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, December 8, 2022

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Fifty Shades Darker

 


Fifty Shades Darker is the 2017 follow-up to the 2015 movie Fifty Shades of Grey, based on the series of novels by E.L. James. The movie again stars Dakota Johnson as Anastacia/Ana Steele and Jamie Dornan as Christian Grey, a billionaire entrepreneur with a penchant for BDSM relationships. In the first movie, the two have a torrid love affair that goes bad because of his inability to open up and have a normal relationship. This movie is essentially about his attempt to win her back and the two trying to make a relationship work, with a lot of obstacles being thrown in the way of their relationship.

For those who get the 4k Disc, the movie looks and sounds very good in the UHD format. There is definitely a video quality upgrade from the blu-ray disc (which is also included in the two-disc set). The UHD disc just has the movie itself and the blu-ray has the extras, which are pretty meager. The extras include a couple of short deleted scenes, a teaser for the final movie, and then a handful of making-of featurettes that vary in length from about 3 minutes to just under 9 minutes. Nothing special, but they are there if you want to watch them.

I have not read the books (which were mostly a hit with women), but from the reviews (and based on interviews with Dakota Johnson talking about them) they were pretty bad. And, as a result, the script definitely has some cringe-worth dialogue. The issues from the first movie definitely carry over to this one, a big one being that the chemistry between Dornan and Johnson was still not great in this movie, and overall, I just had a hard time buying them as the kind of couple they were portraying. On the plus side, if you think Johnson is hot and want to see her tits on an almost two-hour loop, this movie will give you that. There are some good additions to the cast for this movie including Bella Heathcote, Kim Bassinger, Marcia Gay Harden, Eric Johnson, and Rita Ora. I  think the expanded cast helps to break up Christian and Ana's storyline so that the chemistry issues between Johnson and Dornan are not as obvious. Ultimately, if you liked the first movie you will probably like this one, as long as you manage your expectations. It definitely has the feel of the second chapter of a trilogy, putting the characters in peril and, as kind of cliche, having an overall darker (pun intended) theme. If you think of it as Twilight without the vampires and a lot more sex, that will give you an idea of what you are getting into if you watch it.   

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