Michael Jackson: The Life of an Icon by David Gest (merged)

Re: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Producter David Gest and Universal Pictures announce all-star World Premi

Here's A Fan review of The Documentary

Hi guys

I just finished watching the David Gest dock 'The Life of an Icon'. I kinda have mixed feelings about it. I don't think it was put together terribly well. The idea of focusing on how great a talent he was as a kid was great, but that side of the doco lasted the whole first hour and I was like "man when are they gonna get to Off the Wall and Thriller and Bad", and when it got to that period, it was just brushed over in about 5/10 minutes!, then next thing it jumped straight to the molestation charges!!! Come on man!! I'm trying to forget about all that stuff! I want to see a doco about how awesome he was as an entertainer and humanitarian, which is what I was hoping this would be. Granted you can't ignore the terrible things he had to endure in court and so on, but for that to be the sole focus of a lot of the documentary was a bit of a letdown, and didn't make me want to show this documentary to other people. I finished watching the documentary feeling very sad and frankly a bit depressed. That's not the way any of us want to remember Michael.

Anyway that's just my two cents. I am very appreciative that David Gest and others involved in the doco went out of their way to put Michael in a positive light, which I can safely say they did. Here's to hoping one day there will be an awesome doco or something that only focuses on his talent and love for others.

Would love to hear your opinions if you've seen the documentary
.

Peace and love!



Thanks for the review............

At this moment in time, I want to be able to celebrate MJ and not get depressed..........

........I guess I won't be buying!!!!
 
Re: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Producter David Gest and Universal Pictures announce all-star World Premi

Elusive - I'm thinking that Jermaine needs to tweet about Tito!
 
Re: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Producter David Gest and Universal Pictures announce all-star World Premi

Here's A Fan review of The Documentary

Hi guys

I just finished watching the David Gest dock 'The Life of an Icon'. I kinda have mixed feelings about it. I don't think it was put together terribly well. The idea of focusing on how great a talent he was as a kid was great, but that side of the doco lasted the whole first hour and I was like "man when are they gonna get to Off the Wall and Thriller and Bad", and when it got to that period, it was just brushed over in about 5/10 minutes!, then next thing it jumped straight to the molestation charges!!! Come on man!! I'm trying to forget about all that stuff! I want to see a doco about how awesome he was as an entertainer and humanitarian, which is what I was hoping this would be. Granted you can't ignore the terrible things he had to endure in court and so on, but for that to be the sole focus of a lot of the documentary was a bit of a letdown, and didn't make me want to show this documentary to other people. I finished watching the documentary feeling very sad and frankly a bit depressed. That's not the way any of us want to remember Michael.

Anyway that's just my two cents. I am very appreciative that David Gest and others involved in the doco went out of their way to put Michael in a positive light, which I can safely say they did. Here's to hoping one day there will be an awesome doco or something that only focuses on his talent and love for others.

Would love to hear your opinions if you've seen the documentary
.

Peace and love!

And just to add: a Brazilian fan watched and told me that the documentary begins with the call to 911. :cry:
 
Re: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Producter David Gest and Universal Pictures announce all-star World Premi

Rebbie says that 'she thinks that it's only those who spent prolonged periods with the superstar who really understood what he was like'.

I guess that rules her out then.

Haaaaa^^. I noticed she feels that only the family really knew him. I wonder why she found it necessary to stress that? When a family member dies it is not the usual think to say. It is usually a given that the family knew the person best. Maybe she was hearing some of the comments that they had not interacted with brother Michael in a long time.

Not surprised it focused on young Michael. That was the time most of the family was around him, which shows again that they do not know much about Michael the man. Hopefully, we will get many products about Michael and his music only. If this was geared to fans, why burden it with such negative aspects. Sometimes I wonder if people are really making projects for fans or haters, unless they think Michael's fans are masochists or enjoy pain.
 
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Re: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Producter David Gest and Universal Pictures announce all-star World Premi

Wow....

Fan review from LSA:
2 mins in, One Day In Your Life is playing, Frank DiLeo is crying and so am I.
This may require alcohol.

JRT is in it quite a lot. I think Katherine is in her batty years now.
It gets to solo Michael after about an hour and 20 mins.

JRT, Gest, Rebbie and Frank Dileo are blaming Hoefflin for making Mike insecure about his looks and getting unnecessary plastic surgery

The doc is conspicuous with lack of MJ songs.

Gest is talking about the 1st time MJ got pissed - he drunk a bottle and a half of wine and then threw his guts up over Gest's parking lot and flat. Another time MJ drank 3 bottles and was chucking jellybeans everywhere when Gloria Gaynor was performing for them. This was one around 1993.

On '93 allegations, Gest said MJ called him up and said "you try to do something nice and people fuck you". Michael told Gest that he would never pay a penny to Chandler. After Toya's press conference Gest said he had never heard Michael feel and express so much hate for a person as he did for Latoya.

They were paid off because MJ was on tour and the suits didn't want to lose money.
Dileo reckoned that Michael was given the worst advice in the history of the music business.

About the MSG show, Gest and Cascio say that Jermaine was a problem and acting weird asking for strange things and terms so Michael told him not to perform and then he got his act together. Maybe this is why Jerms is not endording this doc?

Cascio says Elizabeth Taylor said she wouldn't go with Michael as his date to MSG and was hoing and humming about it. Cascio says Liz doesn't do something for nothing and so Mike bought her a $250,000 necklace and she changed her mind.

The Liz thing more kind of suggested that Liz was being a spoiled diva and wanted a bauble rather than Mike had to buy her company.
 
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Re: Michael Jackson: The Life of an Icon - Excl Advanced Blu-ray & DVD Cover Preview *Update Post 13

Wow....

Fan review from LSA:
2 mins in, One Day In Your Life is playing, Frank DiLeo is crying and so am I.
This may require alcohol.

JRT is in it quite a lot. I think Katherine is in her batty years now.
It gets to solo Michael after about an hour and 20 mins.

JRT, Gest, Rebbie and Frank Dileo are blaming Hoefflin for making Mike insecure about his looks and getting unnecessary plastic surgery

The doc is conspicuous with lack of MJ songs.

Gest is talking about the 1st time MJ got pissed - he drunk a bottle and a half of wine and then threw his guts up over Gest's parking lot and flat. Another time MJ drank 3 bottles and was chucking jellybeans everywhere when Gloria Gaynor was performing for them. This was one around 1993.

On '93 allegations, Gest said MJ called him up and said "you try to do something nice and people fuck you". Michael told Gest that he would never pay a penny to Chandler. After Toya's press conference Gest said he had never heard Michael feel and express so much hate for a person as he did for Latoya.

They were paid off because MJ was on tour and the suits didn't want to lose money.
Dileo reckoned that Michael was given the worst advice in the history of the music business.

About the MSG show, Gest and Cascio say that Jermaine was a problem and acting weird asking for strange things and terms so Michael told him not to perform and then he got his act together. Maybe this is why Jerms is not endording this doc?

Cascio says Elizabeth Taylor said she wouldn't go with Michael as his date to MSG and was hoing and humming about it. Cascio says Liz doesn't do something for nothing and so Mike bought her a $250,000 necklace and she changed her mind.

The Liz thing more kind of suggested that Liz was being a spoiled diva and wanted a bauble rather than Mike had to buy her company.
 
Re: Michael Jackson: The Life of an Icon - Excl Advanced Blu-ray & DVD Cover Preview *Update Post 13

^ Thank You! This proves my point. This is why I'm against these people and their useless info that don't serve a damn thing. And by "these people" I'm talking the Jacksons, Gest and the Cascio's! SMDH :angry: I mean what is this ish? U have Cascio shittin on Liz yet, always trying to make his family look postive.
 
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Re: Michael Jackson: The Life of an Icon - Excl Advanced Blu-ray & DVD Cover Preview *Update Post 13

Wow....

Fan review from LSA:


"JRT is in it quite a lot. I think Katherine is in her batty years now."

Seriously, who keep inviting this guy to every unofficial doc? I had hope that since the family was involve that I didn't have to hear from this guy.


"JRT, Gest, Rebbie and Frank Dileo are blaming Hoefflin for making Mike insecure about his looks and getting unnecessary plastic surgery"

Right and the father that called him ugly had nothing to do with it. If you're going to go there, blame all parties involve. Also, this come across as hypercritical since Gest is the last person in this film who should talk about unnecessary plastic surgery. Has he look in a mirror lately?


"The doc is conspicuous with lack of MJ songs."

What, no Motown tunes at least? Couldn't they do any Jackson songs like 'Blame it on the Boogie'? I mean, Jermaine can seem to release a bad remix of it without legal trouble.


"On '93 allegations, Gest said MJ called him up and said "you try to do something nice and people fuck you"."

Maybe true, but I'm not sure if Michael would drop the F bomb. Although, I wouldn't blame him.


"They were paid off because MJ was on tour and the suits didn't want to lose money."

How did they get this wrong? Michael was not touring when the settlement was going through and he was already being sue for it, so he lost money anyway.


"The Liz thing more kind of suggested that Liz was being a spoiled diva and wanted a bauble rather than Mike had to buy her company."

Sorry Frank, I like you, but I call bull on this story. Liz was maybe a diva, but I need several more witnesses besides you before I even consider this story true.



Yeah, this sounds like more of the same stuff I heard before. Although, glad to have more information about Jermaine acting like a jackass for MGS. I wonder why Randy isn't mention since he did the same thing.
 
Re: Michael Jackson: The Life of an Icon - Excl Advanced Blu-ray & DVD Cover Preview *Update Post 13

Yeah I'm not surprised that Jermaine isn't in the documentary. Remember this?

jermjackson5 Jermaine Jackson
Research has made me read Randy Taraborrelli. I am speechless. He's been pulling words out of his ass with his dialogue & scenes
16 May Unfavorite Retweet Reply
 
Re: Michael Jackson: The Life of an Icon - Excl Advanced Blu-ray & DVD Cover Preview *Update Post 13

I was initially excited about this documentary, I'm kind of glad I did not pre-order this... I'll watch it by other means before I buy it to see if it's worthy of being supported. Sigh... Why does there have to be controversy when it comes to creating Michael documentaries? Can't we just have a documentary celebrating his life and humanitarian efforts... Oh wait, who am I kidding? That wouldn't make as much $$$ as a sensational one! :angry:
 
Re: Michael Jackson: The Life of an Icon - Excl Advanced Blu-ray & DVD Cover Preview *Update Post 13

I just read these tweets about the doc on twitter.

Frank Cascio (re This Is It Tour): Michael told me he only committed to 10 shows at the o2 Dome for his comeback concert. When he found out he was committed to 50 shows, and there was no way of getting out of it, he snapped. He felt like they tricked him, he was put up against the wall, and let down by people, or mislead I should say.


?
Dangerous_Inc?
Defense would love this footage of Guest, Frank Cascio, Dileo & Taraborelli discussing MJ on drugs.
4 hours agoFavoriteRetweetReply

?
Dangerous_Inc?
Now theyre on the drugs subject and MJ doctor shopping. Good thing Dileo cant be called as a witness in trial going by his interview here.
 
Re: Michael Jackson: The Life of an Icon - Excl Advanced Blu-ray & DVD Cover Preview *Update Post 13

I just watched the first 10 minutes. I will finish it tonight. Actually the video is floating all over the internet. Base on the current review, it seemed not so good and why can't they just stop talking about the addict thing when they barely saw MJ. Gosh~~~
 
Re: Michael Jackson: The Life of an Icon - Excl Advanced Blu-ray & DVD Cover Preview *Update Post 13

I just read these tweets about the doc on twitter.

Frank Cascio (re This Is It Tour): Michael told me he only committed to 10 shows at the o2 Dome for his comeback concert. When he found out he was committed to 50 shows, and there was no way of getting out of it, he snapped. He felt like they tricked him, he was put up against the wall, and let down by people, or mislead I should say.

This is the most weird thing about the 10 shows comments. It's so strange that the contract is more than 10 shows already. The fact is how are they going to profit from just 10 shows with such a huge production. It never make any sense to me. Was MJ so naive to think it's even possible to do just 10 shows to make enough money? It just totally doesn't make sense at all to me.
 
Re: Michael Jackson: The Life of an Icon - Excl Advanced Blu-ray & DVD Cover Preview *Update Post 13

Review from MSN UK:

http://movies.uk.msn.com/features/h...on-will-change-perceptions-of-michael-jackson

Human nature: How 'life of an icon' will change perceptions of Michael Jackson


With the new documentary Michael Jackson: Life Of An Icon, the Jackson family and producer/family friend David Gest present Michael as a victim of fame.

'In Defence of An Icon' could easily be an alternative title for this documentary that's as unbalanced as it is fascinating. Produced by Jackson's friend David Gest and featuring interviews with his mother Katherine, sister Rebbie and brother Tito, it's a touching character portrait as well as a clear attempt to reveal the misunderstood man behind the headlines.

After a sombre beginning focusing on his death, the tone picks up as Jackson's family recall his childhood to the tune of a perky retro soundtrack. Katherine Jackson recalls the first time a five-year-old Michael sung 'Climb Every Mountain' at a school performance, bringing tears to the eyes and prompting his elder brothers to immediately retract their decision not to let him play with the 'big boys'.With Michael their new 'secret weapon', the Jacksons triumphed in talent contests and started hobnobbing with legends such as Dionne Warwick, Martha Reeves, Percy Sledge and Smokey Robinson. All these luminaries contribute to the documentary, making this pretty exciting for Motown fans. 'A kid of eleven years old singing that song with that much emotion? It was incredible,' raves Robinson, recalling Jackson's performance of 'Who's Lovin' You'.

This is the uplifting part of the film: an affectionate portrait of a young artist with big names paying testament to his talent. 'On the stage, he was a different guy,' says Weldon A McDougall III of the shy, retiring boy who suddenly came to life with a mic in his hand. Such words might seem sycophantic without the footage that reminds you just how angelic that bouncy little kid sounded. Friends recall cute on-the-road moments, such as him eagerly eavesdropping on his elder brothers' aftershow parties before he was old enough to start partying himself (and yes, apparently he did party). The word 'shy' comes up a lot but most revealing is his mother's insistence that Michael was just like her: 'Too easy going, trusted people too much.'

It's hard not to start questioning cynical assumptions you may have made about Jackson - I'll admit that watching this was the first time I considered he might have been 100% innocent of all the accusations. This paints a picture of a man tortured by a trial, dosed up on pills and hardly aware of the 'not guilty' verdict in 2003. This was filmed well before the recent trial but Taraborrelli is quick to refer to starstruck doctors. 'He did find doctors willing to do this crazy thing that did lead to his death'. Says Gest: 'Michael was an easy touch, anybody could take advantage of him.'
As you may have gathered, Gest is featured A LOT, filling in the gaps in other stars' quotes with whatever point he wants to drive home. This feels more like a personal crusade than an objective documentary. Despite the overlong running time, pressing questions remain unanswered. Contributors such as Whitney Houston, who briefly babbles about Bubbles, appear to have been wheeled in more for their star power than their stories. But it's a darned interesting film for anyone interested in a sobering insight into the extreme cost of fame.
 
Re: Michael Jackson: The Life of an Icon - Excl Advanced Blu-ray & DVD Cover Preview *Update Post 13

I just watched the first 10 minutes. I will finish it tonight. Actually the video is floating all over the internet. Base on the current review, it seemed not so good and why can't they just stop talking about the addict thing when they barely saw MJ. Gosh~~~
where on the net? youtube?
 
Re: Michael Jackson: The Life of an Icon - Excl Advanced Blu-ray & DVD Cover Preview *Update Post 13

where on the net? youtube?

It's already on lots of share file site.
 
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Re: Michael Jackson: The Life of an Icon - Excl Advanced Blu-ray & DVD Cover Preview *Update Post 13

More:
The doc ends with a large segment about 2003 and some stuff about drugs which I won't bother posting here. I have to say, Frank Cascio is a bit of a sexy bastard! And Frank Dileo does a sort of impression of Mike having a strop and although it's about a serious subject, it's dead cute. Finally there are tributes and then I had a wee cry to myself which was Gest's fault.

I think we could have skipped the first hour and 20 minutes. 15 minutes would have been enough to hear: Tito broke Joe's guitar, they start a band, climb every mountain, rehearsals, the Apollo, Bobby Taylor, Motown, Berry, Diana, CBS. And I would have liked to hear many more stories about Michael and more about his achievements than his dark times. More footage of Michael would have been nice too.
 
Re: Michael Jackson: The Life of an Icon - Excl Advanced Blu-ray & DVD Cover Preview *Update Post 13

I just read these tweets about the doc on twitter.

Frank Cascio (re This Is It Tour): Michael told me he only committed to 10 shows at the o2 Dome for his comeback concert. When he found out he was committed to 50 shows, and there was no way of getting out of it, he snapped. He felt like they tricked him, he was put up against the wall, and let down by people, or mislead I should say.

Is it a direct quote from Frank Cascio? If so, I wonder how he knew Michael felt he's tricked.

Per Randy Phillips' testimony, it's Michael who came up with 31 concerts, as he wanted to do 10 more shows than Prince. They put 10 shows out to generate interest. Phillips said no promoter in the world would put all shows up in one shot, as that would kill early sales. Michael planned to do 31 shows, not 10 shows.

The number of shows increased to 50 because of unprecedented demand. Michael was receptive about the idea. Would a man who felt he's tricked ask for a 16 acre Estate with streams and horses and Guiness world record representative to be there to certify the achievement?
 
Re: Michael Jackson: The Life of an Icon - Excl Advanced Blu-ray & DVD Cover Preview *Update Post 13

Click the ninja, guys. :shuriken:

Note: Please purchase after viewing if you feel like it deserves supporting.
 
Re: Michael Jackson: The Life of an Icon - Excl Advanced Blu-ray & DVD Cover Preview *Update Post 13

Review from MSN UK:

http://movies.uk.msn.com/features/h...on-will-change-perceptions-of-michael-jackson

Human nature: How 'life of an icon' will change perceptions of Michael Jackson


With the new documentary Michael Jackson: Life Of An Icon, the Jackson family and producer/family friend David Gest present Michael as a victim of fame.

'In Defence of An Icon' could easily be an alternative title for this documentary that's as unbalanced as it is fascinating. Produced by Jackson's friend David Gest and featuring interviews with his mother Katherine, sister Rebbie and brother Tito, it's a touching character portrait as well as a clear attempt to reveal the misunderstood man behind the headlines.

After a sombre beginning focusing on his death, the tone picks up as Jackson's family recall his childhood to the tune of a perky retro soundtrack. Katherine Jackson recalls the first time a five-year-old Michael sung 'Climb Every Mountain' at a school performance, bringing tears to the eyes and prompting his elder brothers to immediately retract their decision not to let him play with the 'big boys'.With Michael their new 'secret weapon', the Jacksons triumphed in talent contests and started hobnobbing with legends such as Dionne Warwick, Martha Reeves, Percy Sledge and Smokey Robinson. All these luminaries contribute to the documentary, making this pretty exciting for Motown fans. 'A kid of eleven years old singing that song with that much emotion? It was incredible,' raves Robinson, recalling Jackson's performance of 'Who's Lovin' You'.

This is the uplifting part of the film: an affectionate portrait of a young artist with big names paying testament to his talent. 'On the stage, he was a different guy,' says Weldon A McDougall III of the shy, retiring boy who suddenly came to life with a mic in his hand. Such words might seem sycophantic without the footage that reminds you just how angelic that bouncy little kid sounded. Friends recall cute on-the-road moments, such as him eagerly eavesdropping on his elder brothers' aftershow parties before he was old enough to start partying himself (and yes, apparently he did party). The word 'shy' comes up a lot but most revealing is his mother's insistence that Michael was just like her: 'Too easy going, trusted people too much.'

It's hard not to start questioning cynical assumptions you may have made about Jackson - I'll admit that watching this was the first time I considered he might have been 100% innocent of all the accusations. This paints a picture of a man tortured by a trial, dosed up on pills and hardly aware of the 'not guilty' verdict in 2003. This was filmed well before the recent trial but Taraborrelli is quick to refer to starstruck doctors. 'He did find doctors willing to do this crazy thing that did lead to his death'. Says Gest: 'Michael was an easy touch, anybody could take advantage of him.'
As you may have gathered, Gest is featured A LOT, filling in the gaps in other stars' quotes with whatever point he wants to drive home. This feels more like a personal crusade than an objective documentary. Despite the overlong running time, pressing questions remain unanswered. Contributors such as Whitney Houston, who briefly babbles about Bubbles, appear to have been wheeled in more for their star power than their stories. But it's a darned interesting film for anyone interested in a sobering insight into the extreme cost of fame.

I was about to write this review off as another piece of crap. Then, I read the bold sentence. As fan, we all know Michael was innocence. We have no signle shred of doubt. However, there are many many people out there who choose to believe in the kids. If this documentary can help make it clear that Michael was 100% innocent, then I wouldn't consider this documentary completely pointless. May be this is the reason why Tom Mesereau endorsed this project.

Now that I have read some reviews here and on twitter, I can say this film is not for me and I will not buy it.
 
Re: Michael Jackson: The Life of an Icon - Excl Advanced Blu-ray & DVD Cover Preview *Update Post 13

More from LSA:

On the Gest doc, there isn't really any tea other than that which has been posted here. Dileo says he knobbed quite a few Hollywood stars but he's not telling; Gest and the actress that jumped his bones.

Whitney Houston is on it speaking about Mke and she sort of implys that Mike was courting her. She said that he flew her to Neverland on his helicopter and then she had a carriage ride from the gates to his home and she says about how he pulled out all the stops. Now, wasn't Jermaine shagging her? Is it wife swap every day at the Jackson brother's house?

If I absolutely had to, here is the order I would do them in:
Michael
Jackie
Tito
Marlon
Randy/Jermaine, last equal.
Gest says that Michael was on a film set and one of the leading actresses on the film took him to her room and they had sex so if we can find out what film sets Mike has visited, we could whittle it down.

Frank Dileo mentions relationships that Mike had seperately from the hollywood stars he had been with. He said that Michael told him confidentially about relationships he had been in but were kept strictly private as noone wants the fans to find out because fans want to still think the have a shot with him.

And some guy (I'm not sure who some of the people are in the doc but I assume he is famous) saying that he was sharing a table with Mike at some function and he had to go to the loo, when he got back, Mike was chatting up his date and the guy was like "beat it and get your own".
Then they talk a bit about LMP. That's it really.

Oh and Whitney thought at one point Michael was sucking her toe but it turns out to be Bubbles. I think she was joking about thinking it was MJ.
 
Re: Michael Jackson: The Life of an Icon - Excl Advanced Blu-ray & DVD Cover Preview *Update Post 13

Sex in the film set?? Lol... I don't know Gest was into fanfic... :fear:
 
Re: Michael Jackson: The Life of an Icon - Excl Advanced Blu-ray & DVD Cover Preview *Update Post 13

Is this doc some sick joke?! Sounds like the stories came straight from a tabloid. So not impressed. My heads spinning.:doh:
dont know what to make of this based on reviews so far as I personally don't want to watch it.
 
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Re: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Producter David Gest and Universal Pictures announce all-star World Premi

David Gest just gave a strange interview. Somehow it ended up with him talking about the police finding porn magzines at Michael's home. I quote, "Boobs. Vaginas."
 
Re: Michael Jackson: The Life of an Icon - Excl Advanced Blu-ray & DVD Cover Preview *Update Post 13

lmao I'm watching the live stream and Gest was talking about what they found in Neverland during the raid all female mags & man was Gest graphic! O_O I knew this film will bring to much info. Why did he have to litterally say the words Vigina and nude breast on the red carpet?! He also mention how a women taught MJ everything and jump his bones. Go head mike! lol I can't do nothing but, laugh. It's clear they will go to the extreame to prove he wasn't gay. I know he wasn't but, I don't think it needs to be so graphic to prove it either.

Anyways right now their all on stage on the live stream Gest is asking question to Tito, Rebbie, Susan Yu and T-Mez.
 
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Re: Michael Jackson: The Life of an Icon - Excl Advanced Blu-ray & DVD Cover Preview *Update Post 13

I forced myself to watch the Q+A and to my surprise, Susan was really sincere. I liked her recollections the best.
 
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