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. 

Showing posts with label Godzilla. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Godzilla. Show all posts

Sunday, November 17, 2024

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Godzilla: King of the Monsters

 


King of the Monsters is the 2019 sequel to the 2014 remake of Godzilla. It stars Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga, Millie Bobbie Brown, Bradley Whitford, Sally Hawkins, Charles Dance, Thomas Middleditch, and Ken Watanabe. It is what I would call a tangential sequel to the 2014 movie; it has a couple of the same characters from the Monarch Corporation returning (Ken Wanatabe and Sally Hawkins reprise their roles from the prior film). The corporation is tracking several giant monsters (which are known as Titans). Several of the Titans are wreaking havoc under the command of King Ghidora, an alien who seeks to terraform Earth and wipe everything out. The humans (who tried killing Godzilla) determine that Godzilla is the only thing strong enough to stop King Ghidora and have to figure out how to help Godzilla heal. The movie ultimately evolves into giant monster fights with humans ( mostly Millie Bobbie Brown and Vera Farmiga's characters) getting in the way.

The 4K set is a two-disc set, with a UHD disc and a regular Blu-Ray disc. For those who get the 4k blu-ray, the movie looks and sounds excellent in the format. Aside from the commentary track, all the bonus features are included on the regular blu-ray disc. There is over an hour's worth of bonus material, including previews, several making-of, behind-the-scenes featurettes, movie trailers, and character profiles. A decent amount for a movie that was not one of the mega-blockbusters.

Overall, the movie is faithful to and pays homage to the various Godzilla stories that came before it, adding a modern twist. The director and co-writer, Michael Dougherty, is an admitted Godzilla nerd and really wanted to incorporate material from various incarnations of the Godzilla mythology into the movie. I think (I am admittedly not an aficionado of Godzilla lore) he did a good job doing so. While I cannot say that everyone will love the movie, it is an enjoyable action movie with good acting and writing, and worth a look.



Tuesday, May 7, 2024

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Godzilla

 


This version of Godzilla from 2014 was directed by Gareth Edwards and starred Aaron Taylor Johnson, Elizabeth Olson, Bryan Cranston, and Ken Watanabe. I cannot say I am an aficionado of all the Godzilla films that have existed throughout history. What I liked about this version is that when it boiled down to it, the film was really about a battle of monsters, with humans being largely irrelevant to the monsters and just caught in the middle. The film does a great job doing a slow reveal of Godzilla and sets up the modern-day events with tie-ins to events in the 1950s and the 1990s, but once everything is revealed, it makes for a very fun action movie.

The A/V quality of the blu-ray is very good, especially if you have a big-screen TV or projector and even a low-end soundbar. The more extensive setup you have, the better the movie looks and sounds. As for extras, there are several featurettes ranging from about 5 minutes to 20 or so minutes. Some are kind of add-ons to the movie, and others are behind-the-scenes and making-of material. There is definitely quite a bit there for those who like to go through the bonus content. Overall, this is a fun summer action movie with a good story and very good acting. It is definitely worth checking out.