Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy: Films (2009)

The Extended Editions (2009)

The standard theatrical versions of the trilogy that were first released into the English and American markets were really good, but the eventual release of the extended Swedish language editions in a single box set (DVD or Blu-ray) made my day. It brought with it an additional 120 minutes of footage, two whole hours of extra story! That's 120 minutes in total, not 120 minutes each.

Each film was split into two parts lasting approximately 90 minutes each, enabling them to more easily fit into a TV schedule.

I'd have preferred the split be a simple fade-to-black intermission, but the separation isn't really that much of a problem and I admit that I made use of it each time to get a refill.

Babylon 5: Season 1 (1994)

Signs and Portents (1994)

22 episodes, approx 44 mins each.

"It was the dawn of the third age of mankind – ten years after the Earth-Minbari War. This is the story of the last of the Babylon stations. The year is 2258. The name of the place is Babylon 5."

J. Michael Straczynski, the creator of Babylon 5, set out to create a science fiction show unlike anything that had existed before: a show with complex plot threads that appealed to an adult audience; a show about more than just the weird alien of the week that was a metaphor for some part of us. I admit that sounds arrogant, but he did it and he did it well.

He populated his floating tin can in space with a number of different dramatic stock types culled from a wide variety of genres. They clash and forge friendships, fight and find comfort in the familiar just like everyone. No one in the B5 universe is infallible, everyone is flawed, and as such it felt real.

Pale Sketcher: Music (2013)

Warm Sunday (2013)

Pale Sketcher will be a name that sounds familiar to fans of Jesu because Justin K. Broadrick released a Jesu album named Pale Sketches (2007). This is him again, in another of his many guises, but it's lighter in tone than most of his other works.

It has things in common with Jesu material but is stripped back and deconstructed, replacing guitar with a dreamlike quality synth.

Broadrick is prolific with his music but he never puts out crap, so you can always buy with confidence. It's a Name Your Price at Bandcamp, so it's up to you how much you think it's worth. You can find it HERE.

Nightbreed (1990)

Nightbreed (1990)

Dir. Clive Barker

Aaron Boone experiences recurring nightmares about a place that he's never been. It's a place called Midian. He's no proof that it even exists outside of his own unconscious state, but his desire to find it is very real, even though the monsters that live there could tear him apart.

The Midian story begins in dramatic fashion, not unlike an old Japanese horror-fantasy film at its peak but given a modern, colourful twist. It's misleading because that kind of feeling doesn't return once it wanes. Instead, it achieves a unique kind of believability for itself to exist in.

It was written for the screen by Barker, an adaptation of his own Cabal (1988) novel.

The Book of Lies: Liber CCCXXXIII (1912)

The Book of Lies: Liber CCCXXXIII (1912)

Author: Frater Perdurabo (Aleister Crowley)  |  Page Count: 200

'The more necessary anything appears to my mind, the more certain it is that I only assert a limitation.'

To give it its full title, 'The Book of Lies: Which is also Falsely Called BREAKS. The Wanderings or Falsifications of the One Thought of Frater Perdurabo, which Thought is itself Untrue. Liber CCCXXXIII', is perhaps the most accessible of Crowley's published works relating to magick.

The deeper, hidden meanings relating to his magickal philosophies are there to be deciphered and will, no doubt, be recognisable to members of the A∴A∴ and O.T.O., but there's enough disclosure in the footnote commentaries (added later but included in most current editions) to explain certain things to the uninitiated, to enable even a complete newcomer to follow many of the Qabalistic threads and understand that within the work structure is as important as content.

HAMMER: Dracula Films (1958-74)

Dracula (1958)

aka Horror of Dracula (in the US)

Dir. Terence Fisher

It took huge liberties with Bram Stoker's original story, but otherwise Hammer's first flirtation with the Dracula figure is the best vampire film they ever made.

The elaborate sets are beautifully lit. The creeping strings and timely crashing cymbals of James Bernard's score lift everything from routinely dramatic to legendary heights.

What gets the most attention, deservedly so, is the addition of Christopher Lee in the lead role and Peter Cushing as his nemesis, the pursuant Dr. Abraham Van Helsing. Pitting those two against each other is like having mountains collide amid a thunderstorm.

The ending is the most memorable of any vampire film I've ever seen.

Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008)

Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008)

Dir. Darren Lynn Bousman

The first time I watched Repo! TGO I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

The second time I watched it I began to like it for its uncompromising bat-shit craziness.

With each subsequent viewing I've fallen even more hopelessly in love with it for the same reasons as the first and second time.

It’s the visual equivalent of a blood-soaked comic book found on the corpse of a Goth, post-car crash, lying by the roadside, stumbled upon and filmed by a Terry Gilliam fan on his way to a Rocky Horror theatre production.

It's a rock opera about... and... with... yea... The trailer can do the work: YouTube LINK.