# Your favorite movies no one else seems to know about.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movies-no-one-else-seems-to-know-about/361081>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [June 17, 2006, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movies-no-one-else-seems-to-know-about/361081 "2006-06-17T18:11:31Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movies-no-one-else-seems-to-know-about/361081/41 "2006-06-18T08:06:29Z")

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[The Wizard of Speed and Time](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081766/) – A one-man special-effects tour-de-force. You’ve never seen stop-motion effects this good. And it’s sweet and funny to boot.

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**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movies-no-one-else-seems-to-know-about/361081/42 "2006-06-18T08:52:14Z")

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[Equilibrium](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0238380/) echoes [Farenheit 451.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060390/) I like some of the action scenes better than [The Matrix.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0133093/) Yeah. The first one.

If you liked [The Usual Suspects](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114814/) (one of my favorite movies), you might like [Deceiver](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119527/) Chris Penn (RIP), Michael Rooker, Tim Roth, great flick.

I guess more people know about [The Boondock Saints](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0144117/) than I thought, but not enough. Again, one of my favorites. “Fuck! Ass!” 😃

[Hard Boiled](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104684/) is IMO one of John Woo’s greatest works. Chow Yun Fat is awesome (how can you not be when your charachter’s name is Tequila?). Many, many, many people get shot in this movie, hundreds. Tons of “dual .45s blazing while diving sideways over a table” stuff too.

Also \*\* Buffalo '66, Existenz, American Movie, Wet Hot American Summer, Cabin Fever, Where Eagles Dare, and Ernest Goes To Hell\*\*.  
[sub]okay, I made that last one up[/sub]

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**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movies-no-one-else-seems-to-know-about/361081/43 "2006-06-18T08:54:11Z")

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Crap! I forgot [Pi](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0138704/).

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**Author:** ![Caprese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9a28c/32.png) [@Caprese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caprese)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movies-no-one-else-seems-to-know-about/361081/44 "2006-06-18T09:30:11Z")

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[QUOTE=RealityChuck]  
I definitely should give that a look.

FWIW, here’s a list of films I plan to write up on the web page one of these days:

**A Simple Plan  
Little Voice  
Brassed Off  
Great Train Robbery  
The Body Snatchers** (Boris Karloff version – Karloff deserved an Oscar nod)  
**The Englishman who Went up a Hill But Climbed down a Mountain  
Gregory’s Girl  
Comfort and Joy**(these two were done by the director of**Local Hero** are are both quite good.  
**Return to Oz  
The Stunt Man  
Gallipoli  
Heartland  
The Long Good Friday  
Diva  
Comfort and Joy  
The Court Jester  
Nuns on the Run  
Jean de Florette/Manon of the Spring  
Support Your Local Sheriff  
Truly Madly Deeply  
Baptists at the Barbeque  
Hearts and Souls  
Noises Off  
Hear My Song  
The Ref  
It Could Happen to You  
Slither  
Me and You and Everyone We Know  
Ella Enchanted  
Brute Force  
Dick  
Opposite of Sex  
Hero** (The Stephen Frears movie with Dustin Hoffman, not the martial arts one, which is good, but not forgotten)  
**The Sandlot  
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein  
Don Juan Demarco**  
[/QUOTE]

**RealityChuck**  
You and I have very similar tastes. Comfort and Joy, AFAIK, is not available on DVD, which is a shame. I would not say that every last one of that list of movies is unknown (most kids born in the 80’s/90’s know Sandlot), but many of them were definitely unappreciated.  
Loved loved \*loved \* **Dick.**  
“Did you bring the…_cookies_?”  
**What Exit**  
Enjoyed _The Secret Of Roan Inish._  
Anyone who _especially_ enjoys heist movies would (or should!) know about Le Cercle Rouge–but it’s always interesting to see how few people actually do know about this daddy-of-'em-all movie.

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**Author:** ![Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harvey_The_Heavy)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movies-no-one-else-seems-to-know-about/361081/45 "2006-06-18T10:14:00Z")

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[Amazon Women On The Moon](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092546/). And I work at a large mortuary, but evidently I’m the only one who’s ever seen the classic funeral roast.

I remember **Scavenger Hunt**. Starring the Dr. Pepper guy, right?

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**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movies-no-one-else-seems-to-know-about/361081/46 "2006-06-18T10:54:46Z")

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[My Life Without Me](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0314412/)  
[Musa](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0275083/)

Saw them both at the Seattle International Film Festival and thought they were great. Never heard them mentioned again anywhere.

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**Author:** ![Ensign\_Edison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ab992/32.png) [@Ensign\_Edison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ensign_Edison)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movies-no-one-else-seems-to-know-about/361081/47 "2006-06-18T13:17:11Z")

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[QUOTE=dnooman]  
[Equilibrium](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0238380/) echoes [Farenheit 451.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060390/) I like some of the action scenes better than [The Matrix.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0133093/) Yeah. The first one.

If you liked [The Usual Suspects](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114814/) (one of my favorite movies), you might like [Deceiver](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119527/) Chris Penn (RIP), Michael Rooker, Tim Roth, great flick.

I guess more people know about [The Boondock Saints](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0144117/) than I thought, but not enough. Again, one of my favorites. “Fuck! Ass!” 😃

[Hard Boiled](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104684/) is IMO one of John Woo’s greatest works. Chow Yun Fat is awesome (how can you not be when your charachter’s name is Tequila?). Many, many, many people get shot in this movie, hundreds. Tons of “dual .45s blazing while diving sideways over a table” stuff too.

Also \*\* Buffalo '66, Existenz, American Movie, Wet Hot American Summer, Cabin Fever, Where Eagles Dare, and Ernest Goes To Hell\*\*.  
[sub]okay, I made that last one up[/sub]  
[/QUOTE]

At least two (Existenz, Buffalo 66) of the movies you listed are on my personal _least_ favorite movies of all time list. 😃 I’m not saying this to be a jerk, but because I thought it worth pointing out that even so, they’re films a person should see at least once, because they seem to be either loved or hated.

I also wanted to comment on a couple others you mentioned: **Equilibrium** is a very interesting failure of a film, IMO. It has the right parts in the engine but it just don’t ever go. Nevertheless, I found it highly enjoyable to watch, and the gun kata stuff is golden, of course. Plus wasn’t William Fitchner in it? Can’t go too wrong there. 😉

I haven’t seen **Boondock Saints** yet, but I have seen a documentary about it called **Overnight** about its making, and, in part, the stunning amount of egotism and nastiness that the promise of fame brought out in the creator. Boondock Saints, of course, was born under a bad moon, and vanished just as quickly as it was hyped, but the reasons for this have little to do with the film’s quality, and everything to do with the personalities involved. Definitely worth a look for fans of the film and anyone else interested in the industry.

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**Author:** ![Ensign\_Edison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ab992/32.png) [@Ensign\_Edison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ensign_Edison)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movies-no-one-else-seems-to-know-about/361081/48 "2006-06-18T13:19:23Z")

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Oh, and I wanted to agree about maybe liking Equilibrium better than the first Matrix. The latter didn’t fail, in that it did live up to its own potential and came together into a working whole, but Equilibrium had more substance and ambition.

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**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movies-no-one-else-seems-to-know-about/361081/49 "2006-06-18T13:47:17Z")

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[QUOTE=NicePete]  
[The Man Who Wasn’t There](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0243133/) is probably the Coen brothers least known movie.  
[/QUOTE]

I’m pretty sure _Blood Simple_ would hold that title. I have seen it several times but even supposed Coen brothers fans that I know have “heard of it but never seen it.”

Terrence Malik’s _Badlands_ and _Days Of Heaven_ seem to have escaped most movie watchers.

And among Wilder’s works I find _Ace In the Hole_ also known as _The Big Carnival_ to be the least well known great movie.

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**Author:** ![Chanteuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de053/32.png) [@Chanteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chanteuse)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movies-no-one-else-seems-to-know-about/361081/50 "2006-06-18T13:55:06Z")

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[QUOTE=RealityChuck]  
**Support Your Local Sheriff  
Hearts and Souls  
Noises Off  
The Ref  
It Could Happen to You  
Ella Enchanted  
Don Juan Demarco**  
[/QUOTE]

These were all great movies. My sisters and I can have each other in tears, quoting _Noises Off!_

I’d also like to add these two:

_Texas Across The River  
High Strung_

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**Author:** ![Linty\_Fresh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Linty\_Fresh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linty_Fresh)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movies-no-one-else-seems-to-know-about/361081/51 "2006-06-18T14:17:13Z")

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[Tough Guys Don’t Dance:](http://imdb.com/title/tt0094169/) OK, it’s not my favorite. It actually kinda sucks, but there’s something terribly watchable about the way the acting and the plot and the story development and the ending just trample all over your visual and logical senses like a half-blind retarded elephant. If I see this movie on TV, I just have to watch. I can’t help it.

Be glad you don’t know about this one.

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**Author:** ![pantom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/34f0e0/32.png) [@pantom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pantom)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movies-no-one-else-seems-to-know-about/361081/52 "2006-06-18T14:49:41Z")

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Geez, youse guys are merciless.  
I coulda mentioned [Frankenhooker,](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099611/) another great Joisey movie. Made just down the block from me, practically, in [Ho-Ho-Kus](http://www.city-data.com/city/Ho-Ho-Kus-New-Jersey.html) . (link included just in case you never heard of the place)

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**Author:** ![Bike\_Rider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Bike\_Rider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bike_Rider)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movies-no-one-else-seems-to-know-about/361081/53 "2006-06-18T14:56:01Z")

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I’ll go with Lone Star State of Mind ([http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0269483/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0269483/)). Low-key but absolutely hilarious. Also, who knew John Mellencamp could be so damn funny? “Smyrna, Earl’s kissin’ his sister again!”

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**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movies-no-one-else-seems-to-know-about/361081/54 "2006-06-18T14:59:27Z")

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Much of my collection consists of relatively unknown films. I own many of the films listed here.

[QUOTE=Linty Fresh]  
[The Quiet Earth:](http://imdb.com/title/tt0089869/) I have two friends from NZ, and they both know and love this movie. _No one_ else I’ve met IRL knows either this movie or [Bruno Lawrence](http://imdb.com/name/nm0492649/).  
[/QUOTE]

I saw this one on the big screen, and I have it on VHS.

I’ll only list the first one of my collection to come to mind: [_A Bucket Of Blood_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052655/). Lots of great lines in that one. ‘You’re just a simple farmboy. The rest of us are sophisticated beatniks!’ for example.

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**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movies-no-one-else-seems-to-know-about/361081/55 "2006-06-18T15:18:51Z")

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[QUOTE=What Exit?]  
Hi **pantom** , I thought all of us in Jersey have seen Clerks. It is one of my favorites. **Clerks II** is coming out in July. Kevin Smith is my favorite director.  
I recommend finding and renting “An evening with Kevin Smith” Nearly 4 hours and hilariously funny. It is highlights of 5 college Q&A session for around 2003.

**Caprese** : I came in to say \*\*Local Hero \*\* and [Secret of Roan Inish](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111112/).  
I try to tell people that Local Hero was Northern Exposure before Northern Exposure was thought of. 😉  
**Secret of Roan Inish** is just this wonderful, whimsical, magical little Irish film that any age can enjoy. I know very few people that know the movie.

I have seen it and I cannot back you up on it being funny, I actually thought it was amazingly boring and I like Al Franken.

Jim  
[/QUOTE]

Oh, I gotta call BS on these as “unknown.” I saw “Local Hero” and “Roan Inish” on cable not too long ago, and “Clerks” is CURRENTLY on cable. I don’t think you can call something “unknown” if it is or has recently been in rotation on the cable premium channels.

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**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movies-no-one-else-seems-to-know-about/361081/56 "2006-06-18T16:02:26Z")

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[QUOTE=Evil Captor]  
Oh, I gotta call BS on these as “unknown.” I saw “Local Hero” and “Roan Inish” on cable not too long ago, and “Clerks” is CURRENTLY on cable. I don’t think you can call something “unknown” if it is or has recently been in rotation on the cable premium channels.  
[/QUOTE]

EC that is cool, I had never seen Roan Inish on Cable or TV. I bought it used from a video store 10 years ago for $2.99 and that was the first time I saw it. I have only seen it get mentioned rarely by anyone. What channel was showing it?  
As far as Local Hero, I have noticed a much higher percentage of posters seem to know of it however.  
As to Clerks, I think we have now established, it is extremely well known on the Dope and elsewhere at least. Hell, they made a cartoon of it.

Jim

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**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movies-no-one-else-seems-to-know-about/361081/57 "2006-06-18T16:56:25Z")

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Michael pare was one mean dude in Streets of Fire. And I like RAN

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**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movies-no-one-else-seems-to-know-about/361081/58 "2006-06-18T20:32:29Z")

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Frailty. Loved the ending.  
Equilibrium. Awesome action sequences and again, a great and slightly ambiguous ending.  
Rosencrantz and Gildenstern Are Dead.

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**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\
**Post date:** [June 19, 2006, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movies-no-one-else-seems-to-know-about/361081/59 "2006-06-19T03:56:18Z")

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Boy, I could list a whole page. Most of the films I watch are imports which have not had a U.S. release. Or a very limited one. Here are a few of my favorites:

[Comrades, Almost a Love Story](http://www.dvdspot.com/dvd.php?d=1986247077)

[The Mystery of Rampo](http://www.dvdspot.com/dvd.php?d=1586767328)

[Angel Dust](http://www.dvdspot.com/dvd.php?d=1586767328)

[No Blood, No Tears](http://www.dvdspot.com/dvd.php?d=1231878241)

[A Moment to Remember](http://www.dvdspot.com/dvd.php?d=1887222414)

All of the links contain my full-length review, if you scroll down a bit. This list could easily be 20 or more films.

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**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\
**Post date:** [June 19, 2006, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movies-no-one-else-seems-to-know-about/361081/60 "2006-06-19T04:33:59Z")

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I’m sure I could come up with more in a less-tired state, but this is the only one I can think of:

**Hero at Large**

I’m sure no one thinks this is high art, but I enjoyed it and I don’t know anyone who’s even heard of it. John Ritter, Anne Archer, Burt Convy. Ritter’s a New York actor picking up extra cash appearing in spandex at movie theaters showing the new Captain Amazing movie and signing autographs (the ad agency has hired a small army of Captains). On his way home from work, wearing the suit under an overcoat, he’s in the local store when it’s held up. He takes off the coat and chases the bad guys away. New York goes wild trying to find the ‘real Captain Amazing’ while Ritter starts looking for more chances to save civilians.

Yeah, I’ll always give a lot more benefit of the doubt and suspension of disbelief to anything with heroes in it.

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