Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Parts 1 and 2 (2-Movie Ultimate Edition)

 

+++Warning, this contains a minor spoiler from the previous movie and book. So, if you have not seen or read "The Half-Blood Prince", proceed with caution. ++++

This is the Ultimate Edition of the last two Harry Potter movies, which split the last book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, into two movies. In the first movie, Harry, Hermonie, and Ron, try to track down the remaining Horcruxes (with a bit of help from items that Dumbledore bequeathed to them in his will), while trying to evade the death eaters. The second movie is the showdown between Harry and Voldemort which takes place at Hogwarts. I will not spend a ton of time reviewing the movies themselves as most people who are likely to read this by now have seen the movies and/or read the books multiple times. However, as you can imagine, not every character makes it out unscathed, and more characters, including major ones, die in the movie. The movies do deviate some from the books. I would say that Part I follows the story from the book's first half closer than Part II follows the book's second half. I do think that the final battle (and the setup to it) at Hogwarts, including everything involving Snape and the Harry v. Voldemort confrontation, is done better in the movie than it was in the book.

The A/V quality of the Blu-Ray transfer was great. The parts of the movie where the scenes were visually dark (and there are a lot of them) are very dark in the transfer, but in the portions where it was not, the colors really pop, and it shows off the great cinematography. And, the special effects look nearly seamless. Where the set really shines is in all the extras and bonus material you get. First, there are two physical extras in the package. A set of lenticular image cards and a hardcover book with images from all the different movies showing how the actors literally grew up during the course of filming the movies. As for the discs, there are six in all, each movie on a Blu-Ray disc and a DVD disc, and then two Blu-Rays with extras/bonus features, one for each movie.

Each movie allows you to play them in Maximum Movie Mode, in which picture-in-picture behind-the-scenes material pops up during scenes as well as sidebar "focus points" that have some interactive material while you watch the movie. For extras, each movie has over two hour's worth of making-of and behind-the-scenes featurettes, deleted scenes (11-minutes for part 1, and 7-minutes for part 2), then there is an almost hour-long conversation between J.K Rowling and Daniel Radcliff, a preview of the Pottermore website, the trailers, and more. So, if you like going through extras, there is a TON there for you, all of it very good.

Overall, the set is really for the most hardcore Harry Potter fans, because you are going to be paying much more than just getting the individual movies, but you get a lot more. My only real quibble is that unlike the Ultimate Edition sets for the first couple of movies in which the deleted scenes were incorporated into the movies in an extended edition of the movie, on this one (as well as I believe movies 3-6) there is no extended edition. You can only watch the deleted scenes separately and not see how they would have been incorporated into the movies. It is only a small nitpicky point about an otherwise perfect set, and not worth dropping it down a star, but it would have been nice if both the theatrical versions and extended versions of the movies were included. But, if you are a fan of the Harry Potter franchise, this is well worth the pickup.

DVD/TV Series Review: FBI Season 3

 

Season three of FBI was another short season due to the covid pandemic, this time because production started later in the year than usual. So, this season only has fifteen episodes as opposed to a normal twenty-two-episode run. There is more cast turnover this season with Ebonee Noel and Catherine Haena Kim leaving the show and Katherine Renee Turner joining the cast as FBI Special Agent Tiffany Wallace who is a former NYPD officer and White Collar Division agent.

The show mostly follows the case-of-the-week procedural format that the prior two seasons have, although there are a couple of episodes in which the story arcs and the "bad guy" tie together. The covid pandemic is referenced from time to time, but it is not a main theme of the show at all. The show does play on real-life events including the protests against the police that occurred throughout the country and dug deep into the archives to have an episode that played on the investigation and capture of the Unabomber. The series continues to be well-written and acted. There is a lot of violence but nothing too gory, and there is really no sexual content beyond some kissing. The show still does not delve a ton into the characters' personal lives, but it still does a good job with character development and making viewers get invested, either positively or negatively, in the characters.

If you want the DVD set you will have to pay for an import as the DVDs are not released in Region 1 (the US and Canada), which means that you also need either a region 2 or region-free DVD or Blu-Ray player to watch them on. The DVDs are basically a MOD set that has a few different language options (German, English, and French) and does have captions, but there are no extras like behind-the-scenes features, deleted scenes, or anything like that. So, if you only get DVDs when there are a lot of extras, you may just want to stream this one because you will not get anything more by purchasing the DVD set.

Product Review: iRobot Authentic Replacement Parts- Clean Base Automatic Dirt Disposal Bags, 3-Pack

 

I have no problem with the bags, they are small, but they do what they are supposed to. My main issue is that you need to use them at all (other robot vacuums with auto-empty features do not use bags and just have a bin that you empty when it gets full, and you can tell when it is full without having to be told through the app or via the clean base), AND, that the clean bases often experience problems in which it thinks that the bag is full even if you have just replaced the bag. So, ultimately, the bags are an unnecessary expense in the first place, and if your clean base goes on the fritz they may ultimately become useless because it will think a brand new bag is full.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Fringe Season 3

 

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

Season three of Fringe picks up with fake Olivia, or Fauxlivia as she will be known, having infiltrated the Fringe team in "this" universe, while the real Olivia is thrown in solitary confinement in the alternate universe. This season we find out exactly what Peter's backstory is and the show jumps between the two different universes seeing Fringe cases being solved by the respective teams in each. This means a lot of heavy lifting by all of the actors who essentially have to play two different versions of themselves. All of the actors, especially John Noble do a great job at this task. Walter from our universe and "Walternate" from the alternate universe are two completely different characters and John Noble plays them both expertly. While the show does retain some of its procedural case-of-the-week aspects, it has mostly transitioned to a serial with a very complex story arc that requires that you have at least watched everything in season two to really understand. And, from season three on, you really cannot just watch random episodes and hope to understand everything that is going on because the larger story arcs dominate the show.

The A/V quality of the Blu-Rays is very. The show is very effects-heavy and they look as good on the show as they do in most movies. The extras are not as extensive as what was on the releases for the prior seasons. There are commentary tracks for two episodes and a picture-in-picture viewing mode for the episode "Os". Then on the final disc, there are about seven making-of documentaries that vary in length from about four minutes to almost ten minutes and a gag reel. So, still, a decent amount if you like watching the bonus features.

Overall, the season is very strong. It does, in some respects, take the series in a bit of a different direction. The show we get in season three is much different than it was in season one, but the writers do a good job of tying the current story arcs back to things we saw in the first two seasons, so it does, if you pay attention, make sense. The show continues to be very well acted, with Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson, and John Noble each being awesome in the lead roles, as well as having a strong supporting cast. If you are a fan of the sci-fi genre, this is definitely a show worth watching, but you absolutely need to watch the first two seasons before jumping into this one.

Workout Update: Power-90/Chalean Extreme Hybrid: Day 16

Day 16 was the sculpt 1-2 workout. I was able to hit 10 reps on some of the moves and again got deeper into the push-ups. I can actually hold the push-ups for a beat at the bottom and at the top as Tony shows in the video. I cannot get all the way to the floor when doing them on my toes, but I am definitely getting closer to doing so.

Workout Update: Power-90/Chalean Extreme Hybrid: Day 15

Day 15 was the sweat 1-2 and abs workout. There were a couple of points where I did have to pause because I got a bit winded, but I also think I was pushing myself harder during the workout. So, it was a bit of a tradeoff. I was able to get through the ab-ripper workout without pausing and had better form on the moves that I tend to struggle with. So, overall, it was a good workout. 

Streaming Series Review: Obi-Wan Kenobi Episode 4 (spoilers)

                               

Episode 4 starts out with Obi-Wan and Vader in bacta tanks recalling the events of the third episode and the "duel" between the two. When Ben comes to, he finds out that Leia has been captured and taken to Fortress Inquistorious, located on a water moon in the Mustafar system. Tala agrees to help him mount a rescue, using her Imperial credentials to help Obi-Wan break in and rescue Leia. 

This episode is really all about Ben starting to find his power again. He begins to tap into the force, use his lightsaber, and recapture some of the skills that he had clearly lost, as was evident in his confrontation with Vader. Meanwhile, Reva interrogates Leia in scenes that were clearly meant to tie in with A New Hope. One curious thing is that, when Reva tries to read Leia's mind, she is unable to do so, commenting on the fact that Leia is strong, but apparently never considering that Leia is force-sensitive. The episode ends with Ben, Tala, and Leia successfully escaping, but with a tracker in place which Reva slipped into Leia's droid. In all the reviews of the episode I have read I have yet to see any that mention that this is a clear setup to what Vader has done to the Falcon in A New Hope, and probably how Leia knew that they were being tracked after escaping the Death Star. 

This is the shortest episode of the series so far, clocking in at just over half an hour. Vivien Lyra Blair continues to do a great job as young Leia, definitely channeling Carrie Fisher's personality and sass, and Ewan McGregor continues to shine as Obi-Wan. You can definitely see the path that the show is setting up for the final two episodes, but the writers are doing a good job keeping exactly how they are going to get there a mystery. 

Workout Update: Power-90/Chalean Extreme Hybrid: Day 14

Day 14 was the Chalean Extreme Recharge workout. It went well and my flexibility continues to very slowly increase, as is my strength. Holding myself up in downward dog for the entire minute plus is getting easier as time goes on, and I can get deeper into almost all the stretches. 

4k-UHD/Movie Review: The Incredible Hulk

 

The Incredible Hulk was the second movie released in what would become the massive MCU. Iron Man had been a big hit, but it was not at all clear that the MCU would evolve into the huge franchise that it ultimately become. This movie, both in tone and in terms of the cast feels very disconnected from the rest of the MCU. This movie starred Edward Norton as Bruce Banner/The Hulk and co-starred Liv Tyler as Betty Ross, William Hurt as General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross (who would be the only actor from the cast to be included in the rest of the MCU), and Tim Roth as Emil Blonsky a commando that General Ross brings in to capture Banner. The movie eschews that typical origin story, showing everything the audience needs to know about the set-up in the opening credits. Then we see Bruce hiding in Brazil trying to find a way to cure himself of The Hulk. I will not spoil the rest of the movie for anyone who has not seen it, but it is a good blend of action and drama and ends in a huge monster fight at the end of the movie.

For those who get the 4k disc, the movie looks and sounds great in the UHD format. It is a definite upgrade from the regular Blu-Ray version. The cinematography really pops, especially the landscape in Brazil, in the UHD format. This is a two-disc set. The UHD disc just has the movie, which can be played with the commentary track with director Louis Leterrier and Tim Roth. The commentary is pretty good, but Leterrier and Roth do tend to go off on a lot of tangents. The rest of the extras are on the regular Blu-Ray disc, and those include an alternate opening sequence, about 40-minutes worth of deleted and extended scenes, a 30-minute making-of documentary, and four other featurettes that range from just over six minutes to just under thirty minutes. There are also several u-control interactive features. So, if you like going through bonus features, this gives you a lot.

While the movie does get shit on a lot, it is much better than it gets credit for. I personally like it better than the Ang Lee version of The Hulk, which had only been released a handful of years prior to this one. The CGI had come a long way since that movie, and the CGI Hulk looked a lot more realistic. Of course, there was still a debate going on whether they should CGI The Hulk or use a real actor, a-la Lou Ferrigno from the TV series. Using a CGI Hulk works a lot better (in my opinion) because they can actually make him nine feet tall and do not have to shoot him from below or with a special lens to make the actor look bigger as they did with Ferrigno. The movie has a lot of easter eggs that reference the TV series from the Danger sign, the "lonely man" theme, a reference to David Banner, and more. Lou Ferrigno had a small cameo (as well as being able to voice The Hulk, which he did not do in the TV series), and they found a way to include Bill Bixby (who of course had passed away by the time the movie was made) for a split second. 

Marvel was definitely still finding its legs with this movie. There was not a post-credits scene, but the final scene of the movie did act to further the MCU storyline. If you watch the movies in chronological order, this is actually the fifth movie in the sequence behind, Captain America, Captain Marvel, Iron Man, and Iron Man 2. In release order, this was the second movie that was released later the same year as Iron Man, and it was not a foregone conclusion that The Avengers story arc would ever pan out. Personally, I like Norton's portrayal of Banner more than I like Ruffalo in the role. Not that Ruffalo is bad, but I just think Norton's version is better. Rumors have it that Norton was a huge pain in the ass during the production of the movie, including insisting on making his own re-writes, which ultimately led to him being replaced. Obviously, the MCU survived without him, but I would have liked him to stay in the role. The movie was clearly setting up a sequel that never panned out, and at this point probably never will. But, if you have seen the trailer for She-Hulk, you know Tim Roth is being brought back in some capacity, so it is possible that more characters can be brought back. It is probably the most overlooked MCU movie, but it is very good and worth watching.

CD/Music Review: Pink - Funhouse

 

This is the album that Pink released after her marriage had (briefly) fallen apart, and most of the songs like So What, Please Don't Leave Me, which, along with Funhouse, are the songs that probably got the most airplay clearly depict the range of emotions that she went through when writing the songs for the album. The album, like most of her albums, includes songs that are a mix of styles-- from ballads to more of the hip-hop-infused songs she is known for. I would say that this one has more ballads than most of her other albums have had on it. Personally, I think the best songs are ones that did not get as much airplay including Sober, I Don't Believe You, One Foot Wrong, and Glitter in the Air, but there is not really a bad song among the bunch. So, if you are a fan of Pink, this is definitely worth a listen, and the songs hold up well even a decade down the line.

DVD/TV Series Review: The Flash (1990) Complete Series

 

This was, as of 1990, the latest attempt to produce a comic book superhero show on network TV, which had happened over the years, with varying degrees of success (e.g., the George Reeve's Superman series in the 1950s, the Incredible Hulk and Wonder Woman series in the 1970s, and Superboy in the 1980s). This one aired on CBS and was totally an attempt to capitalize on the popularity of the 1989 Batman movie. In fact, the soundtrack for the series was very similar to the score used in the Batman movie, even sounding nearly identical at times.

This starred John Wesley Shipp as Barry Allen, who is a forensic scientist working for the Central City police, is struck by lightning and doused in chemicals in his lab giving him super speed. He is joined by Research scientist Dr. Tina McGee (played by Amanda Pays) who works at S.T.A.R. Labs and helps Barry fight crime while trying to understand how his powers are developing. Unlike the current version of The Flash running on the CW, this one is a procedural case/villain of the week show and does not have the larger story arcs from the comics like Barry's dad being in jail for the murder of his wife, or elements like that. It also never clearly defines the relationship between Barry and Tina. In one episode they would clearly have a relationship as just colleagues and in the next, they would be made out as potential love interests, and it would swing back and forth. The was also no real "big bad" in the series, although Mark Hamill was being built up as one playing The Trickster.

The DVD set is very bare-bones. It does have captions, but there are not really any extras or bonus material, just the episodes themselves. I do believe that the series is available on some streaming services, so if you only buy physical discs when there are a lot of extras available, you may want to go that route.

Overall, the series was good and really better than it gets credit for. It was definitely still finding its footing at the time it was canceled, and CBS pretty quickly juggled what days it was aired on, and given the smaller fan base that the comic book shows tend to have, and it kind of just ended with a whimper. Of course, the series was brought into the Arrowverse (which I argue could also be called the Smallvilleverse) during the Crisis on Infinite Earth's storyline. John Wesley Shipp did play different characters on the Arroverse's version of The Flash, including playing other Universe's versions of The Flash, but it was in Crisis in which we saw him as the 1990 version of the character. So, while the series did not get a proper ending (since it was canceled after the 22 episodes had aired) the character does get a conclusion in the Arrowverse. It is definitely worth watching.

Product Review: National Computation Pad, 5 x 5 Quad Ruling and Unruled, 8.5" x 11", Engineering Paper 200 Sheets

 

I purchased this because my Statics teacher required the use of Engineering paper for our homework, and liked it so much that I used it for all of my other Engineering classes, whether the professors said we had to use it or not. It is very durable and not flimsy like other engineering papers are (I did make the mistake of trying another brand before switching back to this), and it does not have a ton of bleed-through if you use the opposite side of it to write on, which if you do remote learning is an issue when scanning your homework. The only negative I experienced with this is that the cardboard backing falls off almost immediately. That was not a huge deal for me and did not affect my use of it, but it is worth noting that will probably happen. Overall, however, it was very good and I recommend it.

4K-UHD/Movie Review: Iron Man 2

 

Iron Man 2 is, if you are watching the movies in chronological order, the fourth movie in the timeline after Captain America: The First Avenger, Captain Marvel, and the first Iron Man. In release order, it was the third movie released after the original Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk. The movie is set six months down the line from Tony Stark's "I am Iron Man" revelation. We find out early in the movie that the palladium that he is using to power the arc reactor in his chest is killing him, so part of the movie is about Tony trying to find a solution to that, and the other part of the movie involves the main bad guy, Ivan Vanko, played by Mickey Rourke, whose father worked with Tony's father Howard Stark to develop the arc reactor and was fired from Stark Industries without getting credit. Vanko tries to get revenge against Tony and becomes the villain Whiplash in the process.

The big casting change in the movie was replacing Terrance Howard with Don Cheadle playing Rhody, and the addition of Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (who is introduced as Natalie, an assistant at Stark Industries). The movie also brings back Gweneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts, Jon Favreau, both as the director and playing Happy Hogan, and brings in Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer, a second-rate weapons developer who is trying to fill the void left by Stark Industries no longer developing weapons for the military. It also expands the roles of Coulson and Nick Fury from the small role for Coulson and the post-credits cameo for Fury in the first movie.

The 4k Transfer on the movie is good, but not extraordinary. It is an upgrade from the original Blu-Ray and better than the transfer that the first Iron Man film got in its 4k-UHD release, but it is not as good a transfer as other movies have gotten, which is disappointing given that the movie was shot on digital and while it is about 12 years old now, is not ancient. The extras include a commentary track on the movie by Favreau and a SHIELD data vault that can play the movie with pop-ups that will provide additional information on some of the scenes. The video clips can be watched separately as well. Then there is an interactive picture and text gallery that gives bios on characters from Iron Man and Hulk and SHEILD reports on the events from the three movies. Then there are previs and animatics that can be played in a picture-in-picture mode during the movie. NOTE that not all of the extras from the original Blu-ray release are included on this. It does not have the making-of documentary or deleted scenes. So, you will want to keep your original Blu-Ray release if you got that one if you want all of the extras.

The commentary track is one of the better DVD commentaries that touches on not only the process of making the movie but the giving hints about the larger MCU story (as much as he could divulge anyway). He also made what, at the time, was a prophetic statement about the fact that streaming would overtake DVD and that only collectors would get movies on physical discs (which is basically where things are at now).

Overall, the movie is very good. It is not as good as the original, but a worthy follow-up. Robert Downey Jr. continues to nail the role of Tony Stark, playing him with the right amount of narcissism and evolving hero. Rockwell does a great job, and Gary Shandling has an awesome extended cameo role. The movie also sets up the next movie in the sequence (especially in the post-credits scene) expanding the ever-evolving MCU.

Workout Update: Power-90/Chalean Extreme Hybrid: Day 13

Day 13 was the sculpt 1-2 workout again. I definitely saw significant progress in this one. First of all, I was finally able to start getting deeper into the push-ups when using push-up stands, which I prefer because doing them on my hands is tough on my wrist, especially my left one which I broke badly when I was a kid. Second, I was able to hit the ten rep max on many, but not all, of the exercises, which will mean an increase in weight next time. So, I felt really good about the workout and really felt I was pushing myself more. I broke a nice sweat during the workout which I almost never do during lifting workouts. 

CD/Music Review: Pink - The Truth About Love

 

Pink rose to fame about the same time as Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, but she was always very different from either of them (or any of the other young female pop stars of the time) and always set herself apart from them. Even early on, Pink's version of pop was much different from others and it has expanded and evolved as she has gotten older. She still does some of the hip-hop-infused or at least inspired stuff that she did early on, but expands into very personal ballads and songs that are definitely based on her relationships. 

This album has a little bit of everything in terms of sound, ranging from "Try", which is closer to a ballad, to more upbeat numbers like "Here Comes the Weekend." In my opinion, the three best tracks on the album are Blow Me (One Last Kiss), Try, and Just Give Me a Reason, which are the second, third, and fourth tracks on the album respectively. Even though those are my favorite songs on the album there is really not a bad track among the bunch. Like most of her albums, this is not something that you would want young kids listening to because she does swear and sing about sex, unashamedly. So, if you are a fan of Pink, this one is definitely worth listening to.

DVD/TV Series Review: The Client List

 

The TV series on Lifetime, like the movies, can vary in quality quite a bit. This one, adapted from a movie of the same name, is one of the better ones. It stars Jennifer Love Hewitt as a single parent named Riley Parks, whose husband left her and her two children, leaving her in a precarious financial position and in danger of losing her house. Riley is hired at a local massage parlor called "The Rub" as a massage therapist which she discovers, quickly, is a front for a quasi-prostitution ring, in which the staff can make extra money by providing a happy ending for the clients. While Riley is reluctant at first, she decides to partake and ends up making money hand over fist, much to the dismay of those in her personal life, which she fights to keep separate from her day job.

Essentially, the show has two parallel story arcs. One of those is that of Riley's personal life that she is trying to put back together after being abandoned by her husband, which includes developing complicated feelings for her brother-in-law, Evan, played by Colin Egglesfield, who also has feelings for her, and the other being her life at the massage parlor. The show is not as seedy as you would think, given the line of work Riley is in. Yes, JLH is shown in a lot of cleavage-baring outfits and there is a lot of sexual suggestion, but, what is actually shown is pretty tame even when compared to what is shown on some other basic cable shows (and like a Disney movie compared to what you see on shows like Game of Thrones). The show has a strong supporting cast including Cybill Shepherd who plays Riley's mother, Rebecca Field as Lacy, Riley's best friend, Greg Grunberg as Lacy's husband, Loretta Devine as the owner of The Rub, and Alicia Lagano as Selena Ramos, a masseuse at the parlor who recommended the masseuse job to Riley, but becomes jealous of Riley after she starts working at The Rub.

JLH and Cybill Shepard also starred in the Client List TV movie, but the names of their characters were different and the story in the movie was slightly different from the story in the series. The series was an adaptation of the TV movie, which itself was based on a true story, but the series was not a continuation of the TV movie.

The extras on the DVD set are meager. Just some outtakes and deleted scenes. No other behind-the-scenes features or commentary tracks. So, if you are one who only gets physical discs when there are a lot of extras, this does not have a lot to offer. But, I have not seen the show streaming on any of the major services (I am not sure if it is on any of the free streaming services or has been added to the major services lately), so that may play a role in whether you decide to pick this up. Overall, it is a good series that has themes beyond just the sex-work aspect of the show and is worth watching.

DVD/TV Series Review: FBI: Most Wanted Season 1

 

This is one of the latest shows in the huge Wolf production machine that includes Law & Order and its various spin-offs and the One-Chicago series (Chicago Fire. PD. and Med). This one was spun off from FBI after just one season. It actually introduced some of the characters in a backdoor pilot episode in Season one of FBI and has a two-episode crossover with its parent show about halfway through the season.

The series stars Julian McMahon (who appeared on Charmed, Nip/Tuck, and the original Fantastic Four movies) as agent Jess LeCroix, as the head of a team that tracks down people who end up on the FBI's most-wanted list. The team includes Kellan Lutz (best known for his role in the Twilight movies), Keisha Castle-Hughes (who is recognizable for a small role in Star Wars Episode III and a larger role in Game of Thrones), Nathaniel Arcand as Clinton Skye, who is an FBI special agent and Jess' brother-in-law, and Roxy Sternberg (who was on the short-lived series Emerald City and the limited event series Mars).

Like the parent show, this is a case-of-the-week show in which some crime occurs before the main titles, and then the team is brought in to track down the fugitive. Unlike the parent show, we get more of a glimpse into the personal lives of the characters, especially Jess' family life. We find out he was married to a Native American service member who was killed in Afghanistan, leaving him a widowed single father. YaYa Gosselin plays his pre-teen daughter Tali. Jess is the character whose personal life we see the most, but we do get at least a glimpse into every character's personal life, which is something that the parent show has really not given us much of (with a couple of exceptions). The series has a good blend of action, drama, and suspense, and characters from the parent series do appear a few times throughout the season.

If you want the physical DVDs you have to purchase an imported set. For some reason, the series was not released on DVD in the US, so you have to get a region 2 set, which also means you need a region 2 or a region-free DVD or Blu-Ray player to watch them. You may also have to adjust the audio settings to hear the English language track. My set defaults to playing in German, so I have to switch it over to English audio for each disc. There are no extras, just the episodes themselves. So, you really have to prefer physical discs to streaming to want to pick this up.

Overall, the show is very good. It is well-written and acted, and has a good mix of stories. The bad guys range from white supremacist domestic terrorists to a grieving Native American father who goes on a killing spree trying to track down his kidnapped daughter. So, if you are a fan of procedural crime shows, this is definitely a good one to check out.

Workout Update: Power-90/Chalean Extreme Hybrid: Day 12

Day 12 was sweat 1-2 and abs. Each of them went well again. I was even able to do some regular cross hops, although most were the jump skip kind. I was able to hit all 100 reps on ab-ripper without pausing or stopping. So, the workout went very well.  

Workout Update: Power-90/Chalean Extreme Hybrid: Day 11

Day 11 was the sculpt 1-2 workout again. Most of the weights I used were the same as in Tuesday's workout, and I only hit the ten rep max on one of the exercises. So, most of the weights will remain the same for Saturday's workout. I did the same number of reps on the push-up moves and got to about the same depth in them, so there is definitely room for improvement there. 

Book Review: Inferno

 

This is the fourth in what is, as of this writing, five novels by Dan Brown centered around the character of Robert Langdon, who is a symbolism professor at Harvard University. In this novel, he wakes up a hospital in Florence, Italy with a head wound and no memory of the last few days. He is told that his memory loss is likely temporary, but before he can figure out what has happened to him he, and his doctor, Sienna Brooks, have to evade an assassin who is targeting Langdon. The attempt to retrace his steps and discovers a plot by Bertrand Zobrist, a transhumanist genius scientist who is obsessed with Dante's Inferno, who intends to release a virus to solve the world's overpopulation issue. 

The novel is a good story that blends action and dramatic moments. It definitely has some of the same elements that the prior novels (and the movie adaptations of those) have had. Langdon has to race around trying to solve various puzzles and riddles, this time based on clues tied to Dante's Inferno. There are twists in the story, much like in the other novels. Some are kind of eye-rolling inducing and others I think work pretty well. I do like the fact that the story is centered around the issue of overpopulation, which is a real thing. Overall, I would say that this is not as good as The Da Vinci Code, or even quite as good as Angels & Demons, but it is still very good. So, if you are a fan of his other novels, this is worth the read. 

DVD/TV Series Review: Covert Affairs: Season 3

 

+++Warning, this will contain spoilers from season two and minor spoilers from season three, but no major season three giveaways.+++

Season three of Covert Affairs picks up down the line from the events ending season two. Annie and Danielle are still at odds over Annie's reveal that she is actually a CIA agent. Anne Dudek's role on the show was changed from being a series regular to recurring this season, so she was not around as much, although the writers did a fairly good job tying up Annie and Danielle's story arc. There is another major turnover in the cast that occurs very early in the season that causes a shakeup at the agency, with both Annie and Auggie taking on new duties. 24 alumn Sarah Clarke was added to the cast in a recurring role and Richard Coyle was added in a recurring role as Simon Fischer, a British businessman to whom Annie is assigned, who may also be a Russian spy. Oded Fehr makes several appearances in his recurring role as Mossad agent Eyal Lavin, including having a large role in the season finale. The episodes are again mostly procedural, case-of-the-week episodes, but there are some serial arcs that run throughout the season. Those mostly involve Henry Wilcox. The season ends on a quasi-cliffhanger and sets up what is likely to be a large fourth-season storyline.

The DVD extras are pretty sparse. There are deleted scenes for most of the episodes and then a short called "Sight Unseen" which is a prequel story to the series that shows how Auggie lost his sight. What is there is good, but may not entice everyone to shell out for the physical discs. Overall, the season was good. Yes, it does take a lot of suspension of disbelief and it, like Alias, is likely not all that much like actual CIA work. Of course, things are embellished for dramatic effect, but you have to know that going into it. The acting is very good, and the show does a fairly decent job balancing the ensemble cast. Generally, I would say if you liked the first couple of seasons you will probably like this one. If you did not, this season is not likely to change your mind.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters

 

This movie, as the title suggests, is a take on the Brother's Grimm fairy tale of Hanel and Gretel. After escaping the witch, the two grew up to become witch hunters (really any kind of demon) exacting revenge on any witches they come across. The movie stars Jeremy Renner and Gemma Atherton as the brother and sister duo who take out the bad guys with shotguns and crossbows (while still being set in rustic woodland villages). The movie does not take itself too seriously and really does not expect the viewers to do so either. It is definitely a gory shoot-em-up action movie that has a lot of over-the-top violence. There is not much sexual content aside from one scene in which you kind of get a glimpse of part of Gemma Arterton's breast. It is a mix of action, horror, and comedy. The movie has a strong supporting cast made of up of both known and relatively unknown actors including Famke Janssen as Muriel, an evil grand witch who rules over a coven of dark witches, Peter Stormare as Sheriff Berringer, Thomas Mann, Derek Mears, and Pihla Viitala.

The movie looks and sounds great on Blu-Ray. The extras are somewhat sparse, however. These include a 15-minute making-of documentary, a 10-minute feature on how the witch story was adapted from the fairy tale to the movie, and a 5-minute feature on Edward the troll.

Overall, the movie is good if you take it for what it is. If you are expecting an award winner, you will be sorely disappointed. If you are expecting an action movie that mixes in some humor and knows the whole premise of the movie is absurd, you will probably enjoy it. It is very violent and gory (especially in the unrated version) and there is a lot of swearing, so if that turns you off to a movie, then do not even bother. If however, you are looking for a fun action movie with great visuals and a lot of good special effects, this is a good one to check out.

Study Aid Review: The Engineering Circuit Analysis Tutor: Volume 2

 

This is the second volume of the Circuit Analysis tutor set created by Jason. It covers the node voltage and mesh current methods of solving circuits, both with independent and dependent sources, which are two of the major circuit analysis techniques that are covered in a Circuits I class. This material comes after the introduction of Kirchhoff's laws as they are extensions of the voltage and current laws. In my class, this material was included on the second exam, but where it falls in your class will depend on your teacher and how he or she spaces things out in the class. Between the two, the first and second volumes of the series cover about half, give or take, of the material you will learn in Circuits I. Again, this just deals with circuits that have direct current sources and does not include alternating current sources. In my class, about 90 percent of what we covered was circuits with DC sources and then we got an introduction to circuits with AC sources at the end of the semester.

I have purchased and reviewed many of Jason's other DVD sets. As I have said with regard to those, whether this will help you really depends on your learning style. If you are a visual learner who learns well by watching problems worked out, this will absolutely help you. Jason explains every step of the problem in detail, both as he is going through it and then recapping everything after it is done. On the other hand, if you need more interaction and the ability to ask questions, then this is not going to be as helpful to you. It is not flashy and is a simulated college lecture, but that said, it is material you absolutely need to learn if you are taking circuits, and Jason teaches it very well.

Book Review: Star Wars - The High Republic: The Fallen Star

 

As most people reading this review are likely aware by now, the High Republic series of stories pit the Jedi and the Republic as a whole, not against the Sith, but against a group of pirates called The Nihil. The Nihil have been responsible not only for the hyperspace disasters, but the attack on the Republic fair, and a series of skirmishes that ended either with a draw or the Jedi barely winning. This book tells the story of a subversive attack on The Starlight Beacon, the space station that is essentially run by the Jedi and has been a focus of a lot of the High Republic stories up to this point. The Nihil manages to send a team to the station to sabotage it and release something (it is not clear even at the end of the book exactly what) that can severely hamper the Jedi's connection to the force and put them all in danger.

I will not go into great detail about what happens in the book, but I will say that The Nihil scores a decisive victory. In the end, Manchin Ro declares himself to all to be the real Eye of the Nihil and sends a message to the Republic that they are not at all done. One thing that the story does suffer a bit from is having a ton of characters and shifting the story from one point of view to another. It is not impossible to follow, but there are times when the POV switches multiple times per chapter, and it would be a lot easier to read if each chapter focused on one or two characters and then shifted to other characters in the next chapter. That is my only real criticism, otherwise, the story was very good, the pacing went well, and the book holds the readers in suspense all the way to the end. The book is 345 pages long, including a short Epilogue, which is about as long as most of the adult novels (and some of the young adult novels) clock in at. I am a fairly fast reader and was able to get through it in about 10 days reading for an hour or so before bed. If you are one of those who, like me, read all of the canon novels, you will probably have pre-ordered this and read it right away. If you are one of those who gets some, but not all, of the novels, I do think this one is worth picking up.

Workout Update: Power-90/Chalean Extreme Hybrid: Day 10

Day 10 of CE was the sweat 1-2 workout and ab-ripper 100. Both of them went very well. I again was able to get through the entire cardio workout without stopping or pausing and did all 100 reps of ab-ripper without pausing. Again I was able to do less modified versions of the cross-hops and actually did the kicks and punches faster than they were doing them in the workout.