lot from Seagal's mandate that he should Never Get Hit so McGill, who's supposedly this elite heavy just looks like a goober as he patty-cakes his way through that fight. In Under Siege 1, the Foley guy does a fuckton of work making this fight scene look like it has any impact. Tommy Lee Jones is doing his best, but i can't help but think Seagal is always between cuts going: "Yeah, but my character knows aikido, and would never get hit" Whereas most action stars, i think, are willing to take a few knocks from the heavy or the big bad to show what they're up against, at the very least.
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Oct 16, 2023 16:50
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Kurt Wimmer had a line in the audio commentary for Equilibrium, which features Christian Bale plowing through dozens of adversaries without a scratch. Something like "I'm making this for fourteen-year-olds, and when I was fourteen and imagining beating someone up, they didn't get a 'few good licks in'. I beat their rear end in a commanding fashion." There's absolutely a place for action scenes like that, although you can overdo it as with anything
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Oct 16, 2023 17:07
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I think the issue is Seagal rightfully thinking that this aspect was a huge part of his appeal:B-Rock452 posted:The action scenes in the early Seagal movies are also very cathartic. Absolute scumbags do something super scummy and Seagal just brutally plows through them. It's fun to watch and there is never any question about what's going to happen. But mistakenly thinking that this part was unnecessary or even detrimental to his persona: Panzeh posted:"Yeah, but my character knows aikido, and would never get hit" He failed to realize that the combination of those two things is what could've created a real masterpiece action flick but he never put it all together. You want a protagonist who can obliterate some cannon fodder in entertaining ways, but then you also want that protagonist to go up against tougher competition and see them tested. An action movie of that type really should have both, Seagal never understood that.
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Oct 16, 2023 17:08
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Basebf555 posted:He failed to realize that the combination of those two things is what could've created a real masterpiece action flick but he never put it all together. You want a protagonist who can obliterate some cannon fodder in entertaining ways, but then you also want that protagonist to go up against tougher competition and see them tested. An action movie of that type really should have both, Seagal never understood that. Completely agree that a Seagal masterpiece was theoretically possible and it would have included what you describe above. His first movie came out the year of Die Hard, when the action paradigm was shifting from "mows through everybody" to "it's hard for this guy to win". By '95 his shtick was one-note and dated. A big shame because he's a huge slab with weird energy and a legit unique style that could have been leveraged into something great.
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Oct 16, 2023 17:15
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One thing too about pairing Seagal with those great character actors like Tommy Lee Jones and McGill is that you're covering up one potential flaw of the movie(a lack of acting talent) but creating another one. Realistically there was probably a limit to what Seagal would've been able to do with those guys in a fight scene. We never got like a Seagal vs. Benny the Jet fight or anything along those lines.
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Oct 16, 2023 17:25
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Clipperton posted:Kurt Wimmer had a line in the audio commentary for Equilibrium, which features Christian Bale plowing through dozens of adversaries without a scratch. Something like "I'm making this for fourteen-year-olds, and when I was fourteen and imagining beating someone up, they didn't get a 'few good licks in'. I beat their rear end in a commanding fashion." There's absolutely a place for action scenes like that, although you can overdo it as with anything Absolutely, it's just, fight scenes with the big villain of the movie, or the heavy just aren't the place for that. Seagal aikidoing through a bunch of rednecks at a bar is good cinema and the one thing he had going for him as an action star. Basebf555 posted:One thing too about pairing Seagal with those great character actors like Tommy Lee Jones and McGill is that you're covering up one potential flaw of the movie(a lack of acting talent) but creating another one. Realistically there was probably a limit to what Seagal would've been able to do with those guys in a fight scene. We never got like a Seagal vs. Benny the Jet fight or anything along those lines. Yeah, I do think these guys probably wouldn't be able to do anything crazy, but then they don't even get a chance to even threaten Seagal. There's obvious beats in these fights where "ok, JCVD would've been okay getting cut by the knife here to show how dangerous knife fighting is, especially this badass ex-CIA assassin or ex-SF guy", instead, the closest thing Seagal ever gets into danger is the finish. So, I think that's the one thing where the director could probably talk Seagal into ever being in danger which is the parts in both movies where the villain is trying to push a blade into Seagal, and Seagal pushes back and finishes the fight immediately. They're kinda ridiculous looking, but you have to get what you can get out of him.
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Oct 17, 2023 00:46
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It just seems like Seagal's problem mentally is that he couldn't separate himself irl from the movie characters. So I do wonder if he'd ever been put in a scene with a legit martial artist whether or not he'd been more amenable to a back and forth fight because maybe his mental process would've been "ok well this is so-and-so, my audience already respects him and I won't look bad if I take a few good punches but come out on top in the end".
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Oct 17, 2023 00:50
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Truly great martial arts require two. Watching someone, no matter how talented, style on people miles below him does eventually get stale. It stops feeling like a fight and just like they're running up the score. Jackie Chan and the Raid guys understood this, where even random mooks would show a hint of skill, throwing a cool kick or punch before being countered in a cool way and kicked out a window. One of the coolest little bits in the Raid is the drug lab henchman who can actually stand with Iko and trades an extremely sick combination of punches before being taken out. Seagal could never do this. Every one of the 8 million henchmen he's beaten up has come at him with the same weird extremely telegraphed strikes he trained against in Aikido.
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Oct 17, 2023 01:00
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You just can't do it the whole movie, as others have said. I love the parts of Bruce Lee movies where he is literally one-shotting dudes left and right but he eventually goes up against someone who tests his mettle, even if it's the very last enemy of the movie. But part of it is just Bruce Lee himself. His crazed look, wild speed, exaggerated sound effects, and his signature chicken squawks allow him to do things other martial arts movie leads might not.
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Oct 17, 2023 01:20
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Lobok posted:You just can't do it the whole movie, as others have said. I love the parts of Bruce Lee movies where he is literally one-shotting dudes left and right but he eventually goes up against someone who tests his mettle, even if it's the very last enemy of the movie. But part of it is just Bruce Lee himself. His crazed look, wild speed, exaggerated sound effects, and his signature chicken squawks allow him to do things other martial arts movie leads might not. There's a trope named after it: the conservation of ninjitsu. Essentially, there is a set amount of skill that any fight scene in a film can contain, and that skill will be evenly distributed among however many enemies there are. Hence, when there's twenty bad guys, they take roughly the same amount of time and energy to defeat as the five bad guys in a later scene. There's an amusing illustration in the South Korean film 'City of Violence' where a seemingly endless horde are followed by a large but visibly finite horde, followed by four elite mooks. Also it's a pretty good movie so you should watch it anyway. I'm a fan of when films upend that by having one way better guy buried in among the faceless horde. The one nazi in 'Raiders' big chase scene, for instance Also, holy poo poo Expendables 4 was bad. My expectations were low after the inept, charmless 3rd film but drat. The action is even pretty weak.
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Oct 17, 2023 01:33
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Panzeh posted:Absolutely, it's just, fight scenes with the big villain of the movie, or the heavy just aren't the place for that. Seagal aikidoing through a bunch of rednecks at a bar is good cinema and the one thing he had going for him as an action star. That's just the thing, in Equilibrium the principal henchman gets his face sliced off five seconds after the fight starts, and while the big villain does take longer to dispatch it's all blocking and dodging, he never actually lands a punch (or a bullet because they're fist-fighting with guns in their hands, because it's Equilibrium). And Equilibrium rules, imo at least, because Wimmer just perfectly realizes that adolescent fantasy of cutting through a crowd of heavies with badass move after badass move. So did Seagal at his best, although admittedly his best covers a tiny fraction of his movies.
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Oct 17, 2023 06:10
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Equilibrium is a fun movie with some inventive action scenes but part of the reason it's not in that S-tier of action classics is because of what you're referring to. The "showdown" with Diggs is good for a laugh but then the actual showdown with the boss doesn't really deliver what you'd hoping for from a proper Cleric vs. Cleric battle. That's a big piece the movie is missing, a set piece fight between two Clerics. There are practical reasons for that of course, mainly that the two actors involved aren't trained martial artists. That's the thing about what Wimmer did though, he designed this ultra stylish but impractical martial art and then he cast non-martial artists to perform it. So of course it's gonna be something that can only be filmed in very short bursts if it was going to be at all convincing. Basically it's a sci-fi movie first and an action movie second, which is why it's good.
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Oct 17, 2023 06:30
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I thought it actually did deliver on Cleric X Cleric with the final fight. Bale and the other guy playing an elaborate game of pattycake with guns swapping hands and everything, you can tell they're furiously solving gun-kata equations in their heads while they look for an edge, and as soon as one gets one it' all over.And although the other guy never lands a hit, he lasts longer against Bale than anyone else in the movie by a considerable margin.
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Oct 17, 2023 06:44
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Above the Law was a legit good flick, I thought. I’d never seen anything quite like aikido at the time, and even though nobody ever laid a hand on him, it just looked really amazing onscreen. Hard to Kill was alright, and Marked for Death is pretty fun. Out for Justice is fun and is also a laugh riot with my family, it’s a movie we’ve watched several times together, and we quote lines of dialogue to each other regularly. Gino Felino, Bobby Lupo, and Richie Madano  “Anybody seen Richie?! Anybody know why Richie did Bobby Lupoooooo?!”
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Oct 17, 2023 06:51
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Snowman_McK posted:Also, holy poo poo Expendables 4 was bad. My expectations were low after the inept, charmless 3rd film but drat. The action is even pretty weak. Worst special effects I have seen. It's super distracting when every background is really bad cgi
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Oct 17, 2023 07:10
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Equilibrium spends two hours telling you that he’s unstoppable. The bad guys then fail to stop him. It’s wonderful. If he ended up getting beat up, even slightly, it’d undercut half the movie.
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Oct 17, 2023 07:34
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Yeah, he was already unstoppable before but now he feels! It would be kind of weird if his ability to feel coincided with him suddenly taking damage in a fight. You could pull that off without sending the wrong message if his opponent is an absolute monster, but he is fighting the system and it's kind of the point that his feelings make him stronger.
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Oct 17, 2023 08:33
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Watched In the Line of Duty 4 this weekend. I don't remember watching 3 at all but it was on my list for some reason so why not It's a solid B+ flick imo, the plot is a biting critique of CIA selling drugs to fund death squads in south america, and there's plenty of great action with Donnie Yen and Cynthia Khan. A few comedic bits too. There was a white kung fu lady that I thought might be Cynthia Rothrock returning with a cameo but it wasn't her. Good stuff overall.
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Oct 17, 2023 12:11
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Everyone mentions the bad cg in ex 4 so I thought I'd look at a youtube clip. Whenever they do the closeup looks awful.  This just looks like its taken from The Room rooftop set. I wanted that 2nd gif to be long enough to see Megan just chilling in the super fast choppy boat just casually standing, but I could only do 10 seconds.  
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Oct 17, 2023 12:53
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Remember when Stallone movies used to have actual locations and actual stunt people doing real stunts? (Looking at you, Cliffhanger.) How on earth does this stuff not get laughed out of the editing room, never mind the preview theater?
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Oct 17, 2023 14:05
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That shot of her standing on the bow of moving boat like its a solid concrete platform is impeccable.
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Oct 17, 2023 14:06
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fishing with the fam posted:That shot of her standing on the bow of moving boat like its a solid concrete platform is impeccable. She's got her sea legs.
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Oct 17, 2023 14:08
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They couldn't even put a box fan on her to blow her hair around a lil.
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Oct 17, 2023 14:15
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I recently rewatched some of the first segal movies and they are good, it's easy to see why he took off initially. He also did not have the creative control then so it's nowhere near as boring or bad when he fights.
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Oct 17, 2023 15:39
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