The Prince's Pics And Pans, Reviews by Haldur of Ithilian

[Haldur]

Hey everyone! It's me, Haldur of Ithilian, back from the land of Ilostmyinternetconnection. I have a few bruises and a heavy, heavy burden in the form of dial-up (the AOHell version!) but I made it through the skirmish!

Basically, I wanted to do something different in the realm of writing but I didn't figure something like this would go in Celtic Hearts. In this thread one will find Haldur Prince of Ithilian's own personal reviews! See, Haldur is sort of this dual personality thing I've got going on...it's a role-playing thing, have fun!

Anyhoot, he/I will be posting titilating reviews of music, movies, video games, TV shows, and other forms of modern entertainment...but here's the catch: I want to get everyone else's views on things as well!

You heard right...feel free to post your own reviews on everything but the kitchen sink (and if a kitchen sink wins an Oscar, have at it! ) and I will do my darndest to live by the same ideals. In essence, all I want is something to post some of my reviews on without having to be a newspaper journalist or anything. Nothing against newspaper journalists, I just have a job already and it's kind of nice...sometimes.

So here we go, the grand opening, the main event, the big kahuna...nah, just me and some of my reviews! Again, I urge you to share your own reviews in this thread on whatever you wish...now, let's have fun folks!!!

[Haldur]

The Glory Days of 1987: A Review of ?The Lost Boys? by Josh Felty

Okay, okay, I know this is not what you were expecting and I admit?I should have done a review on a box-office strong-arm or a summer blockbuster from say, 1977 or something! By the way, yes I?m referring to Star Wars Episode IV. But I?ve chosen a road less traveled, one with many perils, where few dare to tread. I?ve chosen to review a mediocre film. (Queue the DUM-dum-dum!!! orchestra hit)

I have chosen to review 1987?s ?The Lost Boys?, starring Jason Patric, Kiefer Sutherland, Corey Haim, and directed by Joel Schumacher.
The film centers around the small Californian community of Santa Carla and its newest inhabitants, the Emersons; magnificently portrayed by Dianne Wiest, Jason Patric, and Corey Haim. The two Emerson brothers, Michael (Patric) and Sam (Haim), are packed along with the family dog as their mother, Lucy (Wiest) brings them to live with their Grandpa, played by the incomparable Bernard Hughes (?Blossom?) after a horrible divorce. David (Sutherland) is by far the movie?s shining star as he portrays the blood-thirsty leader of Santa Carla?s resident brood of vampires. David, a reckless, rebellious, and cruel teenager seduces Michael (Patric) into the group during a high-speed motorcycle race. From there on, Michael is drawn toward the dark side of the Californian underbelly as he discovers that there really are vampires in the Sunshine State.

As the movie progresses, Michael finds himself growing closer and closer to the stunning and enigmatic Star (Jami Gertz, ?Sixteen Candles?) and discovers powers beyond his wildest dreams while with the vampire gang. Meanwhile, Sam (Haim) befriends two peculiar boys known as the Frog Brothers, portrayed by Jamison Newlander and the delightful Corey Feldman. Sam begins to discover the folklore and mystery behind vampire legends through the vampire comic books that the Frog Brothers reveal to him. After some strange events, Sam begins to suspect the behavior of his older brother, Michael, and his choice of friends and confides in the Frog Brothers? knowledge of the community?s secret. With the help of the Frog Brothers, Sam devises a plan to free his older brother from the clutches of the vampire gang which results in some spectacular action sequences and some outstanding dialogue. If you are titillated by movies like ?Buffy the Vampire Slayer? or ?Goonies?, you will absolutely be blown away by this flick.

Kiefer gives the performance of a lifetime as do the dynamic Corey Duo, Haim and Feldman. There are moments in this masterpiece where you will cry, others, you will simply explode with laughter. I award this movie two stars, not because it is the most technically advanced film, not because it has the best performances in the history of cinema, but because it hits you right in the heart. Yeah, right there.

[Lil]

I will agree with your assessment of it, but I will have to say that I would give it 3 *** because it is one of our favorite movies. It's one that we can just pop in when there's nothing elase on and enjoy or snooze to, as you like.
We tend to love anything like that, but it's campy, too, which makes it even more fun.

Best quote in the movie...."One thing I never could stomach about Santa Carla......all the damn vampires." Said by Granpa at the end of the movie.
I about died laughing over that one.
I am looking to find the book that it is based on, I want to know if it was better, worse or just different than the movie.

Lil

[Haldur]

That's totally cool, Lil! My favorite quote, due mostly in part to its campiness and hilarity is this one from the motorcycle beach race scene between David and Michael:

Michael: What do you want?

David: Just you, Michael! Just you!

It's not really what's said that's so funny, it's just how Keifer says it...it's great! I'll have to check out the book, didn't know there was one on it, but that's cool!

[Haldur]

Here's my review of Coldplay's "A Rush of Blood to the Head"...enjoy!

Coldplay?s No Longer the Underdog
A Music Review of Coldplay?s A Rush of Blood to the Head by Joshua Felty



Back in the fall of 2000, I was working as a clerk in a music store and was stumbling about the store one Saturday looking for something new to play. My fellow co-workers were the sort of guys that appreciated the Foo Fighters, absolutely loathed Godsmack, and nearly pissed their pants at the slightest mention of Radiohead. So, they were picky, to say the least. I, on the other hand, had quite an eclectic mix going on over the speaker system: everything ranging from Alice in Chains to John Denver, I played it all. I think that on some level, they hated me for that.
So I was rummaging through the racks at the store and came across this band Coldplay. Who?s Coldplay?, I asked myself. I?d never heard of them though I had seen the video for ?Yellow? at least a dozen times that summer. So, on a whim, I purchased the CD right there in the store (we got a 50% discount which was excellent!) and popped it in the store?s stereo system. In short, I was instantly blown away. For two years I relished each beautiful chord, the mesmerizing vocals, and every single ?ear-worm? that caught my attention on that album. I was hooked and it didn?t matter what anyone else said: they weren?t hacks, lead singer Chris Martin wasn?t a bumbling idiot, and they were by no means Radiohead knock-offs. I love Radiohead, but Coldplay was something different back then and is something completely different now.
When I heard about the release of Coldplay?s second disc, A Rush of Blood to the Head, I didn?t go out to the store instantly and buy it. Why, you ask? Well, for one thing there were bills to pay and even though in the past that hadn?t gotten in the way, the times they were a changin??I was a newly married man. Married men have bills. But I saved up my lunch money, so to speak, and purchased it a few weeks later. Again, when I popped it in my CD player I was as hooked as a junky on black-tar heroin.

The most amazing thing about A Rush of Blood to the Head is its sheer grandeur. It?s not a bad thing, mind you; it works for Coldplay in so many ways. For one thing, the music on their first album was a little lower key in some ways. While still a beautiful work of art, Parachutes was the band?s introduction. It was simple, beautiful, enough said. But in A Rush, Coldplay takes their formula even further with the same catchy hooks that brought me to tears in Parachutes, and they wallop all the previous misconceptions that anyone ever held against them. At the end of their successful European tour in the summer of 2001, the band was burnt out from travel and the other rigors of a music group. Front-man Chris Martin hadn?t written a song in what seemed like ages and rumors flew around the British press that the band was finished for good. But they jumped out of the woodwork to write ?In My Place?, which gave way to the rest of the album?s production. And speaking of production, Parachutes co-producer Ken Nelson and mixer Mark Pythain returned to helm the boards. The record was released in August of 2002 to rave reviews on the strength of the single ?In My Place?.
This album is much stronger by leaps and bounds than their first for many reasons. For one thing, Martin?s falsetto voice soars and dives magnificently, giving the vocals an emotional, tear-jerking quality. Instead of overdoing the acoustic aspects of the music, Jon Buckland chooses the electric road, and by doing so opens up a healthy palette of guitar effects, bringing a grittier overall sound to the album. The opener, ?Politik?, is evidence of this change and good evidence indeed; ?Politik? is the perfect opener for the disc and a very intriguing listen. Then, we move to ?In My Place? and its thunderous drum work expertly executed by drummer Will Champion. From there, the rest of the album trickles and turns around the beautiful ?Clocks?, the personal ?God Put a Smile Upon Your Face?, and the tear-drenched ballad ?The Scientist?. ?Green Eyes? and the introspective ?Amsterdam? are absolutely splendid works of musicianship; genuine and heart-felt without being sappy or overdone like other bands? work. ?Warning Sign? and the title track are both showcases of the band?s growth, proving that Coldplay has come a long, long way. A Rush of Blood to the Head is an amazing monstrosity; it?s a second album that did not give into the ?sophomore slump? that most bands suffer from and it is a classic through and through. This album makes demands you listen, it asks for it. Though bittersweet, the sound of the album is not overshadowed by the band?s personality or fiery pyrotechnics. In other words, Coldplay doesn?t try to sell the music, instead, they let the music happen through them and thus bring us closer to the circle. It might not be everyone?s cup of tea because Coldplay is not rock and roll, not alternative, and not necessarily shoe-gaze rock i.e. Echo and the Bunnymen or Radiohead. But they are, above all else, a band to appreciate whether they cannot be put into a genre or not.
All through A Rush of Blood to the Head, you feel closer to the group. The music is quieter where it needs to be, and in the same respect louder in parts. You can smell the sweat and blood poured into the album. You can feel the hard work and honesty applied to it, and then you sit back and wonder at the masterpiece for what it is: a document of one of the world?s best bands and a foreshadowing of things to come.

[Haldur]

And...yet another review of a music album, this one...The Beatles' "Revolver"!

Revolver: Lock and Load

A Review by Josh Felty

Even with today?s vast musical landscape, it?s hard to differentiate one band from another and decide who is really inspiring whom. You turn on the radio; find a catchy, original-sounding song, and three bars in can name the artist?s primary influence on one finger. Nowadays, we think it can only be blamed on the record companies, which while they do hold some creative influence over their artists, are not to blame for today?s ?heard-it-before? cliché. You heard me right; it all starts with the artists. So, what is my point? Well, my point is that the ?heard-it-before? scenario started a long time ago. Chuck Berry, an innovator in his own right, had to take his style from somewhere. Keith Richards: idolized Chuck Berry and emulated some of his style. Oasis?s Noel Gallagher took a lot of inspiration from Keith Richards.
Can you see what?s developing here?
It?s okay to yawn. You?re reading this and asking, where?s the review, Josh? It?s coming. The main point I want to stress is that even The Beatles, the first quintessential rock band, ?stole? from previous artists. In fact, their first couple records consisted of Everly Brothers and Chuck Berry covers?how familiar is that? These days I?m hearing covers of 80?s tunes in heavy rock music. It spins your head around, that?s for sure. This all brings my review into the limelight here. From The Beatles? explosion in early 1964, they were ?label monkeys? in that most of their creative forces were controlled by EMI. By 1965 and the release of Rubber Soul, The Beatles? musical outlook was very different. They were growing weary of touring and so was their music: Beatles for Sale and Help! were their least impressive releases, written mostly during tours and commercial events.
The summer of 1966 would give way to the group?s biggest leap. While each Beatles album up until then had progressed in some way, either musically or lyrically, Revolver was a foreshadowing of things to come. Revolver was birthed from months of studio work, writing time, and experimentation with multi-track recording techniques courtesy of the assistance of producer George Martin who signed the group to Parlophone in 1962, after they were rejected by Decca Records. While more advanced work would come later, Revolver was the start of a turning point for The Beatles; their public notoriety was highly scrutinized in part to a wrecked Philippine visit and John?s declaration that the group was bigger than Jesus Christ. After this, they resigned to live touring and recoiled to studio music recording and film work. But before all of that, Revolver was released.
With Revolver, The Beatles dropped all their previous concepts of music and explored not only different instruments and styles, but tighter lyrics, broader subject matter, and even discovered one another?s individual writing talents. Instead of Lennon and McCartney solely writing everything, George Harrison stepped up to arrange ?Taxman?, a cynical, beautifully constructed rocker. Revolver also includes some Harrison written jaunts into Indian music with the tracks ?I Want to Tell You? and ?Love You To?. The most daring aspects of Revolver are the experimental techniques executed by John Lennon?s ?Doctor Robert? and ?Tomorrow Never Knows? and Ringo?s childhood memoir of ?Yellow Submarine?. Basically, Revolver helps establish the group?s trippy, hallucinogenic style that would come into play with Sgt. Pepper?s and Magical Mystery Tour. Some of the ?experimentation? seems so out there that one can get lost very quickly in the sitar and meandering, ethereal tones. ?Good Day Sunshine? highlights McCartney?s reserved approach to the record; the song is a clear stamp of McCartney?s clear, poppy sound and an uplifting asset to the album while the dark ?Eleanor Rigby? tells a story like no other song can. It has been said that some inspiration for most of the latter Beatles records came from the newspaper; McCartney and Lennon alike took some song ideas from the front page of their morning paper.
The most fascinating aspects of Revolver are hidden deep within the songs. Each track contains little experimental forays into the realms of Indian music, backwards tracks, distorted vocals, and other tricks of multi-tracking that no one else at the time had discovered. And if they had discovered it, they weren?t flaunting it like The Beatles. This is what makes Revolver such a sonically explorative album; the record takes us on a neo-hallucinogenic carpet ride through the beyond and sets the stage for the rest of pop/rock history. In that way, Revolver is its own entity, a diamond in its own time and even now, so closely emulated. It is by far, even more than Sgt. Pepper?s, the most emulated Beatles album and the most endearing; well-sculpted song craft combined with immaculate style experimentation only The Beatles could pioneer.

[Haldur]

Hope I didn't leave too much stale writing! No, I've just been very productive in writing some reviews in hopes of getting a good catalog together for future opportunities. More on that later!

Once again, feel free to leave your thoughts and reviews of whatever you desire on this thread. Just call it Haldur's Review Thread or something...it'll give us writer/critic/geek buffs something else to type about! Fun, fun!!!