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#og fred the dinosaur?
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bit late for the americans but it's not pride til next month here. have a pride dinosaur. for everyone who gets to be less involved in pride than they'd like because they can't risk a super spreader event.
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annieandro · 6 months
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Welcome To Schoolhouse Rock World!
Annieandro and Little Miss Cassie To The Rescue
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Get To Know Rocky
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giraffeyla10 · 5 years
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i got these two dinosaur birthday candle holders and they have the name of the company stamped on their stomachs, well it just so happens that the company’s name is Fred, so i started calling them the gay dinosaurs named fred, one of them got burnt and some of the plastic melted, so my dad got me 3 more, i then called the OG 2 dads and now they have 3 adopted children, and my dad asked me “Why are you obsessed with calling them homosexual” like, buddy, pal, friendo, they’re named fred, gay people exist, why the fuck should i NOT call them gay dads and their 3 sons.
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these dinosaurs are gay and there's nothing you can do about it
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almaasi · 6 years
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reaction post typed while watching SPN 13x16 Scoobynatural
my mood after watching this: SCOOBY DOOBY DOOOOOOOOO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
03:33pm
HI FRIENDS
so full disclosure, i’m not feeling good at all and my hair is falling out!!! more than usual!!! so I’M REALLY HOPING THIS EPISODE MAKES ME FEEL BETTER
best case scenario, dean’s in the middle of a fred/daphne/cas lovefest, but frankly i’m more expecting a one-sided daphne-dean thing?? i think cas is probably just in this for the sake of having him there too but PLEASE GIVE HIM SOMETHING USEFUL TO DO pleeeease. i also figure dean ends up with the ascot because daphne gives it to him, not fred, but I AM WILLING TO BE SURPRISED
i’m not expecting actual proper bi dean and/or destiel, for the record. as fun and delightful as that would be. i’m just here to have a woofing good time
last night i watched “Scooby Doo! Shaggy’s Showdown” and it was GREAT and i thoroughly enjoyed it and I REALLY HOPE THIS EPISODE IS AS GOOD AS THAT WAS
as in, give me diverse background characters (i mean, if they can’t be be main characters), daphne actually having depth to her character beyond vanity, velma being 10/10 relatable and being genuine besties with daphne, fred being a useless lovable dork, shaggy being THE ABSOLUTE BEST & TOTALLY A ROLE MODEL, scooby being literally the coolest sweetest dog ever
BRING FORTH THE CARTOON ANTICS
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03:45
HERE WE GO
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03:46
at first i thought this dinosaur costume was a recap and i was like WHEN DID DEAN FIGHT A DINOSAUR
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03:49
dean and sam mentioned a lizard and quite frankly this dude looks like a lizard
i half expected his tongue to poke out, barty crouch jr. style
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03:50
dean: “TAKE IT EASY, SHE’S DELICATE”
love how dean makes every inanimate thing he cares about into a ‘she’
is this him sexualising random pieces of equipment; finding the thing impressive and therefore giving it the pronoun of the people who most inspire him; or is it a parenting instinct buried deep down that just happens to have a gender bias??
WILL WE EVER KNOW
from dean’s soft “shh” though i imagine it’s a parenting thing
precious tv needs to be loved and cared for like a baby
(i mean......... Baby is his car. definitely a parenting thing. BUT THEN ALSO HIS CAR IS SEXY???? CONCLUSION: DEAN HAS MOTHER/PARTNER/INTIMACY ISSUES)
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03:56
dean: “be like elsa, let it go”
this boy has so many repressed childhood issues i don’t know where to start
HIS INNER CHILD NEEDS HELP
oh man i think i just realised what his growth this episode is gonna be. CONNECT TO THE DESPERATE INNER CHILD
SAVE HIM!!!!!
(sidenote: i did not realise i would be going into this and immediately begin psychoanalysing dean but there we go)
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03:58
the dean cave
or the fortress of deanitude
ohhhhhhhhhhh boy
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03:59
let me know when there’s a fic where dean and cas cuddle/fall asleep/boink in those plaid la-z-boy recliners huh.
or when dean, cas, and sam all want to watch something at the same time and there’s only two chairs sO SOMEONE’S GONNA HAVE TO SHARE
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04:01
THEY’RE A CARTOON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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04:02
dean: “are we animated? yes. is it weird? yes.”
reminds me of zootopia a little I LOVE IT I LOVE IT YAAYAYY
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04:06
a malt shop!!!!!! cartoon ice cream sundaes always look so tasty
EVEN BETTER WHEN SHARED WITH SCOOBY AND SHAGGY
i always thought dean and shaggy would get along so damn well
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04:08
FRICK YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAH
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04:08
WHO DOESN’T NEED A MILKSHAKE-DRINKING GREAT DANE IN THEIR LIVES
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04:09
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sam’s hair looks really good
AND I JUST REALISED HOW WELL THEY DID DEAN’S LIPS!!! POUTY PRETTY AND PLUSH, JUST THE WAY THEY ARE IN FANFICTION
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06:11
dean: “cas is kinda like a talking dog”
unsure whether to be offended on cas’ behalf or not
because on the one hand, RUDE
but on the other hand, the talking dog is the title character, the coolest one, the most beloved, and the most impressive of all
so
i suppose that was a compliment???
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04:13
me: *SQUISHES MY CHEEKS* THIS IS SO CUTE AND SO WHOLESOME I LOVE THESE GUYS!!!!!!!!
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my heart may or may not be pounding
maybe it’s just low blood pressure
/eats salt
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04:17
“oh HECK yes”
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THAT WAS DEAN’S ULTIMATE DREAM (also mine?)
INSTA-GIANT-SANDWICH
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04:18
sam: “hey why do you hate fred so much”
dean: “he thinks he’s so cool ..with his perfect hair, his can-do attitude”
OH SHIT DEANIE’S GOT A HARDCORE CRUSH AND DOESN’T REALISE IT
LITERALLY DIDN’T SEE IT COMING FROM THIS PARTICULAR APPROACH BUT OF COURSE
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04:21
WAS THAT CAS STAGGERING AFTER THEIR CARS
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04:2
“providing you spend tonight here in this old mansion”
OH MY GOD I THINK I WATCHED THIS ONE GROWING UP?? i think it was one of the few we had on vhs!!! and we’d watch it a lot!!! and the the vhs went missing and we never found it again, pretty sure some other kid literally stole it from our house
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04:26
daphne: “oh dean. boys and girls don’t sleep in the same rooms, silly!!!”
fred: “guess you’re with me, slugger”
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I AM ENJOYING THIS
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04:27
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Y E A H
i’m so into this you have no idea
dean: “it’s freaking comfortable. it’s like i’m... wrapped in hugs”
THERE IS NOTHING ABOUT THIS I DISLIKE 12/10 WILL WRITE FANFICTION OF THIS
and it’s purple
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04:32
dean: “doesn’t matter if WE die. scooBY DOO COULD DIE. and that’s not happening. not on my watch. i’d take a bullet for that dog.”
aaaaaaaand if scooby is cas’ parallel............
hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm *u*
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04:37
!!! their !!! hands !!! touch !!!!!
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*muffled background music* and every time we touch it feels like heaven, and everything we kiss i swear i could fflyyy~
pool angel seems so disoriented and confused and clumsy
being a cartoon must really have sent him off-kilter
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06:40
SAM DEAN I’M BACK FROM SYRIA WITH FRUIT FROM THE TREE OF LIFE. THE TREE WAS GUARDED BY A PACK OF DJINN I KILLED MOST OF THEM, BARGAINED WITH THE REST
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oh man he’s so fluffy
misha looks like he’s trying not to laugh
“i think i’m... technically married to their queen now”
i don’t know what to do with this information
i hope it comes up as a destiel-centric useful plot point in a future episode
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04:44
AH the fruits from the tree of life are pomegranates
OH COURSE. symbolising entrance to the underworld etc. etc persephone and hades
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04:45
dean: “it’s a book we’re writing. about a killer stuffed dinosaur. it’s called--”
cas: *glances at dean* “the killer stuffed dinosaur. in........love”
IN LOVE
IN LOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WHY DID CAS CHOOSE THOSE WORDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I WONDER WHY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
/VERY LOUD SARCASM
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04:49
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BISEXUAL DEAN DREAM TEAM
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05:51
cas: “i once commanded armies and now i’m paired with a scruffy philestine and a talking dog”
HEY DON’T KNOCK SHAGGY OR SCOOBY, THEY’RE AWESOME AND KIND, AND TALKING DOGS ARE COOL
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04:53
the velma/sam ship is setting sail
honestly i’ve lowkey shipped this for many years I’M SO GLAD THIS IS A THING NOW
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04:55
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I LOVE THIS ANIMATION TROPE
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04:57
omg scrappy doo just waddled past in the door-running scene
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04:58
jeez dean take a hint DAPHNE’S NOT INTERESTED
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04:59
velma: “dean had him by the thigh”
cas: “you what?”
the fact it’s cas ??? asking why dean was fondling a ghost????
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05:01
caS: “sCOOBY! SCOOBY!!!!!!”
I THINK CAS IS FOND OF SCOOBY DOO NOW
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05:03
look at this trio!!!!!!!!! I LOVE THEM
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also cas is so fucking pretty???? WHY IS CAS SO FUCKING PRETTY ;U;U;U;U; HELP
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05:04
also sam ain’t two feet taller than cas !!
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05:05
WHY DOES DAPHNE THINK SHE’S GOING TO HELL?? WHAT DOES SHAGGY MEAN BY “EVERY TIME”
IS SHE BANGING FRED OUT OF WEDLOCK/UNDERAGE IS THAT WHAT SHE MEANS
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05:07
FRICKETTY FUCK YEAH
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05:08
DID DEAN JKUST SWEAR AND IT WAS BLEEPED OG MY GODHDSFHYDGDG
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also is it just me or does fred look way sexier with his hair messed up
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05:12
dean: “lay it on me, freddy”
me: *smug noise*
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05:16
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eheheh cas poking in from the back
also daphne with two shotguns?? sign me up
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daphne: KILL IT WITH FIRE!!!
ksjfdkjsgfgm
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05:21
i don’t think i wanna know what dean did with the cartwright twins either
NOTE: GENDER UNKNOWN
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05:24
guy: “is that an ascot?”
dean: “yes. yes it is.”
is that him trying to be daphne’s type, or him trying to be like perfect mr. fred
OR BOTH
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05:27
OMG DEAN;S “SCOOBY DOOBY DOOOOO” OH JTGJSREGEBGERSHYGERSHGSREGVESGESHGHSE
JENSEN OH MY GOD
HOW MANY TAKES DID THAT TAKE
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05:28pm
11/10 i loVED IT 
INSTANT FAVOURITE EPISODE QUITE FRANKLY WHO CARES ABOUT THE REST OF THE SHOW THIS WAS GREAT
THIS MADE ME SO HAPPY IT WAS SO WHOLESOME
MY PARENTS WANNA WATCH IT AND WE’RE GONNA HAVE DINNER IN LIKE AN HOUR SO I GUESS IMMA WATCH IT AGAIN
OH MY GOD THANK YOU UNIVERSE FOR BRINGING THIS INTO EXISTENCE
no people of colour but oh well
also not even sure the bechdel test was passed since velma and daphne only talked about sam
BUT EVEN SO THIS WAS AMAZING
YEEEE
i’m so pleased cas was in this. and i love that he loved shaggy and scooby ‘cause they’re the best and CAS+SHAGGY+SCOOBY WAS THE BEST TEAM
still not sure how cas diving out of the window after scooby actually helped but okay
oh man
feel-good happy place episode !!!
i am delight
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Text
2018
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Bridesmaids ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
The Lego Batman Movie ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Avengers: Infinity War ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭🖤
Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Get Better: A Film About Frank Turner ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Groundhog Day ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Brawl In Cell Block 99 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Unbreakable ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Call Me By Your Name  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spiderman: Homecoming ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭 Nacho Libre ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Baywatch ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Jasper Jones ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Annabelle: Creation ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Table 19 ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Keanu ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
20th Century Women ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Rough Night ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
The Emperors New Groove ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Mother! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Deadpool 2⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 🌭🖤
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Mindhorn ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Moulin Rouge! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Grease ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Grease 2 ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
American Made ⭐️⭐️🌭
High-Rise ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Kong: Skull Island ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Wish Upon ⭐️⭐️🌭
The Darkness ⭐️⭐️🌭
Get Out ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Darjeeling Limited ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
This Is The End ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Moonrise Kingdom ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Dunkirk ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Last Exorcism ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Shining ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Deadpool 2⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 🖤
Mulan ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Logan Lucky ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 🌭
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 🌭🖤
Annihilation ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Call Me By Your Name ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Dark Water (original) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Split ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Jungle ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Alex Strangelove ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
The Green Inferno 🌭
The Kings of Summer ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
The Kings of Summer ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Ratatoing  🌭
Hereditary ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭🖤
The Kings of Summer ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This Is The End ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The House ⭐️⭐️🌭
Brain on Fire ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
The Blues Brothers ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Please Stand By ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
The Wicker Man ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Whats Up? 🌭
American Fable ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
The Thing ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Zodiac ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Shutter Island ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Short Term 12 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Iron Giant ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Son Of Rambow ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Brigsby Bear ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
TAG ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭🖤
The Disaster Artist ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
See No Evil, Hear No Evil ⭐️⭐️🌭
Trolls ⭐️⭐️🌭
The Kings of Summer ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Alex Strangelove ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Hedwig And The Angry Inch ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Central Intelligence ⭐️⭐️🌭
Flatliners (2017) ⭐️🌭
Little Shop of Horrors ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Mustang ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Little Shop of Horrors ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Big Sick ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
The Incredibles 2 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭🖤
F The Prom ⭐️🌭
The Kissing Booth ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Ladybird ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Envy ⭐️⭐️🌭
Despicable Me 3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Hotel Artemis⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭🖤
Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭 🖤
The Ritual ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thor: Ragnarok ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Edge of Seventeen ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Happy Death Day ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Book Thief ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Set It Up ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
When We First Met ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Ingrid Goes West ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Set It Up ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Mothers Doll ⭐️⭐️🌭
War on Everyone ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Meg ⭐️⭐️🌭 🖤
Napoleon Dynamite ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Breakfast at Tiffany’s ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Package ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Justice League ⭐️⭐️🌭
The Big Sick ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Pitch Perfect 2 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Fits ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Blade Runner ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Aliens  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Wish I Was Here ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Under The Skin ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
The Grand Budapest Hotel ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Logan Lucky ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Public Schooled ⭐️⭐️🌭
It Follows ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Baby Driver ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Avengers Assemble ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Attack The Block ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Borrowers (2011) ⭐️⭐️
The Place Beyond The Pines ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Coneheads ⭐️🌭
Adventureland ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Return of The Pink Panther ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Jigsaw ⭐️🌭
The Hitman’s Bodyguard ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Stories We Tell ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Speed ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Lost In Translation ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭🖤
Naked Lunch ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭🖤
Pitch Perfect 3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Sierra Burgess is a Loser ⭐️⭐️🌭
Suburbicon ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
The Little Hours ⭐️⭐️🌭
Ruby Sparks ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Avengers: Infinity War ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
My Friend Dahmer ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Kingsman: The Golden Circle ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Love, Simon ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Captain America: Civil War ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Donnie Darko ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Ju-On: The Grudge ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Ashens and The Quest for the Gamechild ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Pyewacket ⭐️⭐️🌭
Raw ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Kiki’s Delivery Service ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Avengers Age Of Ultron ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Thoroughbreds ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Superbad ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Neon Demon ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Halloween ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Ponyo ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Venom ⭐️⭐️🌭 🖤
Insidious: The Last Key ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Thoroughbreds ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Dismissed ⭐️⭐️🌭
Malevolent⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Pulp Fiction ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Little Shop of Horrors ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
First Man ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭🖤
Ghost Stories ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Sausage Party  ⭐️
A Nightmare on Elm Street ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Demon ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
The Cabin in The Woods ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Tusk ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
As Above So Below ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Ice Age 2⭐️⭐️⭐️
Beetlejuice ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Hot Rod ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Wanted ⭐️⭐️🌭
Hot Rod ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Screamers ⭐️⭐️🌭
Wildlife ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭🖤
Superbad ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist ⭐️⭐️⭐️
It (2017) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Sinister ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Sinister 2 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Mama ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Fight Club ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Slaughterhouse Rulez ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭🖤
Bohemian Rhapsody ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭🖤
Wonder Woman ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Bruno ⭐️⭐️
Better Watch Out ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Molly’s Game ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Hot Rod ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Bohemian Rhapsody ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🖤
Thoroughbreds ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Quiet Ones ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Friday the 13th ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Hot Rod ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Love, Simon ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Black Butterfly ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Bronson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Sicario ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Dinner For Schmucks ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Game Night ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Die Hard ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Isle of Dogs  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
The Killing of a Sacred Deer ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Virgin Suicides ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Victoria ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Elf ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Thomas and the Magic Railroad ⭐️⭐️🌭
The Babysitter ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Maze Runner: The Death Cure ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Bird Box ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Miracle on 34th Street ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Good Dinosaur ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Christmas Chronicles ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Ready Player One ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
The Lost Boys ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Poltergeist (OG) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭🖤
The Endless ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌭
Big Eyes ⭐️⭐️⭐️
I Am Not A Serial Killer ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Hot Rod ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Total: 327
First Watch: 188
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Zach Lowe on DeMar DeRozan, Kyle Lowry and the Toronto Raptors
Visit Now - http://zeroviral.com/zach-lowe-on-demar-derozan-kyle-lowry-and-the-toronto-raptors/
Zach Lowe on DeMar DeRozan, Kyle Lowry and the Toronto Raptors
As DeMar DeRozan finished practice on Dec. 19, he noticed one Toronto Raptors higher-up after another — Bobby Webster, the team’s GM, and its three highest-ranked coaches — file into team president Masai Ujiri’s office. Then someone summoned him.
“I didn’t know what the hell was going on,” DeRozan recalls. “I thought, ‘S—, I know I can’t be traded.’ It was like I was being called into the principal’s office.'”
It was clear by then that Toronto had reinvented its offense after too many playoff stagnations. They had one more hurdle.
DeRozan, a proud native of Compton, California, grew up idolizing Kobe Bryant. The Lakers had retired Bryant’s two jersey numbers the night before. DeRozan had surely watched. Ujiri told DeRozan he could be Toronto’s Kobe — a lifetime player who defines a franchise and, maybe, brings it championship glory. But to get there — to push this live-wire Toronto team to its full potential — DeRozan had to start shooting more 3-pointers.
Everyone in the room knew how much work DeRozan had put in to be ready for this moment. He was officially dabbling with the 3-pointer, about 2.5 attempts per game, but he had tried zero or one in six of 10 games. They needed more. Just taking them, coaches said, would draw attention and give everyone else more space. It would spare DeRozan contact. Possessions would flow more naturally.
They empowered DeRozan because they knew he was prepared. “When everyone has that kind of confidence in you — that you can carry a franchise — it gives you that extra confidence,” DeRozan says. “For them to say I could be in [Kobe’s] position — it was an honor accepting that fully.”
The next night against Charlotte, DeRozan went 3-of-4 from deep. Two nights later in Philly, he drained 6-of-9 — a performance so stunning, the shots flying off his fingertips so fast, you had to check to make sure it was actually DeMar DeRozan, king of the midrange.
“I wanted to jump out of my seat watching,” says Chris Farr, DeRozan’s longtime trainer, who has watched DeRozan launch thousands of 3-pointers in summer workouts. “He has worked so hard. I always say, he’s not Beyonce. He didn’t wake up looking like this.”
DeRozan has jacked almost four 3s per game since — off pindowns and random cuts he never executed before, in transition, when guys duck under picks, even from a standstill.
It was the final step of Toronto’s evolution into the best team in franchise history. They have surged past Boston and Cleveland, and by any metric, they are closer peers to the Western Conference superteams than to anyone in the East. They are the only team ranked in the top five in both points scored and allowed per possession.
Cleveland is vulnerable, though Kevin Love‘s return will help. Boston is without Gordon Hayward until further notice. The Raptors are real. They have home-court. If their revamped offense carries into the playoffs, they will deserve “favorite” status in the East.
This week’s highlights include a brand-new superstar, shots of entitlement and Dame’s dominance.
Zach talks to ESPN’s Kevin Arnovitz about the Eastern Conference playoff race, the Sixers threat, Washington without John Wall, the evolving Heat, and more.
The legacy of the pioneering Croatian and Nets guard — his skill, his fight, his joy — still runs through the NBA and Europe.
2 Related
They are getting better as the season goes along. They know it, too. They feel it. They are comfortable in their own skin, and hungry. They have the same sense playing you do watching: That they’ve figured out something profound about themselves. That something special might be happening.
The team that almost tanked four seasons ago is ready.
“We’ve been through the heartaches and the letdowns,” DeRozan says. “This time, with this new approach, we feel comfortable.”
The new approach started the day after another postseason humiliation, when Ujiri promised a “culture reset.” No one knew precisely what he meant. “I still don’t really know,” jokes Kyle Lowry, the symbol — along with DeRozan — of a star-driven offense that sputtered in April and May.
Ujiri didn’t fire anyone, even though he had the political capital to do anything he wanted. He re-signed Lowry and Serge Ibaka. The “culture reset” was a mandate for stylistic change: Our offense doesn’t work in the playoffs. Change it. The subtext was obvious: If we don’t, more drastic changes will come.
Change was the goal when the Raptors hired Nick Nurse, an offensive guru from the (then) D-League, in the summer of 2013. Nurse came in for an interview, and on an office whiteboard drew the offense he envisioned: different starting points, reads, passes, options. “The framework of what we are doing now,” Nurse says, “was up on that board.”
Dwane Casey, the team’s head coach, liked Nurse’s ideas. For various reasons, they never made it onto the court for long. Perhaps no one felt enough urgency until Cleveland swept them and Ujiri spoke out.
“We were working so hard,” says Jakob Poeltl, Toronto’s precocious backup center, “for not very good shots.”
Nurse started with the young guys — Poeltl, Pascal Siakam, Norman Powell, OG Anunoby, Delon Wright, Fred VanVleet — at informal workouts in Los Angeles, and then in Las Vegas for summer league. As James Herbert of CBS Sports detailed, they played pickup with new rules: Corner 3s earned four points, and any shot between the paint and the 3-point arc counted as minus-1. Nurse strongly encouraged anyone who grabbed an offensive rebound to dunk or kick the ball out to a 3-point shooter, though he did not mandate it as he had during his time in Houston’s D-League lab. (Back then, he banned midrange shots in practice.)
Players passed up good shots for great ones. They stretched their playmaking skills, and that was the point: When opponents keyed on DeRozan and Lowry, these guys — these unknown kiddos — would have to do something. So would Ibaka and Valanciunas, behemoth screen-setters who froze outside the paint. Touching it more might invigorate other parts of their games, and inspire more focused effort on defense.
Selling DeRozan and Lowry might prove harder. “Go to any superstar and say, ‘We’re changing our offense, and we’re taking some of your minutes away,'” Casey says. “So many would look at you sideways and tell you to take a leap.”
DeRozan was diligent, but it wasn’t easy at first. Lowry verbalized his frustration early in the season. “They were a little resistant at times, to be honest,” Nurse says. “Even still, Kyle has these moments when he’s kicking out passes, and guys are missing, and he’s getting pissed.”
But they saw it working, and surrendered some control. DeRozan got better at the random, improvisational bobs and weaves the offense requires. The results are inarguable: Toronto ranks third in points per possession, jacking almost nine more 3s per game than last season. They’re only a so-so shooting team — it is their most worrisome weakness — but trading 2s for 3s increases their margin for error.
Toronto has assisted on 58 percent of its baskets, up from a league-low 47 percent last season, per NBA.com. They are throwing almost 30 more passes per game without any uptick in turnovers.
They are unpredictable, harder to grasp. Casey has mothballed a lot of set plays. Toronto pushes hard, and initiates semi-random screening action with 18 or 19 on the shot clock. Everyone else orbits the ball in patterns that fall somewhere between random and scripted. They have general rules, but riff — cut backdoor or fly toward the arc? — within them.
Everyone is free to launch 3s and drive. Even Ibaka, who once played as if dribbling were illegal, is attacking with a new decisiveness. “We don’t want Serge taking a 20-footer,” Nurse says. “We want him to put pressure on the rim. We want him to make the next play.”
“Before, when I put the ball on the floor, it was over,” Ibaka says. “I had trouble. But here, if you lose the ball or commit a charge, the players still give you the ball. The coaches encourage you.”
Valanciunas is delivering almost twice as many handoffs per 100 possessions this season, according to Second Spectrum tracking data. He’s 25-of-56 from deep after attempting four career triples before — a dinosaur who fought extinction. “This offense,” Valanciunas says, “has made my life better.”
And the bench. Holy hell, the bench. They absorbed the offense early, and never looked back. Casey’s bench mob du jour — VanVleet, Wright, Siakam, Poeltl and C.J. Miles — has outscored opponents by 25 points per 100 possessions, the best mark among all 114 lineups that have logged at least 100 minutes, per NBA.com.
VanVleet has been a revelation — a brute on defense who has hit 39 percent from 3 and shimmies past defenders one-on-one. There aren’t many veteran frontcourts with the collective IQ — on both ends — of Poeltl and Siakam. There may not be a single player anywhere who runs the floor harder than Siakam. He is racking up assists. Siakim is a reliable jumper away from being an archetypal, switch-everything playmaking power forward:
The bench led the culture change. The starters followed. If players slip into old habits, the coaches have a remedy: Starting this season, they mostly replaced individual player development with group work. Instead of shooting alone, three or four guys rehearse sequences they execute in games. It’s working. The team is discovering new wrinkles every week.
Semi-random “split” cuts like this just weren’t in Toronto’s bag last season:
DeRozan used to stand still on the wing. “He hangs out here a lot,” Nurse says, using a salt shaker to represent DeRozan. “He can hang there some. But I want him to hang here, too.” He moves the salt shaker to the corner.
Shifting positions isn’t just about hunting shots. It forces the defense to reshape itself, to make decisions, and sometimes those decisions leave gaps for DeRozan’s teammates. Highlight dunks are nice. Toronto’s coaches derive more satisfaction from DeRozan skulking five feet sideways into a pocket of space:
“It’s something I’m going to continue to get better at,” DeRozan says. “That’s the beauty of this game: you grow.”
“He’s getting there,” Nurse says. “I mean, he did literally no cutting before.”
Shooting 3s instead of overthinking has made the game easier for DeRozan. Every decision is faster. Passes and drives arise organically, and DeRozan sees them earlier. He is dishing a career-best five dimes per game.
The reset seems to have enlivened everyone. Valanciunas is beasting in the post; he has hit 57 percent on post-up shots, 10th among 110 players who have finished at least 50 such plays, per NBA.com. The Raptors have scored 1.27 points per possession on any trip featuring a Valanciunas post up, another top-10 mark, according to Second Spectrum.
He is playing the best defense of his life. Valanciunas is still mostly a paint-bound plodder. That won’t change much. He has refined the subtleties — footwork, timing, arm positioning. He won’t extinguish every fire like Rudy Gobert, but he no longer starts as many.
Poeltl has been even better on that end — quicker, with balletic feet and a veteran’s feel:
All of this presents Casey with a postseason dilemma. He goes 10 deep, sometimes 11, and plays a traditional center almost every minute. That sounds like the opposite of playoff basketball. Rotations shrink in the playoffs. Teams struggle to generate spacing, and downsize; questioning Valanciunas’ starter status has become one of Toronto’s rites of spring, along with losing Game 1s.
It seemed a fait accompli that their crunch-time playoff lineup would feature Ibaka at center, Anunoby at power forward, and a rotating fifth guy alongside DeRozan and Lowry. We will see that at some point, but Casey plans to stick with what’s working.
He trusts his centers. He thinks the offense runs better with them. “They are such good screeners,” he says. “They help our motion. We aren’t as discombobulated.”
He is delightfully adamant about the playoff utility of a full bench. “I’m still looking for the manual that says you have to play eight guys,” he says. “Until someone shows me otherwise, we gotta be who we are.”
Three months ago, uncertainty about Toronto’s closing five seemed like a weakness. Now it seems like a strength. Improved defense and shooting have made Valanciunas a viable closer. He will still have trouble when Cleveland surrounds LeBron with four shooters — i.e., Love at center — but who else can place that kind of stress on him? Perhaps Milwaukee, a potential first-round foe, if the Bucks get religion and slide Giannis Antetokounmpo to center.
Other stretch centers — Al Horford, Kelly Olynyk, Joel Embiid, Markieff Morris when Washington goes that route — aren’t quite stretchy enough to justify benching an engaged, mauling Valanciunas. Some play with so-so shooting wings Valanciunas can hide on, as he did in guarding P.J. Tucker during Toronto’s streak-buster over Houston on Friday. Even with Valanciunas on the floor, the Raptors can often switch across three positions.
VanVleet and Wright have thrived in crunch time. Anunoby has been shaky from deep over the past two months, but he’s a cool, steady sort. Toronto can even try Miles at power forward. They have blitzed opponents by 12 points per 100 possessions when they play Siakam and Ibaka together, at power forward and center.
None of it will matter if Toronto reverts on offense. “One thing we know: Going to Kyle and DeMar over and over didn’t work in the playoffs,” Casey says.
There is an interesting dissonance in how the Raptors talk about the playoffs. They acknowledge that they have failed, but reject the idea that they are failures.
“The last couple of years, we lost to a champion and a [NBA] Finals team,” Casey says. “I bristle when people say we are failures.” Lowry looked like himself in Games 1 and 2 against Cleveland before suffering an ankle injury.
“I haven’t played the best,” Lowry says, “but when I have great games in the playoffs, no one says anything. Nothing.”
The worst-case scenario is that dissonance translating into a prideful attempt by Lowry and DeRozan to win the old way. They’ve resorted to hero ball late in close games; Toronto has been a bottom-10 crunch-time offense all season.
“Is [the new offense] gonna translate into the playoffs?” Casey asks. “We’re gonna find out.”
The league is respectful, yet skeptical. “We take that disrespect,” DeRozan says, “and carry it into games.”
Potential playoff opponents don’t fear the Raptors as they would a typical No. 1 seed. They need to see it before they believe it. The Raptors know they will be judged on postseason performance.
“That’s all I hear is ‘playoffs, playoffs, playoffs,'” Lowry says. “People only look at what happened before. You just have to have thick skin.”
Things will get harder. An engaged LeBron, playing 44 minutes, has ruled the East since 2010-11. If Cleveland falls into the 4-5 bracket, Toronto could meet them earlier than expected. Philly, Milwaukee and Washington loom as dangerous underdogs with star power.
Offenses will pick on the DeRozan-Valanciunas combo in the pick-and-roll. Defenses will take an extra step away from Siakam, Wright, Anunoby, even Ibaka, clogging driving lanes — and inviting Toronto’s bad shooters to fire. They’ll dare DeRozan, too; he’s still shooting just 32 percent from deep. The bench will face more opposing starters. Casey will have to adjust early, not late. The two stars, wobbly in playoffs past, have to maintain their normal shooting percentages.
One unproven guy might quake. If it’s Anunoby, who guards LeBron in a potential Cleveland-Toronto rematch? If that job falls to Siakam, what if he can’t hit shots? If they lose Game 1 again, they’ll face all the same scrutiny.
Another playoff flameout would raise questions about whether it is worth it to keep going with this core — especially if LeBron stays in the East after this season.
But this looks sustainable. It looks, sounds, feels different. There is hope that they’ve turned the corner in crunch time. They held on against Houston. DeRozan trusting VanVleet to drain a game-winner in Detroit last week felt like a landmark moment — proof of evolution.
“This time around,” DeRozan says, “it’s coming together.”
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