Reviews Archive
2002-2003

CD Review
Pink Floyd: Obscured By Clouds
By Chris Campanelli (June 6, 2003)
For anyone who knows Pink Floyd music, acoustic folk and soothing harmonies do not seem to be an accurate description. 

Film Review
Matrix Reloaded: Best, Most
Complicated Film This Year
By Steven Gould (June 4, 2003)
The Matrix Reloaded is one of the best movies of this year. With the long lasting effects that the first Matrix installment had on us, Reloaded is here to expand on it.

Album Review: ‘In the Flesh’
Waters Is ‘Supremely Satisfying’
By John Ruffino (May 15, 2003)
If you are a Pink Floyd fan, you will naturally embrace Roger Waters’s live CD entitled "In the Flesh," an amazing live 2-disc set containing 90 percent of Pink Floyd originals and 10 percent of Roger Waters’s solo music.

Film Review
‘X-Men United’ Is ‘X-citeing’
By Steven Gould (May 15, 2003)
There is only one word that can sum up X-Men United and that is "X-citeing." All the awesome special effects and fight scenes make this movie one of the best movies since The Two Towers.
 

Book Review
‘Something Blue’ is Something Confusing
By Kristin Sommers (May 7, 2003)
Something Blue by Anne Hood is a story of three friends coming together in New York City. When Katherine leaves Andy at the altar she arrives in New York on the doorstep of her old sorority sister Lucy. 

Film Review
‘Anger Management’ Is ‘Pointless’
By Steven Gould (April 26, 2003)
"Anger Management," directed by Peter Segal, is by far the most pointless comedy movie of the year. There hasn’t been this bad a movie since "Master of Disguise."

Concert Review
Bootleg Beatles Like the Real Thing
By Chris Campanelli (April 12, 2003)
Britain's most popular Beatles cover band, The Bootleg Beatles, brought the band back to life Tuesday night at the State Theater.

Album Review
Simple Plan’s New CD: ‘Just Plain Noise’
By Tony Clark (April 3, 2003)
Simple Plan recently sent Lasso Online a sample CD of their music. After listening to it, I fear for generations to come and what they will have to listen to. 

Album Review: AFI’s Latest
‘Sing the Sorrow’: Sorrowful CD for Some
By John Ruffino (April 3, 2003)
AFI released their new cd entitled "Sing the Sorrow" on Tuesday, March 11. Original AFI fans may have seen it as their duty to buy this cd even though they are unsure as to whether they like the path the band has taken.

Video Game Review
‘Kingdom Hearts Has No Flaws’
By Steven Gould (March 21, 2003)
How many of you love to play Final Fantasy games? But what happens when your younger siblings are in the room and you’re not allowed to play violent games in front of them?

Video Game Review
Battlefield 1942: Endless Fun
By Drew Maier (March 13, 2003)
Electronic Art’s latest shooter Battlefield 1942 is a must-buy game. Whether you like first-person shooters, World War II battles, or just good old fun, Battlefield will not disappoint.

Theater Review
Mason Players Prove the Show Must Go On with an Adept, Charged ‘Oklahoma!’
By Tammy Ashworth (March 6, 2003)
After several weeks of being plagued by weather delays and cancellations, this year’s spring musical Oklahoma! opened Friday night in the Mason auditorium to a packed and appreciative audience.

Music Review: 'Round Room'
In Their Comeback CD, Phish 
Delivers a Classic Jam Style
By Chris Campanelli (March 5, 2002)
Phish’s new cd "Round Room" delivers a classic jam style album, complete with experimental song-writing and extensive mind-twisting instrumentals.

Music Review: 'Alive or Just Breathing'
Killswitch Engage Raises Emotional
Bar for Hardcore Metal Fans
By John Ruffino (March 4, 2002)
Hailing from Massachusetts, Killswitch Engage has released an amazing metalcore CD entitled "Alive or Just Breathing." I bought this CD at a concert they opened for this past November and have been listening to it non-stop since November – it’s a masterpiece. 

Film Review: ‘How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days’
‘Deception on a Par with Joe Millionaire’
By Tammy Ashworth (February 18, 2003)
Lasso Online Rating: 
How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days? Try How to Lose My Attention in 10 Minutes.

Restaurant Review
Maggiano’s Offers the Finest in
Northern Italian Cuisine
By Rebecca Roa (February 13, 2003)
For casual Northern Italian fare in a family restaurant atmosphere, set your sights on Maggiano’s located in the Tyson’s II Galleria shopping center in McLean, Virginia.

Music Review: ‘By the Way’
Red Hot Chili Peppers:
Out with the Old, in with the New
Chris Campanelli (January 18, 2003)
As one of the most original and dynamic bands of the past 15 years, the Red Hot Chili Peppers have impacted the music world once again with their recent release of By the Way.

Game Review
The Sims Online: Hitting Escape
By Tammy Ashworth (January 2, 2002)
"Be Somebody. Else." This is not only Electronic Arts’ logo for its latest gaming release, The Sims Online, but the mantra for a new generation of gamers.

Film Review
‘Two Weeks Notice’: Predictable, but Fun
By-the-Book Romantic Comedy
By Kristin Sommers (December 31, 2002)
"Two Weeks Notice" starring Sandra Bullock as Lucy Kelson and Hugh Grant as George Wade is a by-the-book romantic comedy spiced up with tons of one liners and great chemistry between the two leads.

Film Review
‘Chicago’ Appeals to All Audiences,
Not Just Musical Buffs
By Sara Kaplow (December 29, 2002)
I don’t care if you don’t like musicals. Go see Chicago

Book Review: 10th Grade
A Glimpse into the Young Male Mind
By Rabita Aziz (December 19, 2002)
10th Grade, by Joseph Weisberg, gives the average female reader, like myself, a look into the minds of the strange and puzzling species we know as ‘boys.’

Concert Review: Bob Dylan on Tour
‘Old Man Still Outplays Everyone’
By Dan Bray (December 18, 2002)
What comes to mind when someone says the words "Bob Dylan Live"? If you asked most musically literate people, they would probably say a few of the following things: An old, barely mobile man on stage, playing obscure acoustic songs by himself. What fans got last Friday at the Patriot Center was something completely different.

Film Review: ‘Maid in Manhattan’
Jennifer Becomes Marisa in a Film
More Profound than it Seems
By Andrea Genovese Soares (December 16, 2002)
The romantic comedy "Maid in Manhattan," directed by Wayne Wang, is much more than a movie about the struggle of Latin-American immigrants in the working classes.

Film Review
Bowling for Columbine: 
‘Most Powerful Film of the Year’
By Eamonn Rockwell (November 28, 2002)
Michael Moore, the writer, director, and producer of Roger and Me, has now put out the most powerful film of the year. In his new film, Bowling for Columbine (which has little to do with bowling), Moore asks why Americans are so violent to themselves and others.

Film Review
Rowling’s Second Film Works Its Magic on Viewers
By Steven Gould (November 27, 2002)
"Hocus Pocus!" J.K. Rowling has done it again with her hit "Harry Potter" series. Her second book has made it to the theaters, and has its viewers spellbound in a whole new world. 

Restaurant Review
Texas Chili: ‘Best Food in Town’
Chris Campanelli (November 26, 2002)
In this over-commercialized, uniform nation, it's very hard to find a unique restaurant with any level of character.

Film Review
The Ring: 'Not Your Typical Slasher Flick'
By Kate O'Hara and Michael Miller (November 6, 2002)
Lasso Online Rating
he Ring. The scariest movie in existence. This isn’t your typical slasher, let’s-kill-all-the-virgins, we’ve-got-to-follow-"the rules" scary movie. 

Film Review
Sweet Home Alabama: 'A Feel-Good Romantic Comedy'
By Kristin Sommers (November 5, 2002)
Lasso Online Rating
Sweet Home Alabama, starring Reese Witherspoon and directed by Andrew Tennant, is a feel-good romantic comedy and a lighthearted escape from the troubles we face today.

Concert Review
Counting Crows Live Up to Expectations
By Sara Kaplow (October 31, 2002)
Believe it or not, Adam Duritz, the dreadlocked lead singer of the Counting Crows appeared in concert on Sunday and was smiling. Why is that such a shock you may ask?

Theater Review
Mason Players Bewitch Audiences with ‘The Crucible’
By Tammy Ashworth (October 31, 2002)
Arthur Miller’s classic play ‘The Crucible,’ was first performed in 1953. On the surface, the four-act play appears to be little more than an account, albeit fictionalized, of the travesties of the Salem witch trials.

Film Review
‘Red Dragon’ Breaks the Year-Long Drought of Terrible Films
By John Ruffino (October 24, 2002)
As most of us know, the movie industry has been consistently releasing terrible movies for over a year now. Hopefully, during these times a great movie will come along that will blow every other out of the water.