Welcome

Welcome to my ever-evolving blog. It started out as a blog on Beachbody workouts and products, mainly when I was a Beachbody coach. I no longer coach, not because I don't believe in Beachbody's programs (I subscribe to Beachbody on Demand and use their workouts every day), I am just not a salesperson and hated that aspect of it. I am more than willing to answer questions about my experiences with their products and the various workouts, and I feel freer to do so without the appearance of giving a biased review of something.

I have also started adding reviews for various things I have purchased like movies, books, CDs, and other products. This was brought about by a fight with Amazon in which all of my reviews were removed over a completely bullshit allegation that I posted a review that violated their terms of service. After going back and forth with the morons in the community-reviews department (even after they admitted that my posts did not violate their guidelines) they restored my account (which took them six months to do), but I have been posting my reviews on my blog to have them preserved in case something like that happens again. And here, I will post uncensored reviews so I will swear from time to time and post reviews that may be longer than Amazon's character limit. Everything I post here on any topic or product is my personal opinion, and I take no compensation for any product reviews I post. I am a member of Amazon's vine program and because I get those products for free, I keep those reviews on Amazon only, but everything I have purchased with my own money, whether from Amazon or some other store/website/outlet, I will post here.  

I also plan to do some longer blog posts on various topics, such as how to learn physics, how to get through calculus, and longer reviews of workout programs as I do them. Basically, whatever strikes me as interesting at the time.  As you can see if you navigate around the blog, I had many years in between postings. During that time I was going back to school to get an engineering degree, and learning material that I avoided my first time through college was a different experience and one that gave me a lot of insight into how to do well in those classes, which I will try to impart here for those who are looking to get a science or engineering degree. 

Tuesday, June 7, 2022

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Silver Linings Playbook

 


Silver Linings Playbook is a combination of a romantic comedy and a drama. It stars Bradley Cooper as Pat Solitano, a bipolar man who has spent eight months in a psychiatric hospital after beating up the man with whom his wife was having an affair. He moves back in with his parents (played wonderfully by Robert De Niro and Jacki Weaver) and makes it his mission (against the advice of everyone) to win his wife back. Pat is invited to dinner by his best friend Ronnie, played by John Ortiz, and meets Ronnie's widowed sister-in-law with mental issues of her own, Tiffany, played by Jennifer Lawrence. Tiffany agrees to help Pat win his ex-wife back on the condition that he enter a dance competition with her as her partner. From there, the typical will-they, won't-they get-together storyline plays out.

The Blu-Ray extras are okay, but not extensive. There are deleted scenes, a relatively short making-of-featurette, a Q&A session featuring the director and some of the cast members after a screening of the movie, and a couple of featurettes on the dance numbers.

Overall, the movie is very good. Cooper does a great job alternating between depressed and manic, basically acting like he is on speed. He has great chemistry with Lawrence (who is a large source of the film's humor, although De Niro and Copper have some very funny moments too) as well as with De Niro. De Niro himself is great as Pat's football-obsessed father who is trying to help his son but really does not know how to do so. The biggest scene-stealer of the movie is Chris Tucker (of Rush Hour fame). He is only in a handful of scenes as Danny, another patient at the hospital who is embroiled in a fight with the hospital about whether they can keep him committed. He keeps managing to get out only to be hauled back by the cops. It's a small role that is not integral to the rest of the movie, but funny nonetheless. Personally, I like that the comedy in the movie is a bit darker than it is in most romantic comedies. It is a movie that is very well-written and acted and is definitely worth checking out.

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