Mellow in the darkness

A true story. A bunch of alcoholics in the 70s and one of them is a wheelchair-bound John Callahan (Joaquin Phoenix). Callahan's quadriplegia, his struggle for sobriety and finding his biological mother is somewhat heavy and saddening, but, in the end, him becoming a reknowed cartoonist makes this an easy-going heartfelt movie. And Joaquim Phoenix, once again, proves his talent.

The hour of the wolf

A neglected and abused girl has no other option than to escape deep in the woods and become an axe-wielding vampire cannibal. She lives in a place called Devils Den where no one dares to go because, naturally, no one really wants to get eaten. The girl gets a little lonely just drawing pictures and killing people in the woods, so it's a blessing when she meets another abused teenager. Pretty weak slasher horror.

Death by torture

David Fincher has done some of the finest serial killers movies (namely Se7en and Zodiac) and now he has created a remarkable serial killer TV series that is a smart, entertaining and intriguing masterpiece. At least season #1 is out there with the very best.

Allergic to social norms and elegant niceties

Not wholly succumbed to the genre, but Anthony Jeselnik is the most entertaining (and vulgar) stand-up comedian I've seen in recent years. This is only the second one I've seen of his shows, not on the standard as the first one (Thoughts and Prayers), but murderously funny.

A delusion is lies that tell truth

Witches have a ballet academy in Berlin in 1977 and if you don't dance for their wishes you are in deep supernatural trouble. A remake of Dario Argento's horror classic and it quite well could be from the seventies itself. It's haunting, good fucking horror, impressive satanic witchcraft and ceremonies where evil prevails. But like everyone seems to be saying, the movie is too long (two and half hours), so inevitably it bores and ultimately disappoints you.

From the earth of frost and cold

Aarne and Veikko are returning home from war between Finland and Russia. They are ambushed by the Russian soldiers, Aarne dies and Veikko escapes. Back in Finland, Veikko falls in love with Aarne's sister and together they start a new live in a settlement farm in northern Karelia. It's a trademark Markku Pölönen film, Finnish scenery and country romance as the driving force and decent - albeit sappy - enough a story.

A leap of faith

Peter Parker a.k.a. Spider-Man is dead, but due to a clitch at the gates between dimensions, all of a sudden all the other Spider-Mans from parallel dimensions gather up to defeat their common enemy Kingpin. All the other Spider-Mans, including Spider-Ham, Peni Parker and Spider-Man Noir, aren't quite what we are used to, they are older, fattier and originating from different species and everything. Nevertheless, they are all fucken cool. Into the Spider-Verse is quite something, an entertaining extravaganza.

Crying in the storm

I don't know, but apparently somewhere in the near future people are criss-crossing between different galaxies in derelict spacecrafts with bottomless ease. If it ever came to be, thousands of space researchers would walk out of this movie during the first 10 minutes, unless they came for a laugh. A girl gets stuck in a suspiciously earthlike planet with a thief and a murderer. In order to survive and collect earnings from the lucrative soil, they have to co-operate. Sci-fi movies are not my forte, but this had a nice low budget feel to it, even though just didn't care what the fuck was going on.

South of reality

You sometimes read of these people. Con-artists who pretend they are working, but in truth lie their way out of reality, are unemployed and do shit like steal food from restaurants. Pekka Malmikunnas (Hannu-Pekka Björkman), who lives on a construction site, is a that kind of fraudster, but keeping a good lie going becomes more difficult when he - through unfortunate accident - inevitably gets closer to his family. Decent drama comedy, inspired by Kari Hotakainen's novel.

Courage is the solution to despair

Reverend Toller (Ethan Hawke) runs a derelict church that is about to celebrate its 250th anniversary. For a Christian priest, Toller seems like a man of reason as he understands science and the dangers of environmental change. He's not lost his faith, but he's a common man, drinks too much and ignores his health. Apart from the fact that quite early on you realize where the story is going (even though the ending is open for interpration), First Reformed is a solid provocative drama. Written and directed by Paul Schrader (the writer of Taxi Driver).

Infinite gate opening

Horrible nazis - while occupying France in WWII - use local residents as their laboratory rats. They are testing a new chemical formula to create super-soldiers because 'A thousand year Reich needs thousand year soldiers.' Allied forces must stop this madness. Really enjoyable nazisploitation, a bit campy, but entertaining.

Better than Sinatra

Nothing wrong with it, but it's overrated as fuck. I probably am the only one on the earth that didn't get the chemistry between Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga. And the songs are shit. Otherwise, it's a watchable thing. They do well, the actors, and the story - albeit too quickly - developes from rags to riches and from fame to humiliation pretty smoothly. And I was a little surpised to see Andrew Dice Clay still doing motion pictures and that's fucking great.

Losers of future tyrants

This techno thriller tries too much. It desperately tries be smarter, flashier, darker and sexier than all the rest, particularly its predecessors; the Swedish Millennium miniseries and David Fincher´s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo film. Unfortunately this shit gets tangled in its own web and makes, for instance, the already average actors look plastic. Also, it's the most loopholed movie I have seen all year.

Draconian menu

With 18 Michelin stars, Alain Ducasse undisputedly is the most celebrated chef in the world, the king of gastronomy. The documentary follows him for 2 years, we see him completing his latest restaurant in Versailles (Ore - Ducasse au château de Versailles) and we are with him as he takes culinary trips all over the world. Cooking is his infinite universe, he´s so devoted to food that his obsession inevitably sticks with you and you admire his artistry.