DVD/TV Series Review: American Gothic: Season 1

 

American Gothic is a TV series that aired on CBS during the summer of 2016. The series starred Virginia Madsen, Antony Starr (from the series Banshee), Justin Chatwin (from Shameless), Juliet Rylance, Megan Ketch, and Elliot Knight. The basic plot is that a body is found in a tunnel collapse in Boston, and the victim shows signs of being killed by a serial killer called "The Silver Bells Killer" (SBK) whose killing streak mysteriously ended fifteen years prior. The concrete for the tunnel was poured by Hawthorne Concrete, run by the affluent Hawthorne family, led by Madeline Hawthorne (Madsen) and Mitch Hawthorne (played by Jamey Sheridan). After the discovery, suspicion surrounds the family whose eldest daughter Allison (played by Rylance) is running for the mayor of Boston, and whose youngest member Tessa (played by Ketch) is married to a police officer who ends up in the middle of the investigation. Starr plays the family's estranged son Garrett, and Chatwin plays Cam, a cartoonist and recovering drug addict who has traded his dysfunctional family for a dysfunctional marriage. The series is a murder mystery that plays out over the course of 13 episodes, with a bunch of misdirection and twists thrown in. Some of the twists are fairly predictable, and others are more of a surprise.

For those who get the DVD set, the extras include deleted and extended scenes, a first look featurette, a portion of the Comic-Com panel, and a gag reel. Not an extensive amount of extras, but more than you get with a lot of DVD sets these days.

The show is kind of hit-and-miss. Some of the twists that get thrown into the story definitely work better than others. The big reveal at the end is a bit dumb, but overall, the acting is very good throughout, especially from Madsen and Starr. It does have some violence and a little bit of sexual content, but nothing over-the-top given that it aired on CBS. Even though it is called season one, the show was canceled after the first season. And honestly, it should have always been pitched as a mini-series/limited event series because I do not think that a second season would have worked for the show. So, if you like crime dramas, I think this is a good one to check out and does not require a lot of time investment. 

4k-UHD/Movie Review: mother!

 

mother! is a very eclectic (to put it mildly) movie that was written and directed by Darren Aronofsky (who also directed films like Black Swan, Requiem for a Dream, and The Fountain), and stars Jennifer Lawrence as mother, who is the wife of and muse for a famous poet named Him (played by Javier Bardem) who has writer's block. It is hard to review the plot of the movie, first, because it is all over the place, and second because it is hard to do so without giving too much away. The best way to describe it is that it is a psychological thriller that is an allegory for biblical destruction with characters that clearly represent Adam and Eve, Cain and Able, etc. If you are not a fan of Aronofsky's movies, especially the more offbeat ones that have almost supernatural elements to them, then you will absolutely not like this movie. The movie kind of takes the craziest kind of stuff from Black Swan and Requiem for a Dream and combines that with the supernatural elements of The Fountain. 

The A/V quality of the UHD disc is outstanding. The movie looks and sounds great in the format, and the visuals really tie into the general weirdness of the movie. The UHD disc just has the movie itself, and then all of the other extras are on a second, regular, blu-ray disc. The extras include a 30-minute making-of featurette and a 7-minute featurette on the visual effects. There are also a handful of trailers that play as the disc loads.

The movie is good overall, but very strange. It is definitely not going to appeal to everyone, even people who generally like psychological thrillers. Lawrence and Bardem are very good in roles that are pretty different from what either of them has done (especially Lawrence). It also has a strong supporting cast including Ed Harris, Michelle Pfeiffer, Domhnall and Brian Gleeson, and Kristen Wiig. I would not say it is family-friendly because it can be a bit gory and does have some nudity and swearing. 

4k-UHD/Movie Review: The Dark Tower

 

This is apparently a very loose and condensed adaptation of Stephen King's Dark Tower series of novels. The story is set partly in the real world (specifically, modern-day New York City) and partly in a world called Mid-World, an old-west-style parallel universe in which a gunslinger named Roland Deschain (played by Idris Elba) is trying to protect the titular Dark Tower from The Man in Black, Walter Padick (played by Matthew McConaughey). In the real world, a young boy named Jake Chambers (played by Tom Taylor) has visions of Roland and The Man in Black in Mid-World and finds a portal to Mid-World. The Man in Black wants to capture Jake in order to take his psychic power (called Shine) to destroy The Dark Tower. Then, a kind of cliched good versus evil story plays out both in New York and Mid-World.

For those who get the 4k set, as is usually the case, the UHD disc just has the movie and then the rest of the bonus features are on a second, regular, blu-ray disc. The A/V quality of the UHD disc is outstanding. Pretty much what I would describe as reference quality video with visuals that really pop. There are a handful of extras on the regular blu-ray disc including a gag reel, deleted scenes, a couple of featurettes about adapting the books to the movie, character profiles on Roland and The Man in Black, and trailers for other Sony movies. All totaled, the bonus features run about an hour, give or take.

The movie is good, but not great. I think it is probably better if you have not read the books because from what I have read, the movie is a very watered-down version of the story from the books. I have not read the books, but it seems like the main complaints are that the movie removes a lot of violence, which was done to get a PG-13 rating, and that the movie tells a pretty basic, non-nuanced story. Elba does a good job playing the character of Roland as a reluctant hero (not quite an anti-hero) and McConaughey does a good job as the bad guy of the movie. It is what I would classify as a decent action movie, but the story really should have been a series (even just a limited event series with 10, hour-long episodes) so that the entire story could be told and should have been done without being watered down. I think most people who are huge fans of the books will probably not like the movie adaptation. I think most people who are a fan of action movies, but who have not read the books, will probably like it more.

CD/Music Review: Taylor Swift: Reputation

 

This was, in my opinion, at least as of the time it was released in 2017, Taylor Swift's best album. She had already pretty much ditched her country music roots (to the extent that she was ever really country) for pop music, but this album has a lot more adult, more mature songs on it than her prior albums did. Although she does still have some of the breakup songs and songs about beefing with other artists that she is known for on this album.  For me, the best songs are Ready For It, End Game, I Did Something Bad, Look What You Made Me Do, and This is Why We Can't Have Nice Things. But really, I would not say that there are any songs that I would skip on this album. This is much more of an adult-pop album than it is a teen-pop album, and I think that she made that transition well. 

Product Review: TOPS Engineering Computation Pad, 8-1/2" x 11"

 

It looks like standard engineering paper and does, ultimately, get the job done. But, it is very flimsy, and tears (where you do not want it to) very easily. It is much lighter weight than some other engineering papers out there which can definitely cause issues if you have to erase a lot. So, if you are a student and are required to turn your homework in on engineering paper if you get this I suggest working out the problems on regular paper and then transferring over your final answer to this so you can turn in a clean copy. 

Textbook Review: Vibration Spectrum Analysis

 

I used this book for an independent study class in my electrical engineering program. I was building a vibration detection device and used this to get some background on the theory to be included in the final paper. It is well-written and concise. It is not likely a book that someone is just going to pull off a shelf and read for pleasure and you need to have the math and science background needed to get into an engineering program to really understand it. But, if you need something that lays out the concepts without having to do a bunch of searches online, this is a good resource.

Workout Update: Lift 4/Beginner Pilates Doubles Day 14

For Day 14, the schedule was a rest day for Pilates and a recovery day for Lift-4. However, tomorrow morning I have work commitments that are very close in time to when I would be finishing the Pilates workout, so I did Burn 1 today so I do not have to rush tomorrow, especially since it is a 40-minute workout. This basically keeps building on moves from the flow and fundamentals workouts, with a couple of the moves being what I would describe as intermediate or advanced intermediate. Basically, the kind of things you would get in a regular class. For the most part, Lisa does break down the moves before you actually do them, but there are a couple of moves for which she uses the demo move as the first rep in the set of 8 or 10 reps so if you are watching her you may start out a rep behind her. The workout is challenging, and I definitely had to pause a couple of times, but it is not impossible. 

For Lift-4 I just did the flexibility workout and skipped the foam rolling. So, I ultimately did the same number of workouts as I normally would have today, just modified things a bit. I will be back on the regular schedule on Tuesday. 

DVD/TV Series Review: Bones: Season 3

 

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

The third season of Bones aired in the 2007-2008 television season and was shortened (to just 15 episodes) as a result of the writer's strike and a bit rearranged due to the Virginia Tech mass shooting because one of the episodes dealt with a murder on a college campus and was set to air in season two just after the VT incident was repackaged and aired in season three. The season also included what was, for me anyway, the show's most controversial storyline, that of a cannibalistic serial killer called Gormagon. It is really the only longer story arc the show had that I was underwhelmed about how it was resolved. All of the main cast members from season two returned for season three, and there was also a new addition to the cast, a new FBI psychologist named Lance Sweets, played by John Francis Daley (from Freaks & Geeks). 

Again the show was a blend of procedural case-of-the-week stories and the longer Gormagon serial killer arc, that had a few twists and turns as it played out. The show also continues the story of Brennan's father, Max (played again by Ryan O'Neal) who allowed himself to be arrested by Booth at the end of the prior season. The season also continues Hodgens' and Angela's unlikely relationship. This season also sees Brennan looking for new interns (since Zack graduated last season) and introduces the character of Clark Edison (played by Eugene Bryd) and expands the recurring role of prosecutor Caroline Julian (played by Patricia Belcher). 

The DVD includes the 15 that were broadcast during season three and the first four episodes that were produced at the same time as the season three episodes but broadcast during season four, as bonus episodes. The other extras include extended versions of select episodes, a gag reel, and a handful of behind-the-scenes featurettes. 

This is the season in which I think the writers figured out the characters, and as a result, the actors had really great chemistry. Both Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz got to show off their comedic chops more this season, which was aided by the addition of the character of Sweets who actually fit into their dynamic very well. Really the only bad thing for me about this season was the way that the Gormagon story played out. Aside from that, the show continued to be great and it is definitely worth watching. 

DVD/TV Series Review: House of Cards: Season 5

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilers from the prior seasons, but no major season five giveaways+++

The fifth season of House of Cards starts out during the campaign with Frank running for re-election with Claire running to be his Vice President. Their opponent is Will Conway, the republican governor of New York, played by Joel Kinnaman (best known for the series The Killing and the Suicide Squad movies). The season has a mix of storylines that mimic some real-world events and things that would ultimately become prophetic given t***p's attempt to steal the 2020 election a few years later. Thankfully, the dipshits who tried to steal the real election were not as competent as the characters in the show. The plot lines include a war against the show's fictional terrorist group ICO, as well as a storyline that involved Russia and their Putin-Like President, Victor Petrov, played by Lars Mikkelsen. Boris McGiver, who plays Tom Hammerschmidt, the editor of the Washington Herald starts looking into Zoe Barnes' death, which starts bringing heat back on Frank. The season ends setting up what was clearly supposed to be the original season six storyline of Frank versus Claire, but when Kevin Spacey was fired from the show, that ended up being totally abandoned, so the cliffhanger-ish ending to the season never really gets played out.

For those who get the blu-ray set, the 13 episodes are spread across four discs. The A/V quality is very good, with some really nice scenic shots from DC and the surrounding area. The big con for the physical disc set is that there are no extras, and the discs are again in those very tight pockets that make them extremely hard to remove without risking scratching the discs and/or ripping the pocket. 

Overall, the series is still very good. While some of the backbiting, political maneuvering, and crimes that are portrayed in the show are dramatized for the show, I think that, unfortunately, what is depicted in the show is not always that far off from reality. The show continues to be very well-written and acted, with a strong supporting cast including Michael Kelly, Neve Campbell, Campbell Scott, Paul Sparks, and Jayne Atkinson, to name a few. 

For some, what has been revealed about Spacey's alleged behavior over the years, including while he was working on the show, may taint their perceptions of and enjoyment of the show. While Spacey is clearly the series lead, it is not just his portrayal of Frank that makes the show great, and I look at it as supporting the entire cast and crew and not just him. So, if you can separate that, and have liked the prior seasons of the show, then you will probably like this one.

Workout Update: Lift 4/Beginner Pilates Doubles Day 13

Day 13 was the Abs and Core workout for Pilates and a recovery day (meaning flexibility and foam rolling) for Lift-4. I decided to do all the workouts back-to-back since they are all very short. So, I started with Lift-4's flexibility workout, then did the foam roller workout, and then did Pilates Abs and Core. I think that actually helped me because I was able to loosen up before doing the Pilates workout. While I would still not classify myself as flexible, I had a bit more range of motion. 

And, today I hit 210 lbs (95.2 kg), which I have not been in a long time. If you have read some of my older posts you know I tend to take scale weight with a bit of a grain of salt, as it can change a lot due to factors that have little or nothing to do with body fat percentage. But, since my body fat percentage is still high, I know I also have a lot of scale weight left to lose. So, hitting that milestone is a very good thing. I want to get myself back down to 190 lbs (58.5 kg) to see where my body fat and overall body composition are at that point.

CD/Music Review: Phi Collins: The Singles

 

If you were alive in the 1980s and 1990s and were a fan of pop and/or adult-contemporary music you heard Phil Collins a lot. Either because of his time as the lead singer of the group Genesis or his prolific solo career. This is a two-disc set (if you get the physical CD) that has all of the songs that Phil Collins put out as singles during his solo career. It is basically a greatest hits album and the songs on it cover his solo career from the early 1980s up through the mid-1990s. All of the songs have been remastered and pretty much all of his solo hits, including songs like Both Sides of the Story, Another Day in Paradise, You'll Be in my Heart, Against All Odds, and Take Me Home are included, along with some of his lesser-known non-smash hit songs. I definitely recommend this one to any fan of Phil Collins.

Book Review: Star Wars: Victory's Price: An Alphabet Squadron Novel

 

+++Warning, this contains a spoiler from the prior novel in the series, but no major giveaways from this book.+++

Victory's price is the third in the trilogy of "Alphabet Squadron" novels, telling the story of an elite fighter squadron that is tracking and trying to take out an Imperial unit called "Shadow Wing". The book is set one year after the Battle of Endor, and as the New Republic is gearing up for a "final battle" against the remnants of the Empire (in what would become the Battle of Jakku). Some in the New Republic think the war is over and underestimate the threat that the remains of the Empire pose and others know that it is not. The members of Alphabet Squadron are reeling from what they believe is the death of their leader, Yirica Quell. Of course, the readers know that she actually defected to Shadow Wing, although there is a bit more to that part of the story that plays out throughout the book. At the end of the book, we get yet another perspective on the events of the Battle of Jakku, which has been included in a few different novels. 

The big thing that the book (and the trilogy as a whole) lacks for me is any inclusion of the legacy characters. The book does include appearances by Mon Mothma and Admiral Ackbar, but Luke, Leia, and Han are nowhere to be seen (although some are mentioned), and it seems unlikely that they would never cross paths with some of these characters, even if for just a very short time. The book does expand the role of Hera Syndulla, but unless you watched the Rebels series (which most people who are likely to read this book probably have), she is not someone that readers are going to recognize as a major character. I think fans are still really looking forward to a novel set after Return of the Jedi that really shows what the legacy characters were up to, which, at the time the Alphabet Squadron trilogy was written, had not happened. To be fair, there are some novels that have come after this, such as Princess and the Scoundrel which have started to tell those stories, but I think a lot of fans, especially those who really grew up with the original trilogy and the characters of Han, Luke, Leia, Chewie, etc., may find this trilogy of novels a bit hard to get into. The book does have a lot of action, and it does a good job wrapping up the arcs of the main characters, so if you have been a big fan of the prior books in the trilogy this will probably provide a satisfying conclusion to their story.

Ultimately, I think this is a good, but not great novel in the new canon material. But, it is not one that I would classify as a must-read if you are one of those who read some, but not all, of the novels. 

Workout Update: Lift 4/Beginner Pilates Doubles Day 12

For day 12, the Beginner Pilates workout was the hips, buns, and thighs workout, and Lift-4 was a legs-focused HIIT workout. The Pilates workout went a bit better than it did last week, but there were still a couple of points where I had to pause and skip a rep or two. The Lift-4 workout was tough. It was all cardio, no weights. It had three rounds of four exercises, high-knee jog for a minute, the triple hops with your knees 2 inches off the ground for 45 seconds, catchers (squat-to-planks) with a jump for 30 seconds, and jumping lunges for 15 seconds. You get 15 seconds between exercises to rest and 30 seconds between rounds. After you do three rounds of that, you do two additional rounds in which you do each exercise for thirty seconds with no rest between them. Then you alternate between two core moves for thirty seconds each move for three rounds. As with the other workouts, there is a person doing modified moves (toward the end everyone in the video was doing modified moves), but even modified it was hard. I started out doing as much unmodified as I could do, then switched to modified. During the last couple of rounds, I definitely had to stop a couple of times. It was a good, but tough workout.

Book Review: Arduino For Dummies 1st Edition

 

The Arduino is a microcontroller that can be used to do anything from something as simple as causing an LED to illuminate to controlling a robot. However, if you are not all that adept at programming and/or building circuits, it can be somewhat daunting to use. I used one to build a vibration-sensing device for a class in my electrical engineering curriculum, and since I only knew the basics of programming, I got this to help figure out how to program the device. The book has a lot of good information in it and presents the information in an easily understandable way. If you have some experience and programming and know the basics of circuit design the book is easy to understand and use.  The material may go over the head of a total novice, but you can definitely have beginner to intermediate skills/knowledge and easily follow along with the material.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: The Boy Next Door

 

The Boy Next Door is a psychological thriller from 2015 starring Jennifer Lopez as Claire Peterson, a high school teacher separated from her husband after she catches him cheating. At the same time, the nephew of her next-door neighbor, Noah, played by Ryan Guzman, moves in to help his wheelchair-bound uncle. Of course, the two end up flirting and eventually having sex (before the school year starts), and then things go bad, as Claire regrets their night together and tries to break it off. Noah becomes jealous and starts to make Claire's life miserable, which is much easier as he is still in high school even though he is 19 years old (which the movie makes clear), and now goes to the same school Claire teaches at and at which her own teenage son, Kevin, played by Ian Nicholson, attends. The movie definitely has a similar vibe to movies like Fatal Attraction and Unfaithful, but it is not exactly an erotic thriller as there was only one sex scene, and even then nothing much was shown (aside from a butt shot from Lopez). 

For those who get the blu-ray, the A/V quality is very good, with some great cinematographic visuals and a good lossless audio track. There are only a handful of extras which include a commentary track on the movie by the director Rob Cohen, a short (under 10 minutes) making-of featurette, and a few deleted scenes that total around 10 minutes.

The movie is okay, but not great. It is a smaller-budget movie and definitely does not have an original plot. You can pretty much guess how it is going to play out from the beginning, even though all of the actors did a good job in their roles. The movie does have a good supporting cast including Kristen Chenowith, Hill Harper, and John Corbett. I think it is best described as the kind of movie that you can have on in the background and not miss much of anything if you divert your attention from time-to-time. 

Workout Update: Lift 4/Beginner Pilates Doubles Day 11

Day 11 was Pilates Flow 2 in Beginner Pilates and Shoulders in Lift-4. I think that the Pilates workout went a bit better this time than it did on Tuesday, with again some minor gains made in my flexibility. The shoulder workout from Lift-4 was tough. It is an interval workout, so there are three sets that you do for three rounds each. Each set has two resistance shoulder exercises and then a HIIT exercise. You do everything back-to-back with no rest, and then take a 30-second break between the rounds. Once you get through the three sets, then you do three rounds of core work, alternating between two core-focused moves. So, the workout is very tough and keeps your heart rate up almost until the end. 

Product Review: Parallax 605-00004 Piezo Film

 

I used this to build a vibration sensor for an independent study class when I was working on an electrical engineering degree. It has ends that allow you to mount it to a breadboard or solder it to a printed circuit board. It worked well and was able to pick up vibration. The only issue, however, is that if it is on a breadboard that is somewhat thick, it may not pick up vibration through the breadboard. If you can work around that, it does work as it should.

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

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilers from the prior season of Arrow, but no major season 5 spoilers.+++

Season 5 picks up with Oliver still reeling over Laurel's death at the hands of Damien Dhark while still discharging his duties as mayor. He is encouraged by Felicity to work with a new team of vigilantes, including Rene Ramirez/Wild Dog (played by Rick Gonzalez), Evelyn Sharp/Artemis (played by Madison McLaughlin), Rory Regan/Ragman (played by Joe Dinicol), Curtis Holt/Mister Terrific (played by Echo Kellum), and Dinah Drake/Black Canary (played by Juliana Harkavy). There is a bit of a swerve in the identity of the season's big bad, with a reveal that occurs later in the season. The season flashbacks to the fifth (and last) year of Oliver's life before being rescued. That portion of the story heavily involves Oliver in Russia working with Anatoly against Konstantin Kovar, a tyrant played by Dolph Lundgren. The season ends on a major cliffhanger with the fate of many of the team members in limbo.

For those who get the blu-ray set, the A/V quality is pretty much the same as it has been for the prior season releases. The 23 episodes are spread across four discs, and the set includes the crossover episodes for the "Invasion" crossover event which includes episodes from Flash and Legends of Tomorrow and brings in Melissa Benoist's Supergirl character. Arrow's episode of the three-show crossover (which also happens to be Arrow's 100th episode), is the middle chapter of the crossover event and brings back some of the actors such as John Barrowman, Susana Thompson, and Manu Bennett, who have appeared on the show. They also include a clever line about Tommy being a doctor in Chicago as a nod to Colin Donnell being on the show Chicago Med, (even though he does not physically appear in the episode). The other extras include deleted scenes for select episodes, a half-hour portion of the show's 2016 Comic-Con panel, a 5-minute gag reel, and a few making-of featurettes, one devoted to the crossover and a couple devoted to the show's storylines.

Ultimately, if you have liked the prior seasons of Arrow, you will probably like this one. The show continues to develop the main characters, and the addition of the new team brings some new life into the show. Stephen Amell does a very good job playing Oliver, keeping his brooding, moody roots but branching out from that. The season has a good guest cast including pro wrestler Cody Rhodes and the aforementioned Dolph Lundgren. And, of course, characters from the other shows appear throughout the season, not only for the crossover but in small cameos in other episodes. It is definitely worth watching.

Workout Update: Lift 4/Beginner Pilates Doubles Day 10

The Day 10 workouts were Pilates Flow 1 and for Lift-4, the flexibility and foam rolling workouts. All of them went fine.  I cannot say I had a huge gain in flexibility during any of the workouts, but it was definitely nice to have a lower-impact non-cardio day. I do like Pilates Flow 1 much more than Flow 2, even though it has the leg lifts that I cannot do very well at this point. 

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Atomic Blonde

 

Atomic Blonde is a spy thriller starring Charlize Theron and James McAvoy. The movie is set in Berlin, in 1989 on the eve of the fall of the Berlin Wall, when every spy in the city is at risk of being when an MI6 agent is killed by a KGB agent and a list of every agent operating in the city is stolen. Theron plays Lorraine Broughton, a high-ranking MI6 field agent, and McAvoy plays MI6's Berlin station chief. The plot of the movie is about agents from various spy agencies, including MI6, the CIA, KGB, and the French intelligence service trying to track down the list, but that is mainly filler between the fight scenes. The movie is based on a graphic novel and the violence is definitely very over-the-top as it tends to be in many of the film adaptations of graphic novels.  There is also some sexual content, including a sex scene between Theron and Sofia Boutella. 

For those who get the 4k set, as usual, you get a UHD disc and a regular blu-ray disc. The A/V quality of the 4k disc is very good, although neither is what real A/V wonks would call reference quality. The only extra on the UHD disc is a commentary track on the movie by the director and the editor. The rest of the bonus content is on the regular blu-ray, and those include deleted and extended scenes totaling about seven minutes, a handful of making-of featurettes that total about twenty-two minutes with the shortest being about four minutes and the longest being just under eight minutes. Then there is a short storyboard sequence for a couple of the action scenes.

The movie is a good action spy thriller. Theron has proven she has the chops for action movies multiple times over the course of her career, but the fact that she can pull off an action lead in her 40s and do as well as she did in her early 30s is impressive. The movie is definitely not appropriate for young kids as it has a lot of violence, swearing, and sexual content. But otherwise, if you are in the mood for a good action movie that you do not have to pay constant attention to in order to follow what is going on, this is a good one.

Product Review: HEPA Roomba Filters Replacement for iRobot Roomba E I & J Series Vacuum Cleaner

 

This is a pack of six filters that fit the i7 series of Roomba vacuums. They are the exact size and shape and look and function exactly like the "official" filters, at a much lower cost. The only difference is that they do not have iRobot printed on the side of it. It also has a brush that allows you to clean out the dust cup and the depression that the filter mounts into. I definitely recommend these.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: House M.D.: Season 6

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilers from season 5, but no major season six giveaways+++

The sixth season of House picks up with House going through withdrawal in the mental hospital that he checked himself into at the end of Season 5 after hallucinating Amber, Kutner, and sleeping with Cuddy. The season premiere was actually a two-part episode that spanned the three-month period of time that the show normally time jumps. The only two regular cast members that appear in the season premiere are Hugh Laurie (of course) and Robert Sean Leonard. House does get clean and is discharged being able to provisionally go back to practicing medicine, but until his license is restored, Foreman is "the boss" of the team, which starts out as the original team of Foreman, Cameron, and Chase. This season has more cast turnover with one of the series regulars leaving partway through the season, and the fate of another character in limbo at the end of the season. After the first episode(s), the show goes back to the regular case-of-the-week format with the serial arcs mixed in. There are also a couple of episodes in which House and the team are not the focus. One follows Wilson around through a day and the other follows Cuddy around. In each of the episodes House pops in and out as he does, the only difference is that we stay with Wilson and Cuddy so we do not get the full context of what House is doing, which makes the interactions even funnier than normal.

For those who get the blu-ray set, the show looks and sounds good in the HD format. This is, at least in the US, the first season that was available on blu-ray, with the prior seasons only being available on DVD. This season does have one episode with a lot of CGI special effects in which the team takes on the case of a video game creator. The CGI shots of the game (that was made especially for the episode) look great in HD. There are a lot of extras, including commentary tracks on the episode Wilson in which Robert Sean Leonard provides commentary along with David Foster, a commentary track on the Cuddy-centric episode 9-to-5, in which Lisa Edelstein provides commentary with the writer of the episode, a commentary track on the season premiere with the director/writer Katie Jacobs and two of the three co-writers. Then, there is a featurette on the episode Hugh Laurie directed, a featurette on the video-game episode, a featurette on the footage Katic Jacobs shot on location at the hospital in NJ at the end of Season 5, some of which was used in the series premiere, and then a behind-the-scenes featurette that focused on the first episode. So, a lot there if you like going through the bonus content.

The show continues to be very strong in season seven. The writers keep coming up with good storylines and balance the ensemble cast well. This season also has a strong slate of guest and recurring cast members including Michael Weston, Andre Braugher, Cynthia Watros, Lin-Manuel Miranda, James Earl Jones, David Marciano, Jon Seda, Joshua Molina, Ethan Embry, Orlando Jones, Laura Prepon, and Sarah Wayne Callies. The season has a couple of cliffhanger-ish elements that will likely take the show in a bit of a new direction in season seven. So, if you have liked the prior seasons of the show, this it is still worth watching. 

Workout Update: Lift 4/Beginner Pilates Doubles Day 9

For the Pilates workout today it was Pilates flow 2. This one is mostly a seated core-focused workout doing a lot of leg lifts, leg circles, etc., mostly in combination with a crunch. Even though the workout is shorter than Flow 1, it is more challenging, and I found myself having to skip reps during more than one exercise, especially toward the end of the workout.

For Lift-4,  it is back and biceps day again. This is another 50/50 workout with weights first, cardio second, and again finishing with core exercises. For this workout, you again do three circuits, for three rounds. In the first circuit, you do two back exercises. Then in the second circuit, you alternate between a back exercise and a bicep exercise, and in the third circuit, you do two bicep exercises. Again you do ten reps of each exercise with no rest between the two, and you get 30 seconds between the rounds. Then, once you are done with the resistance exercises you do three different cardio exercises for one minute, forty-five seconds, and thirty seconds respectively, and do three rounds of cardio. The workout then ends with two core-focused exercises that you do for two rounds. 

This is a tough workout after the chest and triceps workout. Even though I used lighter weights in that workout, my arms are very sore today, and I suspect they will be again tomorrow. It does go by quickly, at just over 35 minutes, but it is probably the hardest workout of the bunch that I have done to this point.

Food Review: Nut Harvest Sea Salted Whole Cashews

 

This is a 16-pack of whole, salted Cashews. There are about 2.5 servings per package, and if you eat the entire package you are consuming about 350 calories. They are salted enough to give them some kick, but not so much that it seems like you are dumping salt onto your tongue. So, if you are looking for a source of healthy fat, this is a good option. Just be aware, if you are strictly following a Keto or other low-carb nutrition plan, these do have more carbs and less fiber than nuts such as almonds or pistachios. 

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Personal Shopper

 

Personal Shopper is a smaller-budget independent film from 2016 starring Kristen Stewart, whose best movies seem to be the smaller movies that she does between the large Hollywood blockbusters. In this one, she stars as Maureen, an American living in Paris who works as a personal shopper for a French supermodel. Maureen is also a medium who is waiting for a message from the afterlife from her deceased twin brother. She also has the same genetic heart condition that killed her brother and gets sicker over the course of the movie. The movie is in part a supernatural psychological thriller and in part a crime story. The two storylines interweave with each other throughout the course of the movie and work better at different points than others. And, the movie features one of the few topless scenes that Stewart has done in her career. 

The A/V quality of the blu-ray is very good. The movie is not laden with special effects, but the location shots around Europe look very good, especially if you are watching on a large screen. The extras include the movie trailer, an almost 20-minute interview with the director, Oliver Assayas, and a 46-minute question and answer session from the Cannes Film Festival. 

Overall, the movie is good, but not great. Stewart definitely plays a different type of character than she has played in her more well-known roles in big-budget movies. Given that she seems to play more understated characters better than she does more charismatic characters, this role definitely suits her. I would not classify it as a must-watch, but if you are a fan of Stewart or indie movies in general, it is a good one to check out.