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, June 9, 2024

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Blockers

 


Blockers is a 2018 comedy starring Leslie Mann, Kathryn Newton, John Cena, Ike Barinholtz, Gideon Adlon, and Geraldine Viswanathan in the main roles and Gina Gershon and Gary Cole in supporting roles. The movie can basically be summed up as the premise from the original American Pie, centered around the parents who find out about the sex pact and try to stop it. The plot does not really need much more explanation than that. There are definitely themes like parents letting go of their kids, teenage pressure to have sex, etc. It was not nearly as good as the original American Pie, but pretty much on par with the two (non-direct-to-DVD) sequels.

The highlights of the movie were Gary Cole and Gina Gershon's hilarious sex-crazed characters taking full advantage of the having an empty house for prom night, John Cena's willingness to make fun of himself and put himself in the kind of crazy situations that Jason Bigg's character in American Pie found himself in. Cena has proven he has some good comedy acting chops. Of course, a professional wrestler turned actor can be anything from horribly bad (Hulk Hogan and Jesse Ventura) to decent (Bautista) to pretty good (The Rock). I'd put Cena in the decent category. I think if he has a future in Hollywood, it will be in comedies. I do not see him as becoming the giant action star The Rock has become. Leslie Mann and Ike Barinholtz do a good job as the two other parents trying to stop the kids from having sex, and each of them has pretty good moments as well.

For those who get the Blu-ray, the A/V quality is good. There are about 45 minutes or so of extras, including a gag reel, deleted scenes, and a bunch of short behind-the-scenes featurettes. There is also a director's commentary track on the movie. It is good for what is there and pretty much what you would expect from this type of movie.

I would say it is a fun movie but not necessarily a must-see. It does not really cover much in the way of new ground with the story. It just puts a twist on teen sex comedies. It has some very funny moments, but I cannot say you will be gut laughing the entire time. It is definitely worth checking out if you are looking for a fun comedy.

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