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. 

Tuesday, September 24, 2024

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Sherlock: Seasons 1-4 & Abominable Bride Gift Set

 


This set is just the packaging of all four seasons, plus the special episode that bridged seasons 3 and 4, The Abominable Bride. You get all the same blu-ray packaging and content that you would have gotten if you purchased the seasons individually. There are no special extras for getting this set.

Sherlock was a series that aired on BBC from 2010 to 2017. It starred Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, respectively. It ran for a total of four seasons that consisted of essentially three hour-and-a-half-long movies per season and had one stand-alone episode that bridged seasons three and four. Each episode told modified stories from the books. Except for the stand-alone episode "The Abominable Bride," set the stores in modern-day England. The Abominable Bride was the only episode with the story (mostly) set in the late 1800s. The show sported a great cast, with Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman at the head as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson, respectively. The two had great chemistry, bringing to life the relationship between Holmes and Watson set out in the stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and adapted by the series' writers. The series gets progressively darker over time, which not everyone that is a fan of the show likes. The writers do an interesting job with the character of Moriarty, who is, of course, Sherlock's main adversary. He is used relatively sparingly throughout the series, really only being the focus of one episode, but in the background of almost all of them. Andrew Scott does a great job with the character and definitely makes him a worthy adversary for Sherlock.

The Blu-ray extras are more extensive in seasons one and two than in seasons three and four. They generally include commentary tracks, as well as behind-the-scenes and making-of featurettes. There are no deleted or extended scenes. For season one, the show's original pilot is included, which was remade when the network decided it wanted longer episodes. Overall, the series is very good to great. It, of course, made Cumberbatch and Freeman breakout stars. Still, the entire cast, whether they were series regulars like Rupert Graves, Una Stubbs, or Louise Brealey, or recurring or one-off characters like Mark Gattis (who was also the co-creator of the show), Andrew Scott, or Lara Pulver, was always wonderful.

As others have noted, the first set I received was really beaten up, with all the cases broken or cracked. I did a return and replacement and the second set was fine. So, definitely check out your set immediately because it seems like a bad batch of them out there.

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