• 1. Iron Maiden - Powerslave

    2. Iron Maiden - Somewhere in Time

    3. Iron Maiden - Live After Death

    4. Amorphis - Tales from the Thousand Lakes

    5. Santana - Abraxas

    6. Megadeth - Rust in Peace

    7. Asia - Alpha

    8. The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

    9. Blink-182 - Enema of the State

    10. Nirvana - Nevermind

    11. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here

    12. Rammstein - Rosenrot

    13. Baroness - Purple

    14. Hawkwind - Warrior on the Edge of Time

    15. Helloween - Keeper of the Seven Keys, Part One

    16. Blind Guardian - Imaginations from the Other Side

    17. In Extremo - Mein rasend Herz

    18. King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King

    19. Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath

    20. Helloween - Keeper of the Seven Keys, Part Two

    21. Alice Cooper - The Last Temptation

    22. Nightwish - Oceanborn

    23. Supertramp - Breakfast in America

    24. Cheap Thrills - Big Brother & The Holding Company

    25. Jane's Addiction - Nothing's Shocking

    26. Meat Loaf - Bat Out of Hell

    27. Yes - Drama

    28. Rush - Moving Pictures

    29. Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick

    30. Dio - Holy Diver

    31. Fun - Aim and Ignite

    32. Green Day - Dookie

    33. Judas Priest - Painkiller

    34. Epica - The Holographic Principle

    35. Elvenking - The Scythe

    36. Uriah Heep - Demon Wizards

    37. Tool - 10000 Days

    38. Jefferson Starship - Spitfire

    39. Amorphis - Silent Waters

    40. Judas Priest - Sad Wings of Destiny

    41. Red Hot Chili Peppers - One Hot Minute

    42. Dream Theater - Images and Words

    43. Infected Mushroom - Army of Mushrooms

    44. Yes - Relayer

    45. Amorphis - Under the Red Cloud

    46. Mastodon - Once More 'Round the Sun

    47. Dream Theater - Black Clouds & Silver Linings

    48. Orphaned Land - Unsung Propehts & Dead Messiahs

    49. The Old Dead Tree - The Water Fields

    50. The Vision Bleak - The Unknown

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  • 1. Iron Maiden - Powerslave

    2. Iron Maiden - Somewhere in Time

    3. Iron Maiden - Live After Death

    4. Amorphis - Tales from the Thousand Lakes

    5. Santana - Abraxas

    6. Megadeth - Rust in Peace

    7. Asia - Alpha

    8. The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

    9. Blink-182 - Enema of the State

    10. Nirvana - Nevermind

    11. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here

    12. Rammstein - Rosenrot

    13. Baroness - Purple

    14. Hawkwind - Warrior on the Edge of Time

    15. Helloween - Keeper of the Seven Keys, Part One

    16. Blind Guardian - Imaginations from the Other Side

    17. In Extremo - Mein rasend Herz

    18. King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King

    19. Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath

    20. Helloween - Keeper of the Seven Keys, Part Two

    21. Alice Cooper - The Last Temptation

    22. Nightwish - Oceanborn

    23. Supertramp - Breakfast in America

    24. Cheap Thrills - Big Brother & The Holding Company

    25. Jane's Addiction - Nothing's Shocking

    26. Meat Loaf - Bat Out of Hell

    27. Yes - Drama

    28. Rush - Moving Pictures

    29. Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick

    30. Dio - Holy Diver

    31. Fun - Aim and Ignite

    32. Green Day - Dookie

    33. Judas Priest - Painkiller

    34. Epica - The Holographic Principle

    35. Elvenking - The Scythe

    36. Uriah Heep - Demon Wizards

    37. Tool - 10000 Days

    38. Jefferson Starship - Spitfire

    39. Amorphis - Silent Waters

    40. Judas Priest - Sad Wings of Destiny

    41. Red Hot Chili Peppers - One Hot Minute

    42. Dream Theater - Images and Words

    43. Infected Mushroom - Army of Mushrooms

    44. Yes - Relayer

    45. Amorphis - Under the Red Cloud

    46. Mastodon - Once More 'Round the Sun

    47. Dream Theater - Black Clouds & Silver Linings

    48. Orphaned Land - Unsung Propehts & Dead Messiahs

    49. The Old Dead Tree - The Water Fields

    50. The Vision Bleak - The Unknown

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  • A Bag of Marbles / Un sac de billes (2017)

    A Bag of Marbles is yet another novel and movie about the fate of a Jewish family during the Second World War. Don't get me wrong, it's an important topic, a dark part of history that shall never be forgotten and a thematic that is sadly still relevant nowadays. However, so many novels and movies have already explored the exact same approach presented in this film: Au revoir les enfants, Life is Beautiful, The Book Thief, The Diary of Anne Frank and Schindler's List are only some movies that immediately come to my mind. Instead of getting another similar scenario, it would have been interesting to follow the torn family of collaborators in this film for example. Another fresh change could have been to finally offer the perspective of young German soldiers manipulated by propaganda and disillusioned by war. Since this is a French movie, it's also a little bit too convenient to simply blame the foreign enemy and would have been much more interesting to investigate the crimes of Marshal Pétain in depth. Why not make a movie about revolting French antisemitism in the Dreyfus Affair? Or a movie about France's own racist attitude in their colonies? Instead of trying out anything new, A Bag of Marbles plays it safe and the fact that the novel and movie are based upon true events doesn't help much. 

    On the positive side, the acting performances by the teenagers incarnating the two brothers are stellar. The changes of locations keep the movie entertaining and give it an epic touch. The addition of numerous quirky side characters who are trying to find ways to hide their fears adds diversity to the film. There are a few memorable scenes such as the father beating up his own son to teach him how to deny his identity, the younger brother stepping up to save a family of collaborators in an act of civic courage and the same character desperately running after his desperate sweetheart whose family just got attacked by an angry mob.

    On the other side, the story doesn't offer anything new, is slightly dull and slow-paced in the middle section and only touches the surface of several interesting characters such as the Jewish doctor or the family of collaborators. Several chapters from the novel aren't included in the cinematic adaptation and a few details are also changed. Instead of showing the brothers endlessly wandering across mountains, the film should have spent more time developing the numerous interesting side characters and giving some additional information about the historic background.

    In the end, A Bag of Marbles is ultimately a good film but suffers from being just another movie about the fate of a Jewish family during the Second World War. The movie itself has its reasons to be, has a quirky and epic approach going for it and convinces with two really good lead actors. However, European cinema has been saturated with movies of this kind over the past three decades and this film fails both to offer anything new and to compete with its numerous competitors. The most authentic, gripping and sinister movie of this kind is the outstanding The Pianist. But if you really want to get an idea of the horrors of the Second World War, you have to visit a former concentration camp which is an absolutely life-changing experience.

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  • The Room (2003)

    I've finally discovered this movie because of the release of The Disaster Artist which is about the making of this film and the fact that one of my local cinemas has screened this film for one hundred months in a row.

    There are movies that are so bad that they are genuinely entertaining like the vivid and weird Samurai Cop. Other films are so bad that they are genuinely horrible and don't have anything going for them like the vapid Hobgoblins. The Room is actually a mixture of both types of bad movies. The first thirty minutes of the film were extremely hard to sit through and basically just consisted of poorly shot soft porn scenes. However, the final hour or so was so absurd with numerous strange subplots and a certain raise in tension that it kept my attention until the end.

    There are a few elements that I genuinely like. First of all, the camera work isn't too bad if compared to numerous contemporary low budget flicks with shaky camera perspectives. Secondly, Juliette Danielle isn't only nice to look at but has a certain appeal as confused sociopath and careless femme fatale. Thirdly, Tommy Wiseau's acting skills, even though they are wooden, definitely have a memorable and unique touch and aren't like anything I have ever seen in my life. Fourthly, the movie's soundtrack blends in very well. I wouldn't call it great but it serves its purpose in the different scenes.

    The other elements are so bad that they keep my attention. The acting skills vary from below average to bad. The dialogues are so thin, repetitive and wooden that an average elementary school student could have come up with something more intriguing. The main story could be described in three sentences but takes more than one hour and a half hours to unfold in a painfully slow development. The numerous unnecessary subplots going nowhere are cringe-worthy oddities that turn out being unintentionally memorable. The decorations and settings look cheap, fake and misplaced. The overlong sex scenes look so unreal that they are actually everything but exciting.

    Among the biggest oddities are the random spoon pictures, the main character's friends making love in his living room for no apparent reason, the emotionless dialogue about breast cancer, the numerous random football scenes and the two fake scenes involving characters tripping and getting injured. My favorite part is however the scene in the flower shop with the overtly quick exchange of senseless dialogue lines. This scene alone shows everything this film is about: a random scene with an unimportant side character, weak acting skills, bland dialogues, ordinary settings and unintentionally funny improvisation.

    The Room might have several purposes. It shows us how not to make a movie. It's a great party flick to watch with your friends to switch your brains off. It's a welcome distraction from your everyday lives. It's bizarre, goofy and almost surreal in its very unique style. It's a movie you won't ever forget. These are perhaps unintentional accomplishments that most serious films however fail to achieve which is why Tommy Wiseau still deserves some serious respect for his project.

    Despite its numerous obvious flaws, it's a weird experience you won't forget anytime soon which is exactly why this disaster of a movie became a cult classic. The sad thing is that Tommy Wiseau put so much passion into this project that I would honestly recommend watching this movie over any exchangeable contemporary superhero sequel flooding the world's cinemas. The Room is one of those movies you should have watched once in your lifetime for all the reasons stated above. I'm sure I will watch it again with a bunch of friends after having just discovered this film on my own this week.

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  • Enslaved / Opeth - Live in Plovdiv (2017)

    This interesting split release came along with the eighty-first issue of the great but expensive Prog magazine. It includes five live tracks recorded two years ago in Bulgaria where Swedish progressive metal quintet Opeth performed with orchestra. In addition to this, this release also includes a new song by Norwegian progressive extreme metal band Enslaved. Clocking in at about an hour of running time, the six songs basically promote a tour of the two bands by offering exclusive material.

    This record has many positive elements going for it. First of all, it's a record with five exclusive live tracks by Opeth plus an exclusive video edit of a new studio track by Enslaved which makes this record valuable for collectors and fans. 

    Secondly, with a running time just above one hour, one gets value for money with this limited release. The material is also so detailed and diversified that it requests multiple spins. This means that this release isn't just a nice gimmick but offers both quality and quantity. This output will keep you entertained for a long period of time.

    Thirdly, the atmospheric, colorful and inspiring cover artwork is simply gorgeous and one of the most beautiful in Opeth's career. It would have been even better to offer a poster of this piece of art with the magazine. 

    Fourthly, the sound quality of both the live material and the studio song is balanced and organic. I would even go as far to say that this is Opeth's greatest live record regarding production values. 

    Fifthly, the set list chosen for the live concert is quite diversified as it includes five songs from five completely different records representing Opeth's evolution as a band. We get one track from the third studio record My Arms, Your Hearse representing the band's eerie early years, the title song from the sinister Deliverance representing the band's most acclaimed phase, another one from the highly atmospheric Ghost Reveries representing the band's middle years, one tune from the much calmer and traditionalist progressive rock release Heritage as well as one selection from the band's then-current release Pale Communion. This selection isn't only a perfect representation of the band's different phases but also a great introduction to the group for those who don't own any of its releases yet. 

    Sixthly, the harmonious combination between Opeth's traditional soundscapes meandering between epic progressive rock with death metal outbursts on one side and decently employed orchestra on the other side makes the five live versions sound much more atmospheric, diversified and epic than the respective studio versions. Traditional rock instruments and classical elements complement each other perfectly. This combination sounds surprisingly balanced, fluid and organized. It sounds as if these five songs were always meant to be played this way. None of the tracks sounds overloaded. Opeth have achieved something many other metal bands such as Metallica struggled to achieve when combining classical music and heavy metal. Obviously, Opeth aren't Therion yet but the result of this collaboration sounds surprisingly strong. 

    The seventh element that needs to be pointed out is the authentic live atmosphere of this release. We don't just get live versions of five songs but witness entertaining communications between Opeth's singer and the audible audience that give some welcome breaks after the long individual tracks.

    The eighth and last but not least point that makes this release stand out is Enslaved's new studio track. It's a quite atmospheric, meandering and progressive track with a solid balance between dreamy interludes with choirs and fast-paced black metal outbursts. This combination is interesting enough to make me want to check out the band's new regular studio release.

    On the negative side, there are only two elements. First of all, Opeth played a total of sixteen songs during the show two years ago, including eight with orchestra. The band should have released its ambitious project as regular live record with all tracks played that night or at least all eight songs performed with orchestra. On a side note, the missing three songs performed with orchestra are included on some limited editions of the last studio record Sorceress.

    Secondly, the great cover artwork would have deserved a jewel case release with a small booklet with pictures from the show. The cardboard sleeve doesn't do this great release justice. If one takes into consideration the quite steep price of Prog magazine, it's not exactly a fan-friendly decision to only offer a cardboard format.

    Still, the two negative points are only minor details while the eight positive points all contribute to a highly recommendable high-quality release for occasional and faithful fans and collectors. This release is the best is a highlight in Opeth's discography. the best split release I have come across this year and one of the greatest live releases of the last twelve months as well. Finally, the bonus track by Enslaved is very atmospheric and progressive which makes it exciting and promising regarding the band's new studio release.

    Final rating: 80%

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