Bear

It's not what I listen to the most, butvwhen I do it's usually doom/stoner/sludge. Sonic Flower, Bongripper, Belzebong and so on. Superb bands!

I just re-watched The Driver by Walter Hill, and this is still one of the very best films ever made. It's cool, stylish and very minimalistic with awesome characters that don't bother to speak an awful lot. I love everything about this film, from the car chases which is among the best ever caught on film, the acting, the direction, the soundtrack. Everything about it is simply perfect to my eyes. Walter Hill found a lot of inspiration from Jean-Pierre Melville in this, and especially Le samouraï which is another perfect film and among the best ever, but that's just good in my eyes.

I can't get enough of this film. Probably watched it 50 times, and I'll continue watching it several times a year as long as I am into watching films.

I also watched Zhangke Jia's A Touch of Sin yesterday and this is by far the best film I've seen from him. I thought it was very much different from his previous work (at least that I've seen), but hit's only for the good IMO. Some beautiful violence and four great stories. Superb film!

Ingmar Bergman was a God.

16 hours ago, patientZERO said:

I wish I could have a job that lets me chill and play video games!

I don't always get to chill though. After all, I am working 1on1 with a 6 year old kid diagnosed with autism and ADHD, and they've also seen signs of epiletic activity in his brain. So it's usually a bit more action during my days when it's regular school. 

Decided to bring my old Nintendo Wii with me to work today, and I'll leave it here for the week. It feels decent getting paid to play New Super Mario Bros. Love the different vacations when we can do shit like this.

I watched Ishirō Honda's The Mysterians yesterday. Really cool sci-fi film with bright, colorful visuals, beautiful miniatures, great special effects and a majestic score. Lovely stuff! Moguera, the kaiju part of the film, was cool as fuck. As usual, a very good Honda flick.

2 minutes ago, patientZERO said:

 

So it's a Japanese film based on a fictional Coen brothers film? That's an interesting premise.

No, it's an american film by David Zellner based on the urban legend of Takako Konishi's death. The film itself is not based on the film Fargo, it's based on a misreported story by the media at the time. The movie Fargo is just her motivations to travel in the film, but that's all it is.

And I watched Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter. Pure movie magic based on an urban legend that Takako Konishi once went to Fargo to find the money hidden by Steve Buscemi's character, Carl Showalter, in Fargo. This is not how the real story was, but that's why it's called an urban legend after all.

If this film does not have the status as a cult classic within 10 years of it's release I will be in shock and I'll send the biggest tsunami the world have ever seen to wash away and kill the entire popolation of this fucked up planet, but unlike tsunamis of the past this will be a tsunami of semen and you'll all drown in it.

What a film! Brilliant!

Some interesting news form the world of metal:

Black thrash metallers Craven Idol have a new album coming out soon called The Shackles of Mammon, their first release since 2013's Towards Eschaton. Black/thrash in the vein of Destroyer 666, Scythian and mid-era Absu. Furious and black, but at the same time epic. Their debut album is great and I am really looking forward to this. Can't find anything off their new album, but this will give you a decent impression of what these guys are all about:

Hellwell, side project of legendary Mark "The Shark" Shelton of Manilla Road fame will release their second album soon, their first since 2012, called Behind the Demon's Eyes. Their debut was a mix of Heavy metal, doom metal and prog, and basically sounds like epic heavy/power metal ala Manilla Road mixed with heavy/doom metal like Cirith Ungol and 70's prog. Can't find a new song, but a song from their fantastic debut album will give you a decent impression of what they sound like:

http://www.skysports.com/more-sports/other-sports/news/29876/10772609/naoyuki-oi-gives-bizarre-interview-at-world-pool-masters

That man is God. I am sure of it.

Nile has never been anywhere close to capture the rawness, feeling and overall sound of the bands I am talking about. They can't even be compared as they're way different both music- and production-wise than the bands I am talking about. We'll never agree on this, and most likely anything, ever, so we should just leave it here.

That sounds really nice.

I finally watched Tale of Tales, a dark and twisted fantasy film based on three fairytales collected by Giambattista Basile in his collection Pentamerone. The film is loosely based on The Enchanted Doe,  The Flea and The Flayed Old Lady, but is mixed with certain elements of other stories as well as with some degree of artistic freedom as far as I know.

This film is basically three fairytales for adults, being dark and twisted, surreal and absurd, but at the same time beautiful. I thought it was really nicely told with the stories being told in a mixed way, pieced in fragments through the whole film until the end, beautifully shot and a real pleasure to the eye as well.

A film that will bore most to tears, but entertain some, and I am of the latter one. I thought this was nothing short of breathtaking. Loved this film!

Yes, I am. Or more correctly, an encyclopedia of good music and films. Yeah, that's fucking right.

Diskord is fantastic and their second album, Dystopics, is even better than Doomscapes. And I'll also go as far as saying that their last EP, Oscillations, is even better than Dystopics again. This band rules and they're brilliant live. Nothing gimmicy or different visually, just pure death metal.

And since you're already checking out some newer Norwegian death metal, do yourself a favor and check out Execration, Reptilian and Obliteration too. These bands probably need a bit of time and spins to get into, though. Especially Execration.

Execration has been amazing since day 1, but they've still gotten better and better with each release. Both Odes of the Occult and especially Morbid Dimensions are death metal masterpieces.

Obliteration started off pretty poorly with Perpetual Decay, but their second album, Nekropsalms is fantastic and their third album Black Death Horizon are nothing short of a modern masterpiece.

Reptilian is seen a bit as an Obliteration clone/rip off, and they've obviously gotten a lot of inspiration from newers Obliteration, but their debut album Perennial Void Traverse is amazing. As good as Obliteration at their best IMO.

9 hours ago, Aeolus said:

also, WTF is with that production is that out or coming out? Either way it really shouldn't sound like it was recorded in the 80's

Are you talking about the Vampire track? If so you're showing a clear lack of understanding and knowledge of metal as a whole to be honest.

Vampire started out as a band who wanted to capture the spirit and sound of the mid/late 80's-early 90's death/thrash scene. You can't do that with a more polished and modern production. It's simply not possible as it won't sound like the bands from that era, and if it doesn't sound like the bands from that era then you're not able to capture that feeling, spirit and sound either. Simple as that.

@Jigsaw9https://vampiretheband.bandcamp.com/album/vampire-7-ep

Check this EP out. That is deathrashing perfection. It sounds like it was released in 1987 both as far as sound and songs goes. Like I said earlier, one of my all time favourite death(rash) releases.

Holy shit, I did not expect that. Their demo are one of my all time favourite death metal releases and it's nothing short of perfect, but their debut album was a huge letdown. It's way too polished and it lacked the power od the demo. Their previous release, an EP called Cimmerian Shade, was a step up after the debut, if not amazing or anything. But it's alright. This song again sounds great and the cover art is exceptional!

I hate the new Kreator albums. Nowadays, and ever since the shitfest that is Enemy of God they've sounded like a watered down gothenburg thrash metal band. They've basically taken the weakest, most watered down gothenburg death metal sound and turned it into watered down, thrash metal. Disgustig.

Violent Revelution also had plenty gothenburg influences, but not nearly as much as later albums. And it's only decent anyway.

And no, I am not someone who needs a classic thrash metal band to do the same over and over and will bash anything they do differently. I dig Endorama, just as an example.

Let me guess, you prefer Kreator post-1990 and prefer their outputs in the 2000's?

9 hours ago, Aeolus said:

I feel like such an outsider. I'm unable to enjoy most of the bands you guys suggest. It's either too much black metal influence or blast beats, gah I even hate when Arch Enemy comes on and my ears get drilled with blast beats from Root of All Evil.

How about you just contribute some yourself?

Anyway, I post a shitload of music without any black metal influence or blast beats here. Always did, always will.

I actually got around watching Tron: Legacy yesterday, after having been in love with the original Tron since 2001 or something and having played the soundtrack to the film almost weekly since it's release. The characters are flat and the plot is as thin as it is unoriginal, but I really like the visual style, the setting and the environment the film is set in. Top this off with an Olivia Wilde that is a real pleasure to the eye and is among the most beautiful women to have ever walked this earth and a soundtrack that is superb and you've got yourself two great hours IMO. I really liked the film despite all of its flaws.

The Tron: Legacy soundtrack is by far Daft Punk's best release IMO. Way, wya, way, above the rest of their discography.

Ningen Isu are amazing. Overlooked as fuck.

I'm pretty sure we'd have John Wick without Equilibrium.

And yes, gun fu is cool as fuck. The world needs more gun fu films IMO. I can't get enough of it. Never could, and I started watching gun fu flicks at a very young age. Thank god for bootlegs!

On 18.12.2016 at 0:14 AM, Jigsaw9 said:

Spectral - Okay, I only wanted to see this cuz it was shot in Budapest (and as it later turned out, like 80% of the staff were Hungarian lol), but it actually turned out to be kinda decent. Netflix-made sci-fi/thriller movie with some neat visual imagery and effects. If you enjoy looking at futuristic equipment and stuff then this will be sci-fi military porn heaven for you, haha. Not the best or worst movie out there, but it's okay for watching once and kinda zoning out on.

I'd say it's above decent to be honest. It doesn't bring anything new to the table, but it's got a solid story, decent cast and is very nice to the eye. It was a lot better than expected.

I can't believe Universal Pictures decided to offload this. A smart purchase by Netflix IMO.

I also rewatched Equilibrium yesterday. It doesn't bring anything new to the table and is basically a mishmash of several other films' (ideas), but I love the shit out of this film. I think it's excellent!

So Tony "IT" Särkkä passed away yesterday. He was involved in bands such as Ophthalamia, War and Abruptum in the 90's. Was is great, but it's what he did with Ophthalamia that'll be remembered, a band which was focused all around a fantasy-world created by It. A really unique band blending epic black metal, doom metal and progressive music. It's just very different from other bands at the time. But this is an album band. Everything about the band gets better when listening to the albums from A to Z.