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. 

Saturday, March 23, 2024

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Anna

 



Anna is a 2019 movie written and directed by Luc Besson (who has directed movies such as The Professional, The Fifth Element, Taken, and Lucy) and starring Sasha Luss, Luke Evans, Cillian Murphy, and Helen Mirren. In the movie, Luss plays Anna, who is recruited into the KGB by Evans' character, Alex, and works under the direction of Mirren's character, Olga. She is trained as a KGB assassin with the promise of being discharged after five years. When the director of the KGB refuses to honor the agreement, Anna becomes a double agent for the CIA in exchange for a new life.

The 4k set is a two-disc set with a UHD disc and a regular blu-ray disc. Both of the discs include the movie and the special features. The A/V quality of the UHD disc is very good. It is not quite reference quality, but close. There are about 30 minutes of bonus material consisting of four different making-of featurettes. The movie is a good spy thriller, with a handful of action scenes spread out well throughout the movie. The story is not told linearly. It plays out similarly to the movie Memento. The movie starts partway through the story, and then flashbacks are used to tell Anna's backstory, to fill in gaps, or to show events from a different perspective than when they first played out. So, by the end of the movie, you know how Anna was recruited into the KGB and the CIA, but as you watch the movie, there are twists and turns that play out via the flashbacks. The action scenes that are in the movie are very good, but very violent. There is a bit of sexual content and one nude scene in which Luss is topless. So, it is not really a family-friendly movie.

Ultimately, the movie is well-written and very well-acted. Luss does a very good job in what was her second movie role, and Mirren pretty much dominated every scene she was in. Luss was especially good, considering she came from a modeling background and not an acting background. Evans and Murphy did well in their supporting roles, but neither were in the movie as much as Luss and Mirren. While it was not a blockbuster movie, it is much better than a lot of people will likely expect. So, if you are a fan of spy thrillers, this is worth the time to watch. 

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