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 Sandra Bullock. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sandra Bullock. Show all posts

Thursday, October 30, 2025

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Ocean's 8

 


Ocean's 8 is a 2018 film starring Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Sarah Paulson, Rihanna, Helena Bonham Carter, Awkwafina, and Mindy Kaling. It  is partly a continuation and partly a reboot of the modern-day Ocean's movie franchise. The storyline centers on the character of Debbie Ocean (played by Sandra Bullock), the sister of Danny Ocean (George Clooney's character from Ocean's 11, 12, and 13). At the beginning of the film, she is being released from prison, much as he was in Ocean's 11. Of course, upon her release from prison, she ends up planning a heist. Specifically, the robbery of a 150-million-dollar necklace during the Met Gala. She heads an all-female crew, including Cate Blanchett (whose character mirrors Brad Pitt's character), Mindy Kaling, Sarah Paulson, Helena Bonham Carter, Rihanna, and Awkwafina. Anne Hathaway plays the actress whose neck the necklace needs to be removed from. James Corden also has a pretty hilarious supporting role.

I will not give away too much of the plot for those who have not seen it. It does have a similar feel to the other movies, especially how the details of the heist are laid out at the end. While Soderberg did not direct the film, he was a producer on it. So, while the style of the movie differed somewhat from the prior films, it retained some of the overall feel. There are a couple of cameos from the Ocean's 11 cast. If more movies are made, it definitely leaves room for other original cast members to appear, but the story was written in such a way that this could be the final film in the franchise.

The 4k set is a two-disc set containing a UHD disc and a standard blu-ray disc. The A/V quality of the 4k disc is outstanding, and the movie looks and sounds great in the UHD format. Like most, the UHD disc has only the movie itself, and then the bonus features are on the regular blu-ray. The extras include a few minutes of deleted scenes, then a few behind-the-scenes and making-of featurettes. Probably about 40 minutes of material. Good for what is there, but not a ton (especially compared to the Ocean's trilogy blu-ray set).

I cannot say that everyone will like this. Given that it is rebooting a popular movie franchise (which itself was a reboot), there are going to be people who hate it because it does not feature the original cast or because it is ripping off the original story. Personally, I think it was well done and paid homage nicely to the prior movies without being a carbon copy of what has come before. Like the previous films, it requires some suspension of disbelief to buy into the story and everything that happens. Ultimately, it effectively updates the franchise and is worth watching.

Friday, February 9, 2024

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: A Time to Kill (Spoilers)

 


+++Warning, the review has spoilers in the third paragraph. If you have not seen the movie and care about being spoiled, skip that paragraph.+++

A Time to Kill is the 1996 movie adaptation of the John Grisham novel of the same name starring Matthew McConaughey, Sandra Bullock, Kevin Spacey, and Samuel L. Jackson. The wonderful supporting cast includes Ashley Judd, Donald and Kiefer Sutherland, Kurtwood Smith, Octavia Spencer, Chris Cooper, Charles S. Dutton, and Oliver Platt.

There are a couple things to keep in mind about this movie. One it was only a story. The movie clearly fictionalizes the very real lynchings and attacks of blacks that were common during the Civil Rights era in the South and the corrupt Southern justice system that allowed the people who were doing the lynchings to go free and make a more modern-day story from it. The twist in this movie is that the father of a child who was attacked takes justice into his own hands and subsequently ends up on trial in that same corrupt justice system. 

Anyone who knows history (especially legal history) is aware of the fact that there was jury nullification many times in the South in favor of whites who had murdered blacks (and who had done so for far less compelling reasons than for which Samuel L. Jackson's character commits murder in this story). What is ultimately done in this story is having the jury nullification going the other way, after leading you to think that it could not possibly happen.

The second thing to keep in mind is that the movie is a courtroom drama, so (despite the story being written by a lawyer) the legal elements, especially the courtroom scenes are almost completely wrong. Anyone who has sat through more than one real trial knows that the vast majority of the time nothing dramatic happens. Lawyers are not allowed to ask 5 min long questions to a witness, and then present another 5 min long soliloquy after the witness answers the question. For the most part, trials are usually very dry and boring, with little to no excitement or things like breaking the witness. So pretty much every courtroom drama ever made has little to no authenticity to any of the legal aspects and this is no different.

If you can get past all that however and just focus on the acting and suspend your disbelief, the movie is very good. The suspension of disbelief will be hard for lawyers and law students. I remember when I watched this while in law school I was basically counting everything it got wrong. But now I can watch it without focusing on all that stuff. I think Samuel L. Jackson and Matthew McConaughey had great chemistry and played off each other very well. Sandra Bullock and McConaughey sold the tension between their characters well, and Donald Sutherland did a great job as the old, washed-up, alcoholic attorney who was advising the young upstart. I also thought Kevin Spacy (regardless of what you might think of him now) did a great job as the slimy district attorney.

The A/V transfer of the movie is very good, especially for a pre-DVD era movie that does not have a ton of special effects. The only extra is a trailer for the movie. There are no deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes material, or the like. Ultimately, if you cannot get past how unreal the story is, then do not get the movie because you probably will not like it. If you are good at suspension of disbelief and can just enjoy the story and good acting (both of which are top-notch), then it is well worth the time to watch.