Reviews by RobAstor

RobAstor says "Essential Collection Still Lacks Essential HEART" about Heart - The Essential Heart

RobAstor — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 04:46:35 GMT

Of all the Greatest hits compilations released by Heart over the last ten years or so, The Essential Heart 3.0 is finally the most comprehensive collection with the inclusion of a thrid disc. Although the third disc only has eight tracks, all of them really do belong on a title called The Essential Heart.

For the first time since being left of the band's 1980 Greatest Hits disc, "Strange Euphoria" and "Hit Single" have returned in CD format. Also, any past Heart collection should have at least included "Mistral Wind". This collection contains the live version for the 1980 Greatest Hits. (Personally, I would have liked to have seen the 2002 version from Alive In Seattle, but, having "Mistral Wind" in the set is important no matter what version. It is THE song Heart is all about; acoustic ballads to Zeppelin driven rockers.)

"Bebe Le Stange" was on the band's 1998 Greatest Hits and left off the first Essential release for some odd reason. Same for "Strong, Strong Wind". Both tracks are available......

RobAstor says "An Untold Tale Of The Clone Wars" about Star Wars: The Clone Wars

RobAstor — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 04:37:23 GMT

Star Wars - The Clone Wars is a departure from the two trilogies, although it takes place between Attack of The Clones and Revenge Of The Sith. This is the first full length animated adventure. Featuring Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, the new character of Asooka is introduced as Anakin's Padawan student. They waste no time developing a working cmaradarie while being drawn into a plot revolving around the kidnapping of Jabba The Hutt's son. The story is good, and most of the action squences are equal to those in the prequel trilogy. Two minor issues for me are the facial expressions and mouth movements that don't look real enough, and the lightsaber duels that also lack some of the reality of the live action films. Also, some of the characters look good in animated form while others are too over characturized. Samuel L. Jackson, Christopher Lee, and Anthony Daniels return to lend their voices to their Star Wars personas. While General Grievous is absent, watch for Assajj......

RobAstor says "One Of The Best Films Of All Time" about Empire Strikes Back - Star Wars Episode V

RobAstor — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 04:19:18 GMT

Probably the best of all the Star Wars movies, The Empire Strikes Back stands as one of the finest cinematic moments in history. Special effects not withstanding, the emotional impact really drives home this quest everyone goes on to discover their identity; the challenges we all face, the discoveries, and finding out certain things we don't like at all. The original 1980 movie poster hinted at thhe romance of Han Solo and Princess Leia with a very Gone With The Wind pose. Opening on an ice planet, the settings seem to tie right into the emotions of the characters. Princess Leia is cold toward Han. Later, her emotions are more scattered while they hide in the asteroid field. Luke, on the mysterious swamp planet encounters and learns about the mysterious. Cold and uncaring is the industrial set where Luke has a showdown with Darth Vader. Truely wonderous cinematic moment s aren't lost in this movie. The exciting battle with the snow walkers might put someone in mind of......

RobAstor says "The Saga Of Anakin Skywalker Is Now Complete" about Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

RobAstor — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 04:04:21 GMT

With the release of Revenge Of The Sith, the tale of the rise, fall, and redemption of Anakin Skywalker is finally complete. At long last, we see how the Empire came into power and what that legendary battle between Obi-Wan and Anakin was like, the battle that placed Anakin into the black armor suit of Darth Vader. The movie opens in spectacular fasion with the mother of all space battles taking place over the central planet of the Republic. there are also more lightsaber duels in this movie than almost all the others combined. Anakin's fall begins with his fear of loss and the temptation of the dark side of the force, promising to keep him from loosing that something so dear to him. With clever manipulation, Anakin is manuvered right into the clutches of the Sith Lord Darth Sidious without even realizing it until it's too late. With a clouded perception of events, Anakin turns on the Jedi and sets out to consolidate power. Of the three prequel trilogy films, this is the one......

RobAstor says "Tale Of Alternate Future Past" about Margaret Atwood - Handmaid's Tale

RobAstor — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 03:28:40 GMT

Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale" centers around the life of a woman forced into servitude by a religious government based in Old Testement beliefs. The Republic of Gilead is a part of the former United States after some great upheaval has wiped out democracy while a war rages. One of the effects is rampant sterility among men and woman who are basically used to breed for high ranking military officers. Ofglen spins her yarn about living with the Commander and his wife. She shares details of her former life and the loss of a daughter and husband while carrying out menial duties such as shopping. Soon, Ofwarran, her companion, draws her into a rebel movement. The Commander's wife also realizes her husband is probably unable to bear a child and enlists Ofglen into sleeping with a young soldier because her life would be complete with a child. All the while, episodes of the past converge with her present, creating a realisitically terrifying scenario where women have no......

RobAstor says "Many Changes From The Original Film Score" about John Williams/London Symphony Orchestra - Star Wars - Episode VI: Return of the Jedi Original Soundtrack Album

RobAstor — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 04:00:48 GMT

Return Of The Jedi suffered the most musical changes of the original trilogy of Star Wars films, in my opinion. I have the original LP. The song sung a Jabba's palace is completely different, as well as the closing celebration music of the Ewoks and the rebels on Endor. In the first case, it's a tough call to say that either piece of music was better than the other. The scene itself doesn't really add that much to the film except a foreshadowing of Luke dropping through that same grate in a later scene. In the latter instance, the music became mellow, and much more worldly. I do think it is a better piece of music. The rest of the score, while delievering new themes, borrows heavily from Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back to make it the fantastic piece of art that it is. I remember reading an article in 1983 where George Lucas said that Jedi was like doing a graduating thesis. In many ways, the music reflects that same sentiment. It was a chance for John Williams......

RobAstor says "John williams Delievers Another Superb Film Score" about John Williams/London Symphony Orchestra - Star Wars - Episode II: Attack of the Clones Original Soundtrack Album

RobAstor — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 03:41:46 GMT

Thematically, Star Wars Episode II - Attack Of The Clones, is supposed to follow along with the romantic themes of The Empire Strikes Back. It does. The music, however, takes a brand new turn in nearly becoming all new, and having somewhat less than the previous films. Many are the minutes in the movie where there is no underlying score. One of the finest stand our moments is the love theme of Anakin and Padme. Echoes of the previous films are there, but only in spirit. This sweeping piece can stand on it own merits. Many of the battle themes resonate with previous Star Wars music, again, only in spirit. For example, the music used for the asteroid chase in this movie has no resemblance at all to that thrilling sequence in The Empire Strikes Back. It is much more bellicose. When listening, I always feel there are parts missing. If you go back and watch the film, it's very difficult to determine if some of the music was left off the album, because there were so many......

RobAstor says "Another Stunning Star Wars Soundtrak" about John Williams/London Symphony Orchestra - Star Wars - Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

RobAstor — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 03:10:07 GMT

Star Wars Episode III - Revenge Of the Sith, the bridge between the prequel trilogy and the original trilogy. The music is fantastic, just as most of the Star Wars film scores are. John Williams was able to create new music to engage the viewers, both in theme and as score pieces. At the same time, he revisited previous work and incorporated it into this body of work. Although s revisit of "Duel Of The Fates" from Episode I - the Phantom Menace would have worked well in the final lightsaber battle scenes, the music used was equally as effective, drawing on darker tones to drive the point home that this is the point where evil triumphs over good; in other words, the Empire is born, throwing the galaxy into the dark times. I do have two minor issues with the soundtrack album. The first is the drums pounding away after the opening crawl in the movie as the two speeders fly over the Star Destroyer. Those drums are cut from the album. Also, if you picked up the CD at Target,......

RobAstor says "One Of The Best Film Soundtracks For All Time" about John Williams/London Symphony Orchestra - Star Wars - Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back: Original Soundtrack Album

RobAstor — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 02:41:15 GMT

I was twelve years old when I first saw Star Wars - The Empire Strikes Back. The poster in the theater lobby was a very Gone With The Wind tribute scene with Han Solo holding Princess Leia. Who can forget the thrill of the snow walkers marching towards the rebel base on those great big screens of yesteryear? Or the hair raising flight through the asteroids? The movie was very intense, something only a good film score can add power to. This soundtrack was only the second instrumental soundtrack that I liked at the time, the first being the whole fist album of John Williams' Superman - The Movie soundtrack (whic was originally a two LP set). The Emprie Strikes Back featured music that was thematic to characters as well as setting the underlying tones to scenes. "The Imerial March", inspired by Gustav Holst's "Mars The Bringer Of War" had a perfect military march feel, one that goes hand-in-hand with the expectations of perfection from the evil Lord Darth Vader. The afore mentioned......

RobAstor says "Capital One Doesn't Stand Behind Their Promise" about Capital One - MasterCard

RobAstor — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 02:07:47 GMT

Although many people may have good experiences with Capital One, unfortunately, I am not one of them. At some point, they declined to honor their promise to help fix any problems, and their customer service took a turn for the very worst. Allow me to explain. My grandma rented a car a few years ago using the Capital One MasterCard. The car was for my use, her grandson. The rental went fine. The problems happened seeral weeks after using the card. Capital One allowed a charge to appear on the card in my name, that neither of us authorized. We called, and they took care of the issue. About two months after that, the same situation with the same company happened a second time. Everything was on record from the first incident, however, Capital One refused to remove the false charge, even when it wasn't in my grandmother's name. The only way we could stop future charges was to put a freeze on the card so that no one could charge on it, including my grandma. We're only talking about a card that......