4KUHD/Movie Review: The Batman

 

The Batman is yet another live-action take on Batman, yet one that is much different than what has come before. This film forgoes doing the origin story that has been done multiple times and jumps into Batman's second year as a vigilante. He is working with Lieutenant Gordon who brings him in to investigate a series of murders involving high-ranking Gotham officials, with the killer leaving riddles for Batman at the scene of each kill. The story is much more of an origin story for the rogue's gallery of villains and is adapted heavily from the year one and year two comics.

The casting of the movie was (as always) controversial with Robert Pattinson playing Bruce Wayne/Batman, Zoe Kravits playing Selina Kyle/Catwoman, Paul Dano playing The Riddler, Collin Farrell playing Penguin, Jeffrey Wright playing Jim Gordon, Andy Serkis playing Alfred, and John Turturro playing Carmine Falcone. Of course, Pattinson's casting was a subject of much debate (as has most every casting choice for Batman since Keaton landed the role in the late 1980s). Pattinson was best known for his roles in the Twilight series (which even he admits were not that good) and as Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter. I think most people complaining about his casting either were not aware of his other work, in which he has shown his acting chops or just liked to complain. But, he, and the rest of the cast, did a great job with their characters. Farrell was unrecognizable both in look and voice as Penguin (he was really just a secondary character in the movie) and Dano, who to this point was probably best known as a side character in the movie Girl Next Door and from his role in There Will be Blood, was awesome as The Riddler. And, Barry Keoghan was great in his minute or so at the end clearly playing an early version of The Joker (but credited as being the unseen Arkham inmate).

The movie looks and sounds great in UHD. The 4K set is actually a three-disc set. The UHD disc and one of the regular Blu-Ray discs just has the movie itself, and the second regular Blu-Ray disc has all the special features and extras. The extras include several short behind-the-scenes featurettes that range from a couple of minutes to about 10 minutes in length. The main feature is an almost hour-long making-of documentary which spans pretty much the entire filming process and shows how the covid pandemic really impacted how the film was made. Then there are a couple of deleted scenes that you can watch with or without director commentary.

Overall, the movie is great. I do think it is a bit long and could have been cut down for time. That said, I think most of the scenes that did end up in the final cut of the film worked, so aside from a couple of scenes at the very end of the film, I think it would have been hard to pick what to remove. I like the fact that Batman is not yet fully formed in this movie and he is still trying to figure out how to be Batman, without really caring about being Bruce Wayne. It is also interesting to see him operate out in the daylight while literally carrying the Batsuit around in a duffel bag slung over his shoulder. The movie has a feel that is much more similar to Nolan's trilogy of movies than it does to the Burton or Schumacher movies, without being a carbon copy of what Nolan did with his. The movie has an old-school film noir crime/detective story feel to it and is extremely well-acted. Definitely worth watching and investing in the disc for those who still get the physical discs.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Love & Other Drugs

 

Love and Other Drugs is a romantic comedy about a pharmaceutical salesman played by Jake Gyllenhaal, who is on the verge of getting fired until Viagra comes along and reignites his career. One day while pushing Viagra at a clinic, he meets and falls for Anne Hathaway's character and they start in what is supposed to be an NSA relationship, mainly because she has Parkinson's and does not want to get into a long-term relationship. Of course, feelings develop and the two have to figure out what they want. It has a strong supporting cast including Judy Greer, Oliver Platt, Hank Azaria, and Josh Gad.

For those who get the blu-ray, the A/V quality is very good, and it has a handful of extras, including deleted scenes, character profiles of Maggie (Hathaway) and Jamie (Gyllenhaal), a feature on Jamie Reidy, the real salesman on whose book the movie is based, the theatrical trailer, and a BD live feature on Gyllenhaal's favorite scene.

Overall, the movie is good, but not without its flaws. The movie does at times seem like a schill for big Phrama, with Pfizer getting a ton of product placement, and just kind of glossing over many issues that the drug companies create (which could easily be more of a theme, because of the character of Maggie and her predicament). There is a lot of sex and nudity in the movie, moreso than in other rom-coms. While it does follow some of the traditional rom-com formulaic notes, it does diverge from that at times. While it is definitely not a family-friendly movie, it is worth watching if you are looking for an adult rom-com.

DVD/TV Movie Review: The Death of The Incredible Hulk

 

This was the third of the disconnected TV movies that aired after the Incredible Hulk series starring Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno went off the air. The title gives away what happens, so it is not a spoiler (especially after 30+ years) to say that the Hulk dies, but I think how it was done was kind of dumb, especially given what the Hulk's real powers are (as opposed to what is portrayed in the series).

The crux of the story is that David is still trying to find a way of curing himself of the Hulk metamorphosis. He ends up working as a janitor at a top-secret government lab where a doctor, played by Philip Sterling, is working on an experiment that may help cure David. In the meantime, an Eastern European spy played by former Miss America (and alleged Bill Clinton one-night-stand) Elizabeth Gracen is tasked to steal Dr. Pratt's research. I will not spoil the rest of the story from there, but needless to say, the Hulk finally dies in the end, finally bringing a resolution to the storyline that was never finished in the TV show because it was canceled after the fourth season, and only aired a few remaining yet to be aired episodes as a very short fifth season.

The DVD just has the movie itself. I think there are multiple versions running around out there, but the version I got was an import from the UK (the US version seems to be out of print and very hard to track down) So, on this version, there are no extras. Of course, Bixby died a few years after making the movie so having any meaningful commentary track was impossible, but there was no making-of or behind-the-scenes material included either. Overall, the movie is better than the two other movies (The Incredible Hulk Returns and The Trial of the Incredible Hulk), but that is not saying a lot since those were pretty awful. It does give a nod to the super-soldier program that was the basis for the comic book story but does not go too deeply into it. Unfortunately, Jack Colvin either did not come back or was not brought back for this so there was really never a resolution for his character, which is too bad. He was horribly underused in the tv series and was only on screen for a few minutes in The Incredible Hulk returns never to be seen again.

Chances are, most of the people who are going to watch this are those who are fans of the TV series. It is definitely not like the superhero series of today by any means, both in being faithful to the comics, or the special effects. Of course, in this, they were still painting Lou Ferrigno green and using cutaways during the Hulk-outs. The handful of special effects that were used (mostly at the end) was very basic and fake-looking. I cannot say that everyone will love this, but if you like the series it is worth watching to see the full story arc.

DVD/TV Series Review: Burn Notice: Season 6

 

+++Warning, this contains a minor spoiler from season five, but no major season six giveaways.+++

Season six starts out with Michael back working for the CIA having been officially reinstated, and Fiona in jail, confessing to a crime she did not commit in order to protect Michael. At this point, the series has gone far afield from where it started, and what made it as good as it was in the first couple of seasons. Namely, it is not about using his skills to protect "regular" people, but is mainly Michael on a rampage to get Anson, the leader of the organization that burned Michael). Obviously, Fiona does not remain in jail, but I will not spoil how she ends up getting out. There are, again, a lot of twists and turns and characters whose intentions and motivations are sketchy to say the least. The show does not end on as much of a cliffhanger this time, but still does set up the storyline for the final season.

The extras on the DVD set are lighter than in past seasons. There is just one commentary track, a gag reel, and some deleted scenes, as well as a humorous short with the series creator Matt Nix. What was included was fine, but it is definitely not as extensive as in prior DVD releases.

Overall, the show is good, but I think shooting its shot and revealing who burned Michael and then continuing the story long past the reveal hurt the show a bit. Plus, I think Michael and the team as freelance dogooders is what made the show as popular as it was at the start, and getting away from that also has hurt the show. That said, it is still very well acted (Bruce Campbell still steals every scene) and has good episodes.

DVD/TV Series Review: FBI Season Two

 

Season Two of FBI followed pretty much the same format as the first, with a story of the week, that usually involves some crime like a murder or a kidnapping in the first act before the title and main credits roll, and then the team picks up the case and has to solve it by the end of the episodes. The episodes are, for the most part, all stand-alone and there are not really any ongoing story arcs or threads that go throughout the season.

There are a couple of cast changes. At the end of Season 1, Sela Ward's character Dana indicated she was going to retire. She was replaced by Alana De La Garza, playing Isobel Castile, the new head of the division. John Boyd (probably best known for his work on the last couple of seasons of Bones) joins the cast as agent Stuart Scola and Catherine Haena Kim joins as Emily Ryder, who fills in as a field agent. Of course, anyone who is a fan of Law and Order knows that Alana De La Garza's casting creates a big continuity error as she had also played a main role in the later seasons of the original Law and Order series, which is in the same universe with all the other Wolf produced shows. This is further cemented by the fact that Tracy Spiridakos from Chicago PD (which crossed over with Law and Order: SVU multiple times) made a guest-starring appearance as detective Upton at the end of the season when Missy Peregrym went out on maternity leave. The season was also cut short due to the start of the Covid pandemic so it just has 19 episodes instead of the regular 22.

For those who prefer to get the show on DVD, it has only been released on disc in Europe, so you have to buy an imported version (which means you also need a region-2 or a region-free DVD or Blu-Ray player to watch the discs on). They are basically MOD discs, with just the episodes and no extras. Also, depending on what country your particular set was manufactured for, you may have to change the audio settings to hear the English language audio. My set defaults to playing in German. Not a big deal, just something to be aware of. The one thing that did irk me about this set is that even though there is a crossover episode with the spin-off series FBI Most Wanted, only the first half of the crossover is on the disc. Unlike the Chicago-based shows, which include all episodes of the crossovers on the DVD sets for each show, if you want to see the Most Wanted episode that finishes the storyline, you have to either get that DVD set or stream it separately.

Overall, the show continues to be well-acted and well-written. It is kind of odd that even into the second season we do not see more of the personal lives of each character to see how they are outside of work. I think for the action-based series like this one, that is less of a big deal than it is for the legal dramas, but it definitely helps with character development, which will keep the fans invested in the show. I think not showing characters outside the work setting was definitely something that tanked the show Chicago Justice, which was one of the few Wolf-produced shows that failed after one partial season. That said, the format does seem to be working well for FBI, and thankfully the show does not focus on just the two main characters to the exclusion of all others, so it balances the ensemble cast well. It is a good season that is worth watching.

Product Review: Eden Foods Seaweed Wakame

 

I got this to try and make a batch of Miso soup with, only to discover I was not all that fond of Miso or seaweed. It was very salty, and I think it was salty on its own as opposed to getting that from the Miso. So, if you like that, it is worth it, if not you may want to try something else.

Workout Update: Power-90/Chalean Extreme Hybrid: Day 2

 Day 2 of the Power-90/CE hybrid was Power-90's sculpt 1-2 workout. This was a fairly easy workout after having done a modified version of P90x and CE. I decided to keep the reps range in the 8-10 range as opposed to 10-15, but for the push-ups, I did as many reps as I could, all on my toes, except for the wide, close, standard set of 21. I did the 7 wide and 7 close on my toes but had to do the last 7 on my knees. I estimated the weights well for all but a couple of the exercises so, those will have the weight increased on Thursday, but otherwise, the weights will be the same. 

DVD/Movie Review: The Limits of Control

 

The Limits of Control is an indie movie written and directed by Jim Jarmusch starring Isaach De Bankolé as "The Lone Man" a character who says almost nothing the entire movie and receives instructions from a bunch of oddball characters including Tilda Swinton, John Hurt, and the hot, yet seemingly batshit crazy Paz De La Huerta (check out her social media pages) whose character The Nude Woman is, as is pretty obvious, is naked every time she is on the screen. She is, honestly, the best part of the movie. There is a plot in there somewhere, but it is really incomprehensible what is going on until the end. I think the movie tries so hard to be edgy and offbeat that it goes too far and just comes across as weird and boring.

For those who get the DVD, the movie does have great cinematography, and even on DVD that looks great. It is set in different locations around Europe and some of those location shots really do pop, especially if you have a large screen TV. As far as extras, there is an almost hour-long making-of documentary that shows a lot of the filming process but is not all that insightful. Then there is a short feature on some of the cinematography shots which is worth watching.

I can definitely not say that everyone will like this movie. If you are a fan of offbeat indie films it is probably right in your wheelhouse. However, I think it could be a lot better, especially given the acting talent the movie did have available.

Supplement Review: SSG Universal Nutrition Animal Cuts

 

The first couple of days I took this I was feeling kind of jittery, especially about 20 minutes after I took it. After that, really the only noticeable effect it had on me was to make me pee a lot. That definitely may be helpful if you are really in a cutting phase trying to get ready for a competition, but for most people, especially if you do not have a body fat percentage low enough to see your abs where all you really need is to get water off to get a really cut look, this will not be all that helpful for you.

Workout Update: Power-90/Chalean Extreme Hybrid: Day 1

Day 1 of the Power-90/CE Hybrid was the Sweat 1-2 and ab-ripper 100 workout. It had been months since I have done either of these workouts, but I was able to get through everything without stopping, and without pausing (except one time) on the ab-ripper reps. The only thing I had to modify at all was doing the skipping cross hops instead of the jumping version. So, overall, it was a good workout. My body definitely liked the change-up in the workout after doing three months of CE.  Basically, I plan to do the 1-2 workouts for four weeks, using CE's recharge on Sunday as a yoga workout. Then I am going to do the CE Push phase for four weeks, and then I will do the Power-90 3-4 workouts for four weeks. Then decide (depending on what kind of shape I am in) how I want to proceed from there. 

Blu-Ray Set Review: Forever Marilyn Collection

 

I have been a fan of Marilyn Monroe since seeing clips of her in the music video for Elton John's live version of Candle in the Wind. This is far from a complete collection but includes seven of her very well-known movies. The movies included are Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, How to Marry a Millionaire, River of No Return, There's No Business Like Show Business, The Seven Year Itch, Some Like it Hot, and The Misfits. For me, the best movies on the set are The Misfits and Some Like it Hot. The Misfits (and River of No Return) really showed her acting range, and that she could play more than just a ditzy blonde, a gold-digging blonde, or a gold-digging ditzy blonde. Obviously, being a gorgeous blonde in the 1950s and 1960s limited the roles she could get (especially early in her career), but the variety of movies do at least give you some idea of her range as an actress.

As many have noted, the packaging is pretty bad. The collection comes in a very thin cardboard slip case that's only thicker than a standard Blu-ray jewel case. Inside, you'll find two fold-out "books," with the discs. There are four in the first book, and three in the second book. The discs are inserted into scalloped slits in each book. None of my discs slipped out of the slits during shipping, but it is very easy for them to do so. The movies did get very good A/V transfers, and the extras vary from disc to disc. Most of them have trailers for the movie you are watching and some of her other movies. The Seven Year itch has a commentary track on the film by a biographer and a picture-in-picture version of the movie that pops up information and video clips that are basically about how the movie got around the censors of the time. Then there are a few featurettes, an interactive timeline of Marilyn's career, and a stills gallery. Some Like it Hot also has a commentary track, a making-of feature that included interviews with Director Billy Wilder, Jack Lemmon, and Tony Curtis, an interview between Leonard Maltin and Tony Curtis, and a couple of other featurettes. There are no extras specific to this set, however, just what was included with the individual movie releases.

Overall, it is a good set if you are a fan of Marilyn. Some of the films hold up very well even years down the line from their release. Others would definitely not be made today the way they were back in the 50s. The extras on Some Like it Hot and The Seven Year Itch are great, but sparse (to say the least) for the other movies, and the packaging could be a lot better. That said, it is still a great set that is worth picking up.

Book Review: On That Day: The Definitive Timeline of 9/11

 

September 11, 2001, was a day that most people, at least those who were old enough (or still had enough mental faculties) to be aware of what was happening will remember for the rest of their lives. This is one of the many books that have been written about 9/11 around the 20th anniversary. It lays out a very thorough and very detailed timeline of events starting at about 4:45 AM detailing as many of the actions and movements of the hijackers that can be reproduced, to 11:50 PM when President Bush returned to the White House residence after being dragged down to the bunker because of a false alarm of another attack.

The focus of the book is mostly on the government's response to the attacks, and really illustrates just how chaotic and dysfunctional everything was. The author does not spend much time detailing things that were happening in the buildings or on the planes. He does mention some of the phone calls that were made and some of what was going on in the buildings, but the core of the author's attention was on the communications (or lack thereof) between politicians, the FAA, and the military. In the Amazon reviews, one of the reviewers complains that the book is essentially unreadable because he does not even know the correct time Flight 11 hit the north tower. Rest assured, that the author does know that Flight 11 hit the north tower at 8:46 AM. The author uses two em dashes on page 55 in a way that, if you do not read the sentence carefully (or do not understand the function of an em dash), it seems like he is saying that the plane hit the tower at 8:24 AM.

The main thing I took away from reading the book is that almost nobody in a position of power really had a handle on what was going on as events were unfolding or followed the procedures that they should have. For example, the Speaker of the House was the only person in the line of succession that actually went to where he was supposed to. The communication was so bad that day that President Bush could barely get in touch with anyone, which was making him madder as the day went on, especially since the secret service was not allowing him to return to Washington DC. And, there were a ton of false reports of other attacks, whether bombings or other supposedly hijacked planes. There were planes that officials were told were hijacked, then a few minutes later would be told were not hijacked and landed safely, and then a few minutes later would get another report that they were hijacked and crashed. And, officials never really got a good handle on what happened to the planes that were actually involved in the attacks, as there were reports that Flights 11 and 77 were still in the air long after they had crashed into their targets. The author also makes clear (as others have before him) that several members of the administration wanted desperately to tie the attacks to Iraq (although it was clear even by that afternoon who was responsible) and were planning to use the attack as justification to go into Iraq and take out Sadaam Hussein.

The book is very well-sourced, using a ton of footnotes, that not only point to sources but also flesh out the cited text. The author identifies a lot of the false reports that were being circulated that day (and in the days after), which gives you an idea of just how chaotic it was. The one thing I would have liked the author to focus on more is a flight that many believe would have been a fifth hijacked flight, United Airlines flight 23 which was flying from JFK in NY to Los Angeles, had it not been caught up in initial closure and ground stop of air traffic in the NY area. There were reports of several middle eastern men on that plane who became extremely agitated when the plane did not take off who pushed their way off the plane when it returned to the gate, and that box cutters were found in their carry-on bags (which they left on the plane). The author says this turned out to be false, but does not provide any details about what in the reported information was wrong and how it was determined to be incorrect.

Overall, it is a very detailed book with a lot of information. There are some typos that did not get caught, but they really do not affect the readability or cause anything to be misleading. I would not say it is as emotional as some of the other books that have been released over the years, especially those from survivors telling their stories of the day. That said, it is definitely worth reading.

Workout Update: Chalean Extreme Day 83

 Day 83 was the final day of CE. I did the recharge stretching workout again. Overall, I think the program went well. I definitely felt that I got stronger over the course of the three months, but honestly did not lose a lot of weight (or a ton of body fat) mainly because my diet was still not very good. I definitely gained strength and some muscle, but I definitely blame myself for not losing as much fat as I could have. 

TV Series Recap: The Incredible Hulk

 

The Incredible Hulk was a series from the late 1970s (it debuted in 1977) and ran for essentially four seasons. It was created by Kenneth Johnson, who also created series like The Six Million Dollar Man, the original Bionic Woman, V, and more. The show starred Bill Bixby as Dr. David Banner and bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno (a Mr. Universe winner and a Mr. Olympia runner-up) as The Hulk. The story is heavily modified from the comics. First, the main character's name is changed from Bruce to David (which apparently irked Stan Lee, who got a producer credit on the show) and it dropped the failed super-soldier program storyline in favor of one in which David attempts to tap into the hidden strength that people have when faced with life and death situations. David was unable to save his wife during a car accident and tries to find out why he could not tap into this hidden strength. In the course of his experiments, he hits himself with a massive dose of gamma radiation which causes him to change into the Hulk when he is scared or angry. A reporter named Jack McGee and played by Jack Colvin believes that The Hulk killed David Banner and his lab partner. So, Banner, instead of saying that The Hulk did not kill him, pretends to be dead and wanders the country living off the grid and trying to figure out a way to stop his metamorphosis into The Hulk. 

Another big deviation from the comics is that the Hulk was not fighting the military and supervillains. David traveled from town-to-town and invariably found someone (usually a woman) in distress and in need of help, and would come across the worst, most corrupt person in town that the Hulk would end up having to scare off or stop. The show had very much a feel of the 1970s from the look to the way people talked, but the overall storylines could be made in any era. There are definitely things that the show did that could not be done the same way, like using the term "wetback" in an episode and allowing some stereotypes to be used that would never fly today. That said, the show did deal with topics such as racism, drugs, and the pillaging of Native American lands (in an episode in which the Native Americans were bad guys). It also had a ton of recognizable guest stars including an incredibly young Kim Catrall (who the show tried to pass off as a Native American) and a young Ernie Hudson. The show was never big on continuity, however, using the same actors in different roles quite a bit. For example, Gerald McRaney guest-starred three different times in three different roles. 

Technically, it did air a handful of episodes in a fifth season in 1982, but those episodes were filmed at the end of the fourth season in case an impending writer's strike occurred, so a fifth season could air uninterrupted. However, during the hiatus between seasons four and five, the President of CBS decided to cancel the show (despite the fact that the ratings were still good, although not as high as they once were) because the show had "run its course". So, the final five stand-alone episodes were aired and the show went off the air without any resolution to the storyline or a proper ending.

In the late 1980s, Bixby produced a series of three tv movies (and directed two of them) that finally gave closure to the series. The first two movies, The Incredible Hulk Returns, and the Trial of the Incredible Hulk were horribly bad, and brought the series into the larger Marvel Comic universe, introducing a horrible version of Thor and an okay version of Daredevil (along with an awful version of Kingpin). The third movie, The Death of The Incredible Hulk, was a much better movie and did provide an end to the storyline (and co-starred former Miss America and alleged Bill Clinton hookup Elizabeth Gracen). While it was better than the other two movies, the ending was deeply stupid and probably left a bad taste in the mouths of a lot of fans. 

So, overall, the series was mostly good, but when it was bad, it was pretty bad. Lou Ferrigno managed to stay in great shape, even through the final TV movie, although he looked like he aged (even with the green makeup on) much more than Bixby looked like he aged. The show is much different than the superhero shows of today, both in how it was filmed, the special effects (or lack thereof) that were available back in the 1970s versus now, and in terms of storyline continuity. The one thing that I do not like about the show is that it criminally underused the character of Jack McGee. He was ostensibly a co-lead yet would disappear for long stretches, and in some episodes only appeared for a few seconds. His character deserved to find out the truth about David and The Hulk and get the last scoop. Instead, Colvin was not brought back (or refused to return) after filming The Incredible Hulk Returns and so his character never got a concluding arc.

The series is available on both DVD and Blu-Ray. Some of the DVD sets include the last TV movies, but the Blu-ray set does not. So, if you want the tv movies you have to find the DVDs and you may have to resort to buying imports because the US versions have been out of print and are very hard to find, especially at a reasonable price. After rewatching the show all the way through I can say I enjoyed it more as a kid when it came across as really cool. As an adult, it is kind of hokey. I was not old enough to watch the series when it originally aired, but I did see the re-runs that aired in syndication. I found that I did not remember any of the actual stories from any of the episodes, but I remembered the line "you wouldn't like me when I'm angry", the Hulk outs, and the opening title sequence voiced by Ted Cassidy (who played Lurch in The Addams Family) more than I remembered anything else. Chances are, those will be the most memorable things about the show for most people.

 

DVD Review: Family Guy, Volume Ten

 

Volume 10 of Family Guy has the last half of the season 9 episodes (excluding the final Star Wars spoof episode "It's a Trap" which was released separately on DVD. I will not spend much time reviewing the episodes except to say that I do not think that they were, on the whole, as strong as they had been in prior seasons. The show still used the story of the week format, but there were a lot more of the offbeat episodes in this season (like the Brian and Stewie time travel episode, "The Big Bang Theory", and the episode that starts the whole Evil Santa story arc, "The Road to the North Pole").

The DVD extras include deleted scenes, scene animatics for scenes in different episodes, commentary tracks on selected episodes, and the Adam West Star Ceremony (getting his walk-of-fame star). So, if you like watching the extras, there is a lot there. Plus, you get the episodes uncensored. Overall, I would say that the show still has funny moments, but it as not as consistently funny as it has been in the past. Fox is definitely not putting a ton of effort into the DVD releases, but this is the last DVD set to contain just a partial season.

Product Review: Bragg Liquid Aminos, All Purpose Seasoning

 

This tastes pretty much exactly like soy sauce but provides amino acids, which soy sauce does not. It does taste pretty salty, so if you are used to low-sodium soy sauce it may be a bit strong for your tastes. In general, I would say if you do not use soy sauce on a regular basis, this may not be the best option because it will probably expire before you use it. But, if you do eat a lot of Asian food and do use soy sauce on a consistent basis, this is a good replacement.

Video Game Review: Batman: Arkham City - Game of The Year Edition

 

This is the second in the Arkham trilogy of games. It continues the storyline from the first game and expands the story with a power vacuum left in the wake of Joker's defeat. It is very challenging, even on the easiest difficulty level, and I would say even more challenging to get through than the first game. The graphics and gameplay experience are great, as you would expect, and like the first game, you can find new things and go down new paths every time you play it. It is a very enjoyable game, even if you are someone that does not play a lot of video games.

Product Review: Roland Foods White Miso Paste

 

I got this when I was doing Beachbody's ultimate cleanse, which allowed Miso soup as one of the handful of things that could be eaten on a regular basis during the cleanse. Unfortunately, no matter how much I tried to make it taste palatable I just could not handle more than a couple sips of it. For those who do like Miso, this is a big block and will probably go a long way for you and the price is reasonable. But, Miso is probably one of those things you will either love or hate, and there is really no way to know unless you try it.

Workout Update: Chalean Extreme Day 82

Day 82 was the final Burn it Off workout. It went pretty well. I was still modifying moves but pushing harder than I was able to the first week of the program. So, I can tell I am making progress, just very slow progress. I will have some time off from doing this workout for a few weeks as I will be doing the 1-2 Power 90 workouts for a month, then doing the Chalean Push Circuit workouts. 

Workout Update: Chalean Extreme Day 81

Day 81 of CE was the last Lean Circuit 3 workout. Much like the other workouts, I still found this one very challenging even after four weeks. Part of it were definitely a bit easier, but other parts of it were just as difficult as the first day that I did it.  I did hit the 12 rep max on a couple of the exercises, but definitely not as many as I hit on the final Lean Circuit 1 workout I did on Monday.

Streaming Series Review: Kenobi (episodes 1 and 2) (spoilers).

 

I just watched the first two episodes of the limited event series Kenobi, which has been much anticipated even before it was officially announced. As many may remember, when Disney took over Lucasfilm and announced a whole slew of Star Wars projects, it was anticipated that there would be an Obi-Wan-focused Star Wars Story movie set between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. After Disney ditched the idea of non-storyline movies after Solo tanked (which I believe was because it was released too close in time to The Last Jedi, which left a bad taste in many fan's mouths, and Solo, a good movie, got the backlash), its fate was left in Limbo. The project was resurrected as a mini-series to get a six-episode run on Disney +.

The plot has been a tight secret, but it has been known for a long time that Hayden Christensen would reprise his role as Darth Vader, and the trailers revealed the involvement of the Inquisitors, who are former Jedi that turned to the dark side but are not full Sith, who helped hunt down the rogue Jedi. If you watched the animated series Rebels, you are familiar with them. This series shows an inquisitor not seen in Rebels, Reva, played very well so far by Moses Ingram. 

The series starts out with Obi-Wan on Tatooine living under the name Ben, working a menial job to make ends meet, and cutting himself off from the force (which is a factor in episode 2). He watches Luke from afar (mainly because Owen wants nothing to do with him and wants him to stay away from Luke and let them live their lives) and goes out of his way to avoid being noticed by anyone. A trap is sprung that takes him reluctantly off of Tatooine and puts him on a collision course with the Inquisitors.  

+++Spoilers Here +++

The surprise inclusion in the show is young Leia. Reva has discovered that Obi-Wan helped Bail Organa during the Clone Wars and engineered Leia's kidnapping to draw Obi-Wan out, having no idea that she was actually the daughter of Anakin. Of course, Bail, knowing where Obi-Wan is, seeks out his help and Obi-Wan very reluctantly agrees to leave Tatooine to find Leia and bring her back to Alderaan. In a confrontation with Reva at the very end of the second episode, Obi-Wan learns that Anakin is alive. It is interesting that Reva (who was likely one of the younglings seen in the opening shot of the first episode recreating the attack on the Jedi temple) knows that Vader is Anakin, which is something that to this point in the canon (assuming you have read the novels) only Palpatine knows for sure, Thrawn figured out but did not accuse or point-blank ask Vader if it was true, and Tarkin suspected. So, it will be interesting to see if all the Inquisitors are aware of the fact that Vader is Anakin and if not, how Reva found out. 

The two big bright spots in the first couple of episodes are Obi-Wan's torment and young Leia. Ewan McGregor plays a broken Obi-Wan, who still has nightmares of his failure, very well. You can see the battle between wanting to help and wanting to remain anonymous and obscure, so much so that he buried his and Anakin's lightsabers in the middle of the desert and has not used the force in a decade. He finally uses the Force to save Leia when she falls off a building. Vivien Lyra Blair plays young Leia perfectly. She definitely channels Carrie Fisher's sass and spunk (especially as we see her in A New Hope), and she injected what little humor there was in the first two episodes and stole pretty much every scene she was in. The writers gave her way better material than Jake Lloyd ever got to work with in The Phantom Menace, and she is definitely the highlight of the series so far. 

Of course, we know that at some point in the series, there is going to be the inevitable rematch between Vader and Obi-Wan, most likely providing context to Vader's "Obi-Wan once thought as you did" line in Return of the Jedi. My guess is that this time it is going to be Vader who thinks Obi-Wan is dead to also provide context for his being taken aback at feeling Obi-Wan's presence on the Death Star in A New Hope. But, we will have to see how that plays out. But, the first two episodes have been great so far, and it will be interesting to see where it goes from here.

DVD/TV Series Review: Castle Season 5

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilers from the prior season but no major giveaways from season five.+++

The fifth season picks up with Castle and Beckett in the afterglow of finally hooking up and Beckett pretty hilariously sneaking out of Castle's place when Martha brings home a hungover Alexis. The season premiere also brings in the great Jack Coleman (from Heroes) and inserts him in a major way into the storyline involving Beckett's mother. The rest of the season manages to follow a similar case-of-the-week format that also weaves serial arcs in and out throughout the season. This season also includes the show's 100th episode which is a pretty hilarious take on the movie Rear Window. There is also an episode that has multiple nods to the series Firefly, including Fillion dressing up like his character Mal (and Alexis making fun of him for it). The show does a good job introducing obstacles and tension into the Castle-Beckett relationship to keep the show from getting stale after the leads finally get together.

The DVD extras include deleted scenes, a gag reel, a few behind-the-scenes featurettes, and commentary tracks on selected episodes. So, there is quite a bit of material for those who like going through the bonus features.

Overall, the series continues to be a good blend of drama a comedy. Fillion and Katic have very good onscreen chemistry in this season, and if the alleged personal issues that led to the end of the show had started between the two of them, it was not obvious in the episodes. The writing and acting were very good and the show ended on yet another cliffhanger. If you have liked the prior seasons of the show, you will probably still like this season. You definitely will want to watch the prior seasons before jumping into this one because, while the episodes are mostly self-contained, there is a lot of character development that has happened up to this point that is helpful to have seen.

DVD/TV Series Update: Family Guy Volume 9

 

Volume nine of Family Guy contains 11 episodes from Season 8 and 3 episodes from season 9. It does not include the episodes "Something, Something, Dark Side" (The Empire Strikes Back parody) or the season eight finale "Partial Terms of Endearment" which was released separately on DVD (for some reason). The show continues to follow the story (or stories) of the week format, so you really don't need to have seen prior episodes to get what is going on in a particular episode. Although, the show does make callbacks to old jokes every so often, which make more sense if you are a regular viewer.

The DVD extras include commentary tracks on some, but not all, episodes. It has a bunch of deleted scenes, several making-of featurettes, an excerpt from the 2010 Comic-Con panel, and an episode of The Cleveland Show that was a spin-off of Family Guy that ran for a handful of seasons. A good amount of material for people who like watching the bonus content.

Overall, the show follows the same format that it has for many seasons. By now people know if they like it or hate it. If you hate it, this will not change your mind. The DVD releases continue to be a pain with not releasing full seasons of the show in a single set and omitting episodes. But, if you prefer the physical discs over streaming if nothing else to get the uncensored episodes and the bonus content, it is your only option unless a complete series set is ever released once the show ends its run.

DVD/TV Series Review: Family Guy Volume 8

 

Volume Eight has episodes from season seven and season eight of Family Guy. As many may know, the first "season" of Family Guy was just seven episodes and season six was only twelve episodes. So, as the DVD released came out, they released volumes that had episodes from multiple seasons. For some reason instead of just releasing seasons one and two on a single set and then releasing the show season by season, they kept, up until season 13, releasing the DVDs in volumes that would have the final episodes of one season and the early and middle episodes of the next. It does not really detract from the show itself as it has always mostly been a story of the week kind of show that you do not need to remember much from prior shows to get what is going on in a particular episode.

The DVD extras are pretty similar to what has been released for the prior volumes. There are commentary tracks on most of the episodes, mainly with the writers and producers, but they occasionally include members of the cast. There are a bunch of deleted scenes, a featurette on the road to the multiverse episode in which Brian and Stewie enter different universes, including the Robot Chicken universe. There are also a bunch of Family Guy Karaoke musical numbers.

By now, anyone reading this likely knows what the show is and knows if they like the humor. It can definitely be offensive and makes jokes about nearly everything. I do not think that the show was as good by this time as it was in the first couple of seasons, but that said it still has some very funny moments, so if you are a fan, the set is definitely worth picking up.

Workout Update: Chaleane Extreme Day 80

Day 80 of CE was the Burn Intervals workout. It went fairly well. There were a couple of spots where I got very winded and had to slow down, but that was because I was pushing harder in other portions. Overall, I was able to push myself pretty well.

Workout Update: Chalean Extreme Day 79

Day 79 of CE was the Lean Circuit 2 workout. I was able to max out on a couple of the exercises, but for most of them, I was hitting 10 or 11 reps.  I was able to increase the weight on the plank rows and stay on my toes for all 12 reps on each arm. So, that was a good accomplishment. The last few shoulder exercises were still very tough, however. 

Book Review: State of Terror

 

This is a book that centers around the character of Ellen Adams, the new Secretary of State in the new administration that succeeded a dumpster fire of a prior administration. Adams is clearly based on Clinton and the previous President (who is described as egotistical and stupid) is clearly based on the former guy. The new President, President Williams, and Ellen Adams despise each other but end up having to put their animosity aside to uncover a terrorist plot that involves a series of coordinated bombings in Europe and a threat of bombs going off in the United States.

The book weaves things that are clearly based on real life with a healthy dose of fiction. The book in some ways is prophetic, even with the fictional material, pretty much predicting what would happen when America finally got out of Afghanistan (the book was written before it actually happened) and has a coup plot that is eerily similar to what is being discovered about some right-wing lawmakers and January 6th. Hopefully, the majority of the book's plot remains fiction, but the way things are going, who knows.

Overall, the book is mostly well-written and has an engaging plot that keeps readers interested. Of course, there are some who will never read it simply because Hillary Clinton is a co-author, and certainly, her political views are present in the book, so if you cannot separate your feelings about her or her politics and a work of fiction, then it is best to avoid this. Even though the book is a bit long (at just under 500 pages), it is a fairly easy read. I read fairly quickly and managed to get through it in about ten days mostly reading an hour or two at a time before bed. There are definitely some cliche plot points and it definitely has a couple of eye-rolling, "yeah right" moments. But for the most part, it is a good political thriller that is worth the read.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Dexter Season 7

 

+++Warning... this review will spoil the ending of season six and contain a minor season 7 spoiler, but there are no major giveaways about the plot of season seven.++++

The seventh season of Dexter picks up immediately where the season six finale ends, with Deb trying to find Dexter to confess her feelings to him and seeing Dexter kill Travis Marshall. He gives her a story that he snapped, but Deb suspects otherwise and asks Dexter if he is a serial killer, and he admits everything to her. The rest of the season is really about Deb balancing protecting Dexter while trying to help him stop. This season also introduces the character of Hannah McKay (played by Chuck's Yvonne Strahovski) who was an underaged accomplice to her boyfriend's killing spree, who now, as an adult has agreed to testify against him in return for immunity from prosecution. Dexter suspects there is more to the story than what she claims and begins a dangerous dance with her. He also has to keep up appearances at work as LaGuerta is convinced the Bay Harbor Butcher is still alive and that Doakes was set up.

For those who get the Blu-Ray set, the AV quality is great. The extras are horrible however as the only extra is the pilot episode for Ray Donavan, which is fine, but there should be at least some Dexter-specific extras. So really, at this point, the only reason to get the Blu-Ray set over streaming the show (unless you greatly prefer having the physical discs) is to keep your collection complete.

Overall, the season is good. It does diverge a bit from the "big bad" that Dexter has to stop (at least somewhat) but adds multiple layers of tension into the show, especially for the character of Deb. Jennifer Carpenter does a great job playing Deb torn between being a good cop and protecting her brother, whom she loves both as the step-brother she grew up with and more. The character of Hannah caused a lot of debate among fans. Some hated the character with a passion. I actually thought she was a good character, and Strahovski (whom I loved on Chuck) did a great job portraying the character. I think she introduced even more tension into the Dexter-Deb relationship and really tested Dexter's loyalties in a similar way to how Dexter tested Deb's. The season ends on a major cliffhanger yet again and sets up the eighth season well.

DVD/TV Series Review: Family Guy Volume 7

 

Volume seven of Family guy again includes episodes from two different seasons, the final handful of season six episodes, and nine of the season seven episodes. The episodes play with uncensored audio tracks, which basically means f-bombs are not bleeped out, but you can also watch the censored broadcast versions from the disc menu. By now the show has been around long enough that if you are reading this you know if you like it or not. I will not spend a ton of time on reviewing the episodes, just to say that they pretty much just follow the story (or stories) of the week format that the show is known for. There are not really any episodes in this set that I would consider all that noteworthy, but the final episode of the disc did a riff on OJ Simpson (this was around the time of his Las Vegas arrest) in which Peter cashes in a raffle ticket in which he won a golf outing with Simpson.

As far as DVD extras go, each episode has a commentary track and there are deleted scenes for most of the episodes. There are animatic versions of three episodes that also have commentary tracks, and then four featurettes, including a portion of the 2008 comic-con panel.

Ultimately, Family Guy is a show that people tend to love or hate. If you love the show you will probably like this set, even if you do not like (or love) it as much as you did earlier seasons. On the other hand, if you have never liked the show, you are probably not going to change your mind because of anything on this DVD.

Workout Update: Chalean Extreme Day 78

Day 78 of CE was the Recharge workout again. Nothing new to report on this one. I decided that my next workout regime is going to be a hybrid of Power-90 and Chaleane. I am going to do a month of the 1-2 workouts, then the CE Push Phase lifting with the Power-90 1-2 cardio, and then a month of the 3-4 workouts. I am going to add Recharge into the mix as a yoga workout to work my way up to P90X's hour and a half of Yoga. 

DVD/TV Series Review: Family Guy Volume 6

 

Volume Six of Family Guy is still at the point where the DVDs had episodes from two different seasons. In this case, Volume Six has the last five episodes of season five, then starts with the second episode of season six (the first episode of the season was the Star Wars spoof/homage, Blue Harvest, which was released separately on DVD), with episodes 2-8 of season six. Needless to say, it is hard to keep straight and something that they even joked about in the show. This volume contains the 100th episode of the series, Stewie Kills Lois, in which Stewie is actually successful (seemingly at least) at taking out Lois which was a huge theme for the show in the first couple of seasons.

The DVD does have a ton of extras. There is a commentary track on every episode, and this was released at a time when Seth McFarlane still participated in the commentary tracks and he is on almost every one of them. Then there are deleted scenes, a couple of featurettes on the 100th episode, a favorite scenes featurette, and a Family Guy Live segment that is basically a live table read.

At this point in the show, it had found its formula and stuck to it. It is mainly a story of the week but it does do callbacks from time to time. The humor does not change much, but it was around the 5th season that the series was clearly far less edgy than it was when it first aired. Realistically, it had been watered down from the time it came back after the initial cancelation. So, I cannot say that everyone who loved the show in seasons 1-3 are necessarily going to love the show at this point, but I still think it has enough funny moments to be worth watching.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: The Bourne Legacy

 

This movie was a mostly failed attempt to expand the Bourne universe beyond Matt Damon's character when Damon did not want to return for another movie. Of course, Damon eventually came back to the character and the spin-off was pretty much relegated to the dust bin of history.

The Bourne Legacy takes place at the same time as the previous film, The Bourne Ultimatum. Jeremey Renner stars as Aaron Cross who is a member of a black ops program called Operation Outcome whose subjects are genetically enhanced. Cross is stationed in a remote outpost in Alaska, and after the Treadstone operation is burned by Bourne, the government starts eliminating all traces of it and Operation Outcome, which means trying to take Cross out. Of course, that does not go to plan and what follows from there is pretty similar to the prior installments of the franchise.

Opinions on the quality of the movie seem to vary a lot. I think it was pretty good, but not great. It kept faithful to the original movies, yet was not totally derivative. That said, the chases and the whole feel of the government trying to track down a rogue agent were very much the same as the prior movies. It did have a great cast including Rachel Weisz, Edward Norton, and Oscar Isaac, and had clips of Damon, Albert Finney, and Joan Allen.

The movie looks and sounds very good in the HD format and there are a lot of extras. Those include a commentary track on the movies by the directors and members of the production crew. Then there are deleted scenes and several featurettes that run from just under two minutes to almost eight minutes. All in all, about an hour's worth of extras (give or take) separate from the commentary track.

Overall, the movie was a good attempt at expanding the Bourne Universe. I think Renner, Weisz, and Norton did a good job as the leads and would have liked to have seen additional movies with their involvement, even with Cross and Bourne teaming up. Chances are, that is not going to come to pass and this is going to be a one-off movie, even if Damon decides to do another movie after "Jason Bourne" which is becoming more unlikely as time goes by.

Workout Update: Chalean Extreme Day 77

Day 77 of CE was the last Lean Circuit 1 workout. I actually (finally) managed to hit the 12 rep max on most of the exercises. And, my balance on some of the exercises performed on one leg is getting better. It was still very challenging but definitely gets easier by the final week. 

Workout Update: Chalean Extreme Day 76

Day 76 was the Recharge workout again. Hamstring flexibility is improving again. I could actually get down into a crouch (finally) not just kind of bending my knees in the forward fold moves in the beginning. It is kind of hard to tell that it does that much when you are doing it since the workout only lasts 22 minutes, but doing it twice a week for the better part of three months has definitely helped.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: The Dark Knight Rises

 

This is the third and final movie in the Nolan Batman trilogy. The movie is set years down the line from the events of The Dark Knight. Batman has essentially disappeared and Bruce Wayne has become a crippled shut-in, hobbled by injuries from years as Batman. Of course, those two things do not seem to correlate as (seemingly) nobody has any idea who Batman is. However, Gordon who knows (and carries with him an admission) of Batman's innocence in the killings that Two-Face committed, is not exactly looking to track Batman down. When a new threat in the form of Bane (played by Tom Hardy, who got absolutely jacked for the movie) emerges and threatens the city, Bruce must yet again don the cape and cowl. The movie also includes Catwoman/Selena Kyle, played wonderfully by Anne Hathaway, but much differently than how Michelle Pfeiffer played the role in Batman Returns.

There are a ton of Blu-Ray extras. There is a screen app integration that is kind of like a picture-in-picture track that can be played with the movie that acts kind of like a commentary track and kind of like a behind-the-scenes look at making the film. But it is very clunky to use. On the second Blu-Ray disc, which just has extras, there is a feature on ending the trilogy that is split into three main parts, each part having several individual sections. All of the material is very interesting and well worth watching, and in total is probably as long (or longer) in running time than the movie itself.

Overall, the trilogy was wrapped up very well. The ending was a bit forced for me, and takes a lot of suspension of disbelief, beyond what you already have to have for a movie like this. It was very well-acted and had tie-ins to the first movie. Caine's role as Alfred and Freeman's role as Fox was reduced in this movie, but Oldman did a great job playing a guilt-riddled Jim Gordon. I know that some people felt the reveal at the end of who was working with Bane was forced but did not mind it. While it was not, in my opinion, as good as The Dark Knight, I think it provided a fitting end to the trilogy and is definitely worth the pickup on Blu-Ray (or on 4K UHD now that it is available in that format).