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 22, 2022

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Lethal Weapon: Season 1

 


Lethal Weapon is a TV adaptation of the movies which, as most know, starred Mel Gibson and Danny Glover. The series is led by Damon Wayans taking over the role of Roger Murtaugh, a veteran detective who is not on the brink of retirement as the character was in the movies, but trying to lead a less stressful life because of a recently diagnosed heart condition. That plan is upset when he is partnered with Martin Riggs, played by Clayne Crawford (who had been a character actor up to this point), a recently widowed ex-Navy Seal who has little regard for rule, or safety, especially his own. 

The show follows a pretty standard procedural buddy-cop show format. It has a case-of-the-week format, but toward the end of the season does introduce a serial arc that stretches into the second season. The show has a strong supporting cast including Jordana Brewster, who plays the department psychologist, Maureen Cahil, Keesha Sharp as Roger's wife Trish, Kevin Rahm as the police captain Avery Brooks, and also has a very strong recurring cast including Thomas Lennon who plays Leo Getz (a version of the character Joe Pesci played in the movies), Hillarie Burton as DEA agent Karen Palmer, and Floriana Lima, who plays Rigg's late wife, Miranda in flashbacks.

If you get the blu-ray set, the A/V quality is good, about the same as the other Warner blu-ray releases, but not outstanding. There are some extras including an extended version of the pilot episode that adds less than a minute to the version that aired, about 25 minutes, give or take, worth of deleted scenes spread across the three discs, and a short (under three minutes) gag reel. The most extensive extra is a 15-minute making-of featurette that includes cast and showrunner interviews that goes over how the show came to be, how they tried to tie things in with the movies (like using some of the same locations) but also trying to make the show their own entity (by putting twists on characters such as having Leo be an ambulance chasing lawyer as opposed to a mob accountant). 

I think the first season did a good job of putting a twist on the story. Both Crawford and Wayans did a great job honoring the characters as Gibson and Glover played them without being carbon copies of either of them, which would not work. As most fans of the series are aware, Crawford would eventually be fired from the show because of behavioral issues, including tension with Wayans that reportedly turned into outright hatred. But, during the first season, if any of that had started it did not bleed over into what made it on screen. The show is pretty solidly TV-13 as it does have some violence and as much bad language and sexual content as can be aired on network TV. I cannot say that everyone will love it, but if you liked the movies I do think it is worth checking out.

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