Book Review: The Dark Knight Rises Novelization

 

This is the novelization of the final installment in the Nolan Batman Trilogy. It follows the screenplay almost word-for-word and does not really add anything that significantly alters the story. Unlike books that are written first and then adapted to a movie, in which a ton of material ends up being cut out, what you get in the movie is pretty much what you get in the book, with only minor variations. So, if you liked, or loved the movie, you will probably like the book. Personally, I would have liked it if the author would have fleshed a bit more of the story out (especially the ending), but otherwise it is a fine novelization.

DVD/TV Series Review: FBI Season One

 

Going into the 2018-2019 TV season, FBI was the newest entry into the slate of shows that have been created and produced by Dick Wolf, which includes the long-running Law and Order franchise and the Chicago-based franchise of shows. The series is set in the New York criminal division of the FBI and stars Missy Peregrym (from the great but short-lived series Life as We Know It, the movie Stick It, and her guest-starring and recurring roles on shows like Heroes, Tru Calling, and Smallville) as field agent Maggie Bell, Zeeko Zaki as Omar Adom "O. A." Zidan, Maggie's partner, Sela Ward as Special Agent in Charge (SAC) Dana Mosier (in a role that was recast after the pilot episode), Jeremy Sisto as assistant SAC Jubal Valentine, and Ebonée Noel as Kristen Chazal, who is a special agent and intelligence analyst.

The show is mostly a case-of-the-week procedural. Each show begins with some kind of murder, explosion, kidnapping, etc., that the team has to solve by the end of the episode. There is a storyline involving Maggie's deceased husband that becomes more involved as the season goes on, but otherwise, the focus of the show is just the weekly cases. The show does manage to do character development without giving much of a glimpse into the personal lives of the characters. This is definitely a hard thing to pull off and pretty much sank the show Chicago Justice, also created and produced by Wolf. Even though we rarely see the characters outside of their jobs, the writers do give a glimpse into who they are that the audience can get invested in them, and the action and suspense are enough to keep people coming back.

As far as the DVD set goes, as far as I can tell, the show has only been released on DVD in Europe, meaning the discs are Region 2 locked and will not play on US DVD and Blu-Ray players. So, you must have a region-free or a Region 2 player in order to watch the DVDs. They are basically a MOD set that just has the episodes. No extras, but they are closed captioned. So, if you prefer physical media to streaming and are willing to pay a bit more because the discs are imports, they are out there. Otherwise, you may just want to stream the show, especially if you are one who only gets the physical discs when there are a lot of extras and bonus features.

Overall, the season is good. It is well-written and acted, despite having a cast with actors who are either relatively new or had mostly been character actors. Ward definitely brought gravitas to the show as she was by far the most experienced member of the cast which was needed because while Peregrym and Sisto both had main roles in other shows, neither of them were major stars going into the show. It also has a backdoor pilot episode (much like Chicago PD got during season one of Chicago Fire) for the spin-off series FBI Most Wanted. So, if you are a fan of law-enforcement procedural shows this is definitely worth checking out.

Workout Update: Chalean Extreme Day 75

 Day 75 was the Burn it Off workout again. Overall I felt it went okay, despite having little motivation to work out this evening. I most definitely dogged it on a couple of the exercises, but I got it done. 

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Clone

 

Clone, which was also released under the name Womb, is a different, and frankly kind of weird movie starring Eva Green (the first Bond Girl in the Daniel Craig Bond movie Casino Royale and the star of the series Penny Dreadful) and Matt Smith (from Doctor Who).

The plot of the movie is not overly complicated. Green and Smith play Rebecca and Thomas, a young couple in love. When he is killed in an accident, she decides to use his DNA to create a cloned embryo and carry him to term and raise the clone as her child. Then the movie basically spans a twenty-year time frame as the clone grows up and yet Rebecca never ages.

I will not say anything more to avoid spoiling the movie for those who have not seen it. I will say that while not everything in the movie made a lot of sense, and it could be slowly paced in spots (which is something for a movie that is just over an hour and a half long), Green does a great acting job. There are times in the movie when there is not a lot of dialogue and Green pretty much carries the movie via her facial expressions. It most definitely has the feel of a small-budget independent movie, but it is mostly well-written, and very well acted. I do think it could have spent a bit more time on Thomas and Rebecca's relationship before his death and which would have provided a bit more depth to the end of the movie.

The movie looks very good on Blu-Ray, with great cinematography of the locations in Germany. There are not much in the way of extras, just a few trailers, no making-of or behind-the-scenes material. I have not seen the movie streaming on any of the major streaming services, however, so if you want it the DVD or Blu-Ray is probably your best bet.

Textbook Review: Concepts of Fitness And Wellness: A Comprehensive Lifestyle Approach

 

This is a book that the vast majority of people will get because it is required for a class (likely an introductory exercise science class). It is not really something you would pick up because you are looking for a home exercise or nutrition program. Although, it does have some workout tips/advice in it and gives some basic nutritional principles. It is very easy to read and understand and does not overwhelm the readers with so much information that you feel like you are drinking through a firehose.

DVD/Movie Review: Ghostbusters 2

 

The original Ghostbusters, made in 1984 is widely considered to be one of the greatest comedies of all time. The second movie is set five years after the first movie, to match up with a 1989 release date, to reveal that the Ghostbusters did not exactly become heroes after saving the city. They were left with a massive cleanup bill, they did not get any clients, and were relegated to appearing at kid's birthday parties, running a bookstore, and in the case of Venkman, hosting a crazy talk show. It is revealed that Dana broke up with Venkman, got married, and then divorced, and is raising a baby as a single mother while working at a museum restoring artwork. Of course, a new evil threat awakens to threaten not only the team, but the city and the world, and the Ghostbusters get pressed back into service.

The movie is definitely not as good as the original. That said, it is not as bad as some make it out to be. There are definitely some corny parts to it (like Bobby Brown's cameo), and most of Peter MacNicol's role, but it does keep a lot of the same humor and charm of the first movie. It brings back the entire cast including Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, and Rick Moranis (giving the last two more expanded roles than they had in the first movie).

For those who get the stand-alone DVD that was released in 2006, the only extras are the inclusion of a couple of episodes of the Ghostbusters animated series. Nothing specific to the movie itself. Of course, it is now available in Blu-Ray and in 4kUHD, so those may have better extras, but on the DVD release, there was nothing to write home about.

Overall, the movie is good, but as I said above, not as good as the original movie. Even so, it does have a good, uplifting, message and even with some of the eye rolling moments, it is still worth watching.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Gremlins 2: The New Batch

 

This is, of course, the sequel to Gremlins, the 1980s movie that was a combination of horror movie and comedy. It brings back stars, Zach Galligan and Phoebe Cates as well as Howie Mandel voicing Gizmo and Dick Miller, Jackie Joseph, and Keye Luke reprising their roles from the first film. It also adds cast members like Robert Picardo, John Glover, John Astin, and Christopher Lee, as well as has cameos by Hulk Hogan and film critic Leonard Maltin. The premise of this movie is that Gizmo is subjected to being a lab rat by a billionaire in NY. Billy and Kate, who conveniently happen to be working in the same building in which he is being experimented on, manage to rescue Gizmo, but he gets wet of course causing him to spawn Gremlins who take over the building.

The movie is much campier than the first one, which itself was not without campiness. It is pretty much a straight comedy with a bunch of comedic violence, but the Gremlins are not a sinister murderous threat in this movie as they are a threat to damage property. The Gremlins are really the stars of the movie (Gizmo is not as major a character as he was in the first movie), and there are a lot more of them in this movie than there was in the first.

The extras all carry over from the DVD. Those include a commentary track by the writer, director, and Galligan, in which they admit that the movie is a totally unnecessary sequel. Then there are some deleted scenes, a gag reel, and the trailer (along with a couple of smaller, minor extras). The A/V quality is okay, but it did not get a great video restoration that some older movies get when released on Blu-Ray.

Overall, the movie tends to garner mixed opinions. Some people like it more than the original movie and some, like me, think it is okay but was not really needed. The overall plot was kind of dumb, but the plot of the first movie took a lot of suspension of disbelief too. But to me, this went beyond that and was a far more typical 80s comedy than the first movie was. I liked it far more when I was a little kid watching it than I like it as an adult.

Workout Update: Chalean Extreme Day 74

Day 74 of CE was Lean Circuit 3 again. As has been the case with the other workouts this week, I felt this was the best of this particular workout that I have had so far. It is still a challenging workout for sure, but parts of it are getting easier. I do think that most people will have to do a couple of rounds of CE before this workout is very easy for them unless they are already in really great shape.

DVD/TV Series Review: Chicago Fire Season 2

 

Season two of Chicago Fire follows the procedural story-of-the-week format but also interweaves several story arcs that span through at least a portion of the season. At the beginning of the season, Casey is involved in a storyline with the widow of the firefighter killed in the pilot episode, and trying to help her care for her children, and Severide beings investigating a series of arsons that fit a disturbing pattern. Molly's bar is one of the big "b stories" that run throughout the season with Hermann, Dawson, Joe, and Otis struggling to keep it afloat. This is also the first season with an official crossover with Chicago PD, which began its first season as an official spin-off of Fire. Of course, some of the characters from PD were introduced in season one of the Fire, and there was even a backdoor pilot episode for PD toward the end of season one, but this season had the first official two-part episode with PD that had a plotline that was clearly a twist on a combination of the Boston Marathon bombing and the Oklahoma City bombing. The season ends on a massive cliffhanger with nearly every character in peril during a warehouse fire.

For those who get the DVD set, the extras are pretty much the same as with the season one release. Each episode gets a behind-the-scenes featurette. Most of them run for 2-3 minutes and some are a bit longer. The pilot episode of Chicago PD and the second part of the two-show crossover are included, and then there is a web series entitled "I am a firefighter" featuring mostly the "b characters".

Overall, the show is well-written and acted, and has a good mix of action and drama with some humor (not exactly comedy) mixed in as well. The characters continue to be developed well and the large ensemble cast is juggled fairly well (although the cast is clearly broken into main characters and supporting characters). If you liked season one, then there is a good chance you will like this one as well. On the other hand, if the first season did not do much for you (or you straight up did not like it), then this season is probably not going to change your mind about the show.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Prometheus

 

When this movie was announced a lot of fans of the Alien franchise of movies (at least those that came before the whole Alien vs. Predator thing) thought that they were finally getting a direct prequel to Ridley Scott's original Alien movie. Without spoiling anything too much, that is definitely NOT what this movie is. The movie is set in 2093, several years after a star map is discovered by scientists Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) that hints at the origin of human life as created by "The Engineers", a race of superhuman aliens. Peter Weyland (played by Guy Pierce), the elderly CEO of Weyland Corporation (the same corporation from the original movies), funds an expedition, aboard the scientific vessel Prometheus, to follow the map to the distant moon LV-223 (which is not the same moon from the movie Alien). The ship's crew travels in stasis while the android David (played by Michael Fassbender) monitors their voyage. When the ship arrives at the moon, mission director Meredith Vickers (played by Charlize Theron) lays out the mission to find the Engineers and not to make contact without her permission.

The movie is what I would call hit and miss. Some things worked well, others require massive leaps in logic, beyond the typical suspension of disbelief that Sci-Fi movies often require. Plus, the characters make some deeply stupid decisions throughout the movie. Like B-level horror movie stupid decisions. That said, the visuals are absolutely stunning in HD, and Fassbender and Rapace deliver great performances. I like that the Engineers were not really totally fleshed out and we did not learn everything about them in this movie.

The extras include two different commentary tracks on the movie; one features director Ridley Scott, while the other features co-writers John Spaihts and Damon Lindelof. Then there are just under forty minutes of deleted, extended, and alternate scenes that allow the option to play commentary by editor Pietro Scalia and VFX supervisor Richard Stammers. Then there is a collection of Internet Promo Clips that run just under twenty minutes called The Peter Weyland Files which reveal a few interesting character moments and fleshes out the story a bit.

I would say if you go into this movie wanting a direct prequel to Alien you will be very disappointed. If you look at it as a movie that is introducing the "world" of the Alien franchise and clearly setting up additional movies to come after it that will (hopefully) eventually lead to a direct prequel to Alien, then I think it can be enjoyable, even if it is not as good as the original movie or the sequel Aliens. It is definitely as good, or better than the other sequels, however. So, I recommend it if you set your expectations accordingly.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Game of Thrones Season 2

 

The second season of Game of Thrones is basically an adaptation of the second novel, A Clash of Kings, about the start of the civil war to rule Westeros. After the death of Ned Stark ordered by Joffery, Robb takes on the title of King of the North and vows to kill the boy king who was installed after the death of Robert in season one. Robert's brother Stannis also throws in his claim to the throne and there is ultimately a war between the five "kings" that are making a claim to the throne. Meanwhile, Jon is with the Night's watch outside the wall facing a threat from the wildlings and a more sinister threat that starts to rise up, and Daenerys is in Essos with three newborn dragons trying to find allies and resources to help her return to Westeros and restore the Targaryens to the throne. The season ends not really on a cliffhanger, but a threat that will essentially threaten to make the who wins the war totally irrelevant.

The A/V quality of the Blu-Ray set is awesome, and there is a ton of extras. There are commentary tracks on every episode. The commentaries rotate using cast members, writers, directors, crew members, and even George RR Martin. Some episodes have two different commentary tracks. Sophie Turner is pretty hilarious in the commentary track she participates in. There is also an in-episode guide that you can play when watching any of the episodes that goes a lot more in-depth into the story and the history of Westeros than can be shown in the episodes. There are also character profiles, behind-the-scenes features, and a roundtable discussion between the series creators and some of the cast members. So, if you like watching the extras, there is a lot there.

Overall, the season is strong. The ensemble cast is still large (although the number of characters is pared way down from the book), but all the characters are given substantial material to work with. It is a very adult show with a lot of swearing, sex, and nudity. It continues to be well-written and well-acted and is a must see for any fan of the Sci-Fi/Fantasy genre.

Workout Update: Chalean Extreme Day 73

Day 73 of CE was the burn intervals workout. This one was very good. I had a lot more energy than I have had the past couple of times I have done the workout (I think in large part to getting a decent amount of sleep last night) and was generally able to push harder. I am still in the process of deciding what I want to do for the next workout. I am thinking of either trying one that I have not done before, now that I have access to them all through BeachBody on demand, or doing a hybrid program by picking workouts from various programs. I will update once I figure that out.

TV Series Postmortem: Dexter: New Blood (Spoilers)

Dexter: New Blood was a limited series event that brought back the popular show Dexter to basically retcon its original series ending. This time, the series creator, Clyde Phillips, who had exited the original series by the time it wrapped up, came up with the concept for the series and was highly involved in its development. 

+++Spolers after this point ++++

The original series ended with Dexter shipping Harrison off with Hannah as she fled the country because he was very close to getting caught. He managed to steal Deb's body from the hospital and raced out to sea, dumping her and then driving his boat into the hurricane that was hitting Miami. He manages to survive and ends up in Oregon as the series fades to black. When New Blood picks up, Dexter is living under a fake name (Jim Lindsey) and living in upstate New York in the fictitious town of Iron Lake. Harrison manages to track him down and in the end, his girlfriend, who happens to be the police chief of Iron Lake, discovers who he really is, including that he was the Bay Harbor Butcher, and contacts Bautista to tell him Dexter is still alive. Bautista leaves Miami to come to Iron Lake, but Dexter escapes from jail, killing one of the deputies at which point Harrison confronts Dexter and ends up killing him.

A lot of people went apeshit over the fact that Dexter died at the end of the series, mainly because it was Harrison that killed him. I am okay with the fact that Dexter died, but I would have much preferred Bautista to be more involved (actually get there and confront Dexter) and possibly be the one to end up shooting him (hopefully after he learned that Deb killed LaGuerta to protect Dexter's secret). I think Dexter needed to face consequences more directly tied to the original series than he ever received. My preferred ending, which would have allowed for another season of the show, would be for Dexter to be caught and extradited to Miami where he would go on trial, but then need to assist the cops in solving another serial killer case (in a Hannibal Lecter-like role in Silence of the Lambs). Then he could either be executed or killed when he tries to escape, or something along those lines. I think that kind of ending would have been more satisfying to long-term fans of the series. Although, I do think some fans would never accept Dexter facing any real consequences and would want him to always keep getting away. 

Product Review: Wacom Bamboo Connect Pen Tablet

 

This is a tablet that connects to a computer via USB and allows you, through programs such as OneNote or Paint, to freestyle draw. It is much easier than using a mouse as the pen allows for far more precision and control. While it does not quite feel like writing on paper, once you get used to it, it is not that much different. I definitely recommend it if you want a less expensive option than something like a Surface or an iPad and the Apple pencil.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: The Incredible Hulk: The Complete Series

 

This is the Blu-Ray set of the five seasons of The Incredible Hulk series that starred Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno (and in theory, but not always in practice, Jack Colvin) that ran from 1977 to 1982. It was created by Kenneth Johnson, who created series like the original Bionic Woman, the Six Million Dollar Man, and the original V series, among others. The hook of this series is that it was not a straight comic book adaptation that involved the military trying to resurrect the super-soldier program and had Hulk fighting both the military and supervillains. Instead, the premise was that David Banner (played by Bixby) is a scientist trying to understand the potential for superhuman strength when under stress because he was not able to tap into that kind of strength to save his wife after a car accident. He ends up dosing himself with a massive amount of gamma radiation which does not kill him but instead turns him into a huge green creature that is dubbed "The Hulk" (played by Ferrigno) by a reporter named Jack McGee (played by Colvin) who sees the creature and then makes it his life pursuit to capture the creature. The series then involves David moving from town-to-town trying to find a way to get rid of the creature and avoid being exposed by McGee. Along the way, he seems to find the one person in town (usually a damsel in distress) that needs protecting from the worst person in town.

The series definitely feels like it is set in the 1970s and early 1980s, in terms of the look of the film that the show was shot on, the clothing, and the dialogue. There are definitely things that they were able to do in the show back then that would never fly today, yet many of the themes are timeless and could easily be made today with some slight updating. One big difference between the show and the superhero shows of today is that it was never big on continuity, using the same guest stars to play totally different roles throughout the series run. For example, Gerald McRaney played three different characters in the first three seasons. It did include a lot of recognizable character actors as well as actors who would become A or B list actors (like Kim Catrall, Markie Post, and Ernie Hudson) in roles very early in their careers.

The extras mostly carryover from the DVD sets. The only things that are missing are some of the promos for the three TV movies that were made after the series ended, which are also not a part of this set. There are some DVD collections that include the last three tv movies, but this does not have those. The crown jewel of the extras are the commentary tracks by Kenneth Johnson on the various two-part episodes that he directed. The man either kept copious notes that he worked off of, or he has a photographic memory, because he could rattle off days of the week that things were filmed on, as well as the CVs of nearly every cast and crew member before and after the series ended. He also gave a lot of insight into what working with Bixby and Ferrigno was like, and provided a lot of insider details that may not have been well known (like Ferrigno was not the first choice to play The Hulk) and described the tricks they used to make Ferrigno look bigger than he was, for example, using special lenses, filming him from below, etc. The other extras include a gag reel that basically is about seven minutes of Bixby swearing and a couple of retrospective documentaries on making the series that include interviews with Johnson and the writers. Again, all carryovers from the DVD releases. The A/V quality of the set is an upgrade from the DVDs but it did not get a high-quality restoration like some movies and shows get, so it may not be worth the upgrade for some people who already own the DVDs.

Overall, the series is good but dated. Some of the storylines and themes hold up well even 40+ years down the line, and others do not. It could be very, very cheesy at times, and at other times was very well written and acted. My big complaint about the entire series is that Jack Colvin was very underused. So much so that it was almost criminal. He was a very good actor and there were many episodes that he did not appear in, or appeared for all of a minute. He could have been included a lot more. Also, the series ended very abruptly with a truncated fifth season that consisted of seven stand-alone episodes that were filmed at the end of the fourth season in case a possible writer or director strike that was looming between 1981 and 1982 came to pass, and there were episodes to run at the beginning of the season. Unfortunately, the show was canceled between the fourth and fifth season, so those episodes which did nothing to give the series a proper ending were all that were aired. Johnson lobbied for and failed to get, an additional six episodes to get a half-season run and give the show a proper series finale. That never came to pass and the series ended with an okay episode, but nothing worthy of being a series finale.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Gross Anatomy

 

Gross Anatomy is a 1980s medical school drama, something like what The Paper Chase was to law school. The movie stars Matthew Modine as Joe Slovak, a smart student who does "good enough" to get into med school, but does not reach his full potential, basically because of his attitude and unwillingness to apply himself, Christine Lahti, as Dr. Rachel Woodruff, one of the professors at the medical school Joe is accepted to, and one of the teachers of the class Gross Anatomy, and Daphnie Zuniga as Laurie Rorbach, another med student and potential love interest for Joe (because of course there had to be a love story component).

The movie is set around the first-year med school experience, namely through the Gross Anatomy class in which the students have to dissect a human cadaver over the course of the year. There are several conflicts in the movie, one of the main ones between Lathi's character and Modine's character as she tries to push him to live up to his full potential and he chafes under her strict rules. It also deals with the pressure of med school and the desire to succeed at all costs, drug use, work-life balance, and the like. It also has some plot twists along the way that make for a good story.

The A/V quality of the Blu-Ray is good. It did not get an extremely high-quality transfer. Whether there are any extras depends on whether you get the regular edition (which has no extras just the movie) or the special edition (which has a commentary track by the director and trailers). I have the regular edition with just the movie, which I think is fine.

Overall, the movie is a good late 80s drama. It is well-written and well-acted. Some of it is definitely formulaic, but it is not totally cookie-cutter either. Chances are most people who are thinking of getting this watched it on TV growing up. If you are in that camp, I would say that the movie holds up pretty well even over thirty years later.

Workout Update: Chalean Extreme Day 72

Day 72 of CE was the Lean Circuit 2 workout again. I was able to hit the 12 rep max on a couple of the exercises, but it was still very challenging given that my shoulders are not my strong point. I was able to do the plank rows all on my toes and hit the 12 rep max, so that is progress.

Video Game Review: Batman: Arkham Asylum

 

This is the first of the Arkham games set, in part in the asylum, and then throughout Gotham as Batman has to take down Joker (who is the end boss that you have to beat). Even when the game is set on easy the game is still quite challenging. There is a lot to the gameplay that you can experience new things every time you play from the beginning. The best part is that Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill voice Batman and Joker, reprising their roles from Batman: The animated series. The graphics are awesome, and many of the other villains are included in the game. As someone who is not a huge gamer by any means I enjoy playing this one, and definitely recommend it.

4kUHD/Movie Review: Captain America: The First Avenger

 

This is the first movie in the MCU timeline if you want to watch the movies in chronological order and the fifth if you watch them in release order (after Iron Man, Hulk, Iron Man II, and Thor). It tells the story of Steve Rodgers, a short scrawny kid who wants nothing more than to enlist in the army and fight for the United States in World War II. The problem is that he is about 5'5", 100 pounds soaking wet, and has asthma. After getting rejected time after time trying to sign up, he meets a doctor (played by Stanley Tucci) who developed a super-soldier serum and is looking for a worthy candidate to test it on. After Steve proves himself to be heroic during basic training he is given the serum and transforms into a six-foot-tall muscle-bound super-powered hero.

The film sports a great ensemble cast including Tommy Lee Jones (who brings his awesome dry humor as the unit commander Chester Phillips), Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter, Hugo Weaving as the main villain, Red Skull, Dominic Cooper as a young Howard Stark, Sebastian Stan as Steve's best friend Bucky Barnes, and Toby Jones as Arnim Zola. Some of those characters, as anyone who has watched the movies and/or various TV series, would go on to have roles that were expanded well beyond what they are in this movie, and for other characters, this movie was a one-off. It is mostly an action movie, as you would expect, but also blends in drama, romance, and a lot of humor. Evans does a great job playing a goody-two-shoes character but giving him depth beyond just being a do-gooder. Atwell does a great job as Agent Carter, and Hugo Weaving pretty much steals every scene he is in.

For those who get the 4k UHD set, the movie looks and sounds great in the format, especially if you have a big screen to watch it on. The picture is definitely an upgrade from the regular Blu-Ray. The UHD disc just has the movie itself, and then the second disc is the same regular Blu-Ray disc that was released before, which has the movie and the extras. The extras include a commentary track on the film by the director and the editor, then it has several making-of featurettes, the most interesting of which was, in my opinion, how they used a blend of CGI and practical effects to make Chris Evans look five inches shorter than he is in real life and emaciated at the beginning of the movie. There is also a "one-shot" which is basically a short film that features Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) as he is on the way to the site where Thor's Hammer is discovered. Then there are some deleted scenes and trailers. So, if you like watching the bonus content, there is a lot there for you.

The movie is very good and does a great job establishing the character of Captain America who, of course, is integral to every other movie that comes after it. If you watch this movie first it will make some things in other movies, namely the stand-alone Hulk movie, make more sense, but the post-credits scene which sets up The first Avengers movie will feel out of place. The 4K disc will probably be a double-dip for a lot of people who had already purchased the Blu-Ray, but I think the upgrade is worth it.

Book Review: Star Wars: Queen's Hope

 

This is the third book in what is, at least to this point, a trilogy of Padme-focused novels. The stories have all been ancillary to the main storylines from the movies, telling side stories involving Padme and the handmaidens and fleshing out the main storylines from Episodes I and II.

This book is set just after the events of Episode II when Padme and Anakin get married on Naboo, and details how they have to figure out how to keep their marriage under the radar of the Senate and the Jedi. It also tells the story of Padme and the original handmaidens growing up and growing apart, which is hard for all of them. And, then the book weaves in a couple of different missions for Padme, one that was intended to bring a sort of truce with the Trade Federation. Of the other main characters, Palpatine, Yoda, Obi-Wan, and Bail Organa all appear in the novel, but of those only Bail has a significant role. The others are mostly there in the background until the end when Palpatine has a larger presence.

The hardcover version of the book is relatively short at just under 300 pages. If you are a fast reader you should be able to finish it in a couple of days or less. I would say that overall, the book is good, but not as good as the prior novels in the trilogy. What made the prior books work as well as they did were the relationships between Padme and the other handmaidens. The point of this novel is to show how those relationships changed, as all relationships tend to do as people get older, but that made the character dynamics from the first two novels just feel off. Yes, there are a lot of LGBT references in the book and tying real-life issues into the Star Wars universe. Personally, it did not bother me, but as you can tell if you read through the other reviews on Amazon, it made some people apoplectic. It is not exactly a new phenomenon for the Star Wars Universe as each new film and novel has tried to make that universe look more like the real world and not just full of white males. But, if that is something you get triggered over, then you definitely want to stay away from this. I have read most of the canon novels and I would say that this one is better than some, but definitely not as good as others (or even most).

Product Review: OneNote 2007

 

I used OneNote because I was looking for a way to digitize the class notes that I had handwritten on paper and get them in electronic form without having to scan thousands of pages. This can do that, and once you figure out how to set everything up, it can do it well. However, it can be a pain (at least it was for me) to figure out how to have just continuous pages without having to add a new page every single time I ran out of room. It is much easier to just have a bunch of pages under each other that would start new when you get to the end of the current page. The notebooks, however, default to having to manually go to a new page almost like flipping through a book. That works great for some things, like daily journaling, but does not lend itself well to writing a lot of material at one time.

DVD/TV Series Update: Hart of Dixie - Season One

 

Hart of Dixie is a show that premiered in 2011 that takes a twist on the themes of the series Northern Exposure and Doc Hollywood. The premise of the show is that a doctor from NY named Zoe Hart (played by Rachel Bilson) fails to get a fellowship at the hospital in which she was interning. She ends up taking the offer of a stranger who attended her graduation from med school to work at his practice in the small town of Bluebell Alabama. When she gets there, she discovers that the stranger was her biological father and left her with half of the medical practice he shared with Tim Mattheson's character, Brick Breeland. What follows is a pretty typical fish-out-of-water story in which Zoe has to adjust to life in small-town Alabama and while being an outsider. The show has a fairly large ensemble cast including Cress Williams, Jamie King, Scott Porter, and Wilson Bethel. It does get soap-opera-like with multiple love triangles going on between the various characters. It has a good blend of drama and comedy (mostly about how the north views the south and vice-versa) and ultimately tells a good story.

The DVD set spreads the 22 episodes over five discs. The extras include deleted scenes, a gag reel, and a behind-the-scenes documentary that runs just under twenty minutes. A decent amount of material for those who like the extras. The show is pretty well written and acted. It is a bit formulaic and predictable and does not really do anything that is extremely new. It is definitely more of a prime-time soap opera than it is a straight prime-time drama. but it has likable characters played by a good cast, so it works. It is definitely worth picking up.

Workout Update: Chalean Extreme Day 71

For day 71 of CE, I just did the Recharge workout. I was very late getting to my workout tonight and had considered just taking an off day, but I wanted to get some movement in, so I just did Recharge without doing abs. 

Product Review: Burt's Bees Retinol Alternative Facial Moisturizer, Anti-Aging Sunscreen with SPF 30

 

This is a good facial moisturizer that offers some SPF protection. I would not rely on just it if you are, for example, going to be outside on a lake, on a beach, or in a situation like those where you will be in the sun for an extended period of time. However, for everyday situations where you will be outside for a short period of time, the level of protection it will give you from the sun is fine. It is great if you have dry skin on your face, especially if you use things like acne pads or other facial cleansers that can dry out your skin. It does not have any overpowering scent like many hand lotions do and as someone who has relatively sensitive skin, I do not find it irritating at all. I definitely recommend it.

Workout Review: Beachbody Insanity Fast and Furious DVD Workout

 

Insanity is a very intense cardio-based workout program released by Beachbody, which also released the massively popular P90x, which would ultimately become its second most popular program (at least for a time). The regular Insanity workouts ran about 45 minutes, give or take, and this was released as a scaled-down version of those workouts. It does not include the full cast and is not shot in the gymnasium where the regular workouts were shot. It just has a couple of cast members, Anna who was in many of the main workouts, a new guy, and Shaun T. It runs about 20 minutes including the warm-up and cool-down, and all the moves in the workout are moves that were in the regular videos. So, if you have done the Insanity program already, there is nothing new in this workout.

This is definitely not something that you just want to jump into if you are not in good shape and/or if you have not done any of the Insanity workouts. It is definitely not for beginners at all, and there are no modified moves in this. If you have done the Insanity Max 30 which does have modified moves, you can figure out how to modify the moves in this (as many of the same moves are used in the Max 30 program as were used in this), but this workout assumes that you have done the first, regular, Insanity workout program and are in good enough shape to get through it. Ultimately, if you are looking for a great cardio workout that is also short, this is a good option for you.