Hotel Artemis (2018)- Motel Hell

*

Here's a fun one for the health care professionals.  I can't pass over a futurisic L.A. thriller, paralleling a Blade Runner world.  Also, hotel movies seem to be on the rise, glorified by John Wick.
This film is at least unique, with many odd surprises.  L.A. is going through its worst riot.  The first big surprise is that the Hotel Artemis is actually a medical hideout for criminals.  It's run by a streetwise Nurse Jean Thomas, whom I kept getting hints that I saw her before.  OMG, she's played by Jodie Foster!  She's so encrusted by makeup; yet, her guest, Nice (Sofia Boutella) has a perfect face as usual.  BTW,  Boutella's in great shape, showing off some awesome skills.  Charlie Day, as Acapulco (with a New York mafioso accent really?) invests his similar bluster, taken from Pacific Rim.  For such a dreary set-up, I wouldn;t expect more acting brass, but here pops up Jeff Goldblum, as the Wolf King himself, a shark among bad guys.  First of all, they casted the wrong guy.  He's a genius, but I don't wether to be intimidated or laugh.  He also disappoints for the first time ever!   When they can't capitalize on these industry giants, there's no hope.
For an underground hospital, it really lacks security.  Anybody can 3-D print a gun, which causes every main rule to be broken, which could only be enforced by one tough nurse, Everest (Dave Bautista), whom wins the main meme for this one.  He's a one-man bouncer.
Back to the main shock.  Jodie Foster, how could you accept this role, created by novices: a one-time director  and writer, Drew Pearce and a relatively new Film company,created by big movie theater chains?  Her best contribution was making a tribute to nurses, by committing a selfless act.  The varied cast made it watchable alone.  Its L.A. story, complete with continuing water problems, riots, and ruthless cops, keep you viewing.  It ends without much fanfare despite the battle of the gangs within the hotel.  I have to leave this at Midfield, and let others decide how they like surprises.    

* PHOTO CREDITS

Global Road Entertainment.  Everest flashes his badge and proceeds to rescue his boss, the Nurse and her patient.  Pinterest, the Nerd Daily, 2018, https://www.pinterest.es/pin/250020216799170640/.

The House with a Clock in its Walls (2018)- What Clock?

*

This movie introduces an R rated director (Hostel among his many films), Eli Roth, into children's horror flicks.  Plus, with quality actors, a double-digit million dollar budget, and based on a prolific book series, you figure the movie gods would approve.  

The public also jammed the box office, scoring huge profits.  I side with the masses, but this time I have to be the typical critic that goes against public opinion.  THIS MOVIE LAGGED for the first half.  The humor is dry and it's filled with dead-end scenes.  Jack Black, as uncle and warlock Jonathan Barnavelt, has to run from movies like this that stagnate careers.  Black isn't given any new life, as he rehashes previously played reactions and vocalizations like his mutated body and his familiar gestures.  Even Cate Blanchett, as the neighboring witch Florence Zimmerman, still captivates by her presence alone, but her script is robotic with short monologues.  The main child actor, Owen Vaccaro, as Lewis Barnavelt, does most of the acting.

Once the drama picks up, the movie is just in comeback mode.  The main problem persists, making this a kiddie movie budgeted as a fantasy thriller.  Lewis, as a child's mind would do, takes over his magic-user family trio, and leads them as the new warlock--after almost no tutelage or training.  He even uses goggles akin to Harry Potter's spectacles.  Eli Roth attempts to fill all these anomalies by just impressing children with plenty of special effects, screams, and gadgets.  It fails to even scare despite all the jumpy characters.  

The main fright is the villain, a resurrected warlock-zombie, Isaac Izard (Kyle MacLachlan), whom attempts to destroy the world.  He battles the young Lewis in about a five minute melee.  The best struggle is actually how Lewis handled himself in school, which missed more development.  This wacky movie was all fluff, weird, and outlandish.  Thus, I leave it at the Losing 35 yd. Line.  

* PHOTO CREDITS

Universal Pictures.  "The House with a Clock in its Walls - animated GIF - film 2018 monster - Jack Black."  BLOG Cattitude, 2018, http://www.gatto999.it/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5780.

Glass (2019)- Heroes

*

Finally, Shyamalan's hero trilogy comes to a conclusion.  It started way back in 2000 with the focus on the Unbreakable David Dunn (Bruce Willus), branded the Overseer.  Then, revived it with Split (2016), introducing his villain the Horde, Kevin W. Crumb (James McAvoy).  It's back with Glass to reveal the evil mastermind's, Elijah Price AKA Mr. Glass (Samuel L. Jackson), worst act of infamy.
Shyamalan is a rare breed allowing the passage of time to temper his pedigree in an age weaned of creativity by relying on retro and pop culture flicks.  It's the best portrayal of a realistic superhero movie that insists on being taken as seriously as the protagonists themselves.  Glass is full of entertainment as a comic book movie should be, instead of relying on industry cliches.  Shyamalan continues his own cameo roles, returning as Jai, also from Split.  We get to see a fuller look at the Horde's shifting 23 personalities.  The super trio is tracked and studied by the psychologist Dr. Ellie Staple (Sarah Paulson).  She guides us through a deeper study of their "hero disorders," which she tries to convince them of.  Dr. Ellie's role is unique to this hero genre. 
Comic book lore merges as a reality show.  Dr. Ellie discovers their kryptonitic weaknesses.  There is a grand finale battle in an empty parking lot.  All orchestrated of course, by Glass, attempting a mass disaster event in Philadelphia after he enlists the Horde as his sidekick.  The Overseer takes on a new twist as he is misunderstood by society as a vigilante and sacrifices all to save the city.
The box office agrees, with record profits in the first year, compared to the modest production budget.  The end was a shocking tragedy but marked its own path unlike any comic book ending I have perused as a former comic collector myself.  Poignant couples' themes added more substance like the unconditional love of Elijah's mom, the support of Dunn's son--working alongside him like Batman's Robin--, and even the Horde's impossible romance.
Shyamalan's signature cinematography and plot twists were limited to seclusion in a 'fishbowl' setting.  You can't get so technical while sacrificing dramatic effect, since comic books seek the widest lens for its heroes.  From there, everything waxed anticlimactic.  Still, Shyamalan's script parallels with Marvel and DC Comics' vision of mostly normal people living like gods.  I dare bring it up to 10th & Goal.       

* PHOTO CREDITS
Universal Pictures.  "Glass Movie."  tumblr, lafilmschool, 2019, https://www.tumblr.com/tagged/glass-movie

Dark Phoenix (2019)- X Lives

 *

The latest addition to the X-Men franchise continues the Phoenix narrative; also as a sequel to X-Men: Apocalypse.  We witness the origins of debatably the most powerful Mutant, Jean Grey, the young Phoenix (Sophie Turner).  

True to its trademark of the sexiest and most diverse superheroes out there, Dark Phoenix doesn't disappoint, but also adds to its chronological complications.  Maybe Simon Kinberg took on more than he could chew as a new director and co-producer for avid X-Men followers.  Yet, for me, a newcomer, it catalyzed me into its fandom.  So after about 10 X-Men movies, and some alternate timelines, why bother, but this one was actually easy to follow.  You wouldn't know that it took place about in the middle of the whole series.**  Many of the same actors are present from the first movies Professor X (J. McAvoy), Magneto (M. Fassbender), Mystique (J. Lawrence), Beast (N. Hoult), and Cyclops (T. Sheridan).  S. Turner, dazzled as GOT princess, was a mesmerizing younger Phoenix.  The Hans Zimmer score draws you in, despite box office returns barely surpassing overhead.  This continuity and a full protagonist bio left me with renewed interest.  It was an engaging look at Jean Grey, one of the most complicated members, which the previous Phoenix film didn't do it justice.

For the purists, there was probably too much redundancy from ongoing themes since the first films: Mutants are divided into two camps, Magneto playing both sides, government tries to control Mutants, Professor X doing his best to reel in his own Mutants, and Mutants taking matters into their own hands by the end.  To tackle more renditions, X-Men will have to be more innovative, and I hope for it.  I still feel Dark Phoenix added to the X-Men universe by filling in some holes, developing some 'darker' sides of Professor X--as he always foresaw the government persecution completed Logan--, including a tragic death, and the last addition of the late comic book creator Stan Lee in the credits as co-producer.  With that, I leave it at the Winning 25 yd. Line.  

* 20th Century Fox.  "Jean Grey."  Pinterest, Gif-Tumblr, Patrick Coote,                 2019, https://www.pinterest.com/pin/745697650771762912/  

** denofgeek.com  

The Martian (2015)- From Earth

*

Matt Damon, takes us on another Mars venture, but never with such solo passion as left-for-dead astronaut Marc Watney, The Martian.  This movie preempted President Trump's 2017 mandate for NASA to land a human on Mars by 2033.
Ridley Scott adds another notch to his sci-fi pedigree as director and co-producer, creating a movie of likely space travel in our time.  His efforts were awarded with two major Golden Globes: one for Matt and the other for Best Movie - Comedy or Musical (really?...it was much more); yet, Scott deserved the Oscar.  The Martian dramatically recounts how botanist Watney was left stranded and wounded on Mars after his fellow astronauts were forced to evacuate at the onset of a windstorm.  Of course, movie drama has to interfere and it's improbable that a Mars sandstorm could topple a vessel as massive as the MAV lander.  We witness step-by-step how astronaut Marc succeeds through a series of convincing problem-solving situations to feed himself, troubleshoot, and contact Earth.  He creates a potato patch using human feces in a hydrogen moisture lab.  Then we follow him as he treks across Mars by resting to recharge solar panels and using radioactive jetsam to keep warm. He digs out old Pathfinder to communicate with Earth.  An international effort mounts as the Chinese CNSA's Chief Scientist (Eddy Ko) helps resupply the Ares III's return to Mars.
The crew is mostly Caucasian with one Latino, Major Martinez (Michael Pena); although, the cast was multicultural, receiving multiple accolades.  Cal Tech's JPL is finally on the map as the prime think tank led by Director Ng (Benedict Wong).
The ending borrows from other films like the 'slingshot' maneuver seen often on Star Trek episodes and Watney's "Iron Man" leap across space.  By this time we're believers, though, caught up in the international frenzy.  Scott epitomized everything a sci-fi hit should be by injecting comedy, Martian Mcgyverism, techy drama, real-world obstacles, interactive logs/chats, suspenseful space scenes and even a celebrity surprise role by Childish Gambino as Rich Purnell, the JPL astrophysicist who fills a missing link and actually adds to the quality acting.  For that reason, I lay it on 10th & Goal.

 *  20th Century Fox.  The Martian, Matt Damon, sits on a sand dune of Mars.  Esquire, https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/.

Noah (2014): Humanity

*

Wow, Noah deserves credit for attempting to bring back the religious movie epic!  It's an all star cast with sensational story lines and scenes.
Noah goes beyond the Bible Flood narrative as it tries to answer the age old question of what it means to be human.  Director, co writer, and producer Darren Aronofsky created quite an original approach to biblical films.  Along with the notable A actors you see above, there were also excellent performances by King Tubal-Cain (Ray Winstone) and even iconic voices like Samyaza the Watcher's (Nick Nolte).  Noah is played perfectly by Russel Crowe.  Emma Watson as Ila, shows she has life after Harry Potter.  Anthony Hopkins, as grandfather Methuselah, adds a new element to a Noah flick, and does superbly as a Gandalf-like figure passing the 'prophetic' torch!  The Watchers are a new CGI, representing the fallen angels, whom repent and ally with Noah.  Heretical stuff to most Christians I know; I kind of liked it!  It allowed Noah to reveal that he came from an already sprawling civilization that had caused God, according to the Book of Genesis, to destroy the world because cities had corrupted it.  King Tubal-Cain's kingdom presumably imprisoned the Watchers to use their supernatural knowledge to accelerate urban technology.      
Indeed, this movie is best seen for its soul searching in this new millennium. Aronofsky both scores and casts down biblical truths.  The world itself was also being depleted, which other Noah films had not included.  Humanity was on a destructive path, because war was the final answer to problems.  Life started in the oceans.  The movie goes far south when it dares to depict vegetarian Noah as a baby killer, blindly obeying God's commands.  One of the Watchers commits suicide and goes to heaven, really?!?  Noah's sons, Shem and Ham rebel against their perception of a fanatical father.
Yet, I still find it quite rewatchable.  The Flood was impressively reworked with scenes developing the gradual deterioration of humanity and the build up to a war for the Ark.
Unfortunately, the ending also continues to degrade into a dysfunctional family, literally, opaquing the first rainbow.  Noah was portrayed as way too human and insecure, misinterpreting God as wanting to create a world without men.  I still found it originally creative for a familiar bittersweet tale of human beginnings.  I will lay it on the Winning 35 yd. Line.  

*Paramount Pictures.  "Noah 2014."  Movie Review, Torrent, Lori Polin, December 11, 2013, http://www.loripolin.com/

Napoleon Dynamite (2004)- Cult High

*

This was another one of those pleasant T.V. moments that I could only watch by default at the end of my channel flipping, having had my share of classic senior high flicks.  Napolean (Jon Heder), an Idaho high school teen, leads a cast of iconic roles that you can wallpaper memes about.  With its bare bones cinematography, Oscar nominated music, and Millennial humor, it remains a cult classic! Director and Writer Jared Hess proved that gems can still be produced with low budgets and gifted professionals.
The movie pulls you into a caricature countryside, making you savour every key detail so much that you dread leaving it.  Napoleon struggles to mature through "babes," bullies, and bed wettings. He refreshes our bittersweet high school moments, more relatable to the turn of the century. He's no athlete, so he sticks to tetherball and doodling. Napoleon befriends Pedro (Efren Ramirez) and everything turns around for him.  Yes, Pedro casts the stereotypical Mexican immigrant, but he made it hilariously in good taste, running for class president.  There's still the usual popular kids like Summer (Haylie Duff) 'Barby' with her 'Ken' jock boyfriend Don (Trevor Snarr), yet he charms with his silent movie wit.  Napoleon's socially awkward brother Kip (Aaron Ruell) is a freeloading bachelor in his 30s obsessed with internet love.  They are raised by a hardy, single llama-owning grandma (Sandy Martin), who gets injured offroading on her motorbike, leaving the boys to fend for themselves in the hands of Uncle Rico (Jon Gries), a remnant of the past century bravado.
As you can see, the roles crisply bring Millennials to the fore.  Dance crosses racial barriers, bringing R&B to the mainstream and rehashing retro.  These teens have no money, as Napoleon is seen constantly perusing the local thrift shops and others keep breaking out with entrerprising ventures. Napoleon's fantasy personas drive the narrative, finding a crush (Emily Kennard) more creative than him.  Minorities enjoy more empowerment, as my son noticed he recently saw a "Vote for Pedro" shirt.  Mixed couples are center stage with the unlikely courtship of dimunitive Kip and his online date bombshell, LaFawnduh (Shondrella Avery), who likes to dress Kip up with 'hotline' bling.
Indeed, subcultures and race differences were explored with clean boundless humour, without controversy.  Napolean rises to hero status by sheer determination to realize lofty dreams and display today's brazen entitlement.  We even get an encore scene after credits.  This is no doubt a TOUCHDOWN!

* Fox Searchlight Pictures/ Paramount Pictures.  "Discover Ideas About Funny Quotes."  Pinterest, TheZodiacCity, Rose Wellborn, https://www.pinterest.com/pin/50947039505502988/

The First Purge (2018) - Part 4 Prequel

*

The First Purge takes us back to its anti-holiday origins.  I've guiltily enjoyed this franchise's reign of anarchy that James DeMonaco, active in each episode as director and now producer, presented with each Purge, refreshing frightening images and draconian resolutions to our worst problems in the most politically incorrect ways.
Yet, this Purge falls way off that delicate balancing act that it could still call entertainment.  The First Purge was limited to Staten Island, New York as a 'national experiment.'  People were compensated to participate voluntarily.  Not enough people were killing each other so the new NFFA government director Arlo Sabian (Patch Darragh) contracted Aryan-looking killing squads against the African American citizens and his own staff, revealing what the Purge was about all along.  Yet, why were only poor African Americans dominating the scene?  Every Purge episode had racial tensions, but this time it was completely Whites vs. Blacks.  What happened to the immigrant cultural diversity of Staten Island?  The most infamous purger is an African American homicidal maniac, Skeletor (Rotimi Paul).  The neighborhood hero, Dmitri (Y'lan Noel), is a Black gangster.  He protects the small archetypal cluster trying to survive the night led by his African American ex girlfriend and Purge protest activist Nya (Lex Scott Davis).  Unfortunately, Dmitri glorifies the drug trade and black-on-black crime, while being the moral center of the movie.
Also, this film missed too many connections.  The government coup d'etat forming the NFFA was mentioned only matter of factly.  That was THE MAJOR EVENT creating the Purge holiday. The First Purge was too unamerican with mercenaries invading a U.S. inner city.  Part of the previous episodes' appeal was how the media and business' advertising worked to sell this national morbid holiday to society.  This film used most of the same slogans and images from prior episodes, failing to create the shock value left by prior scary party girls and clown faced yuppies of past Purge flicks--I couldn't even find a good meme.  Plus, how would they cover up all the soldier corpses lying around?
Indeed, Part 4 failed to sell The First Purge to its own citizens.  There was so much hype leading up to this, and viewers flocked to the box office again, so it was watchable once.  Worst of all, there was no star appeal as if no major actor wanted a part of this.  Even outside the U.S., people that I saw this with were disappointed.  This makes me leave it at the Losing 45 yd. Line.

* Universal Pictures.  "The First Purge."  Love This Pic, http://www.lovethispic.com/image/329343/the-first-purge

Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018)- M: Inconceivable 6

 *

**

Mission Impossible continues to create the 'impossible' American version of James Bond.  At least 007 was debonair in merely attempting to perfect his skill and gadgetry.  Agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and Co. now battle rogue plutonium bomb planting villains.
Don't get me wrong.  Every time I watch an episode of M: I, I want it to surpass Bond.  Yet, there's always one most improbable stunt scene that's genre transforming into fantasy.  This time, Hunt is battling his new nemesis, John Lark (Henry Cavill).  He is desperately trying to remove an atomic detonator from Lark.  The detonator sits at Lark's side during a helicopter chase.  In a crescendo of impossibility, Hunt chases Lark in a helicopter like a pro, by reading the labels on the helicopter pivot.  Hunt rams the helis, leaving Lark's hanging along an icy crag.  Meanwhile, Luther (Ving Rhames) is giving two other agents instructions to simultaneously disarm atomic bombs over a cell phone.  The detonator end up perched on the edge of the cliff.  Hunt locates it in the middle of climbing out of the wreckage.  "Showtime" takes over, diluting the super spy narrative.
In defense, an increased attention to quality was obvious.  Christopher McQuarrie created Parts 5 & 6, and brought in J.J. Abrams and Cruise into the production team.  The villain is elusively hidden throughout, CIA and MI6 add to the mix, multiple key players are involved like the White Widow (Vanessa Kirby)-an arms dealing mediator-, and Soloman Lane (Sean Harris) returns as the bomb mastermind.  Cruise continues to do some of his own stunts and even breaks an ankle (see above).
For a Part 6, this was quite a sleuth movie, but with Abrams involved, it was bound to go over the top. His sensationalism is only tolerable in sci-fi.  It still read too much like the comic book-type style of the original 60s series.  Millennials enjoy a good spectacle, but some change is required over time for us movie buffs, as the Daniel Craig Bond movies accomplished.  I bring this up to the Winning 35 yd. Line.
* Paramount Pictures.  "Tom Cruise Breaks His Ankle (Mission Impossible 6 Stunt)"  imgur, redditmason, Video to GIF, Jan. 26, 2018, https://imgur.com/gallery/DGPsOlg.

** Paramount Pictures.  "Showtime."  gfycat, #missionimpossible, https://gfycat.com/gifs/detail/GloriousMasculineHoatzin

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)- Part 5 Dinos Arrive

* Part 5, is the second installment to the new trilogy, of the Jurassic Park/World keeping our favorite dinosaurs alive.  The cloned prehistoric creatures finally make it to civilization, but leave us with more hmms than awes.
This sequel to Jurassic World, continued many franchise trademarks.  There were more double crossings: Eli Mills (Rafe Spall) converting Lockwood's (James Cromwell), the partner of Jurassic Park cloner and creator John Hammond, legacy into his own ambitions; children played key roles: Maisie Lockwood (Isabella Sermon) became the whistleblower vs. Assistant Mills.  Also back, are Blue the velociraptor, a recloned Indominus Rex, Owen Grady (Chris Pratt), Bryce (Claire Dearing), and even Mr. Wonderful himself, with a meme following, Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum).
Unfortunately, the hyperbole from Jurassic World resurfaced as well, but this time the magic began to wear off.  The problem with this trilogy is it didn't reproduce the sheer eye-gaping realism from the initial Spielberg trilogy.  Jurassic World dared introduce floating Harley-style motorbikes riding alongside Blue's pack and the hybrid super T-Rex Indominus, whom cloaks its heat signature, as if dinosaur cloning was not enough.  Now, all the drama is limited to the Lockwood estate where a black market dinosaur auction ensued. The reptilians are sold and shipped like eBay luxury specials in a warehouse, really.  One innovation is instead of keeping the dinosaurs caged, Bryce's Dinosaur Protection Group and Co. nobly attempt to free the dinos from their entrepreneurial masters.
The ending is soured by the battle vs. Indominus Rex being rehashed.  The slogan is that after creating them, now we must learn to live with these monsters.  That message is not clear and no wonder, because the subtitle doesn't make sense either,... which Fallen Kingdom?
I actually like Fallen Kingdom more than Jurassic World, even though the latter won 7 Guinness World Records.  It's still more rewatchable.  I always wanted to know more about how these dinosaurs would fare in our world.  I give this film a Winning 35 yd. Line for holding my attention but tiring me after seeing dinosaurs run around, ala Jumanji, in a mansion, instead of keeping me awake, which would be true to its franchise.

*Universal Pictures.  Movie GIF/quote of dinosaurs fleeing volcano destroying Isla Nublar.  The Infinity Curry, Ghost, June 24, 2018, https://infinitycurry.ghost.io/jurassicworld2/.

Blade Runner 2049 (2017)- VR L.A.

* Blade Runner Part 2 is a work of art, cementing a cult status!  The new rogue replicant (android) hunting detective, "K...," AKA 'Joe,' (Brian Gosling), is well, an android himself.  I thought it would never work, especially since he's searching for the "miracle" child, Dr. Ana Stelline (Carla Juri), born of human and replicant parents...what did I just say?  Such leaps of imagination don't matter as much when you enjoy the experience.
Denis Villeneuve directed and reproduced the peculiar film noir (1940s) flavor of the original Blade Runner (1982).  Remember that cool sci-fi movie that gave precedence to sensory ambience like origami still shots and a final battle in a limelit downtown Bradbury Building--now replaced with whittling and Sin City casinos under an amber radioactive haze?  Villeneuve actually improved on it after all these decades, Ridley Scott, the original's director, aided him in the production dept.
This film is an organic and synthetic cocktail of L.A., across past, present, and future Southern Cali.  K tracks down the detective of the first movie, Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), who's every gesture spoke volumes--like fine wine.  K thinks he's the child of an android mother.  The cloners that make the replicants are now the Wallace Corporation and they have commercialized to make replicants serve humanity's every pleasure, headed by the ruthless Niander Wallace (Jared Leto), killing you softly, and his murderous administrator Luv (Sylvia Hoeks).  Dr. Stelline lives in a bubble and became famous by reproducing realistic memories in her holographic studio.  VR is already exploding today with people marrying anime and robots and social media influencing culture.
It won Oscars for Cinematography and Best Visual Effects, not to downplay its excellent sound editing, lighting, and musical score that heightens the melancholic search for a raison d'etre: what makes us human.  This unique mood is embellished by a glitching Elvis Presley Las Vegas cabaret, giant interactive naked holo advertisements, a portable Wi-Fi holographic girlfriend (Ana D Armas) superimposing herself onto a live prostitute replicant (Mackenzie Davis, like you never saw her before).
Yet, the crowds were tuned off with such artsiness where they expected to see more laser battles and techiness.  This movie has that too, like Luv getting a manicure while using Google-type sunglasses to direct missile targets.  What it lacked was simple clarification.  I'm still connecting the dots.  Like true art works, this film deserves appreciation, and it grows on you, but that doesn't mean we have to keep guessing at interpretation.  Thus, I leave this at the Goal Line.

*Warner Bros. Pictures.  Movie GIF/quote of K questioning Deckard.  JFC8 - Movies, tumblr, Jan. 
       29, 2018, jfc8movie.tumblr.com/post/170266918978/runner#notes.