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. 

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Dexter: The Complete Final Season

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilers from the prior seasons, but no major spoilers from the final season.+++

Season 8 of Dexter picks up months down the road from the events that ended season seven. The first part of the season started out pretty good and then went downhill as the season progressed. As most have pointed out, the overall ending was pretty bad, so the season just gets a worse reputation than it really deserved. Jennifer Carpenter is definitely the highlight of the season. She plays Deb spiraling out of control wonderfully. She feels enormously guilty over killing LaGuerta to protect Dexter and is mad because he does not feel the least bit guilty about it. Of course, there is a new serial killer that Dexter has to contend with, as well as the psychiatrist who helped Harry come up with "the code", whose intentions are murky, to say the least. I will not spoil how the season ends, although chances are anyone reading this now is already aware. I will just say that I would have chosen a different ending to the series than was done for this one. Obviously, this was meant to be the end of the series and was for many years until the series was resurrected as a limited event miniseries in 2021.

The A/V quality of the Blu-Ray is very good, but the extras are pretty lame. There are just a handful of very short (2-3 minutes at most) featurettes and the first two episodes of the series Ray Donovan. Not nearly as much as a show that had an eight-season run should have received. Overall, the season was decent to good, with a band ending. The acting was great, but the writing most definitely was not. With those provisos, I do think it is worth watching but know that you will probably not enjoy the season as much as you did the first 3-4 seasons.

Blu-Ray/Movie Collection Review: The Hannibal Lecter Collection (Manhunter / Silence of the Lambs / Hannibal)

 

The Hannibal Lecter collection contains three original movies featuring the character Hannibal Lecter- 1986's Manhunter, 1991's Silence of the Lambs, and the 2001 sequel to Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal. Manhunter was made in 1986 and starred Brian Cox as Hannibal Lecter and William Petersen as Will Grahm. It is basically the Red Dragon story that would be remade years later with Hopkins in the role of Lecter with a much different tone and feel. There are some that think Manhunter is the best movie adaptation of any of the Thomas Harris novels, but I generally prefer the Hopkins movies, probably because I saw Silence of the Lambs first. Silence of the Lambs was the classic 1991 film that starred Jodie Foster as Clarice Starling, a young FBI agent who used Lecter's knowledge to help capture a serial killer named Buffalo Bill, played by Ted Levine. It was definitely more of a thriller than it was a horror movie. There are some gory parts, but nothing akin to say the Saw franchise. It is much more of an edge-of-your-seat psychological thriller than it is anything else. Hannibal is the sequel to Silence of the Lambs, with Julianne Moore taking over the role of Clarice trying to track down Lecter, as was his last surviving victim, Mason Verger, played by Gary Oldman. While this does have the psychological thriller element to it, it is much gorier than Silence of the Lambs was. While Moore did a good job as Clarice, it was definitely not the same without Jodie Foster in that role, and I think the movie suffered somewhat because of it.

The Blu-Ray set is a three-disc set containing one disc for each film. The A/V quality of the movies is good, but none of them got a high-quality HD upgrade. Regarding extras, there are trailers for Manhunter and Hannibal, but that is it. Silence of the Lambs carries over the extras from its initial DVD release, including a picture-in-picture commentary track on the movie that includes interviews with the cast members as the movie plays. Then there are several behind-the-scenes and making-of documentaries that range from about 8-minutes to over an hour. Then you get a bunch of deleted scenes, outtakes, trailers, and TV spots for the movie. So, there are a lot of good extras for that movie, but little to nothing for the other two, which is a shame.

Overall, this is a good collection. Of course, Silence is largely considered one of the best movies of all time. It is interesting to see the original Manhunter movie given that it was never a widely acclaimed movie, especially for those of us who were way too young to see it when it first came out. Hannibal is a good movie, but nowhere near as good as Silence. So, those are things that you should take into consideration when deciding whether to get this set or just get Silence on its own.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Marvel's The Avengers

 

This is, if you watch the MCU movies in chronological order, the seventh, after Captain America, Captain Marvel, Iron Man, Iron Man 2, The Hulk, and Thor. If you are watching them in release order, it is the sixth, after Iron Man, The Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, and Captain America. It is, in part, a sequel to both Thor and Captain America, with the Mcguffin of Captain America (the Tesseract) and the villain of Thor (Loki) being front and center in the story. Basically, Loki is tasked to use the Tesseract to open a portal through which an army of aliens called the Chitari can come through and take over Earth. The Avengers have to team up to stop him, leading to what would be referred to in the subsequent movies as "The Battle of New York" and have reverberations throughout the other movies and the tv series that the MCU would spawn.

The 4k set is a two-disc set containing a UHD disc and a regular Blu-Ray disc. The A/V quality of the movie in UHD is excellent. I do not count myself as an A/V expert so I cannot really tell you whether the 4k UHD disc is a huge upgrade over the initial Blu-Ray release (there are certainly sites out there that can do that), but as a novice, it does look like, when watching it on a big screen 4k TV playing on a 4k Blu-Ray player, the UHD disc does look better than the Blu-Ray version. The extras include a director's commentary track on the movie, several making-of and behind-the-scenes featurettes, and a Marvel One-Shot short film starring Lizzy Caplan set after the events of the movie. As is the case with many UHD releases, the UHD disc just has the movie itself and then the regular Blu-Ray has all of the extras. I listened to the commentary track years ago when I purchased the original Blu-Ray release before everything all the allegations about Joss Whedon being a raging asshole came to light. From what I remember it is a pretty standard director's commentary, but I refuse to listen to him talk about anything, but it is there if you want to listen to it.

Overall, the movie is wonderful. I think Marvel did a good job by introducing the characters in stand-alone films first and getting the origin stories for most of them (all but Black Widow and Hawkeye) out of the way and developed (at least to an extent) before they started doing the big team-up movies. It seemed like the cast had great chemistry, and worked well together. Of course, the big casting change from the prior movies was the fact that Mark Ruffalo was brought in to play Bruce Banner/Hulk, replacing Edward Norton who seemingly wore out his welcome very quickly when filming The Incredible Hulk. Even though Ruffalo was kind of shoe-horned in, given that this was the first movie in which all of the major actors worked together, it worked out well. The movie is, as you can imagine, mostly an action movie, but does have some comedy and even drama mixed in. It also started the tradition of having both a mid-credits scene that advances the storyline (this one introducing the "big bad" of the initial phases of the MCU, and a post-credits scene that is meant to be more fun or tie back into the movie you just watched. So, if you are a fan of superhero movies, this one is definitely worth watching and pays off on the prior movies quite well.

Product Review: Amazon Brand - Presto! Flex-a-Size Paper Towels, Huge Roll

 

The pros of getting this are:

1. The rolls are large, much larger than most you will find in a regular store, and much less expensive than an equivalently sized roll you would get in a regular store.
2. There are only six rolls, so unlike buying paper towels in a warehouse club, you do not have to find as much space to fit them all.
3. They have good (but not great) absorbency.
4. They are "select a size" so you are not stuck always using a large one if you do not need to.
5. You can set them up as a Subscribe and Save item and get them delivered at whatever frequency works for you.

The cons:
1. They are not all that soft. Some people really like soft paper towels, and these are not that. I would definitely not blow your nose on them unless you have no other choice.
2. A minor con, the perforations are not all that easy to see, so it is hard to tell where to tear them.