Book Review: Star Wars - Battlefront: Twilight Company

 

Twilight Company is one of the new canon novels in the Star Wars Universe that is based on the Battlefront game. It follows a squad of rebels, led by a sergeant named Namir, that is akin to the elite commando squads of the US military who go in before the "regular" troops get there. The events of the book are mostly set around the time of The Empire Strikes Back. In fact, we see a part of the battle on Hoth, and Namir has an encounter with Darth Vader as he is helping one of the command staff escape. The book details several different battles in several different locations and is basically from the perspective of the "grunts" as opposed to Luke, Leia, and Han.

Overall, the book is good. It definitely has a bunch of ancillary characters who do not play large roles beyond just this book. That may or may not appeal to some people. I do think it is interesting to see the rebellion from the perspective of the "regular" people who are characters that are in the background of the Original Trilogy movies. It is definitely not one of the canon novels that I would classify as a must-read, but it is an interesting read and one that I think is worth the time to read.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Bad Moms

 

Bad Moms is an ensemble cast comedy led by Mila Kunis (from That 70s Show), who plays Amy Mitchell who kicks her husband out of the when she discovers he is cheating on her. Amy then has to navigate trying to raise her two kids, work as a sales rep, and deal with the PTA of her kid's school, led by an overbearing Gwendolyn James, played by Married With Children's Christina Applegate. The movie essentially breaks down to Amy and her group, Carla, played by Katherine Hahn (who steals every scene she is in), and Kiki, played by Kristen Bell who plays a great reserved stay-at-home mom, versus Gwendolyn's group Stacy, played by Jada Pinkett Smith, and Vicky, Annie Mumolo.

The movie is good, but definitely not perfect. I think both Applegate and Bell's comedic talents are a bit underused in the movie, mostly because of the way their characters are written. Kunis and Hahn, however, do a good job doing the comedy heavy lifting. Hahn's character is a bit of a cliche, but thankfully she is used somewhat sparingly so she can really take over when she is included.

For those who get the blu-ray, the A/V quality is okay, but the video quality is definitely not as good as it could be. Of course, the movie does not have a bunch of CGI effects, but the image does not look as nice as a movie from 2015 should. There are a handful of extras including a short gag reel, just under 20 minutes of deleted scenes, and about 23 minutes worth of interview material with the cast members and their mothers, some of which made it into the end credits of the movie.

Overall, the movie is good to very good. As is the case with many of today's comedies, it definitely leans more toward the raunchy end of the spectrum (especially when Hahn is on screen), and some of the jokes can fall a bit flat. But, on the whole, it tells a fun story and the cast had (or faked) good chemistry. So, while I would not call it a must-see, if you are in the mood for a more adult comedy, this is worth checking out.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Penny Dreadful: The Final Season

 

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

Season three, which would ultimately be the final season of Penny Dreadful picks up after the events of season two, resulting in the characters being scattered and alone. Ethan is whisked back to America after turning himself in for the murders at the inn, Vanessa is still in London undergoing therapy, and Sir Malcolm is in Africa. As the prior season had, this one has a bunch of mostly parallel storylines that intertwine over the course of the season. The main storyline this season involves Dracula, who has been teased since season one, and the storylines of the big three characters culminate in a battle versus Dracula.

For those who get the Blu-Ray, the show looks and sounds great in HD once again. There are a lot of CGI effects that get worked seamlessly into the practical shots, so it really does look like it was shot in Victorian London. The extras are fairly sparse, especially for the final season of the show. There are a handful of short making-of and behind-the-scenes featurettes that run about 12 minutes in between all of them, and then some character profiles.

Overall, the season is good, but it ends pretty abruptly and makes the curious choice of introducing new major characters who never get fully developed storylines because of the short run of episodes. If the writers and showrunners knew that the show would end after this season, it would have made more sense just to focus on the existing characters. Eva Green again deserves props for her portrayal of Vanessa. She can go from playing Vanessa as an upright Victorian woman to someone who is completely insane with ease. She can also be made up to look like a supermodel at one moment and then made to look like she has been sleeping in a cardboard box under a bridge the next moment. One of the best episodes of the season is one that shows Vanessa's time being institutionalized in an Asylum in a flashback episode. Green has to change directions with the character multiple times during that episode and does a wonderful job. The show is definitely still an adult drama with a lot of violence and nudity, but if that does not bother you, it is definitely worth your time to watch (if you like horror stories). If you have not seen the show yet, definitely start with season one, and do not try to jump in at the end. If you have seen and liked the prior seasons, then you will probably like this one as well.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day Round 2 Day 4

Day 4 was the second time doing the Tabata Power workout this week. I probably modified more than I indented to, especially with the power jumps, which caused me to hurt my back on Tuesday. I did as many unmodified moves as I could, but definitely not as many as I would have liked. But, I made it through without further tweaking my back, so that was a plus.  

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Charmed Season 4

 

+++Warning, this spoils the major cliffhanger from the end of season three, but does not give away any major season four spoilers+++

Season four of Charmed picks up a week after the events that ended season three, with Prue and Piper being laid out by Shanx's blast. We learn that Prue died from the blast, which was, of course, a way to write Shannen Doherty out of the show. To preserve the whole concept of the Power of Three, a new, half-sister, Paige, played by Scream's Rose McGowan was revealed. Paige was the child of Prue, Phoebe, and Piper's mother Patty and her Whitelighter, Sam, who was given up for adoption as a baby. The first handful of episodes were focused on establishing Paige as a character and Paige learning about her sister's existence and the fact that she is a witch. Then, it pretty much followed the same procedural-serial storyline combination that the first few seasons had. I would say this season's storylines were more serial than they were monster-of-the-week, with major storylines about Phoebe and Cole's relationship, and Piper's emotional breakdown after losing Prue getting multi-episode arcs this season. The cast turnover did not end with Shannen Doherty leaving as Dorian Gregory was basically used as a recurring character this season (although he was still shown in the opening credits of the episodes he was in), but his character would go 3-4 episodes at a time without making an appearance.

For those who get the Blu-Ray set, it is basically a MOD set. You just get the episodes and that is it. You do have the option of a German or English language track and German or English subtitles, but there are no extras, which honestly, given that the season aired in 2001 and the blu-rays were not released until years later is not surprising. This season does have a lot of good guest stars including Daniel Dae Kim (who would later star on Lost and the Hawaii Five-0 reboot), Robert Englund (the original Freddy Kruger), Ray Wise (from Twin Peaks), Coolio, Dave Navarro, Armin Shimerman (from Buffy), and Bruce Cambell.

Overall, the beginning of the season was a bit uneven as the show transitioned from Shannen Doherty to Rose McGowen. As many are likely aware, Doherty and Milano did not get along (how much neither of them has ever said, although they both acknowledged tension as has Holly Marie Combs) and there has been speculation for years whether Doherty was fired or quit. Speculation is that it went far beyond tension and they actually hated each other, and Milano gave an ultimatum to the showrunners that either Doherty goes or she would. Milano has always denied that ever happened, but given that Doherty directed the season three finale and was gone by season four, it seems that things came to a head when Doherty was in charge. It does seem like the show did her and the character of Prue dirty by not having her appear to give her a proper sendoff. At any rate, once the character of Paige was figured out by the writers and McGowan got her footing with the character, don't think the show lost much steam. It seemed like Milano, McGowan, and Combs worked well together, although if you have seen Milano and McGowan's social media interactions, it seems that there is no love lost between those two either.

There are things about the show that would probably not be done the same now as they were back then. There was definitely still some mooning over men that would probably not be written the same way, and they were definitely putting McGowan in a ton of skimpy outfits as they had put Milano in during seasons 1-3. Of course, this was back when McGowan was hot and not identifiably crazy, so she was put in crop tops and midriff-baring outfits constantly. And, the special effects were still not great by any means, and sometimes the HD transfer makes that even more noticeable. That said, if you enjoyed the show's first few seasons (unless you only watched it because Shannen Doherty was in it), you will probably enjoy this season as well.

Book Review: Star Wars - Tarkin

 

Tarkin is a novel that is essentially a followup to the same author's great Darth Plegeius novel, which was really about the rise of Palpatine. This novel is mostly set a few years into the Empire 14 years before the events of A New Hope, details Tarkin's rise through the ranks of the Imperial Army. The story does flashback to Tarkin's childhood on the Outer Rim world of Eriadu and to his early days working for Senator Palpatine in the Republic, but the bulk of the story involves a mission that Tarkin is sent on with Darth Vader to investigate a cache of communications devices on the planet Murkhana which suggest a plot to take down the Imperial holonet.

While the novel is centered around Tarkin, Vader and Palpatine appear quite a bit and we see the seeds of the early rebellion against the Empire being planted. We do find out that Tarkin suspected Darth Vader's real identity, having worked with Anakin before during the Clone Wars, but he keeps that to himself. In the end of the book, the construction of the Death Star above Geonosis is mentioned.

This novel is interesting in that it was written just before Disney's takeover of Lucasfilm and was grandfathered into the canon, whereas the prior book, Darth Plageius was not. This book does have a couple of tie-ins to the Darth Plageius novel, however, so some of that novel is brought into the canon by this one. Of course, at the time this novel was written, characters like Orson Krennic and Galen Erso were not yet created, so some of Tarkin's control over the Death Star project hinted at in this book was changed by Rogue One because the events of the movies trump the books. Overall, I do not necessarily think the book is a must-read if you are a person who picks and chooses which of the Star Wars books to read. If you read all of them then you will read this anyway, but if you read some, but not all, of them, you will not miss anything critical if you skip this, but it is a very good story and one that I think is worth reading at least once.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Banshee: The Complete Fourth Season

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilers from season three and a minor season four spoiler+++

The fourth season of Banshee had to do a lot. First, it had to resolve Job's kidnapping at the end of Season three, and the overall fallout of the botched heist. Carrie is reeling from Gordon's death and almost everything has changed after Lucas' resignation from the sheriff's department. The fourth season premiere jumps ahead almost two years to reveal that Lucas is living off the grid when Brock (who is now the Sheriff) finds Lucas and tells him of a murder that looks like the work of a serial killer. From there, the show becomes a murder mystery trying to locate the serial killer with another main storyline parallel to that one involving Proctor (who is now the Mayor) and the Nazis, including Kurt's brother Calvin, which basically pits the sheriff's department vs. the Nazis vs. Proctor.

For those who get the Blu-Ray set, the A/V quality is again top-notch, as it has been with all of the releases. The extras include episode recaps, deleted scenes, and a couple of Zoomed-In featurettes, commentary tracks on a couple of episodes, and cast retrospectives.

Overall, the season is very good despite having a lot packed into it. The murder mystery is quite good and plays out over the course of multiple episodes. The season continues to employ flashbacks, but this time flashing back just over the course of the 18 months between the end of season three and the beginning of season four. The season brings in a couple of new recurring cast members, first Eliza Dushku (from Buffy, Angel, and Dollhouse), and Fred Weller (from In Plain Sight). The show does a decent job of wrapping up the various storylines. It does keep a bit of mystery as we never do find out Lucas' real name, and the ending played out a bit differently than I thought it would but was still well done. There is, of course, a lot of violence and sex. Although, it was a bit lighter on the sex and nudity this season than in past seasons. Still, it is not remotely suitable for kids. If you liked the prior seasons then you will probably like this one as well. If however, the show never did anything for you before this season, this one is probably not going to convert you. But, if you are looking for a good crime show that has a good blend of action and drama, then this is definitely one to give a chance to. But, you definitely have to watch it from the beginning to really be able to follow the plot lines.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day Round 2 Day 3

Day 3 of round 2 was the sweat intervals workout. Thankfully, my back felt well enough by the evening that I could stick to the workout, but there were some moves for which I did not even try the unmodified versions, like the  "free runners". I was able to get through but was very gassed at the end. 

Product Review: Wahl Mustache and Beard Battery Operated Beard Trimming kit for Mustaches, Beard, Neckline, Light Detailing and Grooming with Bonus Nose & Ear Trimmer

 

The beard trimmer was okay but died pretty quickly (within a few months) to the point where it would not turn on even with new batteries. The nose/ear hair trimmer has lasted much longer (it still works) and works as it should. So, this is definitely a get-what-you-pay-for kind of product, and how long it will last is a bit of a tossup.

Book Review: The Ground Truth: The Untold Story of America Under Attack on 9/11

 

This book most definitely is not a 9/11 truther conspiracy novel, written by a batshit crazy nutcase. It is a book by a member of the 9/11 Commission staff which excoriates the FBI, CIA, and various intelligence agencies for failing to stop the attacks before they had a chance to happen (despite many opportunities to do so), the Clinton and Bush administrations for not doing enough to go after Al Queda and/or ignoring how dangerous it had become, and the FAA and the military for their ineptness on the day itself. In the case of the last two, specifically, he details how members of the FAA and the military either did not know or outright lied about how events played out that day, showing either incompetence and ignorance or a desire to cover themselves to disguise their incompetence. For example, during the commission hearings, FAA officials made it seem like they informed the military well before they actually did, and the members of the military insisted that they had been tracking flight 93 and were minutes away from tracking it down had the passengers and crew not fought back to try and regain control of the plane causing the terrorists to crash it. In reality, the FAA contacted NEADS about six minutes before Flight 11 hit the north tower of the WTC, the military had no warning about Flight 175, and the FAA was not even sure that 175 was hijacked until it was a minute or two from hitting the south tower of the WTC, the FAA told the military about a plane headed toward the White House a few minutes before Flight 77 hit the Pentagon and did not tell the military about Flight 93 until after it had crashed. So, there was no way fighter jets were minutes away from taking Flight 93 down. 

The book reprints transcripts of the communications which, at the time of the 9/11 commission report's release, were classified, which showed how the reality of the day conflicted with what the commission was being told by witnesses. There is also a very detailed timeline of events involving the hijackers and other members of Al Queda that at least put them on the radar of various US agencies, and sent up huge red flags that were either missed or ignored. The key takeaway from the book is that there were plenty of opportunities to find out about the attacks and stop them before they happened had the "system" not failed time and again.

Product Review: McDavid Waist Trimmer Belt

 

The name of the product is definitely deceptive so you have to understand what this does and does not do. It provides decent back and core support, which is helpful when you are working out, and it does make you sweat, so you will lose some water weight. What it does not do, by itself, is trim your waist in any way, shape, or form. Meaning, if you have fat around your middle, you can wear this 24/7, but if you do not work out and eat healthily, or at least eat a balanced diet, then you are not going to see any significant change in your waistline, much less get six-pack abs. 

If you have realistic expectations of what it can and cannot do for you, you will find it useful. I use it when lifting to help support my back and core, and if you use it like that, you will not be disappointed. If you are looking for a magic gimmick, this will sorely disappoint you.

DVD/TV Series Review: Hawaii Five-0 (2010): Season 6

 

+++Warning, this contains minor spoilers from prior seasons, but no major season six spoilers+++

The 25-episode sixth season of Hawaii Five-0 aired during the 2015/2016 TV season. It continues to blend procedural, case-of-the-week stories with larger serial arcs. The big serial arc that runs through the season involves Gabriel Waincroft, who continues to go after the team, including attacking Adam and Kono on their honeymoon. There are also callbacks to episodes from the prior season, the big one involving Lou returning to Chicago to attempt to get his ex-partner Clay Maxwell (guest star Mykelti Williamson) to confess to killing his wife. Between the case-of-the-week stories, the team goes through a cat-and-mouse game with Waincroft that lasts until the end of the season. This season also sees a ton of guest stars, including Julie Benz (from Buffy and Angel), Sarah Carter (who had a recurring role on Smallville), Carol Burnett, and Sung Kang (from the Fast and Furious movies). The main cast members all return for this season; however, Michelle Borth leaves the show as a series regular.

The DVD set is a six-disc set. The extras are pretty much the same as they have been in the past couple of seasons. Mostly deleted scenes, gag reel, and a short behind-the-scenes featurette. And, of course, the show is only available on DVD after the first few seasons getting blu-ray releases with a lot of extras.

Overall, the show continues to be a good action procedural with some drama and humor. The writers do a good job juggling the large cast and giving each character good material. Of course, Steve and Danny have the most storylines and screen time, but even more ancillary characters like Max and Jerry have something to work with. Unlike the past few seasons, this one does not end on a big cliffhanger. We know the fates of all of the characters as the season finale ends, which is actually a nice change. So, if you have been a fan of the prior seasons, you will probably like this season as well.

Product Review: Remote Control Holders Organizer Box with 5 Compartments

 

This is a very good, and sturdy remote control holder. It has slots for five remotes, and the slots are wide enough that if you have a couple of thinner remotes, two can easily fit into one slot. It definitely solves the issue of remotes falling to the floor, getting stuck between couch cushions, or getting tangled up in bedding (as long as you put the remotes back of course). I liked the first one I got so much that I got a second one, so I definitely recommend it.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day Round 2 Day 2

Day 2 of round 2 of the hybrid workout was the Tabata Power workout. I again was trying to do as many unmodified moves as I could. About halfway through, during the power jumps I tweaked my back, so I ended up doing modified moves for most of the exercises from there on out. We will see how my back is feeling tomorrow. I will try to do the next Max 30 workout, but if my back is still hurting, like it is now, I am not going to push it, and will probably just switch to doing the Recharge workout. But, I am going to play it by ear. I was able to make it about 11 minutes into this workout before maxing out. But again, had I been doing unmodified moves the entire time, I would have maxed out during the warmup.  

DVD/TV Series Review: Limitless

 

Limitless was mostly an adaptation, but partly a continuation of the movie of the same name starring Bradley Cooper. Like the movie, the premise of the series is based on the myth that humans only access 10 percent of their brain's power which can be expanded by taking a nootropic drug called NZT-48, which unlocks the full potential of the human mind. Jake McDorman, who up to this point in his career played character parts in either guest starring or recurring roles on series like Shameless and House, had been a series lead in a few short-lived relatively unknown shows, as well as having a few movie credits under his belt, plays Brian Finch, a 28-year old musician who has to take odd jobs to keep himself afloat. He is mainly a slacker with little direction in his life. He is given NZT and for 12 hours becomes incredibly smart, with perfect recall, and is able to solve any problem. In the pilot, he becomes the suspect in a murder investigation and uses NZT to figure out who the real murderer is. Cooper reprises his role from the movie, Eddie Mora, as a recurring character, who is a senator with presidential aspirations. He provides Brian with a shot that counteracts the devastating side effects of NZT, and Brian ends up becoming a consultant for the FBI working with Special Agent Rebecca Harris (played by Dexter's Jennifer Carpenter, in her first big role after Dexter ended) and Special Agent Spelman Boyle (played by Hill Harper) who is less than enthused to have Brian as a consultant. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio plays FBI Special Agent in Charge Nasreen "Naz" Poura, who assigns missions to the team.

The series is definitely a bit uneven, and it took a while to really find its footing. Early in the season, episodes included more of Brian's family, played by Ron Rifkin (of Alias) as Brian's father, Blair Brown (from Fringe) as Brian's mother, and Megan Guinan as Brian's sister, Rachel. About halfway through the season, the series shifted to focusing a lot less on Brian's personal life (mainly because of the backlash from viewers over the recreational use of marijuana by Brian and Rachel) and focused almost exclusively on the FBI cases. Cooper made a handful of appearances throughout the season but did not have as large a role in the show as the previews for the series made it seem, I think the fact that Cooper did not have a larger part in the show ultimately hurt the show in the long run.

For those who get the DVD set (the series only got a DVD physical media release), the extras include series promos, a handful of behind-the-scenes featurettes, a commentary track on the episode Headquarters!, and a gag reel. A decent amount for a series that only lasted one season.

Overall, the series is very good, despite the rougher start when the series was trying to figure out if it wanted to be a straight drama or more of a blended drama and comedy. It was mostly a case-of-the-week procedural crime drama but also had some serial storylines. The acting was great, especially once a single tone was picked, and all of the characters (even the ancillary ones) were given good material to work with. The series, thankfully, does not end on a total cliffhanger, but it ended in a way that was definitely setting up a second season that would ultimately never come. So, if you watch it and get into it, you may be disappointed that not everything gets resolved by the end. That said, it is still a very good series that is worth watching.

Book Review: Star Wars: Aftermath - Empire's End

 

The Aftermath trilogy of books, of which this is the third and final entry, were the original novels set after the events of Return of the Jedi, although not immediately after when the Republic is trying to mop up what is left of the Empire. This novel picks up where Life Debt left off, after the attack on the Republic during the supposed peace talks that Admiral Sloane was framed for having caused. Sloane and Brentin Wexley (Norra's husband) track Gallius Rax to Jakku, the same Jakku where we meet Rey in The Force Awakens, and we eventually see the battle of Jakku which ended the Empire as it was, and before it transitioned to the First Order.

This novel actually has a lot of tie-ins to the sequel trilogy, later novels (such as the Thrawn trilogy), and even a couple of nods to the Legends novels, that may not be apparent on the first reading. And, we actually learn of Jar Jar Binks' fate (for those who care) in one of the interlude chapters. The book still suffers from what the first two novels did, specifically, focusing too much on the new characters and not enough on the legacy characters. Luke was barely in the Aftermath trilogy at all, and Han, Leia, and Chewie were used very sparingly. Making Norra Wexley and her crew the main characters in the trilogy was a choice that irked a lot of people, especially when only Snap had a role in the sequel trilogy of movies, and his role was relatively minor at that. That said, the book has a lot of good action, especially during the battle of Jakku, and does pack an emotional punch. The big takeaway from the book is the fact that the Emperor had plans that lasted beyond his death and it involves the wild space/unknown regions out beyond the outer rim and that is where the remnants of the Empire will regroup to form the First Order.

Overall, I think this is probably the strongest book in the Aftermath trilogy. It would have been better if Luke had been involved in the battle of Jakku, and all of the legacy characters had been more involved in general. That said, it is still worth reading even if it is not one of the novels that you might read over and over.

Product Review: Lifeline Pull Up Revolution Assistance System

 

This is a pull-up assist that is useful for people doing home workout programs like P90x who can kind of do a pull-up or can do 1 or 2 unassisted pull-ups, and want to be able to do more. It is not for a total beginner who cannot even get halfway through a pull-up, however, as it can only support so much weight, even at the shortest length. The shorter the length you have the more it assists and the longer the less assistance you get.

This uses bands that are mounted into the center which provide the assistance, and then you adjust the length of the strap to get more or less assistance from the bands. The bands seem to be good quality and I have not had one snap on me as I did with the P90x pull-up assist that was put out by Beachbody. The only thing that I would say could be better is the clip/u-shaped hook part that goes over the bar. It is plastic and people have had that piece break on them. It would be better if that was metal. Aside from that, however, I definitely think this is a good piece of equipment that can help you get to the point where you can do unassisted pull-ups.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day Round 2 Day 1

Day one of round two was the cardio challenge workout from Max 30. This time I do as many unmodified moves (at least one rep) for each exercise. It was definitely humbling to do the unmodified moves because I would have maxed out during the warm-up. That gives you an idea of how much easier the modified versions of the moves can be.  The workout (and really all the workouts in Max 30) has a ton of jumping-jack-based moves which definitely tire me out very quickly. So, it was humbling starting over. But, I was able to make it 11-minutes into the workout by switching from unmodified to modified until I was totally gassed. I was able to do at least a few unmodified versions of every move before I had to switch to the modified moves. Hopefully, once I get to round three I can do unmodified moves the entire time. We will see how that goes though.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day 56

Day 56 was the last day of the first round of the Hybrid work out which was the Body Beast back and biceps workout again. This workout is pretty tough and has a big cardio effect because you go from exercise to exercise with little rest in between. It is not as cardio-intensive as the Insanity workouts, of course, but for a resistance workout, it does a good job in that context.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: The Girlfriend Experience Season 1

 

The Girlfriend Experience is a series adapted from the movie of the same name directed by Steven Soderbergh. Soderbergh serves as a producer on the series, the first season of which starred Riley Keough as Christine, a second-year law student in Chicago who is also clerking at a large patent litigation firm. She is having trouble juggling life as a law student and law clerk (which is definitely a real thing) and expenses (which is not as much a real thing for even a law clerk doing patent litigation at a large Chicago law firm), and decides, after a discussion with a friend to start working as a high-end escort. This is really where you have to suspend your disbelief as there is no way that any law student clerking in a litigation firm would ever have time to also work as an escort, although the show does write in the fact that she has a hard time juggling everything. Plus, if a law student were to get caught being an illegal escort, they would never even be able to sit for the bar exam, much less be allowed to practice law.

The story is essentially about Christine's highs and lows as an escort, as she loves the money she gets and the lifestyle it affords, but unravels as she has to deal with clients pushing boundaries, and the effect it is having on her school and job. As the series evolves, she becomes less and less likable, and by the end, it is hard to have any sympathy for the character as she just becomes outright manipulative. Keough (who of course is Elvis Pressley's granddaughter) does a good job in the role, but she is definitely not the greatest actress ever. She could definitely be a bit wooden in this role (although I do think that was, at least to some extent, how the character was written), but she gets better as the character of Christine unravels.

For those who get the blu-ray set, there are a few very short (two minutes or less) behind-the-scenes featurettes. There are no commentary tracks on any episodes, deleted scenes, or the like. The show looks great in HD, with some really good shots of the city.

Overall, the season is very good. There is, of course, a lot of sex and nudity in the show (much more than was actually in the movie) so it is not a family-friendly series by any means. The sex scenes are definitely more than a quick boob or butt shot as well. For example, toward the end of the season, there is a shot of Christine nude on the bed with (fake, of course) cum on her tits. While there is no x-rated graphic sex, it definitely is more than just the "regular" sex and nudity that you get in r-rated movies or the tamer TV-MA shows. That said, it is well-written and well-acted and is definitely worth checking out.

Book Review: American Assassin (Mitch Rapp Series Book 1 Chronological Order; Book 11 Publication Order)

 

This book is the origin story of the character of Mitch Rapp, created by Novelist Vince Flynn. For those who are familiar with Flynn's work, he started writing a series of novels, starting with the novel Transfer of Power, which was set around a spy (Rapp) in the prime of his career who took down terrorists much like the character Jack-Bauer did in the series 24. In fact, Flynn consulted on the series 24 in later seasons of the show. As he published more Mitch Rapp stories, fans clamored for an origin story for the character, and American Assassin was created. So, if you read the books in chronological order, this is Book 1. If you read them in release/publication order, this is Book 11.

The basic storyline is that Rapp's girlfriend was killed in the Pan Am 103 bombing over Lockerbie Scottland. He is subsequently recruited into the CIA by Irene Kennedy, and trained (reluctantly), by an aging CIA Agent Stan Hurley. Rapp's skills are beyond his years and beyond his lack of conventional training. The last third of the book involves a mission to save Hurley from kidnappers and at the end, Rapp decides to go on a revenge mission to find the members of the terror cell behind the bombing of Pan Am 103.

I had never read any of Vince Flynn's novels before (I had heard him interviewed on our local sports talk station many times before his death, and intended to start reading the books, but never got around to it until now), so I decided to go in chronological order to see the development of the character from the start. As is usually the case, the book is much better than the movie (which changes the storyline from the book significantly). It is well-written and the story flows very well. It does jump back and forth in the timeline of events a little, but not so much that it makes following the story hard. In fact, the book is a pretty easy read, even being about 430 pages long, and can be read in a day or two depending on how fast you read and how much time you have to read. The chapters are fairly short so there are a lot of natural stopping points, which is definitely helpful for longer novels. So, if you are a fan of spy novels, this is a very good one to check out.

DVD/TV Series Review: Chicago Med: Season One

 

Chicago Med was, in 2015, the newest addition to the Chicago-based shows (spun off from Chicago Fire) produced by Dick Wolf, who also produced the Law and Order franchise of shows. For those who already watching Chicago Fire and PD, Med got a backdoor pilot in season 3 of Chicago Fire, and Nick Gehlfuss' character, Dr. Will Halstead, who is the brother of Jay Halstead on PD, made a couple of appearances on that show before Med officially premiered.

The show is a pretty standard medical drama that has, mostly, a case-of-the-week format, in which one or two major medical cases come through the hospital, and then also focused on character development. The main cast included Colin Donnell (from Arrow) as Dr. Connor Rhodes, Torrey DeVitto as Dr. Natalie Manning, Yaya DaCosta as April Sexton (who had a past with Severide on Chicago Fire), Rachel DiPillo as Sarah Reese (a medical student working in the emergency department), Brian Tee as Dr. Ethan Choi, S. Epatha Merkerson as Sharon Goodwin, Marlyne Barrett as Maggie Lockwood (the head nurse for the emergency department), and Oliver Platt as Dr. Daniel Charles (the head of psychiatry). Tee and Merkerson are interesting additions to the cast that created continuity issues (not that Wolf's shows have been big on continuity) as they had played other characters (Merkerson on Law and Order, and Tee who played a bad guy on PD the season before) in the same universe. Of course, the Law and Order shows were established to be in the same universe of shows as the Chicago-based shows via the crossovers between Fire, PD, and SVU. While the show did a good job telling its own stories, it was a part of the three-episode crossover with Fire and PD, and characters from the other two shows made short appearances throughout the season.

For those who get the DVD set, the 18 episodes of the first season are spread across five discs. The only extras are the episodes from Fire and PD that made up the three-episode crossover, so if you did not watch the other shows, you could see the entire storyline of the crossover. There are no other extras like behind-the-scenes features, deleted scenes, or the like.

Overall, the show is very good. If you are someone like me, who only started watching the show because you like medical dramas, and did not watch the other Chicago-based shows, it is enjoyable as just a medical drama. If, however, you are a fan of the other shows, you can enjoy the crossovers and mini-crossovers throughout the season. For me, pretty much all medical dramas stack up against ER. While I would not say that Med is as good as ER, it is still very good (the name of the Hospital from ER is even named-dropped in Med). It does have a bit of soap-operaishness to it with romance storylines (although not as much in the first season as it would have in later seasons), but it mainly focuses on the medical storylines. It is well-written and acted, and definitely worth checking out.

DVD/TV Series Review: Don't Trust the B in Apt. 23 The Complete Series

 

Don't Trust the B in Apartment 23 was a sitcom that aired from 2012-2014. The basic plot is that June, played by Dreama Walker, comes to NY from Indiana with the promise of a dream job at a mortgage company. The job goes belly up on her first day when the CEO is arrested for embezzlement and June is forced to work at a coffee shop, managed by Eric Andre's character, Mark. Krysten Ritter (a couple of years removed from her memorable stint on Breaking Bad) plays Chloe, the titular "B", who is a party girl con artist, who scams roommates by demanding rent up front and then acting as outrageous as possible until they leave. June, who is desperate to find a place to live after losing her job, is supposed to be Chole's latest victim, but the two end up becoming friends.

The series also stars James Van Der Beek playing a hilarious, fictionalized, version of himself and Ray Ford as his assistant, Luther, who has to put up with his diva-like attitude. While Ritter and Walker have very good chemistry, the interactions between Ritter and Van Der Beek, and Ford and Van Der Beek, pretty much steal the show. One of the highlights of the series is an appearance by Busy Phillips who tells James that pretty much everyone who worked on Dawson's Creek hates him. The series was not around long enough for any other Dawson's Creek co-stars to appear, but the show did get a pretty good slate of recurring and guest stars including David Krumholtz, Missi Pyle, Fiona Gubelmann, Nicholas D'Agosto, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, and more.

Unfortunately, the DVD set does not have any extras, but it does have all the episodes, including the final 8 that did not air on ABC. Overall, the show was very funny, although it is definitely more of an adult comedy with a lot of sex and drug jokes. There were definitely continuity issues due to episodes being aired out of order, but the show used mostly a story-of-the-week procedural format, so those, while noticeable, did not distract too much. It is definitely not a show that will appeal to everyone, but if you are a fan of sitcoms that have juvenile humor mixed with adult humor (much like the humor in 2-Broke Girls or in the vast majority of Judd Apatow's and Kevin Smith's movies) in it and are not easily offended, this is a fun show that should have had a longer run.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day 55

Day 55 was the Recharge stretch/yoga workout from CE. The most notable thing about it was that I was able to crouch all the way down for the first time in a long time, meaning my legs are getting stronger, there is less stress on my knees and my back is getting stronger as well. So, that is definitely a plus, but my overall flexibility has not changed all that much lately.

Product Review: Storehouse 220 Piece Wall Anchor Assortment

 

The big pro of this set is that the anchors are color-coded by size, so if you need more than one of the same size you can just grab as many of the same color as you need and do not have to try to match up similarly sized anchors that are white or transparent. The big con is that the end of the anchor does not have the ring that makes it easier to hammer into the wall without the end getting bent or warped. That is what knocks the set down a star for me. Aside from that, however, I have no complaints.