Review of Annabelle: Creation

Annabelle: Creation is the fourth film in The Conjuring film series after The Conjuring, Annabelle and The Conjuring 2. The film is a prequel that focuses on the backstory behind the Annabelle doll.

Following the dud Annabelle of 3 years back and the not as good as the first part Conjuring 2, there weren’t really high standards for this one to meet.

The Mullins are a couple who have suffered a tragic loss of their daughter. Fast forward 12 years, they have opened their home to a few orphan girls and their caretaker Sister Charlotte. The girls have specific instructions to stay away from a particular room. One girl is polio affected and feels lonely and decides to enter that room, she then opens a closet to see the Annabelle doll and lets the evil break free.

WHAT’S GOOD

Annabelle: Creation is the first film where we see the Annabelle doll in action. That doll is creepy enough with it's presence and it's blank stares, but here, it’s moving. (We have more reasons to fear the doll that we have been conditioned to fear)

Horror doesn’t need a good script to survive… what most people remember are the scares (we still remember the Spider walk scene right, when someone says the word Exorcist) and Annabelle: Creation has them in abundance.

Despite it being the same old cliché scares, the director has been able to run a chill down his audiences' spines as……

It’s all about timing in horror films. The jump scares are timed to perfection. They aren’t from out of the blue and leave us wondering as to where did that come from. We are given cliché horror film hints that something is about to happen. There is dead silence for a while. Then as when a character looks into a mirror there is a slight flash in the reflection accompanied with a musical note. The music then picks up, building a sense of anticipation within you. The scare is delivered within time as just when you are about to heave a sigh of relief the demonic entity pops up. The director builds that feel of anxiety within the audience till the last possible second.

The stair lift angle is new and bone chilling.

The tempo of the music during the scary scenes was exceptional. It was playing in my head during the interval (which greedy multiplex owners force into films despite English films not being shot that way)

Talitha Bateman as Janice, is brilliant as the girl who is isolated and has lost hope at the start of the film and as the possessed girl she becomes in the latter half.

Lulu Wilson as Linda has the best and most sensible scene in the movie (and horror films of recent times) as when the doll is tossed into the well it begins pounding the grating. When Sister Charlotte asks her what is it. She delivers the best and most sensible line ever seen in horror films, “Who cares? Run!”

This is the first attempt at universe building in a horror film franchise. All of the Conjuring films have glimpses of the Annabelle doll and this film offers a fleeting glimpse of The Nun (a character seen in The Conjuring 2) in the photograph shown by Sister Charlotte to Mr Mullins. The spirit is shown to be in black, but the hand of the nun who pushes Janice’s wheelchair into the barn is white. (possible Valak appearance. They didn’t show the face)

WHAT’S BAD

The predictability. It’s always the weak one, who becomes the target of the demonic presence. The use of mirrors in horror films, we know that there will be something else reflected. It is used on two occasions in this film and we are literally waiting for the appearance as it is such a common scare in films.

There wasn’t much of dialogue among the characters, for them to observe a slow and gradual change after the demonic entity has taken a human form.

The scares are the same old fashioned ones. Doors slamming as the protagonist tries to get away from the demon, lights flickering, appearances in mirrors, the silences, etc.

It is a successful formula, as why would anyone move away from what is successful. There are no new experiments in this genre.

WHO SHOULD WATCH IT?

Horror buffs, as in no place I felt like laughing as if it was a joke. Conjuring Universe fans should not avoid this. 

Anyone who wants to get scared and experience a hair raising fear with an impact that will leave your heart pounding. There is no calming presence of Ed and Lorraine Warren in this film.

As a horror film I was expecting to be freaked out from the start, but then I remembered the titling of the film. It always first films in the series that take time to establish the setting (I’ll take the example of superhero films where characters are established in the first half of the first movie and then the second half is where the action starts to pick up) That's exactly what happens here.

Jab Harry Met Sejal

Jab Harry met Sejal is a romantic comedy directed by Imtiaz Ali starring Shahrukh Khan as Harinder Singh Nehra a.k.a. Harry and Anushka Sharma as Sejal Jhaveri. The duo reluctantly team up and set out on a journey retracing their steps across Europe to search for Sejal's missing engagement ring.

When hearing the name Jab Harry Met Sejal, one automatically thinks that this will be a rip off of the similarly titled rom-com classic "When Harry met Sally."

WHAT'S GOOD

The acting of Anushka Sharma. She portrays the chirpy young Gujarati girl and is the reason that the film is watchable in the first half. Shahrukh Khan to some extent is refreshing as he is in a new role as a tour guide and isn't that lover boy that audiences have grown accustomed to seeing over the last 2 decades. The music is lively and upbeat. The frames feature glimpses of what Europe is about with lush green countryside, opera performances, bar culture, prostitution happening on shady streets. As is common with all Bollywood films, there are songs, but background dancers remain absent. I've always wondered how the whole street knows the steps and how do they know to form shapes where the leads are always in centre. The songs have very well edited shots which establish how the characters get acquainted with each other. In the first half they (the songs) don't disconnect with the plot, as there are short grabs of them searching for that ring.

WHAT'S BAD

The film as a whole, is bad.

The locations work like glue does when applied on the cracks on a wall. The effect of the glue was nullified quite soon into the film and cracks appeared. Cracks in the film, the definition of the character, the stereotypical representation of the characters.

 What we ended up getting was two characters unwilling to travel at first, then they travel in concentric circles around Europe. Amsterdam to Prague to Budapest to Frankfurt to Prague to Lisbon to Frankfurt. They help each other out, discover themselves, fight, realise they are incomplete without each other. It’s not that it hasn’t been done before, but it’s the same director who has done it before in Jab We Met and in Tamasha. The glimpses of Europe didn’t mask the lack of charm in the rom com. It also didn’t mask…..

The stereotypical representation of the character Harry. Harry is a Punjabi and has a loud voice. The reason for it is that he had to sing over the sound of the tractors as all Punjabi's are farmers. Seriously? Can't he have a loud voice as a natural trait?

Sejal, though she keeps the film running in the first half, is absolutely annoying with that accent. (Harry is pronounced as Hairy) Her behaviour is not in keeping with the modern woman she calls herself, but that of a toddler trapped in an adult’s body.

 After calling herself a modern woman, she makes it very clear that she is not interested in Harry in any way. In one scene, she asks Harry, "Mere pe try maar rahe ho?" Harry says, "Bilkul nahin." She replies, "Kyun main sexy nahin hoon?"

Why does she seem insulted here? If she has said she isn't interested in Harry in any way?

Why does a modern woman constantly require validation of any sort? (in this case that she’s more layak than any of Harry’s conquests)

During a scene, Harry tells Sejal, “Tum iss se bhi laayak ho.” Upon hearing this, Sejal is overjoyed and asks him repeatedly, “Kya main sachi iss se bhi layak hoon?” Audiences now will go home with the image of a modern woman being one who needs to be repeatedly told that she is more “layak” over the other.

This is a train wreck of a movie. I ended up coming home and watching "When Harry met Sally". A rom-com movie which had the feel of a rom-com. The charm present in that classic was absent in this film. Shahrukh Khan needs to head back to playing age appropriate roles as he did in Raees and Dear Zindagi. If you are an Imtiaz Ali fan after watching his work in Jab We Met, Rockstar, Highway then please avoid this film which after watching you would label as a disaster. If you are a fan of Shahrukh Khan’s 1990s and 2000s persona, avoid this movie.

WHO SHOULD WATCH IT

Those who want an hour’s entertainment and then spend the second half just thinking about the next day at work or of unfinished chores.

PAHLAJ NIHALANI SECTION

How can we forget good old Pahlaj Nihalani? This film received attention as “Protector of the audiences” in an attempt to make the film sanskaari raised objection to the words sexual intercourse in the film. It was replaced by Physical interaction (now that can include a handhshake, a slap on the back, etc). Though sexual intercourse was banned, the words "sex" and “copulation” were allowed to be a part of the film!

Applause for the man!

Spiderman: Homecoming

Spiderman: Homecoming is an English language film released by Marvel Studios as part of its extended cinematic universe. The film shows us Spiderman as he learns to use his new powers and  balance his crime fighting as well as his normal schoolboy life. He is shown as erratic. The film answers the question from The Avengers; what happened to all those broken pieces of alien tech lying around the city? As Civil War proved, considering the consequences of these apocalyptic battles is so much more interesting than just moving on to the next city-destroying set piece.

We had a plane crash and Spiderman  avoided large collateral damage as he managed to bring the plane down far away from the city. Quite a contrast to both of 'The Avengers' films which saw whole cities get destroyed.

WHAT'S GOOD?

Like all Marvel films there were elements of subtle humour. Marvel introduced this into superhero films and it became such a staple that DC film, 'Batman vs Superman:Dawn of Justice' was panned for its dark tone.

The new Spiderman costume is brilliant and unlike the Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield films they actually showed us how Spiderman managed to squeeze into his costume. The addition of 'The Wings' is a good one.

THE WINGS

Like the old Spiderman films, this one didn't waste a half on showing Spiderman get bitten and struggle to comprehend his powers. Frankly speaking, we know Spiderman's backstory.

The sparing use of Iron Man worked for me as this was a Spiderman film. I didn’t want to see Iron Man dominate the screen. His speech to Peter Parker worked brilliantly and his scene is what gets Spiderman thinking and leaves viewers impressed.

The casting was good and Michael Keaton seems to be have hit a purple patch. He delivers yet another powerful performance as 'The Vulture'. His most intense scene was the dad talk he gives to Peter in the car when he learns about Peter's secret.

Tom Holland as Spiderman has the capability of competing with Tobey Maguire for the mantle of 'best Spiderman'. I like the fact that Spiderman is in school and not in college and working freelance. I liked the aunt May casting as in previous films, she seemed more like Peters grandmother rather than an aunt. The damsel in distress element has been eliminated which makes it refreshing. Spiderman fights The Vulture to save the City, not to save someone he loves.

WHAT'S BAD?

Like most 3D movies, the emphasis on the 3D disappears after about ten minutes. Studios need to use the 3D technology for films that actually need it. The 3D makes the screen dark and strains the eyes.

Spiderman's suit seems to be more of an iron man style suit without being made of iron. He gets advice on fastest routes and he has modes like 'instant kill' and 'interrogation'. The boy's suit is more advanced than Captain America's or any of the Avengers suits (with the exception of Iron Man). He can activate different kinds of webs? Like seriously? 

Why keep such a technologically advanced suit? It’s as though he wasn’t bitten and the suits aids him to produce webs and stick to the walls of buildings.

WHO SHOULD WATCH IT?

With Infinity War approaching, every film of the MCEU is forming an important link in the chain. They have constructed it beautifully and hence it cannot be avoided if one wants to watch Infinity War. Also it's Spiderman! Fans have been clamouring for Marvel and not Sony to make a Spiderman film. Marvel have done what Sony failed.

I had read online that Flash Thomson calls Peter Parker as Penis Parker, but Indian cinema halls muted out the word. Even the word ‘porn’ is muted out. Pahlaj Nihalani needs to realise that we are in the 21st century. Also, he needs to realise that he has to just certify films and not censor them. CBFC is Central Board of Film Certification, the word 'Censor' isn't a part of it. Words like 'penis' and 'porn' are not really enough to warrant an 'A' certification.  The man should head off to the Arab countries and certify(oops! Censor) their films. It’ll be cuts galore over there. 

The time I prepared a pizza

I had ordered a pizza from a pizza outlet just the day before and had paid an exorbitant prize for a 10 inch pizza with barely 6-7 chicken pieces. The cheese was so scantily distributed that one could have been forgiven for believing that it was just a base and toppings that had been delivered. In addition to the lack of cheese, the pizza was soggy and it felt like I was eating bread dipped in gravy. That base was actually bending freely in my hand. I had had enough of those fraud pizza outlets.

The line from Ratatouille came to my mind.

Anyone can cook- Chef Gusteau

I have adapted it to, “Anyone can cook anything and everything.”

The next morning I set out to the market and purchased a pizza base packet. 2 bases for 8 rupees. Then I picked up a block of cheese and came home. The tomatoes, onions and capsicum were already there at home.

Half an hour later, I set about making it. First, I removed two tomatoes from the fridge and cut them into bite sized chunks. After a while, I took an onion and a capsicum and chopped them up into small pieces. Each of the three toppings were placed in different bowls.

 The pizza bases were spread on a cutting board. I applied a layer of tomato ketchup on them. I took the grater and grated the block of cheese to form a thin layer of cheese strands over the base. I scattered pieces of tomato, onion and capsicum all over this and then set about grating more cheese.  I gingerly lifted the pizzas and placed it into the oven and set the timer for 15 minutes. What would I do for 15 minutes? I went and Google how to best click a pizza as I figured it would be a good time to use my DSLR to capture an image of these pizza to add to my food album on Facebook.

The oven went ping and I put on the mittens, opened the oven and pulled out the pizzas. The cheese smelt amazing.

The Pizza

It is often said that we first eat with our eyes and according to me these pizzas were a delight to the eyes. I quickly snapped a few pictures of the pizza and then applied a spoonful of ketchup on each quarter. More cheese was grated atop each quarter and then I got a long knife and cut the pizzas into quarters.

"A cheesy delight" said the neighbour who had come over and was asked to have a piece. My mom loved the crunchy base and I honestly felt that I made better pizzas than the pizza outlets. For the 8 pieces I don't think my spending exceeded 150 rupees. That's cheap for 2 pizzas right and the amount of toppings I had sprinkled on a regular sized pizza are much more than what one would get on a large pizza from a restaurant. The amount of cheese on my pizza would put the cheese burst pizzas on the Domino's advertisements to shame.- ya those are just the advertisements .We know how much cheese actually comes on the pizza delivered to our door.

As I made the pizza, I obviously loved it. The crunchy base, toppings generously sprinkled and the cheese which made it feel like a pizza and not the waste that is supplied by pizza stores. The pizzas churned out by the stores here are an embarrassment to pizzas in general and are making a mockery of the Italian delicacies.

With this I had added pizzas to the list of things that had been cooked by me-which included dark chocolate brownie, white chocolate Brownie, Shakshuka, Mousse, etc.

Monsoon moments

There’s just something magical about the Mumbai monsoon right? We all would associate monsoons with shopping for a new raincoat or umbrella and trooping off to school after a two month summer break. Almost everyone has a memory of that one football match in their building compound or the ground. For me, it was tennis practice in the heavy rains (we had a synthetic court and apparently playing with a heavy wet ball would increase wrist strength, i would hit a slice which would cause the ball to spin and release droplets off water with every rotation, making it seem like a chakra floating through the air) Those who come to Mumbai to study or work invariably end up visiting the tourist hotspots in pouring rain, or maybe they take that first ride in a Mumbai local with heavy rain lashing the metallic body of the train.

A day in June 2015 is what comes to my mind when someone talks about the magical monsoon moments.
I had made the final list of the minority quota for the Mass Media course at St. Xavier’s College. I had paid the fees the previous day but, due to an office staff absentee, I wasn't able to pull out my documents which I had submitted for the BA course. They told me to complete the formalities, the following day.

My friend and I set off from Borivali at about 8 am on a cloudy day. I had forgotten my umbrella and the rain gods had mercifully stayed away whilst I commuted from my house to the station. I was sweet talked into getting on a train which started from Virar, at 8 am (which is one reason why I remember this day as it was the first time I had boarded a train commencing from Virar during the morning rush-hour) A slight drizzle welcomed us as we alighted near Charni Road, but it wasn’t really heavy so as to make people open their umbrellas.

We went to his uncle’s place near Charni Road and then set off on a bike to Wilson's College where he had taken admission in the BMS course. He checked the time table over there. Whilst we were inside, it started raining heavily and the wind picked up. My friend, as he was the rider had to wear a helmet. As pillion rider, I could travel without a helmet and I did not bother to put up the hood of the windcheater. We set off to Xavier’s and within seconds, I was drenched.

 It poured cats and dogs as we sped along the Marine Drive, zig zagging between vehicles. I sneaked a glance to my right and saw the waves of the Arabian Sea spraying into the air. They must have been smashing into the boulders with tremendous force.

The heavy raindrops smashed against my skin, I could barely keep my eyes open but I did sneak another glance, this time at the speedometer and saw the needle veering near the 80 kmph mark. We missed our turning and sped along towards Churchgate. He yelled out to me, "let’s take another round." I was totally on board with it. We took another round and this time and turned left and took the Princess Street flyover. The rain persisted, but the wind wasn't as powerful.  My windcheater had proved useless as my t-shirts were completely soaked and were clinging to my body, my jeans were heavy. The damp clothes had made me cold. My teeth were chattering for quite a while.

I entered the college, completely drenched and headed up to the office. (one thing good is that we are just waved into college on rainy days like this so I didn’t have to open my wet bag and search for what I assumed would be an unrecognizable fee receipt) The wooden flooring was wet, the stench of water on wood hung unpleasantly all along the corridor. Upon entering the college office, I rummaged in my bag and fished out a soaked fee receipt handed it over to the office clerk with a rueful smile and said "couldn't help it Mumbai monsoon" she smiled and nodded back and handed me back my documents which I gave to the BMM admission desk.

The day may not even be one of the most fun monsoon days. But the speeding of the bike along Marine Drive in heavy rain and finally securing a seat in BMM at St. Xavier’s itself and the ride in the fast train are a combination of factors that make this rainy day in June unforgettable. I felt happy as I was could do the course I wanted at the only college I could call home right from day one itself.

I did pay the price for that though as I fell sick in the very first week. That was cured in 3 days, but this memory of monsoon, those 20-30 minutes on the bike riding along marine drive in heavy rain, will last a lifetime.

The moments journalists work for! But is it worth it?

It was the 9^th of May, 2017, just another normal Tuesday. I headed off to my internship like any other day that summer. It had become a routine. Travel in the packed trains on hot summer days that were supposed to be my vacation. The past 5 weeks had seen me learn to write news wraps and packages, cut bytes and observe the workings of a newsroom. I didn’t want to go there, but, the certificate and experience gained is what drove me.

It was just another boring day. A stupid train ride which made me hate every single person and made me hate the fact that I’m spending summers in an office. I trudged along from the station to the office building and got down to the usual. I had spent the day monitoring many websites and searching for news stories to feature on news wrap.

It was nearing quitting time. I used to leave by around five in the evening and it was at 4 p.m. when I decided to refresh the websites to see if anything new had popped up.

A story of 10 shooters being detained at the Indira Gandhi International airport, as their guns were not getting cleared by customs department, is what caught my attention.

Among the 10 shooters were 2016 Rio Olympians, Gurpreet Singh and Kynan Chenai. They had been waiting at the airport for the last 12 hours. Over the course of the 12 hours they had been subject to foul language and rudeness on the part of the officials. This after they returned from the shooting Grand Prix in Plzen with the same guns that had been cleared by the customs department when they departed for the tournament.

The day at the IGI airport had cost them a day of preparation for the World Cup on May 17^th.

I alerted the sports desk and the Olympians in question were contacted by our Olympic correspondent who happened to be in the Newsroom at that moment and we realised that it was a legit story. No other news channel had broken it yet. So, we decided to act and the entire team congratulated me on my alertness and for my first breaking news spot, while I as usual observed how a breaking news was prepared.

We prepped the breaking news, contacted a few experts (former Olympians in this case) who would provide their views on the story, as it would be broken. Their phono plates were prepared and then at half past 4, we broke the story.

As is the case with sports that are not cricket in a non-Olympic, non-commonwealth games fortnight, the story didn’t get much air time. The director was yelling out that we had only 3 minutes with no extensions.

 I was in the PCR when the story broke and as no one else had broken it we flashed the watermark saying “EXCLUSIVE” on the screens. We had 3 minutes of air time and I finally experienced that thrill of having found a story that broke on air.

I left at 5 pm and was feeling amazing. Just by sitting in the office, I had found a story that could be broken and the next day I found out that the story had had an impact.

On the 10^th of May, I headed off to work in high spirits and was told that the story had an impact as within minute after the show was aired the Olympians were released from detention just minutes after it was aired. One of them had phoned up the organisation and thanked us. We were the only channel to air that story and the fact that I had made some effort to help out someone in society through the power of media made me realise exactly how powerful news media is. These are the  moments that journalists work for and in a few seconds the monotonous reality of the profession hit home once again as I sat to monitor websites for wraps and packages. The 9th of May, was the best day of my Internship! For the thrill it gave me and the fact that it got me thinking.

Some days were difficult, I understood the reality of the profession. It got me thinking whether I want to make a career as a journalist. I thought sports is a glam career but then the reality hit home. I saw the main correspondents work weekends. I saw their weird shift timings that changed almost every 3-4 days. I saw the uncertainty of when they would get their weekly off and the lack of a social life. I wondered why they would do such a job. I saw days go by with absolutely nothing happening, but you can’t relax as something can happen at any time. You have to be alert throughout.

The same applies for when you go for on field assignments. You end up lounging around in the hot sun, or in a small crowded room with so many other journalists, waiting for when the person to be interviewed will decide to make themselves available. The waits are endless and energy sapping, but if you are out of focus, you won’t be the first to the person and you won’t have a good vantage point to put your question across. One moment of loss of concentration can ruin over 5 hours of concentration. I went on field a few times and I saw the time and effort they require while waiting for an interview.

Then the phrase “Journalism is a calling not a career” hit me. Maybe the reason they do it is because it’s their passion? Why though? What good can come out of this? They like doing what they do and it doesn’t feel like work and hence the lack of holidays doesn’t affect them.

I am a final year undergrad student and hence I look at a career from the perspective of having some sort of a social life. There's no time for social life! I too am a human and the sort of uncertainty of the shifts and hours they keep don’t excite or convince 19 year old me. Scepticism about the career hit me.

 Yet other days, the thrill of creating something would make up for all the scepticism. This was one of those days. The split second and momentary thrill exists. But, is it worth it? Matter of perspective.

Flaws of the GPA system

As I was about to enter University I learned that I would no longer be graded under a marks system but instead a Grade Point Average (GPA) system out of 10 would be used. I began to wonder, if the system in a particular institution requires that they use a 4 point system, which is used in foreign universities and is a standard for measuring students’ scores throughout the world was used in my University, would it be fair or unfair?

According to that system the marks are converted into and the GPA chart used in that institution which is completely unrelated to my University looks like this.

85 and above= 4

75- 84= 3.67

70-74 = 3.33

60-69 = 3

Nice na? Basically you could look at this and say that you just need an 85 or you just need a 75 and your performance would be equated to that of a 100 or an 84 respectively. Bullshit, it’s an absurd and pathetic system which does not reward the one with the highest marks.

Take this scenario

Person A scores 75 across 6 papers for a score of 450

Person B scores 84 across 6 papers for a score of 504

Person C scores 84 in 5 papers and 74 in 1 paper for a score of 494

B has an advantage of 54 marks over A.. and that is MASSIVE. But both A and B have the GPA of 3.67. Bloody nonsense….

Person C on the other hand will end up with an inferior GPA of 3.61 despite having a massive advantage of 44 of marks over Person A.

Yes people who get 75 will be over the moon, but there will be that 1 time when you get something more than 75. How would you like anything from 76-84 be considered equal to 75? I wouldn’t like it. I do not like it.

If one of the 84s gotten by B had been an 85 it would have been a different story entirely. The G.P.A. in that course would rise by 0.33 and even the overall G.P.A. would rise. Isn’t this loss of 1 mark too costly? Same for Person C who got the 74. His 9 mark advantage over Person A in 5 papers is thwarted by a 1 mark deficit in 1 paper.

The system suits and rewards low scores.

The brackets themselves are an issue

60 to 69 is 3 G.P.A. and 75 to 84 is 3.67 GPA.  

If you get 69 and another gets 75 you miss out on 6 marks you lose a huge chunk of GPA. This is even worse than the 84=75 debate. Here, a meagre 6 marks which a person can lose in simple 2 point losses per answer throughout the paper. Take a 60 marks paper having 3 answers for 20 marks each and you lose 2 marks per answer due to subjectivity. It’s fine under a marks system where 6 marks isn’t that big a deficit, but the GPA deficit is 0.67. Your score of 69 is treated equally to someone who got a 60 (69=60).

Also note that had you gotten 60 and the other person gotten 84 the GPA difference would still be the same. Weird system.

If the systems are universal I wonder why they aren’t implemented from years 9-12(high school). When we had it in the 8^th in school the teachers were scornful of it and said that it’s not a real way of marking people(I agree with that) and they also said ahead you will compete on marks(what the hell were y’all talking about? We have grades in the “ahead” y’all spoke about) Every mark doesn’t count.

Under that G.P.A system.

Anything above 85=85

84=75

74=70

69=60
 

The GPA system is flawed

Some say that they can’t complain as they will benefit. Fair enough.

In my opinion it’s totally unfair and such a 4 point system shouldn’t exist. Let everyone be judged on every single mark they score and not on weird uneven mark brackets. I’m thankful such a chart doesn’t exist in my institution. Would have preferred marks, but, so happy that we get marked fairly on a sensible 10 point GPA here.