Ladies and gentlemen!

On the fifteenth day of my trip across Eastern Canada, I drove from Newfoundland and Labrador's capital Sainth John's to Bonavista.

Highlights: Visiting Johnson GEO Vista Park taught me a lot about the science, history and geography of Newfound and Labrador. Visiting the coastal village of Trinity really introduced me to local culture. Bonavista with its rough northern shores left a lasting impression.

Curiosities: I slept in a small motel in Bonavista where I discovered local beers Black Horse and Dominion Ale which tasted just fine and better than I had thought.

 Johnson GEO CENTRE in Saint John's

 Downtown Clarenville

 Saint Paul's Anglican Church in Trinity

 Trinity with Fort Point in the background as seen from Gun Hill

Trinity Marina 

Random Passage Site in New Bonaventure 

 Bonavista Lighthouse

 John Cabot Municipal Park in Bonavista

 Dungeon Provincial Park and Lance Cove in Bonavista

Hell Fest doesn't have anything to do with the popular French heavy metal festival of the same name but is actually an atmospheric horror slasher movie.

The film convinces with atmospheric settings in a horror theme park and includes hypnotizing mazes, dark rides and spooky shows that seem to come straight out of a Rob Zombie film. The movie has a creepy atmosphere since the mysterious antagonist and serial killer, only known as The Other, doesn't speak a single word and never shows his real face to the audience. The flick comes around with a series of jump scares that are efficient because one anticipates the horrors that are going to happen. The movie's last scene and conclusion is quite creepy in a unique way.

On the other side, the six lead characters remain somewhat uninteresting and the audience doesn't really care about their fates. Some more character development would have improved the movie. The plot doesn't add anything new to the genre and leaves many questions unanswered such as the motivations of the serial killer. The approach to eliminate the lead characters one by one is obviously as shallow as it gets. The movie works a little bit too much with predictable stereotypes.

At the end of the day, Hell Fest is great movie to watch with your friends on a Halloween night. It isn't a particularly memorable movie but doesn't pretend to be that way either. It's an efficient horror slasher film that should appeal to genre fans and those who are looking for a few scares on Halloween.

Golden Job is a fast-paced Hong Kong action movie reminding of the genre's golden era between the late eighties and mid-nineties. The film is similar to other contemporary genre flicks like The Adventurers and Europe Raiders. 

The movie convinces with a steady pace from start to finish. The action sequences are fluid and spectacular. The car chases towards the movie's climax and the infiltration of the fortress during the falling action and resolution are particularly memorable. The settings are also interesting as the film takes places in an African refugee camp, in the beautiful city of Budapest, in a traditional Japanese village, in the flashy city of Fukuoka and on the stunning coast of Montenegro.

On the negative side, the plot is predictable and almost shallow as one has seen similar movies on numerous occasions. A group of five orphans are adopted by a caring father and become mercenaries for a good cause. One of them gets corrupted by greed and turns against them. The remaining four brothers try to save him but things soon get too far. The fact that an intense action movie tries to be moralizing and attempts to teach lessons about family values is somehow misplaced and even cheesy. The film also features uninteresting side stories such as the eldest orphan and his love interest from a refugee camp or the adoptive father and his immersive experience in a Japanese village. The special effects look somewhat artificial at times, contrasting the almost philosphical content oddly.

If you like Hong Kong action cinema, you can't go wrong with the intense Golden Job. If you expect anything creative, profound or unique being added to the traditional genre, you will end up being disappointed. Golden Job is a good average genre movie that will grab your attention for one hour and a half but quickly be forgotten soon after. At the end of the day, I would only recommend this movie to genre fans.

Kin is a dystopian science-fiction movie and coming-of-age drama. This interesting genre combination has recently been working quite well for a number of great movies like The Giver. However, it isn't the case for Kin. The film wastes a lot of potential and is average at best.

On the positive side, the characters and settings are solid. Eli comes from a broken home with a criminal stepbrother and a single dad which makes him already more complex, intriguing and realistic than most protagonists in similar films. Eli lives in a city that is as broken as his social life as he strolls through junkyards in Detroit and is already involved in minor criminal activities despite his young age. On his journey across the country to run away from criminals of all kinds and protect a mysterious weapon he has found by coincidence, Eli finds himself in strip clubs, prisons and casinos where he meets more mysterious and sinister characters. These locations certainly aren't appropriate for younger audiences and one has to wonder whether this movie has a target audience at all.

On the negative side, the movie has a dull pace and uninteresting story that leaves many unanswered questions. Despite its short length, the movie feels stretched and especially the exposition and rising action take too much time to unfold. As soon as the movie gets more interesting, it already ends and hints at a possible sequel. If you don't want to watch a movie without a proper conclusion, you shouldn't give Kin a chance in the first place. The story seems intriguing at first but leaves too many questions unanswered. While the movie has an overall gloomy and realistic touch, the last fifteen minutes drift so much into the realm of science-fiction that it makes the film inconclusive or even confusing. The film also seems to be build upon cameo appearances as interesting characters are introduced, have a few minutes of screen time and vanish soon after or are only shown in a few unimportant scenes. Eli and his stepbrother are followed by a group of thugs, a pimp and his associates, a group of people with seemingly supernatural abilities, the police and even the Federal Bureau of Investigation. After a dull start, too many things are crammed into the film's second half and the rapid storytelling just isn't satisfactory.

Kin would have had the potential to be an above average or even great movie if it had taken its time to build upon the different characters, groups and stories. Instead, everything is thrown into a melting pot and unfolds as a film that goes nowhere and fails to offer a proper conclusion. Kin isn't the worst movie of its kind but painfully average despite its initial promise. I wouldn't watch it again and wouldn't recommend it either.

Old Season's sophomore record Beyond the Black is clearly inspired by early epic rock, hard rock and heavy metal acts of the seventies and eighties like Thin Lizzy, Rainbow and Deep Purple. Mid-paced melodic guitar riffs and solos, a steady but unimpressive rhythm section and the occasional use of simple keyboard and piano patterns meet clean and at times high-pitched and theatrical vocals that are technically impressive but nerve-firing in the long run.

The songs have at times epic lengths with extensive instrumental passages such as the dynamic, diversified and atmospheric ''The Journeyman'' which can be considered as the highlight of this release.

While there isn't anything wrong with honouring the rock legends of yore, I'm missing an element that would make Old Season sound truly unique, memorable or interesting. The band would have gotten much recognition if this album had been released four decades earlier but the music simply sounds charming but dated by contemporary standards.

If you are an avid fan of seventies' hard rock and looking for a band honouring this innovative era, you are certainly going to enjoy Old Season's Beyond the Black that is executed with taste, passion and knowledge. If you expect a creative twist, surprising take or contemporary approach to this type of music, you are quickly going to feel somewhat bored. Old Season's Beyond the Black is very good for what it is but just not memorable enough to leave a lasting impression.

Final rating: 65%