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. 

Thursday, October 20, 2022

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Resident Evil: Retribution

 


Retribution is the fifth installment of the Milla Jovovich-led Resident Evil franchise. By now, anyone interested in watching them knows what you will get. A ton of action, dialogue that is sometimes okay and sometimes bad, and lots of zombies. This picks up during the end battle of Afterlife. We see that Alice (the nearly ageless Jovovich) by the Umbrella Corporation, stripped of her powers, and held in an underground facility. At the same time, a clone of Alice is living in the suburbs (really Raccoon city) with a husband and daughter. While we do not see the fates of the Redfields (Ali Larter and Wentworth Miller's characters) from Afterlife, Sienna Guillory's Jill Valentine who was teased at the very end of Afterlife has a large role in this movie, and Michelle Rodriguez comes back to the series.

For those who get the Blu-Ray, the A/V quality is top-notch again, and there are a bunch of extras. Those include an interactive database on Project Alice, two different commentary tracks on the movie, one with Paul W.S. Anderson and Jovovich (who is always great on commentary), and one by Anderson and one of the producers. Then there are deleted scenes, outtakes, several making-of featurettes, and a short featurette about a fan who got to be turned into a zombie on set.

Overall, the movie is good, if you take it for what it is. The action is great, and Jovovich who does as many of her own stunts as she can is great in the lead role. You can tell from the commentary track that she takes the role seriously, but does not take herself too seriously and does not pretend the movies are more than what they are. While you can watch this movie on its own, it makes a lot more sense if you have seen the prior movies since the stories in each movie are at least a bit intertwined. So, if you are looking for a good action movie (and like dystopian future plots and a bunch of hot cast members), and you enjoyed the other installments in the series, this is definitely worth watching. If, however, you did not like the other movies, this one is probably not going to change your mind about the franchise.

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