Des

Tetsuo (1989) Bizarre surreal low budget Japanese sci-fi horror. Plays out like a nightmare with rapid editting and rather macabre imagery. Loses some steam towards the end when the aaaaahhhh, uuurrrrgh, iiieeeeehhhrrrrgh noises of torment got on my nerves and the pace of the flashy pictures didn't slow down a bit. At 67 minutes this still felt quite long, especially the last 20 minutes. In any case it's a unique movie that is unsettling but fascinating. Also noteworthy is the soundtrack: eerie and atmospheric. And how much more cult could a movie possibly get? The answer is none... none more cult! ★★★☆☆ The Imitation Game (2014) A dramatization of events in the life of mathematician Alan Turing that tries to grab both the cash from casual audiences as well as the prizes from the critics and award shows. It seems to do well at both but I think it's a mediocre movie that had a lot more potential. Neither the decoding of the messages of the Nazis or Alan's private life get real interesting at any point. Flashbacks to Alan as a child were rather unnecessary (other than to slow down the pace of the movie artificially) and during the parts where math should've been the main focus, it barely scratched the surface of the material. The movie is split 50/50 on characterization and suspenseful storytelling... except that the characters don't come alive and that there's no real suspense. Cheesy one-liners of supposed 'wisdom' and a short lesson in ethics is what we get, and what we are supposed to be impressed with. The film is well made in regards to costumes, editting (I suppose, even if it was a bit manipulative), acting (Cumberbatch and Knightley were good) and the overall feel of the period this story is set in. But don't expect more to this than what would fit on one page of your high school history books... written in a rather sentimental and even in a patronizing tone. Before I clicked on this topic to write this piece I had a three-star rating in mind but the more I think back on the movie, the less impressed I am. ★★☆☆☆

I remember heidi. from long ago... their popularity has declined so much, I wonder if they have any loyal fans left. DELUHI and AK-FG are nice groups. Fats Domino - Blueberry Hill Bauhaus - Slice of Life JUDY AND MARY - Hyper 90's Chocolate Boyfriend T. Rex - Till Dawn Serge Gainsbourg - Ballade de Melody Nelson The Sisters of Mercy - Flood II Love - The Good Humor Man He Sees Everything Like This Mazzy Star - Still Cold Annette Hanshaw - I Get The Blues When It Rains Nico - Chelsea Girls Not a great shuffle but then Nico's famous song turned up... makes for an easy favorite.

Marilyn Manson's new music.

Some more theme suggestions: Non-singles (album songs that never got a single release) 60's/70's <3:00 in length Solo artists Artist ABC's (first to plug plays an artist starting with letter A, next up is B, etc. until we get to Z and repeat the process) Song ABC's (ditto but with song titles) Songs with a woman's name in its title Songs with a geographical location in its title (cities, countries, rivers, deserts...) And I want to give my support to the 80's, 90's, Non-Japanese and Covers themes too!

Modern day innocent France Gall with a touch of goth.

Ever since I discovered last.fm it's been my main source. I am often browsing through lists of similar and recommended artists and libraries of users that seem interesting and then I just go from there. Other sources are music blogs and related Youtube videos but it all doesn't weight up against the masterstroke that is last.fm. Disclaimer: this user is in no way affiliated with last.fm and has not received payments for any suspicions of product endorsement. This user is in fact entirely fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

I like BUCK-TICK, 9GOATS and MERRY in that shuffle! The Stone Poneys - 2:10 Train LUNA SEA - Blue Transparency Carmen Maki & Blues Creation - Motherless Child T. Rex - Spaceball Ricochet Siouxsie and the Banshees - Cocoon Chantal Goya - Mon ange gardien LUNA SEA - Aurora Hollowgram - Butterfly in Her Dreams Nico - I'll Keep It With Mine Chantal Goya - Sois gentil

I would like to see you rip the 'sequel' to shreds. Dead Island: Riptide is basically the same game except on another island. Wonder what they'll do with Dead Island 2 which should come out this year. The killing zombies-genre needs something fresh to keep it going. Now it's just rotten meat.

Magic in the Moonlight (2014) Charming but gets a bit stale after a while. The setting is great: magicians, trickery, the 1920's, beautiful scenery... plenty of eye candy and an overall nice atmosphere. What is missing (and becomes more and more obvious towards the end) is chemistry between the two leads, Colin Firth and Emma Stone. It's a very Wooden Allen-y kind of movie in a sense it gets a bit uncomfortable and silly in the romance department. It is so-so but worth checking out for the beautiful imagery and if movies set in the late 1920's appeal to you. Or if Emma Stone appeals to you... or Colin Firth... or... yeah, it's ok. ★★★☆☆ Gone Girl (2014) Not a fan of David Fincher as a director because he's very much like Christopher Nolan in his approach to the movies: very plot-driven and often expertly avoids the 'point' or the 'clue' of the story until the end... but by then most of the movie is not worth two cents anymore let alone a rewatch because what happens before the end isn't of much importance anymore. However, I experienced this movie a bit differently and that's good! The criticism on the media regarding coverage of a personal drama and the masses of people who get involved for no reason besides wanting to witness the drama... it's not very subtle, but I can appreciate it. This psychological thriller features twists and turns that are exciting even if not all of it make perfect sense. But that's the thing here, they don't have to make perfect sense because it's not all about the plot. It's more than just a story of events: there is some focus on the actual characters (who are not just dummies) and what goes on inside their heads and how they are affected by the circus called the press. Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike are both excellent in their roles. ★★★☆☆

I've been playing Far Cry 4 for a bit. Playing on the hard difficulty with several settings off (like aim assists, grenade indicators) and at first I died a lot but now that I am used to the gameplay again... it's still rather easy and a little disappointing. Sure, there are elephants, there's a James Bond You Only Live Twice kind of mini helicopter and a wingsuit you can use. But the latter two are mostly used to travel around quickly. You gain good weaponry and killer abilities far too quickly in this game and much of the gameplay is exactly the same as in Far Cry 3. Co-op mode is okay I guess but relies heavily on the use of a headset. There are some signals you can give to your co-op partner but they are much too limited (you can't even tell them you need to collect some ammo, so you leave them utterly confused when you go out of your way to buy some at the nearest settlement). Multiplayer (player versus player) matches are downright terrible. 2 teams, 5 players per team. One team uses standard weaponry like machine guns and the other team uses 'nature' to summon animals like tigers and eagles and are allowed to use bows and arrows with enhancements and stuff. Also, they are nearly invisible when crouching. So it's stealth and tactics versus machine guns and rocket launchers. A neat idea... if this was an OPTION, but it's not an option. All the game modes are like this. It's not very satisfying. Why not put 16 or 32 players on the map roaming around doing all kinds of missions? Why not invade a heavily armored fortress with a team of 8 players? Why not defend a location while the AI sends in waves of enemies? So many logical options here, but there's none of this! They had a good thing going with the series with Far Cry 2 and I'm starting to feel some nostalgia for that one. It had its flaws but it was very rewarding and a very immersive experience. In #3 you're just some kind of teenage Rambo and in #4 you are that same Rambo except on an elephant. I'll complete the game because it's not too bad but the entire game's design is far too simple and doesn't excel at anything. It's pick-up, play, throw away. Not a memorable game.

I am part of the vinyl hipster crowd that's infesting the record stores now. If any medium is going to disappear I bet it will be the CD. With the rise of lossless downloads they won't have any added value anymore. As soon as streaming media and digital shopping leave the MP3 behind entirely and upgrade to lossless formats, CDs will effectively lose all that made them desirable. It's only a matter of time. Bid your farewells to the CD, everyone!

Illuminati!

The Elephant Man (1980) My least favorite movie by David Lynch so far. It's too sentimental. We need to feel bad about the mistreatment of the title character, I get this, you don't need to shove it in my face. A few people care about this man while most of the common folks out in the streets think he is a monster. How perfectly subtle! There's not much else to this tale. The black and white photography was well done but the movie's main themes are much too black and white, much too simple for my liking. ★★☆☆☆ Deux jours, une nuit (2014) The premise of this film is rather ridiculous. A company lets its workers vote on accepting a monetary bonus, but if they do one of their colleagues has to get fired. The majority votes for the bonus money. So this victimized woman, a very good role of Marion Cotillard, has about two days and one night (such an original title) to convince her fifteen or so colleagues to not vote for the money but to vote for her job instead in a revote. Trying to collect a majority of votes to keep her job, she visits all those people who for one reason or another need the money or were too scared to vote against the money due to peer pressure, etc. The ending of this leaves me dissatisfied. Whether or not she keeps her job, does she really want to work with these people? Is there any trust left? The movie barely gets into this subject but gets all emotional on the personal lives of the different characters instead. The unsteady camera 'to make it seem more real' and the rather ordinary looking images as a result do not do this film much good. Watch it to see Marion play another great part, but the drama is not very exciting and the visuals aren't very cinematic. ★★☆☆☆ Ben-Hur (1959) This very long adventure-like movie lives up to its reputation of an 'epic' and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Touches many different themes, has a great visual presentation and offers an exciting journey in which you really root for the main character without losing sight of all the other roles. The chariot race is among the most celebrated movie scenes in history and I agree completely. This looks stunning on Blu-ray today and I can't even imagine the look on the faces of moviegoers back in 1959. The last half hour of the movie is where things start to go a little wrong. Suddenly a man named Jesus is raised to the foreground and looks to be brought in to act as a wizard with a magical wand to bring closure because the writers didn't know how to end things. Of course a movie with such mass appeal needs a happy ending, but could you have made it a bit less forced? It's a tame ending to an otherwise great adventure. ★★★★☆ Tootsie (1982) Fun family oriented movie about a jobless actor dressing up as an older woman to audition for a part and then steals the show and gathers a big fan base. His double life causes some trouble and as a woman he falls in love with a woman who doesn't know he is really a man. It's a well directed lighthearted comedy that'll probably appeal to most viewers. It has a sappy ending but what else does one expect. The rest of the movie is good fun. ★★★☆☆

It's been a while but here's some of what I watched in all that time. 3 Women (1977) A wonderfully cast film with major parts for Shelley Duvall (known for The Shining a few years after this) and Sissy Spacek (Badlands, Carrie) playing unconventional characters who, while they have different personalities, have in common that they're lonely. Nobody appreciates or even acknowledges their existance. Shelley talks too much, Sissy talks too little. Towards the ending things can get a bit surrealistic. I got a 'Persona' vibe but that's my own interpretation. I don't think it's possible for anyone to really 'get' it. Just enjoy the ride. Good movie. ★★★☆☆ Winter's Bone (2010) Uncomfortable movie that got a lot of praise and won a few awards at various competitions. Jennifer Lawrence is a struggling 17 year old with a not-very-talkative mother and two younger siblings to care for. Her father became a criminal and has disappeared. If he doesn't show up, the state will have to confiscate the family's possessions including their house. Only thing left to do is to go look for her father. It's a grim, slow movie that doesn't really go anywhere. One would expect an exciting quest to find her father but it ends up being rather one-dimensional portrayal of good vs. evil where she's the heroine and all the others are villains. I didn't get much from this movie. I felt it tried to portray this part of America realistically but I thought it was too stereotypical instead. Not too interesting. ★★☆☆☆ Blow Out (1981) Very loosely based on director Antonioni's 'Blowup' of the 1960's, this 80's movie by de Palma opens very interestingly and slowly unfolds to be a very fascinating, exciting mystery-thriller kind of movie. Although many don't think of John Travolta too highly, I think he was excellent in this. The climax of the movie may be a little too 80's for some, but the events leading up to this point make it all exciting enough. The audience really knows what's at stake at this point and has invested enough into this movie that they would really care about what's happening on the screen, even if it does remind them of some more 80's (and early 90's) run-of-the-mill thrillers. All things considered it's an unexpectedly great movie. ★★★★☆ Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) Hyperactive fun children's movie with useless references to pop culture all of the time. And there is no plot. Some villain wants some orb thing to do something to rule or destroy the world and something or something something and something I couldn't really give a damn about. Opens with an irrelevant and surprisingly depressing (for a children's movie) flashback and then goes from one action scene to the next until the movie finally ends. There's something about the way the comic book characters talk that is completely off. When talking to eachother, figuring out what their next step should be, it never feels as if they're really talking to eachother. They're talking to the audience instead, informing them what the current situation is and what to expect next. It's very much like the The Hobbit movies in this regard. There is no genuine interaction between the characters, there's only exposition. For such a colorful and eventful movie (if you consider the shooting and mayhem real events that matter) it's rather stale. I can see why young teenagers would love this movie, but I can also imagine they would have completely forgotten what it was about the next morning. The character designs may be memorable, but everything else isn't. ★★☆☆☆ This is the End (2013) The 'comedy' is vulgar, the storyline is painfully predictable (as are most of the jokes once the low level of this comedy has been established), the visuals are unimpressive, the product placements are unbearable. I heard this was funny but I wouldn't recommend this juvenile garbage to my worst enemy if I had one. ★☆☆☆☆ Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes (or Aguirre: The Wrath of God) (1972) This was incredibly fascinating. The complete lack of dramatization almost gave it a documentary feel. What happens, happens. No need for stupid one-liners, upsweeping music by Hans Zimmer or any of that nonsense. Just beautiful visuals showing an expertly crafted adventure/drama. Perhaps for some this movie may feel distant, because the filmmakers never actively try to lure you in. They just let the film do this by itself. Director Warner Herzog is a filmmaker who trusts his film to be interesting enough for the viewers and does not allow cheap tricks and manipulative techniques to take control of the viewers. As this movie unfolds, you get more and more aware of the dangers of their journey. It was fascinating to become so involved with the people on screen even if you don't know too much about them. My only criticism here is on a few seconds of strange comedic moments. These moments didn't really work (although one could argue that these symbolize the desperation and confusion of the characters at this point). Stunning film. ★★★★☆

I don't know most of those songs. Phallus Phaser is not my favorite Creature Creature song either but like you said it's hard to go wrong with their music. Haven't done this in a long time: Cocteau Twins - Iceblink Luck The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Little Miss Strange Portishead - Wandering Star Cocteau Twins - Fotzepolitic EZO - Back to Zero The Velvet Underground - All Tomorrow's Parties Led Zeppelin - Custard Pie The Everly Brothers - Wake Up Little Susie Lana del Rey - Radio Björk - Aeroplane Choosing two favorites because I can. It must be like having two children and being asked which one you love more. You can't answer that.

It's a very nice record but I'm missing something along the lines of Vinushka and Diabolos. Or something like Dreambox. I feel the album is not dynamic enough: not enough atmospheric build-ups and too few psychotic outbursts. Loving the 'new' Rinkaku though. That song is infinitely better now.

!!! Spoiler warning: only read if you finished season one of True Detective (or if you don't care about spoilers) !!! All hints towards a complex and intense mystery were thrown out of the window once the villain came on screen. I'm sure this person wasn't the only one involved, but the writers didn't seem to care about unraveling it all. I got the impression that the writers set up something bigger than they could handle. One example would be the thing about the green painted house which was a cheap way out. It may have been foreshadowed earlier in the series, but I couldn't help thinking "really, this is it? This is all they needed after all this time?" A series where detective work is involved should not depend on a little thing they figure out (by mere chance!) near the end of the series. Especially when it leads to just one boring villain and nothing else. I love how they kept it a character study till the very end... the two main characters were very interesting to follow. But the one thing that required these two people to connect: the murder case(s), was disappointing.

On True Detective: I loved it up until the last two episodes. The set-up was great, but the pay-off was a bit of a letdown. It felt rushed and it was not nearly as fascinating as the series had promised in the beginning. If I had to give it a rating though, it would still be about a 8/10. Much better than many other tv-shows. Olympus Has Fallen (2013) The bottom of the barrel... I can't believe I sat through this. This movie doesn't possess even a single redeeming quality. Plot holes the size of the biggest craters on the moon. Cardboard characters. Horrible one-liners. A stupid premise to start with. Nothing even remotely entertaining. 1/10 The Invisible Man (1933) Lovely short monster picture. Aside from a few visual errors (that unfortunately become clearer with better picture quality) and an annoying side character, this is a very well executed film adaption of a timeless H.G. Wells story. Highly recommended to fans of old monster flicks and those familiar with the original novel... and still recommended to everyone else as long as you don't mind seeing a trick with a visible wire or two. 7/10 Vynález zkázy (or The Fabulous World of Jules Verne) (1958) A visual feast! I haven't seen anything quite like this. Very unique. Not every shot is as beautiful as the greatest shots in here, but there's hardly a bad one. Perhaps some underwater sequences will show that time has passed since 1958, but long before those scenes appear, the film has likely already grabbed a hold of you. Drawings blend in seemlessly with 'real' set pieces. The plot is well, a quite simplistic story of adventure, yet engaging. Must-see for its uniqueness. 7/10 East of Eden (1955) One of the James Dean pictures. Also one of the Elia Kazan directed pictures. Both have worked on better projects. This is merely average to sort-of good and this is partly blamed on the non-existant chemistry between Dean and his love interest. On all other levels, this was never bad... it was just entertaining enough as a whole. 6/10 Thérèse Desqueyroux (2012) Quite average. Lead actress Audrey Tautou, on which the picture heavily depends, wasn't as convincing in this as she is with many of her other roles. Also at times poorly directed and suffering from a weak script. This is hard to forgive because the source material is very good. Just below average actually. 5/10 Jagten (or The Hunt) (2012) The award winning Danish film disappoints a bit. When a film tries to depict harsh reality and needs to lean on simplistic and plain dumb characters while doing so... well, then there's damage done to the implied harsh reality, isn't there? Problems arise when a certain stupid woman makes a number of stupid decisions (completely out of character considering the job she has) after a child's false accusation... without there being any actual proof. A masterful Mads Mikkelsen portrays the wrongly accused man and is quickly seen by society as a vile child molester. There are many good things to be said about this film, but the portrayal of a society ganging up on a wrongly accused man, is just way too easy and lacks subtlety. The complete lack of police involvement in the plot is bizarre and the increasingly black and white drama throughout isn't the film's strength. The strengths lie in tackling the subject to begin with, the masterful acting by Mikkelsen and the admittedly strong ending which I shall not spoil. 7/10

Gravity (2013) Great sets, nice visuals, but why the ugly lightning in so many scenes? Many shots look more like a videogame or tv-series in the lightning aspect. Plotwise, how did Sandra Bullock's character get into space in the first place? Does the NASA hand over jobs to hysteric housewives now? No matter the sophisticated background they created for her, it doesn't fit her childlike dialogue, lack of knowledge and her annoying behaviour in general. For a film that depends so much on visuals and little on plot progression, one would expect that it must lean on its underlying themes... but they were rather dull too. This film isn't interesting or fun on any level. 3/10 Kagemusha (or Shadow Warrior) (1980) Not quite up there with several other films of Kurosawa. When a warlord dies, his highest ranking army generals decide it would be a good idea to pretend he's still alive by having a nearly identical man (looks-wise) take his place. Of course this leads to several difficulties. The world is believable, the sets and costumes are great, the plot progresses slowly but surely and takes a few interesting turns. There are many good things here, but it lacks the power to impress the viewer like Kurosawa did with, for example, Seven Samurai. Enjoyable, but not very memorable. 6/10 Babettes gæstebud (or Babette's Feast) (1987) Despite a few disturbing images of animals ready to be killed for the feast, this was a great film. (by the way, I do realize the turtle was a fake turtle, but it was still a sad sight). This is one of those films where religion plays a big part, but the viewer doesn't necessarily have to be religious him/herself to enjoy it. There's much more to it. This film is atmospheric, intelligent, immersive... simply quite wonderful. 8/10 La dolce vita (1960) It's hard to forgive director Fellini for having his actors dub their dialogue on a seperate audio recording, which results in unnatural lip movements. In some scenes it's more noticeable than in other scenes. Sometimes the timing is just a little off, which is not that big a deal. At other times however, it looks like somebody was saying something completely different on the film reel than what is actually heard! La dolce vita is so rich in fantastic scenes, that most viewers have apparently decided to forgive Fellini for his unusual ways. I tend to agree with them. La dolce vita is an unforgettable experience with images that will certainly stick with you for a few days, a few weeks... perhaps permanently. 9/10

I spent many hours with Civilzation III, but after a while the 'stacks of doom' (multiple units on a single tile) got really tedious. Also, the AI seemed to be cheating quite often with battles turning out in their favor most of the time for no apparent reason among other trickery. And the game's focus on founding a ton of cities making you powerful didn't allow for much variation in tactics. I didn't think much of Civilization IV. It was decent, never played it much. Civilization V is the best game yet, especially with the expansions. The only downside IMO is the lack of an option to stop advancement at a certain point in time. I would especially like to stop advancement in the middle ages or around the time of WW1. I don't like the modern and future era's at all.

Yabu no naka no kuroneko (or The Black Cat from the Grove) (1968) A ghost story set in feudal Japan. After a young man is taken away to fight in a war, his wife and his mother are left behind in what seems to be a peaceful house in a what seems to be a peaceful environment. However, a group of travelling, hungry samurai pillage the house to find food and decide to brutally rape and murder the two women while they're at it. Then burn down the place. The two women enter a ethereal, otherworldly cat/ghost form and start to prey on unsuspecting samurai. Not necessarily the bad ones, but ALL of them. This film is beautifully shot in black and white. The bamboo forest and the smoke. The old structures and the costumes. The light and the shadow. The visuals are haunting. I believe this film could've been among the greatest of all time if it wasn't for some curious plot points. I don't want to spoil too much, but up to the point where a certain character doesn't recognize another certain character I was completely drawn into the film, but this failure of recognition seemed too far fetched. This doesn't happen just once either... it happened twice! There's still a difference believe realism and believability. The lack of the latter in a couple of key scenes hurt the film because it inevitably makes the viewer question what was going on in the minds of the filmmakers rather than on the screen. Could've been perfect. It had all the ingredients to be perfect. Unfortunately it is not... but it's still very good. 8/10

New Year's Eve (2011) I wouldn't even recommend this film to my worst enemy if I had one. It's an abysmal soap opera turned to a two hour torture session. Recognizable faces everywhere most of whoms intentions are questionable at the least. De Niro and Halle Berry among others must've done it for the money, because I highly doubt they couldn't recognize a catastrophic screenplay when they see one. Sarah Jessica Parker must've done it because towards the end of the film (definitely a spoiler, but who really cares in this case?) she hooks up with a guy half her age and because the film required her fictional daughter to say that she is 'hot'. The only one from the entire cast who seems to really try and make something of their character is Michelle Pfeiffer! Incredible indeed! So the only plotline that looked like the beginning of something interesting was the one with Michelle Pfeiffer as an middle-aged introverted, shy woman who promises a younger guy two elusive tickets to a certain party. In return he has to help her cross some things off of her New Year's resolutions list. With a more competent production team behind this, it could've been the start of a fun little film, but unfortunately it's a minor plotline in this abomination and it doesn't get a good treatment here. Also, product placement is EVERYWHERE. They even shamelessly pull out a Valentine's Day dvd + Blu-ray set (yes, both of them!) from a woman's vagina during the end credits. This really happened, I'm not even joking... Do not watch this film, ever! 1/10

Anna Karenina (2012) Quite literally theatrical because almost all of the film takes place inside a theatre. This goes two ways. At times the transitions between scenes are beautifully done, as for example the environment changes when an actor steps away from the stage that was supposed to be a bedroom and into an empty space with snow suddenly falling down. Visually it's very pleasing, eye candy everywhere. At other times however, it feels quite clumsy. Surely the story of Anna Karenina is very well known and therefore one can take some freedom with cutting bits here and there... taking shortcuts is perhaps the best way to put it. This can be felt in dialogue and the very rapid falling in love of Anna with the cavalry soldier. I liked it, but there was room for improvement. 7/10 The Tarnished Angels (1957) Plotwise this drama is not very surprising but it is surprisingly tightly scripted. Not a moment feels gone to waste. Everything serves a purpose, whether it is subtly foreshadowing future events, development of character's backstories or excitement during the air races. This kept my attention throughout the film that at times felt mediocre, but never goes into the 'bad' territory. I am not aware of any other old films covering bits of drama and a love triangle set to a background of airplane racing, and I guess that made watching this a little more special too. A 6/10 rating would about suit this... with an extra plus 1 for the airplane footage. 7/10

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013) Visually impressive but in the end it's nothing more than a rollercoaster ride through various locations thanks to stuff that happens mostly by chance (lazy writing?) and with characters one never really gets to care about... or loves to hate. Except for that dragon whose motives are not quite clear. He loves to be evil and makes no excuses. Plain evil, no sad childhood stories or other pathetic attempts to 'deepen' the creature. I like that. Generally speaking, characters in this film are more like pawns being tossed around in a game of odd coincidences... or one might say: in a game of chaos. Sure, they made plans, but eventually they all rely on having luck on their side. It's only until the last chapter of the film when we get to meet Smaug though, and there's plenty more to see. Too much even. There are a few side plots that serve no use whatsoever, and make just as little sense. Something with a male dwarf and a female elf for example, what was that all about? Don't expect any meaningful dialogue or tension created by dialogue. In fact, prepare for a few embarassing monologues. They are relatively short (thankfully), but it would've been better if left out. Mystery has very little place in this fantasy world, as almost every near-death encounter is foretold through characters talking to eachother about the dangers of the journey. It's comparable to a child in a theme park waiting for a ride through a fantasy attraction and you telling him that he can expect "this monster and that monster and some of these creeps and a really big dragon" but assuring that nothing will harm him. There are exciting scenes throughout the film, but it's very predictable that every single one of them involves a chase or hide-and-seek game of some kind. This combined with spectacular graphics draw the viewer into the action and I must admit I was hooked more than just once of twice. Graphically it's stunning and the sounds are also fantastic. For that it deserves much praise. For everything else, not so much. But hey, that still makes it a whole lot better than An Unexpected Journey. A generous 6/10.

Summer with Monika (1953) Girl meets boy. Girl comes from a terrible household. Her father is often drunk and beats her up. Boy lives with his father who then strikes ill. Boy quits his lowly paid job and the young couple take the father's boat and run away from the rest of the world. A film the Swedish director Ingmar Bergman made before his engine really got up to temperature. It feels cold, lifeless and distant. This is no Persona or Wild Strawberries. The acting isn't great either. To put it simply: the girl can't act. I wouldn't recommend this unless you're a real big fan of Bergman and want to see one of his earlier films. I'm sure some, especially Bergman fans, would disagree with me, but I feel some just refuse to acknowledge this is anything other than a curiosity. 4/10