Ladies and gentlemen!

Here are a few pictures from the second day of my short autumn road trip. I spent the morning and early afternoon in Peterborough. Later on, I rode about two and a half hours south-west to Guelph. The weather wasn't perfect but I had the occasion to visit a few beautiful spots in Peterborough. I had a great dinner in Guelph and decided to go to the cinema in the evening due to the bad weather. Overall, I had an enjoyable day.

Lock station 20 in Peterborough, Ontario.

Peterborough Lift Lock - more than one hundred years old but still the tallest of its kind in the whole world.

Another look from the top of lock station 21.

McBride Island Park in Peterborough, Ontario.

Riverview Park and Zoo in Peterborough, Ontario.

Parrot in Riverview Park and Zoo.

Wallabies and an ostrich in Riverview Park and Zoo - there were also monkeys, snakes, turkeys, turtles, yaks and many other animals.

Another war memorial like in any town in Ontario - this time in downtown Peterborough.

Inside the Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough.

13th of May 2016:

Metalwings: Symphonic Metal from Sofia, Bulgaria: https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Metalwings/3540406476

26th of May 2016:

Archɇtype: Progressive Death / Thrash Metal from Montreal, Quebec, Canada: https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Arch%C9%87type/3540411672

15th of September 2016:

Vantablack Warship: Thrash / Death Metak from Montreal, Quebec, Canada: https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Vantablack_Warship/3540416604

Ladies and gentlemen!

Here are a few pictures from the first day of my short autumn road trip. On the first day, I drove all the way from Gatineau to Peterborough. Weather was cloudy but dry. The small towns I have discovered are really gorgeous. 

Anglican Church and Criminal Court in Perth, Ontario.

McMartin House with special architecture in Perth, Ontario.

Water Tower in Perth, Ontario.

Slightly flooded Stewart Park in Perth, Ontario.

Big Ben Memorial Statue next to Code Park in Perth, Ontario.

Tay Canal in downtown Perth, Ontario.

Perth Famers Market with The Mammoth Cheese in Perth, Ontario.

Marmora Memorial Park in Marmora, Ontario.

Dam system on Crowe River in Marmora, Ontario.

Another look at the dam on Crowe River in Marmora, Ontario.

Autumnal Canadian cabin in Peterborough, Ontario.

Wind River is the blockbuster you didn't know you had to watch this summer or autumn. The movie is a gloomy mixture of a sinister drama with a set of authentic, flawed and haunted characters and a quite gruesome, mysterious and tense thriller. The fact that the movie was inspired by true events makes it even more haunting.

Even if you're watching this movie in the summertime, it will definitely send cold shivers down your spine. The film takes place during a heavy snow storm in the isolated Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming. The story follows a quiet outcast and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agent who is divorced and has lost his daughter under mysterious circumstances and a female rookie F.B.I. special agent who must be resilient in unfamiliar territory to earn some respect from hostile Native Americans and closed-minded white drill workers alike. This unlikely duo, supported by local Native American police officers, must find out the truth about the mysterious death of a young woman.

The movie's only weak spot might be the slightly predictable plot but the authentic, brutal and emotional ending still suits the movie perfectly. Among the most convincing elements, the superb acting performance by Jeremy Renner must be pointed out. I have always appreciated him as entertaining sidekick in several action thrillers but in this dramatic thriller, he shows his entire potential and really convinces as haunted outsider. Another strong element of the film is the fact that it authentically shows the problematic relationships between disillusioned Native Americans and arrogant White Americans and points out the difficult coexistence between traditional reservations and greedy companies. Finally, the bare but beautiful snow landscapes fit perfectly to a story between bitterness and hope. They aren't only stunning to watch but play an important role in the opening sequence as well as in the final scenes.

If you like authentic dramas and thrillers with credible stories and outstanding acting performances, there is no way you can get around Wind River. I would suggest watching this film in the wintertime as you will find it even more immersive. Still, Wind River is easily the best movie I have watched last summer and I would recommend it to any family member or friend and surely buy a copy on DVD or BluRay to support the makers of this film.

A Cure of Wellness is one of the best Western movies in recent memory and it's a mystery to me why this film didn't get the attention it deserved. Many people claim that it bombed at the box office. That's not surprising because I was actively trying to watch the movie but it wasn't shown in any of the numerous movie theaters around me, including multiplexes with up to sixteen screens. If the movie isn't even shown at the cinema, it's obvious that nobody can watch it. I even had some trouble getting my hands on the movie once it was released on DVD and BluRay. Most video rental stores had very few copies and local electronics store chains didn't promote the release either. I'm not certain who is responsible for this horrible release strategy but this may have contributed to the fact that this film unjustifiably passed under the radar.

It certainly can't be so unpopular because of the lack of quality. A Cure for Wellness has numerous things going for it. First of all, the gloomy story is entertaining from start to finish. The few predictable elements are outweighed by a stunning finale that one might not see coming and that you will remember for a very long time. I would even say that the movie's conclusion is nearly on the same surprising level as Oldboy, Shutter Island or The Sixth Sense.

Secondly, the film has a mysterious atmosphere and is told in a smooth but haunting way. The film is carefully arranged which justifies its epic length of nearly two and a half hours. 

Thirdly, the locations of the film are absolutely stunning. The movie briefly takes place in the soulless skyscrapers of glass and steel and New York City while the rest of the movie is set in an expensive wellness center in the Swiss Alps. Even though most of the movie was filmed in Germany, the settings look authentic, elegant and haunting as most beautiful spots presented here have something abominable lurking beneath the surface. 

Fourthly, the movie mixes diverse genres in a creative, diversified and fluid manner. The movie seems to be a psychological thriller but it also includes dramatic and fantastic elements and even adds some minor philosophical elements in the right spots without ever being moralizing. 

Fifthly, the acting performances are absolutely convincing. Dane DeHaan convinces as ambitious businessman looking for his superior who has gone to a mysterious wellness center. His character looks determined on the outside but feels weakened inside as he slowly realizes that greed and money have replaced his family and friends. The main protagonists and antagonists and even the side characters are so interesting that one is always longing for more details and information about them.

This movie is often compared to the brilliant Shutter Island and this is especially true for the mysterious atmosphere, isolated landscapes and sinister plot elements. However, A Cure for Wellness is unique enough to convince due to the smartly employed dramatic elements that portray a set of flawed, haunted and mysterious characters and the shift towards fantastic genre elements in the last quarter of the movie. Shutter Island might have a cleverer twist than A Cure for Wellness but from every other point of view, these two movies are equally strong. That's why I can't understand why Shutter Island rightfully received all the praise it deserved while A Cure for Wellness is overall under-appreciated. If you would like to discover a psychological thriller with dramatic and fantastic elements, gloomy story, mysterious atmosphere, stunning settings and strong acting performances, then this film is worthy of your money, support and time.