Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood is one of the Quentin Tarantino movies that is the most difficult to describe. Usually, there are movies of his that convince with atmosphere, depth and twists such as Inglorious Basterds or films that are rather shallow, referential and confusing like Kill Bill. The only movie that is somewhere in between both extremes might be Jackie Brown that convinces with great acting and cool retro atmosphere but disappoints with unnecessary lengths and a weak story. This new movie could be compared to Jackie Brown.

The acting performances, especially by a very cool Brad Pitt and a vividly emotional Leonardo DiCaprio, are absolutely outstanding. Without the two brilliant main actors, this movie would have been painfully average but the strong acting performances make it a good movie, neither more nor less. The movie truly manages to capture the spirit of the end of the golden age of Hollywood with numerous references to popular television series and movies such as The Green Hornet and Rosemary's Baby. The movie cleverly mixes facts and fiction.

However, the movie clearly overstays its welcome with a running time of one hundred sixty-one minutes. The film takes more than two hours to introduce all characters and settings until the climax unfolds in about ten minutes. While most of Quentin Tarantino's movies have a clever twist, the one used here is slightly disappointing at first contact but at least offers some food for thought in hindsight. This is the kind of movie that grows on you as you think about it later on while it slightly disappoints while watching it.

This movie should be recommended to those who are either interested in the history of the American film industry or admire Brad Pitt or Leonardo DiCaprio who would both deserve Academy Awards for their extraordinary performances. The movie however has massive lengths and an almost unspectacular story. It's worth being watched at the cinema but overall slightly overrated due to the massive critical acclaim any Quentin Tarantino movie seems to receive.

Menteur, internationally known as Compulsuve Liar, is a highly entertaining comedy movie featuring many famous actors and comedians from Quebec. The story revolves around compulsive liar Simon whose lies become reality one day and teach him that facing and telling the truth is important in life.

Not every gag works out and the opening sequences feel slightly rushed but about twenty minutes into the movie, things start getting truly hilarious. My personal highlight of the movie was Simon's boss played by a hilarious Geneviève Schmidt who changed from being strict, organized and influential to a confused drunkard overnight.

Menteur is hilarious entertainment for the whole family and a wonderful introduction to Quebec's comedy culture. In addition to this, the movie even presents valuable life lessons in a light-hearted way. Menteur isn't memorable enough for becoming movie of the year but certainly worth to be checked out at your local cinema.

First things first: It's a shame that it took legendary thrash metal band Sacred Reich twenty-three and a half years to release a new studio album even though the band was only very briefly split up for six years. After such a long time, it's also a shame that the new record only includes eight songs with a meager running time of thirty-one minutes. The band could have at least included the brilliant punk rock tune "Dont Do It, Donnie" from the split with Iron Reagan released earlier this year. Let's hope Sacred Reich's next album won't take another two and a half decades.

With those negative comments out of the way, let's focus on Awakening. The record sounds so youthful, passionate, inspired, fluid, entertaining, energetic, diversified and authentic as if the band had never been away at all. "Divide and Conquer" for instance has such a liberating punk rock vibe that it recalls Anthrax's greatest carefree moments in the mid-eighties. "Death Valley" shows that the band is still open for new influences as this is a vibrant hard rock tune with plenty of cowbell sounds. Thrash metal purists are also served with songs like the vibrant opening title track "Awakening" with its dry riffs, precise drum play and overall cool and gloomy vibe.

Every single song on this album has something unique to offer as Awakening fluidly meanders from hard rock over punk rock to thrash metal and heavy metal and back again. The varied guitar play is inspired. The pumping bass guitar is vibrant. The drum play is precise and energetic. The vocals sound surprisingly youthful and find the right balance between melodic hooks and raw undertones. The lyrics are equally appealing and vary from important political messages to more personal topics. The dry yet vibrant production blends in perfectly and gives the record a contemporary hard rock touch without sounding too modern.

Sacred Reich's Awakening is a convincing comeback and serious candidate for thrash metal record of the year. This short but sweet comeback includes only killers and no fillers. Grab this record, catch the band on tour and cross your fingers that these guys are finally back for good.

Final rating: 90%

Ready or Not tries to be a mixture of a comedy and a horror movie and fails at both. The movie is never atmospheric, intense or scary enough to be a great horror movie. The film is never clever, surprising or vibrant enough to be an entertaining comedy movie. Even by poor b-movie standards, the story of this film is completely ridiculous in a way that it's almost insulting.

If you were wondering why this film still deserves four points, the movie isn't entirely bad. The settings look great and especially the mansion where the sinister hide and seek game takes place is really gorgeous, including hidden hallways and elegant gardens. The movie features a few intense action scenes that make you root for the desperate lead character. The film has a fast pace and doesn't overstay its welcome with plodding storytelling. Lead actress Samara Weaving does her best with a poor script and has enough charisma to be the only great actress in this film.

Ready or Not should be ignored since it's neither a gripping horror film nor a clever comedy. It's a shallow action film with a few gore elements. Movies like You're Next are similar in style but executed much better. The overtly positive reviews for Ready or Not show that expectations for horror movies have significantly decreased in an era of prequels, remakes, sequels and overall rehashed ideas. Refer to European or Asian cinema to find some creative horror movies these days.

Back in 2015, German folk metal legends In Extremo celebrated their twenty years of existence with a massive boxed set entitled 20 wahre Jahre which contained the band's studio records as well as one disc with an acoustic live performance from 2010 and one disc with rarities taken from singles and special editions. Most people weren't willing to pay one hundred bucks or more just for two interesting discs which was also my case. Thankfully, the band has released those two exclusive discs separately a little bit more than three years later and I was finally able to buy a copy of this limited release in Frankfurt this past summer. It was definitely worth watching and waiting for this amazing release.

Most bands sound watered-down, soft and dull when they transform their regular songs into acoustic versions. That can't be said about In Extremo at all. The low emotional vocals unfold even better in this context. Session drummer Adrian Otto plays with much energy, pace and precision. The acoustic bass guitar sounds more predominant than usual. The acoustic guitar play is diversified, melodic and quite playful. Most importantly, the numerous folk instruments such as the bagpipes, harp and shawm unfold amazingly here and aren't disturbed by domineering plugged guitars. The sixteen songs played in that context are true gems and sound at times even better than the regular studio versions. The usually overlong ''In diesem Licht'' convinces with its hypnotizing Orient folk soundscapes on this release. ''Lebensbeichte'' becomes a danceable fast-paced tune as opposed to the plodding melancholic original version and this change is equally surprising and convincing. ''Merseburger Zauberspruche II'' unfolds its full epic potential in this version and the vocals are particularly inspired here. The set list offers alternative takes of In Extremo's classics and focuses on the band's most recent record Sangerkrieg back then. I didn't appreciate said album that much but the songs sound excellent in their inspired acoustic versions. I wish the band did another series of acoustic shows next year and the septet should certainly release those alternative versions again.

The rarities aren't just consisting of shallow alternative and demo versions of known songs but actually include some precious gems. Brandnew band anthem ''Loreley'' has been specifically written and performed for the band's twentieth anniversary and sounds energetic, epic and joyful as it stands out as one of the band's greatest songs ever. ''Konigin'' is taken from the Kuss mich single and is a raw love song with hypnotizing bagpipe sounds, simplistic but highly efficient harp sounds and wonderful percussive elements in the excellent bridge. ''Captus est'' might be the band's best b-side ever and was even played in concert as it convinces with a memorable chorus of epic proportions, addictingly heavy guitar play and wonderful use of folk instruments. The alternative version of ''En esta noche'' featuring additional passionate lead vocals by José Andrëa of former Mago de Oz fame sounds much better than the original version as In Extremo has always made successful collaborations. ''Herr Winter stammt vom Kaukasus'' is a song for children which has been transformed into a comforting smooth folk tune by In Extremo. There isn't one single dull song among those rarities. Most medieval rock bands don't even have regular songs which are as amazing as In Extremo's rarities.

In the end, this release isn't only essential for In Extremo fans but for anyone who likes folk rock and metal. The acoutsic concert and selection of rarities underline In Extremo's status as greatest folk band that has ever emerged from Germany and even as greatest contemporary band from Germany in my humble opinion. Long live In Extremo! 

Final rating: 100%