Grown Ups

Reviewed by Mike

I finally got around to watching the latest flick from funny-man Adam Sandler and, honestly, I was pleasantly surprised. Out of the three comedy films I've seen in the past week (Cop Out and Due Date reviews to be added in the next day or so), this was by far the funniest and most enjoyable of the bunch.

Grown Ups is a film about a group of five friends who have, well, grown up. Sandler is the star, playing comedic Hollywood agent Lenny Feder. The rest of the main cast is made up by Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade and Rob Schenider- all ex-Saturday Night Live co-stars of Sandlers, except James. The five-some, childhood pals who have since grown apart, are brought together once again by the death of their beloved high school (Maybe? The flash backs seem like they were all 10 years-old so I'm not totally sure...) basketball coach.

The five guys, along with their wives/girlfriends and children all reunite after the funeral for a Fourth of July weekend at their old stomping grounds- a lake house in New England. Here we see that the characters are all struggling with their marriages, jobs, relationships and children, all in different ways and all while trying to rekindle some old friendships- the latter is the easy part. The weekend of bonding, however, is just what the doctor ordered- it brings everyone together for the better and they each resolve their issues... except for Spade, who plays a 40 year-old bachelor who loves to booze and have one-night stands (this role must have been written for him, he played it perfectly).

So Spade's character is a party animal, but what about everyone else? I'm sure you could guess, but I'll give a bit of a description of each in case you haven't seen the movie yet.

Sandler plays a rich Hollywood agent/funnyman who yearns for his spoiled kids and wife to be more down to Earth and appreciative- he is also the hero who won the big basketball game when the five main characters were younger. Rock is a stay-at-home dad who has to deal with a disrespectful mother-in-law, two kids and a pregnant bread-winner wife. Schneider is a Vegan practicing, thrice-divorcee who has a thing for spirituality and older women- his three daughters (2 of which are smoking hot, the other is hilariously ugly) are around for some comedic relief and some eye-candy (for both the cast and audience). James is the lovable oaf with a gorgeous wife and two children, including a 4 year-old that is still breastfed...


Sandler, who wrote and produced this film, also got a pretty decent cast for the rest of the characters: Salma Hayek takes on the role of Sandlers fashionista wife. Ex-SNLers Colin Quinn, Tim Meadows and Mya Rudolph lend a hand for other bit characters and Steve Buscemi comes out of fucking nowhere to play a hilarious role as one of Sandlers old enemies from grade school.

There were a lot of funny parts to this film: funny bits, one-liners, physical humor and random goofy gags, but I think the best part came at the end. Sandler and his crew are challenged to a re-match basketball game by the guys who they beat in the championship game as kids. Tim Meadow is on the losing team and Chris Rock is with Sandler and company- the two get into an argument on the court about which guy is the "other" black guy in town and which is the alpha black guy. They discuss what reactions white people give them when they walk into a store... hilarity ensues.

In the end, the film is really about nostalgia, the bringing together of old friends and the bond of family. It's a feel good movie, a family movie and a pretty decent comedy on top of it all. It's nice to see many of my favorite ex-SNLer together once again, doing what they love and the chemistry they all have with one another. It must have been a great time for these guys to film this movie- I certainly had a fun time watching it.

3.5 out of 5

Leslie Nielsen (1926-2010)

The first comedy movie I ever remember watching was Airplane!. I was eight and my old man sat me down and said, "We're going to watch this movie; it's funny." I didn't know how true of a statement that was then- I mean, I was young and what eight year-old kid is going to understand the humor in Airplane!, you know? I watched it again a decade later and it's now one of my favorite movies.

Leslie Nielsen was a great actor, with a resume spanning more than 60 years- his career will even go beyond his death; he has a project coming out in 2011 in which he voices a character for an animated flick. He was the star of some of my favorite comedy films, from the Naked Gun series to Dracula: Dead and Loving It, from 2001: A Space Travesty to one of my all-time favorites, Spy Hard. He was great in Creepshow, a movie with a series of different shorts based on Stephen King stories. One of the first pair of boobs I ever remember seeing in a movie was in Repossessed, and it truly makes me sad that we'll never have another film like Wrongfully Accused...

He was also a television actor known for roles on The Golden Girls, Who's the Boss?, Fantasy Island, Columbo, Kung Fu, Hawaii Five-O and Murder, She Wrote. The interesting thing about Nielsen's career was that it never seemed to taper off. Right up until his death he was still doing what he loved (although certainly not the most mainstream movies... Scary Movie 3... yuck).

One of the tings about Nielsen that I always found a bit bizarre was the he was originally a dramatic actor, which you can see in his first films like The Vagabond King and Forbidden Planet, as well as his early television career- the man's first TV appearance was with Charlton Heston on the program Studio One. I always knew the man as a comedy actor, so it's pretty impressive (in my opinion, at least) that he started off in drama. 

I think I loved and respected Nielsen so much because I saw so many of his films growing up... a lot of the movies I mentioned above came out during my childhood/young adult stage in life, so I associate those movies with my youth. He's a major reason I and so many other people love comedy films and saying he will be missed is an understatement.

I don't get sad at many celebrity deaths, but this one is rough... Nielsen's November 28, 2010 death was caused by complications from pneumonia- he was 84.

Kamo-Kochems Awards Categories/Nominations

Best Popcorn Flick
For this category, you’ve gotten take in what film was the most worth seeing in theaters. The majority of the movies we see each year are in the confines of our own home/bathroom while we’re doing homework/relaxing/sleeping/fucking/shitting (you get the idea), but which movie this year was the best to see on the big screen?

Now, we will take into account some films that either Mike or myself did not see in theatres, but based on the quality of the film we should be able to gauge how much more enjoyable it would’ve been in a theatre. For example, I watched Avatar a few months ago, first time since it was in theatres. My grade for the film would drop from a 4 to a 3, maybe even 2.5, since much of the positives I saw in it were the 3D, the sound, and just how awe-inspiring it was in a theatre. At home on my shitty laptop with a bottle of whiskey next to me and Mario Kart 64 in the other room, it just wasn’t so hot.

So what movie this year really blew you away? Off the top of my head, I know I’ll be considering Iron Man 2, RED, Inception, and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. These were some of the most fun movies I saw in theatres this year. I may also include Prince of Persia and Kick-Ass, two films I saw, but on DVD. If I get urged enough, whether by our loyal followers or some other phenomena (and yes, I consider us having followers a phenomena), I’d think that The Losers, The A-Team, A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010), Robin Hood, Get Him to the Greek, Knight and Day, The Expendables, Salt, Machete, Buried, Jackass 3D, Paranormal Activity 2, Skyline, and Unstoppable are all potential contenders. In rereading that list, I think Knight and Day and The Expendables are the two I’ll almost certainly see for this category.

If you think I’ve missed any, please feel free to add and suggest!

Biggest Disappointment
While I was very tempted to do worst movie, I think it’s even more insulting to say what film disappointed me most this year. This means that Valentine’s Day (yeah… I saw it) isn’t a shoe in because I didn’t expect anything out of the movie other than two hours of garbage (and for the record it actually was better than I thought, which is saying that my piss tastes better than I thought, I still wanna vomit afterward). This would also exclude any Twilight films, had I seen them, since I don’t have any respect for them anyways.

I think any movie in this category required me to have some enthusiasm about seeing it, even if it’s just a glimmer of hope. I thought Prince of Persia was going to be the next Pirates of the Caribbean, but Jerry Bruckheimer really fucked me over there. However, I don’t feel like it was all that bad of a movie either. So it’s a balance of anticipation and nausea for the final project. Cop Out is another movie I’m going to consider.

Going through the list of movies I saw this year actually just made nauseous as to how many of them were
really bad. Here’s what I’ll be considering for this category. If you disagree feel free to plead your case, whether it be against me thinking the film is bad or against me thinking it could’ve been good. Cop Out, Alice in Wonderland, The Bounty Hunter, Clash of the Titans, Date Night, Prince of Persia, and Dinner for Schmucks.

Here are some films I haven’t seen but might force myself to view, as a duty to this category and the beloved blog you follow: The Wolfman, The Crazies (Fuck you, Steve, this movie was great! ...sort of), Death at a Funeral, MacGruber, Jonah Hex, Grown Ups, The Last Airbender, I’m Still Here (This could never disappoint me, Steve. Joaquin Phoenix rapping? Solid GOLD), Devil, Hereafter, Little Fockers, Tron: Legacy.

I’m getting sick already thinking about these films. If you’ve got any you think belong on this list feel free to suggest them! 

Best Film to Watch Under the Influence
When Steve came to me with the idea of an awards show/post and asked me to think of two categories, my immediate idea was, "What movie did I watch this year while I was super drunk/high and LOVED?" This category can be tricky, because seeing a movie sober is very different from seeing a movie NOT sober (Alice in Wonderland is a perfect example). Also, this could include just about any movie... I'm sure if I was stoned, Dinner for Schmucks would have been incredible (maybe no.t, it was pretty bad). Well anyhow, I present to you the best films of 2010 to watch under the influence of [insert booze/drug of choice here]:

Inception (You KNOW it was better if you were high), Get Him to the Greek, Shutter Island, Alice in Wonderland (Oh God, it was amazing...), Jackass 3D (I pissed myself and threw up, and NOT from the booze), Saw 3D, Megamind, True Grit (This film was meant to be seen with a belly full of whiskey, and you know it), Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, Toy Story 3, Iron Man 2 (I fell asleep in the theater due to too much beer), The Book of Eli, Hot Tub Time Machine (Oh God, so funny) and that about does it, unless you guys have any other suggestions?

Best Comedy
I prefer comedy movies over any other genre, so this was an obvious choice for me. I go to the movies to be entertained and nothing entertains me more than seeing a guy get kicked in the balls by a donkey (Thank you, Jackass 3D). That being said, there really weren't too many good comedies out this year. I could be clever and add Devil and say it was so bad it was funny, but I'm going to stick to films that were intended to be funny in the first place... here's the list!

Get Him to the Greek (This is the one new film I've see this year that I can remember not being able to breathe because I was laughing so hard), It's Kind of a Funny Story, Jackass 3D, Toy Story 3, Grown Ups, Cop Out, She's Out of My League, Hot Tub Time Machine, Date Night, Death at a Funeral and MacGruber.

Right off the bat, my top 3 are Get Him to the Greek, Hot Tub Time Machine and Jackass 3D (in that order). If I forgot any, let me know in the comments section.

Best Film of the Year
I don't think we need to really go in depth on the explanation with this one... or maybe we do. This is the film that is judged to be the best released in 2010 in terms of story, plot, entertainment and anything else Steve thinks of that I didn't touch on.

Lesser Awards
Steve and I (mostly Steve) thought up of a few awards that, while not as serious, should probably be addressed in our consideration for films of 2010. First up, the Steven Seagal Award for Best Fight Scene in a movie. We also have the Shoulda-Seen-It Award for the movie that Steve and I wish we would have seen, but unfortunately didn't get a chance to. The Dolph Lundgren Award, while similar to the Steven Seagal Award, judges the Best Action Film. Other categories might be added (I want to throw Worst Steve Carrell Movie out there) but the categories mentioned today is what we'll be judging as of right now.

Let us know if we should add anything in the comments section!

Awards Announcement

Hey Kids,

It's that time of year again... well, for the first time. We're having the soon to be titled annual Kochems-Kamo Film Awards. And trust me, it'll be prestigious...

This year will consist of five categories and the breakdown is mentioned below. Each category will have five films nominated for it, which we'll post up in the next few days as well as a list of most of the films of 2010. If we've missed any that you think we should consider, by all means let us know.

While the categories will be posted within the next week or so, the official nominations can't be posted until December 26th since there is at least one film that will not be released until that late in the year that both Mike and I have high hopes for. However, we will be speculating and looking forward to input and opinions on the categories and their speculated nominees. Once we've released the official list of nominations for each category, they won't be changed so get your opinions in early (starting here?).

The categories this year aren't yet decided, but we have a lay out prepared for them. Mike and I will both select two categories that we feel best represent our overall reception of the films of this year. We both will get to each nominate three films for our own category and an additional nomination will be from whomever has not created the category. A fifth nomination will also be chosen by our loyal readers. This will let us get a broader opinion on each category. Both Mike and I will be watch the two other nominees suggested, then collaborate on those four categories.

Best Film will be much more difficult, however. Mike and I will both nominate two films and then take an additional one from you, the people. Then, we will have six votes taken on what should win. Two voters will obviously be Mike and I. The other four will include two from reputable and respected viewers of film, whether it be writers or critics or other bloggers, and the other two will be chosen at random from the general public. This will help get a critical eye as well as a common man's decision on what should win best film. It will probably also make Mike and I irate if either of our films end up losing, but that's the game.

Let us know your thoughts and if you have any suggestions to go with this idea!

Red

By Steve Kochems

In a year of lackluster films (see Alice in Wonderland, Clash of the Titans, Killers, The Bounty Hunter, the list goes on…), the fall has seemed to shape up quite nicely. 

Due to poor funding for our blog (donate!), I have been unable to see The Social Network, which has been deemed a surefire hit, even lesser films have seemed to impress with the leaves changing (Jackass 3D, The Town). However, I would be hard pressed to think that anything left to come this year (save for the Coen’s True Grit) will exceed the level of satisfaction almost any movie-goer can get out of Red.

Most anyone will notice just by seeing the trailer or cast list that Red had little room to fail. Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, and Helen Mirren don’t even require previous film credits next to their names. And to boot, Karl Urban (LOTR: The Two Towers, Return of the King) might be the strongest actor in the film. The plot revolves around Frank Moses (Willis), a retired CIA agent who gets a visit from a hit squad. This awakes Frank from the drudgery of the golden years and draws him back into the game. He drags along a lady who he hardly knows, Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker), and subjects her to much of the confinements traveling with an assassin would entail- handcuffing, zip ties, the usual. It’s not long after that we see that a young ambitious agent, William Cooper (Urban), is tasked with tracking down Frank.

Frank decides he must uncover why someone would put a hit on him, beyond the obvious. Along this journey he seeks out old friends and foes. Red brings together one of the best ensembles in recent history, and even rivals the casts of Old School and Oceans 11 with their star power. The nova of this cast is probably Malkovich, who plays a LSD induced agent that provides some of the more lucrative but hilarious moments in the film. It’s also worth mentioning the convenient role of Brian Cox, who plays an old Russian operative that is just a step behind Urban and Malkovich, which is still a huge complement. 

But I shouldn’t let Willis get lost in the mix, his role as Moses is possibly his best since Die Hard and works as a personal statement to the action film industry, saying that the old action buff’s like Willis aren’t completely lost in the mix of our Skin Diesel’s and Taylor Vampires of today’s youthful action flicks (or as I call them, pieces of shit). To me, this film acts as a statement that old heroes like Willis and Freeman and Malkovich aren’t obsolete but still very viable options to make a quality action film. It also seems a bit like passing the torch from Willis to Urban, which I’m certainly okay with given his performance in this film.

If I wanted to nitpick with this film, I would. And I certainly could, the ending leaves a few questions unanswered and goes for a cliché instead. It also rushes the relationship between Frank and Sarah quite a bit and softens the cold reality of his life, but this comes at the cost of the intense action blended with great comedy so I don’t really miss it. Overall, that’s about all I could complain about and it’s up against so much more positive that I think this film is already in the running for my favorite movie of the year. It’s certainly a must-see and will definitely be a DVD buy.

4.5 out of 5 stars

The Crazies

Despite the fact that Halloween is over, scary movies are still all over the place- I have no problem with this. The Crazies, a remake of the 1973 film of the same title, is a different take on the horror/zombie genre and shows what happens when the virus/outbreak/whatever hits a small town and its residents.

The setting is Ogden Marsh township, located somewhere near Bumfuck, USA. Let me put it this way: the police wear jeans in this town...

The movie starts and OH SHIT, EVERYTHING'S ON FIRE!!! Flash back two days earlier. It's the opening day of high school baseball, and the whole town is out to take in America's past-time. This is where shit start's to get crazy (pun)- bold move on the films part by starting everything off so soon.

Everything is fine, until a guy shows up in center field with a shotgun. Sheriff David Dutton (Timothy Olyphant) approaches him, but ends up having to gun him down cause the dude almost got trigger happy on him. The next act of violence comes when a guy lights his house on fire while his wife and son are locked in a closet- the arsonist gets locked up by the sheriff and his first mate, Russel Clank (Joe Anderson).

These two random acts of violence come from guys who were, up to this point, a pair of regular Joe's. The only sign was that right before the killings they seemed... out of it? Staring off into space, acting tired and bored- kind of like someone who watches Carlos Mencia do comedy; Not interested at all.

Next, we see some redneck types trekking through a swamp where they find a body, submerged in water but attached to a parachute. The dead guy was a fighter pilot from the looks of it, and we soon learn there was a plane crash somewhere near the town- how no one heard/saw a fucking plane crash (especially a fighter jet) is beyond me.

Sheriff Dutton thinks that maybe the plane crash has something to do with the two men acting crazy, and he thinks that since the plane crashed in the water, there might be something in the water supply doing it. Here's where I call bullshit. No fucking redneck cop is going to figure that out before the 15 minute mark of a movie. John McClane couldn't even figure that out, and he killed Hans Gruber (Die Hard reference ftw).

So the arsonist is locked up, Dutton thinks things have gone awry since the plane crash, and all of a sudden... the town is quiet. Too quite... OH SHIT, ZOMBIES!!! Well, that's sort of how it happens. No one is really a zombie, they certainly look like they are the living dead, but they still have all the basic functions- let me put it this way, they can still shoot guns and speak to you: this is not going to be a good apocalypse.

So it turns out it was something in the water and eventually the government steps in, scoops everyone up, quarantines them in the high school-turned-concentration camp, starts killing people who have the signs of being infected... and then still kills the uninfected. Dutton and a handful escape and the movie takes its normal twists and turns- run, escape from the bad guys, try and get out of town and all that good stuff.

Cut scenes throughout the move show that someone is watching the town via satellites- these are the same individuals who presumably cut out any internet/phone service the town had, "quarantine" everyone and cruise around in black SUVs. Typical Big Brother/Secret Government stuff, which we see unravel as the movie goes on.

The story on this movie was pretty good good and certainly a unique one- the government lets a virus/biological weapon loose on a small town via an accidental plane crash (although I'm skeptical at how accidental it really is) and goes in to clean it up by killing literally everything in the region (the films ends with an atomic bomb explosion... just like Driving Miss Daisy).

I'd say the scariest part is when Dutton's wife gets separated from the Sheriff at the camp (because they think she's infected due to elevated temperature, but she's just pregnant) and carted down the halls of the high school, which has been turned into a makeshift hospital. Everyone in the rooms around her are zombies and getting shot, and she's just screaming and screaming. Everyone is dressed in giant bio-hazard suits- it's truly a creepy scene. It reminded me of the end in Jacob's Ladder, when Tim Robbins is getting carted through the "hospital".

There's a lot of scenes where you can tell the good guys will get saved at the last minute, typical Hollywood fashion, but it was still an enjoyable and moderately scary flick. Olyphant (Hitman) and Anderson (Across the Universe) had a decent performance, but this isn't going to stand out from their previous work.


3 out of 5

Red Dragon vs Manhunter

Today, Steve and I will be reviewing two movies based on the same Thomas Harris book, Red Dragon. Steve will talk about the original movie, Manhunter (1986), and I will review the latest installment, Red Dragon (2002).

Red Dragon

Red Dragon, directed by Brett Ratner (Rush Hour, X-Men: The Last Stand), was a pretty good movie. I don't think I enjoyed it quite as much as I did The Silence of the Lambs (we'll get into this later), but I still found it to be exciting and interesting as far as movies go.

The story follows FBI Special Agent Will Graham (Ed Norton), recently brought out of retirement by FBI Director Jack Crawford (Harvey Keitel), and his pursuit of a serial killer known only as the Tooth Fairy (he likes to bite his victims). Graham is very good a solving cases dealing with serial killers, which we found out at the beginning of the film when he caught (almost unsuccessfully) the cannibal psychiatrist Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins); the mad doctor nearly killed Graham, which sent him into early retirement.

So now Graham is back looking for a killer who murders entire families, rapes the wife, and then puts pieces of mirror in everybody's eye sockets- he does this by breaking all the mirrors in the house, which led me to believe that he's in for some seriously bad luck in the future.

Graham goes around to the houses, checks out evidence, discovers a few new clues and then goes to visit his old pal Dr. Lecter. Lecter gives him a few clues about the murderer, but not too much is resolved from the visit- that is except that a definite fear is established by Graham of Lecter. Lecter is a creepy dude and Graham is not happy that he has to go talk to him... but he's got a family and doesn't want anymore people to get their eyes ripped out and replaced with pieces of mirror.

While all of this is going on, we follow a strange IT guy named Francis Dolarhyde (Ralph Fiennes) who has some serious fucking issues. He is clearly the Tooth Fairy, which we find out by watching him bench press like 250 pounds in the attic of his abandoned house. He has false teeth in a jar, which look like the molds the cops got from the dead wives that Dolarhyde killed. He's obsessed with the William Blake painting The Great Red Dragon and he even has some crazy-ass dragon tattoo's on his back. He attributes these tattoos to the "transformation" he is making from man to dragon (?) and with each person he kills, he gets closer to totality.

The movie goes on, we see that the Red Dragon is sort of human (he lets the blind chick he's dating live, although he kills quite a few other people... but still), Lecter helps Graham out and the figure out that Dolarhyde is the killer- he picked his victims because he worked at a company that made personal home movies for each family that he slaughtered. Dolarhyde eventually gets what's coming to him by way of some bullets and a steak knife, and everyone lives (happily ever after?).

Some of the positive parts of this movie (besides Keitel's awesome hair) were: Norton's acting. I thought he did a great job, certainly reminiscent of his Fight Club days. The story was very interesting and believable, and the cast did a good job bringing it all to life. I also thought the film was shot extremely well- the most memorable shot would be near the end when the camera is looking under the door and Dolarhyde is hiding in the hallway. You see Graham's wife climb the stairs and start down towards the door (all you can see is feet at this point), and then you see the heavy boots of the killer right behind her- very exciting.

I must admit, overall I didn't enjoy Red Dragon as much as The Silence of the Lambs because Dragon seemed very forced. It seemed like Graham, despite being a seasoned vet, picked up on things far too quickly. It seemed like he solved the case before the movie was at the halfway mark, where in Lambs, Starling doesn't realize who Buffalo Bill is until the last 15 minutes or so.

I also thought that Hannibal Lecter was a much more interesting, in control and overall dynamic character in Lambs, while he was pretty "tuned down" in Dragon. Even when he was locked up, he was in control when he was dealing with Agent Starling, but when Graham is in the picture he never really has anything to say- no mind games, he's just used as a means to an end.

I enjoyed this movie, but not as much as Lambs.

Manhunter

I’m gonna cut to the bacon here, I went into this movie knowing I would like it. I wanted to. The original prequel to The Silence of the Lambs, one of my favorite movies, had to be good. If I hated it then I instantly would have resentment toward Silence, and I didn’t want that. So that’s the big skinny up until watching Manhunter. And for the most part, I didn’t have to try very hard.

The story follows Will Graham, a retired FBI agent who is sparsely mentioned in Silence (though we get more detail in the novel) who gets called out of retirement to help his old boss and friend Jack Crawford catch a serial killer named the Tooth Fairy. Director and screenwriter Michael Mann (Public Enemies, Collateral) hasn’t changed much when it comes to pacing. This early film of his moves methodically much like Public Enemies, which can lose some viewers. It also omits Graham’s back story, which is his friendship and eventual capturing of Hannibal Lector, who in this film is played by Brian Cox. The remake (Red Dragon) that comes some years later, includes these flashbacks and ultimately strengthens the story, though it lands in the category of sequel films Hollywood pushes out based on the success of an original.

I can’t help but go into a comparative mood between these two films now. Lector is obviously stronger when played by Anthony Hopkins, though Bryan Cox is no slouch either. Graham is really the highlight of Manhunter, masterfully played by William Petersen, but again Edward Norton brings his own charm to the character in Dragon.

So what it comes down to how it is presented to us. Manhunter is told in the traditional linear fashion, but it doesn’t get caught up with trying to cram Hopkins down our throat like Red Dragon.

I’d have to lean toward Manhunter being stronger film because it doesn’t have that contrived Hollywood feel to it, which is probably why it flopped at the box office. Petersen’s haunted take on Graham is a memorable one and worth watching in itself, but in the grand scheme, neither can stand up to the strength of The Silence of the Lambs.

I know this review kinda lost its focus, but Mike and I wanted to compare two movies here, same narrative but almost two decades apart. And somewhere in the middle of those two decades is the perfect balance of Hollywood flare and quality storytelling.