Baby Driver is an above average action movie but definitely not the perfect blend so many critics seem to see in it.

On the positive side, the action sequences of the movie are vivid, spectacular and diversified. They also look rather realistic and don't overuse CGI technology. The last third of the movie has a great balance between an overall gloomy atmosphere and few more hopeful scenes between the characters. CJ Jones and Lily James played really likable and profound characters one could easily identify with. Jamie Foxx and Jon Hamm played two quirky gangsters with their very own styles. It was also great to see Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers as a side character in this film.

On the other side, the backstory isn't very original. The stereotype of a tough guy with a soft core because of a rough childhood is simply overused in Hollywood. The underlying message that he is still a nice guy and didn't have any choice to become a criminal is also very dangerous. Some of the characters' decisions are plain unrealistic, especially the typical Hollywood ending is filled with laughable stereotypes. Another issue is that every second Hollywood movie uses rock music of the seventies these days. While I like this type of music, it's simply wrong to praise this movie for its original style that isn't that original after all. I also thought that the middle section of the film dragged on for too long. The main character was introduced as a cool character that doesn't speak or think much but the middle section suddenly tried to give the character a more intellectual and profound touch which was completely misplaced.

In the end, Baby Driver is without a doubt an overall entertaining, fast-paced and stylish action movie that you should enjoy at your local movie theatres. But it simply isn't anything more than that. It's the kind of movie you will enjoy while you're watching it but you probably won't remember much of it after a few months or years.

Shock was one of Ottawa's hardest working and most promising heavy metal bands in the late eighties that opened for international top acts such as Anthrax, Megadeth and Motörhead but the band never got the breakthrough it would have deserved and wasn't even able to record a proper studio album. The group got frustrated and called it quits in the early nineties but just like many old bands that didn't make it big back then, Shock reunited with a new line-up and finally realized one of its dearest dreams. The band finally released its first full length album called Once Denied. Without the fierce teenage ambitions that ultimately destroyed the band, Shock has now found its vocation in playing traditional heavy metal. The band might open for less famous bands such as Annihilator and Blaze Bayley nowadays but the revamped quartet performs with genuine passion. This new light-hearted approach without any big pressure on their shoulders has even led to the release of a second studio album.

Once Denied features eight songs Shock had already written and in many cases recorded on multiple occasions on its six different demo releases during its early years. The songs are performed with energy and passion but they also show the reason why the band maybe didn't get its breakthrough back then. While the songs are great, Shock fails to add its own touch to the fierce heavy metal soundscapes. The eight tracks have a vivid flow and sound perfectly coherent but there aren't many memorable, outstanding or surprising passages in their songs. Shock is simply stated another traditional heavy metal band with occasional thrash metal influences. They don't play in the same league as other Canadian acts such as Annihilator, Anvil or Exciter despite a similar sound. Expect motivated melodic lead vocals, mid- to fast-paced thrashing tiffs, an occasional melodic guitar solo here and there and a steady rhythm section that delivers a solid job without really standing out. The best song on here is probably the album closer ''Splitting the Atom'' because it includes a few calmer and more melodic breaks that make this track more imaginative than the rest.

Old school heavy metal maniacs and local fans from the Ottawa era will dig Once Denied and should definitely support this revamped band that hasn't lost any of its energy, passion and will after all those years. For anyone else, chances are that you are familiar with a similar local heavy metal band that didn't make the cut in the glorious eighties but still continues to do what it does best. Show your respect to these honest veterans and support your local metal community. Shock's Once Denied isn't particularly outstanding but it's genuinely entertaining and good for what it is.

Final rating: 65%

Kung Fu Yoga is as stereotypical as its title might suggest but despite average acting performances, artificial special effects and a weak plot, it's an entertaining, fast-paced and quirky movie that mixes stunning fight choreography, exotic settings and an intriguing mixture of Arab, Chinese and Indian cultures.

The story revolves around India's lost Magadha treasure in Tibet that is searched by three different parties: Chinese archaeologists, descendants of Magadha royalty and a ruthless group of mercenaries led by another descendant of an Indian royalty. The plot has a few minor but overall predictable twists. While the story is overall of an average quality at best, the movie focuses on fast-paced action- adventure elements in the key of the Indiana Jones movies. Short humorous passages and mythological elements add to the genre potpourri. 

There are a few truly memorable scenes in this movie. The opening animated history sequence is quite unusual and starts the movie on an original note to give the audience some background information. The closing dance choreography as well as the vivid soundtrack are also quite entertaining. The best part can however be found in the middle of the movie and consists of a spectacular chase through the streets of Dubai involving a vomiting lion. Despite the ridiculous idea, I haven't laughed that hard in quite a while which means that the makers of this movie have accomplished their mission.

Kung Fu Yoga doesn't take itself too seriously and that what makes its charm. It's an entertaining movie that works best when you switch your brain off and try to enjoy the ride. It offers a colourful, exotic and explosive change from your everyday life. It also marks one of the few major collaborations between Chinese and Indian cinema and I hope to witness more occasions where these two countries join their forces. Kung Fu Yoga isn't an essential movie but an entertaining action- adventure movie for young adults and teenagers in particular.

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%

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