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 Johnny 5. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Johnny 5. Show all posts

Monday, July 1, 2024

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Short Circuit

 


Short Circuit is a comedy from 1986 starring Ally Sheedy, Steve Guttenberg, Fisher Stevens, Tim Blaney, Austin Pendleton, and G.W. Bailey. Chances are, if you were a kid in the 1980s, you loved this movie. For those who have not seen it, yet somehow stumbled on the page for the DVD or Blu-Ray, it is about a robot called Number 5 that was designed to be a military weapon, programmed with artificial intelligence which, after being hit by lightning, becomes "alive". As I mentioned above, it stars 1980s staples Steve Guttenburg and G.W. Bailey from the Police Academy movies and Brat Pack member Ally Sheedy. Fisher Stevens played the comic relief sidekick as an assistant to Guttenburg's engineer/programmer character, who built and programmed the robots.

The movie definitely toes the line between adult and kid movies. The robot definitely appeals to kids, but there is a lot of swearing and off-color humor, mostly sexual jokes made by Stevens' character. So, it is probably not something you would want a really young kid to watch, but I think it is acceptable for kids who are 10, 11, or 12 years old and up. While rated PG, it could have easily been hit with a PG-13 rating. There is no nudity or sex in the movie; however, the closest is Sheedy in a bubble bath with everything covered.

The Blu-Ray release was very bare-bones. There are no bonus materials or extras. The AV transfer is of minimal quality, with the original aspect ratio of the movie presented, so if you have a large screen, it will play basically in a box in the middle of your screen. Not exactly widescreen, but not fullscreen either. Overall, it is a good comedy, that also blends some drama along with a bit of ethics and morality thrown in there. The writing and acting are okay for what it is, but neither are award-winning by any means. It flows around an hour and a half in length. For those who grew up in the 80s and probably watched it at least once on VHS, it is a good nostalgia trip down memory lane.