Author Topic: The Sopranos official thread  (Read 27874 times)

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Offline gmillerdrake

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Re: The Sopranos official thread
« Reply #140 on: January 11, 2019, 02:04:50 PM »
I’m dead serious. It was on at a time when I didn’t have HBO and by the time I did it was so far along i just didn’t start it. My brothers watched it and I’ve heard all about it. I’ve thought about watching it but there are SO many episodes. Maybe I’ll give it a go after Game of Thrones ends??
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Offline cramx3

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Re: The Sopranos official thread
« Reply #141 on: January 11, 2019, 02:29:54 PM »
Good idea, its up there as one of the best shows ever IMO.  At least check out the first season, if its not your thing then dont bother with the rest, but I think you'll really love it if you watch season 1.

Offline KevShmev

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Re: The Sopranos official thread
« Reply #142 on: January 11, 2019, 08:13:19 PM »
Gary, these guys are correct. You need to see this.  Breaking Bad eventually surpassed The Sopranos by a hair, but they are 1a and 1b for me now.  Gandolfini's portrayal as Tony Soprano alone is the stuff of legends.

Offline RuRoRul

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Re: The Sopranos official thread
« Reply #143 on: January 12, 2019, 08:13:44 AM »
I like to rewatch my top shows and am normally making my way through some series or another by default so I watched the whole series again just last year (I originally watched it on DVD in the late 2000s, got the Blu Ray set a few years ago). Would still be tempting to try to start it again seeing some of this anniversary stuff though :lol

Starting an old TV series that's finished its run and has a lot of episodes is a daunting task. One good thing about The Sopranos from that perspective is that the first season is fairly "complete". It feels like it tells a full satisfying story, and while there's obviously more story to see it doesn't end on an obvious cliffhanger or spend a lot of energy setting up the next season. Also it still has a lot of characters but is a bit more tightly focused on Tony and his immediate relationships than later seasons. Worst comes to worst, I think that after finishing season 1 if you find you're not interested enough in the show to continue with the rest, it'd still have been a decent enough experience in itself to just watch a season, and it covers most of the ideas from The Sopranos that have made it into pop culture already.

Offline KevShmev

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Re: The Sopranos official thread
« Reply #144 on: January 12, 2019, 08:27:30 AM »
I would say that if you are not totally into the show after the 5th episode, College, it might not be for you.  The first two are really good, and then we get a magnificent run of "Denial, Anger, Acceptance," "Meadowlands" and "College."  :hefdaddy :hefdaddy

Offline krands85

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Re: The Sopranos official thread
« Reply #145 on: January 12, 2019, 09:32:33 AM »
I would say that if you are not totally into the show after the 5th episode, College, it might not be for you.
I may be one of the few exceptions to this. The first time I started watching the show, I was pretty 'meh' about it and gave up after the first season. I eventually decided to give it another go (from the start) and loved it. It's now in my top 2 or 3 shows ever.

I was a bit similar with The Wire actually - I wasn't sure what everyone was raving about after I'd seen the first 4 or 5 episodes, but I persevered and I probably prefer it to even The Sopranos.
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Offline MrBoom_shack-a-lack

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Re: The Sopranos official thread
« Reply #146 on: January 23, 2019, 01:25:30 AM »
I've never seen it either other than catching some random episodes on TV when it aired. I think it was airing at a time when I didn't watch tv-shows like I do these days.

I was sucked into The Wire after a couple of episodes so I don't see why I shouldn't enjoy The Sopranos.

I might see it someday.
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Offline NunoTenniscourt

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Re: The Sopranos official thread
« Reply #147 on: February 27, 2019, 05:55:46 AM »
I was very late to the party with The Sopranos, as well. I didn't watch it until August of last year, and overall, I would say it lived up to the hype, and the thing that struck me most is that even though it started 20 years ago, it doesn't feel the least bit dated.

Paulie was my favorite character by far, and I never could get on the "everybody loves Tony" bandwagon. I found myself rooting against him more often than not, and I was so glad when Bobby kicked his ass.

Another aspect I enjoyed was the women. The female mob boss in Italy that handed Furio over to Tony in their negotiations, holy shit. I would do things to her I wouldn't do to a farm animal.

Offline KevShmev

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Re: The Sopranos official thread
« Reply #148 on: April 26, 2021, 04:33:12 PM »
Anyone else catch the podcast series Michael Imeprioli (Christopher) and Steve Schirripa (Bobby) are doing called Talking Sopranos?  Just started digging into it. Good stuff.

Offline gmillerdrake

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Re: The Sopranos official thread
« Reply #149 on: April 26, 2021, 04:38:11 PM »
I really need to watch this show. It’s one of my brothers favorite shows. I missed the boat when it originally aired and there’s something like 90 plus episodes....I know that once I start watching I’ll binge it so I’m scared of the time commitment I know I’ll invest.
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Offline KevShmev

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Re: The Sopranos official thread
« Reply #150 on: April 26, 2021, 07:35:49 PM »
I really need to watch this show. It’s one of my brothers favorite shows. I missed the boat when it originally aired and there’s something like 90 plus episodes....I know that once I start watching I’ll binge it so I’m scared of the time commitment I know I’ll invest.

Only 86 episodes, actually. ;)

But yeah, it's definitely worth the time.  You won't regret it.

Offline faizoff

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Re: The Sopranos official thread
« Reply #151 on: April 26, 2021, 07:47:27 PM »
Anyone else catch the podcast series Michael Imeprioli (Christopher) and Steve Schirripa (Bobby) are doing called Talking Sopranos?  Just started digging into it. Good stuff.
The start of their podcast coincided with the completion of my 2nd rewatch. I did listen a little but never kept up.




I really need to watch this show. It’s one of my brothers favorite shows. I missed the boat when it originally aired and there’s something like 90 plus episodes....I know that once I start watching I’ll binge it so I’m scared of the time commitment I know I’ll invest.


I didn't watch it live when it came and honestly on first watch I thought it was good not great, but on my 2nd watch I paid attention while watching with no distractions, it was amazing that way. It's in my top 5 shows of all time now and it's extremely well written. Mr. Robot takes a lot of inspiration from the series and when you watch the show you can easily see how several shows have tried to copy and borrow from The Sopranos. It was a trend setter and I didn't realize that on my first viewing. The acting is fantastic, James Gandolfini, Edie Falco and Lorraine Bracco among others are phenomenal in it. Actually I think all the actors are great in the entire series. It's not a typical mob show, it's like Mr. Robot where it's not a typical computer hacking show. I would highly recommend it.
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Offline Stadler

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Re: The Sopranos official thread
« Reply #152 on: April 27, 2021, 06:48:30 AM »
I think the thing about The Sopranos is how multi-faceted it is, without losing continuity.  There are episodes that are straight comedy. There are episodes that are complete pathos.  There are episodes that are brutal, both emotionally and physically.   The characters are that way as well; they never fell into that "this is our quirky character; this is our gay character, this is our moral compass character....".  Yeah, they had those, every show does, but they did it in a more subtle way, a way that more reflected real life, where people aren't one dimensional cardboard cutouts of demographic stereotypes. 

Offline Dave_Manchester

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Re: The Sopranos official thread
« Reply #153 on: April 27, 2021, 07:16:53 AM »
Paulie was my favorite character by far
Mine too, and the guy who played him is even more intriguing and in some ways 'menacing' in real life.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxddINwarJk

Offline Stadler

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Re: The Sopranos official thread
« Reply #154 on: April 27, 2021, 08:20:37 AM »
I'd never seen that before; that was a disturbing interview for a couple reasons.   I'd love to see the raw tapes, though, because some of the cuts are jarring and seem to imply there's more there than what was said.  I don't think he's faking, necessarily (simple Google search says he's not; he's done felony time in a maximum security prison) but he's also an actor, and there are questions that have better answers than not.  I'm not sure I believe BOTH answers: "I didn't kill anyone", and "I wouldn't kill now because I don't need the money".  I think those are oddly inconsistent answers (but I understand I have nothing to base that on).

In any event, he's lived a life, for certain.

Offline KevShmev

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Re: The Sopranos official thread
« Reply #155 on: April 27, 2021, 03:55:59 PM »
I can't remember where I read it, but Tony Sirico's time in prison is why Paulie always kept his hands in front of him when he was standing, never at his side or behind his back, because in prison, you always have to be ready to defend yourself, so it just became a natural part of his body language.

For me, Paulie was a character easy to like early on, but over time he got less and less likable.  Though, the clip of him on the phone talking with Vito about how they were going to split up the nearly million dollar score as he was clipping coupons still kills me.  :lol :lol

Offline Dave_Manchester

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Re: The Sopranos official thread
« Reply #156 on: April 27, 2021, 06:50:37 PM »
Even though it's one of the most morally depraved scenes in the entire show (2nd only to Ralph beating Tracee the hoowah to death), my favourite Paulie scene is him and Chrissy arguing outside the restaurant before they kill the waiter who asked for a tip. That's the genius of The Sopranos, they can write a scene that is at once hilarious while also showing the sickening ethical bankruptcy of these people.

Offline faizoff

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Re: The Sopranos official thread
« Reply #157 on: April 27, 2021, 07:01:20 PM »
Yes that dark comedy was so well written and in line with the characters it was a joy to watch.
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Offline KevShmev

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Re: The Sopranos official thread
« Reply #158 on: April 27, 2021, 07:17:59 PM »
The comedy was always there.  OMG, when Tony finds out that Ralph has, shall we say, unusual sexual tendencies and asks Sil and Patsie if he is a little weird about women, and Sil, in his classic tone, just fires out, "I don't know, Ton. I mean, uh, he beat one to death once just for uh...I forgot...why was it again?" :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol 

Offline Stadler

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Re: The Sopranos official thread
« Reply #159 on: April 28, 2021, 08:44:18 AM »
That to me was the beauty of the show.  It was never "this is our comedy scene", "this is our violence scene"...  these were characters that lived outside the lines and honestly probably couldn't find the lines even if they wanted to (that's always what I took from Tony's therapy; what is a more mainstream, conventional way of living in society than seeking out therapy?  Did it help him in any MEANINGFUL way? I would argue it didn't, and in fact perhaps made some aspects worse).

For me, the two scenes that capture that are:
- when Christopher is helping (I think it's) Adriana's friend record some songs, and the guy doesn't want to continue recording and Christopher beats him with the guitar yelling "Hey Paul Fucking McCartney!", and
- this is a very subtle scene, but when Tony is eating dinner with Artie, and a kid in the place won't take his hat off while eating dinner.   The kid mouths off at first, but Tony just stands there, threateningly, and the kid acquiesces.  Not that there's "humor" here, though there is, but the idea of taking normal things, "today's values", and distorting them (Tony is indignantly talking to Artie about Meadow's soccer coach, who is leaving the team, even though he's actually banging one of the players) in a way that still seems to make a sort of sense.  I'll cop to secretly wishing I had the nerve and the presence to do what Tony did.

Offline KevShmev

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Re: The Sopranos official thread
« Reply #160 on: April 28, 2021, 07:13:34 PM »
Quick note: Chris did not yell, 'hey Paul f'ing McCartney!" at that guy, but that is still an awesome scene.  "Kinkos?!?!"  :lol :lol :lol :lol  And the look on Hesh's face at the end of the ep when he is listening to the finished song.  "There's good, and there's not good, this is not good."  :lol :lol

Offline Stadler

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Re: The Sopranos official thread
« Reply #161 on: April 29, 2021, 07:11:07 AM »
Quick note: Chris did not yell, 'hey Paul f'ing McCartney!" at that guy, but that is still an awesome scene.  "Kinkos?!?!"  :lol :lol :lol :lol  And the look on Hesh's face at the end of the ep when he is listening to the finished song.  "There's good, and there's not good, this is not good."  :lol :lol

Was it before, then?   I have a distinct memory of him calling Richie that; but it might have been in the lead-up to it.  I didn't watch that again before I wrote about it (I can't always see YouTube from work).

Offline KevShmev

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Re: The Sopranos official thread
« Reply #162 on: April 29, 2021, 07:16:58 PM »
Quick note: Chris did not yell, 'hey Paul f'ing McCartney!" at that guy, but that is still an awesome scene.  "Kinkos?!?!"  :lol :lol :lol :lol  And the look on Hesh's face at the end of the ep when he is listening to the finished song.  "There's good, and there's not good, this is not good."  :lol :lol

Was it before, then?   I have a distinct memory of him calling Richie that; but it might have been in the lead-up to it.  I didn't watch that again before I wrote about it (I can't always see YouTube from work).

The only Beatles exchange is when the engineer (I think that is who that guy was) said that She Loves You was a great example of how you build the structure of a song.  Start with the chorus and go from there.  And Richie goes, "The Beatles, the Beatles, it's been 40 years, I'm fucking sick of it," and Chrissy, incredulous at that comment, turns to Ade and goes, "What is he, nuts?"  There was no mention of Paul McCartney.  I have seen this show way too much. :lol :lol

Offline El Barto

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Re: The Sopranos official thread
« Reply #163 on: April 29, 2021, 10:01:12 PM »
Even though it's one of the most morally depraved scenes in the entire show (2nd only to Ralph beating Tracee the hoowah to death), my favourite Paulie scene is him and Chrissy arguing outside the restaurant before they kill the waiter who asked for a tip. That's the genius of The Sopranos, they can write a scene that is at once hilarious while also showing the sickening ethical bankruptcy of these people.
It was great because they were ready to kill each other, Paulie had been fucking with him all night long, and it was the inadvertently killing a guy that they bonded over. It was like they were kids again. Horrible, terrible kids. Also, despite being a second away from beating him up, when the waiter called Chris an asshole Paulie switched loyalties on a dime. They might have hated each other right then, but they were still on the same team.

I still think the funniest scene may well be in Adriana hurled all over that beautiful redwood table (and the FBI). Tony gleefully chasing the guy with his car in front of the HMO in the premier is certainly a contender, as well. And certainly the intervention, especially because it was Silvio that ran over to kick his ass.
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Offline DragonAttack

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Re: The Sopranos official thread
« Reply #164 on: April 30, 2021, 05:15:21 AM »
Christopher and Paulie in the woods after screwing up a hit.  The snow, shoes (lack of), cell phone problems, mayo(?) packets.... Keystone Kops, er, Kriminals..at their best. :D
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Offline faizoff

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Re: The Sopranos official thread
« Reply #165 on: April 30, 2021, 05:21:31 AM »
The classic Pine Barrens episode, one of the best episodes of the series.
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Offline KevShmev

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Re: The Sopranos official thread
« Reply #166 on: April 30, 2021, 05:47:09 AM »
Too many funny moments to think of them all off the top of my head.

The intervention is certainly up there.  The look on Paulie's face when Ade says Chris can no longer function as a man due to the drugs is one of the best things ever.

Offline Stadler

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Re: The Sopranos official thread
« Reply #167 on: April 30, 2021, 07:42:45 AM »
Quick note: Chris did not yell, 'hey Paul f'ing McCartney!" at that guy, but that is still an awesome scene.  "Kinkos?!?!"  :lol :lol :lol :lol  And the look on Hesh's face at the end of the ep when he is listening to the finished song.  "There's good, and there's not good, this is not good."  :lol :lol

Was it before, then?   I have a distinct memory of him calling Richie that; but it might have been in the lead-up to it.  I didn't watch that again before I wrote about it (I can't always see YouTube from work).

The only Beatles exchange is when the engineer (I think that is who that guy was) said that She Loves You was a great example of how you build the structure of a song.  Start with the chorus and go from there.  And Richie goes, "The Beatles, the Beatles, it's been 40 years, I'm fucking sick of it," and Chrissy, incredulous at that comment, turns to Ade and goes, "What is he, nuts?"  There was no mention of Paul McCartney.  I have seen this show way too much. :lol :lol

I got to watch it again; I've told that story 20 times and it's shocking to find out I'm wrong.  :) :)

Offline El Barto

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Re: The Sopranos official thread
« Reply #168 on: April 30, 2021, 09:28:30 AM »
Christopher and Paulie in the woods after screwing up a hit.  The snow, shoes (lack of), cell phone problems, mayo(?) packets.... Keystone Kops, er, Kriminals..at their best. :D
Probably the funniest line of the whole series. Paulie mistakenly calls him a Czechoslovakian interior decorator, and Chris thinks about it for a second, and replies "his apartment looked like shit." I honestly didn't think too highly of the episode, but that was priceless.
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Offline Dave_Manchester

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Re: The Sopranos official thread
« Reply #169 on: April 30, 2021, 11:38:01 AM »
And certainly the intervention, especially because it was Silvio that ran over to kick his ass.
Him pushing the mediator guy out of his chair to get to Chris was such a great touch. It's funny details like that - which you might not catch on first watch - that make the show great.

Another hilarious Paulie moment is when he feels like he's been stabbed in the heart (complete with heart-stabbing gesture) when he finds out Vito's been catchin', not pitchin'. "I'm sorry I yelled, T. It's just...how much more betrayal can I take??" Dude talks like his own mother has shopped him to the Feds, instead of a fella blowng a guy in the privacy of his own..well ok, fair enough, in a wide open parking lot in broad daylight, but still; Paulie's reaction is hysterical.

That whole Vito storyline, along with the "Uncle June likes going down on women" story, were 2 of the more interesting insights into that whole bizarre 'macho' culture and their twisted idea of masculinity. They have such a rigid and out-dated understanding of what it means to be a 'man', yet they're also a bunch of mommy's boys who venerate their 'mudders' and cry for them whenever they get sent down.

Offline Grappler

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Re: The Sopranos official thread
« Reply #170 on: April 30, 2021, 12:47:30 PM »
The classic Pine Barrens episode, one of the best episodes of the series.

Tony:  "He's with the Russian interior ministry"

Paulie:  "He's an interior decorator...."

Christopher:  "....well his house looked like shit...."

 :rollin
« Last Edit: April 30, 2021, 01:28:17 PM by Grappler »

Offline faizoff

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Re: The Sopranos official thread
« Reply #171 on: April 30, 2021, 01:08:45 PM »
And certainly the intervention, especially because it was Silvio that ran over to kick his ass.
Him pushing the mediator guy out of his chair to get to Chris was such a great touch. It's funny details like that - which you might not catch on first watch - that make the show great.

Another hilarious Paulie moment is when he feels like he's been stabbed in the heart (complete with heart-stabbing gesture) when he finds out Vito's been catchin', not pitchin'. "I'm sorry I yelled, T. It's just...how much more betrayal can I take??" Dude talks like his own mother has shopped him to the Feds, instead of a fella blowng a guy in the privacy of his own..well ok, fair enough, in a wide open parking lot in broad daylight, but still; Paulie's reaction is hysterical.

That whole Vito storyline, along with the "Uncle June likes going down on women" story, were 2 of the more interesting insights into that whole bizarre 'macho' culture and their twisted idea of masculinity. They have such a rigid and out-dated understanding of what it means to be a 'man', yet they're also a bunch of mommy's boys who venerate their 'mudders' and cry for them whenever they get sent down.
That's exactly why I think I was blown away on the rewatch, at first viewing you're just taking everything in and not sure what the show is or where the story is. But watching it again makes you really take notice of everything. I think this show will be the next show to rewatch. Either that or Breaking Bad, haven't seen that in ages.
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Offline faizoff

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Re: The Sopranos official thread
« Reply #172 on: April 30, 2021, 07:03:13 PM »
Another interesting tidbit I learned from listening to the audio commentary on the bluray disc by David Chase is that a lot of the Tony and his mother interactions are based on David's own interactions with his mother. She's loosely based on David's mother but some of the back and forth they have is derived from real life.
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Offline KevShmev

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Re: The Sopranos official thread
« Reply #173 on: April 30, 2021, 07:33:17 PM »
The awesomeness of Nancy Marchand as Livia can never be overstated.  She was a big reason why Season 1 was so amazing.  She managed to steal practically every scene she was in, except maybe the ones with Gandolfini, and those with just those two was like watching two masters at work bouncing off one another.  Amazing stuff. 

Offline gmillerdrake

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Re: The Sopranos official thread
« Reply #174 on: May 24, 2021, 11:38:06 PM »
Well....just rattled off the first five episodes. Thankfully I know there’s like a gazillion more to go or I’d have tried to watch them all tonight. Really enjoying it. I’m probably going to try and not go crazy like I did with Breaking Bad which I binged in 13 days... just gonna do a couple episodes a couple days a week.
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