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[Full Disclosure: I have not seen the IT miniseries or read the book. I tried to avoid spoilers in this review.]

It had been almost a decade since my last trip to ‘the movies’ or whatever it’s called when you watch a film at a cinema. Yet over the last couple of weeks, I found myself at a movie theatre twice. This was not my choice, I watch very little TV or film. I was pressured to go by my significant other.

Both movies I was obligated to see shared a similar theme of children being tormented by supernatural forces. While not having the emotional impact of seeing animals in peril for me, it’s a pretty good basis for some level of emotional investment. Far more sympathetic as characters than the older ‘kids’ who get massacred in Friday the 13th type movies.

The first movie was Annabelle: Creation, a prequel to a poorly received spin-off I never saw. With that description in mind, expectations were pretty low, although the positive reviews gave some hope.

In the end, I was pleasantly surprised. It was not a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination, but there were more positives than negatives.

The ‘horror’ elements were not strong, but the genre is not something i’m a fan of anyway. Obligatory tropes of ‘i want your soul’ and the vomiting into a victim’s mouth didn’t make much impact. A strong cast, solid direction and complementary sound design kept the well paced film engaging, despite the uninspiring plot.

If I were to give it a subjective rating, 6/10 would be fair.

Now we arrive at the reason i’m writing this ramble. The second movie I was compelled to see, IT: Chapter One. Although the subtitle is not featured in any of the marketing for it.

It is an iconic piece of popular culture, originally a novel by Stephen King, the titular character is especially memorable, a supernatural entity manifesting itself as the clown known as Pennywise. This is primarily the result of an earlier adaptation where the character was played by Tim Curry, apparently instilling a fear of clowns in at least one generation. Perhaps because I was not exposed to this portrayal, I am apathetic to clowns.

The new adaptation starts off quite well, although the fake-out scares in the opening moments were unnecessary.

The introduction of Pennywise was well executed, the shift from awkward but comedic to creepy and sinister with just a facial expression was an expected but effective shift in tone.

Immediately after this, it falls apart on a technical level. As Pennywise claims his first victim in the film, unnecessary and poorly done computer animation broke any immersion.

The film jumps forward and we are introduced to the rest of the cast, while the performances are for the most part serviceable to good, there are many characters and they get very little development or backstory. More than one of the boy’s personality is essentially ‘annoying’ and with how little individual screen time or development each is offered, there’s not much to care about.

From here, the film just gets weaker. There are a lot of jump scares, but they are startling at best and not scary in any way. This is made worse by the continual tonal shifts, there are more moments to laugh than there are moments of fear or horror. It’s very crude humour too, which from my limited understanding is fitting in regard to the source material. If used sparingly it would be much better, but too often the sexual humour from a teenager really pulls you out of any sense of tension that had been present. This is compounded by how the film moves from scene to scene with no particular aim or sense of progression.

Almost every time IT/Pennywise makes an appearance, there was computer animation to be found and it was never well done. The character is definitely sinister and I have no complaints about the actual performance. Less computer animation, more context and dialogue would have been cheaper and more effective in creating an atmosphere.

There are some standout moments in the movie. The bloody bathroom scene with Beverly was the most tense and visually engaging, the subsequent montage was definitely not. Nicholas Hamilton’s portrayal of Henry Bowers was excellent, despite the terrible lines he had to read. The few times the film focused on him were the most powerful and emotionally charged.

Some of the notable low points… The rock throwing fight, where there is no impact and it inexplicably goes into slow motion for a few seconds. The scene where the main characters lay around in their underwear after swimming served no purpose, aside from showing the teenage boys find the teenage girl attractive (which was already established at the start of the scene). The love triangle that just faded in and out, left me feeling like scenes were cut. The aforementioned montage after the bathroom scene totally forgot about the stakes that were setup for it.

The film is over two hours long, an hour into it I was checking the time and having whispered discussions with my companions. There was a few other people in the screening, there were no audible reactions from the audience at any joke or scare.

While there are some good moments, ultimately the movie does not deserve the praise it has received. An aimless story, the omnipresent but somehow impotent antagonist, and substandard special effects. The acting was the strongest point, but with a weak script, little character development and uninspired direction, it wasn’t entertaining.

My issues with IT/Pennywise as a character and the overall plot may be an issue with the source material, but the issues with the script, direction and special effects are very much the fault of the film makers.

I can see why some people have enjoyed watching this, to a point... I cannot understand why it’s currently sitting at 85% on RottenTomatoes and 8.0 on IMDB. This movie floats, like a number 2.

(Really though, 4/10)

Wakened from its latest hibernation, New Horizons may visit additional Kuiper Belt Objects

Fuel saved during the MU69 encounter could be used to send New Horizons to a third KBO, a move that would require yet another mission extension. In 2016, NASA approved an extended mission for the MU69 flyby through the year 2021.

On Sept. 6, Stern told members of NASA’s Outer Planets Assessment Group that mission scientists are already searching for an additional KBO target.

“We have a fighting chance of having a second [Kuiper Belt Object] flyby,” Stern said.

Approval of another mission extension will also provide more opportunities for New Horizons to continue its distant observations of KBOs, dwarf planets, and centaurs. Stern said that he intends to request a second extension once the MU69 flyby is completed and the data collected from it returned to Earth.

Even that might not be the mission’s end. Stern foresees additional extensions beyond the one that would take it to a second KBO.

“There’s fuel and power on board the spacecraft to operate it for another 20 years,” Stern said. “That’s not going to be a concern even for a third or fourth extended mission.”

The probe will be put into another hibernation period on Dec. 22, 2017, during which it will remain until June 4, 2018, when it will be woken up in preparation for the MU69 encounter, which will officially begin in August 2018.

(486958) 2014 MU₆₉

Size comparison to Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko (exact size and appearance of 2014 MU₆₉ are still unknown, but it is suspected to be a binary object or contact binary, like Comet 67P)

Basic income is all surplus federal tax revenue acquired by the US above its expenditures. Would generate incentives to run a balanced budget one way or another and encourage reduction of other expenditures.

and

Basic income is set in combination with a moderately progressive income tax at a level where a set percentage of the populace gains money. For example, it could be set so that the median income breaks even, thus half the population gains and half loses income. Incentives here would be to increase median income relative to everything else since that would be the basis for the payouts.

Keyesians might want to tool things so that basic income drops in good times and increases in bad times.

The BBC has a story about a German schoolboy jailed for writing to the BBC.

Karl-Heinz Borchardt was 18 years old when he was arrested by the Stasi in East Germany for writing to the BBC. In communist East Germany, listening to a foreign broadcaster was a crime, and Borchardt had been listening to the BBC's Letters without Signatures on its German service.

Much to the ire of the East German regime, the BBC programme gave an extraordinary insight into the physical and emotional lives of a cross-section of GDR society for more than 25 years.

"It was like coming up for air," says Borchardt - a form of release for a young, curious mind locked in the suffocating atmosphere of the communist state.

The methods employed by the Stasi to track down "criminals" who wrote to the BBC were quite clever.

They took saliva samples from the licked envelopes to identify blood groups which they cross-checked with doctor's records. They traced fingerprints on the paper, sourced the ink and collated an extensive archive of handwriting samples.

They caught Borchardt by cross-referencing the handwriting on one of his letters with that on a piece of school homework that he'd handed in.

He spent eight months in prison before being sentenced to two years for "attempted subversive activities" in conjunction with an enemy broadcaster.

Nun With A Chainsaw Becomes Symbol Of Post-Irma Cleanup: 'She Rocks'

The farce continues.

Chief champion of Brexit, Nigel Farage, very recently backed the German far-right AfD without a hint of irony. Suzanne Moore in the Guardian tells the bigger story.

Very recently tens of thousands of people in the UK marched to protest against Brexit.

Of course, if you're an EU citizen from one of the other 27 countries living and working in the UK, things are uncertain and uncomfortable.

“Everybody shrugs their shoulders and says ‘you’ll be all right, your husband’s British’. We’re fed up of hearing this. I don’t have a home to go back to. It’s not as if we’re teenagers going back to mum and dad, I’ve spent my whole adult life here. To tell us we have to be treated like criminals, have fingerprints, pass an English test, it’s insulting.

“This is an abuse of human rights and our family lives. Every day I am questioning do I want to remain in a country where the majority of British citizens are not speaking out for us?

“Why are they not on the street demonstrating? If this happened in France and there was such discrimination against British citizens, I would be out on the street.

Some of us have written letters, demonstrated, argued, donated to legal challenges etc. but there is more to be done. It's not over yet.

If Mrs May's government lasts into 2018 I'll be very surprised.

9/11: Never Forget

Previously:

• Harvey could be Ted Cruz’s time to shine. So far he hasn’t
• Is Ted Cruz human? An investigation
• Ted Cruz is now likeable, The New York Times wants you to believe

And then...

• Republican senator Ted Cruz caught liking pornographic video on social media
• For One Hot Second, Ted Cruz’s Official Twitter Account Liked a Porn Video
• Ted Cruz Likes Adult Movie On Twitter With Woman Who ‘Vaguely Resembles’ His Wife, Heidi
• Ted Cruz "Likes" Porn Video On Twitter
• Ted Cruz Just ‘Liked’ A Hardcore Porn Video On Twitter
• Why is US Senator Ted Cruz trending for porn?

Update: Somebody fell on their sword:

• Ted Cruz blames staffer for 'liking' porn tweet

Ted Cruz trivia:

• Ted Cruz helped defend Texas ban against sale of sex toys in 2007
• Snopes version of above
• Before Twitter porn controversy, Ted Cruz didn’t think masturbating was a laughing matter
• Even The National Review Doesn’t Think Cruz Needed To Pull Campaign Ad Featuring Porn Star

Japan Is No Place for Single Mothers (archive)

Much longer read:

The First White President (archive)