Tsui Hark movies are always a mixed bag for me. The Vietnamese New Wave director created visually stunning, profoundly philosophical and mostly historically inspired movies like the ''A Chinese Ghost Story'' and ''Once Upon a Time in China'' movie series in his early years that any movie fan should know. In recent years, he rather focused on commercially entertaining, effect-ridden and overall meaningless films such as ''Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame'' and ''The Flying Swords of Dragon Gate''. The latter movies weren't entirely bad but they weren't on the same artistic, authentic and intellectual level as his early classics. ''The Taking of Tiger Mountain'' is situated somewhere in between both categories but probably closer to the second group than to the first.

On the positive side, the movie is partially historically inspired even though the film isn't devoid of a certain propagandistic approach that presents the People's Liberation Army in a much too positive way. The movie basically tells the story of a small group within this army that needs to outsmart a large group of bandits that are raiding villages in the northern parts of the fragile country. The settings of the movie are truly spectacular. The costumes, the villages and even the way the actors speak are truly accurate and trace your way back seventy years in time. Most of the story is set in elegant winter landscapes and one gets to see breathtaking valleys and mountains, simple but charming skiing exercises and even a couple of animals such as the tiger that attacks the protagonist halfway through the movie. In comparison with Tsui Hark's other recent movies, especially the first half of the film feels refreshingly authentic, natural and realistic and only a few effects are used in an efficient way. Towards the climax of the story, more and more special effects are used but they somehow add to the action and tension of the film and don't feel randomly inserted as in many of his other recent films. The action choreographies are stunning and the best example for these intense passages is the battle in the raided village which takes place towards the last third of the movie. While the acting itself is not outstanding, it definitely has more depth than characters in Tsui Hark's more recent films and one can feel some empathy with the smart and mysterious protagonist, the emotional and lonely child or the optimistic female combat medic.

On the negative side, the main villain remains superficial and even ridiculous at certain moments. The short moments of humour when he speaks nonsense or exaggeration when he gestures in theatrical manner feel out of place and unnecessarily decrease the intensity of the movie. The special effects get a little bit exaggerated in the final twenty minutes or so of the movie and contrast the initially authentic magic of the movie that turns into something which isn't a far call from a meaningless Hollywood action flick. The story itself is also a little bit too simple, predictable and one-sided. Another element which I disliked is how the movie was forcedly connected to some random Chinese emigrant living in New York City who can't let go of his culture, family and past instead of trying to become accurately integrated in a foreign country. I feel that this connection to our contemporary world didn't add anything at all to the movie even if the director probably intended to prove that the value of this story based on Qu Bo's novel of the same name from 1957 has been firmly planted in the Chinese national consciousness for more than half a century.

In the end, the numerous positive elements are much more impressive and present than the few negative facts which can be seen as secondary. Tsui Hark somewhat redeems himself after a series of rather shallow flicks that were only aiming for commercial success, modern special effects and simple entertainment. This movie has more depth concerning the characters, magic settings and at least some kind of moral at certain points in the story. This movie still isn't on the same level as Tsui Hark's earliest successes but fans of historically inspired contemporary Chinese action movies can't go wrong with this movie and should therefore give this film a chance. 

In memoriam: David Bowie

The year 2015 somehow ended bad with the death of famous rock singer and bassist Ian Fraser ''Lemmy'' Kilmister and it starts on a negative note with the death of famous rock and pop musician David Bowie whose impressive career lasted for an incredible fifty-four years.

Both veteran musicians died of cancer. My maternal grand-mother, my paternal grand-father and even my father had cancer as well. It's one of the most horrible diseases in our world and something I'm honestly scared of. Whenever I hear someone got diagnosed with this disease, it makes me realize that you have to live your life to the fullest no matter what because you never know when fate strikes.

But let's not drown in darkness and remember the stunning career of this extraordinary British musician who has influenced several generations. When I was a kid, I wasn't exactly fond of him even though my father adored him quite a lot and listened to several of his albums with me. I always thought that David Bowie wasn't the most emotional singer and couldn't find any connection to him. Today, it's certainly a different thing.

Today I know that he may not have been convincing on a technical level but definitely on a creative one. There aren't many artists or bands who have had number one records between 1967 and 2016. David Bowie's eponymous first record made it to the top of the charts when it was released in Austria and New Zealand. His breakthrough took place two years later with the futuristic pop song ''Space Oddity'', a visonary masterpiece that made it to the peak position of the British single charts.

In the early seventies, he played the music that would become commercially successful in the late seventies and tracks like ''The Jean Genie'' (1972) and ''Rebel Rebel'' (1974) were played in any Western discotheque with a good reputation. His lyrics predicted the lights and shades of the Cold War with tracks like the charismatic ''Heroes'' (1977) which became an anthem for hope, love and peace of an entire generation and got him the definite status of an icon, especially in Germany. This artist proved that true lyrical depth and catchy commercial music could work together. His lyrics were a welcome change from the usual songs about romantic relationships.

David Bowie's collaborations are also legendary since he played with the greatest musicians of his generation. He recorded ''Under Pressure'' (1981) with famous British rock band Queen, ''Tonight'' (1984) with American rhythm and blues singer Tina Turner, ''Dancing in the Street'' (1985) with Mick Jagger of Rolling Stones fame, ''Hallo Spaceboy'' (1996) with British electronic pop duo Pet Shop Boys and ''Without You I'm Nothing'' (1999) with British alternative rock band Placebo.

He formed English-American hard rock band Tin Machine and released two successful albums with them (1989 & 1991).

After a longer hiatus, David Bowie released his two last studio records ''The Next Day'' (2013) and ''Blackstar'' (2016). The latter one is his twenty-fifth and final studio album which is a mixture of art rock and avant-garde jazz. It includes several lyrical hints where he predicts his own death. David Bowie had been diagnosed with cancer about one year and a half ago but never made any public announcement about it. That's why his death came as a complete surprise to everyone but his closest family members, including his son and film director Duncan Bowie and Somalian wife and model Imam Mohamed Abdulmajid. David Bowie wasn't just an outstanding and visionary musician but also a style icon and one of the first overtly bisexual artists.

Now it's time to listen to a short selection of his greatest hits. I'm aware of the fact that ten songs are not enough to represent this unique artist but it might be a good starting point if you want to discover this musician's outstanding career. I will keep spinning these songs over the next few days and might buy one or two compilations or maybe his most recent release which only came out a few days ago. May this iconic artist rest in peace.

''Liza Jane'' (1964)

''Space Oddity'' (1969)

''The Jean Genie'' (1972)

''Helden / Heroes'' (1977) 

''Under Pressure'' (1981) 

''Cat People (Putting Out Fire)'' (1982) 

''Let's Dance'' (1983) 

''Tonight'' (1984) 

''Dancing in the Street'' (1985) 

''Blackstar'' (2015)

''Black Coal, Thin Ice'' is a sinister neo-noir movie by renowned Chinese actor, director and screenwriter Diao Yinan. The film is a mixture of a slow-paced thriller and a depressing drama. The movie received wide critical acclaim and won the Golden Bear award at the Berlin International Film Festival among others.

Sadly, this movie is a good example for the fact that critically acclaimed movies rarely appeal to wider audiences. Things start promisingly in the beginning when body parts are found in different coal factories in the People's Republic of China in 1999. The locations look empty, grey and polluted and show unusually cold-hearted, contemporary and realistic facets of the country. Just about fifteen minutes into the movie, a very weird scene occurs. The cops want to interview a first suspect and the whole event escalates for no apparent reason. The suspect and some of his friends die as well as several cops. We soon get to know that the suspects didn't seem to have anything to do with the murder and the question is why they would immediately panic when they saw the police and try to kill everyone around them. The whole scene was intense and had a shocking effect but it felt exaggerated and almost surreal. The promisingly slow start felt disharmonically interrupted and botched.

This opening massacre is not the only time characters are acting in abnormally weird ways in this movie. The movie surely includes a lot of symbolism and metaphors and tries to portray loneliness and rejection in a directionless and industrialized society but some scenes are out of place and so surreal that they somehow contradict the dark realism of the plot. While the movie has several interesting experimental ideas, other parts are unnecessarily long-winded and the plot itself is not surprising enough to carry over almost two hours. The film feels as if Charles Bukowski met David Lynch in an industrial ghost town to elaborate a script that is missing that certain something. The plot itself is not complex enough to make this a good thriller. The characters are not profound enough to make this an intense drama. The story is not surreal enough to make this an uneasy mystery movie. This film includes elements of all these genres but not enough of everything to fully convince and sometimes feels directionless. What could have been a revolutionary mixture of genres feels headless at certain moments.

The initially interesting characters and solid acting also fail to develop further as the movie goes on. Five years after the first crime and its ensuing massacre, other dismembered body parts are found that all seem to lead to the mysterious widow of the first victim. The two desperate, disgraced and lonesome cops who survived the opening massacre try to find the real murderer behind these gruesome crimes. One has become a drunken security guard who desperately wants to solve the murder case that destroyed his life. He first investigates and stalks the mysterious and quiet widow before he begins a romantic relationship with her. This relationship between two solitary souls could have been an amazing idea. The concept isn't new but movies such as ''Sea of Love'' or ''Basic Instinct'' have shown what you can make with such a plot. Sadly, the two main characters don't connect on any level. Even their common loneliness is lived in different facets and it's challenging if not impossible to feel empathy for any of them. I found that the conclusion of this initially promising relationship felt disjunct. Maybe it was the director's intension to let his sinister piece of art end in a heartless way but it felt too neutral to be either heartless or emotional. Once again, a middle way was chosen that feels somewhat botched.

The closing scenes with the drunk security guard dancing with himself to a horrid pop song and some teenagers starting fireworks at daytime feel extremely pretentious. I'm aware of the fact that the director wanted to show the cop's deliverance from his demons and the start of a new life for him in the former scene and the mixture of mysterious fantasy and depressing realism as guide line through the movie in the latter scene but these parts felt once again forced, out of context and under-developed. The director tried too hard to show how creative he is and that's why these closing scenes are plain unsatisfying. Fans of the movie will probably believe that some viewers didn't get all the allusions but that isn't the problem. The director wanted to achieve too many things at the same time and failed in a nearly arrogant way. 

The only positive elements that remain are the thoroughly sinister atmosphere created by grey settings, probably intentionally paralyzed acting skills, chillingly calm camera techniques, a fitting soundtrack and a few good acting parts. Despite a handful of potentially creative, philosophical and even revolutionary ideas from the filmmaker, this movies falls flat because of its own directionless, over-ambitioned and slow-paced pretentiousness. Fans of art-house cinema and philosophical neo-noir movies can give this a try. Those who are looking for a profound drama or engaging thriller should look elsewhere. 

Dear readers of my blog!

Today is the day where I would like to share a list of my twenty favourite records of the year 2015 with you. I will also talk about recommendable live albums and compilations as well as about a few upcoming releases I'm looking forward to this year.

1. M.H.X'S Chronicles - Infinite Ocean

My favourite record of the year came as a complete surprise to me since I had never ever heard of this Brazilian quartet before. The four young men from Sao Paulo offer a very captivating and emotional kind of progressive melodic death metal on their debut full length release "Infinite Ocean". Their haunting, hypnotizing and natural soundscapes really struck a chord in me and I adore this atmospherically coherent yet musically eclectic album from start to finish.

2. Moonspell - Extinct

Moonspell offers a perfect contemporary definition of gothic identity, lifestyle and music on its new output "Extinct": desperate guitar tones meet enchanting folklore, appeasingly low vocals meet angry growls, pessimistic topics meet romantic passion. From elegiac ballads over Middle Eastern folk rock to dramatic orchestral symphonies, each track on this masterpiece works both on its own and as a greater whole.

3. Amorphis - Under the Red Cloud

Amorphis is my favourite band of all times and their new output is another masterpiece in its extensive discography. The new record focuses on European and Middle Eastern folk influences with different guest musicians, features a gloomy atmosphere with perfectly integrated extreme metal elements and the band's typical melancholic yet uplifting melodies that are simply unforgettable.   

4. Pantommind - Searching for Eternity

Bulgarian progressive rock quintet Pantommind had already called it quits two years ago but the band decided to release a third and last album. This inspired swansong convinces in its calmest and most playful moments and ends the career of an underestimated group on an excellent note.

5. Subterranean Masquerade - The Great Bazaar

This progressive folk metal septet from Israel, Norway and the United States of America was one of last year's greatest discoveries for me. On seven new epic tracks, the band led me on a rather short yet most colourful journey to Middle Eastern cultures.

6. Shining - IX: Everyone, Everything, Everywhere, Ends

The controversial Swedish black metal quintet delivered its most atmospheric, emotional, epic, mature and progressive album that might surprise both critics and fans alike. It unites the band's gloomier and more sinister roots with a calmer and slower song writing approach that includes open-minded and unusual influences from different genres.

7.Melted Space - The Great Lie

This French symphonic extreme metal project unites an elevated number of international extreme metal musicians from bands such as Dutch progressive rock project Ayreon, American death metal veterans Morbid Angel and Israeli folk metal group Orphaned Land among others. Despite their diversity, the elven tracks develop a cinematic atmosphere, tell an intriguing story and have a clear guiding line in form of epic symphonic song structures.

8. Putamen Insula - Condoléances

This final release of French Canadian extreme metal trio Putamen Insula convinces with a calmer and more simplistic song writing approach, an elevated number of haunting and hypnotizing melodies and a coherent atmospheric guiding line that deals with deception, fatality and loss in a most emotional way that opposes poetry and simplicity.

9. Coppelius - Hertzmaschine

German steampunk band Coppelius offers its most vivid release so far. The septet plays an unusual mixture of Victorian era chamber music, modern rock genres and a cappella vocals. Four different singers tells us of humorous stories accompanied by exotic instruments such as celli, clarinets and harpsichords among others. The band's fifth output is also its most creative, diversified and entertaining release so far.

10. Sound Horizon - Nein

Japanese musical group Sound Horizon offers its ninth full length release that summarizes the greatest influences of its past efforts in nearly fifteen years. Japanese pop music meets big band sounds, classical structures and jazz influences but also modern electronic music, heavy metal melodies and progressive rock song structures. This creative, diversified and generous output takes us on a journey through space and time set in a coherent yet epic story.   

11. Mary's Blood - Bloody Palace

This charming all-female power metal quartet from Japan offers eleven powerful, emotional and catchy anthems that shine thanks to a passionate performance, diversified song writing ideas and an outstanding production delivering a crystal clear sound experience. 

12. Ghost - Meliora

Swedish occult rock sextet Ghost offers its third and best record to date that convinces with haunting lyrics, massive influences from rock and pop music of the sixties and seventies and unforgettable choruses that just won't let you go.

Other great studio albums that didn't make it into my personal top twelve are: 13. Lindemann - Skills in Pills, 14. Eisbrecher - Schock, 15. lynch. - D.A.R.K. -In the Name of evil-, 16. Apocalyptica - Shadowmaker, 17. Leaves' Eyes - King of Kings, 18. Iron Maiden - The Book of Souls, 19. Children of Bodom - I Worship Chaos, 20. Fruitpochette - The Crest of Evil.

Here are my favourite live albums, DVDs and Blu-rays of the year: 1. Mono für Alle! - # D.I.Y. - Live, 2. Babymetal - Live at Budokan: Red Night, 3. Elvenking - The Night of Nights - Live, 4. Nine Treasures - Live in Beijing, 5. Rammstein - In Amerika.

My favourite compilation album of the year 2015 was: Golden Earring - 50 Years: Anniversary Album

These are the records I'm looking forward to in 2016: Anthrax - For All Kings // Anvil - Anvil is Anvil // Avantasia - Ghostlights // Axel Rudi Pell - Game of Sins // Babymetal - Metal Resistance // Blaze Bayley - Infinite Entanglement // Crematory - Monument // Dissona - Paleopneumatic // Dream Theater - The Astonishing // Exmortus - Ride Forth // In Extremo - Quid pro quo // Primal Fear - Rulebreaker // Rhapsody of Fire - Into the Legend // Voivod - Post Society // 人間 椅子 - 怪 談 そ し て 死 と エ ロ ス

Dear readers of my blog,

I simply wanted to share a few holiday pictures with you. They were taken over the last two weeks in Canada and Germany. The past fifteen days were a great Occasion for me to meet family members, to organize activities with old and new friends and to relax and take some time off. Time went by too fast but it was a blast. It was a really welcome break for me and I can't wait to come back to Germany this summer. I hope you had a great holiday season as well.

This is the picture of a very good friend of mine whom I met at the airport in Montreal. We had lunch together and talked about a couple of interesting things since we hadn't seen each other for a few months.

This picture was taken at the Duty Free section at the airport. Since I really like both animals and hockey, I simply had to take this cool picture.

This picture was also taken at the Duty Free section at the airport.

Another picture of an adorable moose at the Duty Free section at the airport in Montreal.

This picture was taken in Leverkusen and shows me with one of my high school friends and his girlfriend. We talked all night long, listened to plenty of music and had some great food.

This picture was taken on New Year's Eve in Cologne. My friends and I had dinner in a stylish Korean restaurant and discovered plenty of new dishes.

This picture was taken on New Year's Day in Cologne. My friends and I played a few games of ice stock sport. The surrounding Christmas market was lovely.

This friendly person helped us with the equipment and the rules for the ice stock sport games. 

This picture was taken at the apartment of one of my friends where we played a few board and card games in a relaxed atmosphere. 

This picture was taken at the apartment of another friend where we played poker and listened to music.