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

 

The Americans was a drama that aired on FX for six seasons from 2013-2018. It was created by former CIA officer Joe Weisberg and starred Kerri Russel, Matthew Rhys, Holly Taylor, and Noah Emmerich in the leading roles. The rest of the cast varied from season to season, with some of the actor's roles changing over time. Some included Annet Mahendru, Susan Misner, Alison Wright, Lev Gorn, Costa Ronin, Richard Thomas, Dylan Baker, Frank Langella, Julia Garner, and Margo Martindale.

The series is about a pair of "illegals" from the Soviet Union, played by Kerri Russell (best known for the series Felicity) and Matthew Rhys, who live in the United States in the 1980s and spy for Russia. The 13-episode first season aired during the winter and spring of 2013. The plot is loosely based on the spy ring that the US uncovered in 2010 and Russian Spies in Canada. Rusell and Rhys play Phillip and Elizabeth Jennings, who came to the US as young adults after learning to speak perfect English and blend into American culture. On the outside, they seem like the typical 1980s nuclear family with two kids, Paige, played by Holly Taylor, and Henry, played by Keidrich Sellati, running a travel agency. They are really deep-cover agents who carry out missions that range from everything from bugging or sabotage to abduction and murder. Life gets even more complicated for them when an FBI agent named Stan Beeman (played by Noah Emmerich) moves in next door. He gets suspicious of the Jennings' comings and goings but mostly accepts that they are ordinary neighbors. It incorporates actual events (like the assassination attempt of Ronald Regan) that occurred during the 1980s into the storylines and uses archival footage to blend in with the story. It also has a great 1980s soundtrack with songs that anyone around back then would recognize.

The first season's supporting cast included Annet Mahendru as Nina Sergeevna, Agent Beeman's Soviet mole working in the Soviet Embassy in DC, Margo Martindale as Claudia, the Jennings' KGB supervisor, Susan Misner as Sandra Beeman, Stan's wife, Alison Wright as Martha Hanson, Agent Gaad's secretary and Philip's informant, and Lev Gorn as Arkady Ivanovich, the KGB's second Rezident.

The Blu-Ray set is a three-disc set with a modest amount of extras. Those include deleted scenes, a commentary track on the season finale, a gag reel, and a couple of making-of featurettes. The Blu-Ray's A/V quality is good. Even though the show does not have many special effects, the colors really pop, and what effects there are (usually incorporating historical footage) do look great.

Overall, the series is outstanding. I like that it was set during the Cold War (probably not at the height, but not far removed from the height), which really ramped up the tension in the show. The show does a great job with character development and shows that Elizabeth and Phillip have very different feelings about what they are doing and how they would handle their kids finding out about what they do. The show does push the boundaries of what can be shown on basic cable. There is as much swearing and nudity that they can get away with and a lot of sexual content. The show does definitely hone in on the "honeypot" aspect of spy work, in which spies use sex to get close to and manipulate people in positions to be helpful to them. It is well-written and very well-acted, and the shorter (thirteen-episode) season makes viewers want more. So, if you are looking for a good drama, this is definitely one to check out.

DVD/TV Series Review: American Dad! Volume Eight

 

American Dad! volume 8 actually contains the season seven episodes. This is because, like with the releases of the early seasons of Family Guy, Fox released partial seasons in the volumes, and then after a ton of harsh feedback from fans and the showrunners, started releasing full seasons. So, just be aware of that if you are looking to purchase the DVD sets. Anyone who is looking at getting this likely knows what the show is by now, a story (or stories) of the week show, usually involving some shenanigans of Roger (playing a character) or one of the other characters. Roger tends to get the heavy focus throughout any particular season, but the show does kind of rotate storylines in which the other characters get featured. By this time the show had started to move away from the CIA story arcs that focused mostly on Stan and started intertwining more off-the-wall episodes, like one involving a killer Hot Tub.

The DVD extras include audio commentaries on a few episodes, deleted scenes, and Stan's dance from one of the episodes. So, it is not quite a MOD disc when it comes to little or no extras, but this is really the season where the DVD releases started trending that way. Of course, the show (as of this writing in 2022) is still on the air but no longer being released on DVD in either a "regular" release or a MOD release. So, it is kind of a take-what-you-can-get scenario if you want the physical discs. The DVD releases do contain uncensored jokes that do get bleeped out in the streaming version, which is part of the appeal for some fans. While I generally do not think that the show is as good in this season as it was in the first couple of seasons, I do think it is still entertaining and the stories are not stale (as they have become in later seasons). So, if you are a fan of the show, this is a good pickup.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Red Dragon

 

“Red Dragon” is a 2002 horror/crime-thriller starring Anthony Hopkins, Edward Norton, Ralph Fiennes, Harvey Keitel, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Emily Watson, Mary Louise Parker, Anthony Heald, and Frankie Faison. The latter two reprising their roles from Silence of the Lambs. This movie rounds out what ended up being a trilogy of Hannibal Lecter movies starring Anthony Hopkins in the starring role. It was directed by Brett Ratner and is a prequel to the iconic 1991 movie Silence of the Lambs, but it was made after the direct sequel to Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal, which was made in 2001. This is also a remake of the 1986 movie Manhunter with the same storyline which starred Brian Cox as Lecter. This one co-stars Edward Norton as Will Graham, the FBI agent who originally captured Lecter. We see how Lecter was caught at the beginning of the movie, and then for the rest of the film, he is in the familiar dungeon-like cell that we see him in Silence of the Lambs. This movie centers around a serial killer that is nicknamed The Tooth Fairy. Graham comes out of retirement to work the case and enlists Lecter's help to catch the Tooth Fairy. Lecter serves in much the same role as he does in Silence of the Lambs, but has a much different dynamic with Graham than he did with Clarice. 

The Blu-Ray's A/V quality is very good, with many great cinematographic shots, and it includes a substantial amount of bonus content. The extras include several deleted, extended, and alternate scenes, over an hour's worth of making-of and behind-the-scenes featurettes (that range from a minute or two to about forty minutes), an FBI profiling feature, and two commentary tracks on the film, one by the director and writer and one by the composer. Overall, the movie is good, but not as good as Silence of the Lambs. I would say it is on par with, or a bit better, than Hannibal. I think having Lecter in the advising role especially given Anthony Hopkins' age, works better. All of the actors did a great job with their characters with Fiennes and Philip Seymour Hoffman really standing out. So, even though it is not as good as Silence, it is still worth checking out.

Book Review: It Was All a Lie: How the Republican Party Became Donald T***p

 

It Was All a Like is a book by former Republican operative Stuart Stevens, published in 2020. It provides a behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of the Republican party spanning decades (from the 1980s to the orange genital wart's election) from someone who helped craft much of the conservative narrative and helped get Republicans elected. Stevens draws a straight line from what was being done and said in the 1980s and 1990s to the culture that embraced the shitgibbon. 

Stevens does a bit of a mea culpa admitting his role in things but also indicts himself a bit by implying (and sometimes outright saying) that many of the policies and talking points were trash, half-truths, or just total bullshit when they were things that he helped foster and willingly pushed. He absolutely backs up what he says in the book by bringing receipts in the form of hundreds of endnotes. Yes, some of what is in the book are his opinion, but he backs it up with citations to many sources. Personally, I think he should have used footnotes instead of endnotes to make it easier to see what he was citing, but the book is not just full of his unsubstantiated opinions. 

The hardcover version of the book is about 250 pages long and reads quickly. It can easily be read in a couple days or less. The book is a very revealing look at the difference between what was being said by Republicans versus what was actually meant when they used buzz words and phrases such as "family values", "welfare state", and the like, by someone who was in a position to know. He also calls out some of the biggest bullshit artists by name (e.g., Newt Gingrich who went after Bill Clinton for an affair with a White House intern while Newt was cheating on his dying wife with a congressional intern). He also goes into detail about how the idea of "small government" which is what many Republicans still try to cling to even if they can't stand t***p to justify their party loyalty, was complete and utter crap, and not anything that the Republicans really ever cared about (unless a Democrat was president, in which case they were all about fiscal responsibility and small government).

Workout Update: Power-90/Chalean Extreme Hybrid: Day 50

Day 50 was the final Push Circuit 1 workout for this phase. I was able to hit the 8 rep max on just a couple of exercises, but for the most part, I was in the 6-7 rep range for almost all of the 9 exercises. Next week will be the switch back to the Power-90 workouts, doing the 3-4 workouts, which are, for the most part, just longer and a more intense version of the 1-2 workout. 

Workout Update: Power-90/Chalean Extreme Hybrid: Day 49

Day 49 was the Recharge workout. My flexibility is still improving (very slowly). I can get deeper into the crouches near the beginning, getting as low as I could about a decade ago when I was in the best shape of my life. I am definitely not anywhere near that shape right now, but I am getting better incrementally.

Workout Update: Power-90/Chalean Extreme Hybrid: Day 48

Day 48 was the second Burn it Off workout of the week. It went pretty well again. I still modified a couple of the exercises, but I was able to get through them without pausing or stopping, which is always the goal at this point. 

DVD/TV Series Review: Family Guy: Volume Eleven/Season 10

 

Volume 11 of family guy was the first one that actually released a complete, self-contained season, that being season 10 (so it is still a bit confusing). All of the volumes up to this point contained some episodes from one season and some episodes from another season or contained a partial season. For example, volume 9 had episodes from seasons 8 and 9, and volume 10 contained the rest of the episodes from season 9. Needless to say, it left the fans confused, and resulted in a pretty good joke during one of the episodes.

This set contains the 23 season ten episodes across three discs. As has been the case for pretty much the entire run of the series, most of the episodes are self-contained storylines but do refer back to things that have happened in prior episodes. This was especially true for the episode Back to the Pilot in which Brian and Stewie travel back in time to find one of Brian's tennis balls. The show basically plays the pilot episode with Brian and Stewie watching the events. This episode was also the subject of some controversy in that Brian prevented 9/11 (which was the first vague reference on the show to the fact that Seth McFarlane was supposed to be on Flight 11 and missed the flight because he got to the airport 10-15 minutes late and the gate had already closed), only to discover the world was worse off when it did not happen. Other standout episodes from the season include Mr. and Ms. Stewie, Tom Tucker: The Man and His Dream, and Internal Affairs.

The extras include an animatic version of "Seahorse Seashell Party" with Side-by-Side Commentary from director Brian Iles and artist Joe Vaux, a feature looking back at the pilot, an animatic version of the Back to the Pilot episode, an animatic version of "Seahorse Seashell Party" with Side-by-Side Commentary from director Brian Iles and artist Joe Vaux, and on "Family Guy Viewer Mail No. 2" with Side-by-Side Commentary from director Greg Colton and storyboard artist Francis Dinglasan. Then there are some deleted scenes, audio outtakes, and regular commentary tracks on select episodes. So, if you like watching the extras, there is a lot there for you.

Obviously, by now, most people know what Family Guy is and what the style of humor is. It is definitely not going to appeal to everyone, and is not exactly family friendly. This was the point where some started thinking the show was getting a bit long in the tooth, but I thought the storylines were still clever and did not feel stale. So, if you are a fan of the show it is still worth checking out.

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

 

The Bridge was a crime drama that aired on FX for two seasons. The 13 episodes of the first season aired during the summer and fall of 2013. The series starred Diane Kruger, Demian Bichir, Ted Levine, Annabeth Gish, Thomas M. Wright, Matthew Lillard, and Emily Rios. The series is a US adaptation of a Danish series of the same name. The series is set on the border of El Paso, Texas, and Juárez, Mexico. There is a murder on the bridge between the two cities. Kruger's character, Detective Sonya Cross, investigates the murder from the US side, and Bichir's character, Detective Marco Ruiz, investigates from the Mexican side. The series deals with the drug trade on both sides of the border, human trafficking, and general corruption, as well as trying to catch the serial killer responsible for the body on the bridge. 

The Blu-Ray set is a three-disc set. The A/V quality is wonderful, and the show looks great in HD, with some great visuals of the desert landscape and the mountain regions. The extras include a commentary track on the pilot episode with the series creator and members of the cast, about thirty minutes of making-of material, and about twenty minutes of deleted scenes. So, while there are only a few extras,  what was included was fine. Overall, the series is good. It develops the story well throughout the thirteen episodes and does not give away too much too soon. It is well-written and very well-acted, with Kruger doing a lot of the heavy lifting playing a character with Asperger's, which causes her to be very blunt and have a non-existent brain-to-mouth filter (which can be pretty hilarious). It is primarily a drama/thriller combination with some dark humor thrown in here and there. It was definitely original for American TV and not like anything else that was on at the time. If you like crime dramas, this is definitely worth checking out and holds up pretty well despite being off the air for a few years.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: The Hangover Part III

 

The first Hangover movie was a surprise hit about a bachelor party that went crazy, and its aftermath. The second movie was basically a repeat of the first, just with a different setting. In Part III, the wolfpack (Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis (and kind of Justin Bartha) are back in Vegas to finish the story. Thankfully, this movie does not try to copy the first one (there are some similar elements, but it does have its own story). In this installment, the team has to track down Chow (played by Ken Jeong) and figure out where a bunch of gold bars he stole during the events of the first movie is hidden in order to get Doug (Bartha) back from the gangsters Chow stole from. The movie does bring back a bunch of the characters from the first movie, and it is most definitely a continuation of that story. But, unlike Part II, it does not feel totally derivative of Part I.

The Blu-Ray extras are pretty sparse this time around. There are five making-of featurettes, some extended scenes, and a gag reel. All in all, about forty minutes worth of extras, give or take. What is there is fine, but it is not nearly as much as the releases for the first two movies received.

Overall, the movie is good, but not great. It has the same raunchy comedy that the first two movies had, and Ken Jeong basically steals every scene he is in. It is a bit predictable, but most movies of its ilk tend to be. I cannot say that even fans of the first movie will love this one, but I do think it is an enjoyable ending to the franchise.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Kick Ass 2

 

This is the sequel to the rather surprising hit movie Kick-Ass, in which a regular kid decided to try and be a superhero, finding out it was not all it was cracked up to be. This movie is set four years after the original with Dave Lizewski / Kick-Ass (played by Aaron Taylor Johnson) having retired from crime-fighting, but getting the itch and starts to train with Hit-Girl/Mindy Macready(played by Chloë Grace Moretz) to become a real hero. Chris D'Amico (played by Christopher Mintz-Plasse) whose crime boss father was killed in the first movie takes over his father's empire (calling himself The Motherfucker) and gets a team of bad guys to take out Kick-Ass. The movie then ends up with a team of heroes going against a team of villains.

The A/V quality of the Blu-Ray is very good. The colors are very rich and the effects look great in HD. The extras include a commentary track on the film with Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Chloe Grace Moretz, and Writer/Director Jeff Wadlow, an alternate opening, a storyboarded version of a "Big Daddy" scene that did not materialize because Nicholas Cage did not return, about 14 minutes worth of deleted scenes, just under an hour of making-of featurettes and a feature on one of Hit Girl's action sequences.

Like the first movie, this one definitely earns its R rating. There is a lot of over-the-top violence, dark humor, and a lot of swearing. Chloë Grace Moretz is really the highlight of the movie, as she was in the first one, and there is a strong supporting cast including, Ian Glen, Jim Carrey, Morris Chestnut, Donald Faison, and John Leguizamo. I think what worked for the first movie is that it was so different from much of what was out there, and was more of a tongue-in-cheek movie that was lampooning superhero movies that it really could not recapture what made the first movie so good, especially as the MCU movies were really hitting their stride. That said, it is still a fun action movie, and even though it does not have anywhere near the appeal that the MCU or even the DCEU movies have if you were a fan of the first movie, it is worth checking out.

Workout Update: Power-90/Chalean Extreme Hybrid: Day 47

Day 47 was the Push Circuit 3 workout. I was not able to hit 8 reps for any of the exercises in this workout but was able to go from six to seven reps on a couple of them. So, next week, which will be the last week of the Push circuit workouts I may be able to hit the 8 rep max on at least a couple of them. I think I will be able to do so on either or both of the chest flys or bench press. 

Workout Update: Power-90/Chalean Extreme Hybrid: Day 46

Day 46 was the Burn Intervals workout again. This went pretty well. I had a bit more stamina than I had last week during the workout and was able to put more effort in even as it was getting toward the end. I did modify the couple of moves that make my back a bit sore, but otherwise, it went well.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Hannibal Rising

 

Hannibal Rising is a 2000 origin story for the character of Hannibal Lecter (played by the combination of Aaran Thomas, who plays Lecter as a child, and Gaspard Ulliel, who plays him as a young adult). The movie starts in 1941 during World War II in Lithuania. Toward the end of the war, Lecter's parents are killed and he is surviving in his family's lodge with his sister Mischa, until a group of five former Lithuanian militiamen, led by a Nazi collaborator named Vladis Grutas, storm and loot the lodge and then kill (and eat) Lecter's sister. The rest of the film is basically a revenge story as adult Lecter hunts down and kills the men who killed his sister. The main supporting cast includes Gong Li as Lecter's aunt Lady Murasaki, Dominic West as Inspector Pascal Popil, and Rhys Ifans as Vladis Grutas.

For those who get the Blu-Ray disc, the movie looks and sounds great. The cinematography of the movie is wonderful, and there are a bunch of really nice location shots. The extras include a commentary track on the movie with the director and producer, about five minutes worth of deleted scenes, a few making-of featurettes, promos for the movie, and preview trailers for other movies.

Overall, the movie is a good origin story for the character. I know a lot of people do not like it because Ulliel does not really channel Anthony Hopkins (plus he does not look like a young Anthony Hopkins), but that was really the point. In this movie, he was not the refined character he was when Hopkins played him. He is on a revenge mission and then discovers he likes to kill, so his revenge mission essentially turns him into a serial killer. Of course, it is hard for any actor to play a different version of an iconic character, but I think trying to make young Lecter exactly like the older version would not have worked or been believable. My only gripe with the movie, and what knocks it down a star for me is that the pacing is fairly uneven. The movie definitely feels like it drags in parts, but overall what is good about the movie outweighs the bad. If you go into it with the expectation that you are not going to get a recreation of Hopkin's performance in Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal, and Red Dragon, you will probably enjoy the movie.

Blu-Ray Box Set Review: The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy (The Fellowship of the Ring / The Two Towers / The Return of the King Extended Editions)

 

These are, of course, the movie adaptations of the popular series of novels written by J.J.R. Tolkien and directed by Peter Jackson about a group of Hobbits, Elves, and Humans in the fictional realm of Middle-Earth work together to destroy the one ring to rule them all to prevent an evil lord named Sauron from ruling Middle-Earth. The movies starred many recognizable actors and actresses, including Elija Wood, Viggo Mortensen, Andy Serkis, Karl Urban, Miranda Otto, Liv Tyler, Ian McKellen, Sean Astin, Christopher Lee, John Rhys-Davies, Orlando Bloom, Hugo Weaving, John Noble, and Cate Blanchett, to name a few. The books and movies have been around long enough that I will not do a detailed review of the movies themselves. Still, for those who have not seen them, they are iconic fantasy stories that are a mix of medieval-era kingdoms and magic and were the precursor to Dungeons and Dragons, Game of Thrones, and anything like it.

This set has the extended editions of the movies (which were already long) in which Peter Jackon inserts many of the deleted scenes into the films and extends many existing scenes. And these are not additions that just add a few minutes to the movies. They are substantial additions that add a lot of material (Return of the King gets an additional 50 minutes added to it, making the run time over four hours). On top of that, there are a TON of extras. Each movie has four separate commentary tracks, one that includes Peter Jackson and the writers, one that includes cast members, one that includes members of the production team, and one that includes members of the design team. Then, there are seven different appendices, each containing hours of making-of and behind-the-scenes material that can be played in individual segments or all at once. There are 15 discs in all, and even if you watch each movie once, you are looking at over 11 hours to watch the movies. Then you have hours of the appendices material. So, as my headline says, this is just for someone who is a die-hard fan of the movies (or really loves watching bonus content). If you are just a casual fan of the films or the fantasy genre, this is likely overkill and more than you will ever want to watch. But, if you are a die-hard fan, this is definitely worth getting and devoting multiple days to watching.

Book Review: Blonde: A Novel

 

Blonde is a novel written by Joyce Carol Oats and published in 2000 that fictionalizes the life of Marilyn Monroe. I read this in anticipation of the Netflix movie adapted from this book that is set to be released in September of 2022. This is a fictional biography of Marilyn Monroe's life, taking real elements from Marilyn's, such as the fact that her mother was institutionalized, so she grew up in foster homes, her various marriages, and affairs, and blended them with things that the author made up. The author portrays Marilyn and Norma Jean (spelled Jeane in the book) as separate personalities. In the book, Norma Jeane has to "summon" Marilyn to get through her movie roles and public appearances, which accounts for her notorious unreliability. In real life, Marilyn was known for making comments like having to "give" people Marilyn so that Marilyn was a performance she put on for the masses. The author extended that to Marilyn being a person that Norma Jeane hated and never wanted to be called in real life. The book also touches on Marilyn's abuse of prescription drugs and her own mental illness.

The book is very long, about 730 pages, and is not always the easiest thing to read. The story spans Marilyn's entire life from when she was a year or two old to her death in 1962. Interestingly, the author wrote Marilyn as being aware that she was going to die and kind of did a dance with maybe she killed herself and maybe she was murdered. There is a lot of sex in the book (it definitely touches on the rumors she slept around Hollywood), if even some of the material that was included about halfway through the book (for example, a three-way relationship with two bisexual men) makes it into the movie, it definitely will earn the NC-17 rating.

Overall, you have to take the book with a grain of salt. It is a work of fiction and not a real biography, which the author admits to up-front in the forward. The author does provide a bibliography for those who are looking for non-fiction books devoted to Marilyn's life. It definitely has enough real elements that are known about Marilyn's life (like her marriages and her hookups with JFK). Still, unless you have really read about her or seen documentaries about her life, it is hard to know what is real and what is made up. So, it is an interesting take on what portions of Marilyn's life may have been like, but nothing that should be taken too seriously.

DVD/TV Series Review: Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman - Season 4

 

+++Warning, this will contain mild spoilers from the prior season, but no major giveaways from season 4.+++

Season four ended up being the final season of Lois and Clark. It was not intended to be the final season, but the show was canceled after the season had already aired, so the writers were not able to really give it a proper wrap-up. The season starts with two episodes that resolve the new krypton storyline that acted as the season three cliffhanger and then in the third episode resolves the "fake" wedding from season three. The series mostly keeps the story of the week format, but there are many storylines that play out over the course of two episodes this season. The show does bring back the best villain who is not Lex, Tempus (played wonderfully by Lane Davies), and John Shea does return to voice Lex in a couple of episodes but does not make an in-person appearance. The show also introduces Mxyzptlk (played by Howie Mandel) in the Christmas episode. There are several recognizable guest stars including Delta Burke, Jack Larson (who played Jimmy in the 1950s series), Drew Carey, William Christopher (from M*A*S*H), and Harry Anderson (from Night Court), among others. The series ends on a pretty big cliffhanger that, of course, was never paid off because of the cancelation, so it really does feel incomplete.

For those who get the DVD set, the only extra is a trivia game. There are no behind-the-scenes material or commentary tracks, or any other bonus features similar to what was included in the prior season releases. So, if you only get the physical discs when there are a lot of extras, that is something to keep in mind.

Overall, the season was okay, but not great. Definitely not as good as the first two seasons (which, in my opinion, were the best seasons of the show), or even as good as the third. The ancillary characters like Jonathan, Martha, Perry, and Jimmy were relegated even more to sidekick status than they were originally, and I think the show hurt from the lack of a "main" bad guy. They tried to turn Tempus into that main foil by bringing back Lane Davies multiple times, but I think not having Lex (or someone like Lex) every week causing trouble took something away from the show. Ending the season on a mild cliffhanger was not ideal, but the cliffhanger worked about as good as one in a series finale could. But, it is obvious that the writers intended it to lead into the fifth season. I do think it is worth watching, especially for those of us who were fans when it aired on TV, as long as you temper your expectations for the season knowing that it does not get a proper finale.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life

 

The Cradle of Life is the 2003 sequel to Angeline Jolie's 2001 film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, adapted from the popular video game franchise. It stars Angelina Jolie, Ciaran Hinds, Gerard Butler, and Djimon Hounsou. Jolie (who reprises her role as Lara Croft) and Gerard Butler (from 300), are on a quest to find Pandora's box and the Cradle of Life. Of course, there are bad guys who are also after the box for nefarious purposes. There are a bunch of very unrealistic action sequences and stunts (including Lara punching a shark and then riding it to the surface of the ocean) that rival the Fast and Furious movies for their absurdity. And, like in the first movie, they put Jolie into the tightest outfits possible to show off what she has going on.

The A/V quality of the Blu-Ray is excellent. If you have a surround sound system, there is sound coming from all the speakers at almost all times. The movie looks great in HD, and the practical and CGI effects blend together very well. There is a decent amount of extras included, such as a director's commentary track on the movie, about ten minutes of deleted scenes, about forty minutes of behind-the-scenes and making-of featurettes, a portion of Gerard Butler's screen test, and a couple of music videos. Ultimately, the movie is good but not great. Some of the action sequences either border on or jump headlong into the absurd. It is definitely a movie that you can have on in the background and still easily follow along with what is going on, even if you look away for a few minutes at a time. Jolie plays Croft exactly as she did in the first movie, and Chris Barrie as Hillary and Noah Taylor as Bryce provide the comic relief. It is definitely a "turn your brain off and enjoy it" kind of movie. It requires a lot of suspension of disbelief; certainly, not everyone will enjoy it. But, in general, if you liked the first movie, you will probably like this one. On the other hand, if the first movie did little for you, then this is probably not going to do anything for you either.

DVD/TV Series Review: Burn Notice: Season 7

 

Burn Notice had long ago answered the question "who burned Michael" and saw him return to the spy life. I think actually answering that question hurt the show because then it really just became a show about various missions and was pretty far removed from what it was in the first couple of seasons, which made the show great. This season sees Michael working undercover trying to take down a freelance terrorist ring run by a former special ops soldier named Randall Burke, played by Heroes alum Adrian Pasdar. His former Heroes castmate Jack Coleman plays Andrew Strong, a CIA officer working with Michael to take the organization down. This season sees Michael off on his own more and having less interaction with "the team", which also hurts the season.

For those who get the DVD set, the extras are pretty bare-bones. There is a gag reel and a making-of featurette that discusses wrapping up the show. Unfortunately, there are no commentary tracks or as many extras as there had been in past seasons.

Overall, I would say that this was definitely the time to end the series. I do not think there were other stories that it could tell, and while the final season was okay, it did not have the feel of the show that it started out as, and just overall was not as good. That said, it did have a lot of action and there were some dramatic moments. As you can imagine, not every character makes it out unscathed, but the series ends on a nice flash-forward moment. So, if you have been a fan of the series, it is worth checking out the end, even if you do not like it as much as the early seasons.

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

 

This is the latest adaptation of the French movie La Femme Nikita, which was also adapted as an American movie called Point of No Return and a 1990s TV series that aired on the USA network. The 22-episode first season aired during the 2010/2011 TV season and starred Maggie Q, Lyndsy Fonseca, Shane West, Melinda Clarke, and  Xander Berkeley. In this variation, Maggie Q stars as Nikita, who escaped from, and is now trying to bring down, a secret government organization called Division, which performs any number of black ops, including assassinations. Division "recruits" young men and women to perform operations, basically by giving them a choice of prison (or worse) or working for them. Nikita, who escaped Division three years prior to the events of the show, enlists the help of a young woman named Alex, played by Lyndsy Fonseca (best known for her role in the Kick-Ass movies) to take down Division. The show is basically a case/mission of the week procedural, with larger arcs that run throughout the season. Nikita, with Alex's help (unknown to Division agents), does what she can to sabotage the missions and throw a wrench into the plans of the organization. The show has a very strong supporting cast including Melinda Clarke (from The OC), Xander Berkeley (from 24), and Shane West (from ER).

The Blu-Ray set is a four-disc set. The A/V quality is excellent, with the colors looking very crisp. The show does not have a ton of special effects, but what there are do not look fake (as is definitely the case for some shows which tend to stand out even more in HD). The extras include deleted scenes, a few making-of featurettes titled "Inside Division, Part 1: The New Nikita", "Inside Division, Part 2: Executing an Episode", "Profiling Nikita, Alex, Percy & Michael", audio commentaries on select episodes, and a gag reel. So there is a lot there if you like watching the extras.

Overall, the show is very entertaining. It is pretty much a straight-up action/thriller but does mix in some drama. It does have some sexual content, but not a ton since the show aired on network TV, but Maggie Q is put in some very skimpy outfits. So, keep that in mind if that is something that would bother you. It is well written and very well-acted, and the large ensemble cast is balanced very well. So, if you are into that genre of shows, I highly recommend this one.

Workout Update: Power-90/Chalean Extreme Hybrid: Day 45

Day 45 marks the halfway point (roughly) of the hybrid workout. Tonight's workout was the Push Circuit 2 workout, which is my least favorite of the Push circuit workouts. This has a lot of shoulder work in it. A couple of the exercises were easier this week, but all the various delt raise exercises were still very tough.  

Workout Update: Power-90/Chalean Extreme Hybrid: Day 44

Day 44 was the Burn it Off cardio workout again. I was able to do a bit more of the jumping exercises in this one since my back was feeling a little better than it was on Saturday. So, this ended up being a better workout than it was the last time. 

Workout Update: Power-90/Chalean Extreme Hybrid: Day 43

Day 43 was the Push Circuit 1 workout again. I did not hit the 8 rep max on any of the exercises, but some of them were definitely getting easier than they were last week. This is the second hardest workout of the Push circuit workouts because it hits the arms hard, then has a set of push-ups at the very end. I was able to hit the arms hard enough that I did have to do more of the push-ups on my knees than last week. 

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Extended Edition)

 

This is the first of what would be a trilogy of movies based on Tolkien's novel The Hobbit, again directed by Peter Jackson, who also directed the Lord of The Rings trilogy. The challenge was how to make a relatively short book into three movies. So, unlike LOTR, where much was cut out to focus the story, here, a lot is added from Tolkien's other writings to flesh out the story. This movie is the one that is the most faithful to the book, with more detail being added to the second and third movies in the trilogy that were not in the book. An Unexpected Journey was released in 2012 and starred Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Andy Serkis, Richard Armitage, Ken Stott, Grham McTavish, Aidan Turner, Dean O'Gorman, Mark Hadlow, Jed Brophy, Adam Brown, John Callen, Peter Hambleton, William Kircher, James Nesbitt. McKellan and Serkis reprise their roles from the LOTR movies, and Ian Holm, Elijah Wood, Cate Blanchette, and Christopher Lee all reprise their roles in cameo appearances.

This movie focuses on the first part of the story, Gandalf introducing the dwarves to Bilbo, the trek through the mountains, and Bilbo's confrontation with Gollum (intercut between the dwarves battling the Goblins). The movie ends with the group escaping from the goblins and setting up the encounter with Smaug, which is the focus of the second movie. 

This Extended Edition Blu-Ray is a three-disc set. The extended version is an 182-minute cut of the film, which adds about thirteen minutes to the 169-minute theatrical cut. The additions are less extensive than the added material in the extended versions of the LOTR films, most likely because much was added from the novel to make a trilogy of movies. Among the additions in the Extended Edition is an extended prologue about the dwarves and elves, a scene where young Bilbo Baggins first meets Gandalf, and several extensions to scenes introducing the dwarf clan (which makes the opening sequence drag a bit). And, there is a new scene in the Goblin caves involving the Goblin King.

In the movie, Martin Freeman plays the younger version of Bilbo Baggins, Ian McKellen reprises his role as Gandalf, Richard Armitage plays Thorin II Oakenshield, the leader of the dwarves, and of course, Andy Serkis as Gollum. We also do see some characters/actors from LOTR in cameos (or extended cameos) including Hugo Weaving as Elrond, Christopher Lee as Saruman the White, Cate Blanchett as Galadriel, Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins, and Ian Holm as old Bilbo.

The real reason to get this set is the bonus material. On the first disc, there is a commentary track on the movie with Jackson and the co-writer and then a short featurette on shooting in New Zealand. Disc 2 contains Part 7 of The Appendicies, and like in the LOTR extended edition, there are several segments that you can watch individually or all at once. In all, they total well over two hours of material. Then, on disc 3, there is Part 8 of the appendices which has another nearly five hours of material. The appendices amount to two very long making-of/behind-the-scenes documentaries that cover pretty much all aspects of production (pre, filming, and post) and how the movie got made, how it was adapted from the source material, etc. So, if you are a fan of the books and/or the prior movies, they provide a ton of information. And, of course, the A/V quality is top-notch, with the special effects even better than what they were in the LOTR movies.

Overall, the movie is very good, even if it is a bit long. I personally think the opening sequence in which all the dwarves are introduced does get a bit long, but once they start out on their journey, the movie is well-paced and does not ever really seem to drag. If you are not a die-hard fan this set is probably overkill, but if you are, and love watching all the extras, this is definitely worth the pickup.

Product Review: Hoover SmartWash Pet Automatic Carpet Cleaner

 

I had to use this much quicker than I intended when my mom's dog had an accident in the house on a brand new carpet. I had to use the spot treatment and go over the area with a few passes, but it got all of the mess out, did not leave any residual odor behind, and I could not tell the mess was ever there, after it was cleaned up.

It is pretty easy to set up, there is a tank for fresh water, a tank on the back for the solution, and a small tank on the handle for the spot solution. You use it like a vacuum, when you push forward it washes the carpet and when you pull back it dries the carpet. The carpet will not dry completely but you can get it from wet to damp. One thing to be aware of, it can be operated even if the water tank is not seated 100% correctly which will cause water to go into the carpet, but not be pulled back out and into the waste water tank. So, if water is not going into the waste water tank (which is above the clean water tank) you need to stop it and make sure everything is connected correctly, otherwise, you will just have dirty water sitting in the carpet. It does come with a small bottle of the spot chaser and the cleaning solution, but there is really only enough to do one or two cleanings of a single room. So, you definitely want to purchase more if you plan on using this on a regular basis.