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. 

Wednesday, May 22, 2024

DVD/Movie Review: Secret Window

 


Secret Window is a 2004 mystery/thriller starring Johnny Depp, John Turturro, Maria Bello, Charles S. Dutton, and Timothy Hutton. The movie is an adaptation of a short story by Stephen King called Secret Window, Secret Garden. It is about a novelist named Mort Rainey, played by Depp, who is accused by a man named Shooter, played by John Turturro, of stealing one of his stories. It turns into a fairly twisted (for a PG-13 movie) thriller as Mort's life spirals more and more out of control at the hands of Shooter.  Bello plays Mort's estranged wife, Timothy Hutton plays her new boyfriend, and Charles S. Dutton plays the private investigator Mort hires to help him with the shooter situation.

The DVD extras include a commentary track on the movie by the director, David Koepp, deleted and extended scenes, and a short making-of featurette. The story, as you would expect for a movie adapted from a King novel, is very strong with some twists and turns. The acting was very good from top to bottom. Given this movie was made (2004) while Depp was in the mists of filming the various Pirates movies, it is a good break from his Captain Jack Sparrow character and lets him flex more of his dramatic acting muscles with a little bit of humor mixed in. It is definitely a good way to spend an hour and a half watching a movie that is entertaining but you do not have to think about too much when it is over.

No comments: