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. 

Saturday, June 29, 2024

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.



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