DVD/TV Series Review: ER Season 15 [Spoilers]

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilers from prior seasons and minor spoilers from the final season+++

ER's 15th and final 22-episode season aired during the 2008/1009 TV season. It marked the end of one of the longest-running, and best medical dramas ever. There was yet more cast turnover this year with Mekhi Phifer, Shane West, Maura Tierney, and Goran Visnjc leaving the show as series regulars. Some would appear here and there throughout the season, and some had a one-and-done appearance. Angela Basset was the big addition to the cast, joining as the new Chief of Emergency Medicine, Catherine Banfield. The show also had several recognizable guest stars throughout the season including Tony Hale, Chadwick Boseman, Carl Weathers, Ariel Winter, Wallace Shawn, Rooney Mara, Ernest Borgnine, and Judy Greer, among others.

I have always looked at ER as two different series. One that lasted through season 8 when Anthony Edwards decided to leave the show and the one that remained on the air until the end. Personally, I would have liked to have seen the show end after the 8th season, because had the shows that told the story of Dr Green's death been the series finale, the show would have gone out on a high point and would have never been accused of hanging on too long. This season really tries to bridge the two series, by bringing back many former cast members, including Edwards, Paul McCrane, Laura Innes, William H. Macy, Thandiwe Newton, George Clooney, Juliana Margulies, Alex Kingston, Sherrie Stringfield, and Eriq La Salle. The catalyst for bridging the early seasons to the later seasons was a storyline involving Dr. Carter that extends throughout most of the season (Wyle returns as something between a recurring character and a series regular). Edwards and McCrane are brought back in a flashback episode that found a creative way to include Basset's character. For those who were fans of the show from the beginning in 1994, the season provides a shot of nostalgia, while also wrapping up the storylines for the current main cast members like Scott Grimes, John Stamos, Linda Cardellini, and Parminder Nagra.

The DVD set is a six-disc set. It has a handful of special features including unaired scenes and a series retrospective with interviews with cast members and showrunners. Given the impact the series had, launching (or helping to launch) the careers of many stars (including Clooney, Margulies, Ewan McGregor, and Ving Rhames, to name just a few) as well as having many notable guest stars, it should have had a lot more special features looking back on the series. Even so, what was included is good. 

The season was very good, and one of the best in the season 9-15 era of the show. It was very nice to see the old cast members even though some just had cameo appearances. Many people complained about the episode in which Clooney and Margulies were brought back for having a totally unrealistic story. I think it was the best that could be done to give Clooney his "own" episode where he and Margulies could do more than just make a cameo appearance in the finale like Sherry Stringfield, Alex Kingston, and Laura Innes did. While the storyline was contrived and would not happen in real life it was really the only way, aside from having Carter go out to Seattle, to have a reason for someone from County to be interacting with Ross and Hathaway. Given that Clooney was really 1a and/or 1b along with Anthony Edwards and Margulies was a major star on the show in the early years, I think it was better to do what they did so the two could be in more than just one or two scenes. I also think the way the show ended, with Morris (of all people) taking over as the lead character, and having Carter passing the baton (so to speak) to Dr. Green's daughter who had become a prospective medical student, was the best way to end the series. It was perfect to have Noah Wyle be the last person we see on screen since the show started with his character as the wide-eyed medical student back in episode 1.

Workout Update: T25/Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Day 31

Day 31 was the Lift 4 recovery workouts and the Full Body Circuit workout in T25. I again skipped the chest exercises in the T25 workout since I was just a couple of days removed from doing the heavy chest workout in Lift 4. I was able to do more unmodified moves during this workout, but still have to swap in the modifications quite a bit.  

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Halloween II (Rob Zombie Version) [Spoilers]

 

Halloween II is the 2009 sequel to Rob Zombie's remake of Halloween. The first movie can ostensibly be called a remake or reboot. It did depart a lot from the original film it essentially told the same story,  with twists and additions. This movie pays homage to the original version of Halloween II for the first 15 to 20 minutes. After that, it is its own movie and a story that is completely unique and different. It has much more of the strangeness and over-the-top gore that Rob Zombie's other horror movies have. The movie does bring back the main cast members from the first movie including Sheri Moon Zombie, Tyler Mane, Scout Taylor-Compton, Danielle Harris,  and Malcolm McDowell. 

In this movie, Loomis is turned into a raging prick who is just out to make a buck, and Laurie is totally fucked up from her experiences in the first movie. That part of the story I found interesting. It is the part of the original Laurie Strode storyline we did not see, specifically looking at how she coped as a teenager after the events of that night. But then, the story went off in a totally different direction. If it had stuck to just Laurie's messed up life and Michael coming back I think the film would have been better. But the whole channeling of the dead mother angle and Laurie can sometimes feel Michael (like when he is eating the dog) was just stupid. Also having Michael yell die when killing Loomis should not have happened.

The A/V quality of the blu-ray is very good. The movie is not packed with special effects, but what there is looks seamless and the location shots look very good in HD. The extras include a commentary track on the movie by Zombie, audition footage for some of the actors, deleted scenes, a gag reel, several music videos, and trailers. The movie is definitely a dark and twisted sequel that will not appeal to everyone. Many devoted fans of the original two movies will probably hate this one. Also, people who would otherwise give it a chance if it were a remake of the second film will not like it either. For everyone else, there will probably still be a lot of disagreement. Some will love the movie and others will hate it. I am pretty lukewarm about it. For what it is, if you can accept that it diverts from following the Halloween story verbatim, it is not horrible. It is certainly better than Halloween 6 and Halloween Resurrection, but it is nowhere near as good as the original two films or even as good as Zombie's remake of the first movie.

Workout Update: T25/Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Day 30

For Day 30 I switched the order of the T25 workouts, doing the cardio workout instead of ab intervals. Then, in Lift 4, it was the back and biceps circuit workout (meaning no cardio, just lifting). Both of the workouts went pretty well. The increased weight that I used for the Lift 4 workout made it challenging but not impossible. And, I was able to do more of the exercises in the T25 workout unmodified for a longer period of time.  

Book Review: Network of Lies: The Epic Saga of Fox News, Donald t***p, and the Battle for American Democracy

 

Network of Lies is the 2023 follow-up to author, and former CNN host, Brian Stelter's 2020 book, Hoax. This book is mostly a continuation of that book, focusing on events that occurred after (and a bit during) the 2020 election through late 2023. 

The hardcover version of the book has just under 330 pages of substantive text. The last 40 pages are divided between source notes and the index. The book is basically a continued excoriation of Fox "news", with a huge focus on the rise, and subsequent fall of fucker Carlson, with Stelter (who has a ton of sources inside Fox) detailing what was going on behind the scenes when Carlson was dumped after the settlement of the defamation case brought by Dominion voting systems against Fox and several of its personalities because of the lies the network allowed to be spread after the 2020 election. 

Stelter definitely is not writing this book in an objective journalist mode. He does not hide his feelings about the network, the people who run it, and the personalities on it. The crux of Stelter's analysis is that Fox shot itself in the foot by allowing the "news" division, however small it was to be aced out by the entertainment division, which caused people like Chris Wallace and Shep Smith to leave and because of all of the lying by the people in the entertainment division and the failure of those left in the news division to push back hard against the bullshit being spewed by the orange genital wart and his clown-car of inbreds, on the few occasions the network did tell the truth, it caused Fox's viewers (who they spent years radicalizing and lying to) to jump ship for the even crazier batshittery of OAN and Newsmax. 

While Stelter is clearly not an unbiased objective observer (he clearly hates Fox and many of its on-air personalities) he brings receipts for all of the assertions he makes in the book (without outing his sources). The book is yet another warning about just how dangerous Fox has become as a network and how it is unlikely to change anytime soon, despite one almost billion-dollar settlement and a second defamation suit that is in progress that may cause the network to lose even more money. It is absolutely worth the time to read.

Workout Update: T25/Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Day 29

Day 29 is the start of week 5, which is the last week of the alpha round of T25 and the start of the second half of Lift 4. In T25 it was the full body circuit workout again (which we do three times this week). Today I skipped some of the push-ups because of having Lift 4 chest and triceps as the second workout. In that one, I did increase the amount of weight that I was using for all of the weighted exercises, which was tough. I had a bit more stamina in the HIIT portion of the workout (this is a 50/50 workout) but was getting tired at the end of it.  

Workout Update: T25/Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Day 28

Day 28 was lower body foam rolling from 645 followed immediately by the T25 stretch workout. Foam rolling before the T25 routine helps quite a bit since it loosens up my hamstrings and hip flexors and helps me get deeper into all of the moves. 

Workout Update: T25/Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Day 27

Day 27 was upper body foam rolling from 645 followed immediately by the two Lift 4 recovery workouts. Each of the routines went fine. The foam rolling helped as I did have knots in almost every muscle group. 

Workout Update: T25/Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Day 26

Day 26 was the ab intervals in T25 and Legs in Lift 4. Since this was an even-numbered week, the Legs workout was all HIIT.  I also did the Lift 4 workout in the morning and the T25 abs workout in the evening. HIIT was tough, but doable, and the ab workout was the same.

DVD/Movie Review: Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Meyers (Spoilers)

 

Halloween 4 was released in 1988, ten years after the original movie, and the events of Halloween I and II. This was the movie that brought Michael Myers back after an attempt to make a Halloween movie (Halloween III: Season of the Witch) without him that fell totally flat and completely bombed at the box office. The producers decided to resurrect Michael for this movie without the involvement of John Carpenter.  This movie brought back Donald Pleasence as Sam Loomis and also starred Danielle Harris, Elie Cornell, Beau Starr, Sasha Jenson, Kathleen Kinmont, and George Wilbur.

This movie starts out with Michael locked up in the basement of some relatively secure facility, bandaged and scarred from the burns he received at the end of Halloween II. For some reason, he is being moved, and when the ambulance crew mentions he has a niece living in Haddonfield (played by Danielle Harris, who plays Jamie, the daughter of Laurie Strode who was killed off in this version), he comes back to life and the usual shenanigans ensue.  What follows is the standard fare of Michael going through the town killing anyone who got in his way. 

The special edition DVD (which was released in 2006) includes several bonus features most of which were produced years after the movie was released. There are two different commentary tracks on the movie, one by the writer of the movie and one with Harris and Cornell. There is also a discussion panel with cast and crew members who worked on Halloween 4 and 5, a making-of featurette, and the trailer for the movie.

I don't necessarily think that there was a big need to make this film. I think a fine ending to the series would have been to have Myers and Loomis killed at the end of Halloween 2. But, if they were going to bring him back, this was as good a story as there could have been to do so (since Jamie Lee Curtis did not return for this one). This movie was made before the franchise got overly stupid (as would happen in Halloween 6 and 8 and even to some extent in 5). Danielle Harris does a very good job as Jamie, especially being so young, and Ellie Cornell is great in her role as well. Donald Pleasance plays Loomis with the same intensity that he did in the original movies and brought the gravitas that the film needed to resurrect the series.

Ultimately if you liked the original Halloween and Halloween 2 you will probably like this movie. While this movie is not as good as either of the first two movies and it does suffer from not having Jamie Lee Curtis in it, it does hold its own. It is also not as good as Halloween H20/Halloween 7 (which does bring back Curtis and basically resets the series again ignoring movies 4-6). If you are a fan of the first two Halloween movies and/or horror movies in general, it is worth the time to watch.

DVD/Movie Review: Halloween III: Season of the Witch

 

Halloween III, subtitled Season of the Witch, was a 1982 movie starring Tom Atkins, Stacey Nelkin, Dan O'Herlihy,  and Michael Currie. The movie was written by John Carpenter and produced by Carpenter and Debra Hill, who made the first two Halloween movies. This movie was an effort by John Carpenter to make a series of movies under the Halloween banner without the character of Michael Myers character (aside from when a clip from Halloween featuring Michael was playing on TV in the background of one of the scenes). It was a total flop, and hence the series of movies never developed and the studio went on to make multiple movies with Michael Myers as the central character that ranged from pretty good, to incredibly stupid without Carpenter's involvement.

There have been multiple releases on physical media, some of which have an extensive amount of extras. The original DVD release, however, is very bare-bones. It just contains the movie itself and does not have a commentary track or behind-the-scenes material that would come later with the blu-ray release.

I think this movie was doomed as soon as they tried to put the Halloween label on it. By then the Michael Myers character was synonymous with Halloween movies and anything that did not have him in it was never going to be given a shot. Personally, I think Carpenter should have just promoted it under his name and not given it the Halloween title (something even the people involved admit). Had the movie just been titled "John Carpetner's Season of the Witch" or something like that, they could have released the exact same movie and it probably would have done better at the box office and the series would have probably produced more than one film.

As just a horror movie and ignoring the Halloween title, I thought it was good, but not great. Given when it was made and the fact that it was made on a shoestring budget without any big-name actors, the writing and special effects were kind of cheesy, and it has the look and feel of a low-budget horror movie. Even so, it definitely has that creepy factor that any good horror movie has. The storyline was very weird and the story did not (and still will not) appeal to everyone. The crux of the story was basically a company making haunted Halloween masks that when worn when a particular commercial came on would kill the person wearing it. It also had killer androids that would do the bad guy's dirty work. While there are certainly better horror movies out there, if you are a fan of the genre, and are ok with an offbeat out there kind of storyline and the lack of Michael Myers you may want to check this out.

DVD/Movie Review: Halloween II

 

Halloween II is the 1981 sequel to the then cult-classic, now fairly iconic 1978 horror movie Halloween. It was written and produced by John Carpenter and Deborah Hill (who also wrote and produced the original movie), and Rick Rosenthal directed (taking over the directing job from Carpenter who directed the first movie). The movie brings back Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasance in their leading roles, reprises the roles of Nancy Stephens and Charles Cyphers, and brings in Lance Guest as a new character.  The events of the movie are set immediately after the end of the first movie with Loomis discovering that Michael survived being shot and falling off the balcony and begins hunting through the town to find him. Laurie is transported to the Haddonfield Hospital where, of course, Michael tracks her down and continues trying to kill her. 

The DVD does include a handful of extras, including the theatrical trailer, production notes, and some interviews with the cast and crew. They are not extensive, and not nearly as much as was included in the later blu-ray releases, but they are there if you like going through the bonus content.

I loved the first Halloween movie. It is one of my favorite horror movies of all time. Generally, as you get into sequels the quality goes down (as was certainly the case with this franchise). This movie which was originally intended to be the only sequel is definitely the best of the bunch. The one thing I really liked about the movie is that although they showed Michel much more than in the first film, they still kept him hidden enough that it kept a similar sense of suspense as the original film. Also, while the movie was definitely gorier than the first one (which was done at Carpenter's insistence in post-production), it did not go overboard on the gore. The filmakers used suspense to keep the movie scary rather than just turning it into a straight slasher film (even though some did criticize the amount of gore in this movie compared to the first one). I also liked the way they paralleled the stories of Michael stalking Laurie at the hospital and Loomis trying to hunt him down. Jamie Lee Curtis did not have as large a role in this movie as she did in the first one until the end when she was trying to get away from Michael. Donald Pleasence's role was expanded in this movie and he did a great job playing Loomis as obsessed with getting Michael to the extent that Loomis comes off as being crazy too. He nailed that role and the one good thing that the multiple sequels did was allow him to reprise it.

While this is not an all-out hack-and-slash gore fest that is popular among today's horror movies, it still stands the test of time as one of the most suspenseful and scary horror films. They definitely make Michael less human and more indestructible in this movie, which the series would continue to overdo with each subsequent movie. It was the intent of John Carpenter that Michael actually die at the end of this movie, and that no additional sequels featuring Michael be made. In fact, if you pay attention to the scenes in the school they foreshadow Micahel's death at the very end. Of course, that only lasted for one movie after Halloween III bombed, but Carpenter would never be involved in any of the other sequels until he agreed to be a producer and composer on the 2018, 2020, and 2021 Halloween sequel reboots. In fact, Carpenter has gone on record saying he did not really want to make a sequel to the original Halloween, but had to agree to a sequel to get the first movie made (if the first one made money, which of course, it did). Ultimately, if you are a fan of the horror genre, this one definitely deserves a place in your collection even though it is not as good as the original movie.

4kUHD/Movie Review: 2001: A Space Odyssey (Spoilers)

 

2001 is widely considered one of the most iconic Sci-Fi movies ever made. The 1968 movie was directed by Stanley Kubrick and adapted from the novel by Author C. Clarke (who wrote the screenplay for the movie with Kubrick). The movie stars Keir Duella, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester, and Douglas Rain. The movie is set in 2001, in a much more technologically advanced future than we actually had in 2001 or even now. Duella stars as Dave Bowman, a scientist on the Discovery spacecraft which is bound for Jupiter. The ship is run by an artificially intelligent supercomputer called the HAL 9000 (voiced by Rain). The mission goes sideways and becomes (in part) a story of man versus machine.

This is an excellent movie, but it may not be entertaining for everyone. It touches on many different topics, including life's origin, artificial intelligence, and space exploration. There is not really any action in the movie. The closest thing to that is when Dave was trying to get back into the ship after HAL locked him out. It is very much a movie that requires you to think more than anything else. The idea that a computer goes bad and attacks humans would appear later in movies like The Terminator, but what made this version of that story work was how HAL interacted with the other characters. Ultimately, 2001 is an interesting, but not exactly exciting, movie. It is really a very long thought experiment, made by the only director that would ever be allowed to make it the way he did. As is the case with many, if not all, of Kubrick's movies people tend to either love it or hate it. It received a ton of bad reviews when it came out in 1968 for being too long and boring, with nothing happening for most of it. And to some extent, those are valid points. It is 2.5 hrs long, and there is no dialogue for the first half-hour or the last (give or take) half-hour of the movie. The first two minutes are a completely blank screen, it has an intermission, and there is (an approximately) 20-minute long vertigo-inducing light show toward the end of the movie.

Even with all that, the movie plays on concepts of the origin of life, god, alien life, technological advancement, human reliance on computers, and the possible dangers of artificial intelligence. All of this makes for ripe debate now 50 years past the movie's release. It is unique in the fact that it does not really try to provide any answers, or really set up all of the questions that it is posing all that well. It is not a movie that you can really have on in the background and follow everything, yet there are parts where you can completely ignore it and not miss anything.

The 4k set is a three-disc set. The movie looks great in 4k UHD format. On the UHD disc, you just get the movie, with or without the option of playing the commentary track with actors Gary Lockwood and Kier Dullea. It is hard to tell exactly how great the restoration is until you see the low-definition clips from the movie on the special features disc (which is a separate blu-ray). While it does not look as good as some of the new movies do in 4k, given that it is now over 50 years old, it looks as good as it will ever look in any format unless it gets an extensive restoration. That said, the A/V transfer was of good quality and it is a step up from the DVD and the initial blu-ray releases. There is also a regular blu-ray disc with just the movie itself on it.

There are about 2 hrs worth of extras, some of which were documentaries shot in the 2000s which discussed the movie's impact on all the sci-fi movies that came after it, and how it was a giant in the world of practical special effects. There was also some behind-the-scenes material shot while the movie was being made, a documentary from back when it was being filmed about how the filmmakers and NASA were working together to make it as authentic as possible, and for me, the most interesting, how they thought technology and the space program would be in 2001 as opposed to what reality has been. They got some very close (like the tablet devices on the ship that look a lot like iPads do today) and other things that were way off about (like permanent bases on the moon, and space flight being as normal as flying in an airplane). There is also an almost hour and twenty-minute long audio interview with Kubrick done in 1966).

Overall, I cannot say that this is a movie that everyone will enjoy. Chances are, however, anyone who is considering this has already seen the movie and is a fan. I would say, that it is a good idea to also get 2010 which was the sequel that was made in 1985 which not only concluded the story but also helped make the story in 2001 make more sense than it does upon first viewing. It is also, in my opinion, a more entertaining movie than this one, because it is less thought experiment and more drama. Even though I do like 2010 better, this one is still one of my must-watch movies.

Workout Update: T25/Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Day 25

Day 25 was Total Body Circuit in T25 and Shoulders Intervals in Lift 4.

I was able to do more unmodified exercises in both workouts today, so each of them went pretty well. I still cannot do the entire 25 minutes of the T25 workouts without stopping to catch my breath and get water, but I can get through more of it.

Workout Update: T25/Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Day 24

Day 24 was the rest day in Lift 4, which meant doing the two recovery workouts, and lower focus in T25. 

I did all of the routines back-to-back in the evening, using the Lift 4 recovery routines to cool down after T25. That worked well and the foam rolling felt very good.  I still had to modify a bit more in the T25 workout than I would have liked, but part of that is due to my flooring and limited workout space. It makes doing the jumps a bit harder. But I modified where I had to and did the regular versions when I could. 

DVD/Movie Review: 10

 

10 is a movie starring Bo Derek, Dudley Moore, Julie Andrews, Dee Wallace, and Brian Dennehy. In the movie, Moore plays a man named George Webber who is a famous music composer going through a mid-life crisis. He sees a young couple getting married and becomes obsessed with the bride (played by Derek). He discovers that the couple is going on a honeymoon in Mexico and follows them to the resort. It is partly a comedy and partly a drama about a guy discovering that he is content with the life he has. 

All the hype around this movie was about Bo Derek and rocketed her to a 1980s sex symbol. This was one of her first movies and she did look spectacular in it, but what is lost in all that hype was the fact that it was a funny movie about a guy going through a midlife crisis. What makes it funny is that Dudley Moore was not a typical leading man.  You do have to keep in mind this was made in the late 1970s and the humor in it is very different than it is in today's comedies (even the good ones). Whether or not you will find it entertaining is completely subjective. There is a little bit of nudity and some sexual content (which is tame by today's standards). If you have seen the movie on TV and enjoyed it or just grew up in the era of Bo Derek being a huge sex symbol, it is certainly worth a DVD purchase.

DVD/Movie Review: Grosse Point Blank

 

Grosse Point Blank is a 1997 movie starring John Cusack, Minnie Driver, Dan Aykroyd, Alan Arkin, and Joan Cusack. The storyline of the movie is pretty simple. A hitman named Martin Blank (played by John Cusack) is returning to his hometown of Groose Point Michigan to execute a hit and is cajoled by his secretary (played by Joan Cusack) to attend his 10-year (really should be 15-year given the ages of the actors) high school reunion. While there he attempts to reunite with the girl he ditched on prom night (played by Minnie Driver) when he ran off and joined the army. Along the way, he has to avoid rival hitmen (one of which is played hilariously by Dan Akroyd) and federal agents while trying to act "normal" in front of his old classmates.

The DVD is very bare bones, containing just the movie. There is no bonus content or special features. The movie is a very dark comedy and does have quite a bit of swearing. It is not really a raunchy comedy, but it is definitely an adult comedy and chances are not everyone will enjoy the humor. There are no really laugh-out-loud funny jokes in the movie, it relies mostly on dry humor and sarcasm. If however, you like movies with a more offbeat and even warped sense of humor (to go along with a great 80s music soundtrack), then this is worth your time to check out.

Workout Update: T25/Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Day 23

Day 23 was Full Body Circuit in T25 and Back and Biceps in Lift 4. 

Each of the workouts today were tougher and I had to modify moves a bit more in each of them than I would have liked. The Lift 4 workout was a 50/50 workout and the HIIT moves in the second half of the workout were probably the toughest group/set/combination of exercises in the program (to that point). The Full Body Circuit workout is probably my least favorite of the Alpha round workouts (along with the ab workout, mainly because that one does not have enough cardio in it). But I made it through them and have a less intense day tomorrow.

Book Review: Dune: House Harkonnen (Dune #8)

 

House Harkonnen is the 8th novel in the Dune series when read chronologically and the second in the third overall prequel trilogy (aka, the Prelude to Dune series) to the original novels written by Frank Herbert. The book was published in 2000 and was again written by the combination of Kevin J. Anderson and Frank Herbert's son, Brian. Like the first book in this trilogy was not entirely focused on the Atreides, this book is not focused solely on the Harkonnens. The story jumps between Caladan, Corrino, Arrakis, Geidi Prime, Ix, Wallach IX, and Lankiveil and tracks Leto, Vladimir and Abulurd Harkonen, Emperor Shaddam Corrino, Duncan Idaho, The Fremen (with the focus on Liet Kynes), and the Benne Gesserit. To the extent that the book is focused on the Harkonnens, it mainly deals with Baron Harkonnen's maneuverings against all of the other major players.

The hardcover version of the book is just over 600 pages, and as I said above, the book jumps from one storyline to the other. Most of the storylines are separate, but some elements intersect with each other here and there.  The events of the novel are set a few years down the line from the end of the novel House Atreides and it has a couple of short time jumps throughout. Most of the book is relatively slow-paced, but the story picks up a lot in the last handful of chapters (which was enough for me to bump it up to five stars). The big points in the book are the development of Leto and Jessica's relationship, Baron Harkonen's plots to take down House Atreides, Emperor Corrino, and the Bene Gesserit, Emperor Corrino's attempt to produce spice independent of Akkaris, the Bene Gesserit's plans to create god-like bloodlines, and Duncan Idaho's swordmaster training. Ultimately, the book is setting up the original Dune novel and laying out the backstory for the two original trilogies based on Frank Herbert's notes and unfinished works. It makes what was already a sprawling story even larger. It is not an easy book to read because of the fact that it has a lot of characters and jumps between storylines. But, if you are a fan of the sci-fi genre, this (and the other prequel novels) are worth your time to read. I am reading the novels in chronological order so I have not yet read the two original trilogies written by Frank Herbert, and I am not sure how this compares to those books, but this is written in pretty much the same style and tone as the other prequel novels, so if you like those, you will probably like this one.

Workout Update: T25/Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Day 22

Day 22 was the start of week 4 which meant Cardio in T25 Alpha and Chest and Triceps in Lift 4.

The chest and triceps workout was a circuit workout with two quad blocks followed by a burnout block alternating between wide push-ups and triceps push-ups. The T25 workout went fairly well, and I again could do a little more unmodified cardio. The Lift 4 workout was definitely the harder of the two and felt like more of a slog to get through it. 

The Greatest American Hero: The Complete Series

 

This is the complete series of the campy superhero series The Greatest American Hero, starring William Katt, Connie Sellica, and Robert Culp, that aired on ABC from 1981-1983. The series was created by Stephen J. Cannell to ride the wave of popularity (and in some ways spoof) the original Superman movie, which came out a few years before this aired. The premise of the show was that a regular guy named Ralph Hinley (his last name was originally Hinkley, but his last name was changed after the assassination attempt on Ronald Regan), played by Katt, who is a high-school teacher is given a suit that gives him superpowers (by aliens) but he loses the instructions so he has no idea how it really works. He teams up with an FBI agent (Culp) and his attorney girlfriend (Sellica) to fight crime. So, the show is really part superhero series, part buddy cop drama, and part comedy. The show is mainly a procedural following a case-of-the-week format in which the stories are resolved by the end of the episode. But, the show occasionally calls back to something from a prior episode.

Since the show aired in the very early 1980s, the special effects were pretty cheesy, and the writing in some areas is hilarious today for different reasons than they were when the show aired. For example, the kids they were trying to portray as tough or bad were not threatening in any way, shape, or form. Many of the storylines were Cold War-themed given the era. Because of that, if you did not at least grow up around that time you probably will not get all the references. 

What I liked about the show is that it never tried to take itself too seriously. And while it did go off on some strange tangents (like the electricity monster episode) it managed to stay entertaining throughout its run. I think all three of the main actors did a great job with their characters. William Katt really did feel ridiculous in the suit, and that came across in his performance. Robert Culp was great as the chauvinistic "my way or the highway" FBI agent, and Connie Sellica was more than just eye candy on the show. Many times Sellica played the "straight man" role to Culp's eccentric character even more than Katt did. As different as the characters were, it seemed all the actors had very good chemistry which came across in the performances, and you bought that the characters really cared about each other. And the relationship between the characters was really what made the series work even when it could get a bit silly.

Some reviews on Amazon mention that the music was not the same as when originally aired. I was too young when the show was actually on TV to remember any of the music other than the main theme song. However, as is the case with many older shows, the studio likely ran into copyright issues when putting together the DVD release and had to change some of the songs that were played. Chances are the lack of original songs will not be an issue for a lot of people since they did not seem to use canned instrumental replacement music (for the most part anyway), but it may be for some. Personally, I would rather have the series available on DVD without the original music than not have it at all. The only unfortunate thing about the series is that it never had a proper ending. It only had a 13-episode final season, and the way it ended seems like it was canceled abruptly halfway through season three. So the final episode of the series really feels just like any other regular episode. Even though the show is dated, it holds up pretty well (but not perfectly) and is definitely worth the time to watch.

Workout Update: T25/Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Day 21

Day 21 was lower body foam rolling from 645 and Stretch in T25. Both of them went well, and my range of motion was a little better in each than it was last week. Again, rolling my IT band really helped as my knee pain has gotten a lot better.

Workout Update: T25/Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Day 20

Day 20 was the upper body foam rolling routine and the two Lift-4 recovery routines. I did each of them back to back, and they definitely helped. Especially foam rolling my IT band in the Lift-4 foam rolling video because I was definitely having some knee pain this past week.  

DVD/TV Series Review: Fringe: The Complete Series

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilers from throughout the series (in paragraphs 4 and 5). +++

Fringe was a supernatural crime drama that ran for five seasons on FOX from 2008-2013. The series starred John Noble, Anna Torv, and Joshua Jackson. Lance Reddick and Blair Brown had leading and later recurring roles during the series. 

The premise of the show was that a special division of the FBI was set up to investigate a series of strange phenomena (which was referred to in the first couple of seasons as the pattern). Much of the phenomena was based on the work of Dr. Walter Bishop (played by John Noble who gives probably the best overall performance in the series) who had been in a mental hospital for 17 years. Walter ends up as a special consultant for the FBI along with his son Peter (played by Joshua Jackson) who initially just tags along acting as Walter's babysitter and then he ends up helping investigate the events.

The cornerstone of the series was the wonderful acting. All the actors from the series regulars to those who played recurring characters and the bit parts did very well. It was another series where there was really no huge star that was a series regular. While Leonard Nimoy did make a few cameo appearances throughout the series and his character was mentioned a lot throughout the series, he was not in many of the episodes. I also like how the writers always grounded the unreal concepts in real science. They either took a known scientific fact and then stretched it, or took a scientific hypothesis and tried to come up with an explanation for it (reasonable or otherwise). Obviously, the outcomes were totally fake and unreal, but the premise that it started with was at least rooted in something that was.

The first season mostly followed a procedural case-of-the-week formula. Even in the first season, however, you can see that the writers were placing hints from the start of the two big serial storylines of the series, namely the war against the parallel universe and the war against the observers. Even with the procedural stories, there was actually a lot of continuity between the episodes, and as a result, it is definitely one of those series where you really do have to see it from the beginning to follow what is going on (especially as you get into the later seasons).

The only problem I have with the series is that at times it tried to do too much, and often went on too many tangents. Personally, I think they should have focused on one big story (either the parallel universe war or the observer takeover) and stuck with that. The 4th season kept the parallel universe, but changed the storylines because of Peter being "erased." On one hand, it allows for a different twist on the stories, but on the other hand, it created a storyline that just ended with the 4th season finale, and the storyline of William Bell's attempt to create his own universe did not really get totally resolved. The heroes did stop him, but he was allowed to just disappear and then the show did the time jump to tell the story of the observer takeover which ultimately ended the series. I think they lost a lot of more casual viewers that season because things just got hard to follow.

Fringe is definitely not a show that will appeal to everyone. Even though it started out with fairly good ratings it always was kind of a "cult" following kind of show. If you cannot easily suspend your disbelief this series is not for you. The show gets weird at times, but that is the point, and often joked about in the show. If you do like that kind of thing you will enjoy the series. If you are into science and are entertained by sci-fi material, and like shows that have unique storylines and is definitely not a carbon copy of anything else, this is worth giving a look. 

DVD/Movie Review: Barbarella

 

Barbarella is a cult-classic science fiction movie from 1968 directed by Roger Vadim and starring Jane Fonda. If there were ever a movie that could be described as the best movie of all time while also being the worst movie of all time, this is it. The story and acting are horribly bad. It is so bad that it could easily be one of the movies that the characters on "Mystery Science Theater 3000" could watch and excoriate. Along with the horrible writing and acting the special effects are extremely cheesy but given when this was made, that is not all that surprising. On the other hand, you have Jane Fonda at her physical peak either naked or half naked throughout the entire film. 

The movie has been released several times on physical media. I have the DVD release with the uncut version of the movie. The only extra on that release is the movie trailer, but there are no commentary tracks on the movie or any other special features specific to the movie. 

The movie does actually have a plot in which Barbarella is looking for a scientist named Durand Durand who has disappeared with some kind of weapon, but the movie is basically about Barbarella boning everyone she meets and showing off Fonda in various states of undress. There are a lot of people who hate Fonda for her war protest days, but there is no denying that in her prime she was as hot as any actress and this movie very much uses that to its advantage. The movie did have some influence on pop culture as the character of Durand Durand was the inspiration for the name of the 80s pop band Duran Duran. Ultimately, the movie is very cheesy and campy. Kind of akin to the 1960s Batman TV show in that way. It is not one to get because you want to see quality acting. It is however one of those that you can be entertained by just how bad it is.