My 5 favorite Arnold Schwarzenegger movies

Hey, did you notice, Arnold Schwarzenegger is back! Again! This time for real! Granted, he hasn't technically been gone for too long but in terms of film generations he definitely has to make up some ground to compete with the Katniss Everdeens and Tony Starks of our times. While his most recent films have bombed (The Last Stand made a laughable $12 million on a $45 million dollar budget and Escape Plan with his buddy Stallone slightly improved to an equally dismal $24 million on a budget of $50 million), it is important to remember what made him such a big star in the first place. That's why I present to you my 5 favorite movies starring the Austrian Oak!

Cloud Atlas (2012) Review

I find it quite hard to pass judgment on Cloud Atlas, the highly divisive and incredibly ambitious directorial collaboration between Tom Tykwer and the Wachowski siblings. It's one of those films that reaches for the stars and tries to get a hold of century-spanning tales with a multitude of characters of all ages and races.

Only God Forgives (2013) Review

Remember how much I enjoyed Drive with Ryan Gosling? Well, he teamed up again with the same director, Denmark's Nicolas Winding Refn, and here we are to see whether Only God Forgives can continue the strong showing of their previous collaboration.

Is it just me ... or is the poster for the upcoming "Noah" ripping off "2012"?

Well, let's hope that Darren Aronofsky will also find space in his epic for apocalypse nut Woody Harrelson in full-on crazy mode, that will make Noah easily twice as entertaining. I guess we'll have to wait until March 28, 2014 to find out.

Corman's World (2011) Review

The film world is so full of important and influential people (and of people who THINK they are important and influential) that one can easily get lost in the shuffle. However, there are some that simply stand out without a doubt, like the schlockmeister himself, Roger Corman. A documentary about him seems like a sure thing, so how does Corman's World fare?

Seven Psychopaths (2012) Review

Martin McDonagh is a pretty damn talented filmmaker and screenwriter. His first full length feature film In Bruges had won critical acclaim around the world, snatched an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay and was a modest success at the box office. So can he repeat the trick with his follow up feature Seven Psychopaths?

Fun with IMDB data!

Watching movies and keeping track of what you've already seen and what you are planning to see can be quite an overwhelming task. Luckily there is IMDB, the Internet Movie Database, made by geeks for geeks. It's the website I probably frequent the most, whether it's to look up information on a specific film, to just randomly browse through trivia for fun or to get enraged by user comments. Although I've been a user of the site for almost a decade now I didn't know that I can download information about my rating history including all the main information about the films. So I checked out the data a little bit more in detail in Excel and made the following useless observations:

Gravity (2013) sort-of-but-not-really Review

Yes, Gravity is actually the best thing since sliced bread. Critics around the world have lost their shit over this film, making it out to be the next step in the cinematic evolution. Well, I finally got around to see it, and in short, it's freakin' brilliant. I saw it in 3D and it was well worth it, so do yourself a favor, pay the 3 bucks extra to put on grimy plastic glasses and be blown away by what, without a doubt, can be called a landmark film.

Cool as Ice (1991) Review

Here's another case of "Holy crap, what did I just watch?". It's a relic of the 90s best forgotten, a film so odd in its existence and yet so incredibly watchable in its awfulness. Welcome to Cool as Ice.

The Grand Budapest Hotel trailer is here!

OMG, OMG, OMG, it's here! Wes Anderson, you've done it again. Lo and behold, it's the trailer for his upcoming The Grand Budapest Hotel.

Give me... 10 films whose endings let me down

You know the feeling: You're watching a movie, it's great and all, it's nearing its end and suddenly there's a shift in tone and something totally silly or outrageous happens, something that simply doesn't sit right with the rest of the film. It's a major bummer and will leave a bitter taste in your mouth, sometimes even ruin the rest of the experience for you. That made me think, what movies had the most out-of-place endings or endings that simply didn't work in the context of the film. That also includes endings that throw a curveball at the audience, endings that seem tacked on, make something essential in the plot obsolete or just water down the whole experience of the film. So here's my list of 10 movies with endings that let me down in one way or the other. Prepare yourself, there's some SPOILERS waiting for you here, consider this a warning.

Sonnenallee (1999) Besprechung

OK, erstmal das Unvermeidliche aus dem Weg. Ja, ich schreibe in Deutsch. Meine Fresse, mehr als eine Sprache, wo kommen wir denn da hin? Warum in Deutsch, fragst du? Ganz einfach, heute ist 3. Oktober, Tag der Deutschen Einheit. Moment, alle Deutschen haben heute frei? Und ich muss malochen? Wird Zeit, dass hier in den Staaten ein paar extra Feiertage eingeführt werden.

The Witches (1990) Review

Is it possible to take a critical look at a childhood favorite without falling into the nostalgia trap? Well, I don't know, but guess what, I'll try to review The Witches anyways.

My 15 favorite movies made in the 90s

Oh, the 90s, what a great time for movies. It was also the time I grew up in (although I am technically an 80s kid) which means that the films I saw back then definitely had an impact on my taste in movies and probably also on my character in general. To pick my favorites from this precious time is definitely not an easy task and to put these films in any kind of order is even more preposterous, considering that my taste will probably keep changing over the course of my life. With that being said, consider this a work in progress.

Robocop Trailer? More like Roboflop Failer (AMIRIGHT?!)

Yes, I made that pun and I am not ashamed of it (at least not too much...)

The World's End (2013) Review

No, not the Seth Rogen/James Franco vehicle This is the End but the long-awaited finale of Edgar Wright's Cornetto trilogy. Is it a worthy conclusion after Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz?

Geeks rejoice, Ultron has an actor!

James Spader was just announced to play the villain Ultron in the upcoming sequel of Marvel's The Avengers. I don't have a clue who Ultron is but good choice of actor if you ask me. As long as he channels his S/M obsessed boss from Secretary or his car crash crazy sex addict from David Cronenberg's Crash for the role it should be worth watching. As for the looks I can definitely see the resemblance:

And now for something completely different.

Re-Animator (1985) Review

Let's make it really short. You like Evil Dead 2? You're a fan of practical effects? You think Braindead is one of the funniest movies ever made? Congratulations, chances are you're already familiar with Re-Animator, but if you're not then hear me out.

Give me .. 5 questionable casting choices that turned out great

You've probably already heard about the casting of Ben Affleck as the new Batman but let me recap quickly. Man of Steel is currently standing at a worldwide haul of around $650 million which means that a sequel is inevitable. Right now it is slated for release in July 2015 and will be the first onscreen crossover between Superman and Batman. Now that the Dark Knight trilogy came to an end last year with The Dark Knight Rises they had to recast the role of Batman, cue Ben Affleck. Whether this is a good or bad casting choice we won't know until we've actually seen the movie.

Elysium (2013) Review

I hate falling into the hype trap. You know what I mean, a movie looks and sounds really, really good in trailers and promotions, has a ton of talented people attached to it, has sky-high ambitions and ultimately falls short of our expectations. Wait a moment, haven't I been here before? I'm sensing a deja vu...

Give me... 5 movies filmed in Seattle

Oh Seattle, how we all love you. Fixie riding hipsters, grunge relics from the 90s, crappy weather for 10 months of the year, top it all off with a double-tall iced skinny white chocolate mocha with extra whip from Starbuck's and there's nothing better in the world. Maybe apart from a decent foot massage, nothing beats that.

I was wondering, why is this beautiful city not more prominently featured on the big screen? There are countless iconic movies tied closely to cities like New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco or Chicago but what about the Pacific Northwest? So I came up with a list of 5 movies, all filmed in Seattle.

Deconstructing Harry (1997) Review

As an avid movie nerd it is pretty much a necessity to stumble upon a Woody Allen movie from time to time. Just look at his disciplined work pace, with his steady one-movie-a-year rhythm (or even higher) since 1982 (and a good chunk of quite significant movies before) he provides 83.6% (approximately) of the intellectual arthouse movie output nowadays. That's why it was delight for me to rediscover one of his lesser-discussed movies, Deconstructing Harry.

Because ... Jurassic Park!

In order to celebrate the best scene in Jurassic Park. Just because. And now watch this video and be amazed.

Give me ... 5 movies that made bank but were hated by critics

So we just witnessed the superflop of 2013, The Lone Ranger starring Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer. Films bomb, that happens all the time (and I even called this one, ha, suck it Hollywood!). But instead of just accepting that audiences simply didn't want to see a rubbish movie stars Depp and Hammer and producer Jerry Bruckheimer started bitching about the critics, blaming them for the failure at the box office (check out the video evidence here). Seriously, WTF?! They really think movie critics have such an influence on the audience to cause a $250 million movie to tank?

"Quality? Ha! Who cares? We are rich!"

So to be a total troll, here's the counter-evidence to their claim, I present to you 5 movies that were despised by critics worldwide but that made a fortune.

El Topo (1970) Review

You know, there are movies that are simply beyond review and judgment, movies that, even if you wanted to, you simply couldn't put in a row with other films, saying that it's better or worse than the other. And you know what, I'm sounding truly preposterous, so let's drop the act and dive right into El Topo.

Ben Stiller still got it! (aka the Walter Mitty trailer is here)

I honestly cannot remember the last time I got excited about a new Ben Stiller movie but, oh behold, here is proof that he still got it. Check out the trailer for The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.

The Wicker Man (2006) Review

Wow, just wow, where to even begin? The Wicker Man starring Nicolas Cage. Doesn't that say it all?

Cosmopolis (2012) Review

Man, I'm normally always in for odd, heady stuff. Jodorowsky, Gilliam, Haneke, von Trier, you name it and I'll be there. But what I have to deal with here is really pushing the boundary. But of course, I am getting a little ahead of myself.

Here's the new trailer for another 2013 must-see movie

Prepare yourself for Filth, the most amusingly disturbing and pervertedly twisted film this year. Starring the friendly fella from acclaimed Atonement and the little boy from Billy Elliott, both of them playing dirty, rotten bastards. Well, of course!

Give me... 5 reasons to love Back To The Future

There are movies that are appealing to anyone, at any given time, no matter what circumstances. Back To The Future is definitely one of those films. As long as I can remember I loved that film. How could you not immediately fall in love with? Or so I thought until a couple of days ago I watched it with my girlfriend who had never seen it before. To make a long story short, she didn't love it. Hell, she didn't even seem to like it very much.

That made me think, what is it exactly that makes this film so great in my eyes (and the eyes of pretty much every other movie geek out there). That's why I came up with a list of 5 things that make Back To The Future awesome.

The full trailer for Anchorman 2 is here!

Ask anybody about his or her favorite Will Ferrell movie and chances are you'll hear ... Land of the Lost. Of course not, chances are it'll be the ingenious Anchorman, probably the most quotable movie of the past 10 years. There's a sequel coming this year and you can watch the first official trailer right here, check it out!

Give me... 5 upcoming films based on ridiculous source material

Remember in the not so distant past, when everybody questioned whether a movie based on a Disneyland attraction was the height of cinematic suicide? Well, 4 movies and a couple billion dollars later one can safely say that the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise was definitely a good investment (at least financially, let's not even talk about the "quality" of the sequels). But then somebody came around and said, hey, that worked out just fine, let's make a big budget movie based on a board game that is about as exciting as watching paint dry. The result of that experiment-gone-wrong was Battleship, the notorious summer 2012 sci-fi dud.

Do you remember... Before Sunrise?

OK, for a moment let's forget about all the romantic comedy rubbish starring Kristen Bell or Katherine Heigl that Hollywood likes to crap out for a quick cash grab and let's look at something much more sincere and honest than that. Let's look no further than 1995's Before Sunrise.

Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) Review

Let's get one thing right out of the way: I'm not a Trekkie. I've never seen the original show or any of the spin-offs and when it comes to the movies then I'd always felt somewhat underwhelmed (with the exception of Wrath of Khan, that film kicks ass). Now the first time that I'd actually found myself being quite blown away by Star Trek was with J.J. Abrams' 2009 Star Trek. Dumping all the heavihandedness of the source material and putting everything into overdrive was probably the best thing that could have ever happened to the franchise. I'm certainly aware that many devoted fans have complained about it not being true to the source material and dumbing it down for the mass audience but these people are forgetting one simple thing: IT'S A MOVIE, GET OVER IT! But honestly, Star Trek of the 2009 variety was a fast-paced, entertaining and completely satisfying sci-fi romp.

Movie Showdown #2: Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure vs. Encino Man

Here we go again, more films to battle bitterly to the end, let's see what movie is better!

Today's contestants:

The ingenious late 80s classic Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and the somewhat forgotten Brendan Fraser flick Encino Man.

Alright, enough talk, bring it on!

Ender's Game looks .... meh

Check out the trailer for Ender's Game right here:

White House Down trailer will pump you up!

Now I know what you're thinking, heck, didn't we just have Olympus Has Fallen? And didn't we also have our fair share of Channing Tatum movies lately? And what's Roland Emmerich's obsession with messing with the White House? I mean, check out what he did to it before:

Deep Water (2006) Review

Sometimes you need to see a really decent documentary and not a work of fiction on screen to be reminded of the power that movies can evoke. Deep Water is a film that will grip you and won't let you go for a long time after the credits have rolled.

Movie Showdown #1: Tron Legacy vs. True Grit

Alright, it's time to settle the score so let's answer the age old question, what movie is better?

Today's contestants:

Joseph Kosinki's existentialist masterpiece Tron Legacy and the Coens' schlocky B-movie western True Grit.

Let's dive right in and see which one will keep the upper hand!

My 10 favorite movies of 2012

Man, it's already March and I still haven't done a top ten list of movies for the past year. So then, here it is, in all its glory. Keep in mind, these are not necessarily the BEST movies of 2012, they are simply the ones that I enjoyed the most.

The trailer for The Hangover - Part III hits the web

Check out the trailer for the third (and supposedly final) entry in the Hangover franchise.

Do you remember.... Twelve Monkeys?

It's a long time coming but you've probably seen Looper, last year's surprisingly smart and entertaining time-travel thriller. But I'm not here to tell you how good of a movie that was, I'm here to remind you that there was another time travel movie starring Bruce Willis.

21 and Over (2013) Review

If you're here to simply get confirmation to see this film, then you have my blessing. 21 and Over is harmless fun, fast food for the soul, what it lacks in depth and brain it easily makes up in simple joy and entertainment. If you want to get a slightly more detailed review, please read on.

Take This Waltz (2011) Review

I'm sitting here trying to think of the appropriate words to describe Sarah Polley's "Take This Waltz" and there are four things that keep popping into my head: annoying, boring, trying way too hard and overall incredibly duuuuullllllllllllllllllllllllllll.