Workout Update: Chalean Extreme Day 83

 Day 83 was the final day of CE. I did the recharge stretching workout again. Overall, I think the program went well. I definitely felt that I got stronger over the course of the three months, but honestly did not lose a lot of weight (or a ton of body fat) mainly because my diet was still not very good. I definitely gained strength and some muscle, but I definitely blame myself for not losing as much fat as I could have. 

TV Series Recap: The Incredible Hulk

 

The Incredible Hulk was a series from the late 1970s (it debuted in 1977) and ran for essentially four seasons. It was created by Kenneth Johnson, who also created series like The Six Million Dollar Man, the original Bionic Woman, V, and more. The show starred Bill Bixby as Dr. David Banner and bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno (a Mr. Universe winner and a Mr. Olympia runner-up) as The Hulk. The story is heavily modified from the comics. First, the main character's name is changed from Bruce to David (which apparently irked Stan Lee, who got a producer credit on the show) and it dropped the failed super-soldier program storyline in favor of one in which David attempts to tap into the hidden strength that people have when faced with life and death situations. David was unable to save his wife during a car accident and tries to find out why he could not tap into this hidden strength. In the course of his experiments, he hits himself with a massive dose of gamma radiation which causes him to change into the Hulk when he is scared or angry. A reporter named Jack McGee and played by Jack Colvin believes that The Hulk killed David Banner and his lab partner. So, Banner, instead of saying that The Hulk did not kill him, pretends to be dead and wanders the country living off the grid and trying to figure out a way to stop his metamorphosis into The Hulk. 

Another big deviation from the comics is that the Hulk was not fighting the military and supervillains. David traveled from town-to-town and invariably found someone (usually a woman) in distress and in need of help, and would come across the worst, most corrupt person in town that the Hulk would end up having to scare off or stop. The show had very much a feel of the 1970s from the look to the way people talked, but the overall storylines could be made in any era. There are definitely things that the show did that could not be done the same way, like using the term "wetback" in an episode and allowing some stereotypes to be used that would never fly today. That said, the show did deal with topics such as racism, drugs, and the pillaging of Native American lands (in an episode in which the Native Americans were bad guys). It also had a ton of recognizable guest stars including an incredibly young Kim Catrall (who the show tried to pass off as a Native American) and a young Ernie Hudson. The show was never big on continuity, however, using the same actors in different roles quite a bit. For example, Gerald McRaney guest-starred three different times in three different roles. 

Technically, it did air a handful of episodes in a fifth season in 1982, but those episodes were filmed at the end of the fourth season in case an impending writer's strike occurred, so a fifth season could air uninterrupted. However, during the hiatus between seasons four and five, the President of CBS decided to cancel the show (despite the fact that the ratings were still good, although not as high as they once were) because the show had "run its course". So, the final five stand-alone episodes were aired and the show went off the air without any resolution to the storyline or a proper ending.

In the late 1980s, Bixby produced a series of three tv movies (and directed two of them) that finally gave closure to the series. The first two movies, The Incredible Hulk Returns, and the Trial of the Incredible Hulk were horribly bad, and brought the series into the larger Marvel Comic universe, introducing a horrible version of Thor and an okay version of Daredevil (along with an awful version of Kingpin). The third movie, The Death of The Incredible Hulk, was a much better movie and did provide an end to the storyline (and co-starred former Miss America and alleged Bill Clinton hookup Elizabeth Gracen). While it was better than the other two movies, the ending was deeply stupid and probably left a bad taste in the mouths of a lot of fans. 

So, overall, the series was mostly good, but when it was bad, it was pretty bad. Lou Ferrigno managed to stay in great shape, even through the final TV movie, although he looked like he aged (even with the green makeup on) much more than Bixby looked like he aged. The show is much different than the superhero shows of today, both in how it was filmed, the special effects (or lack thereof) that were available back in the 1970s versus now, and in terms of storyline continuity. The one thing that I do not like about the show is that it criminally underused the character of Jack McGee. He was ostensibly a co-lead yet would disappear for long stretches, and in some episodes only appeared for a few seconds. His character deserved to find out the truth about David and The Hulk and get the last scoop. Instead, Colvin was not brought back (or refused to return) after filming The Incredible Hulk Returns and so his character never got a concluding arc.

The series is available on both DVD and Blu-Ray. Some of the DVD sets include the last TV movies, but the Blu-ray set does not. So, if you want the tv movies you have to find the DVDs and you may have to resort to buying imports because the US versions have been out of print and are very hard to find, especially at a reasonable price. After rewatching the show all the way through I can say I enjoyed it more as a kid when it came across as really cool. As an adult, it is kind of hokey. I was not old enough to watch the series when it originally aired, but I did see the re-runs that aired in syndication. I found that I did not remember any of the actual stories from any of the episodes, but I remembered the line "you wouldn't like me when I'm angry", the Hulk outs, and the opening title sequence voiced by Ted Cassidy (who played Lurch in The Addams Family) more than I remembered anything else. Chances are, those will be the most memorable things about the show for most people.

 

DVD Review: Family Guy, Volume Ten

 

Volume 10 of Family Guy has the last half of the season 9 episodes (excluding the final Star Wars spoof episode "It's a Trap" which was released separately on DVD. I will not spend much time reviewing the episodes except to say that I do not think that they were, on the whole, as strong as they had been in prior seasons. The show still used the story of the week format, but there were a lot more of the offbeat episodes in this season (like the Brian and Stewie time travel episode, "The Big Bang Theory", and the episode that starts the whole Evil Santa story arc, "The Road to the North Pole").

The DVD extras include deleted scenes, scene animatics for scenes in different episodes, commentary tracks on selected episodes, and the Adam West Star Ceremony (getting his walk-of-fame star). So, if you like watching the extras, there is a lot there. Plus, you get the episodes uncensored. Overall, I would say that the show still has funny moments, but it as not as consistently funny as it has been in the past. Fox is definitely not putting a ton of effort into the DVD releases, but this is the last DVD set to contain just a partial season.

Product Review: Bragg Liquid Aminos, All Purpose Seasoning

 

This tastes pretty much exactly like soy sauce but provides amino acids, which soy sauce does not. It does taste pretty salty, so if you are used to low-sodium soy sauce it may be a bit strong for your tastes. In general, I would say if you do not use soy sauce on a regular basis, this may not be the best option because it will probably expire before you use it. But, if you do eat a lot of Asian food and do use soy sauce on a consistent basis, this is a good replacement.

Video Game Review: Batman: Arkham City - Game of The Year Edition

 

This is the second in the Arkham trilogy of games. It continues the storyline from the first game and expands the story with a power vacuum left in the wake of Joker's defeat. It is very challenging, even on the easiest difficulty level, and I would say even more challenging to get through than the first game. The graphics and gameplay experience are great, as you would expect, and like the first game, you can find new things and go down new paths every time you play it. It is a very enjoyable game, even if you are someone that does not play a lot of video games.

Product Review: Roland Foods White Miso Paste

 

I got this when I was doing Beachbody's ultimate cleanse, which allowed Miso soup as one of the handful of things that could be eaten on a regular basis during the cleanse. Unfortunately, no matter how much I tried to make it taste palatable I just could not handle more than a couple sips of it. For those who do like Miso, this is a big block and will probably go a long way for you and the price is reasonable. But, Miso is probably one of those things you will either love or hate, and there is really no way to know unless you try it.

Workout Update: Chalean Extreme Day 82

Day 82 was the final Burn it Off workout. It went pretty well. I was still modifying moves but pushing harder than I was able to the first week of the program. So, I can tell I am making progress, just very slow progress. I will have some time off from doing this workout for a few weeks as I will be doing the 1-2 Power 90 workouts for a month, then doing the Chalean Push Circuit workouts. 

Workout Update: Chalean Extreme Day 81

Day 81 of CE was the last Lean Circuit 3 workout. Much like the other workouts, I still found this one very challenging even after four weeks. Part of it were definitely a bit easier, but other parts of it were just as difficult as the first day that I did it.  I did hit the 12 rep max on a couple of the exercises, but definitely not as many as I hit on the final Lean Circuit 1 workout I did on Monday.

Streaming Series Review: Kenobi (episodes 1 and 2) (spoilers).

 

I just watched the first two episodes of the limited event series Kenobi, which has been much anticipated even before it was officially announced. As many may remember, when Disney took over Lucasfilm and announced a whole slew of Star Wars projects, it was anticipated that there would be an Obi-Wan-focused Star Wars Story movie set between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. After Disney ditched the idea of non-storyline movies after Solo tanked (which I believe was because it was released too close in time to The Last Jedi, which left a bad taste in many fan's mouths, and Solo, a good movie, got the backlash), its fate was left in Limbo. The project was resurrected as a mini-series to get a six-episode run on Disney +.

The plot has been a tight secret, but it has been known for a long time that Hayden Christensen would reprise his role as Darth Vader, and the trailers revealed the involvement of the Inquisitors, who are former Jedi that turned to the dark side but are not full Sith, who helped hunt down the rogue Jedi. If you watched the animated series Rebels, you are familiar with them. This series shows an inquisitor not seen in Rebels, Reva, played very well so far by Moses Ingram. 

The series starts out with Obi-Wan on Tatooine living under the name Ben, working a menial job to make ends meet, and cutting himself off from the force (which is a factor in episode 2). He watches Luke from afar (mainly because Owen wants nothing to do with him and wants him to stay away from Luke and let them live their lives) and goes out of his way to avoid being noticed by anyone. A trap is sprung that takes him reluctantly off of Tatooine and puts him on a collision course with the Inquisitors.  

+++Spoilers Here +++

The surprise inclusion in the show is young Leia. Reva has discovered that Obi-Wan helped Bail Organa during the Clone Wars and engineered Leia's kidnapping to draw Obi-Wan out, having no idea that she was actually the daughter of Anakin. Of course, Bail, knowing where Obi-Wan is, seeks out his help and Obi-Wan very reluctantly agrees to leave Tatooine to find Leia and bring her back to Alderaan. In a confrontation with Reva at the very end of the second episode, Obi-Wan learns that Anakin is alive. It is interesting that Reva (who was likely one of the younglings seen in the opening shot of the first episode recreating the attack on the Jedi temple) knows that Vader is Anakin, which is something that to this point in the canon (assuming you have read the novels) only Palpatine knows for sure, Thrawn figured out but did not accuse or point-blank ask Vader if it was true, and Tarkin suspected. So, it will be interesting to see if all the Inquisitors are aware of the fact that Vader is Anakin and if not, how Reva found out. 

The two big bright spots in the first couple of episodes are Obi-Wan's torment and young Leia. Ewan McGregor plays a broken Obi-Wan, who still has nightmares of his failure, very well. You can see the battle between wanting to help and wanting to remain anonymous and obscure, so much so that he buried his and Anakin's lightsabers in the middle of the desert and has not used the force in a decade. He finally uses the Force to save Leia when she falls off a building. Vivien Lyra Blair plays young Leia perfectly. She definitely channels Carrie Fisher's sass and spunk (especially as we see her in A New Hope), and she injected what little humor there was in the first two episodes and stole pretty much every scene she was in. The writers gave her way better material than Jake Lloyd ever got to work with in The Phantom Menace, and she is definitely the highlight of the series so far. 

Of course, we know that at some point in the series, there is going to be the inevitable rematch between Vader and Obi-Wan, most likely providing context to Vader's "Obi-Wan once thought as you did" line in Return of the Jedi. My guess is that this time it is going to be Vader who thinks Obi-Wan is dead to also provide context for his being taken aback at feeling Obi-Wan's presence on the Death Star in A New Hope. But, we will have to see how that plays out. But, the first two episodes have been great so far, and it will be interesting to see where it goes from here.

DVD/TV Series Review: Castle Season 5

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilers from the prior season but no major giveaways from season five.+++

The fifth season picks up with Castle and Beckett in the afterglow of finally hooking up and Beckett pretty hilariously sneaking out of Castle's place when Martha brings home a hungover Alexis. The season premiere also brings in the great Jack Coleman (from Heroes) and inserts him in a major way into the storyline involving Beckett's mother. The rest of the season manages to follow a similar case-of-the-week format that also weaves serial arcs in and out throughout the season. This season also includes the show's 100th episode which is a pretty hilarious take on the movie Rear Window. There is also an episode that has multiple nods to the series Firefly, including Fillion dressing up like his character Mal (and Alexis making fun of him for it). The show does a good job introducing obstacles and tension into the Castle-Beckett relationship to keep the show from getting stale after the leads finally get together.

The DVD extras include deleted scenes, a gag reel, a few behind-the-scenes featurettes, and commentary tracks on selected episodes. So, there is quite a bit of material for those who like going through the bonus features.

Overall, the series continues to be a good blend of drama a comedy. Fillion and Katic have very good onscreen chemistry in this season, and if the alleged personal issues that led to the end of the show had started between the two of them, it was not obvious in the episodes. The writing and acting were very good and the show ended on yet another cliffhanger. If you have liked the prior seasons of the show, you will probably still like this season. You definitely will want to watch the prior seasons before jumping into this one because, while the episodes are mostly self-contained, there is a lot of character development that has happened up to this point that is helpful to have seen.

DVD/TV Series Update: Family Guy Volume 9

 

Volume nine of Family Guy contains 11 episodes from Season 8 and 3 episodes from season 9. It does not include the episodes "Something, Something, Dark Side" (The Empire Strikes Back parody) or the season eight finale "Partial Terms of Endearment" which was released separately on DVD (for some reason). The show continues to follow the story (or stories) of the week format, so you really don't need to have seen prior episodes to get what is going on in a particular episode. Although, the show does make callbacks to old jokes every so often, which make more sense if you are a regular viewer.

The DVD extras include commentary tracks on some, but not all, episodes. It has a bunch of deleted scenes, several making-of featurettes, an excerpt from the 2010 Comic-Con panel, and an episode of The Cleveland Show that was a spin-off of Family Guy that ran for a handful of seasons. A good amount of material for people who like watching the bonus content.

Overall, the show follows the same format that it has for many seasons. By now people know if they like it or hate it. If you hate it, this will not change your mind. The DVD releases continue to be a pain with not releasing full seasons of the show in a single set and omitting episodes. But, if you prefer the physical discs over streaming if nothing else to get the uncensored episodes and the bonus content, it is your only option unless a complete series set is ever released once the show ends its run.

DVD/TV Series Review: Family Guy Volume 8

 

Volume Eight has episodes from season seven and season eight of Family Guy. As many may know, the first "season" of Family Guy was just seven episodes and season six was only twelve episodes. So, as the DVD released came out, they released volumes that had episodes from multiple seasons. For some reason instead of just releasing seasons one and two on a single set and then releasing the show season by season, they kept, up until season 13, releasing the DVDs in volumes that would have the final episodes of one season and the early and middle episodes of the next. It does not really detract from the show itself as it has always mostly been a story of the week kind of show that you do not need to remember much from prior shows to get what is going on in a particular episode.

The DVD extras are pretty similar to what has been released for the prior volumes. There are commentary tracks on most of the episodes, mainly with the writers and producers, but they occasionally include members of the cast. There are a bunch of deleted scenes, a featurette on the road to the multiverse episode in which Brian and Stewie enter different universes, including the Robot Chicken universe. There are also a bunch of Family Guy Karaoke musical numbers.

By now, anyone reading this likely knows what the show is and knows if they like the humor. It can definitely be offensive and makes jokes about nearly everything. I do not think that the show was as good by this time as it was in the first couple of seasons, but that said it still has some very funny moments, so if you are a fan, the set is definitely worth picking up.

Workout Update: Chaleane Extreme Day 80

Day 80 of CE was the Burn Intervals workout. It went fairly well. There were a couple of spots where I got very winded and had to slow down, but that was because I was pushing harder in other portions. Overall, I was able to push myself pretty well.

Workout Update: Chalean Extreme Day 79

Day 79 of CE was the Lean Circuit 2 workout. I was able to max out on a couple of the exercises, but for most of them, I was hitting 10 or 11 reps.  I was able to increase the weight on the plank rows and stay on my toes for all 12 reps on each arm. So, that was a good accomplishment. The last few shoulder exercises were still very tough, however. 

Book Review: State of Terror

 

This is a book that centers around the character of Ellen Adams, the new Secretary of State in the new administration that succeeded a dumpster fire of a prior administration. Adams is clearly based on Clinton and the previous President (who is described as egotistical and stupid) is clearly based on the former guy. The new President, President Williams, and Ellen Adams despise each other but end up having to put their animosity aside to uncover a terrorist plot that involves a series of coordinated bombings in Europe and a threat of bombs going off in the United States.

The book weaves things that are clearly based on real life with a healthy dose of fiction. The book in some ways is prophetic, even with the fictional material, pretty much predicting what would happen when America finally got out of Afghanistan (the book was written before it actually happened) and has a coup plot that is eerily similar to what is being discovered about some right-wing lawmakers and January 6th. Hopefully, the majority of the book's plot remains fiction, but the way things are going, who knows.

Overall, the book is mostly well-written and has an engaging plot that keeps readers interested. Of course, there are some who will never read it simply because Hillary Clinton is a co-author, and certainly, her political views are present in the book, so if you cannot separate your feelings about her or her politics and a work of fiction, then it is best to avoid this. Even though the book is a bit long (at just under 500 pages), it is a fairly easy read. I read fairly quickly and managed to get through it in about ten days mostly reading an hour or two at a time before bed. There are definitely some cliche plot points and it definitely has a couple of eye-rolling, "yeah right" moments. But for the most part, it is a good political thriller that is worth the read.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Dexter Season 7

 

+++Warning... this review will spoil the ending of season six and contain a minor season 7 spoiler, but there are no major giveaways about the plot of season seven.++++

The seventh season of Dexter picks up immediately where the season six finale ends, with Deb trying to find Dexter to confess her feelings to him and seeing Dexter kill Travis Marshall. He gives her a story that he snapped, but Deb suspects otherwise and asks Dexter if he is a serial killer, and he admits everything to her. The rest of the season is really about Deb balancing protecting Dexter while trying to help him stop. This season also introduces the character of Hannah McKay (played by Chuck's Yvonne Strahovski) who was an underaged accomplice to her boyfriend's killing spree, who now, as an adult has agreed to testify against him in return for immunity from prosecution. Dexter suspects there is more to the story than what she claims and begins a dangerous dance with her. He also has to keep up appearances at work as LaGuerta is convinced the Bay Harbor Butcher is still alive and that Doakes was set up.

For those who get the Blu-Ray set, the AV quality is great. The extras are horrible however as the only extra is the pilot episode for Ray Donavan, which is fine, but there should be at least some Dexter-specific extras. So really, at this point, the only reason to get the Blu-Ray set over streaming the show (unless you greatly prefer having the physical discs) is to keep your collection complete.

Overall, the season is good. It does diverge a bit from the "big bad" that Dexter has to stop (at least somewhat) but adds multiple layers of tension into the show, especially for the character of Deb. Jennifer Carpenter does a great job playing Deb torn between being a good cop and protecting her brother, whom she loves both as the step-brother she grew up with and more. The character of Hannah caused a lot of debate among fans. Some hated the character with a passion. I actually thought she was a good character, and Strahovski (whom I loved on Chuck) did a great job portraying the character. I think she introduced even more tension into the Dexter-Deb relationship and really tested Dexter's loyalties in a similar way to how Dexter tested Deb's. The season ends on a major cliffhanger yet again and sets up the eighth season well.

DVD/TV Series Review: Family Guy Volume 7

 

Volume seven of Family guy again includes episodes from two different seasons, the final handful of season six episodes, and nine of the season seven episodes. The episodes play with uncensored audio tracks, which basically means f-bombs are not bleeped out, but you can also watch the censored broadcast versions from the disc menu. By now the show has been around long enough that if you are reading this you know if you like it or not. I will not spend a ton of time on reviewing the episodes, just to say that they pretty much just follow the story (or stories) of the week format that the show is known for. There are not really any episodes in this set that I would consider all that noteworthy, but the final episode of the disc did a riff on OJ Simpson (this was around the time of his Las Vegas arrest) in which Peter cashes in a raffle ticket in which he won a golf outing with Simpson.

As far as DVD extras go, each episode has a commentary track and there are deleted scenes for most of the episodes. There are animatic versions of three episodes that also have commentary tracks, and then four featurettes, including a portion of the 2008 comic-con panel.

Ultimately, Family Guy is a show that people tend to love or hate. If you love the show you will probably like this set, even if you do not like (or love) it as much as you did earlier seasons. On the other hand, if you have never liked the show, you are probably not going to change your mind because of anything on this DVD.

Workout Update: Chalean Extreme Day 78

Day 78 of CE was the Recharge workout again. Nothing new to report on this one. I decided that my next workout regime is going to be a hybrid of Power-90 and Chaleane. I am going to do a month of the 1-2 workouts, then the CE Push Phase lifting with the Power-90 1-2 cardio, and then a month of the 3-4 workouts. I am going to add Recharge into the mix as a yoga workout to work my way up to P90X's hour and a half of Yoga. 

DVD/TV Series Review: Family Guy Volume 6

 

Volume Six of Family Guy is still at the point where the DVDs had episodes from two different seasons. In this case, Volume Six has the last five episodes of season five, then starts with the second episode of season six (the first episode of the season was the Star Wars spoof/homage, Blue Harvest, which was released separately on DVD), with episodes 2-8 of season six. Needless to say, it is hard to keep straight and something that they even joked about in the show. This volume contains the 100th episode of the series, Stewie Kills Lois, in which Stewie is actually successful (seemingly at least) at taking out Lois which was a huge theme for the show in the first couple of seasons.

The DVD does have a ton of extras. There is a commentary track on every episode, and this was released at a time when Seth McFarlane still participated in the commentary tracks and he is on almost every one of them. Then there are deleted scenes, a couple of featurettes on the 100th episode, a favorite scenes featurette, and a Family Guy Live segment that is basically a live table read.

At this point in the show, it had found its formula and stuck to it. It is mainly a story of the week but it does do callbacks from time to time. The humor does not change much, but it was around the 5th season that the series was clearly far less edgy than it was when it first aired. Realistically, it had been watered down from the time it came back after the initial cancelation. So, I cannot say that everyone who loved the show in seasons 1-3 are necessarily going to love the show at this point, but I still think it has enough funny moments to be worth watching.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: The Bourne Legacy

 

This movie was a mostly failed attempt to expand the Bourne universe beyond Matt Damon's character when Damon did not want to return for another movie. Of course, Damon eventually came back to the character and the spin-off was pretty much relegated to the dust bin of history.

The Bourne Legacy takes place at the same time as the previous film, The Bourne Ultimatum. Jeremey Renner stars as Aaron Cross who is a member of a black ops program called Operation Outcome whose subjects are genetically enhanced. Cross is stationed in a remote outpost in Alaska, and after the Treadstone operation is burned by Bourne, the government starts eliminating all traces of it and Operation Outcome, which means trying to take Cross out. Of course, that does not go to plan and what follows from there is pretty similar to the prior installments of the franchise.

Opinions on the quality of the movie seem to vary a lot. I think it was pretty good, but not great. It kept faithful to the original movies, yet was not totally derivative. That said, the chases and the whole feel of the government trying to track down a rogue agent were very much the same as the prior movies. It did have a great cast including Rachel Weisz, Edward Norton, and Oscar Isaac, and had clips of Damon, Albert Finney, and Joan Allen.

The movie looks and sounds very good in the HD format and there are a lot of extras. Those include a commentary track on the movies by the directors and members of the production crew. Then there are deleted scenes and several featurettes that run from just under two minutes to almost eight minutes. All in all, about an hour's worth of extras (give or take) separate from the commentary track.

Overall, the movie was a good attempt at expanding the Bourne Universe. I think Renner, Weisz, and Norton did a good job as the leads and would have liked to have seen additional movies with their involvement, even with Cross and Bourne teaming up. Chances are, that is not going to come to pass and this is going to be a one-off movie, even if Damon decides to do another movie after "Jason Bourne" which is becoming more unlikely as time goes by.

Workout Update: Chalean Extreme Day 77

Day 77 of CE was the last Lean Circuit 1 workout. I actually (finally) managed to hit the 12 rep max on most of the exercises. And, my balance on some of the exercises performed on one leg is getting better. It was still very challenging but definitely gets easier by the final week. 

Workout Update: Chalean Extreme Day 76

Day 76 was the Recharge workout again. Hamstring flexibility is improving again. I could actually get down into a crouch (finally) not just kind of bending my knees in the forward fold moves in the beginning. It is kind of hard to tell that it does that much when you are doing it since the workout only lasts 22 minutes, but doing it twice a week for the better part of three months has definitely helped.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: The Dark Knight Rises

 

This is the third and final movie in the Nolan Batman trilogy. The movie is set years down the line from the events of The Dark Knight. Batman has essentially disappeared and Bruce Wayne has become a crippled shut-in, hobbled by injuries from years as Batman. Of course, those two things do not seem to correlate as (seemingly) nobody has any idea who Batman is. However, Gordon who knows (and carries with him an admission) of Batman's innocence in the killings that Two-Face committed, is not exactly looking to track Batman down. When a new threat in the form of Bane (played by Tom Hardy, who got absolutely jacked for the movie) emerges and threatens the city, Bruce must yet again don the cape and cowl. The movie also includes Catwoman/Selena Kyle, played wonderfully by Anne Hathaway, but much differently than how Michelle Pfeiffer played the role in Batman Returns.

There are a ton of Blu-Ray extras. There is a screen app integration that is kind of like a picture-in-picture track that can be played with the movie that acts kind of like a commentary track and kind of like a behind-the-scenes look at making the film. But it is very clunky to use. On the second Blu-Ray disc, which just has extras, there is a feature on ending the trilogy that is split into three main parts, each part having several individual sections. All of the material is very interesting and well worth watching, and in total is probably as long (or longer) in running time than the movie itself.

Overall, the trilogy was wrapped up very well. The ending was a bit forced for me, and takes a lot of suspension of disbelief, beyond what you already have to have for a movie like this. It was very well-acted and had tie-ins to the first movie. Caine's role as Alfred and Freeman's role as Fox was reduced in this movie, but Oldman did a great job playing a guilt-riddled Jim Gordon. I know that some people felt the reveal at the end of who was working with Bane was forced but did not mind it. While it was not, in my opinion, as good as The Dark Knight, I think it provided a fitting end to the trilogy and is definitely worth the pickup on Blu-Ray (or on 4K UHD now that it is available in that format).

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Bound (1996)

 

Bound is a mid-1990s erotic thriller written and directed by the Wachowskis, before they made The Matrix. It is kind of an independent darling movie that stars Gina Gershon as Corky, an ex-con hired to renovate an apartment in an upscale apartment building, and Jennifer Tilly as Violet, the girlfriend of a money-launderer for the mob named Ceasar (played by Joe Pantoliano). The first part of the movie basically builds the sexual tension between Tilly and Gershon, and then the second part involves the two trying to steal a bunch of money from Ceasar (and hence the mob). The movie was fairly controversial when it was released mainly due to the sex scene between Tilly and Gershon, which would not be a big deal at all today.

The Blu-Ray itself is very bare-bones. It just has the two versions of the movie (the R-Rated cut and the unrated cut (which shows a bit more of the main sex scene). There are no extras like the commentary track and featurettes that were released on older DVD editions of the movie.

Overall, the movie is good, but not great. It is definitely predictable in parts and aside from the fact that the two main characters were women, there was nothing all that unique about the story. It does have a mix of drama and suspense with a bit of humor mixed in. The acting was okay. Pantoliano really carries the heavy acting load in the movie, as Tilly pretty much did the breathy thing she does in every movie (and had her tits pushed up to her chin most of the time), and while Gershon did a good job with her role, hers was not written all that well. I would not describe the movie as a must-see, but it is worth watching if you are looking for something in the dramatic thriller genre.

4kUHD/Movie Review: Captain Marvel

 

Captain Marvel is a much better movie than it gets credit for. The movie is set in 1995 and serves as an origin story not only for Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel, but also for Fury, to some extent Coulson, and the entire Avenger initiative. At the beginning of the movie, we see Danvers (played by Brie Larson) already with her powers believing herself to be a member of the Kree race and fighting a war with a race of beings called the Skrulls, whom she believed had her memory erased. After a battle with the Skrulls, she ends up on Earth and meets Nick Fury, played of course by ‎Samuel L. Jackson, who was de-aged using CGI, who is at that time just a grunt SHEILD officer. Then the movie is about Carol regaining her memory and figuring out how powerful she really is. The rest of the cast is rounded out by Ben Mendelsohn, Lashana Lynch, Jude Law, Djimon Hounsou, Lee Pace (making a cameo appearance as Ronan), Annette Bening, and Clark Gregg (who is also de-aged using CGI).

If you watch the MCU movies in chronological order, this one is the second movie in the sequence after the first Captain America. If you watch them in release order, it was the twenty-first movie and the one that comes just before Avengers Endgame. In some ways, the storyline makes more sense if you watch them chronologically, but on the other hand, this movie was really meant to be a flashback after the storyline and characters were established to see how everything started. So, watching it second without all the other movies to set it up I do think takes something away from it. Plus, the mid-credits scene only makes sense if you have seen Infinity War first, and without seeing Guardians of the Galaxy, Ronan does not have as much gravitas as he is intended to have.

For those who get the 4k set, the movie looks and sounds great in the UHD format. The UHD disc just has the movie itself, and then all the other extras are on the regular Blu-Ray disc. There are about 25 minutes of behind-the-scenes featurettes, about 10 minutes of deleted scenes, a short gag reel, and then a commentary track on the movie by the directors. What was included was okay, but it definitely does not has as many extras as some of the other movies received.

As I said above, the movie is better than it gets credit for, and a lot of the shit it gets is undeserved. It has a good mix of action and humor, with bits of drama mixed in as well. Larson and Jackson have great chemistry and really seem to enjoy working together, and the supporting cast all did a great job no matter how large or small their role is. The beginning of the movie also had great dedication to Stan Lee who passed away after the movie was shot but before it was released. And, it features a great 1990s soundtrack which will definitely give anyone who grew up in the 90s a major jolt of nostalgia. It does go a bit overboard on the girl-power thing in a couple of spots, but I don't think it is worth getting apoplectic over like some of the reviewers seem to. Those who think Larson's acting was wooden do not get that the character was written the way she played her, and why the character was written the way it was. Nor do they appreciate the dry humor, which Larson nails perfectly. While I would not say it was the best of the MCU movies, it is also do not think that it is the worst. Of course, that is totally subjective and there is a wide range of opinions on the quality. I definitely recommend it.