Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Sherlock Holmes

 

Sherlock Holmes is a 2009 action comedy starring Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Mark Strong, and Rachel McAdams. It came out shortly before and was arguably overshadowed by the BBC series starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, which will pretty much always result in the two being compared in quality, acting performances, etc. Unlike the TV series, the movie is set in the late 1800s with Downey in the titular role, Jude Law playing Dr. Watson, and Rachel McAdams playing Irene Adler.

The storyline centers around a serial killer named Lord Blackstone, whom Holmes takes down at the beginning of the movie. He escapes his execution and then sets in motion a plan to retake America, which was weakened by the Civil War. The character of Moriarty is also waiting in the background but not really revealed during this movie.

For those who get the Blu-Ray, the movie looks and sounds great in the high-definition format. Both the cinematography and the CGI used to bring Victorian-era London to life look wonderful in HD. The extras include about 50 minutes worth of behind-the-scenes and making-of material, as well as a Maximum Movie Mode, which plays the movie with clips of the actors and director Guy Ritchie discussing the filmmaking process. There is a very good amount of quality bonus material for those who like going through the extras.

Overall, the movie is very good. Downey Jr. and Law do an excellent job as Holmes and Watson, and they did not try to be carbon copies of prior live-action versions of the characters. Like Cumberbatch, Downey portrayed Holmes as a quirky, almost antisocial character who always observes and analyzes. Thankfully, Downey and Cumberbatch played the characters very differently, as the character in the movie is depicted as much more of an action hero who is more than willing to jump into a fight and allows Downey Jr. to display his martial arts skills. While I like the BBC series better, mainly because it is set in the present day and can focus more on the secondary characters than the movie can, it is still very enjoyable, and worth checking out.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: The Sinner Season 1

 

The Sinner is a crime drama that aired for four seasons. Each season, the storylines change and include a mostly new cast. Bill Pullman, who played a police detective named Harry Ambrose, is the only character who appears in every season. The 8-episode first season aired during the summer and fall of 2017. The first season starred Jessica Biel, Christopher Abbott, Jacob Pitts, Nadia Alexander, Enid Graham, and C.J. Wilson. Writing an in-depth review of the show without giving away too much is nearly impossible. The basic story in the first season is that a wife and mother named Cora (played by Jessica Biel) kills a seemingly random stranger while on a family outing at the beach, but she has no idea who the person is or why she did what she did. Harry Ambrose suspects there is more to the story and begins investigating Cora's past to try and figure out what drove her to kill a stranger. Needless to say, there is more to the story, which is revealed in parts throughout the eight episodes (via flashbacks), with many twists and reveals.

The Blu-Ray set is a four-disc set. The set is basically a MOD set, although there are a few minutes of deleted scenes on the second disc and no captions. The show does have a lot of swearing, drug use, and sexual content in it. While there is no overt nudity, it still pushes the bounds of what can be shown on basic cable. So, it is not very family-friendly. The story is well-written and well-acted, with Biel and Pullman doing great jobs in the leading roles. The supporting cast, especially Jacob Pitts, is excellent is well. The story is told well throughout the limited number of episodes and never feels too slow or too rushed. It is not a show that will appeal to everyone, but it is definitely worth checking out if you are looking for a good adult drama.

DVD/TV Series Review: Chicago Med: Season 3

 

++++Warning, this will contain season 2 spoilers, but no big giveaways from season 3++++

The 20-episode third season of Chicago Med aired during the 2017/2018 TV season. The season starts off a bit weak (in my opinion), mainly in the resolution of Dr. Charles' shooting. It picked up months down the line with his shooter on trial. That storyline is wrapped up fairly quickly, but the aftermath of it really reverberates throughout the season, affecting Sarah and her relationship with Dr. Charles. Toward the end of the season, Sarah's estranged father is introduced, and he ends up being involved in one of the multiple cliffhangers that ended the season. All of the main characters/actors return for the season. Norma Kuhling is upgraded to a series regular this season, and there are several recognizable recurring and guest stars this season, including Malcolm McDowell, Corbin Bleu, Mekia Cox, and Gregory Alan Williams. There is no "one-Chicago" this season with the other shows, Fire and PD, but several of the cast members from the other shows do appear on Med throughout the season.

The DVD set is a five-disc set. There is no behind-the-scenes material, deleted scenes, gag reels, etc. The only difference between this and a MOD set is that you get closed captions. So, if you only get discs when there are a lot of extras available, you may just want to stick with streaming this one. Ultimately, the show continues to be strong. It does have a soap opera element to it with the various relationships, but the show did a good job again to not make the relationships the focus of the show. Some of the storylines from last season were completely tied up, and others led to ongoing story arcs this season. I will not spoil any for those who have not seen it, but I think much like ER was able to do (for a lot of its run anyway), Med keeps the focus on the hospital and treating patients and then weaves in things about the character's personal lives and relationships. I still would not say Med is as good as the early seasons of ER, but it is the closest to the overall feel of that show I have seen since ER went off the air.

CD/Music Review: The Monkees Live - The Mike & Micky Show

 

The Mike and Mickey Show is a live album from 2020 featuring the two (at the time) living members of The Monkees, Mickey Dolenz and Mike Nesmith. The album was recorded during the first tour for the remaining members after Peter Tork died in 2019 and would be one of the final performances for Nesmith, whose health was failing before he passed away in late 2021. This album has 25 tracks and includes most of the hits, aside from the Theme From the Monkees and some of the less well-known songs from the 1960s. There are also a couple of songs from their last studio album, Good Times.

I was not around for the Monkee's debut on TV and subsequent stardom, but I was a perfect age in 1986 when the 20th anniversary of the TV show came around to become a fan. At that time, the TV show was being rerun on Nickelodeon, MTV, and local syndication. There was a reunion tour by Peter, Davy, and Micky, with Mike joining here and there but not fully participating, as well as a greatest hits album with a few new songs and an album of new material by Davy, Micky, and Peter. Like most, I was definitely hooked by the TV show, and as I got older and learned about the story of the group I became a bigger fan, and always picked up the CDs as they have been released over the years.

As most know, the group started as a fake band for a TV show to capitalize on the popularity of The Beatles, with two actors who had some musical talent (Davy and Micky) and two musicians with some acting ability (Mike and Peter) answering a casting call. They ultimately became a real band, who at the height of their popularity in 1967, sold more albums than any artist or group, including The Beatles. Over the years they have put out reunion albums like "Justus" and "Good Times" as well as doing limited tour dates. It was always mainly Micky, Davy, and Peter touring, but Mike had taken a more active role over time. With Davy and Peter having passed away and Micky and Mike not exactly being Springchickens anymore, this may be the last album that gets put out under The Monkees banner.

This album is very good. Even though Mike and Micky sound older than they did 50 or even 30 years ago, they still sound good and can pull off the vocals well. The album will give anyone who is a fan of the group a bit of nostalgia, and while it is not quite a "Monkees" album without Peter and Davy, it is definitely worth the pickup.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Animal Kingdom Season 2

 

The 13-episode second season of Animal Kingdom aired during the summer of 2017. The season has a couple of big themes. First, there is a Baz versus Smurf for control of the family storyline, with Smurf grooming J. as a replacement for Baz. The second involves Pope working through his guilt for killing Cath by taking care of Lena. Nikki is more of a fixture this season, basically shaking up with Craig while still maintaining feelings for J, which complicates things toward the end of the season. Smurf continues to be awful to pretty much everyone in the guise of motherly love (again, sometimes creepily so), and of course, there are the well-orchestrated robberies. The big score this season is robbing a mega-church after a charity donation day. I will not go into too much detail to avoid spoiling the season for those who have not seen it, but overall, there is a lot of good character development that happens throughout the season. Smurf's past continues to present a problem, and there is a major cliffhanger that ends the season. The show does a very good job of balancing the fact that almost every character in the show is a horrible human being while trying to show a human side to at least some of them and even manages to make some of the characters sympathetic.

The Blu-Ray set is a four-disc set, with the episodes evenly spread across the four discs. It is basically a MOD plus set, with a handful of extras (mostly deleted scenes, then a featurette on the character of Pope on the last disc). There are English captions, and the discs allow you to pick up where you left off, even when your player powers down. So you can stop in the middle of an episode and pick back up automatically without searching for where you stopped, which is always nice when bingeing a TV series.

Overall, the show is well-written and acted. It definitely pushes the bounds of what can be shown on basic cable with swearing, nudity, and drug use. It is definitely not a family-friendly show. But, if you enjoyed the first season, you will likely enjoy this one, with the caveat that the character of Baz is written to be a lot more unlikable this season. It is definitely a unique drama that is less cookie-cutter than some of the shows that are out there. It is definitely worth checking out.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: The Shining

 

The Shining is a 1980 thriller/horror film starring Jack Nicholson, Shelly Duval, and Danny Lloyd. Scatman Crothers, Joe Turkel, and Phillip Stone play the major supporting characters. It is, of course, the iconic Stanley Kubrick movie, which heavily adapted Stephen King's novel (which apparently King either disliked immensely or outright hated) of the same name. It stars Jack Nicholson as Jack Torrance, a writer who agrees to become the winter caretaker of The Overlook Hotel on the side of a mountain in Colorado. He moves there with his wife Wendy, played by Shelly Duvall, and son Danny, played by Danny Lloyd. Both Jack and his son have "The Shining" which allows them to see ghosts and other, disturbing, imagery. Over time, Jack is driven crazy by evil living in the hotel.

The movie definitely does not follow the novel to a tee, which may upset fans of the novel as it did King. I do tend to agree with King that his interpretation of Jack as a good guy who slowly devolves over the course of time is not really borne out in the movie. Nicholson never really gives off a vibe that he is a "good" person, and about 45 minutes into a two and a half hour movie, he is already going nuts. Duvall's character was not exactly written as a strong character as she was in the book, and Kubrick totally changed the ending. That said, I do think Kubrick did a perfect job with his interpretation of the story and got great performances from all the characters, including Danny Lloyd, who did a great job for being so young. Nicholson nailed the "nuts" Jack Torrance and you totally could buy that he was off the rails, even if he did not have the kind of progression the character in the book did.

The 4k set is a two-disc set containing a UHD disc and a regular Blu-Ray disc. The A/V quality in UHD is outstanding, especially the visuals at the beginning of the movie on the drive to the hotel and the exterior shots of the hotel. Most of the extras are on the regular Blu-Ray disc. The audio commentary track on the movie by one of the camera operators and Kubrick's biographer is included on both the UHD disc and the regular Blu-Ray disc. The remaining extras include a making-of documentary, which was filmed on the set by Kubrick's daughter, and a featurette on the composer who discusses the music used to score the film. There is a lot of good bonus content, but it does not include the theatrical trailer, which was included in the original DVD release.

Overall, I cannot say that the movie is for everyone. It is very violent, has a lot of swearing and some nudity in it. So, if that turns you off to a movie, then don't even think about this. Also, those who are huge fans of the book may not like Kubrick's adaptation. But, if you can look beyond those things, and are a fan of horror movies, especially those that do not involve an unstoppable killer, this is definitely worth checking out.

Product Review: RIOLAND Stair Treads Carpet Non-Slip Indoor Stair Runners

 

I had the stairs from my front entry to the main floor of my townhouse covered with vinyl plank flooring. When that happened, the dog thought that the stuff was hot lava and would almost jump down the stairs, hurting himself a couple of times. So, I got these to provide some better tread on the stairs. He can now go down the stairs to the front door much easier. 

They are very easy to install, but the sticky backing (which I describe more as tacky than sticky) does not secure them to vinyl plank flooring. After reading some reviews, I decided to cover my bases and get a roll of carpet tape when I purchased these in case I needed it. I used that to secure these at the ends and in the middle (because, as another reviewer noted, the middle pops up because they are folded in the box), which keeps them very secure on the stairs. They are not extremely thick, but they do the job well, making the stairs safer, especially if you walk up them with wet shoes. 

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Knives Out

 

Knives Out is a murder mystery from 2019. It was written and directed by Rian Johnson (his first movie post-Star Wars) and stars Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Katherine Langford, Jaeden Martelland, Toni Collette. It is what you would get if you cross an Agatha Christie novel with the game Clue and a little bit of Sherlock Holmes mixed in. The main plot is that the patriarch of a wealthy New England family, named Harlan Thormby (played by Christopher Plummer), who is a famous mystery writer, dies on the night of his birthday party, in what, all appearances, looks to be an open and shut suicide. The local police, as well as a renowned private investigator named Benoit Blanc (played by Daniel Craig), who is hired under mysterious circumstances, are investigating the death, looking into everyone who was in contact with Harlan, including his eccentric (to put it mildly) family. All the characters seem to have a reason/motive for killing Harlan. 

The 4k set is a two-disc set containing a UHD disc and a regular Blu-Ray disc. The A/V quality of the UHD disc is wonderful. The cinematographic shots of New England look great in UHD. The UHD disc also includes bonus features, including an eight-part making-of-documentary, a question-and-answer session with cast members and Rian Johnson, fake promotional ads, and trailers. The film is a unique "whodunit" in that the audience knows most of what happened throughout most of the movie, but there are twists that make it clear not all is what it seems, all building up to a classic third-act reveal. While the entire cast does a great job, Craig and De Armas really shine in their roles and definitely deserved their Golden Globe nominations for Best Actor and Best Actress. Overall, it is a wonderful, well-written, and well-acted movie. It is really not something that you can easily just have on in the background, give your partial attention to, and still follow what is going on. But if you are looking for a way to kill a couple of hours with a great, fairly unique story, this is definitely worth checking out.

DVD/Movie Review: Paradise

 

Paradise is a 1982 movie starring Phoebe Cates and Willie Ames. The film itself is bad. It is basically a rip-off of Blue Lagoon, which was probably much more popular than it (Blue Lagoon) should have been. This is actually Phoebe Cates' film debut. She is probably best known for her roles in the Gremlins movies and the 1980s coming-of-age movies, including the iconic scene in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Willie Ames was a child actor and later co-starred in Charles in Charge. They end up running through the desert (seemingly finding every oasis along the way), to get away from an Arab prince (of course named "The Jackyl") who wants Sarah (Cate's character) as a bride. So, yeah it is a bit racist.

The plot of the movie is basically an excuse to have Cates nude about every 15-20 minutes throughout. It was actually filmed before she did Fast Times, and honestly, I am not sure how the nudity got cleared given that Cates was 17 for at least part of the time the movie was being filmed. The movie pretty much bombed, and Cates never had anything to do with it after it was released. Needless to say, it was never something that would have been able to be shown on TV because it would be less than an hour long with the nudity edited out. The movie itself is horribly written, and, as a result, the acting is not all that great either. Cates and Ames have little to no chemistry with each other, so when it gets to the point where they supposedly fall in love, they have less passion than the two Chimps (yes, there are Chimps, too) that tag along with them throughout the movie. If you grew up in the 1980s and had a huge crush on Phoebe Cates because of Fast Times, Private School, and Gremlins, she is the only reason to see this movie. Otherwise, you are not missing anything if you skip it.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Doom Patrol Season 1

 

Doom Patrol is a comic book adaptation that aired for a total of four seasons from 2019 to 2023. The 15-episode first season aired in the Spring of 2019. It starred Diane Guerrero, April Bowlby, Alan Tudyk, Matt Bomer, Brendan Fraser, Timothy Dalton, Phil Morris, and Jovian Wade. It is what you get if you crank the weirdness of Legends of Tomorrow up about 10 notches, add in a bit of shows like Dark Angel and Supernatural, and add a lot of swearing. The Doom Patrol is basically a collection of tortured losers who have all experienced some kind of tragedy in their lives only to be "saved" by a Professor-X-like patriarchal figure they call Cheif (played by Timothy Dalton). Some of the characters from the group were introduced in live-action on the first season of Titans, which in turn was tangentially brought into the Arrowverse through cameos on Crisis on Infinite Earths. They include Elasti-Girl/Rita Farr (played by April Bowlby) who is an actress from the 1950s who was exposed to something during an on-set accident that causes her to turn into a blob-like creature when she gets too emotional, Crazy Jane (played wonderfully by Diane Guerrero from Orange Is the New Black), a character with 64 different personalities whom all have their own powers, Robotman (voiced by Brendan Fraizer from the Mummy trilogy of movies) who is a racecar driver who is injured in a non-racing accident whose brain gets implanted into a robot, and Negative Man (voiced by Matt Bomer from Chuck and White Collar), a test pilot during the 1960s who is exposed to radiation in low-earth orbit and horribly burned when he crashes back to earth, yet lives, and Cyborg, played by Jovian Wade, who in this version is trying to get into the Justice League. The cast is rounded out by Alan Tudyk, who plays Mr. Nobody, the villain of season 1, and also hilariously narrates some episodes, constantly breaking the fourth wall, and Phil Morris (who played Martian Manhunter on Smallville) as Silas Stone. There are also many strong supporting actors, some recognizable, some not.

The first season is all about character development and telling the backstories of the various characters, all while playing out the arc that Mr. Nobody has captured the Chief, and the team is trying to get him back. The show jumps time periods often, with Bomer and Fraiser appearing out of costume in the flashback sequences. It also jumps dimensions and even has characters jump inside other minds and bodies (human and otherwise). It is definitely a very adult show, with a lot of swearing (f-bombs are constantly dropped) and some nudity basically involving Fraiser's human character and his kid's nanny. There is a butt shot from Fraiser, who has not aged very well, and bare breasts by the actress playing the nanny.

The Blu-Ray set is a three-disc set with the 15 episodes equally spread over three discs. The extras include deleted scenes for most episodes, a gag reel, and a short feature on filming the series in Georgia. Kind of hilariously, the swearing is bleeped out in the bonus material, which, given that anyone watching them probably just watched the episodes, has heard anything as bad as what would get bleeped out in the bonus stuff. Overall, the show is well-written and very well-acted. Within all the craziness, it does touch on themes like child abuse, being gay, and closeted, among other real-world themes. It is definitely not a show that is going to be everyone's proverbial "cup of tea", but if you are a fan of comic book shows and movies, it is definitely worth checking out, with the caveats that it is in no way family-friendly and can go out of its way to be offensive.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Alita: Battle Angel

 

Alita is a 2019 Sci-Fi/Action film starring Rosa Salazar, Keean Johnson, Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connely, Mahershala Ali, Ed Skrein, and Jackie Earle Haley. The story is set in the 2500s in a dystopian future that develops after what is called "The Fall" which is (as you learn if you watch the bonus material) a war between Earth and Mars (after humans colonize Mars). Almost all the humans left on Earth live either in Iron City or a city that floats above it called Zalem. It is partly an origin story for Alita, who wakes up with no memory of who she is, and partly the story of a class system post-apocalypse, with some cyborg bounty hunters thrown in.

The movie is based on a series of Japanese graphic novels that began in the mid-1990s. It mixes action with some drama and even a few comedic moments. James Cameron wrote a very long script from the graphic novels, then passed it off to Robert Rodriguez to make it a movie-length script and direct the movie when Cameron decided to focus on Avatar and the sequels. I have never seen the graphic novels or the anime series, so I don't know how well this stacks up versus those. However, Cameron (at least from what is revealed in the bonus material) kept pretty close to the source material.

The 4k set is a three-disc set that includes a UHD disc, a 3D Blu-Ray disc, and a regular Blu-Ray disc. The UHD disc and the 3D Blu-Ray just contain the movie, and the regular Blu-Ray has the movie and the bonus material. The film looks great in 4K, and you get a ton of bonus features (somewhere around two hours worth) made up of making-of and behind-the-scenes material, as well as animated featurettes that give a bit of backstory that was not put in the movie to keep it at a reasonable (2hr) running time. The movie is CGI-heavy, using much of the same motion-capture effects used on Avatar, so everything looks pretty seamless.

I cannot say the movie will appeal to everyone. But, if you like post-apocalyptic action movies, this one has good acting and writing and tells a more nuanced story. The creators definitely left the door open for a sequel (and there is more than enough source material), but given that it was not exactly a box-office smash, there is no guarantee that others will be made. They did an excellent job with the film if it does end up just being a stand-alone movie. Given, however, that James Cameron can get any film he wants to be made, there is a good possibility that at least one more movie will result from this one. This is not a film you can have on in the background while doing other things and follow easily. You must pay attention to the movie to understand what is going on. But if you have a couple of hours to kill and are looking for a good action movie, it is definitely worth checking out.

Book Review: Reluctant Hero

 

Reluctant Hero is a book from 2011 written by Mike Benfonte about his experience during and after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Benfonte worked for a telecommunications company on the 81st floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center (just 12 floors below the lowest point impacted by Flight 11 when it hit the building). Benfonte managed to get all his employees to the stairwell (which was luckily not blocked or inaccessible) and heading down. On the 68th floor, he and another employee discovered a woman in a motorized wheelchair who needed help. They put her in an evacuation chair and carried her down the rest of the way. Once outside, they got her to an ambulance but did not get in and ride with her when offered the chance. They were in awe, trying to take everything in and find out what happened (the South Tower had already collapsed), and people were still jumping from the North Tower). As they were walking north, the tower collapsed, resulting in a chilling piece of video footage of Benfonte running past a cameraman as the cloud of debris roared behind him. Benfonte survived, but his life took many unexpected turns post-9/11, which he details in the book.

The hardcover version of the book is just over 230 pages long. In it, he details where his life was at before and leading up to 9/11, the events of the day, and what he dealt with in the aftermath, including struggling with survivor guilt, post-traumatic stress, and the neverending requests for interviews and media appearances.  The book can be harrowing and hard to read, yet at the same time inspirational and uplifting. Benfonte is very open about his struggles with anger and sadness in the years after 9/11, how that affected his life, and what he did to overcome them. It is absolutely worth reading.

Book Review: Star Wars The Skywalker Saga

 

The Skywalker Saga is an illustrated storybook published in 2019 before the theatrical release of The Rise of Skywalker. You need to be aware that this is not a novel. It is more of a coffee table book that summarizes the "Skywalker saga." There are pictures and illustrations of scenes from every "main storyline" movie (the prequels, original trilogy, The Force Awakens, and The Last Jedi), along with a narrative summary of the key moments from each film written by Delilah S. Dawson. 

The hardcover version of the book is about 400 pages long. It is not a retelling of the Skywalker storyline from any character's point of view or anything like that. It does not have anything from the ancillary movies like Solo or Rogue One, nor does it give hints or details about The Rise of Skywalker. Because it is an illustrated book, it is very easy to read. It can easily be finished in a day or two. It is not one of the must-read books, but it is worth checking out as long as you do not expect it to be a novel that fleshes out the storylines or provides details that are not known from the movies. 

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Chernobyl

 

Chernobyl is a five-part mini-series that aired on HBO in 2019. It is a docudrama telling the story of the Chornobyl nuclear disaster in the Soviet Union (now Ukraine) in 1986. It is told mainly through the stories of two real-life people, Valery Legasov, a chemist tasked to lead a commission investigating the disaster (played by Jared Harris), Boris Shcherbina, a Soviet deputy minister (played by Stellan Skarsgård), and the fictional character Ulana Khomyuk (played by Emily Watson) who was a composite of all the scientists who worked with Legasov Shcherbina.

Each episode told a portion of the overall story, from the response to the disaster in episode one, focusing mainly on the firefighters and the scientists and engineers working at the plant who were the first to respond to the disaster and tried to contain it. Episodes 2-4 were all about trying to contain and mitigate the results of the disaster. The series does a great job of showing not only how bad it was but how bad it could have been had steps not been taken to prevent a second explosion, which would have killed millions and contaminated most of Europe with radiation fallout. The final episode focused on the trial of those who ran the plant and laid out in great layman's terms exactly why the reactor core exploded.

The acting and writing of the series were top-notch. It accurately told the story yet kept the details understandable. I actually researched the disaster for a class in my engineering program, and I was impressed that while some aspects were embellished and dramatized for TV, they got all the important stuff correct, including how the plant was not maintained correctly and how the cheap materials played a pivotal role in what happened.

The Blu-Ray set is a two-disc set. The A/V quality is excellent, as the show looks and sounds great in the format. The extras include short inside-the-episode segments for each episode, then a handful of behind-the-scenes and making-of clips that run anywhere from a minute and a half to about 10 minutes. It's not a ton, but it's good for what is there. It is a pricey set for a two-disc, five-episode series, but it is worth it for those who want to support the physical media and keep it around as long as possible.

Book Review: Fire & Blood: The Targaryen Dynasty: The House of the Dragon

 

Fire and Blood is a prequel to the Game of Thrones/Song of Ice and Fire series. It was written by George R.R. Martin and published in 2018. It serves not only as the backstory to the "main" Game of Thrones novels but also as the source material for the series House of the Dragon. Specifically, the book details (sometimes in painstaking detail) the rule of the Targaryen line over the seven kingdoms. It begins with the rule of Ageon I and ends at the beginning of the rule of Ageon III, or about 100 years before the rule of Aerys II, "The Mad King" (and Dani's father). Of course, Aerys II's rule was ended by Robert Baratheon, who was king at the beginning of the Song of Ice and Fire novels and the Game of Thrones TV Series.

The hardcover version of the book is just over 700 pages. It is not the easiest or quickest read. Not only is it long, but it goes into great detail about the reigns of the various Targaryen kings, queens, princesses, etc., as told from the notes of the maesters of the time. There are many characters in the book, and Martin reuses the first names of the various members of the Targaryen family, so it is sometimes hard to tell exactly who he is talking about. Plus, the fact that the story is not told linearly can make it hard to follow when Martin keeps jumping around and referring to past events and characters. While I am not one who is pissed that Martin worked on this (and other) novels before finishing the next book in the "main" series, I think it would have been better to focus on one or two characters and break this into two or three books. That said, it provides a very informative history and provides details that will probably be omitted from the TV series. So, it is worth the time to read.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: The Post

 

The Post is a 2017 drama directed by Stephen Spielberg. It features an ensemble cast, including Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, Bob Odenkirk, Sarah Paulson, Alison Brie, Carrie Coon., Jesse Plemmons, and Matthey Rhys.  At its core, The Post is a movie about the publication of The Pentagon Papers, which was a multi-volume retrospective on the Vietnam War that was put together during the Johnson and Nixon administrations. The papers were leaked by Daniel Ellsberg (played by Matthew Rhys, best known for his role in The Americans), who helped work on the documents and ultimately leaked them to the press after trying to get Congress to act on the information within them. The papers outlined the fact that all the past administrations, Democrat and Republican alike (From Eisenhower to Nixon), knew that the Vietnam War was not something the United States could ever win, and the government only stayed in it not to help South Vietnam or halt the spread of Communism, but to keep America from looking weak in losing a war. The release of the papers ultimately led to the public at large turning against the war, which eventually led to the war's end. It also told a larger story of how the Washington Post rose to prominence from a small, privately-owned local newspaper to a national newspaper that would ultimately do a lot to bring down what is now the second most corrupt Presidential administration in history.

The movie is directed by Steven Spielberg and is centered around the characters of Ben Bradlee (played by Tom Hanks), who was the paper's managing editor, and Kay Graham (played by Meryl Streep), who was the paper's publisher. Overall, it focuses on the events of how the Washington Post came into possession of the papers and the decision about whether to publish them after the Nixon administration sued the New York Times (which was the first paper to get ahold of some of the material in the papers) to stop publication of the documents. It was a tricky situation for the Washington Post, which was transitioning from being privately owned to being taken public, and the publication of the papers could spook potential investors and tank the public offering.

The story is an excellent historical drama, with some fictionalized elements blended in. It benefited from having many of the people involved in the events (including Ellsburg) who were still alive or the children and grandchildren of the actual people acting as consultants. So, it was able to stay historically accurate. It also blended in the audio from the Nixon tapes, which were released as a part of the Watergate investigation years later, of Nixon discussing the release of the papers with his cronies and displaying his hatred of the press. Specifically, the Washington Post. It is not an action movie, so if you are like some of the one-star reviewers complaining that it is boring, know what you are getting.

The 4k set is a two-disc set with a UHD disc and a regular Blu-Ray disc. The UHD disc has just the movie itself. On the regular Blu-ray disc, there are well over an hour's worth of making-of and behind-the-scenes featurettes that range from 25 minutes in length to less than ten minutes. The A/V quality of the UHD disc is outstanding. Given that it is not a CGI-heavy action or sci-fi movie, you may not find it necessary to get it on 4k, but if you do, the film looks excellent, especially the location shots.

Overall, the movie was very well-written and acted. Despite idiots reviewing the film on Amazon saying it is just liberal propaganda, it is actually (aside from a couple of lines from the characters discussing political corruption, which were clear shots at the current political climate) a primarily accurate retelling of the historical events. While not everything in the movie was 100% historically accurate, which, given that it is not a documentary, is to be expected, much of what is in the film, including the text of the Supreme Court's decision about the role of the press in our democracy, is accurate. Of course, those events occurred before the modern-day hyper-partisanship in which fealty to a dear leader, regardless of who that leader is, trumps all, including corruption. And they happened at a time when freedom of the press and holding the government accountable was important not only to more than just some members of the government but all members of the media, the courts, and the populace as a whole. It was not a time when salivating, bootlicking toadies stood by the leaders of their party, no matter what. My guess is that many people complaining about the movie being "overly political", even though it made both Democrat and Republican administrations look bad (but yes, moreso Nixon's administration), are doing so because it puts a spotlight on what was happening in the orange genital wart's administration. But, given that the movie's events are absolutely true, it falls more into the category of "those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it" than it does a "political hit job" and is worth watching and learning something from.

Book Review: Paul of Dune (Dune #15)

 

Paul of Dune, published in 2008, is a novel by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. It is the 15th book in the Dune saga if you read the novels chronologically. It is set mainly during the time jump between the first two books of Frank Herbert's original Dune trilogy, Dune, and Dune Messiah. In it, we see how Paul's forces take control of the planets in the Imperium and how Paul ultimately becomes the Emperor. We also learn more about his relationship with Irulan and how she becomes Paul's biographer. The book also details the attempts made to stop his rise to power. 

The hardcover version of the book is just over 500 pages long. Part of the book is told in the present (meaning after the events of the original Dune novel), and part is told in the past, detailing events that occurred when Paul was young. The story flows pretty smoothly since the time period switching occurs in sections, so there will be a section with 5-10 chapters set in the past, and the next section will have 5-10 chapters set in the present. The only thing that makes the storyline set in the present a bit hard to follow is that you have to remember where that story left off after you get through one of the flashback sections. The book is well-written and has a good blend of action, intrigue, and drama. We see that Paul is conflicted about what is being done in his name, and a huge theme of the book is the danger of cult-like devotion to a leader, which is absolutely applicable to the times we currently live in (as of 2024 when this was written). It is an excellent addition to the saga and is worth reading. 

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Heartbreakers

 

Heartbreakers is a 2001 romantic comedy starring Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sigourney Weaver, Gene Hackman, Ray Liotta, Jason Lee, and Anne Bancroft. Sarah Silverman and Zach Galifianakis also appear in supporting roles. It is about a mother-daughter pair of con women (played by Sigourney Weaver and Jennifer Love Hewitt) who con wealthy men in a marriage/cheating scam that leaves them with half his money. Ray Liotta plays the mark at the beginning of the movie, a wannabe mobster who runs a chop shop in New Jersey, and Gene Hackman plays the mark for the majority of the movie, the owner of a tobacco company in FL, who is the mark for "one last score" for Weaver and Love Hewitt's characters. The rest of the cast is rounded out by Jason Lee, who plays a love interest for JLH's character, along with minor roles for Carrie Fisher, Anne Bancroft, Sarah Silverman, and Zach Galifianakis.

The movie is meant to be a silly comedy with a bit of romantic comedy mixed. The story is very absurd, especially because Jason Lee's character would want to live happily ever after with Jennifer Love Hewitt's character just because she is hot, given how awful she is for most of the movie. But, it is not exactly meant to be anything but an unbelievable story. All the main actors involved were very good sports, as their characters were very over the top in a bad way. Gene Hackman as the chain-smoking, smoke-spewing, lung-hacking-up cigarette company executive was awesome, and they never missed an opportunity to put Jennifer Love Hewitt into a skin-tight, cleavage-baring outfit.

For those who get the Blu-Ray, it is a decent, but not great, video transfer. You will not get a big difference in quality from a DVD version, but you do the Blu-Ray anti-scratch coating, which is the only reason to upgrade. There are no subtitles, and the audio seems to dip in volume level, so I had to keep turning the volume on my TV up and down to hear some of the dialogue and then keep it from blasting during other scenes. There is about an hour's worth of extras, including a making-of documentary, a gag reel that also incorporates some making-of interviews, deleted scenes, and the trailer.

Overall, the movie is fun if you do not expect an award-winning movie. It is a silly comedy that does not try to be anything more than that. The Blu-Ray quality could be better, but it is not all that surprising that the movie, which came out well before the Blu-Rays were created, and was not popular enough to get a high-quality transfer. If you are looking for a comedy to kill a couple of hours watching, this is a good option.

DVD/TV Movie Review: Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding

 

Hawaiian Wedding is the 2003 TV movie that (finally) put a nail in the coffin of the Baywatch franchise.  It mostly brought back cast members from the parent series, including David Hasselhoff, Pamela Anderson, Yasmine Bleeth, Angelica Bridges, Nicole Eggert, Carmen Electra, Jeremy Jackson, John Allen Nelson, Gena Lee Nolan, and Billy Warlock however, Jason Mamoa, Brandie Roderick, and Stacy Kamano from Baywatch Hawaii did appear, as did Michael Bergin, who starred in the final couple of seasons of the parent series and the two seasons of Baywatch Hawaii. They also found a clever way to bring back Alexandra Paul, whose character was killed off toward the end of the run of the original series. Notable absences included Donna D'Errico, Erika Elaniak, Angie Harmon, Greg Allen Williams, Brooke Burns, David Charvet, David Chokachi, Parker Stevens, Jason Brooks, and Kelly Slater. 

The movie is just over an hour and a half long. It did not get a major restoration like the Blu-Ray releases of the original series and Baywatch Hawaii, so the A/V quality is nowhere near as good as those. The DVD does not have any extras specific to the show or movie but does have promo reels for two series, The Sheild and the Baywatch spoof, Son of the Beach. Like most of the episodes of the various shows (Baywatch, Baywatch Nights, and Baywatch Hawaii), the storyline is terrible, and the acting is not much better. Still, it does provide a proper series finale for the original series and Baywatch Hawaii (it ignores that Baywatch Nights ever existed), which neither series received. It has horrible plot holes, including handwaving away how Mitch survived the blast that ended season 1 of Baywatch Hawaii and a lame explanation for why Court can still see. It brings back a bad guy from season two, Mason Soto (played by Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa), who is bent on revenge against Mitch and everyone Mitch cares about because Mitch helped put him in jail. There is also a stupid plotline involving the characters of Jason, Kekoa, Leigh, and J.D. that makes no sense and essentially invents something that never happened in the show to develop a love rectangle. But, then again, Baywatch was never big on sticking with storylines or providing continuity. There are a couple of musical interludes/montages that show clips of the various characters from their time on the show (and one showing Anderson rolling around in a bikini), and there are some callbacks to things that occurred over the run of the franchise. I would not call it a must-watch, but it provides some nostalgia for people stuck with the show from the beginning.

Book Review: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: Expanded Edition

 

+++ Warning: This will contain spoilers from the movie and some of the clarifying points from the book. If you have not yet seen the film, then read it at your own risk +++

This is a relatively straightforward novelization of the final film in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, The Rise of Skywalker. It was written by Rae Carson and published in 2020. Like most of the novelizations that have been put out since the prequel trilogy novels to date, there are additional elements that flesh out the plot points and make the overall story better. The big one is an explanation of how exactly Palpatine returned (he did not survive being thrown down the reactor shaft in Return of the Jedi) and the message he sent out announcing his return to the galaxy. It also gives additional insight into what Finn tried to tell Rey throughout the movie but never did. It also gives more context to "The Kiss" and makes it seem much less forced and creepy than it came off in the movie.

The hardcover version of the book is around 370 pages. How much you enjoy the book will be closely tied to how you feel about the movie. I liked but did not love the film, mostly because I think they had to spend too much time retconning elements from The Last Jedi and resurrecting plot points that were set up in TFA and tossed aside in TLJ. That made it even more evident that there should have been one writer for the entire trilogy. If you hated the movie, then there is nothing in the book that is likely to change your mind. If, however, you liked the film, then the novelization will make you like the story even more.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Pride and Prejudice

 

Pride & Prejudice is an adaptation of the novel by Jane Austen (who also wrote Little Women), made in 2005. It stars Keira Knightley, Matthew Macfadyen, Carey Mulligan, Rosamund Pike, Jena Malone, Rupert Friend, Tom Hollander, Judi Dench, Brenda Blethyn, and Donald Sutherland. Knightley stars as Elizabeth Bennet, the second to eldest daughter in a lower-class English household consisting of all daughters trying to be married off by their mother (Blethyn). Elizabeth has a love-hate relationship with Mr. Darcy (Macfadyen), a wealthy bachelor whose Aunt (Dench) disapproves of Elizabeth and her family.

The Blu-Ray's A/V quality is excellent, and the movie looks and sounds great in HD. The disc includes several behind-the-scenes and making-of features and a commentary track. I will not go into much detail about the plot, as it is a well-known book, and the movie has been out for almost 20 years (as of this writing).  Ultimately, it is a well-written adaptation of the book and very well-acted. It does a good job showing (without going into too much detail) the class system that existed in England at the time and how marriages were arranged within that system, which definitely had (at times) little to do with love, attraction, or the like. It is definitely worth the time to watch, and it is worth picking up the physical disc if you like going through bonus material.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Baywatch Hawaii: Season 2

 

The 22-episode second season of Baywatch Hawaii aired during the 2000-2001 TV season. As was the case for the entire run of the Baywatch franchise, there was a lot of turnover in the cast, the biggest being David Hasselhoff leaving the show (he was still listed as an executive producer). The other cast members who left after season one were Simmone Jade Mckinnon, Dawn Masterson, Michael Newman, and Brooke Burns. Burns would, however, make a couple of appearances in season two as a guest star. This season, the additions to the cast were Brandie Roderick (who was at the height of her Playboy modeling fame), Charlie Brumbly, and Alicia Rickter. Krista Allen was promoted to series regular, and Jason Mamoa, Stacy Kamano, Michael Bergin, and Jason Brooks all returned as series regulars. The series did get a couple of recognizable guest stars this season. Daisy Fuentes, still popular from her MTV days, guest starred in one episode, and Pat Morita (from the Karate Kid movies) played a major recurring role. 

The Blu-Ray set is a four-disc German import set. So, if you get this, you will need a Blu-Ray player capable of playing European (Region 2) discs. The menus and episode titles are in German, and the audio track defaults to German, but you can switch to the English language track in the disc menu. There are no captions, but there are some extras on the discs. Those include standard definition versions of each episode, and on the final disc, promotional trailers for many episodes, a promotion reel for the series, and a photo gallery. You can play the remastered episodes in a play-all mode or one at a time. If you stop in the play-all mode and turn off your player, it will not resume where you left off. While the show's first season could conceivably be considered the 10th season of Baywatch, this season was its own thing and was mostly bad. The writers totally ignored the cliffhanger that ended season 10, the storylines were all over the place, the character of Zack was irritating, and some episodes were aired in an order that made no sense. For example, an engagement party occurred two episodes before the proposal. On top of all that, it was given a finale that felt like part 1 of a two-part series finale, but instead of another episode, it just stopped without wrapping up any character arcs. The writers would have been better off resolving the cliffhanger in the Hawaiian Wedding TV movie and skipping this mess of a season. If you want to see how it played out just to finish the show, it is a trainwreck, but you are not missing anything notable if you just skip it. 

Book Review: Star Wars: Secrets of the Jedi

 

Secrets of the Jedi, published in 2019, is another Star Wars coffee table book. Much like the Han Solo coffee table book released earlier (without behind-the-scenes shots from the movies), it is devoted to the Jedi. It is essentially a journal written by Luke Skywalker laying out the history of the Jedi and the Sith and giving character profiles of the "main" individuals of each group. 

The hardcover version of the book is very short, at just over 30 pages. It includes lots of pictures, so it is a very quick read. It can easily be read in less than an hour, even if you are a fairly slow reader. It ends during the events of The Last Jedi, likely just before Luke "force teleports" to Crait during the battle. The most important thing the book does is detail his change of heart about the need for the Jedi order to die. I would not say this is one of the must-read books in the canon, but it is worth the time to check out.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Halloween (2018)

 

This version of Halloween, released in 2018, starred Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Andi Matichak, James Jude Courtney, and Nick Castle. It was written by David Gordon Green, Jeff Fradley, and Danny McBride, mostly known for the comedy genre, directed by David Gordon Green. It also brought John Carpenter back into the fold as executive producer and co-composer. This sequel is a complete reboot of the series, acknowledging that only the original movie existed, and is almost a "what if" scenario, presenting the scenario of what if Michael had been caught at the end of the first movie and held in Smith's Grove for 40 years. Curtis reprises her role as Laurie Strode and is also an executive producer. Of course, her character was killed off in Halloween 8, hence the need for a total reboot. In this version, Laurie is a basket-case who is estranged from her daughter ( played by Judy Greer) and granddaughter (played by Andi Matichak). She has been readying herself for 40 years for Michael to return. She lives alone in the woods in what can only be described as a compound with lots of surveillance and guns. Curtis does a great job with this version of the character and does a believable portrayal of what she would be like if she never moved on from the events of that night. 

Any fan of the Halloween franchise knows that the various sequels have ranged from good to decent to absolute garbage. And, of course, there was the sequel that wasn't Halloween 3. I think everyone has slightly different ideas about which sequels fall into what categories, but for me, Halloween 6 and 8 fall into the absolute garbage category (although I think 6 had some potential as a story, it was just executed horribly and suffered massive rewrites and the death of Donald Pleasance), and Halloween 4 and H20 fall within the excellent category. Die-hard Halloween nerds will know that while Carpenter's name was included on many of the other sequels, he never had anything to do with them and was just getting royalty rights. He famously never wanted the movie to go any farther than the first one, and if there was going to be a franchise, he wanted it to be like Season of the Witch, without the Michael Myers character.
  
The 4k set is a two-disc set that includes a UHD disc and a regular Blu-Ray disc. The UHD has both the movie and the extras, so the regular Blu-Ray disc is extraneous. The extras include about 12 minutes of deleted scenes and several short behind-the-scenes and making-of featurettes. The bonus content amounts to around a half hour to 45 minutes worth of material. One thing that was not included as an extra, which would have been nice, is a commentary track on the movie. I would have liked to hear the writers, director, Curtis, and Carpenter provide commentary on the movie. But what was included was very good.  While the movie does pretend that the other sequels and remakes never existed, it does have many easter eggs that pay homage to the original film and some things that were clearly inspired by the other sequels, including the movie's last shot. It could have worked as an end to the franchise, but as most are likely aware, it ended up spawning two additional movies. While I cannot say that everyone, including fans of the franchise, will like or love this version, it is better than most of the other sequels and is worth the time to watch.

DVD/TV Series Review: The Good Place: Season 2

 

+++Warning, this has spoilers from season 1, but no major season 2 giveaways+++

The 13-episode second season of The Good Place aired from fall 2017 into winter 2018. It picks up immediately after the reset that ended season 1 when the group finds out they are really in The Bad Place and have been torturing each other. It does not really follow the format of season 1. I will not spoil all the details of season 2; however, the bulk of the season is focused on the group trying to get into the real Good Place.

The show continues to be well-written and acted. All the "core" group returns, and some of the more ancillary season one characters have a more significant role this year. That said, not everyone who made guest appearances last year returns this season. It sticks to the format of primarily being a comedy, which does not take itself very seriously but also ties in some emotional moments. The cast gets along well or can fake great chemistry, which is essential given the show's format. Unlike season one, it does not end on a cliffhanger this year and does leave a lot of leeway going into season three for what direction the show will go in.

The DVD set is a two-disc set that is very bare-bones. The extras include a commentary track on one episode, a seven-minute gag reel, and a special effects reel that lasts less than a minute. What was included was good, but not nearly as much as what season one had, and there are no closed captions. And, of course, it is one of the shows for which no blu-ray set is available.

This is a great option if you are looking for a great comedy that is still under the radar. Despite being about the afterlife, it has no religious overtones. It deals more with philosophy and what it means to be good and bad. That is the serious part of the show. It is mostly really absurd humor and, like I said, does not take itself all that seriously. You definitely want to watch season one because it is not a show that you can easily just jump into and have it make sense. All the episodes are chapters in a long story, and everything connects together. The mediocre DVD release aside, it is worth checking out even if you just stream it.