Astral Weeks, by Van Morrison, and regarded by many as one of the top ten records of all time, is now available on MP3 format from Amazon this month for only $5.00.

With its breathless stripped down emotional wallop, Astral Weeks, even though it’s one of Van Morrison’s earliest records, is still full of the injections of the painful, wretched brilliance that accompanied and solidified his later works. Astral Weeks remains a hauntingly beautiful record, like standing on a misty harbor in the early morning, as the quiet lift of the oceans waves sift back and forth like a hammock. Mixing sublime guitar and flute, electric bass, piquant vibraphone, and quiet haunting passages in each and every song, from the opening track — which is the title track — the unexpected rush of its power and strength hits one instantly.

Rabid movie geeks will be getting a nifty present this year when Django Unchained, the latest action epic from director Quentin Tarantino, opens on Christmas Day. Not much else is needed to sell people on this movie; if you are anything like me you will have already made plans to go see it on the 25th right after you enjoy Christmas dinner, exchanging presents, and the traditional drinking contest and arm wrestling match with your grandma Freida.

Nonetheless, a new trailer is out today that’s light on plot and heavy on action. Plus we have the track listing and ordering info for the Django Unchained soundtrack album.

You can check out the trailer and the soundtrack info here below.

Can you believe it has been 20 years since Aladdin first entered our lives? The film was an absolute sensation, garnering much critical and financial success. After two decades I thought it would be “soaring good fun” to review the influence of this brand in the Disney universe.

This edition of Disney In Depth will highlight 20 fun facts about everything you ever wanted to know about Prince Ali and company.

Harvest, by Neil Young, which still stands as one of America’s great classic folky rock/electric country albums, is now available on MP3 format from Amazon this month for only $5.00.

Subtle in its masterstrokes, Harvest finds Neil Young a bit more subdued in a positive sense, sort of a musical detoxing from the CSNY supernova and his reverbed up energetic prior releases such as Everyone Knows This Is Nowhere. By 1972 and Harvest, Young had become a cult figure put on the influential pedestal like a Bob Dylan or a John Lennon, and like those two aforementioned artists, Neil Young also had a rite of passage by way of his sheer, stark creativity and originality. He truly is and remains one of a kind, and the great music on Harvest just solidifies the obvious of Young’s mammoth talents.

A new video for Guillermo del Toro‘s “giant freakin’ monsters versus giant freakin’ robots” movie, Pacific Rim, has been released online.

The choppy and unstable video, which is part of the film’s viral marketing campaign, shows news coverage of a monster attack on numerous locations, including the Golden Gate Bridge, leaving shocking amounts of destruction in its wake.

You can check out the video by clicking on over to the other side.