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. 

Monday, April 22, 2024

DVD/Movie Review: My Cousin Vinny

 


My Cousin Vinny is a 1992 comedy starring Joe Pesci, Marisa Tomei (in her breakout movie role), Ralph Macchio, Mitchell Whitfield, Lane Smith, Austin Pendleton, and Fred Gwynne. The plot involves Macchio and Whitfield's characters, Bill and Stan, being arrested in Alabama for the murder of a convenience store clerk. Bill's cousin, Vinny (played by Pesci), who is a personal injury lawyer in New York, agrees to represent them for free. He travels to Alabama with his fiancee, Mona Lisa Vito (played by Tomei), where the two stick out like sore thumbs, and Vinny is in over his head trying a murder case and dealing with the hard-ass judge (played by Gwynne). 

This movie really was kind of a lightning-in-a-bottle type movie. I don't think anyone would have guessed that it would turn out as good as it did. Pesci, who up to that point was best known for being in mobster movies, the burglar in Home Alone, and a sidekick in the Lethal Weapon movies, got to show off his comedic chops in a leading role. And he pulled off the New Yorker thrown into the Deep South perfectly. Tomei, of course, stole every scene she was in and ended up winning an Oscar for her role as Lisa.

The DVD version of the movie is pretty light on extras. It does include the trailers, a couple TV spots, and a commentary by the director, Jonathan Lynn. Overall, the movie is wonderful. The two things that made the movie work were the fact that it did not take itself too seriously and made fun of everything and the excellent supporting cast. Fred Gwynne, who was a great comedic actor himself, was a great straight man to Pesci's Vinny in what ended up being his last role. It is a movie that, even after 30+ years, stands up on its own, never needing multiple sequels to water it down, and will hopefully never be remade. It does have quite a bit of swearing and some sexual innuendo, but compared to what is in some of today's movies, even that is pretty light. But if that turns you off to a movie then you should probably skip it, but for everyone else, I cannot recommend the movie highly enough.

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