DVD/TV Series Review: 24: Legacy

 

24: Legacy was a limited event series that aired in early 2017 and starred Corey Hawkins, Miranda Otto, Jimmy Smits, Teddy Sears, and Gerald McRaney. Carlos Bernard was the only cast member from the original series to appear in Legacy. In the age of seemingly every canceled show getting a reboot, this is definitely not needed. At least not in the way it was done. It was actually the second shot at a 24 reboot, this time without Kiefer Sutherland reprising his role as Jack Bauer (he was credited as an executive producer), so while it had the same kind of exaggerated "real-time" format (at least for 11 hrs and 58 minutes or so, then did a 12 hr time jump and finished off the last couple minutes) and crazy twists that the old show was known for, it just did not work as well without the character that made the series iconic in the first place.

This series follows up on the aftermath of a raid that was clearly a take-off on the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden, but this time with the remaining terrorists planning retaliatory strikes in the United States. It centers around the character of Eric Carter (played by Corey Hawkins ), who was a member of a group of army rangers on a mission to kill the terrorist leader. The supporting cast includes Miranda Otto, who is the outgoing director of CTU and wife to Jimmy Smit's character who is a senator with Presidential aspirations, Gerald McRainey who plays the father of the senator, and Teddy Sears as the new director of CTU. There are also some character tiebacks to the original series. Chances are, most people who get this have already seen the series, but I will not spoil anything for those who have not.

The set is only available on DVD. After the series ended, Amazon had a page for a blu-ray release. Still, as is the case with the vast majority of Fox's shows, if it gets a disc release at all, it is only a DVD (although it looks like it was released on blu-ray overseas, so if you have a region-free blu-ray player and want to pay for an import, that is an option. The extras are all on the last disc, just deleted scenes and an 11-minute making-of featurette. Okay, for what is there, but definitely bare bones.

While the series was billed as a first season, it was canceled shortly after the final episode aired. Had the original series not existed, this would have been fine for a 12-episode show. But given what had come before and the fact that it was so centered around the Jack Bauer character, having an event series so far outside the parent show's storylines just did not work well. Plus, the fact that the new characters were not established in any way for a handful of episodes, so there was no way to really get fans to care about them, did not work. What the writers with the story was fine, and the acting was fine, but the series just felt like a square peg being forced into a round hole. I think it would have worked far better if they were at least to incorporate the character of Jack Bauer into the story (say, a mission to try and free him from whatever hole he was likely dropped into at the end of the Live Another Day series), even if Kiefer did not appear, appeared for just one scene at the end, or only appeared in flashbacks would have had fans of the original series more invested in this one. Ultimately, while it was not a horrible series, it was nowhere near as good as the original series was at its best. While it is worth watching but is not a must-watch series.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Red Sparrow

 

Red Sparrow is a 2018 film adaptation of the first book in a trilogy of spy novels. The movie stars Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Edgerton, Charlotte Rampling, Jeremy Irons, Mary-Louise Parker, and Joely Richardson. It centers around a Russian ballerina named Dominika (played by Jennifer Lawrence), who, after suffering a career-ending injury, is forced into a spy training program called the Red Sparrows, which trains young Russian women in spycraft.

An easy comparison for the film would be "The Americans" TV series. However, while there are some character parallels between Keri Russell's character on the show and Lawrence's character in the movie since it is set entirely overseas, the better comparison would be to Atomic Blonde, with less over-the-top fight scenes. The movie is a spy thriller with a KGB vs. CIA kind of plotline, with the loyalties of almost every character called into question at some point. While it is set in the modern-day (there are cell phones and laptops), because the spycraft in the novels was deliberately kept old so that the author did not reveal any modern-day secrets, the movie has a very cold-war 1970s-1980s feel to it. As a result, some of the technology in the film is very old-school. Those old enough to remember 3.5" discs will find it hilarious that they are being used to copy files off a modern-day laptop computer. If any laptop had a 3.5" disc drive, they have not been around in a long time.

The 4K set is a two-disc set with a UHD disc and a regular Blu-Ray disc.  The UHD disc has just the movie and the director's commentary. The movie looks and sounds great in the ultra-high-definition format.  The regular Blu-Ray has all the other extras, including previews, deleted scenes, and over an hour's worth of making-of and behind-the-scenes featurettes. So, there is a decent amount of bonus material for those who like to watch the extras. Overall, the movie is very good. It is well-written and acted, and Lawrence takes on a different role than those she had played up to that point. The movie is very violent, and there is some nudity with a lot of sexual tones and themes. The movie is a bit different from the book it was adapted from, but it generally stays true to the story in the book.

Book Review: Star Wars: Queen's Peril

 

Queen's Peril is a 2020 novel written by E.K. Johnston. It is one of the young-adult novels that is ancillary to the main storyline novels, TV series, and, of course, the movies, but it is still a part of the overall canon material. It serves as an origin story for Padme and the various handmaidens, starting when Padme is elected Queen of Naboo. The first 2/3 or so of the book details how Padme and Captain Panaka devised a bodyguard system for the Queen, his finding and recruiting the various girls that would become handmaidens, and how the girls came up with the decoy system. The final 1/3 of the book overlaps with the events of The Phantom Menace, mainly glossing over what was actually seen in the movie, although occasionally showing things in the film from the perspective of different characters or filling in some of the gaps of events that occurred concurrently with what we saw in the movie (e.g., what was happing on Naboo while the others were on Tatooine). There are also appearances by Palpatine, Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, Darth Maul, and some of the other characters from TPM in the book, but all have relatively minor roles.

The hardcover version of the book is just under 300 pages. It gives a decent backstory for Amadala and the handmaidens. It is not an essential read or must-read, especially if you are just a casual fan and only get some of the novels. However, it is a fun and sometimes funny story (mainly the parts where Panaka has to learn how to deal with a bunch of teenage girls), as well as a nice blend of action and political intrigue from TPM (without getting as bogged down with the politics as TPM did), While it is in the young adult category, I think it is enjoyable enough to be enjoyed by those of all ages. It does contain one S-bomb that was dropped during the Trade Federation invasion. Yes, it also has details like the girls getting their period and getting the Queen's makeup right that will certainly not appeal to everyone, but those are, to me, relatively minor points. And, the parts that detailed the emotional toll on what amounts to a bunch of teenage girls when it came to having to become adults when they were still kids and be responsible for an entire planet were well done. It is also a fairly quick read, depending, of course, on how fast you read. But, if you are a quick reader, you can easily get through this in less than a week (at most). While it is not a must-read, it is worth the time to read.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Leaving Las Vegas

 

Leaving Las Vegas is a very dark 1995 drama starring Nicolas Cage and Elisabeth Shue. It tells the story of an alcoholic named Ben, played by Nicholas Cage, who has managed to throw his entire life away. He uses his severance check after getting fired to go to Vegas and drink himself to death. There he finds a hooker named Sera, played by Elisabeth Shue, who is in an abusive relationship with her pimp, and basically jumps from one bad situation to another. They end up falling in love while he is slowly dying. There is also an excellent supporting cast with recognizable actors and actresses, although none of the supporting cast members have extensive roles. The largest is probably Laurie Metcalf, who plays the landlord of Elisabeth Shue's character. The supporting cast also includes Julian Sands, Richard Lewis, and Emily Proctor. 

The Blu-Ray release is fairly bare-bones. The HD transfer is okay but not excellent, and there are really no bonus materials. The theatrical trailer. So, if you only get physical discs when there are a lot of extras, then you may just want to stream this. The story is very dark and unhappy, but Cage and Shue's acting is excellent. Cage's overacting is kept to a minimum and actually works in this movie when he does it. Given that he plays a character who does not care about his life anymore, it is not as ridiculous as in other movies. The movie has some violence, sexual content, and nudity and obviously deals with the subject of substance abuse, so it earns its R-rating. It is definitely worth checking out if you are in the mood for a darker, gritty drama.

4k-UHD/Movie Collection Review: The Matrix Trilogy

 

I will only review the 4k set, not the movies themselves. The movies have been out long enough that people know what they are and how they feel about them. I personally like all of them almost equally, but anyone who has been around since the first movie came out, who was a fan of the first movie when it came out, knows the opinions on the quality of the second and third movies that are out there.

If you already own the ultimate edition trilogy on Blu-Ray, the only reason to get this is for the video and audio upgrade in the UHD format. But, be warned, not all the extras from that version carried over, such as the Animatrix episodes. You probably want to hang onto that set if you are a bonus material buff. This still gets you a lot of the behind-the-scenes and making-of features from the original Blu-Ray releases, and you have multiple commentary tracks on the UHD discs (if you want to watch the movies multiple times to get multiple perspectives on them). The audio and video upgrade on the UHD discs are substantial and make the double (or triple) dipping worth it (depending on how many versions you have purchased over the years). While some of the CGI limitations that existed at the time the movies were made still exist in the UHD version (such as making Neo and Smith look like animated characters in the fight scene in the courtyard in the second movie), the overall detail and sound are significantly better than the DVD release and even a big step up from the initial Blu-Ray release. If however, you do not have a 4K TV or projector and a 4K UHD Blu-Ray player, then it is not worth investing in this as you will essentially get the same A/V quality from the existing discs which are less expensive to pick up than this one.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Requiem For a Dream

 

Requiem For a Dream is a 2000 drama directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Jennifer Connelly, Jared Leto, Ellen Burstyn, Marlon Wayans, and Christopher McDonald. It is a movie about the power of addiction and the hold that varying addictions (drugs for most of the characters and TV and looking perfect for another) have over people. While all the actors turn in great performances, Burstyn, Leto, and Connelly give powerhouse performances, especially Connelly, whose character basically does anything for her next fix. All the characters end up in a downward spiral that ruins their lives by the movie's end. It is very over the top and similar in style and tone to other films by Darren Aronofsky, such as Black Swan, Mother, and The Fountain.

The 4k set is a two-disc set with a UHD disc and a regular Blu-Ray disc. The movie looks and sounds excellent in the UHD format. The restoration of the 20-year-old film was done very well, and it looks as good as many of the physical media releases of newer movies. The extras are partly carried over from the original Blu-Ray and DVD release. A few new extras (such as an interview with Ellen Burstyn) were made for the 20th-anniversary release.  Overall, it is not a film that will appeal to everyone. That, however, is par for the course with Aronofsky's films, especially the really out-there ones. That said, if you are a fan of his movies like Black Swan and The Fountain, I think this one is worth checking out.

DVD/Movie Review: She's the Man

 

She's the Man is a coming-of-age high-school-aged romantic comedy (albeit with 20-somethings playing teenagers) starring Amanda Bynes, Laura Ramsey, Channing Tatum, Vinnie Jones, and David Cross. Bynes plays Viola, a soccer player at a rival high school whose team is cut. When she is not allowed to try out for the boy's team, she hatches a plan to impersonate her twin brother, Sebastian, at his school in order to make their soccer team and beat her school's team. Of course, from there, hilarity ensues.

This was Bynes' last major role before she went off the deep end with a multitude of issues in her personal life. She really did a great job in the role, having really good comedic timing and pulling off the more emotional aspects of the movie. It is definitely not an award-winning movie, but it is a fun hour and a half for a romantic comedy set in high school, even an upscale private high school. David Cross has a pretty hilarious role as the high school principal, although it is hard not to see Tobias (his character from Arrested Development) in his performance.

The extras include deleted scenes, a gag reel, production stills, and a couple of behind-the-scenes featurettes. There is definitely a good amount of material included. Overall, the movie is fun but does not try to be more than what it is. If you do not expect an Academy Award winner, it is enjoyable.

Book Review: Act of War (Scot Harvath Series #13)

 

Act of War, published in 2014, is the 13th novel in Brad Thor's long-running series of international action thrillers. The plot involves a potential attack on the United States orchestrated by China. Part of the book is set in North Korea, and part is set in the United States. Harvath has to unravel a series of mysteries that point to a coordinated attack against major US cities nationwide.

The hardcover version of the book is just over 350 pages long. Thor has found the tone of the series and sticks with it. It has a good blend of action and suspense. Thor does mix some politics into the storyline, but the political characters are mostly in the background (as opposed to those in the Mitch Rapp series, for example). Some new characters are introduced in this book, and characters from prior novels, such as Sloane, Reed Carlton, and Nicholas (A.K.A., "The Troll"), also appear. Ultimately, if you like the prior novels in the series, you will probably like this one. You can follow the story in this book even if you have not read any of the prior novels, but it does help to know who the major characters are. It is definitely worth the time to read.

DVD/TV Mini-Series Review: Stephen King's The Shining (1997)

 

This is the version of The Shining that Stephen King really wanted to be made, so much so that he wrote the screenplay and was an executive producer on the miniseries. Depending on what you read, he either was highly disappointed by or outright hated the Kubrick movie, mostly because he felt that it did not interpret the story correctly, and he thought Jack Nicholson was too crazy to play Jack Torrance the way he envisioned the character. And, he felt that Kubrick wrote the character of Wendy (and had Shelly Duvall play her) as too much of a pushover.

This version, which aired on ABC in 1997 stars Steven Weber (who is best known for the series Wings), Rebecca De Mornay, Courtland Mead (who did a great job as Danny), and Melvin Van Peebles. It is a more faithful adaptation of the book than the movie was, in large part because it was 4.5 hours long versus the two hours, so it could show Jack going crazy over a longer period of time than the movie could. I think that alone helps tell the story better because about 40 minutes into the movie Nicholson was already morphing into the "nuts" version of Jack. And, the series can flesh out the family relationship more than the movie ever did. The tradeoff, of course, is that the series had to tone down the blood and gore that the movie was famous for, so it is much more of a thriller than it is a horror movie.

The DVD set comes on two discs, with parts 1 and 2 on the first disc, and part three on the second. There are commentary tracks (including the director, Stephen King, Steven Webber, and a couple of other cast and crew members) on each part. The commentary tracks are selectable from the disc menu, although, for the commentary track for the second part,  I could not get it to play from the DVD menu. I had to start part two, then switch the audio track to Track 2 to hear it. The commentary tracks for parts 1 and 3 played just fine from the menu. It is a bit of an odd commentary track in that not all the participants were in the same room discussing it. The tracks were recorded separately, and then they cycle through who is talking. King was pretty diplomatic regarding the Kubrick movie and mainly focused on this version. The commentary tracks are the main bonus features but, on the second disc, there are some deleted scenes.

The A/V quality of the DVD is bad. In some spots, it looks the same as a VHS-quality video. The special effects were not the greatest, given that it was made in 1997, but there was no big effort to enhance them for the DVD release. Overall, I would not call this a must-see, unless you are a huge fan of the book and want to see it adapted the way King wanted it to be. It is different from the movie, and it was meant to be so. Thankfully, none of the actors try to recreate the performances of the actors in the movie. They made it their own, and that made it work.

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/Chalean Extreme Day 3

On Day 3, I did the 645 cardio workout in the morning and Burn Circuit 2 in the evening. BC2 again combines upper and lower body combination exercises. The upper body exercises in this workout are biceps, triceps, and rows.  So, there is, for example, a bicep exercise combined with a squat, a row combined with a lunge, etc. The workout is 39 minutes long, including the four-and-a-half-minute warm-up, so it goes quickly. The goal is to go very slowly through each rep (4-8 counts up and down), so you may want to use a weight that is a bit lighter than what you could do if you were doing two counts up and two counts down on each rep.

Blu-Ray/Documentary Review: O.J.: Made in America

 

O.J.: Made in America is a five-part documentary produced by ESPN and released in 2016. Each part runs approximately an hour and a half. As a whole, it tells of the rise and fall of O.J. Simpson, from his childhood growing up in the projects of San Fransisco, his excellent college career at USC, his professional football career, his life outside of football, of course, the murder of his ex-wife and friend and the resulting trial, his post-trial life, and ends with his arrest in Las Vegas for armed robbery and kidnapping. Within that, it also tells the story of the LA police department and the interaction with the black community which is essential to understanding why the trial played out as it did.

The series gives a raw, uncensored look at OJ's life, revealing the parts that he really tried to keep hidden, and shows that he was basically an arrogant, abusive, womanizing jackass who used whomever he could, yet managed to be so charming and charismatic that even the people being used had a hard time cutting themselves free from him and seeing him for what he is. The last two parts really focusing on the trial itself, and what an s-show it really was all around. One of the more interesting things was seeing the finger-pointing between the defense attorneys, the prosecution, and the police, between not only the other sides but oftentimes on their own side. A couple of the jurors also agreed to be interviewed for the documentary. One of who basically said she thought the prosecution really failed to prove their case, with the colossal blunder of Chris Darden (whom she thought was in over his head and only brought in at the last minute because he was black (which the DA basically admitted) of having O.J try on the gloves in court. While another juror admitted she was always going to find him innocent as "revenge" for Rodney King, the black motorist who was nearly beaten to death by a group of LA cops who were later acquitted when tried for the beating. The documentary went over some of the mistakes that were made by the prosecution, the judge, and the brazen crap that the defense was allowed to get away with. You also hear how people who knew OJ, including his former friends, and former agent (to whom O.J. basically admitted he was guilty to) come to the realization that he was guilty, while others maintain he could have never committed murder. It is also interesting to see how the defense attorneys who agreed to be interviewed put their spin on things, with Barry Sheck twisting himself into a pretzel to avoid answering the question of whether he actually believed the blood evidence was planted or tainted. I have always found it ironic that a guy that did everything he could to turn his back on the black community, was never shy about referring to poor blacks using the n-word, actually palled around with LA police officers, and was treated with kid gloves by the police both before the murders and during the murder investigation was let off the hook by jurors who (at least some) wanted to stick it to the LA police and court system that had screwed blacks for decades.

The set comes with three DVDs and two Blu-rays, each of which has the exact same content. There is a lot of swearing in the documentary and you see unedited crime scene photographs, including the pictures of the horrific neck wounds on both Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman as one of the prosecutors talked through how he believes the actual murders were carried out. So, it is definitely not something that you would want kids to see. For bonus material, there are a collection of ESPN shows in which O.J. was interviewed throughout the years.

Overall, it is a wonderful, eye-opening documentary. I think the fact that it did not just focus on the murder trial itself was good. It was definitely not a re-hash of everything else that had been produced about the trial and provided a lot of new information, even for people who, like me, watched a lot of the trial as it was going on. It is a great retrospective, and definitely worth watching.

Bly-Ray/Movie Review: Crazy Rich Asians

 

Crazy Rich Asians is a romantic comedy from 2018 adapted from a popular series of novels. The movie stars Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Gemma Chan, Lisa Lu, Michelle Yeoh, Awkwafina, and Ken Jeong. The last two are definitely the scene-stealers of the movie. The story itself is relatively simple. A teacher goes to Singapore with her boyfriend for a wedding in which he is the best man, only to find out that he comes from an obscenely rich family, and goes on to tell a fish out of water kind of story, with her trying to fit into that world. It has the distinction of being the first movie where the entire main cast is made up of Asians. It is a pretty basic love story about will the two main characters stay together or be split up because of his family. Michelle Yeoh is great as the disapproving mother whom Constance Wu's character is trying to impress first and then stand up to. The movie ranges from comedy to drama to love story. It is able to balance all those well and is very well written and acted.

The A/V quality of the Blu-Ray is great and it includes a handful of bonus features. The main extra is a commentary track on the film by the director and the author of the books. There is also a short making-of featurette, a gag reel, and some deleted scenes. Not a ton, but good for what is there. I don't know how closely the movie sticks to the first book. From what was said in the commentary, it was changed somewhat to put the focus on Rachel's story. So if you are a fan of the books and can accept that the movie may not follow the book exactly, you will probably find it enjoyable. If not, you will probably not. For those who have not read the books but just like romantic comedies that can mix a bit of drama in, then this is definitely worth checking out.

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/Chalean Extreme Day 2

Day 2 was a rest day in CE, so I did the 645 cardio workout in the morning and the Lift 4 stretching workout in the evening. Both of them were fine, with nothing special to report from either of them. I will try working in the Lift 4 recovery workouts on Tuesdays and Sundays, which are the rest days in CE.

Product Review: Sonos One (1st Generation)

 

I do not consider myself to be an audiophile so I am not sure how this compares with any of the Bose speakers, but comparing it against a first-generation echo unit (the tall one with the better speakers and sound quality) this blows that out of the water. Even with the volume set relatively low, I can hear details in songs or commercials that I could never hear through the echo. And the bass is so good that I sometimes mistake it for my neighbors making noise next door (I am in a townhouse with walls that are pretty easy to hear through).

It does have Alexa functionality (you have to put in your Amazon details in the Sonos app, and set it up in the Alexa app). It is a bit time-consuming but fairly straightforward. As long as you are not technophobic anyway. It can do most (but not all) of the things that a "regular" echo device can. It does not have as many microphones as the regular Echo does, so I find it spotty in responding correctly to the commands I say. It cannot do the "drop-in" functionality that the regular echo units can that allows people to talk to each other through the devices, and it also, at least for now, does not have the ability to have the wake word changed from Alexa to Echo. I preferred to use the latter, but this will only respond to Alexa as the wake word. That is really only a minor detail though. You can also connect it to an iHeart Radio, Pandora, Spotify, etc. account without having to go through the Alexa app. So if you do not have Amazon Prime you can still listen to content on any of those services.

One thing I hope will be changed in the future is the ability to connect it to a smart TV. For the moment it can only connect to other Sonos speakers, but cannot connect wirelessly to a TV. Aside from those relatively small issues, at least for me, it is a great option for a higher-end speaker that is a bit more affordable than some of the other options.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Barb Wire

 

Barb Wire is a post-apocalyptic action movie from 1996 starring Pamela Anderson and Temuera Morrison. If you keep in mind that this was a movie to capitalize on Pamela Anderson's popularity (primarily based on her looks when she was in her physical prime on Baywatch and making pretty regular appearances in Playboy), and do not expect an award-winning movie (except maybe a Razzie), you will not be let down. It is a standard post-apocalyptic movie (set during the "second civil war") where the good guys are not all that good, the bad guys are not all bad, and the really bad guys are everyone's enemies.

Anderson plays the owner of a club in the last free city in the country. She is also a bounty hunter and dealer in anything, legal or otherwise. The plot is pretty basic, and the writing and acting are nothing special. Clint Howard plays larger than a cameo role in a film not directed by Ron Howard, which tells you all you need to know about it. The appeal of the movie is really Anderson in various stages of undress throughout the movie and the amusement of her trying to act like a badass throughout (complete with a big fight scene at the end).

The blu-ray is a standard transfer. Given that the movie is nearly 30 years old (as of this writing) and was not a big-budget blockbuster, it did not get an excellent restoration and HD transfer. There are no extras or special features. Just the movie itself. If you were in high school or college in the mid to late 1990s at the height of Pamela Anderson's career, it is a nostalgic, so bad it's good movie.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie

 

El Camino is a 2019 movie that serves as an alternate series finale of Breaking Bad. The movie was written and directed by BB creator Vince Gilligan and stars Aaron Paul, Jesse Plemmons, Charles Baker, Matt Jones, and Scott MacArthur. It shows events from Jesse's point of view. It picks up with Jesse driving off after being freed from the Nazi compound (which was the last we saw of him in the series finale to BB). Then, the story is told partly through flashbacks, showing his imprisonment and (mostly) interactions with Todd (played by the returning Jesse Plemmons) and partly in the present, as Jesse tries to get out of New Mexico. Not only do we get cameos from Breaking Bad characters with Krystin Ritter, the aforementioned Jesse Plemmons, Jonathan Banks, Robert Forrester, and yes, even Bryan Cranston making a cameo, but we also get the return of Skinny Pete and Badger. We also get the definitive word on Walter White's ultimate fate.

The Blu-Ray set is a two-disc set containing one Blu-Ray disc and a DVD in a steelbook case. There are about an hour's worth of extras, including a making-of feature, a gag reel, and deleted scenes. Plus, there is a commentary track on the film and storyboard sequences. A good amount for what is included, making the blu-ray a good pick-up over just streaming. And the A/V quality is excellent. Ultimately, it offers a satisfying alternate finale for the series, keeping true to what came before yet still telling an original story. It does take a bit of suspension of disbelief as all the people are older in real life but are playing the same characters at the same time the series aired. Aaron Paul looks similar to what he did, but Jesse Plemmons looks a lot older and has gained a lot of weight since BB went off the air. It is a great story, and the minor continuity issues are not a big deal. I definitely recommend it to any BB fan.

Workout Review: Muscle Burns Fat (MBF)

 

MBF is a three-week workout from BODI/BeachBody. It was released in the summer of 2020 during the height of the pandemic. Since it is a newer program, it is only available on the streaming app and not on DVD as BeachBody's early programs were.  Knowing that the programs take a while to film and edit, I am unsure if the format was because of the pandemic or just fortuitous, but the trainer, Megan Davies, leads the workout from a set, and the cast members work out at home and connect via Zoom. So, you see the cast members in small boxes around the main box that displays what Megan is doing. 

The program is a cardio and muscle endurance-based workout. Three days a week, you do a resistance-focused workout: Monday is a lower-body workout, Wednesday is a lower-body workout, and Friday is a total-body resistance workout. Tuesday and Thursday are core circuit workouts in which you alternate between cardio and abdominal work. Saturday is a hybrid workout in which you use dumbells for part of it and do bodyweight exercises for part of it. Sunday is a recovery routine with stretching and yoga exercises. So, you need a selection of dumbells and a cordless jump rope. Those are jump rope handles with about a foot of cord and a foam ball on the ends of the cords. So you can simulate jumping rope without worrying about tripping over the rope. 

As I said above, this workout is mostly about muscle endurance and cardio. Once the workouts start, there is no rest between sets or blocks of exercises (between blocks, you usually use the cordless jump rope to do a cardion recovery), aside from the time it takes to transition from exercise to exercise. So, on the resistance days, you will very likely use a lot lighter weight for many exercises than you are used to. The M, W, and F workouts follow a format in which you do two unbalanced blocks and two balanced blocks. In the unbalanced blocks, you do two exercises holding weight in one hand, then you do a combo of both exercises back to back, then switch to the other side. In the two balanced blocks, you hold weight in each hand. The T and Th workouts alternate between core and cardio. In the last four minutes of those workouts, you do as many rounds of four cardio exercises as possible. On Saturday, you do three every-minute-on-the-minute blocks. Two of them last five minutes, and one lasts ten minutes. The two five-minute blocks require you to do a certain number of reps of the same exercise. In the ten-minute block, you alternate between two exercises. How much rest you get between sets depends on how fast you do them, but Megan stops everyone at 40 seconds, so you get at least 20 seconds of rest before the next minute starts.

Overall, the program is good but challenging. Even if you are in good shape, this will be a challenging program. Because there are no built-in rest breaks, all the workouts are short (26-39 minutes, depending on the workout). It can be a bit hard to follow what is happening since there are multiple boxes on the screen, and it can be distracting to listen to all of the cast members talking over each other in the background. There is a modifier that does modified versions of the various exercises, and she is usually on a split screen with Megan at the beginning of each exercise so you can see the modified version of the moves without trying to find the box with the modifier in it on the screen as you are working out. I am not sure that it would be a workout program that I return to over and over, but it is definitely worth trying at least once because even if you are in good shape, it will give you body a shock, which will definitely help if you have plateaued. 

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Black Lightning Season 2

 

The 16-episode second season of Black Lightning aired during the 2018/2019 TV season. It picks up shortly after the events of the season one finale and the attack on the school by Tobias and Painkiller. The second season starts with the fallout from that, expands the ASA storyline and experiments on metahumans, and continues Jefferson's crusade to take down Tobias. Much of the season is also dedicated to Jennifer's transition into lightning. She is basically a battery that, where Jefferson absorbs energy, she generates it. Many episodes in the middle of the season revolve around her balancing being a rebellious teenager and coming into her powers.

For those not familiar with the characters, the show is set in the city of Freeland, which is a majority-black city that is struggling with gang violence from a gang called The 100, which is headed by a former corrupt politician named Tobias Whale, who has powers of his own. Jefferson Pierce (played by Cress Williams) is a former Olympic athlete and is now the principal at Freeland High School. His oldest daughter, Anissa (played by Nafessa Williams), is a medical student, part-time teacher, and social activist. She is also the superhero known as Thunder, possessing invulnerability and super strength for as long as she can hold her breath. Jefferson's youngest daughter, Jennifer (played by China Anne McClain), inherited a version of Jefferson's powers. Lynn (played by Christine Adams), Jefferson's ex-wife, is an expert in metahuman medicine. They are joined by Jefferson's version of Alfred, named Gambi (played by James Remar), who helps Black Lightning and Thunder fight crime in the city.

The show definitely has a different feel from the other superhero shows on the CW, and it is the only one that is not directly tied in with the other shows like Arrow, Flash, and Supergirl. That is primarily because those shows are filmed in Vancouver, while Black Lightning is filmed in Atlanta. Supergirl was named dropped in Season One of Black Lightning, so it is tied into the Arrowverse tangentially, but we don't know if it is set on Earth 38 or one of the other Earth's that was established in the multiverse. Each of the episodes is titled "Book of ____________," and each book has individual chapters. Each time the storyline shifts to a new main focus, the book title changes. The season ends on a cliffhanger of a looming threat to Freeland that sets up at least a part of the storyline of season three.

The show also has a political bent (while not referencing any real politicians), playing off of real-world themes like the Black Lives Matter protests, the rash of white people calling the police on black people that happen to be nearby, as even plays off things like the Tuskegee experiments. That said, it has a very diverse mix of characters; some good guys are white, some bad guys are black, and it is much more nuanced than just one group is good, and one group is bad.

The Blu-Ray set is a three-disc MOD set. The episodes are spread over the three discs, and unlike most MOD sets, this includes a couple of extras. One is a featurette on the character of Tobias, and one is a cheesy featurette about filming the series in Georgia. There are no commentary tracks, cast interviews, or the like. Overall, if you liked season one of the show, you will probably like the second season. I cannot say that everyone who is a fan of the other Arrowverse shows will automatically like Black Lightning, especially if you love that the other shows are more closely tied together. But if you are a fan of superhero shows, it is definitely worth checking out.

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/Chalean Extreme Day 1

I decided to go back to one of my older workouts as my "main" workout for the next few months: Chalean Extreme. Today was day 1, so I did 645 cardio in the morning and Burn Circuit 1 from CE in the evening. The cardio workout was fine. I selected more intense/higher-impact exercises since CE does not have a HIIT component on Day 1. The Burn Circuit 1 workout was challenging but doable. I had to drop the weight I used on one of the exercises because I forgot it required lifting weights to my shoulders for 10-12 reps. Other than that, my initial weight selection was good. 

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Embrace of the Vampire (1995)

 

Embrace of the Vampire was a mid-1990s schlocky B-level movie starring Alyssa Milano, Martin Kemp, Charlotte Lewis, and Jennifer Tilly. Its main claim to fame was Alyssa Milano taking on one of the roles that broke her out of the good-girl child star mold she had been in since her days on Whose The Boss and in the movie Commando. This is one of the first, if not the first, roles where Milano, who was in her early twenties at the time, went topless. She was also drinking, smoking, and making out with Charlotte Lewis. The actual storyline is nothing to write home about, Milano's character Charlotte, who is a freshman in college, is being stalked by a vampire (played by Martin Kemp) who is trying to seduce her so he can avoid eternal sleep (the vampire version of dying apparently). It is a pretty stupid plot, and the writing (and, as a result, the acting) was not all that great. But, it is one of those movies that you get knowing what it is, and you watch it to see Milano (especially if you are old enough to have had a crush on her during the 1980s) playing a bad girl role, which she does an awesome job at. She is really the best part of the movie.

For those who get the blu-ray, it is not the best transfer. I do not own the DVD version of the movies, but other reviewers have said that the blu-ray is not any big step up in quality. And there are no extras, just the movie itself. So, if you have the DVD, there is really no reason to upgrade. If you are looking for a B-level thriller and/or want to see Milano in what was probably her sexiest role, then this is worth it. Otherwise, you are not missing much if you skip this one.

DVD/Movie Review: Sin City

 

Sin City is a movie from 2005 that is an adaptation of a very dark and violent graphic novel by Frank Miller. It was mostly directed by Robert Rodriguez, but a portion was also directed by Quentin Tarantino and a portion by Frank Miller. It stars Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis, Jessica Alba, Rosario Dawson, Clive Owen, Alexis Bledel, Jamie King, Benicio del Toro, Elija Wood, Carla Gugino, Nick Stahl, Josh Hartnett, Powers Boothe, Devon Aoki, and Brittany Murphy. It tells essentially three separate stories that overlap and intersect occasionally with each other. It starts out with Bruce Willis, one of the city's honest cops saving a young girl (who later in the movie grows up and is played by Jessica Alba) who has been kidnapped by the son (Stahl) of a corrupt senator (Boothe), then shifts to the story of a brute played by Micky Rourke who is on a revenge mission against the killer of his "true love," a hooker played by Jamie King. Then, there is a story about the boyfriend (Owen) of a bartender ( Murphy) who is being harassed by a corrupt cop (del Toro) taking out said cop.

The original DVD release was very bare-bones. The only extra is a short behind-the-scenes featurette. The movie, like the graphic novel, is very violent, with beatings, dismemberings, and everything in between, but manages not to show a lot of blood by showing the blood basically as bright white against the black and white that the movie is (mostly) filmed in. There is also some nudity, mostly from Carla Gugino and Jamie King, but also have characters in various states of undress or skimpy outfits (including Alba, Rosario Dawson, and Devon Aoki), and a lot of swearing. Basically, this is something you are going to watch if you are in the mood for an action movie and you do not mind very violent action movies. It is definitely not in the vein of the superhero comic book adaptations that Marvel and DC have put out since this was released. It is much more in the vein of Kill Bill and Watchman. Chances are, if you like those, you will like this. But, if you hate movies like those, you probably are not going to be into this one either.

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/MBF Day 20

For day 20 I did 645 cardio in the morning and the final power ignite workout of MBF in the evening. I had zero energy for the evening workout, so I was half-assing it through a lot of the workout. The push-up block is still the bane of my existence since I still despise push-ups. But, I did what I could and did get two workouts in so I did not feel as bad about not going all out in the second one.

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/MBF Day 19

Day 19 was 645 cardio in the morning and MBF's full-body burn workout in the evening. Full body burn was another challenging workout, even using light weight. The weights I used in this one ranged from 8 lbs to 12 lbs. After doing two rounds of MBF I think the best approach for increasing weight throughout the program is doing week 1 with an absurdly light weight, like 5 lbs, or every exercise. Then, in week two, bump up to 10 lbs and in week three, jump to 12 or 15 lbs. Because you get no breaks once the workout starts, it is damn near impossible to use 25+ lb weights because you do a lot of reps, and many times, the exercises are paired so that one exercise requires a much smaller weight than the other if you had time between sets to switch out your weights. But, because you go from one exercise to the next with no rest, you have to cater to the exercise that requires a smaller amount of weight.

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/MBF Day 18

Day 18 was the last core circuit workout of MBF, and, of course, I did 645 cardio in the morning. In the AMRAP block of the MBF workout, I was able to complete almost three more rounds than I did last week, so I felt good about that. 

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/MBF Day 17

Day 17 was 645 cardio and upper body burn in MBF. The upper body burn workout was very challenging. The workouts definitely did not get any easier for me in this round.  I stuck with using 10-12 lbs for the entire workout, and that was plenty.

DVD/TV Series Review: The Astronaut Wives Club

 

The Astronaut Wives Club is a 10-episode miniseries that tells the story of the early days of the United States space program, mainly through the eyes/experiences of the wives of the Mercury Seven astronauts. The Female leads include Yvonne Strahovski, Odette Annable, JoAnna Garcia, Dominique McElligott, Erin Cummings, Zoe Boyle, and Asure Parsons. The series also starred Aaron McCusker, Joel Johnstone, Wilson Bethel, Bret Harrison, Desmond Harrington, and Luke Kirby. The story spans from the beginning of the space program in the 1950s through to the Apollo missions in the 1960s, with the last major mission dramatized in the show being the Apollo 13 mission. It also detailed major events that occurred during that time period including the Cuban Missile Crisis, both Kennedy Assassinations, and the Civil Rights movement. Much of the focus of the show was on the need for the wives to keep up appearances of having perfect lives, all while dealing with the stress of their husbands blasting off into space and having numerous affairs while they were on the ground.

For those who get the DVD set, it is a pretty standard MOD release. It does have English captions, but there are no extras or special features of any kind. Just the 10 episodes spread across two discs, with 5 episodes on each disc. Overall, the series is well-written and very well-acted. For anyone still around who was alive during that time period and old enough to remember what was going on in the space race, it provides a lot of background material for what really went on (although it does not try to be a straight-up documentary). But, even for those who were not born until the tail end of the space race in the 1970s or in the 1980s but are still interested in the topic, even though we did not live through it, it is still a very enjoyable series. Definitely worth checking out.

Book Review: Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge: Traveler's Guide to Batuu

 

This really serves as a dual-function book. First, and probably most importantly (at least for Disney), it serves as a guidebook for its Galaxy's Edge theme parks at Disneyland and Disneyworld, which use the planet Batuu as their setting. Second, it gives some context to some of the newer canon novels set in Batuu.

The hardcover version of the book is just under 150 pages and can easily be read in a few hours. It mostly talks about people and attractions that you can see in the theme park and dribbles in a bit of Star Wars history here and there as well. It does not read like a novel at all and does not really even need to be read cover-to-cover. My one real issue with the book is that the print can get fairly small, and some of the pages are colored, and the print can blend in with the page color, making it very hard to read for people with bad eyesight and/or who are colorblind. Aside from that, it is not something that I would call a must-read by any means, but if you are a hardcore Star Wars fan, especially one who plans on visiting one of the parks, it is something you can easily get through in a day or so.

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/MBF Day 16

 Day 16 was 645 cardio in the morning and core circuit in the evening. During the core circuit workout I was able to do the same amount of rounds in the AMRAP portion as I did last week, but could not make it to six full rounds. My energy level was not great during the workout, though, but I did get through it.

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/MBF Day 15

Day 15 was the start of the final week of MBF. I did the 645 cardio workout in the morning, and the lower-body burn MBF workout in the evening. I again kept the weights I was using light. In block two I did try bumping the amount of weight up a bit, but did have to drop it back down after the first set of each exercise. So, it is still very hard using lighter weights.

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/MBF Day 14

Day 14 was the dynamic recovery workout in MBF and the cardio workout from 645. This week I did the two of them back-to-back. I did the 645 workout first, immediately followed by the MBF workout. The MBF workout definitely challenges my range of motion, especially toward the end. It absolutely helps to use the 645 workout as a warmup.  

Book Review: Astrophysics for People in a Hurry

 

Astrophysics for People in a Hurry is a book from 2017 written by Neil deGrasse Tyson. The book explains some of the "big" concepts in astrophysics and astronomy without the mathematical detail and equations that you would find in a textbook. If you have some background in any of the sciences, but specifically astronomy and physics, the book will be easier to understand. It is basically a book on theoretical astrophysics, explaining the theory behind things like the big bang, dark matter, and dark energy without the math. Tyson also explains how we have been detecting planets around other stars, and why any technologically advanced alien civilization would have a hard time finding Earth and determining that a technologically advanced civilization exists on it if they are using the same methods of planet detection we are. 

The book is relatively short, around 200 pages, at least if you compare it to any college-level textbook. I found it to be a pretty quick and easy read, but to be fair, I have dozens of books on astronomy that I have been reading since I was a pre-teen, and I have a degree in electrical engineering, so the subject matter did not bog me down or go over my head. The book is rigorous enough that it may be hard to follow if you do not have at least a familiarity with astronomy. I do not think you need that level of education and experience with the subject in order to understand and enjoy the book, but it will definitely be an easier read for some people and harder for others.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Colette

 

Colette is a 2018 drama starring Keira Knightley, Dominic West, Elanor Tomlinson, Ray Panthaki, Denise Gough, and Fiona Shaw. The movie is based on the real-life of a bisexual French writer, Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, focusing on her life in the early 1900s. Colette, played by Keira Knightley, wrote a series of popular stories as a ghostwriter for her husband, Henry Gauthier-Villars (played by Dominic West), who had stories penned by a factory of writers, all published under his name, Willy. 

The Blu-Ray's A/V quality is very good. The bonus features are limited and include deleted scenes, a making-of featurette, and a stills gallery. It really tells a very early women's liberation story as Colette fought for recognition of her work (and later for the right and authorship credit) which were popular books that told the story of her life. The acting and writing are great. While Knightly and West are clearly the leads and do most of the heavy lifting in terms of carrying the movie, the entire cast, including the supporting actors, do a great job. It tells a story of women's rights, with a bit of sexual revolution, ostracism based on both gender and sexuality, as well as how infidelity was looked at during that era.
 If you are a fan of period pieces and/or biopics, it is definitely worth checking out.

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/MBF Day 13

 On day 13, I did the power ignite workout from MBF but did not do 645 cardio. This one again has the three EMOM rounds, the first two being five minutes long and the third being ten minutes. In the ten-minute block, we do plank jacks as the cardio exercise and weighted chops as the resistance exercise. The second block with the push-ups is still the hardest block for me to get through.

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/MBF Day 12

 Day 12 was 645 cardio in the morning and Full Body Burn from MBF in the evening. The full-body burn workout was a challenge, even using light weights. This is definitely not a workout that most people are going to be able to do using 25 lb-plus weights. 10-20 lbs is plenty for the vast majority of the exercises, and I even use 5 or 8 lbs for some exercises.

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/MBF Day 11

Day 11 was 645 cardio in the morning and MBF's core circuit in the evening. I could do the same amount of rounds (6.5) in the four-minute AMRAP portion as I did in week 1, but I could not get the 7 rounds that I did in week 2 the first time I did MBF. 

DVD/Movie Review: The Sixth Sense

 

The Sixth Sense is a 1999 thriller directed by M. Night Shyamalan and starring Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, and Haley Joel Osment in the main roles and Olivia Williams in the main supporting role. Donnie Wahlberg has a brief but pivotal appearance at the beginning of the movie, and Mischa Barton (who would later go on to star in the hit series The OC) has a small role toward the end of the movie. It was actually Shyamalan's and was a very surprising hit and ended up being his breakout hit. It also saw a shift in Willis' career from action hero to taking on more dramatic roles. In it, Willis stars as a child psychologist named Malcolm Crowe, who is attempting to help a young, troubled boy named Cole (played by Haley Joel Osment). He is the only child of a single mother (played by Toni Collette ), who is trying to figure out how to help her son. I will not go into too much detail for the handful of people who may not have seen it by now, but if you are aware of Shyamalan's other movies, there are twists in this one that you may or may not see coming. In fact, it was probably this movie that led him to get overzealous with the plot twists in his subsequent movies, which got more and more silly over the course of time (at least for a while).

The DVD extras include deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes featurettes, as well as trailers and TV spots. A good amount of material. The picture quality of the DVD (at least the initial release) is okay, but not great, even when upscaled playing on a 4k TV with a 4K blu-ray. But, given the initial run of the DVD is now over twenty-years-old, that is not surprising. Overall, the movie is excellent. It is a blend of a drama and jump-scare thriller (not really a horror movie per-se). It is well written and very well acted, all the actors, especially Osment being so young, doing a wonderful job in their roles. It is definitely the best of Shyamalan's movies that I have seen (I have not seen some of the more recent movies like Split and Glass yet), and it is definitely worth checking out.

DVD/Movie Review: Mischief

 

Mischief is a coming-of-age teen comedy from 1985 directed by Mel Damski and starring Kelly Preston, Chris Nash, Doug McKeon, Jamie Gertz, Catherine Mary Stuart, and Terry O'Quinn. It is one of the many teen comedies from the 1980s, such as Fast Times, Porky's, Private School, etc., and had similar themes to those movies. It is set in 1950s small-town Ohio. Doug McKeon plays Jonathan, the local nerdy kid, and virgin trying to get with the hot girl,  Marilyn, played by Kelly Preston. Chris Nash plays Gene, the rebelling teen who moves to the town, clashes with almost every authority figure, and befriends Jonathan.  

The DVD has long been out of print, so you will have to pay more to get it unless you really luck out. There are no extras, just the movie itself, which starts playing as the disc loads. It would be nice if it were re-released with a commentary track or something like that, but given that it was not the most popular movie of the genre, that is unlikely. While I would not say the movie is as good as Fast Times, or the original Porky's, it is probably as good as any of the Porky's sequels. Most likely, it will be a nostalgic blast from the past for people who grew up in the 1980s and remember seeing it on cable. It is a decent movie, but it is not a great movie by any means. It is a pretty formulaic coming-of-age story, but it does have a pretty good 1950s soundtrack. And, of course, the movie also has the very famous Kelly Preston full-frontal nude scene. It is probably a movie that could not be made today (at least not in the same way), given some of the themes. Although the awkward teen courting and sex is certainly something that is timeless regardless of the era. So, it is not a must-see, but it is worth watching, especially if you watched it when you were young.

Book Review: Star Wars: Temptation of the Force

 

Temptation of the Force is a canon Star Wars novel by Tessa Gratton, published in 2024. It is set during Phase III of the High Republic, after the Starlight Beacon's destruction and the Occlusion Zone's creation by the Nihil with their Stormwall. There are several threads to the story that all intertwine. One involves two Jedi in love, Avar Kriss and Elzar Mann, who are reunited after Avar's escape from the Occlusion Zone. The second is an incursion by several Jedi into the Occlusion Zone to try and liberate Naboo from the Nihil while trying to avoid The Nameless/Levelers, the creatures with the power to kill any force-sensitive being. The third is a new threat from something called The Blight, which has the power to kill everything in the galaxy except for the most dangerous being (at the time, anyway), Marchion Ro. 

The hardcover version of the book is 425 pages and reads fairly quickly. Some of the story is a bit sappy, but overall it is a good blend of action and suspense. Yoda is included in the storyline, but the book does not fill the plot hole that was left after the Phase II novels. Namely, that the Levelers were used against the Jedi by the Path of the Open Hand 150 years prior, Yoda knew about them, and the current Jedi still seem to know little to nothing about them. Although, in this book that does start to change somewhat. My other sticking point with this book is that the character of Vernestra is more like her character in The Acolyte TV series (which is set years later when she is older) and less like she was in the books that introduced her when she was more willing to skirt or bend rules.  Even though we know that the Jedi and the Republic will eventually defeat the Nihil, this book does not foreshadow how that will happen. Ultimately, while I would not say this is one of the must-read canon novels if you are invested in the High Republic storyline of the Jedi against the Nihil, it does advance that a lot and is worth reading.

Book Review: Star Wars: Alphabet Squadron

 

Alphabet Squadron is a canon Star Wars novel written by Alexander Freed and published in 2019. It is the start of a new (at least) trilogy of novels about a fighter squadron of the New Republic. This novel is set just after Return of the Jedi. It includes a mish-mash of different characters, some of whom are Imperial defectors, who are sent on missions to see if they can work together as a unit. There is a lot of character development, but the main issue I had was that I did not find myself all that invested in the characters. While characters like Luke, Leia, and The Emperor are referenced a lot, there is really only one recognizable character in the book, Hera Syndulla, who is only recognizable to those who have read all the novels or have seen the Rebels TV series, which, at the time the book was written, was the only appearance she had made in canon. Of course, the character has been included in the live-action Ahsoka series since that time.

The hardcover version of the book is just over 400 pages long. I found it read slower for me than many Star Wars novels, mostly because there were so many new, unfamiliar characters.  It would have helped a lot to have a character like Wedge as the leader or at least a trainer of the squadron and have the character actually interact with Leia instead of just name-dropping her. That said, there are some good parts to it like the ex-Imperials coming to grips with the fact that they lost the war and some of them asking themselves if they were ever on the right side. Hopefully, now that much of the setup is out of the way, the subsequent novels will be stronger entries in the canon, but this is definitely not one that I would call a must-read.