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. 

Sunday, May 26, 2024

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Jessica Jones: Season 1

 


The 13-episode first season of Jessica Jones aired on Netflix in the fall of 2015. The show starred Krysten Ritter, Racheal Taylor, Carrie-Anne Moss, Eka Darville, David Tennant, and Rebecca De Mornay. It is the second of 4 different Marvel series that ran on Netflix, culminating in an Avengers-like team-up (along with Daredevil, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist). It is a show that exists within but is only tangential to the universe, which includes the Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, Agents of SHIELD, etc. It loosely refers to the battle of NY and the "big green guy", but like Daredevil, it shows how the ordinary world is affected by those events and how the "lesser known" heroes live their lives.

Jessica Jones tells the story of a hard-drinking, reckless private investigator (played by Krysten Ritter), who is broken in large part because of the season's big bad, Killgrave (played by David Tennant) who can control the minds of anyone who can hear him. It is hard to say too much about their backstory without giving too much about the season away, but the entire season revolves around Jessica trying to stop him. The show boasts a great supporting cast including (among others) Rachael Taylor, who plays Jessica's "sister," a former teen star with a rough past of her own; Carrie Ann Moss, who plays a high-powered attorney who Jessica sometimes helps and vice-versa, and later in the season Rosario Dawson, whose character is the glue that ties all the Netflix Marvel shows together. The series also introduces the character of Luke Cage (played by Mike Colter), who later gets his own show and provides some of his backstory.

As has been the case with the other Marvel shows on Netflix, it is much darker and grittier than the movies or the Agents of SHIELD show on ABC. Much of this is because of what they can get away with without censors, so there is more swearing and sex, but it also delves into darker topics and is much more violent. That said, there is not a ton of gore or nudity. It does get bloodier by the end of the season, however. It is not something that younger kids should be watching even though it is in the same superhero universe of the more kid-friendly movies.

The show looks great on blu-ray, as you would expect. The discs just have the episodes but no special features at all (much like the Daredevil release). Unlike the House of Cards releases, there is no behind-the-scenes material, deleted scenes, etc. That is the only thing that knocks the set down a star for me, the show itself is great. It does take a few episodes to set everything up to really see where the story is going. I cannot say everyone will like it, but if most people who are into these kinds of shows give it a chance, they will enjoy it.

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