Astonishing as magic, but even more astonishing as puzzle -- the method has a simple mathematical explanation (which can be sought, for those interested, in the properties of numbers divisible by 9 -- which the original number was).
In fact, by the time this film pitches towards that astonishing climax (bedsheets burning; magic working) one might even make a case for Fanny and Alexander as Bergman's most mature, clear-sighted and fully realised work.
Avedon did, in fact, have certain idées fixes about the essential whomever; and then, through some astonishing act of photographic magic against that white paper, could make clothes, expression, collude in imprinting the essential them.
Simon Wilde, in this perfectly paced and exhaustively researched biography, recalls the magic of that astonishing summer.
Writing at HitFix this week, Drew McWeeny wonders whether the "casual magic" of creating ever more astonishing images or, rather, images of astonishing things by way of digital technology diminishes contemporary viewers' ability to be astonished.
Meanwhile, a Florida-based startup called Magic Leap has raised an astonishing $1.4bn in funding for its AR headset and technology, giving only a few teasers on what it looks like and how it will work.
Despite his extreme youth, Vernon quickly gained acceptance among his fellow magicians, largely because of his astonishing versatility in the realm of close-up magic (cups and balls, linking rings, etc).
This means that we took an astonishing £100,000 in the 24 hours after hitting the magic £1m milestone on Monday afternoon.
Their little boy, Ev, was acquiring language skills all the time his father was losing them: the juxtaposition made the familiar magic of child development especially poignant and astonishing.
It is astonishing how quickly these capitalists dry up under the magic influence of the words 'cash down'".
