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. 

Friday, December 30, 2022

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Gifted

 


Gifted is a great movie starring Chris Evans (in a role that is the polar opposite of his Marvel action roles) and McKenna Grace, in one of her first major movie roles. Evans stars as Frank Adler, a single guy working on a boat and is the guardian of his seven-year-old niece, Mary (played by Grace), whose mother Diane, who was a math prodigy committed suicide when Mary was six months old. Mary, like her mother, is a math genius who relates more to adults (her best friend is her neighbor played by Octavia Spencer) than she does to kids her own age. Frank wants to put her in public school and give her as normal a life as possible, while his mother, played by Lindsay Duncan, wants to put Mary in a school for gifted kids. The movie is basically an emotional drama that deals with the custody fight between Frank and his mother, Mary trying to cope with being a seven-year-old who is as smart as many 30-year-olds but is still emotionally a kid, and all of them trying to figure out how to have normal relationships with each other and other people. 

The A/V quality of the blu-ray transfer is good, but not outstanding. Of course, there are no big-budget special effects so for all but the die-hard video wonks, the A/V quality is likely going to be perfectly fine. The disc is pretty light on bonus features. The most extensive is a 13-minute HBO first look, and then 8 minutes of deleted scenes. Then there are a series of short promotional featurettes and the trailer. The total running time of the extras is a little over a half hour. While there are not a lot of extras, what is included is good.

Overall, the movie is very good. Grace is most definitely the stand-out, easily able to go from being an immature kid to someone who is more mature than a lot of adults with ease. Evans also does a very good job in a movie that is outside the genre for which he is known, as does Jenny Slate who plays one of Mary's teachers and a love interest for Frank. Grace and Evans have great chemistry together, and Octavia Spencer does a very good job in her relatively small role. It is definitely a movie worth watching if you are looking for a good drama.

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