Snow White and the Huntsman is a classic fantasy movie based on the famous German fairy tale "Snow White" by the Brothers Grimm. The movie is loosely bound on the most important elements of that fairy tale but has not the same dark vibe as the original. This adaption rather convinces with many great images and a couple of breathtaking special effects. Especially the more beautiful moments in the fairy world are very well done and may touch your soul. A lot of animals, dwarfs, fairies and trolls appear in the movie and are all very beautiful to watch and created with a lot of inspiring details. The fantastic elements in this movie are not too childish and in fact quite convincing and mix dark with light elements. This movie can be appreciated by children as well as by adults which isn't the case for recent movies such as The Hunger Games or John Carter that approach a younger audience.

The acting is quite a mixed bag. I really liked the interpretation of the huntsman by a very solid Chris Hemsworth, a charismatic antihero that suffers from the tragic death of his wife and drowns his numerous problems in alcohol. Charlize Theron is as convincing as the evil Queen Ravenna and it's interesting that the movie also portrays her struggles, her tragic faith and the reasons behind her actions. The character is very complex and profound and not simply your usual villain. Ravenna's brother Finn played by Sam Spruell is also another convincing character with multiple facets. Especially the connection between brother and sister are very well portrayed in this feature. From that angle, this movie deserves a lot of positive critics but I disliked the acting of main actress Kristen Stewart as Snow White. She clearly lacks charisma and can't convince next to all these excellent supporting actors. When she becomes the leader of a rebellion or touches the heart of a broken man, she simply isn't convincing. She doesn't have the beauty, the charm and the smartness to fit this role. Her acting was a huge letdown and I would have liked to see someone else portraying that role.

The story itself is no surprise to anyone that has read the fairy tale and it doesn't come close to the dark and poetic original. One thing that truly bothered me is the ending of that movie that ended with a quite ordinary scene and no true conclusion. One would have liked to know what would happen to the kingdom and its citizens, to the charming fantastic characters and to the slightly romantic relationship between Snow White and the Huntsman or her childhood friend William who clearly is in love with her. With ten or fifteen more minutes, this movie could have been more complete, profound and even give a possibility to a sequel but the screenplay finishes on a most ordinary note.

In the end, this movie is very beautiful to watch, includes many charming characters and has almost no lengths as it is very entertaining. The main actress, some plot problems and especially the weak ending keep this movie away from being a truly outstanding blockbuster and doesn't do justice to the fantastic German fairy tale. On the other side, it's another solid fantasy movie this year after John Carter and The Hunger Games and this genre seems to live a quite positive survival this year. I think by the end of the year, this movie won't be among the most outstanding adaptations of old fantasy novels but still be a quite good one.

"In Bruges" is a rather unusual genre mix with many funny moments but also a couple of lengths and a more or less convincing story line. The movie mixes many comedy elements with romantic bits and pieces, a suspenseful background story, some cultural elements and a little bit of action.

Sometimes, this mix gets a little bit odd. At some points, this movie is more like a tourist guide through Bruges and therefor a weird kind of documentary rather than a film with a coherent development.

But the true problem lies elsewhere. The characters are so diversified that they simply aren't authentic anymore in my humble opinion. The funny guy in love suddenly is the calm and suicidal victim. The pitiless and very emotional boss suddenly becomes the consequent killer that discusses about the morality of life and death. The old and very rational killer is suddenly let by strong emotions and risks his whole existence. The sadly inevitable love story of this flick is also overused and not authentic at all.

Next to these complex and strange characters, there are many stereotypical persons that appear in this movie that might make you laugh at first sight but that get quite redundant after a while, for example the dwarf or the gunrunner. This contrast is what makes this movie quite entertaining and surprising on one side but also rather odd and torn apart on the negative side. I can understand people that would rate this movie under five points and people that would give it a top rating, the whole thing heavily depends on your personal taste. If you're open-minded and just want to live a strange odyssey, the chances are good that you might at least appreciate this somehow experimental film but if you're looking for something coherent, gripping and more traditional in terms of suspense or comedy flick, you should watch a detailed trailer before you get your hands on a copy of this.

The strongest point of this feature is definitely the dirty humour. I know many people that actually adore Bruges. I have been there and must admit that even though I'm pretty much interested in arts and history, this town is pretty boring and almost appeared as a sleepy ghost town to me filled with tourists and their guides and a couple of old people. That's why I can really laugh about the stereotypical descriptions of that city and the extreme discussions about its strong and weak points. These discussions and the slapstick elements in many unpredictable situations were my favourite parts in the film.

I disliked the character development, basically the whole plot and the lack of true suspense after all. There were only episodes, bits and pieces of the movie that I appreciated while there were also many unnecessary lengths. Sometimes, I was extremely bored, then suddenly extremely addicted to this movie. In the end, this feature was worth to be watched and gets some credit for its experimental originality. This is something different from anything I have seen before. It's not always different in good terms but it was refreshing but also exhausting to discover something that unusual. I would though watch it again as this flick has the potential to become a cult movie and might also grow on me.

"The Gene Generation" is quite a mixed bag of a cyber-punk flick. The movie has loads of trash elements as the somewhat cheap special effects, especially from a visual point of view. To my surprise, this adds a charming effect to the movie and gives the whole thing a quite alternative identity that is a welcome change with many other visually polished high definition three dimensions flicks nowadays. This element fits to the dark and depressive surroundings, the weird characters and the quite diversified and unusual soundtrack varying from soft piano melodies to straight forward electronic Gothic music. This flick definitely has a lot of elements to become a cult trash movie in the years to come.

The story line of the flick is quite thin and more or less important. The movie doesn't build up much tension but a quite interesting desperate atmosphere. The pace is hold on a high level with a lot of fighting scenes with a high variety of guns and swords plus some martial arts moments that are sadly not always quite well cut and caught by the camera team. The movie contains also some emotional and erotic moments that are a welcome change in this dark tale of dystopia. Thanks to this good degree of variety, there aren't too many lengths in here.

To be honest, the biggest reason to watch this biopunk movie featuring many science-fiction and action elements are the tight leather clothing, the exotic face painting and the highly exposed beauty of main actress Bai Ling. To my positive surprise, the world star that made it from Sichuan province to California is not only nice to watch but she is also acting rather well. Her relationship to her brother who is always in trouble with money, gambling and mighty enemies and her romantic connection to a neighbour that is a hunted scientist are credible and she shows some great emotions in those scenes. That's the reason why I think that she has way more potential than being limited to play the crazy, lonesome, superficial whore image that Hollywood made out of that eccentric woman that has been through many hard times in her life. This is one of the rare movies from the last years where she can finally exploit a little bit more than this stereotype and truly act. The director still plays with her image of course but this time she plays authentically a responsible, serious and tough woman and not only a strange sex monster. There is only one sex scene and this one is quite credible. The rest is the same kind of dark eroticism that you also have in the Underworld movies and that fits quite well to the final product.

The other actors in this movie do a rather good job, for example Parry Shen or the short appearances of acting legend Faye Dunaway. Only Alec Newman is not quite convincing in this flick and his emotions towards a shining Bai Ling could be more passionate.

In the end, this movie is surely better than its reputation. I would definitely watch it again on a dark autumn or winter night. It's a very entertaining flick with cool action scenes, great music and a surprisingly good main actress in a dark dystopian atmosphere. Of course, fans of Bai Ling should also watch this. On the other side, the special effects are not well caught and the story line could be a little bit more original. This movie might be interesting for those that like movies such as Underworld, Equilibrium or The Matrix.

Jonah Hex is a short and therefor quite fast paced and entertaining mixture of a western with some fantasy elements. The classic vengeance plot is settled in a historic context that is not always accurate but somewhat charming and therefor still better than another imaginary world.

The movie convinces with a very dry humour, a couple of nice action scenes and special effects and some cool gun fights. The idea of talking to dead people and the showdown sequences in a desert place that represents the gates of hell also works quite well and adds some needed diversity to this well done popcorn cinema. Visually, this movie is definitely well directed.

The rest is still rather ordinary and features your usual characters as the lonesome and sarcastic hero, the prostitute with a faithful heart and the old fanatic maniac that menaces the world. The story has no surprises and can rather be seen as a nod to classic westerns.

The movie has no emotional passages, no innovating moment and definitely no big philosophical thoughts. It's all about diverting entertainment, tons of lead bullets and many cool proverbs that always put a little smile on your face. This movie doesn't intend to be more than this and is surely better than strained finger-wagging flick about morality. For what it is, this movie is a quite good flick but it surely isn't anything outstanding that is worth to be watched twice or that may stay on your mind for more than a couple of days.

Hello dear readers of my blog,

It has been a lot of work but I have finally uploaded all of my old newspaper articles that I wrote for a local German newspaper called "Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger" between august 2007 and august 2009 and that have been published between september 2007 and december 2010. I have written a total of thirty-two respectable articles of different kinds: book reviews, interviews, my point of view of local economical, political and social issues, travel reports and more. Some articles can still be found on the internet and I have added some photos here and there. I was really charming, energizing and young back then - well, I hope I still am ;-)

I've already lived a couple of beautiful days here in Germany. I basically met a couple of friends of mine in Wuppertal and Düsseldorf and passed a lot of time with my parents to have some barbecues, to talk about past days and to watch a couple of new movies as you can see from my recent reviews added to my blog.

Last saturday, there was a special event hold in honour of the Japanese immigrants in Düsseldorf with many cultural activities and some amazing fireworks. I have taken loads of pictures and also a couple of videos. But my "computerosaurus" is quite old. I have bought it back in 2004 with the money I had received from friends and family members for my confirmation back in the days. My computer has become a little bit tired but it still runs smoothly because my parents and I treat things well I guess. On the other side, my computer can't read the SD Card of my camera and therefor I can't put any pictures or videos on my blog for a while. I will do so in august when I'll be back in Quebec in front of a more or less modern laptop. I also have some footages from the GrimSkunk album release party where I went to before my departure in Montreal.

I will though add some updates to my blog in the next couple of weeks. I have many projects for this summer and I'm always open to discover something new.

Take good care and enjoy your summer!

Sebastian