Ladies and gentlemen,

Since I have watched a few truly outstanding movies over the past few weeks, I simply wanted to update the list of my favorite movies of the year 2016. In the end, it turned out that last year had its share of great movies if you knew where to look. My favorite movie hasn't changed and is still the stunning South Korean horror movie ''The Wailing'' but the second, third and fourth place on my list have changed among other parts. I feel this is a fairly balanced list with movies from Canada, Japan, People's Republic of China, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. It's also quite diversified stylistically because my list includes action movies, historical dramas, anti-war epics, comedy films, fantasy flicks, horror movies, mystery movies, thrillers and even westerns. Here is my updated list:

1. The Wailing

2. The Handmaiden

3. Passengers

4. Train to Busan

5. A Monster Calls

6. Hacksaw Ridge

7. Chasse-Galerie

8. Arrival

9. Don't Breathe

10. Godzilla Resurgence

11. Allied

12. Call of Heroes

13. Yoga Hosers

14. The Purge: Election Year

15. The Magnificent Seven

16. Now You See Me 2

17. Jason Bourne

18. The Age of Shadows

19. The Girl on the Train

20. The Forest

To watch out for further possible changes and updates, please check my list on the Internet Movie Data Base: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls066699133/

Ladies and gentlemen,

Two years after its respectable American comeback, the greatest monster in the history of cinema also has it legitimate Japanese revival in form of the most recent blockbuster ''Shin Gojira'' or ''Godzilla Resurgence''. My beloved ''daikaiju'' (giant monster) celebrates its sixty-second birthday already. The makers of this movie managed to create a very authentic, modern and scary Godzilla that doesn't look old at all. This is a promising comeback for my childhood hero in its country of birth because we all know that the American movies can't mess with the Japanese originals. Please find out more about my views on Godzilla Resurgence and don't miss this entertaining blockbuster!

''Shin Gojira'' marks a triumphant comeback for the most famous monster in the history of cinema. This Toho reboot is the first movie in the Japanese franchise since ''Godzilla: Final Wars'' twelve years earlier. Just like the American reboot which was simply entitled ''Godzilla'', the new Japanese film also manages to fit the legendary monster in a contemporary setting. While the American movie focused on the consequences of a nuclear catastrophe in the key of Fukushima, the Japanese film imagines what would happen if Godzilla attacked Japan today. ''Shin Godzilla'' is a mixture of science-fiction action entertainment and political drama study.

That's why most parts of the movie can be seen as surprisingly realistic. The film follows Japan's Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary and how he and his fellow politicians deal with the unexpected attack of a resilient monstrosity. Heated discussions about the origins of the monster, an appropriate way to deal with media and public and the question whether to accept to attack the monster with a nuclear bomb or to speculate on a risky alternative strategy are the main topics in this film. Despite a big cast, some actresses and actors manage to stand out and carry this movie. Hasegawa Hiroki convinces as brave, diplomatic and smart lead actor. Ishihara Satomi has an interesting role as Special Envoy for the President of the United States and portrays an ambitious, extroverted and glamorous young woman who adds some spice to a cast that mostly centers around more conservative male characters. The roles of two different prime ministers are portrayed interestingly as well. The first one seems shocked by the events but determined to control and defeat Godzilla. The second one feels disenchanted and powerless and since his leadership is lacking, a team of young politicians and scientists try everything they can to find a strategy to defeat what seems to be an unbeatable monster.

The movie convinces with this more contemporary, mature and realistic touch showing us the social, scientific and political impacts of Godzilla's unexpected arrival. On the other side, the monster itself is also quite intriguing because it's constantly mutating and changing its appearance and capacities. This makes Godzilla unpredictable and scarier than ever before. Godzilla is far away from being a pitiable or even sympathetic protagonist but a brutal and pitiless antagonist. The monster is taller and stronger than ever, its eyes look evil and its large mouth with its sharp teeth looks like an entrance into hell. The special effects in the movie are efficient and never look too unrealistic which adds a lot to the depressing atmosphere and dramatic vibe of the movie leading to a spectacular showdown. These great executions make the viewers forget that the outcome of the story is actually quite predictable right from the start and that the plot is a little bit too pathetic and patriotic at times.

One point people might argue about is that Godzilla doesn't have as much screening time as in many movies from the past. It's not as blatant as in the last American movie where Godzilla would only appear in the second half of the film but it's true that slightly below two thirds of the movie focus indeed on the political drama study while slightly above one third offers science-fiction action entertainment. On the other side, this was already the case in the very first Godzilla movie which is without a doubt the best in franchise history and what worked well back then also works out in the present. The action sequences might be shorter but have a powerful effect while the characters and the story have enough depth to carry the film and make the viewers care about it. One should also note that this is the first Japanese Godzilla movie since the first one that only features Godzilla and no other monsters.

In the end, ''Shin Godzilla'' isn't an excellent but still a very good Japanese comeback of the world's greatest monster in the history of cinema. I would put this movie in the bottom of my top ten list of the greatest Godzilla movies which is a quite good result considering I'm a fan since my early childhood and that there are thirty-two Godzilla movies so far. Those who are looking for a more realistic, mature and contemporary interpretation of the famous franchise will like this movie and hope for a potential sequel in the near future.

Final rating: 80%

To end things on an even higher note, here is the entire soundtrack of the movie that goes back to several classic soundtracks from movies such as Godzilla (1954):

Ladies and gentlemen, 

The following words simply needed to be written. German hard rock band Böhse Onkelz in general and the band's new studio record ''Memento'' in particular represent everything I could dislike about a band and/or an album: 

Xenophobic tendencies in the band's early years? Check!

Simple-minded music without any evolution? Check!

Whiny topics and butt-hurt attitude in the lyrics? Check!

Fake stylistics revolving around a rebellious outsider image? Check!

Fanatic and often aggressive supporters? Check!

A drug-addict as singer who was sentenced to go to prison? Check!

Fake reunion to grab some cash? Check!

A cover artwork with ugly tattoos? Check!

I guess I will get massive negative feedback with my review from those who worship the band like idols and I usually would have ignored this group; especially after the quartet had called it quits thirteen years ago. But now the band seems to be back for good and to my own negative surprise, I realized that some of my friends and even family members actually support and listen to those fake hypocrites and that convinced me to react and to write my single and only Böhse Onkelz review. It's emotional, honest and straight. Here it is now and if you feel unhappy about my review, please don't write any songs about it like your favorite band tends to do. That would be childish, pathetic and plain ridiculous.

Böhse Onkelz is one of the most popular German hard rock bands despite being ignored by mass media. The fact that the group is ignored by mainstream media is especially due to the fact that the band had some racist lyrics in several tracks and was quite popular in the skinhead scene in the first five years of its career. The band claims that it has changed its views since its early days but has remained a quite controversial group that has often victimized itself, protested against governmental institutions and attacked the media for overlooking them. Most of the band's lyrics can be resumed by the phrase ''us against the world''. Some of the band members, especially lead singer Kevin Russell, also had to deal with alcohol and drug addictions and that's why the group decided to call it quits thirteen years ago and played two last farewell shows in front of over one hundred thousand fans. A few years after the split, singer Kevin Russell caused a violent traffic accident that severely injured two young men, escaped from the scene of his crime and acted without any visible remorse or respect during his trial. He had to spend some time in prison and had to do a therapy.

And now that band that had split up and celebrated its departure with a festival has come back to cash in. The man that has crippled two young men and done so much harm is back on the stage and sings about how the world has always been unfair to him. The band that had split up because its members couldn't get along and support one another anymore sing about their eternal friendship. Despite releasing its fifth number one studio record in a row and getting massive attention from rock and metal magazines, the band still victimizes itself and tries to tell its fans who are paying elevated prices to attend their shows that they are unlucky outsiders. The music on the band's new album sounds as conservative as it gets and the lyrics deal with the same topics as ever. It's still ''us against the world''. That band's entire attitude, behavior and career sound like a lie to me. The fact that this group is still so popular in Germany tells us a lot about the current state of that nation. People feel like outsiders and can identify themselves with the band's fake image. If you take a look at a majority of the audience during the group's numerous live shows, you will get a very revealing portrait of what kind of people support those hypocrites. Concert halls are filled with aggressive soccer hooligans, racist skinheads, frustrated outsiders, rebellious kids or those who are still on a mentally immature level, rock and metal journalists who want to keep a some cool underground credibility and won't stop praising those wrong idols and feeble-minded bullies who think rock music is too soft for them and heavy metal too brutal and who wouldn't be smart enough to understand lyrics in any other language than their mother tongue anyway. There are obviously some positive exceptions but a band with such a stereotypical identity attracts a lot of stereotypical people as well. If you have any kind of self-esteem, you avoid that kind of music and band at all costs.

Why am I telling you about all those things? It's because the new album isn't actually even worth to be discussed in more than a very short paragraph. What we get to hear is uninspired, simplistic and conservative hard rock music with raw and throaty vocals destroyed by alcohol and drugs and whiny lyrics about the band's fake image of friendship and togetherness, the flaws of Church and State and some pseudo-morality where the band tries to convince us how wise they have become which is clearly proven wrong by the reunion and release of that album alone. To be fair, exactly two songs are remotely interesting on the new record. The best track on here is the bluesy epic ''Der Junge mit dem Schwefelholz'' and it proves that the musicians could actually pull off a skilled blues rock project if it weren't for their limited singer and simple-minded fan base even though the lyrics offer the tired stereotype of a young man corrupted by its religious education. Opener ''Gott hat ein Problem'' offers a surprisingly melancholic punk tune and starts the album with a pleasant surprise despite the vapid lyrics where the band worships itself without any obvious trace of irony.

To keep it short, Böhse Onkelz is one of the most antipathic bands on the planet for me. It's not because of the band's past because everybody can make mistakes and deserves a second chance. No, it's because of the band's present concerning its shallow reunion to make money and this vapid record where the group repeats the same tired stereotypes it had already dealt with numerous times over the past three decades. Memento is absolutely not memorable and one of the most boring and conservative rock albums I have heard in a very long time. If you feel that the whole world is against you and don't like changes of any kind, this album might be interesting for you. Anyone else should stay away from this record at any cost.

Final rating: 10%

This album doesn't deserve a video clip

Healed by Metal offers another slice of Grave Digger's short traditional heavy metal tunes without any compromises, concepts or experiments. This release is still a step above the old-fashioned Return of the Reaper and the uninspired Exhumation (The Early Years) because of a more concise song writing than before, a few future live anthems that get to the point and the fact that Chris Boltendahl's English hasn't gotten worse over the past two years for once.

The opening title track is obviously a stereotypical metal anthem with ridiculous lyrics and a simplistic song structure but it has an undeniable authentic charm and unforgettable chorus that will conquer those who are going to attend the band's next tour by storm. ''Lawbreaker'' doesn't only make you think of Judas Priest because of its title, it actually also sounds a lot like these British heavy metal legends but rather reminds me of their heavier Painkiller phase. Grave Digger offers an energizing and gripping track somewhere between heavy metal, thrash metal and speed metal. ''Free Forever'' is another catchy track with a great melodic guitar lead and an epic chorus supported by uplifting organ sounds. ''Ten Commandments of Metal" is another potential heavy metal anthem and even offers some food for thought in its lyrics about the perception of heavy metal by the masses and media. As you can see, freedom and heavy metal lifetsyle are the topics dominating this short but entertaining record.

While the second half of the album is less poignant, the tracks are still average at least thanks to a surprisingly dominating bass guitar play, sharp heavy metal riffs, a precise rhythm section and fist-pumping anthemic choruses in concise tunes that are usually around three and a half minutes long. The organic and powerful production gives the album a vivid live feeling and makes this release much more enjoyable than its predecessors. A concert from the band's upcoming tour would be highly recommended for a future live release because this is how this type of music shall be enjoyed best.

In the end, Grave Digger doesn't surprise anyone on here but the album offers a more concise song writing and a better production than the predecessors which makes this release one of the better traditional heavy metal outputs of the past couple of years. Grave Digger fans and fans of traditional heavy metal should definitely purchase this record including two solid bonus tracks that blend in very well and which are better than several tracks in the second half of this album. As long as bands like Grave Digger are still around, heavy metal will never die.

Final rating: 75%

First Fragment is another impressive progressive death metal band from Quebec. The group's musicianship on its conceptual full-length debut ''Dasein'' is astonishing. Despite being recorded by session musician Troy Fullerton, the sophisticated drum patterns are executed perfectly. The rhythms change every few seconds and the performance is technically impressive from start to finish. It's no surprise that it took the band a very long time to find a suitable drummer because the drum parts are really challenging. The bass guitar play is more than just supporting the drums and adding quite a few interesting solo parts and complex rhythms. This instrument could have been a little bit more present in the production but Vincent Savary has enough occasions to showcase his tremendous talent. Guitar duties are mostly handled by Gabriel Brault-Pilon and Philippe Tougas who offer a multitude of fast and brutal riffs yet manage to shine in wonderfully melodic solo parts in almost each song that recall the brilliance of heavy and progressive metal legends of the eighties and nineties. In addition to this, four other invited musicians perform lead guitars on different tracks throughout the album and add even more diversified melodic soundscapes to what might be one of the most promising technical death metal bands in recent memory. As if these elements weren't enough, the band offers an intellectual but not overtly challenging lyrical concept that deserves further attention.

Despite all these highly positive elements, ''Dasein'' has a few obvious flaws that really drag it down. What happens if you take a bunch of highly talented musicians with great expertise on their respective instruments and progressively speed up their skillful performances? The different sounds merge into one another, get harder to distinguish, create cacophonous passages, lose their creativity, efficiency and talent and ultimately become nothing at all. That is happening way too many times on this album. While the slightly slower guitar solos are spot on and the few acoustic interludes offer much-needed breaks, First Fragment mainly focuses on its brutal side instead of exploiting its incredible musicianship that even most melodic progressive metal bands can't achieve. The band wastes a lot of potential and many songs end up sounding quite repetitive and are often very hard to digest. Don't get me wrong, occasional high-speed passages are very welcome in progressive extreme metal territories but it's a shame that such a talented band mostly focuses on speed instead of skills or atmosphere. An extreme metal band like Black Crown Initiate might be less talented from a technical point of view but this group's outstanding songwriting employs perfectly placed high-speed passages among many slower parts that become much more efficient that way. First Fragment needs to learn to offer a more balanced songwriting and to use its skills in a more precise way.

The vocals have pretty much the same issue. A lot of thought was put into the lyrical concept of this release. The fact that the band members express themselves in their mother tongue makes the lyrics even more interesting. But what's the use to work out a truly interesting lyrical concept if you can't understand one single sentence because the singer is monotonously and repetitively roaring like an angry moose throughout the entire album? I never understood why numerous bands with skilled musicians and promising progressive concepts opt for the simplest of vocal styles that simply doesn't do the lyrics and music justice. Once again, I'm aware that we're talking about an extreme metal band and that harsh vocals are an important part of this sub-genre but it's a shame that the vocals are so one-dimensional and almost impossible to understand. Once again, an extreme metal band like Black Crown Initiate offers slower but still intense growls that are much easier to understand and garnish their music with efficient clean vocals here and there that only add to their lyrical concepts. First Fragment wastes a lot of potential in the vocal department. If you want to sound like Cannibal Corpse or Six Feet Under, you can hire a mad moose instead of a vocalist but if you actually have something else to talk about than rotten corpses in your lyrics, you should chose a different approach.

To keep it short, First Fragment is one of the most talented extreme metal bands out there with astonishing musicianship and interesting lyrical concepts. The band's excessive need for speed and its dumb vocals restrain the group from fully exploiting its incredible talent. Let's hope that the band learns to slow things down in the future and to work on better vocal efforts or hire a new vocalist if the group wants to have a significant impact.

Final rating: 60%