Ben Moody - All For This

Beware!

Just beware if u're just as B's surname suggests, Moody. If you're heart's ever broken, just take a u-turn, the content of this CD is hazardous to you!

Well if you insist, Ben Moody's first solo effort after Evanescence era has arrived and it's a masterpiece as expected from Ben's many times-proven talent. The album is from start to end an elegy, of course in the fashion of radio friendly hooks and great chorus lines.

If you're expecting anything Evanes-cized, please don't get anywhere close to this album. This is a stand, a stand for all the broken hearts who are past hopes for tending, it's got brilliant polyphony, tons of ethnic instruments, violins, percussions and a lot more, pure greatness, pure talent sparks at every note, if you're up for a Moody ride, here's your ticket for the greatest treat.

MJ no more...

Devildriver - Pray for Villains

Have you crushed into a wall lately? This is the new sound wall that's gonna leave you crippled. I don't think that Devildriver needs any introductions, since this is their fourth studio effort that appeared on the shelves. With every new album promising new bruises, Pray For Villains is determined to keep this custom alive! This is year's first true bombshell that explodes with every new track blowing out of your speakers.

Devildriver ain't showing any mercy and beating the metal out of their instruments with Dez's incredible vocal power that embodies evil. This record is extreme metal at its best without any holds barred. More over the guitar work of DD's masters offer some psychedelic surprises as well, specially on tracks Fate Stepped In and I've Been Sober -the latter offering some personal demons-.

All in all this record is a must buy, a must bang and a must cherish for all extreme metal heads!!!

http://www.myspace.com/devildriver

The Last House On the Left

This is gonna hurt!

Thrillers lately took a swift turn from supernaturals to super"natural"s. As Wes Craven's The Last House on the Left was the pioneer for the slasher genre, a remake of this true classic was inevitable. Thankfully, this remake ain't no cheap attempt to ruin a memory, on the contrary, it's a fresh killer deal that both honours the original and without a doubt offers a whole new experience for this generation's movie goers!

The story takes place in a remote summer house owned by an ordinary middle class American family. Their daughter and a friend of hers are abducted, raped and left for dead in the woods. Then the troubled crew takes shelter in their guest house and then, when the parents realise that their guests are not just unlucky passerbys, the time comes to turn the tables around.

The acting is simple but very effective, the direction is near perfect with even the most gruesome scenes offering a glimpse that you'll want to capture and the tone... Blood red. This experience is not for the faint hearted so if you're easily influenced by visual violence, please be warned.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0844708/

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1205377-last_house_on_the_left/

Hunger

Probably one of the most challenging experiences that a viewer can have. I must admit that some scenes are too tough for a human being to watch without feeling a punch to his guts. The movie takes place in the Maze prison, where IRA activist were kept under arrest. As Republican prisoners, they received such treatment that would make an example of them, under the lowest living conditions a person can barely survive. First we're introduced to the No Wash Protest. During the protest the prisoners don't shave or wash and cover the walls of their prison in their own excrement. Later on we meet Bobby Sands, the IRA activist who conucted and started the hunger strike.

Hunger is not only based on actual events but also it narrates the real life struggle of the Maze's prisoners without holding back anything. "It's a tragedy and the world should be aware of that, generation by generation." says Steve McQueen whose directorial debut is probably going to be his masterpiece.

Hunger's narration relies on the balance factor, the story is told both from the prisoner's and the guardian's points of view, both bearing the physical and the mental burden of their "duties" and "responsibilities". As the movie reaches to its grand finale we see how this burden takes its toll on both sides.

The movie boasts top class acting, heavy symbolism, tense tone and a twenty one minute long, uncut dialogue between a priest and Bobby on life, religion, choices, hunger strike and "salvation". A true modern classic from the start to the end, without a doubt, a must see.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0986233/

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1200841-hunger/

The Midnight Meat Train

Anyone up for a gory train ride?

The Midnight Meat Train surely does have a cult following already, although the box office ratings were weak despite the reasonable production cost, studio abandoned any plans for a possible sequel. The story revolves around Leon, a photographer who is desperate to catch glimpses of real life incidents in order to guarantee his work's exhibition in one of the top class art galleries in NYC. His search leads him to the city subway and he meets our antagonist there, The Butcher. He witnesses the massacre The Butcher delivered, first hand and goes after him with the naive motivation of stopping him but during the process his dedication turns into an obsession.

As things go downward spiral, Leon's girlfriend and a friend of them are also included and the ride continues splattering blood everywhere. The movie is based on the short story with the same name by Clive Barker, published as part of his masterpiece Books of Blood. Though the movie is a fast paced thrill ride and delivers its promised fun with no holds barred, the ending, which I guess was supposed to be a twist, is kinda weak when compared to the movie as a whole. But don't let this stop you from seeing it if you're a fan of the genre. It's still gonna ride the shivers down your spine.

Last but not least, Ryuhei Kitamura is a great tranfer to Hollywood from Japan, you should see his previous work too if you wanna see how sick action cinema can get.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0805570/

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10008617-midnight_meat_train/

Killzone 2

The 3rd and the immortal piece, Play.

Been nearly a year since I purchased the gaming behemoth PS3. Played through tons o' games yet took me almost a year to meet the game that shines, rocks and bleeds the way this powerhouse promised to provide. Sony Computer Entertainment is really keen on the exclusive titles for the company's console, since Xbox-360 costs much cheaper and their games can be downloaded, PS3 is pushed to bring out its best guns in order to provide challenge with PS3's challenging price tag for both hardware and software. So far the exclusives were all met with critical acclaim and fan praise; the legendary follow up to the Metal Gear Solid series MGS4, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Resistance franchise, Ratchet & Clank, LittleBigPlanet and Heavenly Sword. All provided great gameplay and some of them were praised as the modern classics of the gaming world and now SCE released the ultimate shooter that may not be the best FPS ever but without doubt the greatest looking game ever; Killzone 2!

Just press START and see for your eyes, this game is gonna convince you to buy a PS3, not because of its perfection, great gaming mechanics or ultimate AI, you're gonna dig it because you're gonna wake up every day just to play one level of it and adore what you're seeing on your HDTV! This is ultimate! 1080i at its best! Huge levels with tremendous action, anything is destructible and yet even the debris, corpses or whatever's left of your enemies look sublime. Gameplay is easy to learn but takes time to perfect, story however is a huge pile of cliché and even the most dramatic moment is presented as if it happens every single day of your life but who cares? Screw the cutscenes for once, the original gameplay looks way better! Single play scenario ain't no brainer and takes a one-night-stand effort for experienced shooters. The real fun is hidden in the multiplayer, Killzone 2 offers the greatest multiplayer experience since Quake 3, and it's not that simple shoot/frag count bash anymore, every member in a group has different roles and they earn points for doing their job, not for headshots. So if u're a medic, put that syringe into good use instead of your gunslinger skills which you probably did not study in the medschool.

There are more upcoming exclusive titles to PS3 but Killzone 2 is without a doubt, one of the stars that's going to shine for a long long time!