The Great Gatsby

Cast of Characters:
Jay Gatsby - Leonardo DiCaprio
Nick Carraway - Tobey Maguire
Daisy Buchanan - Carey Mulligan
Tom Buchanan - Joel Edgerton
Myrtle Wilson - Isla Fisher
George Wilson - Jason Clarke

Director - Baz Luhrmann
Screenplay - Baz Luhrmann & Craig Pearce
Based on the novel “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Rated PG-13 for some violent images, sexual content, smoking, partying and brief language

      F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” is one of the most beloved literary classics of the twentieth century, perfectly capturing the excess of the Roaring Twenties. Up until this year, the novel has been adapted four times for film, the most recent being in 2000 for television, and the most well known being the 1974 version starring Robert Redford and Mia Farrow. Now, in 2013, we have the fifth film adaptation of Fitzgerald’s classic.

      The film opens with Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire), a Yale University graduate and World War I veteran, receiving treatment in a sanitarium for depression and alcoholism. He constantly refers to a man known as Gatsby to his doctor. Since he finds it hard to articulate his thoughts, his doctor recommends writing it down in a diary.

      We then flashback to 1922. Nick has moved from the Midwest to New York to take a job as a bond salesman. He rents a small Long Island house in the village of West Egg, next door to a mansion owned by Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio), a mysterious businessman who's always throwing outlandish parties. Across the bay in East Egg lives Nick’s cousin Daisy Buchanan (Carey Mulligan) and her husband Tom (Joel Edgerton).

      Over time, Gatsby and Nick meet, become friends, and it soon comes to Nick's attention that both Gatsby and Daisy were once romantically linked. Gatsby's still madly in love with Daisy, but she's naturally moved on over the years - or has she? Both her and Gatsby's interaction with each other comes at much displeasure to Tom, despite the fact that he himself is involved in an extramarital affair with a feisty bombshell named Myrtle Wilson (Isla Fisher) who lives in the "Valley of Ashes", an industrial dumping ground in between West Egg and New York City.

      There obviously have been a number of film adaptations throughout the decades, but none have a worse track record than Fitzgerald's Magnum Opus. If you intend on watching the Robert Redford 1974 version, plan on taking a couple Adderall to stay awake. Leave it to writer/director Baz Luhrmann to continue that streak. His 1996 adaptation of the great William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" was, in my opinion, one of the most horrendous films of not just that year, but of the 90's in general . While The Great Gatsby's not the travesty that Romeo + Juliet was, this film is still riddled with flaws. Look no further than Baz Luhrmann for the root cause. The art direction is over the top. Why the hell they'd even consider filming this in 3D is beyond me. The soundtrack featuring the likes of Jay Z, Amy Winehouse, Fergie, and Beyonce seems completely out of place given the time period the story is set in, and as great as some of the performances may be, it's just talent wasted and buried underneath too much style. Besides, no matter how bad the film may be, would you expect anything less from DiCaprio? He's undeniably one of the greatest actors out of his generation if not the best. Joel Edgerton is a fine actor himself, and turned in some solid supporting work in Zero Dark Thirty, but here he seems miscast in the role of Tom Buchanan. The films greatest flaw though is the completely unnecessary story arc of Nick Carraway narrating the story from the sanitarium. Luhrmann is clearly no stranger to taking risks within film. Setting Romeo + Juliet in present day, yet still using the Elizabethan language was a rather big one. If you think setting Nick in the looney bin is a bit of a stretch, wait 'til you see when the words Nick writes pop out on screen and float toward you.

      To its credit, I guarantee come awards season next year The Great Gatsby will earn a Costume Design Oscar nomination, which it deserves. That being said, other than the beautiful costume design by Catherine Martin and a few solid performances from DiCaprio, Maguire and Mulligan, this is still one hell of a disappointment considering the source material and the talented cast involved. "The Great Gatsby" is terrific story that doesn't need all the distracting flash and flare that Luhrmann throws at the screen. While it certainly won't be the worst film of the year, you can possibly chalk this up to the year's biggest disappointment. I give The Great Gatsby a D+ (★½).

Black Rock

Cast of Characters:
Abby - Katie Aselton
Lou - Lake Bell
Sarah - Kate Bosworth
Henry - Will Bouvier
Derek - Jay Paulson
Alex - Anslem Richardson

Director - Katie Aselton
Screenplay - Mark Duplass
Rated R for some strong violence, pervasive language, sexual references and brief graphic nudity

      Horror/Suspense films set in the woods have had their dead horse beaten so many times, Lionsgate released a clever parody of the genre recently titled The Cabin in the Woods. In the winter of 2012, LD Entertainment released Black Rock at the Sundance Film Festival. Now in the spring/summer of 2013 it is finally being released nationwide.

      SPOILER ALERT: The following plot summary does contain a necessary spoiler, so you've been forewarned. Wanting to mend the divide between two of her childhood friends, Sarah (Kate Bosworth) has invited Abby (Katie Aselton) Louise aka "Lou" (Lake Bell) to a remote island they used to camp at as kids. Once at the island, they run into three hunters, Derek (Jay Paulson), Alex (Anslem Richardson), and Henry (Will Bouvier), the latter of which the three girls remember from elementary school.

      While all together for a bonfire, the three men tell the girls that they recently returned from deployments to both Iraq and Afghanistan. While this is going on, Abby - about three sheets to the wind at the moment - runs off with Henry into the woods to have sex. Midway through the deed, she changes her mind, which leads to Henry forcing himself on her. Fearing for her life, Abby accidentally kills Henry. Upon discovering that their friend has been killed, Derek and Alex try to track down the girls in order to kill them.

      While this film technically does belong in a genre that has gotten more than long in the tooth, Black Rock is a refreshingly effective thriller bolstered by three strong female lead performances. What differentiates this film from the many other trite and cliche thrillers of the same nature we tend to get nowadays is the realistic approach the filmmakers take in terms of the characters and the story. The dialogue and chemistry between star/director Aselton, Bell and Bosworth is never better and yes, both Aselton and Bell may strip down nude (Wow, in a thriller set in the woods?), but you'll come to find their reason for doing so is very legitimate. Jay Paulson spares us from having to sit through any over the top tirade speeches we tend to get from the cardboard cutout villains and is genuinely chilling. We also get some truly effective lighting and photography from cinematographer Hillary Spera with a final film shot that's perfect.

      At just around eighty minutes, Black Rock never carries on longer than it needs to. Credit both director Katie Aselton and screenwriter Mark Duplass (Katie's husband and also costar on the underrated TV show The League) for keeping this film short, simple, and to the point. Aselton shows a lot of potential as a director and combined with Duplass's sharp script, what could've been just another worn down, tired out, run of the mill thriller proves to be the exact opposite. I give Black Rock a B+ (★★★½).

Benjamin's Stash: Video Pick of the Week

      Hello, once again, readers, today is my video pick of the week. This week's pick is a criminally overlooked film from 2001 with a very talented cast and an extremely engaging story.

      13 Conversations About One Thing focuses on the lives of four individuals and how their lives - coincidentally or not - intersect with each other. Troy (Matthew McConaughey) is a young and ambitious District Attorney from New York City who, after a winning a big case, goes out to celebrate with his colleagues at the bar. Beatrice (Clea DuVall) is an idealistic cleaning woman who's optimistic outlook on life and how "everything happens for a reason" is put to test following an incident. Gene (Alan Arkin) is a mid-level insurance claims manager who's balancing both his personal life, which involves his son's constant battle with drug addiction, and his work life. College Physics professor Walker (John Turturro) is in the midst of a mid-life crisis, having an affair with a fellow colleague. Through one instance or another all four strangers intersect within each others' lives.

      While not a flashy film by any means, I couldn't help but find myself thoroughly engaged by this philosophical tale of how random strangers have the capability of altering each others' lives through one choice. We've all heard the saying, "No man is an island", and that's the case here. Whether it's a random act of kindness or quite the opposite, we all are capable of making an impact in someone's life and vice versa, even if it's someone we've never met and will never interact with again. The performances by Matthew McConaughey, Alan Arkin, Clea DuVall, and John Turturro are uniformly strong. We also see a quietly restrained and terrific supporting performance from Amy Irving as Turturro's wife and a solid small role from pre-It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Rob McElhenney for those of you who, like me, are fans of the show. With strong acting and a sharp, profound script from sibling writers Karen and Jill Sprecher, this is a low-key yet strong work of film.

What the Hell Were They Thinking?!

      Happy Memorial Day, readers. Hope your holiday weekend has been going well. Today I have a new "What the Hell Were They Thinking?!" pick for you. This week's pick is - wow, what a surprise - a Syfy Channel original film starring Corin Nemec from the 90's show, Parker Lewis Can't Lose. Remember that show? Neither can I.

      Mansquito (aka Mosquitoman) begins with Dr. Jennifer Allen (Musetta Vander) in Baltimore, Maryland, trying to find a cure for the Gillian virus, a virus similar to West Nile but slightly more deadly. Both she and a colleague of hers have collected a number of infected mosquitoes and injecting them with radiation. Why? Who knows, but it has to be the exact levels despite not specifying what exactly are the "exact" levels. It always has to be "exact" levels; otherwise the shit hits the fan. Meanwhile convicted felon Ray (Matt Jordon) agrees to become a test subject in exchange for his life sentence. The police transport Ray to the facility and in a sudden moment of rational decision making, he takes a hostage and demands Dr. Allen to open the experiment room. The police open fire which causes an explosion within the experiment room, dousing both Ray and Dr. Allen with the chemicals containing, yes, the exact levels of radiation. This resulting accident transforms Ray into a mosquito... a six foot, blood thirsty, jacked on "the juice" mosquito. Dr. Allen, having also been infected from the accident returns home to her boyfriend, Lt. Tom Randall (Corin Nemec), and begins to notice that she's changing, but not as fast as Ray did. Thankfully, she has antibodies within her system called a plot contrivance that keep her from rapidly transforming.

      This film shares a lot of similarities with 1986's The Fly, starring Jeff Goldblum, and in a way Mansquito is just like the David Cronenberg thriller... minus the great performances from both Goldblum and Geena Davis, the Oscar winning makeup effects, the sharp direction from Cronenberg, and the slow, tense pacing of Goldblum's transformation. You know, while watching this movie, my mind started to wander a bit. Halfway through I started thinking, what's the deal here? It's a six foot mosquito with a bit of roid rage. Get a fireman's hose and about a hundred gallons of Off! Problem solved. Exact levels be damned, just hose the son of a bitch. If in the event he does stab you with his dagger like Proboscis and starts sucking your blood, just flex your muscles. Mosquitoes hate it when you do that. The acting was so atrocious I started to suspect the filmmakers just did a casting call through Craigslist, or just posted an ad bulletin at a nearby laundromat. Corin Nemec was the "big get" here, and he must've been ecstatic to see his name put before the film's title. See, you're a star then. Must've been a greater feeling than even starring in Operation Dumbo Drop - the high point of his career. His performance was absolutely, well, I wasn't really paying attention to his performance. I was more wondering how the hell the Mansquito could kill any other human within seconds, yet this cop with the douchy looking slicked back hairstyle that looks like he couldn't even fight off a Care Bear is somehow able to fight him off with a taser. The transformation scene with Ray was - well, it has to be seen. The best way I can describe his face being formed into the head of a mosquito is it's similar to that Windows screensaver with the morphing cube of different colors. The only difference is the screensaver's more breathtaking. I remember John Landis's great film, An American Werewolf in London. That scene where David Kessler transforms into the werewolf was groundbreaking not only in terms of makeup effects, but visual effects as well. We've come a long way since 1981 in terms of film effects, and apparently this film didn't get the memo. Of course, like any other God awful monster flick, the female doctor's always this smoking hot bombshell, which explains why she doesn't transform as fast as the convict does. Oh, they'll give her a few small transformation spots here and there and turn her eyes bloodshot red, but that's about it. Other than that, her morphing moments consist of her in the bathroom ripping her shirt off, crouching down in her bra and panties and moaning in pain. Oh, that explains it! I was expecting a shower head to pop on and splash her with water while she tosses her luxurious hair in slow motion to Warrant's "Cherry Pie". Finally, I gotta bring this up. Just how the hell does a film like this - and I'm positive this ain't the case for just this Syfy Channel film - get pitched to the studio heads? "So get this. We start off with this deadly virus that can wipe out humanity, and we'll throw in phrases like West Nile virus and 'exact levels of radiation' so people will think this is a taut, intelligent thriller. Then we have a guy turn into a big mosquito." "Well, that sounds promising! I like the little 'exact levels of radiation' touch. Makes the film more scientifically credible than people will give us credit for. Say, can you have the doctor look like a porn star?" "Uh - yeah. Why would we have it any other way? You're gonna love her transformation scene!" "Outstanding! Here's millions of dollars! I was gonna wipe my ass with it anyway."

The Hangover Part III

Cast of Characters:
Phil Wenneck - Bradley Cooper
Dr. Stuart “Stu” Price - Ed Helms
Alan Garner - Zach Galifianakis
Leslie Chow - Ken Jeong
Jade - Heather Graham
Sid Garner - Jeffrey Tambor
Doug Billings - Justin Bartha
Marshall - John Goodman

Director - Todd Phillips
Screenplay - Todd Phillips & Craig Mazin
Rated R for pervasive language including sexual references, some violence and drug content, and brief graphic nudity

      2009's The Hangover was one of the surprise hits of that year. It further propelled Bradley Cooper into leading man status, gave Ed Helms (who already had success as Andy Bernard on TV’s The Office) a springboard for his film career, and pushed Zach Galifianakis into mainstream comic acting success. Following 2011's sequel, Phil, Stu, and Alan - or should I say, the Wolfpack - are back in the third and final entry in the dark comedy series, The Hangover Part III.

      After causing a horrendous highway accident that winds up making top story headlines on almost every media outlet, Alan Garner (Zach Galifianakis) is given the tough reality check by his friends and family that he needs to enter rehab. This was made particularly clear to those close to Alan after his not so sober speech at his father Sid Garner’s (Jeffrey Tambor) funeral. At first, Alan is stubborn and refuses to go; however, he winds up changing his mind, but only on the condition that the rest of the Wolfpack take him there. Finally agreeing to go, Alan heads off to a rehab facility in Arizona with his gang, Phil Wenneck (Bradley Cooper), Stu Price (Ed Helms), and his brother-in-law Doug Billings (Justin Bartha).

      On their way to the facility, however, they are run off the road by a group of thugs that blindfold and kidnap them. They awake to meet Marshall (John Goodman), a man who's name they recall from their first trip to Vegas back in The Hangover. Through pen pal letters between Alan and Leslie Chow (Ken Jeong), Marshall explains to them he discovered that Chow stole half of the gold he obtained in a $42 million heist. Holding Doug hostage, Marshall gives the Wolfpack an ultimatum: find the $21 million half that Chow stole, bring Chow to him, or Doug gets killed.

      I remember saying in my 21 & Over review that The Hangover wasn't a masterpiece comedy by any means, but it still was a laugh out loud comedy due to the comic chemistry between the three leads of Cooper, Helms, and Galifianakis. The Hangover Part II, while still funny, wasn't quite as good as the first simply 'cause it seemed like they were just running through the same formula. The Hangover Part III takes a completely different approach than the first two, even a bit more darker at times, and succeeds. There technically isn't a "hangover" moment here in the third entry, but that doesn't stop Cooper, Helms, and Galifianakis from playing off each other so well. Galifianakis once again proves to be the scene stealer here amongst the three, and it really wasn't until this film that I realized underneath the crazy, mentally unstable, and unorthodox antics of Alan Garner, there's an odd sweetness to his character - particularly in a scene involving a kid that I'll refrain from saying who. In spite of just how insanely crazy everything he says to Phil and Stu seems not just to them, but us the viewers as well, he still means what he says wholeheartedly. It's like he truly would be upset at the number of phone app download hours he'd have to re-spend if he lost his phone like Phil did. The always dependable John Goodman plays a terrific villain. Melissa McCarthy pops up in a cameo where both she and Galifianakis hit it spot on together, and there's one key moment on top of Caesar's Palace that contains a stunt that's excellently choreographed.

      I will admit, like with the past Hangover films, Ken Jeong's Leslie Chow wears on your nerves after a while. I can't quite fault the writers for that considering their intentions were clearly to make him obnoxious, 'cause that's what he is. I just sat there thinking if they somehow make a spinoff film focused on Chow (which I doubt), unlike these films, imagine how excruciating that would be to sit through. Despite Chow being in one or two more scenes than he should be, I don't quite get the hate for this film. Most of the criticism seems to be based on how "different" this film is from the others. So you didn't like the first sequel 'cause it was too much like the first, now you don't like this one 'cause it's too different? Come on. It's like "beggars can't be choosers" here. While not quite packing the surprising punch that came with the first, this is still slightly better than the second. I may be that lone voice in the wilderness, but who cares? I laughed quite a bit here. I give The Hangover Part III an A- (★★★½).

REVIEWS COMING LATER NEXT WEEK...

What the Hell Were They Thinking?!

Benjamin's Stash: Video Pick of the Week

Black Rock

The Great Gatsby

After Earth

Now You See Me

Fast & Furious 6

Cast of Characters:
Dominic Toretto - Vin Diesel
Brian O’Connor - Paul Walker
Luke Hobbs - Dwayne Johnson
Letty Ortiz - Michelle Rodriguez
Mia Toretto - Jordana Brewster
Roman Pearce - Tyrese Gibson
Tej Parker - Chris “Ludacris” Bridges
Han Seoul-Oh - Sung Kang
Gisele Yashar - Gal Gadot
Owen Shaw - Luke Evans
Riley - Gina Carano
Arturo Braga - John Ortiz

Director - Justin Lin
Screenplay - Chris Morgan
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action and mayhem throughout, some sexuality and language

In 2001, The Fast and the Furious was released starring Vin Diesel and Paul Walker. Fast forward to today, twelve years later, and we now have the sixth installment in the near two billion dollar grossing action film franchise, Fast & Furious 6.

      Following the events that took place in their successful Rio heist, the “Fast and Furious” gang led by Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) have retired. Dominic lives with his girlfriend outside the states. Brian O’Connor (Paul Walker) and Dom’s sister Mia (Jordana Brewster) have had a son together. Both Gisele (Gal Gadot) and Han Seoul-Oh (Sung Kang) have moved to Hong Kong, and Roman Pearce (Tyrese Gibson) and Tej Parker (Chris “Ludacris” Bridges) live it up “lifestyles of the rich and famous” style.

      After a Russian military convoy is destroyed, Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) Agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and his partner Riley (Gina Carano) track down Dom, requesting his help along with the help of Dom’s team. They believe former British Special Forces soldier Owen Shaw (Luke Evans) was the mastermind behind the recent attack and Dom has what it takes to bring him down. Dom at first refuses, that is until Hobbs shows him photos of his former girlfriend Letty Ortiz (Michelle Rodriguez), whom Dom thought was dead. Dom is able to bring together the entire crew and they all agree to help if and only if Hobbs is able to grant them all full pardons.

      I’ll be honest. I hate The Fast and Furious films, so it was hard for me to go into this film without being slightly biased against it. That being said, I found this film to be the best of the series. Whoa, hold on. Slow your roll, Benjamin. Don’t get me wrong. This film has its flaws, quite a few of them actually. The acting’s what you’d expect from this film, bland with a side order of Vin Diesel sounding like a battered drunk, muttering through his dialogue for an hour and a half to two hours. Luke Evans as the main villain is about as intimidating as the Strawberry Shortcake doll, and at times the dialogue is pure cheese, particularly whenever the gang goes from committing high stake felonies to sipping back cold ones by the barbeque, talking about the importance and value of family. That being said, I would never walk into a film like this expecting acting out of Scorsese film and a David Mamet script. You’ll be sorely let down if you do. To its credit, there are a few exciting action sequences by director Justin Lin that are so over the top you have to believe that Lin and Co. this time around wanna make the film a bit more self-aware of just how ludicrous it really is. Tyrese Gibson and Chris Bridges both provide some dependable comic relief at times, and the very end of the film provides a glimpse at the next villain that no one could see coming from a mile away. Yes, there will be a seventh film, and at this point, hell, why not?

      While this is far from good and I really can’t emphasize that enough, I also felt it's far from the garbage that were its predecessors in the series. In spite of all the flaws, there’s still enough for me to give this a mild recommendation, which is a lot more than I can say about the previous films and a lot more than I was expecting to give this one. It'd seem kinda odd for me to tell you just skip the other five films and watch this one, but continuity be damned. I give Fast & Furious 6 a C (★★½).

Epic

Cast of Characters:
Ronin - voiced by Colin Farrell
Nod - voiced by Josh Hutcherson
Mary “M.K.” Katherine - voiced by Amanda Seyfried
Mandrake - voiced by Christoph Waltz
Mub - voiced by Aziz Ansari
Grub - voiced by Chris O’Dowd
Bufo - voiced by Pitbull
Professor Bomba - voiced by Jason Sudeikis
Nim Galuu - voiced by Steven Tyler
Queen Tara - voiced by Beyonce Knowles

Director - Chris Wedge
Screenplay - William Joyce, James V. Hart, Daniel Shere, Tom J. Astle & Matt Ember
Based on the children’s book “The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs” by William Joyce
Rated PG for mild action, some scary images and brief rude language

      

      Colin Farrell, Josh Hutcherson, Amanda Seyfried, and Academy Award winner Christoph Waltz lend their voices in the new animated feature film, Epic, from the same creative minds that brought you Ice Age and the underrated Robots. Is this film worth taking your family out to see during Memorial Day Weekend, or should you give this one a pass?

      Epic opens with Mary Katherine (voiced by Amanda Seyfried), a near-20's teenager, visiting her odd and eccentric scientist father, Professor Bomba (voiced by Jason Sudeikis). For quite some time, Professor Bomba has been convinced, through research of his, that there is a world within their own world of tiny human soldiers. Mary Katherine is obviously skeptical of her father, but unbeknownst to both of them, Professor Bomba is right. Within their world, there lives two races, one good and one evil. The Leafmen are protectors of the forest led by Ronin (voiced by Colin Farrell) and all guided under the rule of Queen Tara (voiced by Beyonce Knowles). Nearby the Leafmen live the Boogans, led by Mandrake (voiced by Christoph Waltz), the Boogans ruthless leader determined to destroy the forest.

    One day while Mary Katherine is out chasing after her dog that broke out of the house, she finds a dying Queen Tara who was brought down by Mandrake's army. Tara gives Mary Katherine a mysterious pod and uses what power she has left to shrink her. Mary Katherine, clearly confused by what just happened, is met by Ronin along with Grub (voiced by Chris O'Dowd) and Mub (voiced by Aziz Ansari), a snail and slug respectively that are both given the responsibility of guarding the pod. She joins the three hoping they can help her find Nim Galuu (voiced by Steven Tyler), the wise, old Glowworm sage of the forest who Queen Tara told Mary Katherine to give the pod. Together, along with Nod (voiced by Josh Hutcherson), a feisty and independent young soldier under Ronin's guidance, the Leafmen must protect the pod, which contains the next heir to rule the forest, from Mandrake and his army of Boogans.

      I'm of two minds on this film. On the one hand, the gorgeous visuals and animation provide a vibrant look and feel to this film that's as good as any other animated film out there today. Along with the visuals, there are few standout voice-over performances from Josh Hutcherson, Amanda Seyfried, Colin Farrell and in particular Christoph Waltz, who like Morgan Freeman and Anthony Hopkins, has a voice just perfect for voice-over. On the other hand, the story is a tad bit mediocre and, other than the fact that it borrowed a little bit too much from Fern Gully, doesn't really pick up the pace until about halfway through the film. This isn't the first animated film to deal with the lead girl with a dead mother angle, and it seems they all have to have the token two wisecracking pair of creatures. Also, in spite of the standout voice-over work, I felt both Beyonce and Steven Tyler didn't really add much. Being an Aerosmith fan myself, I know full well how animated Tyler can get, and you'd think he'd be perfect here. That being said, they both just seemed to phone it in.

      All things considered, I'm still gonna give this a mild recommendation. In spite of a few bland voice-over performances, and the somewhat average story, out of all the films out right now, this is one of the few the whole family can see, that's including the little ones. The animation is excellent and there are some terrific action sequences. The kids will also get a kick out of Professor Bomba, the Grub and Mub creatures, as well as finding Christoph Waltz's Mandrake to be an effectively scary cartoon villain. If you're looking for a film to take the whole family out to see this holiday weekend, in spite of its flaws, this film is still worth a watch. I give Epic a B (★★★).