Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw

 

Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw is a 1976 action-thriller/crime drama starring Lynda Carter, Marjoe Gortner, Merrie Lynn Ross, Jesse Vint, Belinda Balaski, and Gene Drew. In the film, Carter plays Bobbie Jo, a waitress at a drive-in restaurant who wants to be a country music singer. She hooks up with a thief named Lyle Wheeler (played by Gortner). After they start running from the law, they meet up with Bobbie Jo's sister (played by Ross) and her boyfriend (played by Vint), and the four end up on a robbery and murder spree throughout the southwest while being pursued by a local sheriff. 

The A/V quality of the blu-ray is decent, but the film did not get an extensive restoration for the blu-ray release. It mostly looks good, especially if you like transfers that preserve a lot of film grain, but some film damage occasionally comes through. The extras include two different commentary tracks on the film, one by the movie's director, Mark Lester, and one by writer John Harrison. Lester discusses all aspects of the film and the process of making the movie. Harrison goes off on many tangents, including what many of the people involved in the movie did later in their careers. The extras also include separate interviews with Lester, Balaski, and Ross, the theatrical trailer, and two radio spots. The bonus content is quite interesting, including addressing the fact that Carter, who found religion after making the movie (and became massively popular because of the Wonder Woman TV series), did not want much to do with the movie and its promotion because of the nude scenes.

The movie is more of a cult classic than a great film. The best way I can describe its plot is that it is what you would get if you mixed the real-life Bonnie and Clyde and Billy the Kid stories with The Dukes of Hazzard. Much of the movie would have been written differently if it had been made today, including having Lyle follow Bobbie Jo home from work without talking to her and having her willingly jump in his car instead of calling the cops on him for stalking her. The movie's big attraction is that Carter was a couple of years removed from winning the Miss World USA pageant and had just filmed the Wonder Woman Pilot when the movie was made. Carter was absolutely gorgeous in her mid-20s, and the movie is one of the only (if not the only) times she went topless on film (and they are spectacular). Some of the dialogue is very cheesy by today's standards, and almost everything about it is unrealistic. That said, it is a decent low-budget action movie and is worth checking out.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Power 90 Hybrid: Day 32

Day 32 was Max Out Strength in Max 30 and Sculpt 3-4 in Power 90. Max Out Strength was hard, and even doing the modified moves, I only made it 13 minutes and 44 seconds into the workout before maxing out. The longer sculpt workout went well, even with the faster pace.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: The Big Bang Theory: Season 2

 

The 23-episode second season of The Big Bang Theory aired during the 2008/2009 TV season. All the main cast members returned for season two. The show added new characters who would become prominent recurring cast members, including John Ross Bowie (as Barry Kripke), Kevin Sussman (as Stuart, the owner of the comic book store where the boys hang out), and Christine Baranski (as Leonard's mother, Beverly). Sara Rue had a multi-episode arc as a love interest for one of the characters, and Sara Gilbert reprised her recurring role as Leslie Winkle. This is the season in which the show also started to get recognizable guest stars, including Octavia Spencer, Summer Glau, Jodi Lynn O'Keefe, Riki Lindhome, and Michael Trucco. Charlie Sheen has a small cameo, as does real-life Nobel Prize-winning physicist George Smoot.

The Blu-Ray set is a two-disc set. The extras are all on the second disc. Those include a behind-the-scenes featurette, which includes interviews with the cast members and showrunners; a featurette on Professor David Saltzberg, the show's science consultant; and a gag reel. The show continues to be a strong comedy. It sticks mostly to the procedural story-of-the-week format, but the writers refer back to events from prior episodes occasionally. The writers continue to develop the characters and give all the actors great material to work with. There are definitely some jokes that would probably not be included if the show were written today, but even after sixteen years (as of this writing), the show holds up well. Ultimately, it is a good sitcom that is worth watching if you are into nerd pop culture and science.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Power 90 Hybrid: Day 31

Day 31 was the Max Out Sweat workout in Max 30 and Sweat 3-4 and Ab-ripper 200 in Power 90. The Max 30 workout was hard, even modifying. I made it a bit over 19 minutes into the workout before I maxed out. So, I should be able to do all 30 minutes by the end of the four weeks. I was definitely tired during the Power 90 workout so I did it lower-impact and a bit slower than usual. 

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Power 90 Hybrid: Day 30

On Day 30, I did Max Out Power in the morning and Sculpt 1-2 in the evening. I barely managed to make it through Max Out Power without taking a break. If the push-up section about halfway through the workout had been ten seconds longer, I would have maxed out there. But I made it through. The Sculpt 1-2 workout in the evening went fine. I think I am going to bump the weight I am using for the back exercises up to 20 lbs soon and shift back to 12 lbs for the shoulder exercises so I can maintain good form.