4k UHD Blu-Ray Review: Spectre

 

Spectre is the 24th James Bond movie and the fourth with Daniel Craig in the role of Bond. It begins in Mexico City where Bond, acting on a posthumous message from M (Judi Dench's version of the character), is trying to take down a terrorist plot. He discovers that the plot involves an organization called Spectre, led by Ernst Blofeld (played by Christoph Waltz), who has been responsible for many of the tragedies in Bond's life. I will not go too much more into the plot, but the movie has ties to the other Craig installments but mostly stands on its own. 

For those who get the 4K disc, the movie looks and sounds great in the UHD format. There are two discs, the UHD disc that just has the movie itself, and the regular Blu-Ray that has the extras. Those include a featurette on the opening sequence (which is the longest of the extras at 20 min) and then a series of video blogs, a photo gallery, and trailers for the movie. Not a ton, but what was included is good. 

Overall, the movie is good, but not great. I know Bond aficionados found it underwhelming, given that Blofeld was the "big bad" that ties all of the movies together, and found his reveal to be less than menacing. I am very much a casual fan of Bond, so the fact that Craig's movies departed from the way the other movies were set up was not a big deal to me, and thus the big reveal of the villain was not a let down for me. I would say that if you are generally a fan of the Craig films you will probably like this movie. If you have been lukewarm to them in general, then this movie is probably not going to convert you into a fan. 

Book Review: The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11

 

The Only Plane in the Sky is a book by Jared Graff that details the events of 9/11 using quotes from different people that were involved in the events of that day. The author has used quotes from survivors, people who talked to people on the planes before they crashed, government officials, and even just people who lived through the day. The book is divided into chapters, and then in each chapter, there are quotes from people discussing the topic of the chapter. So, it does not quite read like a traditional book. Each quote identifies the person giving it and where they were (if they were in the buildings). If you have watched any of the documentaries on 9/11 you will know that some of the quotes the author uses are lifted from interviews that people have previously given about 9/11, but the author also conducted quite a few first-hand interviews. Because the book was written in 2019 some of the material he included was from a modern-day perspective on how a person's life had changed since that day.

Overall, the book is very good. It is very emotional in parts and does include some material that I had never heard about despite watching many of the 9/11 documentaries and reading a lot of books about 9/11. It can be very jarring getting a first-hand account of what happened by the people who lived it, and you get a sense of just how lucky some people got where literally being able to turn a corner was the difference between living and dying. I highly recommend this for people who experienced 9/11 or are just into history, current events, etc. 

Book Review: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts I and II

 

This is mostly a good story, but it introduces a huge continuity problem with the original novels and movies. I cannot say what it is without spoiling it, but if they were ever to make this into a movie, there would definitely have to be some kind of explanation given to make the reveal at the end make sense. The story is set 19-23 years after the events of the Deathly Hallows. The first "scene" is actually a version of what we see at the very end of Deathly Hallows Part II where Harry and Albus discuss what happens if Albus is sorted into Slytherin. Then, the next few years pass by within a handful of pages and the main portion of the story plays out from there. I will not give too much away, but it involves Albus and Draco Malfoy's son messing with time and then trying to undo the mess they make. 

To be clear, the book is not a novel. It is the script of the play. So, it definitely does not read like any of the other books, It does not have chapters, but does have the act and scene breaks, which makes it a bit easier to read sometimes at least when it comes to the length of the breaks. If you are a person like me who will always try to get to the end of the chapter before stopping reading, when you have very long chapters, it can be a bear to get to the end of the chapter (especially at night). Here, the scenes tend to be shorter (sometimes a page or two) so if you are getting tired, you get a lot more potential stopping points.

Overall, I think the story is a good one (aside from the continuity issue) that mixes the original characters with the newer characters very well. All of the main characters (Hermoine, Harry, and Ron) are in the book and even some of the more ancillary characters (like Neville) do show up even if for a very short time. I like that it gives some closure to Harry and Draco's relationship (more than we ever got at the end of Deathly Hallows), which for me, was one of the best things about the book. It is certainly not what I would call a perfect story, but with a few tweaks, it could be made better and easily adapted into a new movie (if the cast were up for doing another one). 

Workout Update: P90X Day 21

 Day 21 was the last day of phase 1, the x-stretch workout. Unlike the yoga workout, I really like this one. It flows much better and ends just when it gets to the point where it starts to feel too long. Personally, I like doing it back-to-back with yoga because I feel like I make better progress stretching two days in a row than I do separating them. This upcoming week is recovery week which means yoga twice and core synergistics (my second least favorite workout) twice. 

Workout Update: P90X Day 20

 Day 20 was yoga. I still hate it, mostly because it is way too long and has moves that I think can easily be eliminated from it and still keep it very challenging. I did skip the very end of the moving asana portion (the last series with warrior three, standing splits, half-moon, and twisting half-moon) but did do "yoga belly seven" since I skipped ab-ripper on Friday when I did legs and back. I will never like this yoga workout as much as the one in P90x 2 or P90x 3, and I do not feel bad about cutting it short when I feel I need to. Some people may disagree with that approach, but I think as long as you do some yoga as a part of the program, you will get the benefits of it.

Workout Update: P90x Day 19

 Day 19 was the last legs and back workout of the first phase. I again used 95lbs of band resistance for the pull-down moves and was getting anywhere from 6-10 reps, so I am going to stick with that until I can hit 12 reps on all the pull-down moves in one of the pull-up heavy workouts (in phase 2 is it the back and biceps workout and the legs and back workout). Aside from that, all the leg-focused exercises went okay except the single-leg wall squats. I almost made the full minute but had to stop with about 8 seconds left. 

Workout Update: P90X Day 18

 Day 18 was the Kenpo workout. I again skipped the cold stretch open and just used the twist and pivots and punching as the warm-up. This, plus that active rest period gives you more than enough time to get warm before you start to kick, which is really where you would be liable to pull something if it was going to happen. The workout went pretty well. I am still a bit slower than they are on some of the moves, but I am faster than them on others. Overall, I think it went well.

Workout Update: P90X Day 17

 Day 17 was the shoulders and arms workout. It is my second favorite resistance workout behind "back and biceps". I was able to increase the weights on a couple of the moves for this workout and hit max reps on other moves so the next time I do the workout, I will be able to increase those. This week is the last week of the first round before the recovery week. So, the next time I do this workout will be in round three. I also did ab ripper as the warm-up. I am still doing 20 reps for all the moves (aside from the mason twist), but during the first week of round two, I am going to try and hit 25 reps for each one. 

Book Review: Star Wars The High Republic: Into the Dark

 

Into the Dark is a young adult novel set during the High Republic Era, which occurs a couple of hundred years before the Battle of Yavin/The Original Trilogy. The events in the book run concurrently with those in the "regular" canon novel, Light of the Jedi, overlapping with the hyperspace disasters that are occurring in that novel. It is mostly set on a space station in the outer rim, which has a lot of dark side energy surrounding it and sets a group of Jedi against the Nihil and a new threat. It also jumps between the "present-day" and events that occur twenty-five years earlier, so it is not super easy to follow at all times, especially since all of the characters in the book are new.

The good thing about the High Republic era is that it is not just a rehash of the Jedi vs. Sith conflict, and introduces a lot of new characters. The downside is that it is harder to be invested in characters that will, for the most part, be dead by the time the prequel trilogy even starts. This novel did a fairly good job introducing the group of characters and giving them enough of a backstory that the readers can try to get invested in them. Obviously, the Skywalkers are not even a thought at this point, and whatever the two Sith who are out there (assuming this is post-Darth Bane and the rule of two) are doing, they are not a part of the story at this point (if they ever will be in the high republic novels). Certainly, there is room for the characters to be developed in subsequent novels. The Nihil is definitely set up as a threat to the Jedi and the Republic overall, and the book just really scratches the surface of their group. 

Even though this is a young-adult novel, so it is considered ancillary to the main canon storyline, it is written well enough that adults can easily enjoy it. It is a fairly easy read, but I personally find the novels that have the characters from the movies to be the easiest read because I do not have to remind myself who the characters are when I pick the book up after a few days away from it. Overall, it is not what I would call one of the must-read novels, but it is something that most people who collect the novels will enjoy reading once. 

Workout Update: P90X Day 16

 Day 16 was plyometrics again. It is probably the workout I like the best of any of the non-resistance workouts. It does run a little bit long for my taste, but you can always make it shorter by skipping the "sports bonus" at the end. But, by the time I get to that I always just figure what is three more minutes? I can definitely tell that my stamina is better and I do not have to modify as many of the moves. 

Blu Ray Review: The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone

 

The Godfather Coda is a remastered and re-edited version of The Godfather Part III. To be clear, the plot of the movie is exactly the same. The movie was really just re-edited a bit to change the beginning of the movie and the very end of the movie. The movie actually starts out with the storyline of Michael working with the Catholic Church to buy the company and then transitions to the party that originally started off the movie. So, it basically rearranges some of the scenes and incorporates some of the originally deleted scenes. I think this was done to put the main plot of the movie up front, and then remove the shot of the Twin Towers that was originally used in the movie's opening sequence. 

While I am not one who totally despises Part III, it is certainly not anywhere near the same league as Parts I and II, and many of the same problems with the movie (e.g., Sofia Coppola's horrible acting and non-existent chemistry with Andy Garcia) are still there, and present the same problems as the original version. That said, I do think the overall "redemption" story for Michael that Puzo and Coppola were trying to go for was a good one. I have always thought his attempt to go totally legitimate while dealing with the consequences of the past was a great plot for the movie, and Pachino does a great job in that role.

The only extra included was a very short introduction to the movie by Francis Ford Coppola, which details what he was going for with this revision. There is no director commentary or any featurettes explaining what was re-arranged or why particular edits were chosen, which would have been nice. You really have to either watch the original version first or remember every scene from the original version to tell what is different. 

As I said above, the movie is nowhere near as good as Parts I and II, which were all-time classics. That said, I think it is still a good conclusion to Michael's story, even though I do like the original ending to the movie better. I don't think there was ever going to be a way to make this movie be what the first two installments were, nor do I think this needed to be a separate release. It is inevitable that the movies are going to get a 4k UHD release, and are very likely going to be released as a set, and this could have easily just been included with that as an alternate cut. That said, it is worth watching at some point for die-hard fans of the Godfather movies.

Book Review: Star Wars: Secrets of the Sith

 

Secrets of the Sith is not really a novel. It is a cross between a journal/handbook written from the perspective of Palpatine after the events of The Last Jedi, but before the events of The Rise of Skywalker, and a picture book. In it, Palpatine basically lays out the history of the Sith, referencing Darth Bane, and his master Darth Plageius. He describes how he corrupted Anakin and turned him to Vader, and his plans for Rey. He also made it clear that his "son" who eventually became Rey's father was more a son in the Bobba Fett to Jango Fett sense than a real son.

The book is a very quick read. Even if you read slowly you can get through it in an hour or two (at the most). It has a lot of pictures, including the first canon look at Darth Plageius (although you really don't see much of him aside from his glowing eyes behind a hood). Of course, the Darth Plageius novel, which was really more about Palpatine's rise to power than it was about Darth Plageius was relegated (mostly) to legends status when Disney took over. I say mostly because the Tarkin novel by the same author, which was grandfathered into the canon novel set referred to events that occurred in the Darth Plageius novel, which bootstrapped some of that material into the canon.

Overall, I would not call this a must-have book. It is almost more of a coffee table or display book than it is something you would ever read more than once. It does have a pull-out poster, so if you are an ultra die-hard Star Wars fan, it will give you something to hang on the wall. But, it does not go much beyond what you learn from the movies, aside from clarifying or fleshing out a couple of points that you may have missed watching the movies.

Workout Update: P90X Day 15

 Day 15 was chest and back with the ab-ripper warm up. The workout was very good. I was able to get another couple of reps on all of the push-up moves in, except the dive bombers at the very end of the workout. I was toast by then and could barely eke out 5 reps. I stuck with the 95lbs of band weight to do the pull-downs, and that was still very difficult. I was able to do between 6-10 reps on the various pull-down moves. If I can hit 12 reps in all of the pull-downs in the legs and back workout on Friday then I will up the band resistance again, otherwise, I will stick with the 95lbs.

Workout Update: P90x Day 14

 Day 14 was yoga, again. It is the bane of the P90x workouts. It is about 45 minutes too long, and even the first 50 minutes (which is the most difficult part of the workout) seem to go on forever.  I decided I will stick with it up to the point where they get to the "yoga belly 7" moves. I don't think there is really a reason to work abs in the yoga workout, especially if you do the workout on day 4 when it will be sandwiched in between two ab-ripper workouts in which Tony explicitly says do not work abs every day. And really, the first hour is the traditional yoga and after that, it is more stretching work which is repeated in the x-stretch workout, but I like the stretching because it really focuses on hamstrings which are my big weak point when it comes to flexibility. I know some people who do p90x stick with yoga until the moving asanas are over, but I think it is helpful to do the balance moves and the stretching which is why I made the decision to go farther into it. 

DVD Review: Family Guy Season 14

 

Season 14 of Family Guy continues to follow the pattern the show has followed for years. A story of the week, with pop culture and/or political jokes thrown in throughout the episodes. It is really the formula that has worked for the show for years, and they seem to be content with it. By now, the show has been around long enough that people know whether they like it or not. I personally still find it entertaining, although I do not think it is as good as it was during its original run on FOX before it was canceled and brought back. The DVDs do have the advantage of being uncensored, so the jokes can be a bit edgier and they do swear a lot, including dropping more than a few f-bombs throughout the season. The big "special" episode of the season was the season finale where Brian and Stewie travel to India to meet a call center worker that Brian falls in love with over the phone. There are some Bollywood references and a spoof of Slumdog Millionaire. 

For those who get the DVDs, the extras include commentary tracks on select episodes and deleted scenes for every episode. The deleted scenes are accessible from the extras menu on the main screen for each disc, but if you want to listen to the commentary tracks, you have to go into the menu for each individual episode menus, then go into the extras menu for the specific episode. So, it is not extremely convenient. The commentary tracks do not include any of the cast members, usually the writer and director of the episode and one of the producers (not Seth McFarlane). They are good, but not a must listen to. There is also a full animatic/storyboard sequence for one of the episodes.

Overall, the show is still good, even if it is getting a bit long in the tooth now. If you are a fan you will probably like this season, even if you do not love it as much as you have in the past. If you have never liked the show there is nothing about this season that is likely to change your mind. 

Workout Update: P90x Day 13

 Day 13 was x-stretch again. I again flipped yoga and x-stretch because of the timing of the workout on Saturday. I had to do it later in the day and did not want to do over an hour of yoga. I am definitely getting more flexible. Slowly but surely. I am not anywhere near as flexible as anyone in the video, but I do the best I can on everything. I can definitely tell I can go further down on the split leg and two-leg hamstring stretches and am getter better at some of the others. There are some like the move where you sit in a pretzel position and twist back that I plain just have to lose more weight before I will be able to do it well again because my gut is still too big. But, my hamstrings and lower back have always been tight, even when I was in better shape, so I know it is going to take a while to get where I want to be.

Workout Update: P90x Day 12

 Day 12 was legs and back again. Nothing too notable about this workout other than I upped the total band resistance for the pull-downs to 95 lbs. I could only hit 8 reps on pretty much all of those moves at that weight so I am going to stick with that at least for this next week's chest and back workout, then I may bump it up again for the legs and back workout on Christmas eve. I again used ab-ripper for the warmup and was able to hit 20 reps on all the moves, having to pause a couple of times. Honestly, my nutrition has not been all that great this past week, and may not be for this next week, but I am just going to keep going with the workouts and try to keep the junk food to a minimum.

Workout Update: P90X Day 11

 Day 11 was the Kenpo-x workout. I again totally skipped the "warm-up" and just used the twist and pivot and punches to warm myself up. Since the kicking exercises do not start until after the first active break (where you do jogging in place, jumping jacks, and x-jacks) you will be sufficiently warm by the time the kicking starts that you should not be in any danger of pulling something (unless you really slack on the other exercises). This is another workout where I really like the pace. It does not ever seem to be going on too long (especially if you skip the 11 minutes of stretching at the beginning) and is over before it starts to get boring. It is definitely not the same as taking an actual martial arts class (at least a taekwondo class) and they really do modify the moves to keep you from pivoting during kicks, which, if done incorrectly can lead to injury. 

Workout Update: P90X Day 10

 Day 10 was shoulders and arms again. I was able to increase the weights on a couple of the exercises in this workout, and max out on a couple more (hit 11 reps) so I will be increasing the weight on those next week. This is actually one of my favorite P90X workouts. The pace is great, and it gives a great pump on all of the "glamour muscles" that Tony talks about at the beginning. I also did ab-ripper as the warm-up, and was able to increase the reps to 20 for each exercise (modifying a few of them still). 

Workout Update: P90X Day 9

 Day 9 was my second go-around with Plyo-X. I was a bit tired when I did the workout and had less energy the first time around. So, I found myself having to pause more and do a bit more modification of the moves, but I made it through to the end, including the "sports bonus" Overall, I like the pace of the workout and most of the moves are doable for someone at an intermediate level. 

Workout Update: P909X Day 8

 Day 8 was the second time doing the Chest and Back workout and using ab-ripper-x as the warmup. Overall, I thought the workout went well. I was able to get a couple more reps in on each of the push-up moves, and 1-2 more reps on all the pull-up moves, even increasing the band resistance up to 90lbs. I am doing all the push-ups on my toes even though it means I am sacrificing depth right now. I figure that will come as I get stronger. For ab-ripper I did 15 reps of all the moves (aside from mason twist). I am almost to the point where 15 reps are easy, so I think on Friday I am going to increase that to 20 reps. 

Workout Update: P90X Day 7

 Day 7 was the dreaded Yoga-X, which at some point is the bane of the people doing P90X. It is an hour and a half long, and the first 50 minutes or so, is very tough. Basically, you do moving asanas for the first 50 minutes, which get progressively more difficult, especially if you are not super flexible and/or have the greatest balance. I do think the "yoga belly 7" moves are pretty unnecessary especially if you do it on Thursday (or whatever your day 4 would be) like the regular schedule would have you doing since it would be sandwiched between two days of doing ab-ripper-x.  Overall though, aside from being a bit long, it is a good, challenging, yoga workout. I do think it would be a lot better pared down to 60 minutes, but it is a yoga program that beginners can modify to their performance level and "grow" into.

4kUHD/Movie Review: Gladiator

 

Gladiator was a massive success of a movie, winning Oscars for, among other things, Best Picture and Best Actor at the 2000 academy awards. It starred Russell Crowe as a general in the Roman Army named Maximus, who, at the beginning of the film, is leading the army against the last expansion of the Roman Empire under Emporer Marcus Aurelius (played by Richard Harris) in Germania (which is now Germany and the surrounding countries). Marcus Aurelius is dying and trying to convince Maximus to become the leader of the Empire, having made the decision that his powers will not transfer to his immoral son Commodus (played by Joquin Phonix). Needless to say, things go sideways and Maximus ends up becoming a slave and forced to fight as a Gladiator in the servitude of Proximo, a former Gladiator played by the noted English actor Oliver Reed. The main cast is rounded out by Connie Nielsen who played Lucilla, daughter of Marcus Aurelius, and Djimon Hounsou, who plays Juba, another slave in servitude to Proximo. 

The 4k Blu-ray set is actually a three-disc set. The UHD disc has both the theatrical version of the movie and the extended edition (which adds about 20 minutes to the total run time). The 4k transfer was done very well, and the movie looks and sounds great in the UHD format. On the UHD disc, the only extras are the commentary tracks. The commentary track on the extended edition of the movie includes Ridley Scott and Rusell Crowe, and on the theatrical version, the commentary track includes Scott, the editor, and the cinematographer. All the rest of the extras are on the "regular" Blu-Ray discs. On each version of the movie, there is an option to watch an in-movie experience in which facts about the movie pop up at the bottom of the screen. On the left side, there are video clips that are made available as the movie goes along that gives topical information and/or behind the scenes clips, and on the right side, there is a list of topics that you can select to be played when the second disc (with just special features on it) is played. 

The second disc, as I said above has just special features on it. And there is a shit-ton of features. The topic portal will play the behind-the-scenes and making-of clips from the topics you chose while watching the in-movie experience (or you can select them on that screen). If you play them all, it is about six hours in length. Although some of the same clips and soundbites are used for multiple topics so it does get a bit repetitive. Then, there is a three hour and twenty minutes long series of making-of features, with some material repeated from the topic portal clips, but some of its own material as well. Then there is a journal that Spencer Treat Clark (who played Lucilla's son) made during the production of the movie. It is not a video journal though, so you have to actually read it on the screen and flip through multiple pages. It is just a massive amount of bonus material if you like going through it. My favorite features were the ones detailing how they finished the role of Proximo when Oliver Reed died with about three weeks left in production, the pains that arose during production of the movie, and the stand-up comedy/Gladiator Q&A set that Russell Crowe did a few years after the movie come out.

Overall, the movie has been around long enough now that most people will know if they like it or not. For most people, the decision is really going to be whether to invest in the 4k UHD upgrade (especially for those who, like me, already double-dipped for the original Blu-Ray release). Personally, I think the A/V upgrade made the triple-dip worth it for me. The movie looks and sounds great on UHD, and is a noticeable upgrade from the blu-ray transfer. It is a great movie, with a great story, and, if you love bonus features, this has about as much as any movie has put out. I highly recommend the movie and the 4k UHD upgrade. 

Workout Update: P90X Day 6

 Day 6 was the stretch workout. I was going to do Yoga, but the day kind of got away from me and by the time I had time to workout, I did not want to spend an hour and a half doing it. So, I swapped and did x-stretch on Saturday and did Yoga today (Sunday). I really like x-stretch because it has all the good parts of the Yoga video without (mostly) the hard parts. The one real advanced move it has is shoulder stand into plough, which, even when I have been in my best shape and most flexible, I have never come close to doing. So, when that comes up I just use my yoga strap and try to extend my legs up and keep them totally straight, which gives me a really good hamstring stretch. Plus, I like the fact that the workout is under an hour, which, for a p90x workout is saying something.

Workout Update: P90X Day 5

 Day 5 was my first go around with the Legs and Back workout, which essentially alternates leg exercises with pull ups. The leg exercises are mostly repeats or variations of the moves that were used in the Master's Series workouts, so there was really nothing very new (aside from the chair lunges at the very beginning). Then, the pull ups were the same (with some omissions) as in the chest and back workout. 

I again used ab-ripper x as the warmup as opposed to doing it at the very end, and again got through 15 reps for each of the moves (and 50 mason twists). And, on the pull ups I added the 5lb band so I was doing a total of 85lbs of resistance. Overall, the workout went well. The big thing about the p90x workouts is that they are all very long. You will be devoting at least 45 minutes each workout, with the longest being the Yoga workout (which clocks in at an hour and a half). That is really the one big drawback, the other being it gets a bit repetitive in the last few weeks. But, it is a good workout series that has a good track record of getting people results.