• Sun of the Sleepless - To the Elements (2017)

    Markus Stock, better known under his pseudonym Ulf Theodor Schwadorf, has been the most creative, diversified and hard-working musician, producer and singer of the German metal scene in the past twenty years. The number of excellent ambient, black metal, gothic metal and neofolk bands he has been involved in is incredible. As if his numerous renowned involvements weren't enough, the German workaholic has now reanimated one of his earliest projects called Sun of the Sleepless. This was basically his solo project where Markus Stock could realize all his ideas that didn't necessarily blend in with the sounds of his other bands such as Empyrium and The Vision Bleak. The project started as an ambient act with black metal influences but later also included electronic elements. Thirteen years after the project's last release in form of a rare split record with another band of Markus Stock called Nachtmahr, this project has been brought back to life when least expected. As if a record with seven new songs weren't enough, Markus Stock also put together a compilation of the project's early days that was only released on vinyl and which is strictly limited to one hundred fifty copies. If you can get your hands on one of these copies, you will own an invaluable gem. But let's get back to the new record To the Elements.

    In a certain way, this album unites all the different soundscapes Markus Stock has been experimenting with and fusions them in a coherent way. Appeasing neofolk passages with mysterious clean vocals meet gloomy doom metal soundscapes with a gothic atmosphere supported by melodic but sinister vocals and fast-paced black metal eruptions with ferocious blastbeats and guttural vocals. Right from the first notes of the melancholically hypnotizing ''The Burden'' with its enchanting choirs that smoothly fade in until the epic choirs followed by mysterious whispers in the final moments of ''Phoenix Rise'', this album develops a cinematic, epic and haunting atmosphere that really distinguishes this project. The songs might not always be stunning from a technical point of view but To the Elements has a clear guiding line that is executed perfectly. This album has a dark soul and yet includes moments of hope, peacefulness and revitalization. It's an album to listen to with your headphones on in the dark which is the case for many of Markus Stock's works. It unfolds its true magic after a few spins.

    Along with the new Paradise Lost album, Sun of the Sleepless manages to come back with a bang and release one of the most profound atmospheric extreme metal records of the year. If you are the kind of person that is ready to take some time to explore a record's atmosphere and listen to it over and over again, To the Elements should be an essential purchase for you and might as well make your list of this year's greatest records already.

    In German stores such as Media Markt and Saturn, this album is sold for almost twenty bucks which is definitely too much for seven songs and a running time just above forty minutes. Don't support those overtly capitalist electronics stores. The label Lupus Lounge / Prophecy Productions sells this record for a very reasonable amount of money and you can even download it from Bandcamp for a more than generous price. While you're at it, the label still has a few copies of the aforementioned compilation vinyl Shadows of the Past left in store, so go grab both records and make them your soundtrack for the upcoming autumn and winter seasons.

    Final rating: 85%

    Partager via Gmail Delicious Technorati Yahoo! Google Bookmarks Blogmarks Pin It

  • Twin Peaks (2017)

    Sixteenth episode: No knock, no doorbell / The Return, Part XVI

    Content: Cooper's doppelgänger and Richard follow the coordinates. Jerry Horne sees the doppelgänger send Richard ahead to the site, where he is electrocuted and killed; the doppelgänger says, "Goodbye, my son." Chantal and Hutch are killed by an accountant they provoked outside the Jones residence. Cooper awakens from his coma after the electric shock he had received earlier, fully articulate and alert. MIKE tells Cooper that the doppelgänger is at large and gives him the owl ring. After confirming that MIKE still has the seed, Cooper gives him a strand of his hair, telling him to "make another one", then has the Mitchums organize a flight to Spokane, Washington. After receiving a text from the doppelgänger, Diane tells the task force that Cooper raped and kidnapped her at their last meeting. Exclaiming "I'm in the sheriff's station ... I'm not me," she pulls a gun, but is shot by Albert and Tammy. In the Black Lodge, MIKE tells Diane that she was manufactured; she dissolves into a seed. Audrey and Charlie arrive at the Roadhouse. A band begins playing "Audrey's Dance". The floor clears and she dances alone. When a fight breaks out, Audrey insists to Charlie that they leave, and is shocked to find herself shouting at her own reflection in a white room.

    Analysis: The first thing to analyze is what happens to Richard Horne. Many people believe he is dead but I believe the rock was a trap to transport Evil Cooper back into the Black Lodge. My guess is that Richard Horne isn't dead but caught in the Black Lodge and could eventually play an important part in the final two episodes. After his father's betrayal, he could come back to get his revenge. The second thing to analyze is that Special Agent Dale Cooper asks Mike to manufacture another doppelgänger. Maybe the last two episodes could involve three characters looking like Dale Cooper (Special Agent Dale Cooper, Evil Cooper and the new tulpa). After Evil Cooper manufactured Douglas Jones to stay outside the Black Lodge, Special Agent Dale Cooper might now get his revenge by using another manufactured tulpa to set a trap for Evil Cooper. The third thing to analyze is what happened to Diane Evans. It seems obvious to me that Evil Cooper manufactured a tulpa when he raped and abducted the real Diane Evans. Since the tulpa was killed and returned to the Black Lodge, the question is where the real Diane Evans is. It's possible that Evil Cooper killed her back then but I believe that she's still around. Since she talked about the sheriff's station, her spirit could inhabit Naido, the mysterious Asian woman found in the woods of Twin Peaks. The fourth thing to analyze is the final scene involving Audrey looking in a mirror in a white room. My guess is that she's in an asylum and that she had severe mental issues after she had been raped by Evil Cooper. There two possibilities of what awoke her from her state of confusion and illusion. The first one could be the fact that her son got electrocuted. A lot of people say that a mother and her child have a strong and almost supernatural connection. The second possibility could be that she was awoken by Special Agent Dale Cooper's return. Since she had been in love with him and had been raped by his doppelgänger, there is a strong connection between them as well.

    Description: I was slightly disappointed by the beginning of the episode since a lot of time was wasted with filming Evil Cooper and Richard Horne driving around without having their much anticipated conversation. However, the episode got better and better after a weak start. The return of Special Agent Dale Cooper was refreshing after such a long time. Chantal's and Hutch's deaths came as stunning surprises. The final scene involving Audrey Horne was truly haunting. Everything is set for two spectacular final episodes in Twin Peaks. 

    Favorite scene: My favorite scene was at the very end of this episode when Audrey Horne was looking at Charlie and then realizing she was looking in a mirror. This scene was eerie, haunting and mysterious. I'm curious what is going to happen to her character in the last two episodes.

    Rating: 8/10

    Partager via Gmail Delicious Technorati Yahoo! Google Bookmarks Blogmarks Pin It

  • The Dark Tower (2017)

    I'm not familiar with The Dark Tower novel series and I didn't expect much going into this movie with a few friends. To my surprise, The Dark Tower turned out being one of the best movies of the year so far.

    It's never easy to transform one or several novels into one or several movies. Most of those films are extremely long and fans still complain that different characters or plot elements aren't included. Many of those films feel unfinished and often end on cliffhangers, implying that there will be one or several sequels. Many of those movies are only interesting for those familiar with the novels as a lot of information is omitted in the films which are hard to follow for those unfamiliar with the novels.

    The Dark Tower avoids all those mistakes so many movies make. The movie is short and concise with a healthy length around one and a half hours. This film doesn't end on a cliffhanger and tells a coherent story from start to finish. It might be possible that there are going to be other movies involving the main characters of this film but with completely new story lines. The film was easy to understand for anyone thanks to a reduced and clear structure. Instead of including too many characters and a lot of background information, the film focuses on a pitiless villain, a lonesome gun-slinging hero and an innocent child with special capacities.

    The movie managed to be balanced without ever being headless. It's an action movie because of the breathtaking fight scenes involving an incredibly cool Idris Elba and a cold and sinister Matthew McConaughey. It's a fantasy film because of the existence of different worlds and the possibility of travelling between them. It's a thriller because of the ruthless crimes the villain commits. It's a drama because it shows how the gunslinger struggles with his father's death and how the innocent child feels rejected by his family. It's a movie for teenagers because it's easy to identify with the sympathetic young loner but also for adults because the movie is surprisingly brutal and sinister at times.

    Add a constant gloomy atmosphere, a fitting soundtrack, great camera work without too many shaky camera sequences, imaginative visual special effects, interesting side characters such as the teenager's suspicious stepfather or the charming and intelligent seer as well as smart references to other works of Stephen King such as It and The Shining.

    In the end, I couldn't point out a negative element of this movie. The story itself might not be revolutionary and can basically be described as the eternal duel between good and evil but the story was written by Stephen King and not by the makers of this film. From the gripping acting over the diversified genre mixture and concise storytelling to the stunning sound and visual special effects, The Dark Tower convinces on every level. Most importantly, it's absolutely entertaining from start to finish, no matter if you're familiar with the novels or not.

    Partager via Gmail Delicious Technorati Yahoo! Google Bookmarks Blogmarks

  • De père en flic 2 / Father and Guns 2 (2017)

    Eight years ago, the French-Canadian action-comedy movie Father and Guns was a massive blockbuster. While a similar movie like Good Cop, Bad Cop managed to reinvent itself for a stunning sequel, the makers of Father and Guns decided to stick to the exact same formula again. The plot is almost exactly the same as in the first movie: Two police officers, an overambitious father and a troubled son, infiltrate a boot camp to get some information from a collaborator of Montreal's organized crime scene. The main difference between the two movies is that the first film focused on a boot camp for difficult relationships between fathers and sons while the second film portrays a boot camp for couples where the son participates with his girlfriend while his father acts as driver and psychologist.

    Despite its repetitive formula, the movie works surprisingly well and is even a slight improvement over the first film in my opinion. The movie starts with a gripping and sinister opening sequence and then switches to a fast-paced scene with two amazing jokes that immediately get you into the movie. The pace of this second instalment is faster, the humour is more on point and the acting has also improved. Louis-José Houde has improved his wooden and stereotypical acting skills from the first part and his new on-screen partner Karine Vanasse is a much more versatile actress than Caroline Dhavernas in the first film. The movie focuses even more on lead actor Michel Côté than the first film as he incarnates an ambitious police officer, an emotional lover, a quiet driver, a radical psychologist, a sentimental loner and a tough father all at once. This idea pays off because both the character and the actor are very interesting. 

    On the negative side, the side characters and the activities in the boot camp are too similar compared to the first movie. There are some positive exceptions like the hilarious lesbian couple and the discussion about parents in the woods but these parts of the film are overall the least interesting ones. It was a good choice to focus more on what happens in between the boot camp sequences like the hilarious Scandinavian and Thai approaches. The finale was a little bit too predictable but didn't overstay its welcome.

    Despite its obvious and predictable flaws, the second instalment of Father and Guns is a positive surprise and a movie with improved acting performances, vivid action sequences, focused emotional moments, hilarious jokes and a solid dose of tension. The film entertains from start to finish. It might not beat the second instalment of Good Cop, Bad Cop this year but it underlines the fact that this might be the most successful year in French-Canadian cinema in a very long time.

    Partager via Gmail Delicious Technorati Yahoo! Google Bookmarks Blogmarks Pin It

  • Dunkirk (2017)

    Dunkirk was a disappointment and is easily Christopher Nolan's weakest movie to date. There were many issues I had with that movie: confusing overlapping story lines, exchangeable characters without any depth, mostly faceless acting performances, a constantly numbing, overtly dramatic and repetitive soundtrack and lots of headache-inducing shaky camera passages, even in parts of the movie when nobody is getting attacked. Those who call this movie one of the greatest war movies of all times clearly haven't watched many films of that kind. Over the past twenty years, films such as Saving Private Ryan, The Pianist, Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War, My Way and Battle for Incheon: Operation Chromite all had intriguing characters, gripping tension, memorable scenes, moving soundtracks and spectacular special effects. Before you voice your opinion about Dunkirk or any of its reviews, you should be familiar with movies like these.

    However, there were still a few elements that I liked about Dunkirk that made the movie entertaining and overall slightly above average. First of all, the storytelling is an interesting experiment, as it follows the Dunkirk evacuation from three perspectives: land, sea and air. The land perspective is the most gripping one and follows the epic odyssey of a young British Private. The sea perspective has its strengths when a tragic accident happens on the boat of a courageous civilian who wants to support the Royal Navy but the characters could have been a little bit more fleshed out. The air perspective is the weakest one in my book despite an epic finale because the fight sequences always exactly look the same and it's at times hard to follow what happened to whose plane. A strong element of the movie is its historic accuracy despite a few fictionalized characters here and there. The settings look authentic and especially the uniforms and planes look realistic. It must also be added that stories about the war shall not be forgotten as history tends to repeat itself and as it's important to honour those who fought for the freedom of the future generations.

    In the end, Dunkirk has its merits and doesn't go the easy way with heroic characters, stunning special effects and traditional plots. However, the numerous overlapping plots are at times confusing, the characters are mostly redundant and the omnipresent score doesn't add to the movie as it was intended by the makers. If you are interested in the Second World War and have watched numerous war movies already, you might be interested in giving Dunkirk a shot as well. However, if you are less familiar with war movies, you might easily get bored with this film and should watch the movies I have mentioned in my introduction first.

    Partager via Gmail Delicious Technorati Yahoo! Google Bookmarks Blogmarks Pin It