movie_title string | publisher_name string | critic_name string | review_content string | review_score string | grade_type string | orig_num float32 | orig_denom float32 | includes_zero bool | label uint8 | scale_points uint8 | multiplier uint8 | group_id uint32 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Merchants Of Doubt | News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) | Lewis Beale | A chilling documentary showing how the cigarette, asbestos, fossil fuel and other industries manipulate scientific evidence. | B+ | long_letter | null | null | false | 14 | 18 | 1 | 1,936 |
Out of the Furnace | News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) | Lewis Beale | Beautifully shot in and around the depressed town of Braddock, Pa. Out of the Furnace is generally well acted by a top-notch cast, but a bit weak on the storytelling side. | B | long_letter | null | null | false | 13 | 18 | 1 | 1,936 |
Palo Alto | News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) | Lewis Beale | A group of bored white suburban teens, entitled up to their eyeballs, do increasingly stupid things that we're supposed to be concerned about. I wasn't. | D+ | long_letter | null | null | false | 8 | 18 | 1 | 1,936 |
Pride | News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) | Lewis Beale | Directed with economy and beautifully acted by all concerned (Staunton, in female battle-ax mode, is particularly great), Pride ends on a note that is guaranteed not to leave a dry eye in the theater. | A- | long_letter | null | null | false | 15 | 18 | 1 | 1,936 |
Red Army | News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) | Lewis Beale | All this is told with a brilliant mix of archival footage and interviews, with Fetisov, now back in Russia and minister of sport, providing much of the commentary. | A- | long_letter | null | null | false | 15 | 18 | 1 | 1,936 |
Selma | News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) | Lewis Beale | Selma is about America at its worst -- and very best. | B+ | long_letter | null | null | false | 14 | 18 | 1 | 1,936 |
Serena | News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) | Lewis Beale | Serena is soon to wind up on someone's list of "worst book-to-movie adaptations." Count on it. | D+ | long_letter | null | null | false | 8 | 18 | 1 | 1,936 |
Short Term 12 | News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) | Lewis Beale | Raw, intense, human and absorbing. | A- | long_letter | null | null | false | 15 | 18 | 1 | 1,936 |
Still Alice | News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) | Lewis Beale | Still Alice benefits from solid acting down the line -- Kristen Stewart is especially fine as Moore's struggling actress daughter -- but it exists in a rarefied world of privilege unknown to most Alzheimer's patients. | B | long_letter | null | null | false | 13 | 18 | 1 | 1,936 |
Tangled | News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) | Craig D. Lindsey | It wove itself around me, getting a tight grip on my senses, and trapped me in a web of loveliness that I was quite comfortable with. | B | long_letter | null | null | false | 13 | 18 | 1 | 1,936 |
The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared | News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) | Lewis Beale | It's not that The 100-Year-Old Man doesn't have its +es. The cast is totally game for this nonsense, and some of the comic riffs are truly inspired... But in the end, Herngren's film is simply too much of a good thing. | B | long_letter | null | null | false | 13 | 18 | 1 | 1,936 |
The Great Beauty | News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) | Lewis Beale | Sometimes too overblown, surreal and obtuse for its own good, director Paolo Sorrentino's film is nonetheless an exquisitely composed portrait of vapidity and decline. | B+ | long_letter | null | null | false | 14 | 18 | 1 | 1,936 |
The Hurt Locker | News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) | Craig D. Lindsey | Locker is merciless in its wretched view of life during wartime. IEDs, suicide bombers, even old-school sniper fire -- all these things are around to remind soldiers that death is imminent at any waking minute. | B+ | long_letter | null | null | false | 14 | 18 | 1 | 1,936 |
The King's Speech | News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) | Craig D. Lindsey | This year's likable Brit period piece that will most likely win over both awards voters and older audiences looking for something to see that's not in 3-D. | B | long_letter | null | null | false | 13 | 18 | 1 | 1,936 |
The Lunchbox | News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) | Lewis Beale | There are no big scenes or intense dramatic moments; it's filled with observational details about character and place, adding up to a subtle but memorable look at desperate lives in transition. | A- | long_letter | null | null | false | 15 | 18 | 1 | 1,936 |
The One I Love | News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) | Lewis Beale | It's a shame these two compelling actors do not appear in a better film. The One I Love certainly has its good points, but they are only fleeting. | B- | long_letter | null | null | false | 12 | 18 | 1 | 1,936 |
The Theory of Everything | News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) | Lewis Beale | Enhanced by a brilliantly transformative performance from Eddie Redmayne as Hawking, director James Marsh's film is professional in every respect. But it takes itself way too seriously. | B | long_letter | null | null | false | 13 | 18 | 1 | 1,936 |
Tomorrowland | News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) | Lewis Beale | It's kind of an unholy mess, but never less than interesting and engaging. | B | long_letter | null | null | false | 13 | 18 | 1 | 1,936 |
Top Five | News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) | Lewis Beale | Top Five is filled with the kind of smart, lewd dialogue that has made Rock a standup god. And for the first time in his career, Rock has the authority, charisma and screen presence of a real movie star. | B+ | long_letter | null | null | false | 14 | 18 | 1 | 1,936 |
Toy Story 3 | News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) | Craig D. Lindsey | Toy Story 3 is just the right mix of adventure, joy and, most of all, wonder that we all need right now. | A- | long_letter | null | null | false | 15 | 18 | 1 | 1,936 |
Whiplash | News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) | Lewis Beale | A love poem to big band jazz and the dubious pleasures of sadistic mentoring, Whiplash is a movie version of a steel cage death match. | B+ | long_letter | null | null | false | 14 | 18 | 1 | 1,936 |
Wild | News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) | Lewis Beale | [Witherspoon's performance is] a compelling, and fully lived-in, piece of work. | B | long_letter | null | null | false | 13 | 18 | 1 | 1,936 |
A Wrinkle in Time | News One | Clay Cane | A star is born in Storm Reid. | B | long_letter | null | null | false | 13 | 18 | 1 | 1,937 |
Avengers: Infinity War | News One | Clay Cane | There is a fissure between critics and audiences, which I can admit. The movie is critic-proof. 'Avengers: Infinity War' is superhero porn, strictly for the fans, while 'Black Panther' was undeniably excellent, transcending the comic book fan base. | B- | long_letter | null | null | false | 12 | 18 | 1 | 1,937 |
Black Panther | News One | Clay Cane | Innovative, intelligent and empowering. When I was younger, all we had was Billy Dee Williams in Star Wars. Black and brown children need a movie like Black Panther to boost their imagination and help them to dream the impossible. | A | long_letter | null | null | false | 16 | 18 | 1 | 1,937 |
BlacKkKlansman | News One | Clay Cane | His latest movie is unapologetic and witty, but still accessible and relatable. 'BlacKkKlansman' is definitely a Spike Lee instant classic. | B+ | long_letter | null | null | false | 14 | 18 | 1 | 1,937 |
Overlord | News One | Clay Cane | 'Overlord' is clearly going for a thrill ride and not cinematic gold. Even with eye-rolling moments, there is enough redemptive gore and action that will satisfy fans of the genre. | B | long_letter | null | null | false | 13 | 18 | 1 | 1,937 |
The Final Year | News One | Clay Cane | Intimate, revelatory and seriously important, 'The Final Year' is a time capsule of the dignity and grace that was once in The White House. | B | long_letter | null | null | false | 13 | 18 | 1 | 1,937 |
The First Purge | News One | Clay Cane | Damn near terrible, but Daniel from 'Insecure' saved the cinematic day. | C+ | long_letter | null | null | false | 11 | 18 | 1 | 1,937 |
Repo Men | News of the World | Robbie Collin | There's the seed of a good idea here. But good geh-RIEF, has it been turned into an all-clucking, all-squawking turkey twizzler of Foghorn Leghorn dimensions. | 1/4 | 4 | 1 | 4 | false | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1,938 |
The Tooth Fairy | News of the World | Robbie Collin | Truth is, Tooth Fairy is a very decent family film -- cute but never sickly, funny but never smug -- that's an ideal half-term afternoon-killer. | 3/4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | false | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1,938 |
Remember Me | News of the World | Robbie Collin | A teen-pleasing, low-key indie romance with one of the most demented final twists ever. | 3/4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | false | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1,938 |
The Bounty Hunter | News of the World | Robbie Collin | There's so little chemistry between the two, they might as well have cast Mick Fleetwood and Samantha Fox and had done with it. | 2/4 | 4 | 2 | 4 | false | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1,938 |
The Losers | News of the World | Robbie Collin | Seldom do you see a film title that doubles as a likely box office prediction. But that's precisely what we've got with The Losers. | 2/4 | 4 | 2 | 4 | false | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1,938 |
Cemetery Junction | News of the World | Robbie Collin | It's far from Gervais's big-screen masterpiece but it gives you hope he's got one in him. | 3/4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | false | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1,938 |
Clash of the Titans | News of the World | Robbie Collin | A fun piece of disposable nonsense. | 3/4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | false | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1,938 |
Dear John | News of the World | Robbie Collin | The pair have got real chemistry and the long-distance love angle works nicely. Then a rubbish subplot involving illness, needy children and horses comes along, and the film spoils faster than a fish finger behind a radiator. | 2/4 | 4 | 2 | 4 | false | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1,938 |
I Am Love | News of the World | Robbie Collin | I am bored. | 2/4 | 4 | 2 | 4 | false | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1,938 |
Legion | News of the World | Robbie Collin | Ah well. At least we know Paul Bettany's mortgage is covered. | 1/4 | 4 | 1 | 4 | false | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1,938 |
Mega Piranha | News of the World | Robbie Collin | There's about half an hour of watchable film in here. The other hour is looping stock footage and endless scenes of people gawping at monitors. | 1/4 | 4 | 1 | 4 | false | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1,938 |
Leaving (Partir) | News of the World | Robbie Collin | The relationship might not be believable but you believe Kristin believes in it. And as far as the film's concerned, that's enough to rescue it. | 3/4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | false | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1,938 |
Rapt | News of the World | Robbie Collin | Although it's low on action, it's high on intrigue - with writer-director Lucas Belvaux concentrating on the mechanics of the kidnap and the police's rescue plan. | 3/4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | false | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1,938 |
[Rec] 2 | News of the World | Robbie Collin | You know how horror sequels tend to be a load of old guff? Not this one. In fact, 2's about as good as they get. | 4/4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | false | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1,938 |
Shank | News of the World | Robbie Collin | There are a fair few good ideas in Shank -- a nicely-staged market scene featuring Colin Salmon and an animated fight scene being two -- but they don't come together into anything that even looks halfway like a movie. | 2/4 | 4 | 2 | 4 | false | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1,938 |
The Concert (Le concert) | News of the World | Robbie Collin | What a hopeless stinker we've got here. Unfunny, crushingly stupid, borderline racist -- and yet I still didn't go for it. | 1/4 | 4 | 1 | 4 | false | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1,938 |
The Infidel | News of the World | Robbie Collin | The Infidel's got some great gags -- most of which have a stand-up routine kind of feel -- but a hopelessly contrived climax saps it of any real satirical bite. | 3/4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | false | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1,938 |
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief | Newsarama | Jenna Busch | My problems with it are the same as with most screen adaptations of young adult novels...they spend so much time struggling to explain the world they're creating that they forget which parts of the story people want to see...they figure that people (kids) | 5.5/10 | 10 | 5.5 | 10 | false | 9 | 19 | 2 | 1,939 |
The Hurricane | Newsday | John Anderson | The story never radiates much beyond the corruption of Carter's lifelong enemy, Paterson detective Vincent Della Pesca. | 2/5 | 5 | 2 | 5 | false | 2 | 9 | 2 | 1,940 |
Fanaa | Newsday | John Anderson | To resort to strictly ethnocentric references, Fanaa is equal parts MGM extravaganza, Shakespeare lite and James Bond. In their heart of hearts, isn't that what movie audiences really want? | 3/5 | 5 | 3 | 5 | false | 4 | 9 | 2 | 1,940 |
Adore | Newsday | John Anderson | The film has an impressive pedigree -- screenplay by Christopher Hampton, from a novel by Nobel laureate Doris Lessing -- but still feels like something of a bodice-ripper, if people bothered to wear that much clothing. | 2/5 | 5 | 2 | 5 | false | 2 | 9 | 2 | 1,940 |
The Beach | Newsday | John Anderson | The Beach needed a director, because it's a little tough to tell what Danny Boyle was doing all those months in Thailand. | 2/5 | 5 | 2 | 5 | false | 2 | 9 | 2 | 1,940 |
Eklavya | Newsday | John Anderson | This stirring dramatic feature by Kashmiri director Vidhu Vinod Chopra marries its varied elements -- modernity and classicism, current-day India and its feudal past, contemporary corruption and blood tradition -- in a coherent and propulsive fashion. | 4/5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | false | 6 | 9 | 2 | 1,940 |
Eulogy | Newsday | Jan Stuart | Romano's caveman-ish line readings are perfectly pitched. | 2.5/5 | 5 | 2.5 | 5 | false | 3 | 9 | 2 | 1,940 |
Free Solo | Newsday | Rafer Guzman | A visually dizzying but also thought-provoking film about one man's pinnacle of achievement. | 3.5/5 | 5 | 3.5 | 5 | false | 5 | 9 | 2 | 1,940 |
Fugitive Pieces | Newsday | null | Once you adjust to the film's deliberate pace and literary rhythms, there are innumerable visual and emotional pleasures to be had. | 3/5 | 5 | 3 | 5 | false | 4 | 9 | 2 | 1,940 |
Like Someone in Love | Newsday | John Anderson | Masterful filmmaking bridges a few gaps in the narrative. | 4/5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | false | 6 | 9 | 2 | 1,940 |
Marigold | Newsday | John Anderson | Amusing diversion. | 3/5 | 5 | 3 | 5 | false | 4 | 9 | 2 | 1,940 |
Rachel Getting Married | Newsday | Rafer Guzman | At its best, this movie feels like a real experience, thanks to terrific performances and Demme's informal direction. | 3.5/5 | 5 | 3.5 | 5 | false | 5 | 9 | 2 | 1,940 |
All the Way | Newsday | Verne Gay | Cranston doesn't turn in one performance here, but at least a dozen. All of them, incidentally, are spectacular. | A- | long_letter | null | null | false | 15 | 18 | 1 | 1,941 |
American Promise | Newsday | John Anderson | A misbegotten project, as well as a missed opportunity. | C | long_letter | null | null | false | 10 | 18 | 1 | 1,941 |
Bessie | Newsday | Verne Gay | Well-made biopic absent a whole lot of music and -- as a result -- much emotional resonance. | B- | long_letter | null | null | false | 12 | 18 | 1 | 1,941 |
Big Driver | Newsday | Diane Werts | Solid star turn, eerie production values, even a killer ending. Nice symmetry, Steve. | B | long_letter | null | null | false | 13 | 18 | 1 | 1,941 |
Birders: The Central Park Effect | Newsday | Diane Werts | Birders makes a wealth of species even more readily available, and close-up. | B+ | long_letter | null | null | false | 14 | 18 | 1 | 1,941 |
Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds | Newsday | Verne Gay | A beauty that will mostly make you laugh and, of course, cry. | A | long_letter | null | null | false | 16 | 18 | 1 | 1,941 |
Burton And Taylor | Newsday | Verne Gay | Excellent actors playing excellent actors -- and largely succeeding. | A | long_letter | null | null | false | 16 | 18 | 1 | 1,941 |
Cinema Verite | Newsday | Verne Gay | Not a dull or wasted moment, and Lane may have just turned in the one of the best performances of her career. | A | long_letter | null | null | false | 16 | 18 | 1 | 1,941 |
Confirmation | Newsday | Verne Gay | Confirmation is really Affirmation. Little here challenges - or deepens - the record. | C+ | long_letter | null | null | false | 11 | 18 | 1 | 1,941 |
Eagles of Death Metal: Nos Amis (Our Friends) | Newsday | Verne Gay | Emotional portrait of a frontman at the center of a horrific attack, but it doesn't feel quite complete. | B | long_letter | null | null | false | 13 | 18 | 1 | 1,941 |
Game Change | Newsday | Verne Gay | A luminous and fully alive portrait by a first-rate actress. | A | long_letter | null | null | false | 16 | 18 | 1 | 1,941 |
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief | Newsday | Verne Gay | Going Clear is a heat-seeking missile that doesn't take long to find the heat. | B | long_letter | null | null | false | 13 | 18 | 1 | 1,941 |
Hawking | Newsday | Verne Gay | As billed, an intimate look at a genius, but the science gets a major haircut here. | B | long_letter | null | null | false | 13 | 18 | 1 | 1,941 |
Hemingway & Gellhorn | Newsday | Verne Gay | Stellar production, famous leads. What's missing? Heart. | B- | long_letter | null | null | false | 12 | 18 | 1 | 1,941 |
I Am Heath Ledger | Newsday | Rafer Guzman | A poignant look at an actor whose best work seemed yet to come. | B | long_letter | null | null | false | 13 | 18 | 1 | 1,941 |
Janis: Little Girl Blue | Newsday | Verne Gay | Fine, judicious, generous portrait of a lady who sang the blues. | A | long_letter | null | null | false | 16 | 18 | 1 | 1,941 |
Killing Kennedy | Newsday | Verne Gay | The even larger issue is familiarity. We already know too much and paradoxically too little about the JFK assassination. A TV movie needed to tell us something we don't know. No dice here. | C+ | long_letter | null | null | false | 11 | 18 | 1 | 1,941 |
Kurt Cobain: Montage Of Heck | Newsday | Verne Gay | Morgen and his editors have simply done a remarkable job -- also an artful one -- in piecing together this residuum. | A- | long_letter | null | null | false | 15 | 18 | 1 | 1,941 |
Last Days in Vietnam | Newsday | Verne Gay | Authoritative and exhaustive. A must-watch. | A | long_letter | null | null | false | 16 | 18 | 1 | 1,941 |
Lizzie Borden Took an Ax | Newsday | Diane Werts | Lizzie Borden takes an ax to many assumptions -- including the one that Lifetime movies aren't worth watching. | A- | long_letter | null | null | false | 15 | 18 | 1 | 1,941 |
Method to the Madness of Jerry Lewis | Newsday | Diane Werts | Method makes a solid case for Lewis as underappreciated auteur. | B+ | long_letter | null | null | false | 14 | 18 | 1 | 1,941 |
Mother, May I Sleep with Danger? | Newsday | Verne Gay | The movie is much ado about nothing, feeling desperately thin and pointless. At first promising campy fun, it's soon simply mystifying, then misguided, gross and finally tiresome in its look-at-me-ness. | D | long_letter | null | null | false | 7 | 18 | 1 | 1,941 |
Night Will Fall | Newsday | Verne Gay | Horrifying. Fascinating. | A | long_letter | null | null | false | 16 | 18 | 1 | 1,941 |
Nightingale | Newsday | Verne Gay | Nightingale is really about David Oyelowo, a magnificent actor with astonishing range who draws viewers deep down into the darkness with his character. | B+ | long_letter | null | null | false | 14 | 18 | 1 | 1,941 |
Pandora's Promise | Newsday | Verne Gay | Intelligent, possibly important, definitely counterintuitive -- but needs more reporting and context. | B- | long_letter | null | null | false | 12 | 18 | 1 | 1,941 |
Phil Spector | Newsday | Verne Gay | A frustrating film that leaves the questions -- pretty much all of them -- unanswered. | C- | long_letter | null | null | false | 9 | 18 | 1 | 1,941 |
Philip Roth: Unmasked | Newsday | Tom Beer | It's great to see extensive interview footage with the relaxed and funny author, but Philip Roth: Unmasked shies away from controversy and, as a result, feels a bit sanitized. | B- | long_letter | null | null | false | 12 | 18 | 1 | 1,941 |
Seal Team 6: The Raid on Osama Bin Laden | Newsday | Verne Gay | Not great, not terrible -- just your standard-issue TV movie about a well-known historic event. | B- | long_letter | null | null | false | 12 | 18 | 1 | 1,941 |
Search Party | Newsday | Verne Gay | Uneven, intelligent, weird, sometimes funny (more often not) - and almost consistently engaging. | B+ | long_letter | null | null | false | 14 | 18 | 1 | 1,941 |
Sharknado 2: The Second One | Newsday | Verne Gay | The Second One is also more predictable, silly and self-conscious of the legacy -- absurd as it might seem to use the word "legacy" anywhere near a review about Sharknado. | F | long_letter | null | null | false | 1 | 18 | 1 | 1,941 |
Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! | Newsday | Verne Gay | Sure "Sharknado" is bad and -- sure -- we expect nothing less. | F | long_letter | null | null | false | 1 | 18 | 1 | 1,941 |
Sing Your Song | Newsday | Verne Gay | By far the best parts are the first two-thirds, with the star taking center stage in history as it unfolds. | B | long_letter | null | null | false | 13 | 18 | 1 | 1,941 |
The Girl | Newsday | Verne Gay | Film lovers will -- possibly against their better judgment -- love Jones' "Hitch." | B+ | long_letter | null | null | false | 14 | 18 | 1 | 1,941 |
The Normal Heart | Newsday | Verne Gay | Powerful, still full of anger, and hard to watch. | A- | long_letter | null | null | false | 15 | 18 | 1 | 1,941 |
The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again | Newsday | Verne Gay | Dutiful, reverent, energetic, expertly crafted and yet utterly incapable of escaping the long shadow of its exotic midnight forbear. The capacity to entertain is still here. The capacity to shock is not. | B- | long_letter | null | null | false | 12 | 18 | 1 | 1,941 |
The Sunset Limited | Newsday | Verne Gay | Grim, but a chance to see two magnificent actors at the peak of their powers. | A- | long_letter | null | null | false | 15 | 18 | 1 | 1,941 |
The Wizard of Lies | Newsday | Verne Gay | De Niro and Pfeiffer inhabit these roles so fully that you forget they're De Niro and Pfeiffer - no small feat considering their statures. | B- | long_letter | null | null | false | 12 | 18 | 1 | 1,941 |
To the Bone | Newsday | Verne Gay | The performances are mostly excellent, Collins' above all. | B+ | long_letter | null | null | false | 14 | 18 | 1 | 1,941 |
Tower | Newsday | Rafer Guzman | A haunting re-creation of a first-of-its-kind tragedy. Fifty years later, it seems, we're no closer to answers or solutions. | A- | long_letter | null | null | false | 15 | 18 | 1 | 1,941 |
Jaws 2 | Newsweek | Joseph Gelmis | There was reason to believe that "Jaws 2" would be a mess. It isn't. It's better than most sequels. It's formula-ridden but slick, and the special effects work as intended. | 3/4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | false | 4 | 7 | 2 | 1,942 |
Men of Honor | Newsweek | Robert Cashill | This seaman's tale languishes in shallow waters. | 2/4 | 4 | 2 | 4 | false | 2 | 7 | 2 | 1,942 |
Red Planet | Newsweek | Robert Cashill | Zero gravity. | 1.5/4 | 4 | 1.5 | 4 | false | 1 | 7 | 2 | 1,942 |
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