Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Heroes: Season 4

 

Heroes started out great, with an almost perfect first season that seemed like it was planned from beginning to end. It did have a few missteps along the way, but they were covered up by all it did right. Unfortunately, the show was never able to recapture that success and each season just went downhill, partly because I think the showrunners were always trying to hedge for a new season instead of just telling a solid story and letting everything else play out.

Try as it might to blend the separate storylines successfully as it did in season one, the show never managed to do that this season never really did that. There was a"big bad", played very well by the brilliant Robert Knepper, and the show tried to set up the sense of a big team up to take him down, but it just did not work as well as in the first season. And, the show still could not get the is Sylar a good guy or a bad guy thing straight. I think it would have been much better if the writers had picked one and stuck with it. Also, doing a hard reset at the beginning of every season and just kind of brushing off what happened in the prior season does not work any better this season than it did in seasons 2-3. And, the writers seem to have a harder time juggling the ensemble cast as characters have little or nothing to do for large chunks of time. That said, there are some good elements to the stories this season, the big one being Noah (Jack Coleman) facing consequences for his past actions

The Blu-Ray set has a good amount of extras, but not as much as there had been in the prior season releases. They include about 45 minutes of deleted scenes, a short series retrospective with the series creator, Tim Kring, a twenty-minute featurette on the character of Sylar, a feature on how some of the more effects-heavy scenes were made, and then a few behind-the-scenes featurettes. There are also video commentaries on select episodes and every episode allows for u-control integration of the Heroes Connections feature that will pop up character bios and explain how various characters are connected.

Overall, the season is okay, but seasons 2 and 3, did not replicate the greatness of season one. It does set up the possibility of another season in the finale, however, the show was canceled after the fourth season, and so the ramifications of the finale would not play out until the limited event series, Heroes Reborn, was made six years later with only part of the cast returning.

Product Review: 50-pack Slim Jewel Cases- Black Holds One CD/DVD

 

If you are old enough to have ripped CDs back in the day, these are a very good deal. I had a ton of CDs, mostly from a pack of recordable CDs that were stacked in a spire, that were running loose, and a bunch of workout DVDs that were in those slipcases that can easily cause the DVDs to get scratched. This was the most cost-efficient way to store them securely. I see some reviewers mention broken cases, I did not experience that. All the cases were bound together with plastic and there was an air pack in the box, so they were not able to move around to get broken in transit.

Workout Update: Power-90/Chalean Extreme Hybrid: Day 23

Day 23 was the sculpt 1-2 workout. Since I had maxed out at the 10 rep max for a lot of the moves in the prior workout, I was between 8-10 reps for pretty much every move in this one. I can tell my form is getting better on moves like heavy pants and lawnmowers, even when using heavy weight (40 lbs dumbbells) which is the most weight I have ever been able to use for those moves, even when I was in better shape. So, I am progressing.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Arrow: Season 1

 

Arrow premiered just a couple of years after Smallville had wrapped. It introduced a new version of Oliver Queen, played by Stephen Amell, that made the version in Smallville played by Justin Hartley look like a boy scout. In the pilot, Oliver, who has been on a seemingly deserted island for five years, and was long presumed dead after a boating accident is rescued and brought back to Star City. He discovered, from his father, who owned Queen Industries (which was basically the company that owned everything in Star City), a list of high-profile people who were destroying the city. Oliver takes on the persona of "the hood" and starts killing the people on the list by shooting them with arrows. The rest of the season one cast included David Ramsey, Susanna Thompson, Katie Cassidy, Colin Donnell, John Barrowman, Emily Betts Rickards, Colton Haynes, Willa Holland, and Paul Blackthorne.

The show is definitely more of a serial (with long arcs that run throughout the season) than it is a procedural. The storylines mainly involve Oliver trying to acclimate to life back home while taking on the vigilante persona, keeping that a secret, and avoiding law enforcement. He also has to go up against the season's "big bad" known as the dark archer. The show also flashes back to his time on the Island in which we see how he learned the skills he uses as The Hood and transforms from the spoiled brat that he was into the hero he would become.

For those who get the Blu-Ray set, if you get the original release you will get both Blu-Rays and DVDs. For some reason, they decided to include both formats even though people buying the Blu-Ray set probably only cared about watching the Blu-Rays. The A/V quality of the Blu-Rays is very good. The extras include deleted scenes for some of the episodes, and then on the fourth disc, there is a making-of documentary that runs about a half an hour, a featurette on the stunts that runs just under twenty minutes, a Q&A panel from Paleyfest with some of the cast and the showrunners that is just under a half-hour, and a short gag reel.

Overall, the season is very good. I was one who really liked Hartley's performance as the character on Smallville, and was very skeptical about whether this series would work, and I was very pleasantly surprised. The acting was very good. Even though the show definitely relied on a very good-looking cast, the show had a mix of acting veterans and newcomers the acting quality was good even if it took some of the newer actors time to grow into their roles. You can tell that Amell was devoted to the character and got himself into great shape, and did as many of his own stunts as possible, which was something for a very physical action series. There is a lot of violence and some sexual content (but nothing over the top there), so that is something to be aware of. But, if you are a fan of the superhero genre, especially the stories involving characters who are not invincible, this is a good one to check out.

Product Review: YEVIOR Clothes Folding Board

 

This thing is definitely a solution to a first-world problem, not being able to fold laundry well by hand. This can help you fold clothes in a "display quality" way, which ultimately helps you save space in your drawers or on closet shelves, and make them look a lot better. It does take a bit of practice to get used to, but once you figure it out it is easy to use. And, if you are OCD about organization and keeping things straight and looking nice, you will love using it.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Heroes: Season 3

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilers from season 2, but no major season three giveaways+++

The third season of Heroes returns the show to a full season after the writer's strike ended the mess that was season 2 early. The season is split into two volumes, one titled Villians and the other titled Fugitives. The first half of the season involves the fallout from the assassination attempt on Nathan. We find out who tried to kill him, and why, and much of the first half of the season revolves around that plot. The other major plot point of the first half of the season is a bunch of villains escaping from the company, and joining up to try and give everyone powers. The second half of the season involves a government effort, spearheaded by Nathan to round up people with powers.

For those who get the Blu-Ray set, there are a ton of extras. All 25 episodes get picture-in-picture commentary tracks that have members of the production team and/or members of the cast providing the commentary. There are just under 40-minutes of deleted scenes, and six behind-the-scenes featurettes that cover multiple elements of the season, and range from 6-minutes to 20-minutes in length. Finally, there are a series of alternate stories that involve some of the more minor characters from the season. They are basically three webisodes that run a combined 46 minutes in length. Then there are character bios and a couple of small promo items. So, if you like bonus material, there is a lot there for you.

As my headline says, the season is better than the second but not as good as the first. Some of the new cast additions like Brea Grant and Željko Ivanek were great. Some of the plot points like Sylar trying to figure out if he wanted to be a good guy or a bad guy did get a bit tedious. Also, there are definitely recycled plot points that just get eye roll-inducing because of being a bit too predictable. Personally, I think the show would have been better served to stick with one "big bad" that must be brought down rather than trying to reboot the series with each volume. So, overall, while it is not perfect, I do think the season is worth watching and the blu-ray is a great pick-up for those who love a lot of bonus content.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Heroes: Season 2

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilers from season one, but no major season two giveawyas+++

The second season of Heroes ended up being a bit of a mess, in large part because of the writer's strike that occurred that season, causing many of the planned storylines to be thrown out and never followed up on (in large part because of negative fan response). As a result, the season ended up being just 11 episodes, and kind of bounced all over the place in terms of the story. The season picks up four months after the battle with Sylar, stopping him from killing the cheerleader and saving the world. The story bounces between feudal Japan, the present, and the future, but unlike the first season storylines, it never felt, really until the very end, that any common theme or purpose was tying them together. And, by the time that started to be fleshed out, the season ended because of the strike. Hence, the series started to lose viewers, which continued until its cancellation after season four.

Even though the storylines were not as good as in the first season, which was, in my opinion, one of the best seasons of a tv series ever, the acting continued to be strong. The main cast, including Milo Ventimiglia, Jack Coleman, Masi Oka, Greg Grunberg, Adrian Pasdar, Hayden Panettiere, Ali Larter, and Sendhil Ramamurthy all returned. As does Zachary Quinto, and some of the season one recurring characters. The main additions to the cast this season are David Anders (from Alias), Kristen Bell, and Dania Ramirez. Christine Rose also came on as Nathan and Peter's mother Angela and pretty much stole every scene she was in. Her involvement was not huge in season two, but it would be increased in the subsequent seasons.

For extras, there are commentary tracks on each episode, a bunch of u-control features that allow for PiP viewing, and getting summaries of character arcs. There are deleted scenes and behind-the-scenes featurettes on each of the four discs. So, there is a lot of material if you want to watch it. The commentaries generally rotate members of the cast and crew and some include the series creator Tim Kring. They range in quality and tone but are generally good if you like listening to them.

Overall, the season is not as bad as it gets hammered for being, but not as good as the first season. Some of the problems with the season stories were within the writer's control and some most definitely were not. That said, I do believe that it is worth watching if you temper your expectations.

Workout Update: Power-90/Chalean Extreme Hybrid: Day 22

Day 22 was the sweat 1-2 workout again. It was not as good as the past couple of times I have done the workout since I did have to pause once for a few seconds during the workout. But, I was otherwise able to get through it and ab-ripper 100, getting all the reps of the latter in without a problem.

Workout Update: Power-90/Chalean Extreme Hybrid: Day 21

Day 21 was the recharge workout from CE. Again I could feel the progress I have made by being able to get deeper into crouches and deeper into some of the stretches, including being able to get lower into runner's lunge. I still cannot get as low into it as I could back in the 2009-2010 time frame when I was in much better shape, but I am getting closer to that. 

Workout Update: Power-90/Chalean Extreme Hybrid: Day 20

Day 20 was the sculpt 1-2 workout again. I was definitely not feeling as strong in today's workout as I was when I did it on Thursday. My rep counts dropped for some of the exercises, even using the same weight as last time, and I do not feel that my push-ups were quite as good. There were a couple of exercises in which the weight increased from the last workout, and those were definitely very challenging. So, not my best workout, but I got it done.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: The Following Season 1

 

The Following mixes a serial killer story with a cult story. It stars James Purefoy as Joe Carroll, who was an unassuming college professor and serial killer, and Kevin Bacon as Ryan Hardy, the FBI agent who figured it out and arrested Carroll. Carroll manages to escape prison with the help of a bunch of cult followers he has groomed while in prison. The season basically involves Hardy's attempts to recapture Carroll, and Carroll's attempt to ruin Hardy's life, while forcing his ex-wife Claire, played by Justified's Natalie Zea and his son Joey to join him and the cult.

The show is basically a serial with a story arc that spans the entire season. There are a lot of twists and turns mostly involving who is or is not a cult member helping Carroll, and Hardy trying to figure out Carroll's next move. The show has a strong supporting cast including many recognizable actors such as Shawn Ashmore, Maggie Grace, Mike Colter, Valorie Curry, and Adan Canto.

The Blu-Ray set has a lot of extras including a maximum movie mode for the pilot episode (which plays picture-in-picture commentary throughout the episode), a regular commentary track on the season finale, almost an hour's worth of deleted scenes, and several making-of featurettes that range in length from a minute to just under 30-minutes. So, if you like watching the extras, there is a lot there.

Overall, the show is very good. It is well written and acted. As I said, it does have a lot of twists and misdirection. Some of those work better than others, and the show does, sometimes, fall into the trap of trying to be a bit too clever. But, generally, the show does a good job of keeping the audience guessing about what will come next. It ends on a couple of major cliffhangers and leaves a lot up in the air going into the second season. It is a mix of thriller, horror, and drama. It is violent and can be gory at times, and there is some sexual content, but not a ton. So, you have to weigh all that against what you will enjoy, but if you are a fan of that genre, it is definitely worth watching.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Fringe Season 5

 

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

The fifth season of Fringe is really a partial season, just 13 episodes which were meant to tie up the series and give it a proper sendoff, which is not something that shows that end up on Fox's chopping block get. The fifth season is set in the Dystopian future that was shown in Episode 19 of season four, in which the Observers basically become authoritarian overlords with their boots on the throat of the people.

In this season, the main cast is whittled down to Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson, Jasika Nicole, and John Noble. The main recurring characters are Georgina Haig and Michael Cerveris, and Lance Reddick, Blair Brown, and Seth Gable all make special appearances to wrap up their character arcs. The storyline this season involves a plan to defeat the Observers that September and Walter came up with, but in the process fragmented Walter's memory so he cannot remember the entire plan. So, the team has to figure out the entire plan and implement it to save humanity from the Observers. The main issue I have with the final season is that it basically totally abandons William Bell's storyline from season four, and does not really resolve the fact that he was one of the main bad guys in the prior season.

For those who get the Blu-Rays, the show looks and sounds great. There are only a handful of extras, the main one being a making-of documentary for the final season. There is a commentary track on the ninth episode of the season, a few deleted scenes, a portion of the comic-con panel, and a short gag reel.

Overall, the season is good, but not as good as in prior seasons. By this point, the show pretty much abandoned the case-of-the-week format and just had the serial arc that spanned the entire season. So, the show ends up being a much different series that the one it started out as. The acting and writing were still very good, but if you were a huge fan of what the show started out as, you may not like this season as much. The writers did a good job tying the series up and providing a satisfying ending for fans.

Workout Update: Power-90/Chalean Extreme Hybrid: Day 19

Day 19 was the sweat 1-2 workout and ab-ripper 100. This pretty much went the same as it did on Wednesday. I was able to get through everything without stopping or pausing and modifying things slightly. So, overall, it went well.

Product Review: Wacom Bamboo Flex Nib Set (5 Pack)

 

These are replacement nibs for the stylus for the Wacom Bamboo Flex tablet. They last longer than the nib that came with the stylus and seems to give a lot more control than that one. Writing with these on the table is definitely not exactly like writing on paper and it takes some getting used to, but these do provide a more paper-like writing experience.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Heroes: Season 1

 

In 2006 the phrase "Save the Cheerleader" was as popular as the question "Who Killed Laura Palmer" was in 1990. That phrase basically kicked off what was one of the best, and most iconic shows in recent history. You could really consider it to be an "it" show of the season, meaning it was the show that everyone talked about after every episode. The plot of the series boils down to ordinary people discovering extraordinary superpowers after a solar eclipse reveals them, and how these abilities affect the characters' daily lives.

While not itself a comic book adaptation, the series was basically written like a comic book, with each season having one or more volumes in which part of the story plays out, and there are several main storylines in each volume. As the main plots develop, smaller sub-stories are told within them. Each main character's story is developed separately and as time passes their paths cross and it is explained how their stories are intertwined and connected.

The series starred Milo Ventimiglia as Peter Petrelli, Hayden Panettiere as Claire Bennet, Masi Oka as Hiro Nakamura, Adrian Pasdar as Nathan Petrelli, Greg Grunberg as Matt Parkman, Sendhil Ramamurthy as Mohinder Suresh, Ali Larter as Nikki Sanders, Jack Coleman, who was initially a mysterious recurring character whom many called HRG because he wore horn-rimmed glasses and then midway through the season we find out exactly who he is.

The large story that gets intertwined was around saving the Cheerleader, played by Panettiere from a shadowy character known as Sylar who has been going across the country finding and killing superpowered people. The show builds up that story slowly throughout the season and reveals more elements of the overall story with each episode. The plot jumps back and forth between the present, the past, and the future (since one of the characters has the ability to travel through time) and so even within single episodes the show can take drastic turns in style and tone.

For those who get the Blu-Ray, the show looks and sounds great. Obviously, it is an effects-laden show and you can tell it had a substantial effects budget. The A/V quality is wonderful and the effects look as good as they do in any movie. There are a ton of extras including commentary tracks, which include picture-in-picture pop-ups, deleted scenes, artwork, and several making-of and behind-the-scenes featurettes. So if you like bonus materials, there is a ton of stuff (multiple hours) here to keep you occupied.

While the quality of the show did go down in subsequent seasons, this season was nearly perfect. The writing and acting were top-notch, the pacing of the story was perfect and the show intertwined the various storylines in a way that all members of the large ensemble cast were given great material. The show had a lot of twists and turns and they all worked (which is rare). The show also had a very strong recurring and guest cast including James Kyson Lee, Zachary Quinto, Jimmy Jean-Louis, Christopher Eccleston, Clea DuVall, Missy Peregrym, Eric Roberts, Rena Sofer, and Malcolm McDowell. Overall, if you are a fan of the sci-fi genre, this is definitely one you want to check out.

Product/Supplement Review: Bausch + Lomb Ocuvite Eye Vitamin and Mineral Supplement Eye Health Formula with Lutein, Zeaxanthin, and Omega-3, 30 Count Bottle

 

I have taken Ocuvite for several years now. Obviously, it is impossible with a supplement like this to know for certain what it is or is not doing for you, but I do get my eyes checked every year and my eyes have been healthy with each one. So, I would like to think this does what it claims. I have generally used the version that is the smaller capsules but got these when that version became unavailable. These are a bit larger than the other version, but because they are gel caps are still pretty easy to swallow. So overall, no complaints aside from the fact that they are only available in a 30-day supply.

Workout Update: Power-90/Chalean Extreme Hybrid: Day 18

 Day 18 was the sculpt 1-2 workout again. I again was able to get a bit deeper into the push-up and pause at the top and the bottom of the reps, as well as doing one additional rep on the standard and wide push-ups. I also hit the 10 rep max on a couple of the exercises. The weight range I am using for the exercises are from 17.5 lbs for the shoulder raises and 40 lbs for the heavy pants and the lawnmowers. So, I am definitely getting stronger.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: The Hangover Part II

 

The Hangover Part II is the 2011 follow-up to the massively popular 2009 movie, The Hangover. It again stars Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, and Justin Bartha, and Ken Jeong. This installment also includes Jeffrey Tambor and brings in Paul Giamatti. The movie definitely has its funny moments, but it feels like a very recycled version of the first money with a plot line that is very similar, just doing things like swapping out the baby for a monkey and changing the setting. So basically, if you have seen the first movie, you have seen many of the jokes in this one. Again, most of the plot involves the characters of Stu (Helms), Phil (Cooper), and Alan (Galifianakis), while keeping Bartha's character, Doug, away from all the shenanigans and avoiding the blackout. Ken Jeong continues to be the scene-stealer that he was in the first movie, and is for me, the highlight of the movie.

For those who get the Blu-Ray, the movie looks and sounds very good in the HD format. The film is not really effects-laden but the scenery and cinematography look very good in HD. The extras include an "Unauthorized Documentary" which is basically a making-of documentary, 13-minutes of additional making-of material, a short gag reel, and an action montage. What was included was good, but it is not very extensive.

The movie ends up being a decent comedy and does have funny moments. But, it is way too derivative of the first movie and would have been better (in my opinion) if it did something to change up the plot a bit, such as having Doug being one of the people with his memory of the prior night erased and Alan being the one to have to try and help the group. So, I'd say if you liked the first movie you probably will not hate this one, but you may not like it as much as you did the first one.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Ghostbusters Afterlife

 

When comparing this movie to the 2016 female-led Ghostbusters movie, the line from Batman Forever, "Your entrance was good--his was better", comes to mind. While I think the 2016 movie gets unfairly ragged on, this is how an updated Ghostbusters movie should be done.

This movie, unlike the other one, is a direct continuation of the 1984 original movie and the 1989 sequel and has a ton of easter eggs that tie into things from both of those movies. The basic storyline is that Egon packed up all of the Ghostbusters equipment and moved from NY to Summerville Oklahoma. This caused a rift with the other Ghostbusters that was really never repaired. We find out that Egon did have a family, including his daughter Callie (played by Carrie Coon) and grandchildren Phoebe (played by McKenna Grace) and Trevor (played by Finn Wolfhard). Upon Egon's death, the family moves to his farm in Summerville and the rest of the story plays out from there. I will not spoil anything about the rest of the plot, but it is directly tied to the original movie and there are many parallels to that story. Where the original movie was more of a straight comedy with some action, this one is more of a dramedy with a lot of action spaced throughout.

For those who get the 4k set, the movie looks and sounds wonderful in the UHD format. The movie has a ton of great special effects that are a mix of CGI and practical that looks seamless even in UHD, and there is a lot of great cinematography. The UHD disc has the movie and about 15 minutes worth of preview trailers that play before the movie. Then, there is a regular Blu-Ray disc that has the movie and the rest of the extras on it. These include several making-of and behind-the-scenes featurettes, a discussion of the impact of the original movie by Ivan Reitman, Ernie Hudson, Dan Aykroyd, and Bill Murray, a featurette on the various easter eggs in the movie to tie back to the original films, and a single deleted scene.

Overall, the movie is very, very good, and a perfect sequel to the original movies. It was written and directed by Jason Reitman, who is the son of the director of the original movie, and he made a wise choice to bring back as many of the creators of the original movie as he could. The movie does include all of the living cast members from the original movies (aside from Rick Moranis who had retired from acting) in either cameo or extended cameo roles. And, the movie was able to include Harold Ramis, who of course passed away in 2014, in a couple of different ways, one of which worked well and the other which was a bit corny but did have some emotional punch. The bulk of the story involved the new characters. McKenna Grace (who is best known for her roles in the movie Gifted and the series Designated Survivor and Young Sheldon) was really the star of the movie, but all of the cast members, both main and supporting, did a great job. Paul Rudd was awesome as a teacher at the elementary school in Summerville who was not really interested in teaching, Logan Kim was equally awesome as Podcast, and Celeste O'Connor did a very good job as Lucky Domingo). The rest of the supporting cast included Oliva Wilde, Josh Gad, Bokeem Woodbine, and J.K. Simmons in a small role. Not only does the movie provide a lot of nostalgia for those of us who were kids when the original movie came out, but it tells a good story of its own. There are mid and post-credits scenes, one that plays for comedic effect and the other that sets up the possibility of further movies. If you are a fan of the original movie this is a must-watch.

Streaming Series Review: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Episode 5 (spoilers)

The penultimate episode (at least for now) of Obi-Wan Kenobi opens with a flashback to the Episode II era, with Anakin and Obi-Wan training. Obi-Wan tries to teach Anakin a lesson in patience and restraint, and that he does not have to fight to win. Then we flash to the present day with Vader and Reva headed toward the path on Jabim, having tracked Leia's droid Lola. Of course, Vader only cares about capturing (and torturing) Kenobi, and couldn't care less about anyone else. He appoints Reva Grand Inquisitor and sends her down to secure the planet so he can deal with Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan, knowing what Anakin will do, seemingly gives himself up, and in the process figures out just who Reva is and how she is one of the few that knows that Vader is Anakin. 

We find out that Reva is indeed one of the younglings we saw during Order 66 in the first episode, and she was actually stabbed by Vader during the attack but did not die, only playing dead after Anakin/Vader moved on. The show never makes it clear when or how she became an Inquisitor, but we find out that she has been trying to get close to Vader so she can kill him, hating him as much as she hates Obi-Wan for abandoning the younglings. Obi-Wan and Reva form somewhat of an alliance, which allows the group to narrowly escape Vader, after ditching the tracker in Lola. Reva tries to attack Vader, and that goes about how you would expect. And we see that the Grand Inquisitor did not die, and after a gut shot from Vader they leave Reva to die. As she lies there, she finds the communicator with a message from Bail saying he will go to Tattoine to help the boy, and the last shot is on a sleeping Luke.

This is another great episode. To me, the episodes have been getting stronger as the series has progressed. It was great to see Hayden Christenson actually playing Anakin, as he does not do much in the actual Vader suit, and when in the bacta tank he can really only squint. It was also good to get at least some of Reva's backstory and get a sense of how hurt she was both by the Empire and by the Jedi who she feels betrayed her. The show is definitely setting up for a rematch between Vader and Obi-Wan, where we do not know. In Legends, it is made clear that Vader would never set foot on Tattoine again, but obviously, that can change. In Canon, Vader has no idea Luke exists and is his son until after A New Hope, when Boba Fett tells him, so even if he goes to Tattoine he is not going to actually find Luke. How they will wrap up the series is anyone's guess, especially if rumors of a second season are true, but there are a lot of possibilities and it will be interesting to see which path the show takes. 

Workout Update: Power-90/Chalean Extreme Hybrid: Day 17

Day 17 was sweat 1-2 and abs. Both went well this time. Whatever caused me to get winded during the last workout on Monday did not happen today. I was able to get through the cardio without stopping or pausing, and the cross-hops continue to improve. In ab-ripper, the only move I really have trouble with is the one where you stick your legs straight up in the air and reach toward your toes. I have never been able to get my legs straight or actually touch my toes. But with my legs bent I can do ten reaches toward my toes.  

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.