I tried to like the movie. I really did.

I watched it with a very close friend who appreciates it very much, and I wanted to share in that appreciation. But the film just doesn't do it for me. It's hollow and pointless, postmodern when postmodernism has just gone out of fashion.

Kill Bill, vol. 1 is a deviant gore-fest of 60s-era martial arts melee. Briefly, a plot synopsis. The pregnant Bride (known to the viewer by the codename Black Mamba), professional assassin of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad (DiVAS, for short), is shot down by her former compatriots during her wedding ceremony. All participants are murdered; yet somehow Black Mamba herself survives in comatose form. Waking up four years after the murder spree, she begins to recollect who she is and what has happened to her. Thus remembering, she decides to go on a murderous rampage, intent on slaying (in the most gruesome possible fashion) every member of DiVAS, including Bill, who is apparently the leader of the gang.

First things first. Kill Bill is--literally--nothing more than Charlie's Angels in reverse. A secret gang of female special operatives, headed by an unseen male. The only difference is the sadism prevalent in DiVAS, whereas Charlie's Angels is harmless.

This is admittedly my introduction to Tarantino's work; yet if this is his "best" he has to offer, I cringe at the possibility of watching his "lesser" films. Granted, Mr. Tarantino intended the movie to be as over the top on the gruesomely sadistic scale as it is; granted, he intended to essentially plagiarize an entire generation of action flicks. I understand all that. What I don't understand, is why. Some critics have tried to save the film by calling it "artistic".

There are, in fact, some scenes which shine out. The anime sequence is a bold move, and some occasional cinematographic trick of the lens adds a nice touch to a scene, but none of that is in any way original. I can't tell you how many times I've seen a black and white sequence with only the eyes colored in. Or how many times a movie shifts from black and white in the beginning scene to color later. That's right, the same essential device is used twice in the same film. That's not only unoriginal, it's almost insulting.

Artistic movies have a message--there is no message or moral to Kill Bill. It's just a sequence of bloody pictures one after another. There is almost no struggle. The only decent part, which I found actually interesting, is the reaction of the Japanese swordmaster's request by Black Mamba to craft a new sword, ten years after he vowed to never again do so. The swordmaster is the only real character--everyone else is a garish, one dimensional image. Unfortunately for the viewer, the swordmaster is gone after only ten minutes.

It's an intentionally unrealistic movie with virtually no plot to begin with and therefore by necessity lacking in any plot development until the very end (when Tarantino uses a faded director's trick: introducing a totally unreasonable factoid to create a cliff-hanger in the very final scene), without any reason to be. I wouldn't risk the waste of money.

If you want a laugh a minute, read some earlier reviews.

First, let us deal with the alternate reality some people seem to live in--Crowley did not die impoverished. Netherwood is certainly modest, but it is a reputable boarding house and is quite a nice place. It is not squalor or filth as some failed creatures seem to think.

Secondly, ad hominem arguments in general are things we thinking human beings call "illogical". Crowley spent his money foolishly--how does it follow then that Crowley can't be spiritually advanced? It simply does not. Yes, he was bad with money--a lot of people are, but what does that have to do with their religious beliefs?

Thirdly, yes where was Crowley's guardian angel? He died a disreputable old man, indeed. More or less forgotten, yes.

So what?

If I am to transcend the world the herd lives in and is ruled by, am I supposed to want the herd to admire me? Or am I going to want them to think I'm "too weird", or "insane"?

Think about it.

Now that we've gotten back to planet Earth, we can safely deal with the book itself.

Still seeped in the tradition of initiated blinds, this is a book which can sometimes be confusing. Sometimes a blind is perfectly obvious, such as the infamous chapter on blood sacrifice. Sometimes, they are not.

This is an invaluable book, however, for modern occultists of whatever stripe. You ought to discount much of his writing on yoga, however, since there are some instructions which (due to the lack of medical knowledge at the time) are potentially dangerous--do not use the positions he mentions. Do not do pranayama one nostril at a time.

The first two parts of the book largely apply to general Magick, and are very good instructions. For Thelemites, an added bonus is the fourth and final part of the book, a survey on Crowley's claims about what led up to the dictation of The Book of the Law, in addition to a copy of the Book itself and some early comments on it.

Crowley's legendary "Naples Arrangement" of Qabalah makes it's first appearance here, along with a few particularly well-drawn diagrams of the Tree of Life, significantly better than the tiny ones in The Book of Thoth.

A highly recommended book which you can find whole or in parts, occultists need this in your library. Dismiss the fools and read, and discover on your own.

What distinguishes black comedy from it's more mainstream counterpart is the element of the macabre and disturbing.

"Very Bad Things" is one of the more disturbing movies I have ever seen--it can be physically uncomfortable to watch the movie, but fascinating nonetheless. Perhaps the prime example of this is the early scene in the movie with the hooker and the man who inspects the noise.

The plotline is an interesting concotion. Five friends attend a bachelor's party in a Las Vegas hotel, wherein the prostitute hired for their entertainment is accidentally killed whilst having sex with the brother of the groom. From there the movie spirals into a mess of murder and chaos. The characters exhibit great depth as they attempt to cope with their acts and the attempted coverup, while the act of murder destroys them both inwardly and outwardly, as the tightly-knit group of friends begin to violently turn on each other.

There's a notion of either supreme cosmic irony or karma (depending on your point of view) as the last scene fills the screen.

Human complexes come to the fore throughout, from Carmen Diaz's unstoppable and insane need to go through with the wedding at whatever cost, to Christian Slater's ego-driven lust for power to the point where power and control is a death urge. In the process, the frailties of each person become absolutely hilarious. The function of humor serves two goals in this movie: to keep the audience from nausea and despair, and to drive home the point that the lengths people will go to protect their own interests in the face of all obstacles and against all morality is ultimately a destructive drive that also from a God-like perspective seems so ridiculous that it's just downright stupid.

It's no accident we don't feel sympathy for any of the characters except perhaps the one who seeks to repent and the initial murder victims.

The film is an indictment against us for acting this way--driven by power and greed, self-serving animals that are guided entirely by our own peculiar mental illnesses. When we seek to protect ourselves within the framework of a social group, the will of the group will retract to it's originators--the group becomes a mass of self-serving beasts running at conflicting aims. Death is the only result. In moral terms when we perpetuate evil, we invite it in kind for the very simple reason that like attracts like. Karma, baby.

I'm not sure this was the original intention of the movie, but this is the way I read it. Ultimately it's a fascinating movie that has three levels of appeal: to begin with, visceral comedy or intellectual stimulation. But the problem with this is that these two are often mutually exclusive. The third is an absorption in the one without the expense of the other. Approach it in your own way, but remember that its comedic aspect is no less important than its thematic one.

Anyone who calls themselves a fan of Marilyn Manson should be ashamed of themselves when they criticize the band for the "new direction" they're taking.

How many cds does the band have to release for you to realize every album is going to be different, stylistically, conceptually and aesthetically?

Portrait of an American Family was a candy-goth-industrial (almost pop-y) album. AntiChrist Superstar was the only truly dark gothic industrial album the band has released. Mechanical Animals was glam, 70s-era rock. Holywood was something close to Antichrist Superstar but not quite there. And now The Golden Age of Grotesque is a 1920's era American jazz and swing album with gothic industrial overtones.

You should be orgasmic that there are bands out there who have this kind of range and subtlety in their music. What do you listen to, Linkin Park, kids?

Who out there can go from disco-beats to gothic industrialism to swing three albums in a row? And make it sound good? Besides Marilyn Manson?

Older (real) fans of Manson will like this album for it's dark cynicism and impeccable songwriting. People who thought Marilyn Manson is a mindless hack with no musical ability whatsoever will find the songs on here catchy and entertaining. I have yet to get enough of "Doll-Dagga-Buzz-Buzz-Ziggety-Zag", and I'm not even a swing fan (or wasn't, maybe)!

This album will appear stale and non-technical--to anyone who won't listen to it. In point of fact, there is quite a lot going on with the music, particularly the guitars. I love the use of them as trombones and trumpets, really brings a big grin to my face.

I would go so far as to say this is Manson's best cd since Antichrist Superstar, tied maybe with Mechanical Animals. Which doesn't mean I think Holywood is bad (it is, in fact, one of my favorite cds that I own, below the aforementioned two only because it's his least original release).

Manson is unlike any other relatively-popular band out there in the mainstream. He's maintained his musical integrity, his focus and (at least my) admiration. I love the way he experiements with period music of the 20th century and incorporates it with industrial sounds to create his own unique interpretation of the style.

Anyone who can't see this should probably stick to the twelve-year-old lyrics, talent, concepts and general attitude of bands like Linkin Park. You're not wanted here.

Really good books always challenge you, and the response to the challenge can be quite varied.

Some people respond with a wary eye but an open mind.

Others don't care.

Still others enthusiastically embrace any challenge and work with it to see where they get to in the end.

Then there are the people who just as enthusiastically resist any open challenge to an established, "gut" idea. These people respond irrationally, with fear and excessive caution. Many of the reviews of this book fall into the latter category.

Yes, Goswami's interpretation of quantum mechanics has been disputed. What this has to do with anything is rather irrelevent. To the gentleman who named Polkinghorne by name, Polkinghorne's interpretation of physics has been challenged numerous times as well. There is no one interpretation physicists agree on. Look at the results and you can even see that not all of them agree the Earth exists!

Further, this gentleman points out that the reformulation of Descartes' Cogito argument could well be "God chooses, therefore I am". How silly this is supposed to be a criticism. Anyone who understands the book knows that Goswami is talking about a transcendent mind, not a personal one. He IS talking about God.

It is true that Goswami does not hold up every so-called "paranormal" event as evidence of his idealist philosophy. Again, this is irrelevent. Science always progresses this way--a new model appears and allows us to explain something we previously though impossible, but it does not logically follow that everything we thought impossible is now explainable by the model, now does it?

I was ready to blast Goswami's point about the OBE (Out-of-body-experience) because I read the Amazon.com review that declares Goswami debunks the OBE because it suggests dualism (which it does not, at least necessarily). This is not at all what Goswami does--what he says in the book is that the appearance that the mind has escaped the body is false, but the event is not. Goswami basically points out that if all that exists is (fundamentally) mind, then the OBE is merely a "shift of perception" if you will in the universal Mind. If I sit across from my friend, there is no difference between perceiving my body through her mind or through my own, because our minds are really the same since both derive from and reside within the transcendent mind--it is the assumption that they are not which leads to the mistaken belief the mind has somehow "left" the body.

Goswami makes a fine argument for demolishing material realism. It's not that hard, to be honest, because you have to be a blockhead to be a materialist (pun intended). Goswami's monistic idealism is certainly not the only possible scientific viewpoint (there are dozens of contenders) but so far this is the only view that bridges a gap between science and religion so well.

Amon Amarth is something of a cross between nordic, "Viking black metal" and melodic death metal. The vocals are more of a death roar and growl while the music, and subject matter, belongs in the black metal world.

This cd is ten tracks of powerful, loud, and epic, fury. Don't let the cover art turn you off (I almost didn't buy the cd because the album art is so cheesy). This is intense, beautiful epic music with a streak of brutality.

My only real beef with the cd is that it's too short. The whole thing is only 49 minutes long, so it feels like it ends abruptly.

The lyrics deal with such subjects as Vikings, war, anti-Christianity in general, and murder (always, of course, "justified" for religious reasons).

Philosophically, you don't have to agree with what the band thinks (murder people for their religion? How...Christian!) to recognize the greatness of the music. Indeed anyone with half a brain is aware that nobody deserves persecution for their religion. But hey, it sells and it makes good music. Asatruers across the world get a bad name from the people who pervert the religion this way, so it's important to remember that this take on the Asatru philosophy (for the record, I am not an Asatruer) represents unresolved Oedipus complexes more than insightful thought or religion, but you can still be enormously entertained by the music.

Album highlights: As Long as the Raven Flies, Annihilation of Hammerfest, and The Fall Through Ginnungagap.

As my title says, this cd is a "shrinking" one, in contrast to a "grower", those cds that you absolutely hate at first but then love as time goes.

This, for me at least, worked in the exact opposite direction.

When I first bought this cd, I was aware of the music style--folk, Rennaissance era music ("Past Time with Good Company" was written by King Henry VIII and is also the best track) touched with a bit of a rock influence.

I loved it. Here it was! Medieval and Rennaissance music! Splendid! A beautiful female vocalist and great male ones too!

Then I started to really listen to it. At the time, my music interests grew outwardly as well. I started getting into different kinds of music, along the same theme only much, much darker. Bands like Emperor and Nokturnal Mortum, while certainly not acceptable to most of those who love trad metal like Deep Purple or Rainbow, do the kind of Ren-medieval era music *much, much* better.

Here it sounds like Blackmore and his fiancee are interested in the music enough to be familiar with it's style and be competent in how to play it. But overall the sound is just cheesy. The lyrics are for the most part uninspired and most of the songs are not memorable in the least. I've never described music as "naive" before, but that's the best word I can think of to describe some of the songs on this album, such as "Wind in the Willows".

"March the Heroes Home" is a kind of Tudor-era patriotic ditty. It has a nice feel, but it's still repetitive and boring.

There are good tracks on here, though: the title, "Under a Violet Moon" is one of my favorites, along with "Catherine Howard's End" and "Past Time with Good Company". I've never heard anymore of Blackmore's Night than this album, so don't let this review discourage you from experimenting with the band, especially since the three tracks above show some promise.

But this is not such a great album. The rennaissance-era music sounds generic and uninspired, the lyrics are boring and unimaginative, and the music is repetitive bordering on irritating. But this project of Blackmore sounds like it has real promise, it just needs to be refined.

I love Mayhem.

I love the freakiness, the bizarre history, the general counterculture attitude of which the music is a manifestation.

However, Mayhem really changed since the loss of Dead, and after De Mysteriis dom Sathanas, after the loss of Euronymous and Varg (well...nobody *really* lost anything when it comes to Vikerness...)

That doesn't invalidate Mayhem, but let's be honest: I got into Mayhem after hearing Deathcrush. As one reviewer wrote, if you're expecting a "Deathcrush-like" album, this is not it.

Mayhem does the bold thing on this cd, experiementation. Most bands who experiment with their music are immediately labelled sell-outs and forgotten by their so-called "fans". Let's be clear--Mayhem has not sold out.

They just made a mundane cd, and that's okay, that happens, so we'll see what the future holds.

So, what is it that's new on this cd? For one thing, they actually *gasp* produced their music. Oh, the heresy. Well, I don't mind produced music, so that's not a strike against them.

Secondly, they incorporate much more clean voice on this cd than in previous noble efforts. Also not necessarily a strike against them...until one listens to the cd. The clean voice is fine every once in awhile (I actually like clean voice, at least when there's actual singing involved, like Vortex from Dimmu Borgir). But it runs through *the whole album* here. It's like I paid twenty bucks to hear Maniac talk.

I didn't pay to hear Maniac talk. I paid to hear him shriek. Talking Maniac does not a bad album make, but a disappointment, it does. He's got a good speaking voice actually, nice accent. But it seems to lack imagination--it's far too consistent.

The techno I didn't mind. They did a nice job with that, made it sound better. The music isn't too bad, but it becomes background noise really quick.

Hellhammer though...as everyone has pointed out, Hellhammer still kicks through the cd splendidly. His drumming is really the highlight of the whole thing, and the only aspect of the album that saves it from the oblivion of forgotten albums I own.

Not such a bad display all in all, but ultimately it's not what I was looking for.

This is quite possibly one of my favorite cds.

Maniac makes his debut here, and he had the only voice I have ever heard in the world of black metal that genuinely gave me chills when I first listened. His voice doesn't get to me quite as much these days, but he's still good.

Musically, Deathcrush consists of slower, simpler sounds, but this actually works very well for the band. The production is absolutely abysmal, as it was intended to be. As many people have said, the raw echoing effect fits the spirit of black metal perfectly.

I'm not going to sit here and say stupid things like "Cradle of Filth and Dimmu Borgir fans couldn't listen to *this* music", as I personally am a fan of both CoF *and* Dimmu Borgir. I know a good deal of fans of those two bands who are also interested in Mayhem (and Emperor, and Enthroned, and Nokturnal Mortum, and Burzum, and all those other bands the self-professed lords of all black metal have randomly dubbed "true").

This is very intense music made by some truly evil people (minus Hellhammer, who's actually quite a friendly fellow). It's chilling, it's dark, generally creepy and not-to-everyone's-taste. But that's what makes it great.

"Therion" is a Greek word that means "Beast". It is used in the phrase "To Mega Therion" ("The Great Beast") in the New Testament, Book of Revelations.

Here, it is a reference to the English occultist and prophet Aleister Crowley who formed a religion known as Thelema, which I presume this band follows. The cd shows a familiarity with Thelemic concepts, and previous work also shows a familiarity with Qabalah, a form of Jewish mysticism used in much present-day mystic and occult religion/philosophy.

...Possibly the greatest operatic metal I have ever heard in my life. Blending metal with orchestral arrangements and opera singing, Therion creates a beautiful sound that is truly haunting. Some people might find the more pronounced orchestral section a bit disappointing. If you're looking for more powerful metal, you might want to pick up some of Therion's oldest albums. If you want more of a balance between the two, their legendary, godlike "Vovin" would be a good choice.

I, however, enjoy orchestral music *and* intense metal. I view this as a beautiful combination of the two, and a demonstration that they are not incompatible in the least, as many people seem to think.

Buy this album and you'll never regret it.