Bear

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.

Recommended slasher films? I've seen the staples such as the Halloween, Nightmare on Elm St., and Friday the 13th Franchises along with Black Christmas, My Bloody Valentine (remake and original), The Burning, and Sleepaway Camp.

 

 

Any lesser known that are also worth checking out?

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.

Bead, you're making my October the best I've ever had yet.

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.

I'm not a fan of Funeral Mist myself, but Salvation is considered a modern classic and often regarded as one of the best black metal albums in recent times. This and Deathspell Omega's Si Monumentum Requires, Circumspice are often mentioned together when talking about newers black metal.

I'm not a fan of either, though. Long time since I heard them, so I might like them now, but I don't remember them as being something for me. But check out both anyway. There's a reason why they're so popular.

Awards are overrated and doesn't mean shit. All these big awards have been a joke since long before I got into films.

Also, The Room is fantastic. One of very few films I've given 1/10 (which equals so bad it's fantastic).

I don't think Mortuus were that good on Plague Angel actually. If I'm not mistaken he came after it was written and didn't get to put his touch on the album, and I think that shines through. It's as if they wrote music to fit Legion's vocals, and then he left and Mortuus cae in and they jst didn't bother changing anything. I just don't think it fits his vocals much at all. But that's just my opinion.

Rom:512 however, fits like a fat girl in a pair of fat jeans. The production is the best they ever had, and Accuser / Opposer are by far their best song ever. A.A. Nemtheanga is as good as he ever was, and the chemistry between him and Motuus are fantastic. Both helping eachother to sound even better. Impressive song with some impressive vocal work by both.

Also, gotta add that Mortuus is an insane vocalist. Few harsh vocalists have had such a range. The only people with a bigger vocal ranger than him within the genre, are people who are also talented clean singers. Insane guy. Shame he doesn't sing on many albums that I enjoy though.

Would love to see Abysmal Grief, but I doubt they'll come to Trondheim. Shame. Would be cool if they were booked to next years Inferno.

Not too interested in a new Marduk to be honest. Rom 5:12 is fantastic, and Those of the Unlight and Opus Nocturne are both very, very good. Heaven Shall Burn... When We Are Gathered and Dark Endless is alright as well, but other than that I'm not a very big fan of the band. A good song here and there, but that's it for me.

Panzer Division Marduk are one of the worst black metal albums ever. I can't think of many albums within the genre that's worse.

A bit overrated band IMO.

Yes, it's awesome as always from those guys. What a band. Unique and great.

Oh damn, I actualy forgot about some of the late 90's Disney films like The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, Mulan, Tarzan and   Fantasia 2000. These are all great.

As for the 00's, I really like The Emperor's New Groove, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Treasure Planet and The Princess and the Frog, with The Emperor's New Groove and The Princess and the Frog as the best ones. These two are very good, especially The Emperor's New Groove are fantastic. The only Disney film I've watched at the cinema.

The Howling - Über classic low-budget horror from 1981, done just as I like it. The Howling plays out like many horror films at the times, though a little slower than most of them, especially the first haf o so where it just builds up slowly. This is an atmospheric, fun and very charming horror film with beautiful special effects, great acting, a fantastic soundtrack, a good plot and superb direction from Joe Dante. And I really like the cinematogaphy here.

Joe Dante's the man, and I'm his fan.

I actually saw my first video with that guy yesterday. Talked about some bitching feminists. The points he was trying t make was actually spot on, but the way he did it was not. The way he talked like a little bitching kid, acting all childish and butthurt, and the way he tries to be funny every other second is awfully annoying. And he tops it off with a video that's a huge fucking cut. If you're gonna make a video like that, write yourself a script and take it from there. Jesus christ.

Oh dear, don't call me an expert, Sai. I am not. I, like you I think, rate films after how much they entertained me, and nothing more than that. I don't break down films, study them or care to identify underlying themes in films or anything like that. I just put them on, watch them and then rate them for how much they managed to entertain me. I'm very simple minded like that.

I'm not a very good reviewer, which is why I just write a little about the films I watch on different forums. And the reason for me not beign a good review, other than being a poor writer, is my lack of interest in breaking down films and/or look for underlying theme, such as the rape-reference in Maleficent, which was quite obvious. But those kind of things I usually don't notice, mostly because I don't care.

Aso, great review of Sleeping Beauty. Fantastic film, just like most Disney films up until the mid/late 90's (-Winnie the Pooh which I've disliked since I was a kid)

Killing Them Softly - Oh fuck, what a film! Slow-burning, atmospheric, credible and gritty noir-inspired crime from Andrew Dominik, who with his three films have just gotten much, much better with each of them. Brad Pitt's doing one of the best performances of his life so far, and as far as films goes only Inglourious Basterds, Snatch oand Se7en are better.

Dirty and dark crime with long, credible and so, so, so well-written dialogs, brutal and realistic violence and a fantastic portrayal of the different sides to the gangsters personality.

The only reason I am not giving this a 9/10 is because of the slow-mo shooting scene. Could've done with the slow-mo. But other than that, great. Andrew Dominik is a really impressive director. I am awaiting his next film, but with his slowpoke tempo I guess that we'll gotta wait a long time for that.

That guy is annoying. One of the more punchable faces in the world at the moment.

Maleficent - I didn't expect shit from this film, yet I was disappointed. God damn, this is poor. I like the concept, the re-imaging by telling the story from Maleficent's side, but this is so poorly executed. The story itself is very, very poor, the acting is godawful, the characters are bad, the atempts are humour are pathetic and it's visually awful. Everything here, from the backgrounds, to the monsters and costumes looks so cheap and artificial. And despite coming this year, the CGI looks awfully dated. There you've got one of the problems with computer effects. For most part they don't stand the test of time, and they get dated within a few years at most. There's a few exceptions to this, but not too many.

Also, it doesn't help that Angelina Jolie looks like a long time drug addict. Jesus christ, she looks sick.

As I said, I like the concept, but this is so poorly executed that it's nothing but Brothers Grimm v2.0, another film with a fantastic concept, but poor script, poor visuals and bad acting, even from the superb actors (which is something this film lacks). This film, along with Brothers Grimm, deserves a re-writing and a remake.

A budget on 180m and yet it looks dated as fuck... and it's not even gone a year. Oh dear, the art of film has really taken a sad direction. This is fucked up.

Superheroes - A documentary about real life superheroes. It starts off fantastic, but then it get's a bit too serious for my liking. But it wasn't bad, I enjoyed it. But I wanted to see mroe of the weird side of it all. I mean, it opens with a weirdo who calls himself Mr. Xtreme, and he shows off some of hils skills. Among his skills are "Super Xtreme Death Metal Fighting System", and that is absolutely hilerious and the best part of the film. But that's the only HUGE highlight of the film.

Yellow - I bought the vinyl of this one and a half year ago and so, and I've been waiting for this film to become available for us mortals, and I finally recived the film in the mail today. 26 intense minutes of stylish (neo-)noir with breathtaking visuals and a fantastic soundtrack by Antoni Maiovvi. This film really lived up to my expectations, and they were huge as fuck. Immense film that I will be watching again many times in the future.

Yellow, limited VHS fan package

- limited edition DVD + postcard

- highly limited edition VHS (only 66 available)

- YELLOW original poster (Graham Humphreys artwork A2)

- 2x limited edition YELLOW Lobby Cards

I've also got the soundtrack on vinyl, so I am a happy man now.

Stand Up Guys - Allright crime comedy with Walken, Pacino and Arkin as three old ex-gangsters. At times hilarious, but very uneven and a bit too childish and generic. But it was enjoyable and Walken was fantastic.

Stage Fright - What do you get if Camp Rock got raped by Friday the 13th and Sleepaway Camp? This film. It's a mix of musical, horror (slasher) and black comedy. The plot itself isn't very original, but the excecution, with the musical elements, makes it feel like something slightly original. The musical numbers are more often than not good, catchy and funny, and while never scary or reepy, it does have something very interesting about it. There's some weird atmosphere here to lift everything about the film, and that makes it even more enjoyabe. The kills are FANTASTIC and the way they are set up are amazing. I loved it, and I often found myself very impressed and surprised by it. Allie MacDonald is as good as she's beautiful, and she's stunning btw, and Meat Loaf is fantastic as well. They steal the show here.

So what we'vegot here ain't a masterpiece, but it's a very enjoyable and original film, and it's highly recommended.

What exactly is going on with the guitarist to the right? Moves around like he's got some Meshuggah spasms going on, as if he's trying to be very theatrical with his performance and take the attention away from Gackt. It's pretty embarrassing to be honest. The bassist too. He loos very out of place with his moves and headbanging.

Anyway, mediocre song and boring PV.

It was the second day of October and my girlfriend got to choose film, even though she couldn't be in this 100%. But I'm a kind guy, so that's OK. What did she choose? Well, something from my small DVD-collection actually:

Event Horizon - Despite all hte negativity surrounding this film, I still like it a lot. It's not original and feels like a big mish mash of elements from different films, but there's something with the atmosphere in the film. Claustrophobic, and the Hell-theme is fantastic. I think it's brilliant. Some of the special effects are dated, though. All CGI effects looks bad. But other than that very enjoyable.

Sigh's covered lots of covers of Venom (made two cover EPs), as well as one live album where 6 of the 14 songs are Venom cover and 2 are Death covers. The Scorn Defeat 20th Anniversary Gig album also got some Venom and Death cover songs. They've also got some Venom covers on a couple of their other splits and EPs. And one Necrophagia cover on the split with Necrophagia . And on the original vinyl version of Scorn Defeat they included one Venom and one Mayhem cover.

Could've mentioned a shitload of metal bands here as doing covers are very usual.

Anorexia Nervosa - I'll Kill You (X Japan cover)

I'm a huuuuuuge fans of both Anorexia Nervosa and I'll Kill You, but this just doesn't work out. Awfu cover song.

Deathhammer - Black Metal Volcano (Sabbat Cover)

Norwegian deathrashers Deathhammer covering legendary blacking thrash metal band Sabbath. Great cover. Not very unike the original, but they put their character to the song.

Deus Mortem - The Knell (Sigh cover)

Kudos for covering Sigh, but this cover sucks.

Iron Age - Satori Part 1 (Flower Travellin' Band cover)

THese cover by a thrash/crossover band, but there's no character here at all so it's better to just listen to the original song.

Machetazo - Arrastrándose Sólo (Corrupted cover)

Spanish cult grinder Machetazo covers Japanese cult sludgers Corrupted. Great cover song with lots of character.

Syphilitic Vaginas - Making Love with Devil (Zouo cover)

Great cover by a great band!