by Sebastian Kluth
Before I Fall is best described as a contemporary feminist take on Groundhog Day. It tells the story of high school student Samantha who seems to have a quite normal life. She lives with her friendly parents and her good-spirited little sister. She has...
Deliver Us from Evil is a conventional supernatural horror film that still manages to convince with very good acting performances, moody atmosphere and sinister locations. The plot revolves around former soldiers and their entourage who are behaving erratically...
Random Acts of Violence is a highly experimental low budget pseudo-documentary satire that I've picked up for three bucks some time ago. The story revolves a young adult of British origin living in New York City who is getting tired of gentrification....
German punk rock veterans Die toten Hosen have always been on the brave, creative and innovative side which helped them stay successful, relevant and energetic for four decades in a row. A punk double album, a single with French lyrics criticizing former...
DragonForce's Extreme Power Metal is a quite misleading album title. Without abandoning its trademark guitar duels and keyboard sounds, this album is one of the easiest to digest in their discography. It offers several mid-paced tunes and a few quirky...
Throne of Blood is an epic historical drama by renowned director Kurosawa Akira and with charismatic lead actor Mifune Toshiro. The plot revolves around betrayal, conspiracy, greed, honour and megalomania. It is inspired by William Shakespeare's Macbeth...
Riverwood is an Egyptian quintet that plays progressive folk metal in the key of Amaseffer, Myrath and Orphaned Land. Fairytale is the quintet's debut record and already shows a lot of promise. Even though the folk sounds seem to come from keyboards,...
Krypteria was an imaginative symphonic gothic metal band that slowly faded away in the beginning of the decade. Four of the band members joined forces for a new group called And Then She Came. The eponymous debut released two years ago was already quite...
Ladies and gentlemen! On the fourth day of my trip to Eastern Canada, I continued visiting the beautiful city of Halifax. I visited the wonderful Maritime Museum, the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia and Alexander Keith's Brewery. Highlights: Visiting Alexander...
Brotherhood of Blades is a very entertaining wu xia movie. It combines dynamic martial arts and sword fights with historical costumes and settings and a dramatic dose of suspense in form of complex conspiracies. The greatest thing about the movie is that...
When the infamous Iraq War started one and a half decades ago, I was still in high school but I remember many students of my age demonstrating against said war and the American President George W. Bush. I recall a classmate of mine who brought a poster...
Battle of Jangsari is the second part in a loose trilogy about the Korean War that started with the brilliant Operation Chromite three years before this film. It tells the story of a group of students who only had a few days of military training that...
The Witness is an excellent South Korean psychological thriller. The story revolves around a man who kidnaps a young woman who manages to escape but gets beaten to death in front of a modern apartment complex. A young family father witnesses the incident...
Ladies and gentlemen! Today, I have completed my epic ice hockey weekend by assisting the home opener of the Ottawa 67's against the Peterborough Petes. The game was very intense and enjoyable to watch despite a tough 3:2 loss by the home team. The crowd...
Light & Shade is more than your ordinary power metal band. It's the project of four skilled musicians from Germany, Italy and the United States of America. The quartet plays power metal with heavy riffs interwoven with symphonic and progressive keyboard...
After a solid but overall less convincing fifth installment, the sixth entry in the psychological horror franchise is a step in the right direction without reaching the quality of the first four movies. The film has a strong moral side as the test subject...
Bad Times at the El Royale is one of the greatest Hollywood movies released this year. Set in a remote hotel on the California-Nevada border that has seen its best days decades earlier, the movie follows an intriguing set of characters that end up meeting...
Ladies and gentlemen, On the thirteenth day of my trip across Eastern Canada, I arrived in Argentia, Newfoundland and Labrador and drove all the way to the province's capital Saint John's. I immediately fell in love with the savage, isolated and colourful...
A or B is a dramatic Chinese thriller that comes around with numerous surprises, twists and turns that will keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. This breathless, clever and dynamic movie convinces with a truly amazing script, great...
The Street Fighter is a Japanese martial arts film that stands out with its rough fights and graphic brutality. Main character Tsurugi Takuma is a tough guy with quite a temper who is able to rip out his opponent's eyes, testicles and vocal chords. The...
Music videos have recently been going out of vogue and have traditionally been underused by metal bands and particularly by the genre's most popular groups. Metallica is overall a positive exception and this collection is actually quite entertaining with...
Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings is quite different from the other two entries about the modest, intellectual and clever Tang Dynasty investigator. While the first movie relies on its mysterious atmosphere and investigative techniques and the second...
Ladies and gentlemen, On the twentieth day of my trip through Atlantic Canada, I drove southwards from Corner Brook to Channel-Port aux Basques where I had to take the ferry back to Nova Scotia the next day. I continued visiting multiple places on my...
Midnattsol's The Aftermath is the first record of the German-Norwegian quintet since former Leaves' Eyes singer Liv Kristine joined her sister Carmen Elise Espenæs last year. I expected a clever use of the two distinctive vocalists but the new material...
Samaritan Zatoichi is the nineteenth film in the franchise about the blind masseur, skilled swordsman and lowly yakuza. In this movie, Zatoichi reprises his work as yakuza to earn some money. Initially hired as observator, he ends up fighting and killing...
