Bear

Batman & Bill - A documentary about the very roots of Batman and who created him, his foes and the whole universe of Gotham. Bob Kane always got the honor for this as his name was always attached to everything. But the truth is something quite different, and this film takes a lot at that. A very sad, touching and tragic story tbh. And the best thing about this is that it in no ways try to talk shit about Bob Kane or anything, rather it focuses on trying to give Bill Finger some credit for his work. Obviously, doing that automatically sheds some negative light on the face of Bob Kane, but not a single time during this documentary does the filmmaker intend to dirt up Bob Kane's name and legacy. Which is something I have to appreciate.

 

 

War for the Planet of the Apes - I thought Rise... was a good film, but it kinda lacked the feeling of being a Planet of the Apes film. And it felt more like a different film of its own. With Dawn... they took a huge step away from this, and backwards I'd say as they include a lot of familiar elements from the Planet of the Apes franchise and it felt like a very good Planet of the Apes film. With War... they've decided to include even more of the original films to the reboot, and it should be no surprise that this is by far the best in the reboot and the best Planet of the Apes film since the original 1968 film. This was amazing! 

 

I must also applaud the inclusion of Bad Ape. He works as a comic relief, but not in the usual try-hard sense. He feels like a natural character to the whole universe and one that just had to come sooner or later. Really liked him.

The Limehouse Golem - A pleasant surprise as I did not expect much of it other than it being decent entertainment, but this was actually a really good horror-mystery. It's set around the late 1800's with beautiful gothic victorian era sets and some superb performances from the cast. There's clear inspiration from classic gothic Hammer Horror films as well as Jack the Ripper, and it works really well.

 

It's not entirely original and it's a tad predictable, but well worth a watch. I really enjoyed it. I'll go as far as to call it superb.

 

Bill Nighy is a really underrated and overlook actor btw. Such an excellent performer, just a shame he usually play a supporting role and not the lead.

 

 

 

 

Confirmed as best album of 2018. No contest! Unless of course Sigh releases a new album.

Went to Blåsvart aften vol.9 yesterday. Dark ambient night with five different artists. Missed the two first, which is a shame because Sysselmann was my main reason for going. Or, I saw something like 7-10 minutes of Sysselmann and it was fantastic. The artist who did the most on-stage.

 

New Risen Throne and TEHÔM were both very good. Dark, dark ambient with some decent visuals in the background. Which is important, as the visuals playing in the background is as important as the music itself to create the needed and wanted atmosphere. And the artists themself are mainly looking at their computers and shit, with two of them having a guitarist play some notes. But neither was too special or anything.

 

But Svartsinn was magnificent and on a whole other level than the two others I saw. Visually it was the simplest one as he just did his thing musically and played Dario Argento's visual masterpiece Inferno in the background, but it was a touch of genius tbh. The music went really well with the visual beauty of Inferno, and I was hooked from the moment the first deep bass came out of the speakers and until the last sound ended the gig. So hooked my beer stood untouched for the entire show. Was as warm as a glass of fresh urin when I finally got around to drink it. Pure magic!

 

 

Fucking Sweden.

 

 

01. The Lament
02. Nightbound
03. Lady Death
04. Subterranea
05. Purgatorio
06. Cries From The Underworld
07. Lacrimosa
08. The World
01. Here Be Dragons
10. Come, Become, To Be (bonus track)

 

 

 

Hell yeah! Superb song and nice, classy and beautifully shot video.

Dark Angel - This one is probably better known under the lame title I Come In Peace but to me this is Dark Angel all the way. I was invited over to a friend to watch this on a huge screen, and it was amazing. The film was fantastic of course. Absurd and comical as fuck, but we're both Dolph Lundgren fanboys and that makes a difference for sure.  But it's a cheesy-as-fuck action sci-fi, and it pleased me a lot. Will watch again!

 

Dragonslayer - This epic sword & sorcery film are among the best in the genre. It's as majestic as it gets, and almost 40 years later the dragon, Vermithrax Pejorative (what a badass name!), are still the best dragon made on screen ever. Miles ahead of the next ones. Holy shit, it looks so good, it's so powerful and dangerous. It's everything you'd want from a dragon. This film is a forgotten gem and a proper classic in my eyes. Magnificent! Almost perfect!

Atomic Blonde -The thin-as-fuck plot is basically an excuse to show a totally over the top fucking badass Charlize Theron run around and being awesome, but who gives a fuck? She's grown into a magnificent, majestic queen of cinema and might as well be the next big action hero. Over the top violence, and a lot of it, and a Charlize Theron that's to die for? What more can one ask for? A plot? Meh. Don't give a fuck. Amazing film!

 

68 Kill - I really loved the poster which made me watch this, and man was I not disappointed. It's really over the top and ridiculous, but it was so much fun throughout. It's not original, but it's got lots of twist and turns and something always happens. I really liked it, despite all of its flaws.

 

Ingrid Goes West - Aubrey Plaza and Elizabeth Olsen carries this drama-comedy which just so happens to be among the most uncomfortable films I've ever watched. Holy shit, it really gave me the creeps. But at the same time it offers so much social commentary, observations and truth.  Creepy as fuck, but at times very witty and fun. Liked it. Aubrey Plaza is amazing!

 

Bon Cop Bad Cop 2 - 11 years after the first one Alain Desrochers returns wiith a sequel to the Canadian buddy-comp comedy from 2006. It's a bit weaker, but it offers a lot of fun throughout. Throughout both I've found meself giggling and laughing out loud many, many times, and that is a positive sign for sure.

 

Serenity - It doesn't quite live up to the series it's based on (FIrefly), but it's a superb continuity of a classic TV-series nonetheless. It just offers a lot of fun. They don't really maker sci-fi like this anymore. It's magic!

 

 

The Batman vs. Dracula - Batman goes horror? Yeah, he actually does. The Batman vs. Dracula is a fine mix of action and horror with Dracula himself being the main antagonist. Along the way he gets some help from The Penguin and The Joker, which works really fine. This isn't a deep film with a lot of character depth and such. It's a straight-forward action-horror that's more similar to Blade and Underworld than classic horror like Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens, Dracula (1931), Dracula (1958) or Nosferatu (1979). But it does carry a lovely gothic atmosphere throughout the film and the action and animation is superb, as well as a magnificent Peter Stormare as Dracula.

 

Btw, the way Dracula comes to life must be a homage to Dracula: Prince of Darkness? Was superb!

 

 

Batman: Under the Red Hood - This is hands down one of the better Batman films I've seen so far. Very mature film with superb dialogue, good moral questions and a nice look at the psyche of Batman and the fine line between good and evil. The writing is, as already said, really mature as well as super intelligent, deep and really complex. Albeit a bit short (most of these are rarely more than 75 minutes long), it does carry an edge to its characters I've never really seen in a Batman film and the characters are really good written, as well are the dialogue.

 

Dark, haunting and gritty, but at the same time it has a very human edge to it.

 

Btw, look out for minor details. I am pretty sure Batman's costume changes a bit in all the flashbacks, as he update his suit every now and then. That is some serious detail work. 

 

Amazing film!

 

Batman: Assault on Arkham - Assault on Arkham is one of the billion animated DC direct-to-video films made over the par 10-15 years, and is one of the best I've seen.  Assault on Arkham is set in the Batman: Arkham video game universe, about right after Arkham Origins. It's a Batman film in some ways, but he's only got a supporting role. This is more of a Suicide Squad film and it's a damn good one. It features Deadshot, Harley Quinn, Captain Boomerang, Black Spider, King Shark, Killer Frost and KGBeast, as well as Riddler and the Joker.

 

Batman: Assault on Arkham works on so many levels. From the amazing characters and their dynamics and dialogue, its voice actors, visual style and animation and action to its dark, mature and, at times, pitch black humor and its overall mature and sexy style.

 

This is the type of film we'll never see live-actioned, unless someone who needs no major financial back-up suddenly turns up and wants to make a film. And it's a shame, because the world needs more superhero films like this.

 

 

Batman: Gotham Knight - A 6-part anthology film made by Japanese directors in an anime style, which in itself is pretty special and fresh. Like 98% of all anthology films the quality is a bit up and down, but it never falls flat on its head. It's always fun and it's always interesting. The film is set to Christopher Nolan's Batman universe more accurately between the events of the fantastic Batman Begins and boring-as-fuck(!) The Dark Knight. I like how all the stories connect, even though you can watch each without having seen the previous (ones). And because it's made by different directors with different style and vision which makes every short look very different

 

Have I Got a Story for You tells the story of four kids who meet up, with three being a bit late. They explain this by having experienced Batman fight a criminal in real life. The real fun part here is how the three late kids all tell a over the top story with a out-of-this-world interpretations of Batman and his abilities, but they all bear references to earlier Batman stories and the villain in all have small thing that make him resemble classic Batman villains. Two of the stories (Man-Bat and shadow-Bat) were cool as fuck! 8/10

 

Crossfire is a fairly standard mob affair. It's a cool one, but far from the best. 7/10

 

Field Test is another standard one, but it's all fun. 7/10

 

In Darkness Dwells isn't just my favourite of this film, but among the coolest Batman stories I've ever seen. The overall visual style and animation, the story, the look of the villains and so on. Dark, gritty, mean. This one was pure fucking perfection! 10/10

 

Working Through Pain is a very deep short that takes a very different look at who Bruce Wayne is. Very nice! 8/10

 

Deadshot was my second favourite. The pacing was insane and made it intense as fuck, it was animated beautifully, especially the last fight, and was just top notch all the way. 9/10

 

Some albums to look forward to in the coming months:

 

Orphaned Land - Unsung Prophets & Dead Messiahs

 

Hooded Menace - Ossuarium Silhouettes Unhallowed

 

Druid Lord - Grotesque Offerings

 

Tribulation - Lady Death

 

Evilfeast - Elegies of the Stellar Wind

 

Beastiality - Worshippers of Unearthly Perversions

 

Obscure Burial - Obscure Burial

 

 

Damn, that Hooded Menace and Druid Lord covers are sweet as fuck. Awesome! Really like the cartoonish tone of the Beastiality cover (albeit a bit of a weird choice considering the music they play) and the darkness of the Tribulation Ep cover too. Looks good!

Eh. No.

Day 30

 

Raw Meat - Dark, bleak and ultragrim horror film from the early 70's with Donald Pleasence, Norman Rossington, David Ladd, Sharon Gurney and an exceptional Hugh Armstrong in the lead roles. Like I said, this is such a grim and bleak film, mostly thanks to a superb performance by Hugh Armstrong. The film is tragic and fairly deep for an early proto-slasher, and something most fans of the genre should check out.

 

Look out for a majestic cameo by Christopher Lee too. The role doesn't make much sense, but who gives a fuck? It's Christopher Lee. 

 

8/10

 

 

Day 31

 

Halloween - And like I do on every Halloween I ended the October horror marathon with Halloween, the best slasher ever made. Already here, on his third feature film, John Carpenter came off as something unique, fresh and original in the scene of horror. His camera angles looks sweet and original to this day, the soundtrack, both score and choice of songs, are exceptional, his ability to create suspense and keep it on screen for a long period of time without losing the edge of it and so on. And don't forget Michael Myers, one of the best villains of all-time. An antagonist unlike any other, and I still remember the feeling I got the first time I saw him on screen. You just didn't know what he was, and there was still aura of mysticism surrounding him. Brilliant!

 

A perfect film! Simple as that.

 

Love Exposure

Josee, the Tiger and the Fish

My Girlfriend Is a Cyborg

A Scene at the Sea

 

 

To name a few. But these are a lot different from your regular Jdrama stuff, tho. Heavier, more complex and a lot more mature. But they are all very good romantic comedy films.

Three episodes into Mindhunter and this is top notch so far, and Cameron Britton is the fucking shit. He is so good!

Day 28:

 

Hostel - I hated this film when it was released over 10 years ago, but upon rewatching it now I actually found a lot of pleasure in it. Fairly dark and sadistic, and it kinda says a lot about humans in general. Not that we all would do something as extreme as this, but that we all have a few dark elements within us and that we are all capable of doing some shit now and then.

 

My biggest disappointment is actually finding the film far from brutal and gruesome enough. I wish it was bloodier, gorier and more extreme. But I liked it. Thumbs up for some nudity that felt natural too. Good special effects.

 

7/10

 

 

Day 29

 

Hostel: Part II - Almost identical with the first film, but the male leads are swapped for chicks and it all ends up feeling a bit forced. Even the nudity feels a bit forced. But it's decent enough, but does not hold up to the first one. Quite a big difference, even though it's almost the same film. Felt less sleazy and trashy too, which is a shame.

 

6/10

 

Day 26

 

Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! - The first film in the series are actually very enjoyable. It's sort of so-bad-it's-good, but not in the same way as The Room, Troll 2 and so on as this aim to be bad, while the others were made by serious film makers who genuinly thought they had made something amazing. But it was fun for what it was. But by the time of the second the series had already lost most of its charm and you were left with something that felt too artificial and lame. By the third it had lost all its charm. It's 90 minutes of self-reference gags that were already overdone in the second film, and here they're trippling that up. It's tiresome as fuck. And it doesn't even feel half as absurd as the first one, even though they try to make it a lot more absurd.

 

The only thing I really like about this film is Cassandra Scerbo as Nova. Holy shit, she is incredibly hot.

 

3/10

 

 

 

Day 27

 

Sharknado 4: The 4th Awakens - About as bad as the third film in the series. Poor gags, social commentary that feels stupid as fuck and no charm what-so-ever. It's a huge mess of a film and nothing else.

 

3/10

 

 

 

Worst thing about this isn't the films themself, but the fact that I'll watch the fifth film as soon as it comes. Why? No fucking idea. I hate myself and just loves to torture myself? Or maybe I am hoping for something similar to the first one? I don't know. Fuck it!

Day 24:

 

The Outing - A fairly standard supernatural slasher with a very original killer, and it's got some fantastic death scenes and some even greater special effects. It's cheese, poorly acted and all that, but it's great fun and if you're a fan of slashers I don't see why you shouldn't see it.

 

Btw, the posters for this film are amazing! Daaamn!

 

7/10

 

 

 

Day 25:

 

Rakka - The short film from Neill Blomkamp's own studio, Oats Studio, a studio which will release a lot of sci-fi short films. He calls them experimental, but they're not really that experimental or special. But they are good.

 

The film stars Sigourney Weaver who is great, and both the story and effects are fairly good. But you can at times see that there's CGI and that is usually a problem, and it is here too. And it means that it'll look dated as fuck in just a few years when we've gotten used to better CGI. Such a shame. But it's a fun sci-fi horror short film.

 

7/10

 

Some of the sequels are even more enjoyable. I'd say the first 7 are all well worth a watch. As well as Axis of Evil and especially the crossover Puppet Master vs. Demonic Toys, which is no less than fantastic. Such a fun film.

 

The third film is by far the best in the franchise btw.

 

 

Was really disappointed by this album when it was release, but it's really grown on me. I am fucking loving this. Over the top and cheesy power metal with lots of catchy choruses. It's not something I'll listen to every single week, but every now and then I go on a cheesy power metal ride and I just play a lot of Gloryhammer, Rhapsody, Luca Turilli and so on. This has been one of those weeks.

Day 22:

 

I am stretching the term horror a bit here, but it's OK.

 

Death Note - A complete fucking shitfest of a film. Doesn't matter if you're familiar with the source material or not, this was cheap, boring and fucking shit. I've been a huge fan of Adam Wingard up until now, but he just seems to have lost it all with Blair Witch and now this. What a fucking shame.

 

There was however a few superb special effects moments. But that's about it.

 

3/10

 

 

Day 23:

 

1922 - A horror-drama that's really slow and isn't about scares, gore, atmosphere or nothing. It's about our main character Wilfred James and his suffering and slow rot from the inside and out. It's a Stephen King adaption and a good one. I wasn't too happy about it, but that's my own fault. I felt that it was a bit too long, but in the end I just don't think I was in the right mindset for the film. If I had watched it today I would've probably scored it a point or two higher, because this is not a bad film in any way. It's actually a real strong one. 

 

Thomas Jane is real good. Delivers a proper performance, and probably his best ever.

 

6/10

 

I was gone for about a week and didn't get to update, but that doesn't mean I didn't watch any films. But because I only had Netflix available I didn't have a lot to pick between as the horror section is piss fucking weak in Norway.

 

Day 20:

 

Race with the Devil - Occult horror from 1975, much in the same vein as The Ninth Gate, John Carpenter's Cigarette Burns, In the Mouth of Madness, The Sentinel, Rosemary's Baby and so on. It's not quite as slow-burning as these and it's more action-oriented, but it's got a lot of the same occult vibe to it. I think this is a great and underrated film. Peter Fonda is superb!

 

8/10

 

 

Day 21:

 

Witch Hunt - The 1994 film with Dennis Hopper in the lead as H. P. Lovecraft. This one is often considered a sequel to Cast a Deadly Spell, but it's more a remake/reboot//reinterpretation/whatever. Almost the same film, just set to a different time period. The 50's instead of the 40's. It's a TV-film and it looks like one, but it's got plenty of charm, loads of camp and lots of nice atmosphere. I think this is the superior film of the two, and it is highly underrated. Totally recommended!

 

8/10

 

I honestly felt empty as fuck after the season was over. So I started and finished Beyond Stranger Things in a go as well. 7 episodes that ranges from 15 to 25 minutes that takes a look behind the scenes, talks with the cast and so on.

 

I really enjoyed how the characters grew this season, I must say that this TV-series is just filled with superb supporting characters. It's a TV-series where I enjoy and find as much interest in the supporting characters as I do with the main characters. Hopper, Bob, Nancy, Steve, Murray, all MVP's in my eyes. Some incredible strong performances from the likes of David Harbour, Sean Astin, Paul Reiser and Brett Gelman too.

 

Oh hell yeah! That last one is amazing.

 

 

I know there's been plenty complaint about Stranger Thing season 2, but I don't get it. A bit weaker than the first season, and I miss some of the atmosphere. But fuck it, most enjoyable TV-series I've ever seen, and I have seen a pretty fucking huge amount of TV-series. But this just puts everything I love in films and TV-series into one big fucking TV-series, and it gives me these wonderful feelings I rarely get from films and TV-series anymore. You know, the type of feelings I got when I watched films like Big Trouble in Little China, The Goonies, Back to the Future, Gremlins, Raiders of the Lost Ark and so on for the first time as a little brat in the mid-to-late 90's.

 

 

By the way, I recommend the TV-series Eerie, Indiana to anyone who likes Stranger Things. Eerie, Indiana is a bit like a semi-campy Stranger Things for teens/young adults, with a lot of The Twilight Zone in it as well. Highly recommended!