Bear

Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons - Stephen Chow, best known for his kult-films Kung-Fu Hustle, and to some degree Shaolin Soccer, returns with a loose re-interpretation of the novel Journey to the West, a Chinese literary classic written by Wu Cheng'en. It's got great action, fantastic adventure-feeling and lot of humor, but despite all these great features I just can't help but feel as if it should've been done a lot better. There's lots of CGI here, and it looks awful. Everything in the film is so well-made and powerful, except for the lackluster CGI. That really ruins the whole experience for me. A potential 8/10 drawn down to 6/10 because of awful special effects. Such a shame. Both leads, Shu Qi and Wen Zhang, are fantastic.

I own a PS3, Wii, Nintendo DS and a NES.

Yeah, Youth of the Beast is great. You just gotta love Jo Shishido. Fantastic actor.

Yes, the concept done before, but why is that a problem? 98,5% of all films, series, comics, books, music and whatnot have concepts that are all done before, often a billion times, but why exactly is that a problem? It's 2014, you won't get many original concepts no matter what you watch or listen to. If you want something that is not done before I recommend you to not watch or listen to anything, because that's the only way to avoid that.

Bronson - This is the weakest of all of Nicolas Winding Refn's films, but it's still a very good fictional biographical drama with a MASSIVE Tom Hardy in the role as Bronson. Charles Bronson / Michael Peterson. That is a fantastic performance, and an Oscar worthy performance as well. Classy, believable and crushing. One thing I love though is the fact that it has Nicolas Winding Refn written all over it. That's awesome, and this guy know how to make goodfilms with lots of character. It's easy to see that it's a Nicolas Winding Refn-film. Quality! Big Ass Spider! - A potential fantastic giant-monster film ruined by poor CGI. If this was made in the 50's-60's it would've been an amazing film, because the special effects back then, even in small budget films, looked cool. But this has poor CGI and it sucks. But it's a great film other than that. A fine mix of giant-monster and buddy cop-film, with a fantastic Lombardo Boyar in one of the leads. This guy steals the show from the minute he stepts onto the sceen. But the title kinda tells you all you need to know about the film. Big Ass Spider!

Haven't seen the Hellraiser series in a long time except for the first one, but the first one is absolutely fantastic. The Quiet Ones - I thought it was about time I finally watched something I haven't seen before, so this time I went for a new one from 2014. The Quiet Ones is another supernatural horror film made in the vein of 70's supernatural horror films, just like The Conjuring and The Woman in Black to mention a few other new ones. While never as effective and astmopheric as the two mentioned, it's still a good, memorable film with some great performances and nasty atmosphere. But it's very uneven, the CGI is awful and it just lacks that small touch of brilliance that made The Conjuring and The Woman in Black so good. The main problem is the PG-13 rating. Why limit yourself? Yes, I understand it is so that you can easily earn more money, but it puts such big limitations to your film making. This film could have done with more explicit language, more violent deaths and a more skin. The last one shouldn't really matter, and it usually doesn't, but here it did, because the whole film should've been a bit more nasty. But it's the language and violence that should have been a bit difference. Jared Harris, Erin Richards and Olivia Cooke impressed me a lot. Three very good performances. Watch Jared Harris outside the school in Oxford. That is an exceptional scene. So much passion and character in his action that it is totally believeable. There is nothing new here, and if you've seen a fair share of 70's horror films, or 70's imitations, you know exactly what's going on here. But if you, like me, love 70's horror and supernatural horror, then this should entertain you. It sure did entertain me, despite its many flaws.

This was easy. NIL is a pretty poor album, and the only good song on the album is Taion which are among the best songs the band ever wrote. The rest ranges from meh to awful, and songs like Shadow VI II I, Silly God Disco and (especially) Cassis are bloody fucking bad. Just really, really, really bad. Dim was fantastic when it came, but it haven't stood the test of time very well. The interludes are good (even though they don't do much for me now as I don't like the whole album), and songs such as Nakigahara, Headache Man, Distress and Coma and Dim Scene are very, verry good, but the rest are boring as fuck and Guren are most likely the worst song ever written by a human being, something I also meant back in the day the album still was good. So Dim are obviously the the one I'll go with, despite not even being close to being a good album.

A Nightmare on Elm Street - Feels like ages since I last saw this, so I picked this for today and this was even better than what I remembered, and I remembered it as a masterpiece. Top 3 as far as slashers goes, and to this day it's still a unique film that's different from other films within its genre. The way it deas with reality and dreams and makes sure yu never really know what's real and what's not. This film a big fucking nightmare, and even though there is a few laughs here, it's not done in the same way as The Slumber Massacre Party or Sleepaway Camp II. It always remains dark, creative and mystic, and it never loses its shock value. As far as slasher goes, this is probably the most wel-written and original film within the genre. I put Halloween a bit over it, and Friday the 13th at the same level, but it's still magnificent. A film of horror, terror and abusrdities that's just scary. And special effects just doesn't get any better than this Brilliant! And while we're on the subject of A Night on Elm Street, here's a recommendatio I've done before, but deseves another mention: Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy Brilliant documentary. A must-see.

Yes! Me too, simply because the lot of them are awful rappers. It's proper annoying, like.

I've had a bit of a marathon today, spending something like 10 hours on Harry Potter. When saying it like that I have to admit I come off as sadly pathetic, but my girlfriend's been gone for half a week and I've had the chance to just watch a shitload of films for once so I'll forgive myself. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - Again, a huge improvement on the last film. This time they've even gogten most of the CGI right - and with right I mean allright. Still some awful CGI, but more often than not decent enough for me to overlook. Action-packed, lovely cinemathography and fantastic acted by everyone. Not sure why this gets so much stick to be honest. Also, this is pretty much a film for older teens and adults. What a change from the first one which is a childs film. Darker, rawer and more complex. 8/10 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - Well, what can I say? Even better than the last one. Visually stunning, for most part that is, and it's got great cinematography. Acting is better than ever and it's just a fantastic film. Once again darker, rawer and more complex than the last one. Beautifully shot film, btw.. 8+/10 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 - Way slower, and for a change it's not better than the previous one. A bit weaker I'd say, but the actin are once again much better than the last. It's a bit of a slow-burner and it''s basically a huge build up. While it does suceed at building tension, excitment and whatnot, it doesn't manage to prepare you for what were to come... 8/10 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 - Here we are at the end of the franchise, and what a way to end the series. Absolutely fantastic, and the only thing I disliked was the "heaven" part. I mean, the way it looked. But other than that, fantastic! So much better than the rest of the films, and all the younger actors has grown up to become proper actors who really knew what they were doing. Class! 9/10 Wel, I am happy I decided to have a go at this series again having only watched the four first from before. What a fantastis series it was. Lots of great acting, but my favourites throughout the series are Michael Gambon, Ralph Fiennes, Brendan Gleeson, Gary Oldman, Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson. Emma Watson was the worst of the young actors in the two first films, but suddenly she rose and got great. She ended as the best of the young ones I'd say. And I love Clémence Poésy. Christ, what a girl.

It's meta-horror, and it's not too long ago since I reviewed it meself. I really liked it, and I think I enjoyed it even more than The Cabin in the Woods too. The Cabin in the Woods had a better plot, but it really lacked on the visuals (low budget CGI-horror ain't my kinda thing) which ruined a lot for me, but I think both are great. Even better again would be Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon, which is absolutely fantastic.

Opera - While I do like some of Dario's films after this one, this is with no doubt whatsoever Dario Argento' last proper good film. And while not quite as good as masterpieces like Profondo rosso, Suspiria, Tenebre, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage and a few more, it's still a fantastic giallo with great atomsphere, an awesome killer, a cool plot, fine visuals and damn cool soundtrack. It's very stylish in an Argentoesque way, which means it looks amazing throughout, it's well-acted and all in all it's a very good film. The kills? Top notch! Cold, gruesome and very well made. One just gotta love it if one's into this kind of things.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - Just like the Chamber of Secrets was a massive improvement on the Sorcerer's Stone, the Prisoner of Azkaban is again a massive improvement on the Chamber of Secrets. Both the characters and the plot gets more complex, it gets hella lot darker and the younger actors once again grew massively in their roles. Looking confident at what they're doing, and playing with more passion than before. Gotta like that. A great film, simple as that. 8/10 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - A bit of a letdown after the Prisoner of Azkaban, but a good film nonetheless. Feels like a mix of the lighter adventure of the Chamber of Secrets and the darker adventure of the Prisoner of Azkaban. It's not as well-paced as the Prisoner of Azkaban, but other than that ist's almost up there with it. I don't buy the romance, though. It comes off as very artificial in the film, and that is the film's biggest weakness. But it's very enjoyable! Some parts of this film can even be classified as horror, and it has a lot in common with the satanic 70's horrors. I'm not even shitting you. It's great. 8-/10

Tremors - I am pretty sure I included this on my favourite horror films from the 90's, and that was well-deserved. This film is absolutely genius and even though I rated it before I rewatched it yesterday, I rate it even higher now. This film's like a good vine, it just gets better and bette with time. Perfectly paced, and it's very well balanced between horror and comedy, and even though it's hilarious at times, it doesn't rely on dumb characters or anything like that. It comes off as a very serious film. Imagine some of the classic big monster flicks from the 50's, like Godzilla, Them! or something, being made in the 90's with the current trends of humour. The cast is good, the plot is better and the characters are best. Very diverse cast and characters, and they all do well. I love the weapon maniacs. Beautiful! Another great thing about this is that it never goes over the top, except for the monster of course, and that's some of the reason why this is magnificent. And the monster's one hell of a beauty. Looks fantastic, just like the special effects.

Cool. Have had Danger 5 on my watchlist forver now. Been planing to watch it, but I never got as far for some reason. Also, I decided to see the Harry Potter series as I had only seen the four first, and was keen to see the rest as well. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - I watched this a time after it came out, and I was not impressed at all. The second time I was probably even lesser impressed with it. But today I actually thought it was OK. Not great, but allright entertainment and a decent enough start, even though I am not tempted at watching it again anytime soon. The child actors seems to lack confidence and direction, the special effects are godawful and looks bloody cheap, and the plot and done of the film ain't all that good. Decent start, but nothing too memorable at all and the climax is poor as fuck. 5/10 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - This is an improvment on every lever IMO. Despite having a smaller budget, it looks twice as expensive and twice as good as the first one. It makes the Sorcerer's Stone look like a b-film to be quite honest, and that is quite an achievement. But the best thing about this is the darker tone of the film and the plot, which is a lot better and feels more like a proper adventure film, whereas the first one felt moe like a family fantasy film. But the child actors are way better as well, and they seem both less stiff and much more confident in themself, and that's very nice. The special effects are a ot better too, but not all that impressive anyway. But at least nto annoyingly bad like in the first one. And it has a great climax. 7/10 What I think is weird is that despite being in the same series of films, the both of them seem to be aimed towards a different audience than the other. I think they did right by going in a darker direction. Really looking forward to the next now as I remember the next one being fantastic, and the fourth to also be very, very good, though a bit weaker. Also, keep in mind that I have not red the books, so I don't know the tone of the books or how they are (the teacher read the two first one back when I went to school a thousand years ago, but I can't remember much at all)

Non-Stop - Cool non-stop action (pun intended! LOL!) with Liam Neeson playing a badass guy, as he's come to be known as in recent years. It's not top notch all over, but it sure is very enjoyable through the 105 minutes it lasts. There are a few annoying things here though, such as how the text messages are shwon on screen. Very annoying, but not fucking annoying. So it doesn't take away too much from the film. Liam Neeson is badass as always. The Physician - Decent film, but I don't get why this has gained so much praise. Its pacing are very uneven and it just feels way too long,e ven though it should't be considering the subjects it deals with. But there's just something missing here. But yeah, deent drama-adventure, but I'd rather I had spent my time on something else. An Idiot Abroad, season 3 - An Idiot Abroad are simpy the best travellprogram ever. Hilarious from start to finish, and this was a great ending. Karl Pilkington is as fantastic as always, but this time he's got some company by no other than Warwick Davis, and his dwarfism creates lots of fun here. But this doesn't only create hilarious moments, it also helps creating some touching moments as well. Some truely touching moments. Have to admit that 3 episodes is at least 3 too few, though, but it's still fantastic. An Idiot Abroad isn't just the best travelprogram ever, but one of the best series ever made. Hilarious!

Blood Feast - Blood Feast is often credited as being the first splatter film ever, and the director, Herschell Gordon Lewis, are known as the Godfather of Gore. Well, one of two Godfathers of Gore. The other one is Lucio Fulci. With Blood Feast Herschell Gordon Lewis took things to a whole new lever as far as blood and gore went. There's a lot of blood and gore in this film, and you get limbs seperated from the body and everything. Yes, it's a very bad and amateurish film, and everything from the direction to cinematography to the acting and so on are pretty bad, and the "plot" is just an excuse to be able to have fun with blood and gore. But the positive thing with this is that the film is just as charming and fun as it is amateurish and bad, and that says a lot. This film is great fun, and it is recommended to fans of both blood and gore and splatters and for people who are interested in cinema in general, because this film proved to be really, eally important for the evolving of horror cinema.

I wouldn't mind learning Japanese, and French, and South-Korean, and whatever, but I don't have the taent or patience to do so. I struggle enough as it is with English, so starting on another language would probably send me to my grave.

Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa (unrated) - As we've seen with every single Jackass films they're getting older and older, and less and less extreme. So them making an actual film with a plot in this one, really works to their advance. It's not a fantastic plot, but it's both allright and heartwarming to be honest. The stuns? Very casual stunts, and a lot of them are the same as the ones thousands of youtubers does. But now and then, like 3-4 times throughout the film, there's some over the top stunts which ae just too funny. Some of these scenes had me crying to be honest. The opening scene, resturant scene, beauty scene, toy ride scene and most of all the striptease scene had me going. Jesus, I almost laughed so hard I shat myself. But the film is so uneven, and that's why it isn't a masterpiece. But it's well worthy of anyones time.

Ringu 2 - Ringu 2 isn't a bad film, but it's a weak atempt at improve on certain things from the first films, in which it does not succeed in any way. Ringu 2 is better as far as the technical aspect goes, but overall it is a much weaker film. It lacks the suspense, the terror, and most of all, the mysticism and the atmosphere of the original film. Yes, the storyline is in fact a bit richer, but it doesn't really add anything important to the table, other than a handful of odd moments. There's so much here that should've been left out. What's the point of making a sequel, and a continuation, when you'e going in a whole different direction than the original and leaving pretty much all the qualities of the original film behind? I don't get this at all. And Sadako. I also think Nakata adds too much to the cinematography here, which totally spoils the creepy moments. He's simply being too technical, without actually being very technical. Boring camera movements, annoying angles and itt looks way too clean. Yeah, no, I don't know. It's not awful, just not very good either. Coud've done without this.

Nothing like grabbing a cold beer, turning off all the lights in the house, lighting up some candles, burn some incense and putting on some dak/ritualistic music on tape. That really sets the mood for the evening after watching a horror films. Seeing Urfaust in a couple of weeks (finally!!!), so they're one of the bands that gets some extra playtime nowadays. Started with Einsiedler, an EP clocking in on 19 minutes (same setup on both sides, so I play it twice). When this is finished I'll continue with Verräterischer, nichtswürdiger Geist. Fantastic band. Atmospheric black metal with mostly clean vocals, though there's lots of dark ambient to be found in their discography as well. Dark, ritualistic and original.

That would depend on what kind of slashers you're looking for, but there's a lot to pick from. Maniac, The Prowler, The New York Ripper, All the Boys Love Mandy Lane, April Fool's Day, The House on Sorority Row, Graduation Day, Silent Night, Deadly Night, Prom Night, The Slumber Party Massacre, Slaughter High, The Mutilator, Pieces, Behind the Mask: the Rise of Leslie Vernon and more. Lots of good, lesser known slashers. I am also talking about the originals, not any remakes. You could also check out the italian giallos, a genre which had a massive influence on slasher films, and the films from the 60's and early 70's are simply proto-slalshers. Or, (proto-)slashers to be honest. Profondo Rosso, Blood and Black Lace, Tenebre, A Bay of Blood, Torso, The Cat o' Nine Tails, and so on. Must sees for any fan of slashers. And if you're into way older films, you've got proto-slashers such as Thirteen Women, House Of Wax, M, The Lodger, The Student Of Prague, Psycho, Cover Girl Killer among others. Nothing wrong with calling these slashers either. That is very cool to hear.

1. Do you feel like you are entitled to free music? If you do, why? If you don't, why not? No, I do not feel that. I appreciate free music and all that, but why should I get it for free when it's actually not free? 2. How do you feel about people refusing to share their music because they want to support the band? People not sharing whatever they've got is fine, but I will admit that I think this is a lame excuse. Which band do you think will get the most support if form of albums/DVDs/merch/concerts/whatever (and just let us pretend they're just as good): A) the one that no-one have heard because the few who actually ownes it doesn't want to share it the one that lots people have heard because someone decided to share their music I'm pretty sure the one lots of people have heard will get the most support, as people have actually heard them and know what the're about. 3. In relation to the second question, what do you think of people who tell others not to share something they themselves paid money for as they think its content is exclusively for those who paid for it? Laaaaaame. Let peole decide for themself whatever they want to do with whatever they've paid for. 4. Do you think entitlement to free music is worse in visual kei than in other communities? Yes, simply because I have not experiensed the same amount of bitching and whining because of it within other communities. 5. How do you feel about people who deliberately share releases in low bitrates to encourage you to buy the CD? Do you think that if someone does decide to share, you're entitled to the highest rip? I don't think that will make people buy more stuff, and I do not think anyone's entitled to good rips. If you don't want to upload whatever in good quality, then that's very fine, but don't expect more people to buy something because of that. 6. Have you ever been approached by people, either on Monochrome Heaven or last.fm, who wanted you to share something? If you didn't want to share, how did they react? What did you think of their reaction? Yes, I have, and if I've got the opportunity to share something I will. Doesn't matter if it is my own rip or someone else's. I'll share. The times I've not had the chance to share (because of an unstable internet) I've not gotten a reaction. They've been very cool with it.

Ringu - Hideo Nakata decideded to defy the current trends in horror back in the late 90's and went for something slow with atmospheric tale of terror. Nakata keeps it very simple, both as far as pictures and music and sound goes.This film is a great example of less is more, the opposite of its remake actually. The way the camera moves and the angles used are more often than not quite unimpressive, the lack of quick cuts, the grainy and gritty production and the general lack of technical film making, might be the strongest point of this film. It's not artsy or impressive in a technica sense in any way at all. Straight forward film making where I believe Nakata only had one thing on his mind: to create atmosphere, something in which he succeeded in. The way the videotape is used, how little screentime Sadako gets and lack of both blood and gore and jump scares is phenomenal. That's what makes this a tale of terror. One of the most creepy films ever made. Still creeps me the fuck out. 15 years later it is interesting to see how much of a influence this proved to have, just not on Japan and the eastern film makers in general, but in America and rest of the world as well. This transformed the current trend of blood, gore and violence in horror and went into a more subtle and susenseful territory, relying heavily on atmosphere, just as horror once did. So in that sense this film ain't as original as many wants it to be, but it proved to be a massive game changer within the genre anyway by bringing back the horror of older days. Fantastic work! I haven't really seen too many Hideo Nakata films, but from what I've seen he never managed to follow up this properly, despite making some good films. When watching this film it's so obvious that the guy is mad talented, and he has a huge potential that he just seems to struggle toget out there. That's a shame. I could also add that the remake is allright and the best "j-horror" remake, but I don't get how anyone can prefer it to the original. The technical aspects of the film are better, but that just doesn't make a film good. Just as with music. Playing technical and having a clean production doesn't make it better. Quick cuts, CGI, jump scares, fast zooms, sudden use of weird noises and so on. It didn't help the story at all. Kudos for doing more than just copying the film, but it was very weakened by this bullshit. Less can be more no matter what my man Yngwie J. Malmsteen says about it. More can be more, you're right about that my good friend, but so can less, even though you don't get it. Cheers!

Early 2000s-late 2000s Most of my favourite visual kei bands released their best stuff in that period of time, and I am pretty sure that 30+ out of 40 favourite visual kei albums was released during these years. Kagra, Merry, early days of Mucc and Gazette and so on. So this was an easy one. 1980-mid 1990s comes in second for me because of the early isual kei metal bands from this time. X Japan, Rosenfeld, Aion, Gargoyle, Rommel, Mein Kampf and so on.