Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Animal Kingdom: Season 1

 

Animal Kingdom is a show that was adapted from an Australian movie of the same name about a crime family led by Janine "Smurf" Cody, played by Ellen Barkin. She has been running scams and thriving since the 1970s and enlists her adoptive son Baz, played by Scott Speedman, and her biological sons Deran, played by Jake Weary, Craig, played by Ben Robson, and Andrew, who is called "Pope", played by Shawn Hatsoy, to commit elaborate break-ins, steal whatever loot is available, and then divides up the bounty. Life for the Codys gets complicated when Smurf's estranged daughter dies of a drug overdose and the family has to take in Smurf's grandson Joshua, who is called "J", played by Finn Cole.

While the series does have a lot of action in it, at its core, and when it is at its best, it is really about a deeply dysfunctional family, apart from all the crime. It deals with issues like repressed homosexuality, transactional love, and manipulation. It even gives off some very creepy incest vibes between Smurf and her kids. The show definitely pushes the bounds of what can be shown on basic cable, with as much sex, nudity, and swearing as they can get away with. And, there is a student-teacher sexual relationship storyline that plays a big role especially later in the season. 

For those who get the Blu-Ray set, the ten episodes are spread across three discs. The A/V transfer is good, but not great, with a better audio transfer than video transfer. But, unless you are a big-time A/V wonk, it will probably not bother you. The extras include deleted scenes for most episodes, that range in length from about a minute to over thirteen minutes, then there are five short featurettes (all about two minutes long or less), and then a fourteen-minute making-of documentary. You definitely want to watch all the extras after watching the episodes, especially if you care about spoilers because the making-of-documentary does spoil some of the plotlines. 

Overall, the series is very good. It is well-written and very well-acted, with the standouts being Barkin and Hatsoy. Pope is not only very violent, as are all of the Codys but also mentally ill, and Hatsoy plays the character perfectly. It is most definitely not a family-friendly show, and there are some people who will be offended by some of the storylines. But, if you like crime dramas with a lot of action and are not bothered by violence, sex, and the like, it is definitely worth checking out.

DVD/TV Series Review: House M.D.: Season 5

 

+++Warning, this review contains major season four spoilers, and a couple of hints, but no major giveaways from season five+++

The fifth season of House is another very good one, especially in the last third of the season. It starts out a couple of months after the events that ended season four, with Wilson returning to wrap up his practice at Princeton Plainsborough, intending to find a new job after Amber's death. Of course, Robert Sean Leonard did not end up leaving the show so he eventually overcomes his resentment of House, but the first part of the season is really about repairing their relationship. Then, the show becomes the traditional case-of-the-week procedural mixed with serial storylines. The big storyline for the middle part of the season is 13's participation in a Huntington's drug trial that is being run by Foreman, and a great storyline involving Cuddy. Then, in the latter half of the season, another major death rocks House and launches into the storyline that ends the season and sets up season six. This season sees another round of great guest and recurring characters/stars including: Michael Weston, Breckin Meyer (from Clueless), Emily Rijos, Zeljko Ivanek, Jimmi Simpson, Jay Karnes, Mos Def, and Collen Camp. The writers also found a way to bring back the character of Amber (Anne Dudek) as a part of the final big storyline of the season.

For those who get the DVD set, the extras include a commentary track on the episode "Locked In" which is one of the most unique episodes of the series that was partially inspired by an episode of M*A*S*H*. Then there is a featurette on the 100th episode (which aired later in the season than it normally would have because of the shortened season four), a featurette on Cuddy's storyline, the featurette on the medical accuracy of the show, one on filming the teaser opening to one of the episodes, and a featurette on the guest cast members that have appeared throughout the first five seasons of the show. The total running time for all of the featurettes comes in at a little under an hour. So, there is a lot of good bonus content if you like to watch the bonus features.

Overall, the season is very good. The show does a good job balancing the large cast, which of course, got larger during season four with the addition of Olivia Wilde, Peter Jacobson, and Kal Penn. All of the cast members got pretty significant storylines, some definitely longer than others, however, including Cameron and Chase who I felt were underused a bit during season four. The show continues to be well-written and very well-acted even though the character dynamics have changed from the first few seasons. But, if you were a fan of the prior seasons, the show is definitely still worth sticking with.

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

 

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

The second season of Supergirl marks a major shift in the direction of the show. This is largely due to the shift from CBS to the CW, which had plusses and minuses. The big plus is that the show could be brought into the Arrowverse more easily because the show moved the filming location from Hollywood to Vancouver British Columbia where the other Arrowverse shows are filmed. Of course, the show was brought into the Arroverse by a crossover with The Flash during the show's first season in which The Flash (Grant Gustin) ended up on Earth-38 and ended up in National City, and Supergirl was shown as The Flash was running in the speed force in one of the season-two episodes of The Flash. The big drawback to the network and filming location switch is that there was a lot of cast turnover. For example, Peter Facinelli ended up leaving the show, so the entire Max Lord storyline was dropped. Also, Callista Flockhart went from a series regular to a recurring cast member, with Cat appearing in just a handful of episodes. 

The season picks up immediately after the crash of the ship that ended the season one finale. Supergirl finds an unconscious man in the pod and takes him to the DEO. Meanwhile, in the first episode, the Arrowverse's version of Superman is introduced, played by Teen Wolf's Tyler Hoechlin as he helps Supergirl save a commercial rocket that experiences engine failure and falls back to Earth. They discover that Lena Luthor, Lex's sister (played by Merlin's Katie McGrath) was on the rocket Kara begins a complicated friendship with Lena. The rest of the season is a mix of alien of the week and a couple of serial storylines. One involves a version of the project Cadmus, and one that involves the mysterious man in the ship (played by Melissa Benoist's now husband, Chris Wood). In the eighth episode, Supergirl is recruited to help in the big Arrowverse Crossover, Invasion. Although Supergirl did not get a stand-alone episode in the big crossover, there is another crossover later in the season with The Flash which is partly a musical episode. The season ends with a couple of big cliffhangers that set up season three.

For those who get the Blu-Ray set, the show looks and sounds great, as all of the Arrowverse blu-rays do. The extras include several behind-the-scenes featurettes, including one on the Alien "fight club" episode, another that details the different kinds of aliens the show features, then you get a portion of the 2016 comic-con panel, a conversation with Kevin Smith and the series creator Andrew Kreisberg discussing the series, and a commentary track on the episode Supergirl lives (which Smith directed) featuring the two of them. Then there is a series of seven short trivia featurettes that are anywhere from about 30 seconds long to just under two minutes. 

Overall, the show is good but takes a decidedly different direction this season, and almost has to start over. While most of the cast returns, including Mechad Brooks (whose role as James is expanded in a couple of ways), Chyler Leigh, Jeremy Jordan, and David Harewood, the loss of Calista Flockhart, Peter Facinelli, and Laura Benanti definitely hurt. Plus, actors like Jenna Dewan and Italia Ricci, who may have had additional guest-starring roles would not return. Although in season two, Teri Hatcher, who, of course, played Lois Lane in the 1990s series Lois and Clark, had a major guest starring role, and the show got other notable guest stars like Helen Slater (reprising her role as Kara and Alex's mother Eliza), Lynda Carter (who played the live-action version of Wonder Woman in the 1970s), Dichen Lachman (from Dollhouse), and Darren Criss. The show most definitely incorporates elements of the real-world political climate into the storylines, and the political leanings of the showrunners and cast are very apparent. Some people will definitely be triggered by that, others will like it, and others will ignore it. In terms of tone, the show is somewhere between The Flash (which tends to be a bit more lighthearted) and Arrow (which is darker). So, while I cannot say that everyone will like it, I definitely think it is worth watching.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day Round 2 Day 32

Day 32 was the first Friday Fight Round 2 workout. The workout starts out with a  two-round warm-up, then you get into the workout with no breaks, alternating one-minute moves until 15 minutes in. Then you get a water break and then go from minute 15 to minute 25 and get another break. Then you do the last few minutes. It is a hard workout that alternates between standing and plank-based exercises. There are a handful of jumping moves, including diamond jumps at the end. Everyone in the workout video maxes out by about the 8-minute mark, except Shaun T's husband who is doing the modified version of the workout. He is the only one who can make it through without stopping.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day Round 2 Day 31

Day 31 was the Max Out Strength workout.  This workout is definitely one of the harder ones. The first half is nearly all leg-focused with different variations on squats and lunges. The second half is basically all push-ups or plank-based exercises. I definitely had to modify the workout a lot, but I did get in quite a few unmodified moves early on. I did some of the unmodified push-up exercises, but those are still one of my weak spots.

Textbook Review: Fundamentals of Physics

 

This is the physics textbook by Halliday, Resnick, and Walker which is the required textbook for many calculus-based physics classes. It is what I would describe as a pretty standard textbook. It gives you a pretty good explanation of the theory, and because it is for a calculus-based physics class, it has a lot of proofs/derivation of the equations (which is mainly how calculus is used in calc-based physics classes). Because of that, it does not have a ton of examples, especially examples that give a lot of guidance for the hardest problems in the problem sets. It covers all of the main topics in the first two semesters of physics. The last couple of chapters cover more advanced topics like nuclear physics and particle physics to bridge to the concepts (like quantum physics and relativity) that would be covered in a modern physics class. You definitely need to have the first couple of semesters of calculus under your belt to understand the math being used to derive the equations. A couple of concepts from multivariable calculus do get used in the book, but it is mostly you just need to know how to take single-variable derivatives and integrals. 

The problems are broken down by difficulty level. Level one problems are the easiest, and can basically all be solved by reading the chapter and understanding the examples. Level two problems are harder and require more thought and a deeper understanding of the concepts. Most of them can be solved if you understand the last example or two in the chapter text, but that is not the case with all of them. The level three problems are the hardest and the ones that are most likely to trip people up. I am a big advocate for working as many problems as you can. In a perfect world, people would be able to work through all of the problems, as the level one problems help you to get the skills to do the level two problems and so on. Of course, if you are taking a class as opposed to self-studying, that may not be possible, but if you can do it, that is the best way to use the book. I do think it is helpful to pair this with a study guide, especially one that has a lot of worked-out examples because you will definitely get stuck at some point when working on the problem set.

While I do not think the book is perfect, and honestly in all the math, science, and engineering classes that I took, I never did have a book that I would call perfect, it does give you a good presentation of the theory and has a decent mix of problems. If you pair it with something like the Schaum's 3000 solved physics problems guide, you will get through the material.

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

Day 30 was the first time doing the Max Out Sweat workout. I was able to get through the warm-up without modifying (although again doing the moves more slowly), but could not get through the first power move (in and out abs) without stopping, so I maxed out at the five-minute mark. Then, throughout the workout, I was able to do a fairly good mix of modified and unmodified moves. 

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day Round 2 Day 29

Day 29 was the first Max Out Power workout in this round. It went very well. I could do the exercises unmodified (albeit slower than those in the video) for the entire warm-up (of which there is only one round) and the first circuit. So, basically, the first 10 minutes of the workout. Once I got to the push-ups I had to modify, and I definitely took a bunch of breaks later in the workout. But, it was probably my best workout of this round so far.

Product Review: TP-Link AC750 Wifi Range Extender

 

I live in a split-level townhouse with four levels. As a result, there are a lot of dead zones, especially if the router is set up in the basement. This works well to eliminate (or at least reduce) the dead zones. Setting up the extender is very easy. The setup amounts to just plugging the extender in near the router, pushing the WPS button on the router, and waiting for all of the lights on the extender to light up. Then, you can move the extender to whatever area of the house you would like. There are a couple of caveats. If you have multiple dead zones, for example, because you have a split-level house, you may need a couple of these, otherwise, if you try moving the extender too far away from the router (e.g., the router is in the basement and you move this to a third or fourth floor) it will not work (or will not work well). But, if you have a router in the basement, put one of these on the second level, and another on the third level, you should get a pretty good signal everywhere. Also, while it does give you decent internet speed, it will probably not match the speed that your modem or modem/router combination will (especially with a wired connection). That said, I think it does what it is supposed to, and I definitely recommend it.

Product Review: Everlast Folding Mat 72" x 24"

 

This is a folding mat that, when unfolded, is about the size of a yoga mat, but much thicker (a bit less than 2" thick) and softer (stuffed with foam). This is perfect for doing ab work, to kneel on when you do push-ups if you have to do them on your knees, and even doing stretching and some yoga. If it is on a hard floor it will definitely slide around so you would want to put something underneath it or use it on carpet to keep it from sliding. I do not think it would be all that useful when doing, for example, plyometric jumping and/or lateral moves as there is too much danger of it slipping when you land. But, for lower-impact things that require lying down or sitting, this is perfect.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day Round 2 Day 28

Day 28 was the first Max Cardio Circuit workout of this round, and it mostly felt like day 1 all over again. I did manage to make it to about eight-and-a-half minutes before maxing out, but I was pretty much gassed the entire time. I was able to do some unmodified moves, but not nearly as many as I would have liked to.

Textbook Review: Stewart's Calculus 6th Edition

 

This is the textbook that was required for my first two semesters of calculus when I was working on my electrical engineering degree. Then, in my multivariable calculus and differential equations classes, we switched to different books. The multivariable calculus book I had to use was not worth the paper it was printed on and my differential equations textbook, while better than that, was not all that easy to follow. 

This version of the book covers all levels of calculus including multivariable calculus and differential equations (there are also versions that just cover the single variable calculus material and versions that just cover the multivariable calculus material). I got this because I still tutor from time to time and need to keep up with the material. This, of all the math books I used, was one of the better ones, but not the best. It does give a decent breakdown of the theory in the chapter text and has good chapter summaries. It does fall into the trap that many math and engineering textbooks do in that the examples in the chapter text only help with the easiest problems, but if you get assigned something from the end of the problem set, you do not have a lot of guidance. 

So, I would definitely pair this book with something like Schaum's outline of Calculus, which definitely explains some of the theory better than the book does. But, the book makes a decent presentation of the theory and provides some useful examples, which is more than some other books do. It is not perfect, but if you pair it with a study guide or two with more worked examples, you can learn from this.

DVD/TV Series Review: The Librarians - Season 2

 

+++Warning, this contains a minor season one spoiler, but no major season two spoilers +++

Season two of The Librarians picks up months down the line from the defeat of Lancelot at the end of the first season. The individual Librarians have separated and retrieved different magical artifacts, only to be reunited at an exhibition in NY, only to discover that they have all been acquiring artifacts for a mysterious client who turns out to be one of the season-two protagonists. From there, the show follows the same format as it did in season one. A mystery/case-of-the-week intertwined with episodes that advance the main, larger serial arc. This season, the big storyline deals with Shakespeare's play The Tempest, and the fact that characters from literary works can come to life. 

For those who get the DVD set (the show was not released on blu-ray), the is a decent amount of bonus material including a gag reel, seven short behind-the-scenes featurettes, and ten (one for each episode) different "Directors of The Librarians" featurettes that are basically conversations with the directors of each episode that discuss how the particular episode was made. So, a good amount of material for those who like watching the bonus content.

Overall, the season is very good. The entire cast returns, and like in the first season, Noah Wyle's character Flynn only appears on a recurring basis because of Wyle's commitment to the series Falling Skies which was airing at the same time. Pretty much every character gets a "centric" episode, with all of the actors getting a chance to shine. There are also some recognizable guest stars this season including Drew Powell (from the series Gotham), Michael Trucco (probably most recognizable from the series Fairly Legal), and John DeLancie (who played Q on Star Trek: The Next Generation). So, if you liked the first season, then you will probably feel the same way about this one. 

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day Round 2 Day 27

Day 27 was the P90x Back and Biceps workout again. I was able to hit the 10 rep max for a couple more exercises this week, and some of the weight amounts for exercises I hit the 10 rep max for last week went up this week. So, overall, it has been a good couple of weeks with this workout.  

DVD/TV Series Review: Beavis and Butthead - The Complete Collection

 

One thing to be noted at the outset, this is not the complete series with the episodes as they aired. This is a repackaging of volumes 1-3 of the Mike Judge Collections, adding the fourth volume which was the limited run season that aired in 2011, and then the movie that was made during the original run of the series. In volumes 1-3 each volume is split between two discs. The first disc has the episodes and the second disc has the music videos that they could get the rights to. Anyone who watched the series in the 1990s, when it was originally on MTV probably remembers that in each episode, in breaks in the story, Beavis and Butthead would watch, and make fun of, music videos. Because of licensing issues, they could not get the rights to all of the videos that originally aired, so the solution was to remove the music videos and show just air the storylines (so each episode ends up being about 20 minutes long, give or take), and then showing the music videos on disc 2.  It should also be noted that not every episode that aired is included in the set. Most of the episodes that aired are included, but there are some missing. For the fourth volume, which is the 2011 season, all of those episodes are included as they aired. In that season, instead of watching primarily music videos, during the breaks in the story, they would watch, and rip on the MTV reality shows. 

The DVDs carry over all of the extras from the original individual collection releases. Those include deleted scenes, promo spots, and special appearances that Beavis and Butthead made (such as at the MTV music awards), and a multi-part behind-the-scenes/making-of retrospective where the creators of the show discuss how it was made, the influence on pop culture, and the like. The movie has a commentary track by Mike Judge which is really good, and the extras for the fourth volume include a good discussion from the Comic-Con panel between Johnny Knoxville and Mike Judge.

For most people, the show will probably be a blast from the past. You definitely have to enjoy juvenile and sometimes stupid humor, but masked in the humor was a commentary on topics like political correctness and the topical events that were happening in the 1990s. It is disappointing that not all of the episodes are included, and we cannot get the complete shows, as they aired, but this is probably the best set that is going to be released. So, if you were a fan of the show, it is definitely worth the pickup.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day Round 2 Day 26

Day 26 was the Recharge workout from CE. There is no huge update on it. My flexibility level remains the same and I have not noticed any big improvements or backslides over the course of the first month.

Textbook Review: Fundamentals of Electric Drives

 

This was the book required for my undergraduate electric drives class in my school's electrical engineering curriculum. This book is a bit of a double-edged sword. On one hand, according to my professor, it is pretty much the only textbook on electric drives that is suitable for an undergraduate-level class, as other textbooks get into detail that is appropriate for graduate-level classes. On the other hand, it has a lot of errors, most of which would be impossible to discover unless someone who knows the material tells you about them, such as errors in the equations. The book has a ton of equations, with little explanation beyond just a couple of examples in the chapter text of what they are useful for and how to apply them. The one plus is that the problem sets at the end of the chapter are short, but trying to figure out how to solve them with the instruction from the chapter text is not the easiest thing in the world. Unfortunately, the author of the book has passed away, so unless another professor takes up the mantle of updating the book and putting out a new edition, then this is the only edition that is going to be released, with flaws and all. So ultimately, if you are looking to teach yourself the material in the book, I would definitely look for a study guide so you can double check the material in the book, and if you have to use it for class, be prepared to ask a lot of questions.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Inferno

 

Inferno is the third movie in the adaptations of Dan Brown's novels based on the character of Robert Langdon (played in the movies by Tom Hanks). The movies are a bit interconnected, but mostly stand-alone stories, so this is somewhat of a sequel to the movies The Davinci Code and Angels and Demons, but you do not have to have seen those movies to follow most of what is going on in this one. The big thing you will miss if you have not seen the other movies is the development of the Langdon character because this movie pretty much just jumps into the story.

The main plot of this movie involves a plot by a billionaire scientist named Bertrand Zobrist (played by Ben Foster) to solve the world's overpopulation issue. Langdon wakes up in a hospital with no memory of the past few days and is immediately targeted by an assassin. With the help of his doctor, Sienna Brooks, played by Felicity Jones (probably best known for her role in Rogue One), he escapes and discovers he has clues to the plot, which points to some mass murder event and is based on Dante's Inferno (hence the title of the book). From there, as in the first two movies, the plot involves Langdon solving clues that point to even more clues, with a lot of twists and turns along the way.

For those who get the Blu-Ray, the movie looks and sounds great in the HD format (with a lot of great location shots from where the movie was filmed), and has a decent amount of extras. Those include over 27 minutes of deleted and extended scenes, short featurettes on each of the main characters, a featurette on the filming locations, and a director journal, which is basically 10 minutes of behind-the-scenes footage following Ron Howard around and interspersing his comments. Then there is a featurette on the darker imagery from the movie and some trailers for other movies.

Overall, the movie is good, but probably not as good as the first two movies. The movie does adapt the book well, but like with the first two installments, there are definitely changes made. It seems more and more likely that this movie will be the last of the novel adaptations with Howard and Hanks at the helm, despite there being two other Langdon novels that could be turned into movies. In general, I would say if you enjoyed the first two movies you will probably enjoy this one, although maybe not as much. On the other hand, if you did not like the first couple of movies, this may not do much for you. That is, of course, unless the only reason you did not like the first two movies was because of the religious tones, but in that case, you are probably not ever going to watch this anyway. 

Product Review: MaxTeck USB 3.0 to HDMI External Video Card Graphic Adapter for Multiple Monitors

 

I got this to try and hook up a monitor with an HDMI connection to my computer. Unfortunately, it did not work either as just a plug-and-play device or trying to find drivers to get it to work. So, I would recommend looking for other options.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Interstellar

 

Interstellar was the first major movie written and directed by Christopher Nolan after his Batman trilogy ended. The basic plot of this movie is that in 2067 the Earth is becoming more and more uninhabitable because of a planet-wide blight/dust bowl, which is making it harder for food to grow. Matthew McConaughey plays Coop, an ex-astronaut turned farmer who is recruited for a mission to pilot an expedition to a series of possibly habitable planets to which advance scouts have already been dispatched. To get to the prospective planets, the ship must travel through a wormhole that opened near the planet Saturn. This requires him to leave his only child, Murph (played by Mackenzie Foy at the beginning of the movie, then by Jessica Chastain later on) on Earth, promising her that he will return. The rest of the cast includes Nolan veterans Anne Hathaway and Michael Caine, as well as Wes Bentley (from American Beauty), John Lithgow, Matt Damon, Casey Affleck, and David Oyelowo.

The blu-ray has a ton of great extras, and the A/V quality is stellar. The most comprehensive extra is an almost hour-long documentary on the science of Interstellar, in which Nolan explains what they did to get as much of the science correct as possible. This included using a physicist as a consultant to do things like help create the CGI black hole, and how the time aspects of the movie would work. Then, there are a series of 14 making-of featurettes titled Inside Interstellar, which details the process to make various aspects of the movie, and then the three trailers for the movie are included.

Overall, the movie is great. It is well-written and very well-acted. As an engineer, I like that they actually get a lot of the science correct (although some of it is embellished for dramatic effect), and they get concepts like gravity around a black hole and the resulting time dilation effects correct. McConaughey and Chastain are definitely the standouts, as they get the most material to work with, but the entire cast does a great job with their characters. It is an awesome movie and definitely worth multiple viewings.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day Round 2 Day 25

Day 25 was the last Friday Fight 1 for this round. I think this was actually my best workout of month one (no better time for that to happen) as I was able to do a lot more modified moves than in the other workouts. This is still a tough one for me because I get very tired during jumping-jack-based moves and have always hated push-ups, but I am definitely getting stronger cardio-wise. 

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day Round 2 Day 24

Day 24 was the last Tabata Strength workout for this round. I definitely still get very gassed during the workout and am maxing out at the same point in the workout. But, I can definitely mix in more unmodified moves.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Charmed: Season 5

 

The fifth season of Charmed was another transitional season for the show. One big, ongoing storyline was brought to a conclusion and the season finale was used to almost reset the show going forward (potentially at least). The season starts with Cole, having essentially figured out how to get out of the version of Hell that he was in at the end of season four, doing (yet again) the dance between being good and being evil. A little after the middle of the season, the show had its 100th episode which was kind of a flashback episode showing pivotal moments in Piper and Leo's relationship. Unfortunately, the show did not bring back Shannen Doherty or use clips of her, but they did find a sneaky way to get the character of Prue included (kind of). The season begins and ends with two-part episodes, with the season finale introducing a new character going forward.

The show continued to get recognizable guest stars and musical acts including Jamie Pressley, Melinda Clarke (from The OC and Nikita), Mark Sheppard (from Supernatural), Tobin Bell (from the Saw movies), Emanuelle Vaguer, Billy Drago, Tony Todd, Erik King (from Dexter), Eric Dane, Zachary Quinto (from Heroes), Norman Reedus (from The Walking Dead), Drew Fuller, and Scout Taylor Compton (from the Rob Zombie Halloween reboots). The musical acts included The Flaming Lips, Michelle Branch, and Pat Benatar. 

For those who get the blu-ray, it is yet another region-free set. There are no extras, just the episodes themselves, but there are captions in English and German for those who want and/or need them. The show gets a decent HD presentation, but given that the show has a lower budget than some shows had, the special effects can sometimes look very cheesy in HD. 

Overall, the season is a good one. Some of the issues that the show has always had, like relying on too many soap-operaish elements do remain in this season. And, as it has the last few seasons, it criminally underuses Dorian Gregory with Darryl only appearing in a handful of the episodes. On the plus side, they still show off Alyssa Milano's midriff and cleavage at every chance they get, and Rose McGowan, who was still hot and not crazy (at least recognizably so) at that point. Holly Marie Combs really did the heavy-lifting acting wise however and she definitely got the best material to work with and did a lot with her character. Ultimately, I think if you enjoyed the first four seasons of the show you will like this one, unless you only watched it for Shannen Doherty, in which case you probably will not.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day Round 2 Day 23

Day 23 was the last Sweat Intervals workout for this round. Again, I was able to do a few more reps of unmodified moves but maxed out pretty much at exactly the same point as I did last week.  

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: A Bigger Splash

 

A Bigger Splash is a 2015 movie starring Tilda Swinton, Ralph Fiennes, Matthias Schoenaerts, and Dakota Johnson. Swinton plays Marianne Lane, a rock singer who is vacationing in Italy with her boyfriend Paul ( Schoenaerts). Fiennes plays Harry Hawkes, Lane's ex-boyfriend who shows up at the villa Marianne and Paul are staying at with his previously estranged daughter, Penelope/Pen (Johnson). The plot basically involves Harry trying to win Marianne back and Pen trying to seduce Paul. It becomes a tale of jealousy and animosity, with a bit of a twist ending.

Overall, the story is okay, but a bit predictable. The movie is odd in a lot of respects, the first being that Swinton barely talks in the movie because her character had surgery on her throat. At most, she can whisper, so Swinton has to basically act non-verbally the entire movie. Fiennes' character, Harry, on the other hand, is totally extroverted and talks too much. Fiennes goes really over-the-top with his performance which some may like and some may find annoying. Johnson really seems out of place trying to play a seductress, which she does not have the personality for. Yes, she is hot and has no problem getting naked for a role (which she does in this movie), but she just does not seem to have the personality type to pull off the role she was trying to play.

For those who get the blu-ray, the A/V quality is good for a movie that is not special effects-laden. The extras are very bare bones, just the trailer, a stills gallery, and a handful of very short (anywhere from 30 seconds to 2 minutes) featurettes that amount to being short character profiles