4k-UHD/Movie Review: Rocketman

 

Rocketman is a 2019 drama loosely based on the life of Elton John.  It is a very different take on a biopic, loosely telling a fantasy version of Elton John's life. It was directed by Dexter Fletcher and stars Taron Egerton as Elton John, Jamie Bell as his musical partner Bernie Taupin, Richard Madden as Elton's manager and lover John Reid, and Bryce Dallas Howard as Elton's mother.

As one of the producers said in the behind-the-scenes material, it is a biopic that is not a biopic, and a musical that is not a musical. It starts out with Elton in rehab, relating events from his life at a group meeting. Then we see the events play out in flashbacks that every so often break out in musical numbers. The songs used in the movie (mostly his songs from the 1970s) were selected from Elton's vast catalog of music but were not exactly tied to the time frame in which the events in his life actually occurred. For example, the movie shows the song Saturday Night's All Right for Fighting being played before Elton and Taupin ever meet. The songs were used mostly to fit with particular scenes in the story, not to convey when in his career they were actually released. Also, the movie does not tell events exactly as they happened or when they happened. For example, the final act of the movie shows Elton leaving rehab using the song I'm Still Standing which was released in 1983, yet he actually went to rehab in 1990. Even though the movie is a more "fantasy" telling of Elton's life, using actual events but oftentimes putting a different spin on them, it does convey the mess his life was as he was coming to terms with his sexuality, using and abusing drugs and alcohol, and his issues with food, as well as his rather horrible family. Bryce Dallas Howard does a wonderful job playing Elton's mother and certainly gives the impression that she saw him just as a meal ticket.

The 4k set is a two-disc set containing a UHD disc and a regular Blu-Ray disc. The movie looks and sounds great in the UHD format. The UHD disc only has the movie, and all the extras are on the regular Blu-Ray disc. Those include about 20 minutes of deleted scenes, a handful of making-of featurettes, a version of the movie that will display the song lyrics during the musical numbers, and a version of the movie that just plays the musical numbers. All-in-all a very good amount of bonus material for those who like to watch it.

Overall, the movie is very good. While I do think it would have worked as a more "traditional" biopic, without having musical numbers where everyone in the scene breaks out into song, I get why the choice was made to do it that way. Taron Egerton not only does a great acting job playing Elton, but he also sang all the songs, and not just lip-synching to the real songs. This allowed them to re-arrange the songs to help tell the story yet still keep the character of the original songs. For many of the songs, they were arranged to start differently and then transition to sound more like the album versions. While I cannot say that the movie is going to appeal to everyone, if you are a fan of Elton John's music and/or know a bit about his life, it is definitely worth checking out.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Rogue Season 3 Part 1

 

Rouge was a series produced on DirecTV's audience network that ran for four seasons. It started out with a storyline in which Thandie Newton's character (Grace Travis) was undercover with a mob boss in San Francisco while also trying to find out who killed her young son. That storyline was mostly resolved in the first season, and the second season of the show found her character going after a group of former military members (led by Cole Houser's character, Ethan Kelly) who killed a group of Americans in Pakistan and made off with a bunch of money meant to bribe tribal leaders.

The third season was split into two parts, each consisting of 10 episodes. The first 10 episodes aired during the summer of 2015. In the first part of the third season, the show shifted to Chicago, with Newton's character in a supporting role and Hauser's character in the lead. In it, Ethan gets involved in a fight between the DOJ, DEA, a shady Chicago lawyer (played wonderfully by Richard Schiff), and a feuding pair of Chicago gangs. The first half of the season saw Grace's storyline wrapped up in a rather underwhelming (in my opinion) way. That is really what knocks it down a star for me, but otherwise, the season was fine.

The show is notoriously hard to find both to stream or via physical discs (especially seasons three and four). The show did stream on DirecTV now for a while, then just disappeared. It has streamed on Amazon, but I do not believe it is included free with a Prime membership. In the United States, only the first two seasons of the show are available on DVD. The first three seasons are available on Blu-Ray in Germany, with the third being split into two separate releases, and the fourth season has not (to my knowledge) been released at all in any country on either DVD or Blu-Ray. This set will not play on a US/Region-1 Blu-Ray player. You will need either a Region-2 player or a region-free player to watch it. The audio defaults to playing a dubbed over-German track, but you can switch audio channels to have it play in English. For extras, there is about a half-hour's worth of behind-the-scenes and making-of featurettes (on the final disc) that you can play one by one or all at once, as well as a bunch of trailers that play in German only. The discs also have a true "play all" mode that will allow you to pick up where you left off, even in the middle of an episode.

I cannot say that everyone will like this season, especially those who loved the first season of the show. That said, it is well-written and acted, even if it is much different in this season than how it started out. There is a lot of violence and swearing, as well as some nudity (although not as much nudity as in prior seasons). So, if any of those things turn you off to a show, it is best to avoid it. Given that the season really does reset the show, it is helpful, but not essential that you see the first two seasons. The second season is more important to be up to speed on what is going on in season three than the first season though. If you can find the discs at a reasonable price (you will pay more because they are imports) it is definitely worth checking out.

Book Review: Star Wars: Thrawn: Treason

 

Thrawn: Treason is the third novel in the trilogy of novels by Timothy Zahn, reintroducing the very popular Legends character Grand Admiral Thrawn into the rebooted Star Wars canon. It is a part of the main storyline novels, which are considered on the same level as the movies and the TV series that have been released since the Disney takeover of Lucasfilm (or series like The Clone Wars that was put out before the takeover but grandfathered into canon).

As most hardcore fans know, the character of Thrawn was introduced in the 1990s in a trilogy of now Legends novels set after Return of The Jedi as a threat from the old Empire to the New Republic. The backbone of the character was his ability to strategize and use what he knew (or could discover) about an advisory against them. In the first two canon novels, Thrawn and Thrawn: Alliances, much of that skill in the context of action/battle sequences was missing. This novel more than makes up for what was lacking in those novels. I will not go into too much detail about the plot, but the story centers around a danger/threat to the Stardust initiative, which, as everyone likely to read this knows, was the construction of the first Death Star, as well as to Thrawn's species, the Chiss. The novel features appearances by Governor Tarkin, Director Krennic, and The Emperor. While the cover of the novel suggests that the Emperor has a larger role in the novel, he really has only a small appearance, mostly at the end. The novel also alludes to the events from the series Rebels, which first reintroduced the Thrawn character in the TV series, as Thrawn is eager to get back to Lothal and deal with the situation presented by Ezra Bridger.

The hardcover version of the book is just about 400 pages long. It reads fairly quickly, especially since most of the characters that appear in the book are well-developed or have already been established in the movies. Overall, while I do not think this novel is as good as the original "Thrawn Trilogy," which many hoped would be the basis for a sequel trilogy before the original cast members got too old to make that a reality, it is the closest to those novels in terms of all that makes the character of Thrawn great. There is definitely some political strategizing and infighting that has been a part of much of the canon material, but the book has a very good mix of action sequences to keep the story moving along. Chances are, if you are a die-hard fan of Star Wars, you are probably already getting the hardcover versions of the novels as they are released. But, if you are one who is more selective about which novels you get, this one is definitely worth picking up.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Molly's Game

 

Molly's Game is a 2019 crime drama starring Jessica Chastain, Idris Elba, Michael Cera, and Kevin Costner. It is a semi-biographical movie telling the story of Molly Bloom (played by Jessica Chastain), a competitive skier who was injured in a skiing accident and ended up out in Los Angeles working in a bar. She would, through a series of interesting events, end up running multi-million dollar poker games involving movie stars (including, reportedly, Toby McGuire), athletes, and various members of the 1%. She ends up being arrested as the FBI attempts to get her to flip on members of her poker games who are connected to the mob. Idris Elba plays her high-priced New York lawyer, and Kevin Costner has a small role as her father.

Chastain is great in the role of Molly and plays Bloom with a great mix of cocky, bordering on arrogant, funny (albeit dark humor), and vulnerable. Her chemistry and ability to banter with Elba (in a non-romantic role) really make the movie work, so much so that even the parts that don't work as well (like trying to buy Michael Cera as a badass) are easy to overlook. The movie looks and sounds great on Blu-ray. The extras are mostly non-existent. Just what amounts to an extended TV spot for the movie. So, if you only get the physical discs when there is a lot of bonus content included, you will probably just want to stick with streaming this. That said, if you have a little more than a couple of hours to kill and are looking for a good movie to watch, this is definitely worth checking out.

DVD/TV Series Review: Merlin Season 2

 

The 13-episode second season of Merlin aired during the fall and winter of 2009. The season really continues to develop the characters and develop the relationships between Arthur, Merlin, Gwen, and Morgana. We also find out more about Uthur's manipulations of not only Arthur, but Morgana as well, and we see the events that start to turn Morgana into the evil sorceress she will eventually become. Toward the end of the season, we get a bit more insight into Merlin's background, and the show definitely sets up possible storylines going forward.

The DVD set is a five-disc set, which is getting harder to find at a reasonable price now they are going out of print. The extras include commentary tracks on select episodes, then a separate disc of bonus material contains a photo gallery and about a half-hour of making-of and behind-the-scenes material for the season as a whole, and then the episodes of the "behind the magic" series, which gives about a 13-15 minute behind the scenes look at each individual episode of the season, so almost three-hours worth of material there. So, for those who like bonus material on the physical discs, you get a lot of good material.

Overall, in the second season, the show is still getting its footing and finding its tone. The actors' performances (meaning the young actors who were still relatively inexperienced at the time) are getting stronger, and the storylines get stronger and darker. If you liked or loved the first season, then chances are you will like this one. Conversely, if you were not a big fan of the first season, then chances are this one is not going to convert you. It is definitely worth checking out.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Charlie's Angels (2019)

 

The 2019 version of Charlie's Angels is an action/adventure movie directed by Elizabeth Banks and starring Kristen Stewart, Ella Balinkska, Naomi Scott, Patrick Stewart, Noah Centineo, and Djimon Honsou. The film is a reboot of a reboot, which was very likely a large part of why it did not do better at the box office. That, and the lack of significant star power. Of course, the 2000 and 2003 movies had Drew Barrymore, Lucy Liu, and Cameron Diaz, all of whom were very well-known. This one has Kristen Stewart, who is probably the biggest star, aside from Patrick Stewart and Elizabeth Banks (who has a prominent role in the movie as well as directing the film). Stewart (in arguably her best role to date) plays one of the Angels along with Naomi Scott and Ella Balinska. They all did a fine job as the "Angels" but did not have the star power to drive many people to see the movie. Some well-known actors and actresses are in supporting and cameo roles, including Patrick Stewart, Ronda Rousey, and more, but their roles were relatively small. The film does partially tie into the TV show and the prior movies.

My biggest complaint about the movie is that it lifts too much from the prior movies, including a villain from the agency, an updated version of The Thin Man character (played by Crispin Glover in the prior film), a mogul bad guy, etc. The "empowered woman"/"girl power" theme of the movie was fine, even if a bit ham-fisted at times. As you can see from some of the comments on Amazon, it turned many people off, but it is not something that bothered me all that much.

The 4k set is a two-disc set containing a UHD disc and a regular Blu-Ray disc. The movie looks and sounds great in the UHD format. The UHD disc has previews that play before the menu loads, then the movie itself. The rest of the extras are on the regular Blu-ray disc. They include deleted scenes, a gag reel, several short (5-7 min, give or take) making-of and behind-the-scenes featurettes, a feature on Elizabeth Banks in her roles as actor and director, and the music video for the movie's theme song. Overall, it is a decent movie, but not great. It is not as good as the original 2000 movie but on par with the 2003 sequel, full throttle. It will definitely not appeal to everyone, but for a two-hour action movie, it is worth checking out as long as you accept that it is not award-winning material.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Skyscraper

 

Skyscraper is a 2019 action movie that stars Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, Neve Campbell, Mckenna Roberts, Pablo Schreiber, Chin Han, Hannah Quinlivan, and Noah Cottrell.  Johnson stars as Will Sawyer, an ex-FBI hostage negotiator and amputee (thanks to the movie's opening scene) who has become a private security contractor. He is on assignment with his wife Sarah, played by Neve Campbell, and their two children in China to assess security for a new building owned by Zhao Ji (played by Chin Han, whom I will always refer to as "the television" because of the line in The Dark Knight). A group of terrorists starts a fire in the building, which boasts as the tallest skyscraper in the world, and manages to frame Will for it. The rest of the story involves Will trying to get his family out of the building and take down the terrorists.

The movie is a pretty standard action film and is derivative of movies like Die Hard and The Towering Inferno without being outright copies of either. If you have seen any of The Rock's action movies over the years, it definitely falls on the end of the ones where he is nearly indestructible and can overcome any obstacle. It is not as tongue in cheek as his role as Hobbs in the Fast and Furious movies, but almost. So, there is definitely a lot of suspension of disbelief that is required to get through it, so if you cannot do so or are hypercritical of unrealistic action movies, this is not for you.

The 4k set is a two-disc set containing a UHD disc and a regular Blu-Ray disc. The film looks and sounds great in the UHD format. The bonus material (which is included on the UHD disc, so you do not have to switch over to the regular blu-ray) includes deleted and extended scenes, a commentary track on the movie with the director, and a few short behind-the-scenes features. Good for what was included, but not hours worth of material. Excluding the commentary track, the extras probably clock in at around 45 minutes or so. Overall, it is a good movie, but not exactly a unique story. It is a bit predictable, but I think fun nonetheless. If you accept it for what it is, and what it is not, I think you can enjoy it. You do not have to watch every second of it to get what is going on and at just over an hour and a half, it flows well and does not feel too long.

DVD/TV Series Review: Merlin Season 1

 

Merlin is an action/drama/fantasy series that aired for five seasons on BBC. The 13-episode first season aired during the fall and winter of 2008. It starred Colin Morgan, Bradley James, Katie McGrath, Angel Coulby, Richard Wilson, Anthony Stewart Head, Santiago Cabrera, and John Hurt. It is an alternate (and unique) telling of the Camelot story, this time telling the story with the main characters, Arthur (Bradley James), Merlin (Colin Morgan), Morgana (Katie McGrath), and Gwenevere (Angel Coulby) as twenty-somethings, far removed (mostly) from who they ultimately become. This also removes Arthur as a peasant who becomes King by proving himself worthy of the storyline. In this version, he is the prince of Camelot, the son of King Uther (played by Anthony Stewart Head, who will always be known as Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer). Uther is a tyrant who has banned magic from the kingdom and kills anyone caught using it. Merlin is the servant to Arthur and assistant to the court's physician, Gaius (Richard Wilson). He is also guided by a dragon (voiced by John Hurt), whom Uther keeps chained up under the castle.

Even though the story does not follow the other versions out there, and the cast is mostly unknown younger actors and actresses, it is a very good telling of the story. The first season does a lot of character development, introduces some of the more important elements (Excalibur) and characters (like Lancelot), and does a good job blending story-of-the-week episodes with a larger story arc. Anthony Head plays a great Uther who is kind of a bad guy, certainly not a compassionate ruler, but more complex a character than he seems to be. Merlin is far from the wise wizard he will become, and Arthur is kind of an arrogant jerk who becomes more virtuous throughout the season. Morgana is not the sorceress she will become, and Gwenevere is her servant.

The DVD set is a five-disc set. The A/V quality is okay but not great. The special effects fall in the same category. The show had a different kind of budget than say, Game of Thrones, so the CGI looks like it is CGI and not as blended in as shows and movies with larger budgets to work with. The extras include commentary tracks on some episodes, usually with the director and a member or two of the cast. Those are on the "regular" discs, and then there is a final bonus disc with about two hours worth of behind-the-scenes, cast video diaries, production still photos, and more. A ton of good material for those who like going through the bonus features.

Overall, it is a well-written and acted series. Unless you are really tied to one version of the story, I think you will find this enjoyable if you enjoy the Middle Ages mixed with magic kinds of stories. I definitely recommend it.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Joker

 

Joker is a 2019 film directed by Todd Phillips, starring Joquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, and Frances Conroy. It is a totally different adaptation of The Joker's story than seen before (for the most part, anyway), especially in live-action. It gives Joker an origin story as a loser named Arthur Fleck, a guy who works as a clown, is an aspiring stand-up comic, and is borderline crazy as the seedy underbelly of Gotham drives him further into madness. It does away with the whole falling into a vat of acid to turn him into the psychotic clown but instead tries to answer what would turn a "real" person into The Joker.

Phoenix, a weird dude anyway, does an incredible job with the character. He totally makes it his own and does not try to be a carbon copy of any of the performances that have come before him. It is unclear where the movie fits (if at all) into the DC movie and television universe. Obviously, Jared Leto played a totally different version of the character in Suicide Squad, and this version is not a precursor to that one. It does not give anything away to say that the movie is set when Bruce Wayne is still a child, so we do not get any hint of Joker vs Batman.

The 4k set is a two-disc set containing the UHD disc and a regular Blu-Ray disc. The UHD  disc just includes the movie, and the extras, which consist of about half an hour of making-of and behind-the-scenes material, are included on the regular Blu-ray disc. The only disappointing thing about the physical release is the lack of bonus material. Even though the movie does create something of a continuity mess with the DC cinematic universe, even more than it already has been to this point, if you accept the fact that it is its own thing and does not (at least as of now), and may never tie into the other movies, it is definitely worth checking out. It is well-written, acted, and paced. The two hours do not drag at all. I highly recommend it.

DVD/TV Series Review: Cobra Kai Seasons 1 & 2

 

Cobra Kai is a series that continues the Karate Kid franchise. The first season aired on YouTube TV in May 2018, and the second aired in April 2019. In it, Ralph Macchio and William Zabka reprise their roles as Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence. Martin Kove also reprises his role as John Kreese from the original movies, which, to this point, consisted of the original movie, one very good sequel, and two lackluster to horrible sequels (depending on opinion in quality, of course). This series outdoes any of the source material, even the original movie.

The show picks up 34 years after the first movie's events and is primarily told from Johnny's perspective. We find out that his life basically went to crap after the tournament, and he was one whose best days were in high school. He is now a middle-aged Luddite working as a handyman and bordering on being an alcoholic. In a twist of fate, he ends up being a Miyagi-like character who comes to the aid of a kid who is being bullied. He ends up reopening the long-shuttered Cobra Kai dojo.

On the other hand, Daniel is now wealthy and owns several luxury car dealerships. Of course, Johnny and Daniel's paths cross, mostly because of the younger actors like Mary Mouser (who plays Daniel's daughter Samantha) and Xolo Mariduena, who plays Johnny's prize student, Miguel. Tanner Buchanan plays Johnny's estranged son, who ends up working for and then training with Daniel, driving the wedge between him and Johnny even deeper.

The show does a great job balancing the old and young characters. It also does a great job of giving Johnny depth that he never had in the original movie. And you see the events of the original movie through his eyes and why he thinks he was the wronged party back in 1984. The show also does a great job playing the two as rivals who still kind of hate each other because of a fight over a girl, yet have a begrudging respect for each other that almost borders on something that could be a friendship. Johnny still kind of believes the old Cobra Kai no mercy mantra, but also kind of knows that it is total BS. as well. Martin Kove also returns as Kreese to cause similar problems to those he caused in the movies.

The writers do a good job of balancing an original storyline and many tie-ins to the original movies, including bringing back some of the original characters. Of course, Pat Morita passed away in 2005, so the only appearances he makes are via flashbacks and pictures. Some of the original Cobra Kai members appear in what is a very emotional episode, and the show teases an eventual appearance by Elizabeth Shue, hopefully reprising her role as Ali.

For those who get the DVD set, it has the 20 episodes making up seasons 1 and 2 on 4 discs. They are stacked on top of each other in the case, which is kind of a dumb packaging choice. The episodes are about 30 minutes long, give or take, and it is definitely not totally PG like the movies. There is no nudity, but a lot of swearing, underage drinking, and drinking and driving that goes on. The characters are not all good or all bad, which I think really works well. The extras include a couple of gag reels, deleted scenes, a couple of live musical numbers from a band that does some of the music for the show, and a few making-of featurettes. A decent amount, but not a ton.

Overall, if you were a fan of the original movie(s) at least the original and Part II, you will likely love this series. You get a bit of nostalgia, quite a bit of humor, and much better martial arts action than was in at least the first movie. The set was only printed on a limited run, so it is very hard to find it at a reasonable price. It is not worth the $130 that tends to go for now, especially since you can watch the episodes for free on YouTube (with ads) or ad-free on YouTubeTV. But if you can snag one for the original $20 price, it is definitely worth picking up.

Book Review: Star Wars: Dooku: Jedi Lost

 

Dooku: Jedi Lost is a Star Wars canon novel by Cavan Scott, published in 2019.  It tells part of Dooku's backstory as a youngling, a padawan, a Jedi Knight, and then as a master. It also explains how he came to leave the Jedi order, but not how he fell in league with Darth Sidious/Emperor Palpatine. Palpatine does make one appearance in the story as a relatively lowly senator, but there is little to hint at his grand plan.

The hardcover version of the book is a little under 500 pages. Like many of the books released since Disney took over, it is set in different time periods. One is during the time of the Clone Wars when Ventress was Dooku's apprentice/assassin (further showing the rule-of-two was less of a rule than a loosely followed guideline), and then Dooku's life growing up told in flashbacks throughout the book. Unlike any of the other books (up to the time it was released), it is written in a format as a script for a play or movie. It describes the locations, notes when characters talk in their heads versus out loud, etc. I personally prefer the traditional novel format, with chapters that easily break up the story (since it is not the easiest book to read in one sitting), but that did not bother me as much as it did other reviewers.

Overall, it did an excellent job with Dooku's arc and character development from a very smart but a bit smug padawan to exactly how evil he was as a Sith lord. I do think it missed out on explaining the circumstances under which Palpatine turned him, but even without that, it made clear that he was drawn to the dark side throughout his life. It is certainly not the best of the canon books, and if you are one of those who only get certain books but not all of them, it is not necessarily a must-read.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Peppermint

 

Peppermint is a 2018 action/thriller starring Jennifer Garner. It is much like The Punisher with a female lead. In the film, a woman named Riley North (played by Jennifer Garner) sees her husband and daughter gunned down in a drive-by shooting by members of a drug gang. When the killers are let off because of corrupt cops, lawyers, and a corrupt judge, Riley takes matters into her own hands to get revenge on everyone. The movie sees Garner return to the action roots she displayed in Alias, and despite being older, it does not look like she has lost a step at all.

For those who get the Blu-ray disc, the movie looks and sounds great in HD. It is a shame that it was not released in 4k UHD (at least not initially) because there are a lot of great visuals despite it not being a special-effects-laden sci-fi movie. The bonus material is kind of pathetic. It consists of a two-and-a-half-minute behind-the-scenes featurette and a commentary track by the director. The movie is not exactly novel or unique. Even though it is a pretty standard revenge story and kind of predictable in parts, it is well done and timed very well (just over an hour and a half), so it does not lag or feel like it drags on too long. If you are a fan of Garner and looking for a good action movie, it is definitely worth checking out.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Professor Marston & the Wonder Women

 

Professor Marston & The Wonder Women is a film from 2017 starring Luke Evans, Rebecca Hall, and Bella Heathcote. It tells the story of the creator of the Wonder Woman comic, William Moulton Marston (played by Luke Evans). Marston was a lawyer, inventor, and psychologist, who along with his wife Elizabeth (played by Rebecca Hall) invented the lie detector test. It really tells the story of their life and the polyamorous relationship that they enter with an undergraduate student in Marston's psychology class, who later becomes his student assistant, Olive (played by Bella Heathcote). Because of their unique relationship (to say the least), none of them can stay in one place for too long or have long-term jobs, which results in Marston creating the character of Wonder Woman and writing the comic, which apparently in its early days incorporated the themes of dominance and submission which he focused his psychology classes around, and lots of bondage.

For those who get the blu-ray, the movie looks great in HD. Obviously, it is not a CGI-heavy movie, but the cinematography is great, with many visual location shots. There is about a half hour's worth of extras, including deleted scenes and making-of/behind-the-scenes material. Overall, it is a really great movie that tells the story of an interesting group of people and the consequences of the life they chose to live, especially in the 1930s -40s. The writing and acting are all excellent. There is a lot of swearing and some nudity in the movie, not to mention depicting a relationship between three people. So, it is not going to appeal to everyone. But, if you are looking for a good movie that went under the radar when it was released, it is worth checking out.

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/Chalean Extreme Day 24

On day 24, I did 645 cardio in the morning and BC2 in the evening. I was tired during the BC2 workout because I was packing most of the afternoon, but I got it done.  I was able to increase the amount of weight for a few exercises in the workout and could do a couple more push-ups on my toes at the end of the workout, which kind of surprised me. 

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Doctor Sleep

 

Doctor Sleep is a 2019 sequel to The Shining, starring Rebecca Ferguson, Ewan McGregor, Kyliegh Curran, Jacob Tremblay, Emily Alyn Lind,  Zahn McClarnon, Bruce Greenwood, Carl Lumbly, and Alex Essoe. It tells the story of the now-adult Danny Torrance, played by Ewan McGregor, who is still dealing with the aftermath of what happened at The Overlook Hotel. Rebecca Ferguson plays Rose Hat, the leader of a group called the True Knot, who are comprised of people with The Shine, who "eat" the shine of those they kill (primarily kids). Kyliegh Curran plays Abra, a young girl with a powerful "shine" whom the True Knot crew wants to find and Danny is trying to protect.

The 4k set is a two-disc set containing a UHD disc and a regular Blu-Ray disc. The 4k disc has the theatrical version of the movie and all of the extras. The regular Blu-Ray includes the director's cut of the movie. It looks and sounds great in the UHD format. The movie stays faithful to Kubrick's version of The Shining, which Stephen King really disliked, but also incorporates the ending of the book version of The Shining (having Danny take over Jack's role at the end of the book) while fighting Rose Hat. There is about 45 minutes worth of behind-the-scenes and making-of material included as extras. It's not a ton of bonus content, but what was included was good. Overall, the movie is excellent. It is very violent, and there is some nudity, so it earns the R-rating. Ferguson dominates nearly every scene she is in, and McGregor does a great job playing the adult version of Danny. Kyliegh Curran does a wonderful job as the child lead in this movie, and if there are more stories to be told of her character, she would do a great job. It is definitely worth checking out.

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/Chalean Extreme Day 23

Day 23 is normally a rest day in CE, but because I will have an extremely busy day on Thursday, I decided to switch it up and do the Burn Intervals workout instead of taking a rest day. Then, I will take the rest day on Thursday. And I did 645 cardio in the morning (with low-impact exercises). Both workouts went well, but there was nothing notable from either one.

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/Chalean Extreme Day 22

Day 22 was the start of week 4 in CE. I did 645 cardio in the morning and BC1 in the evening. I was again able to increase the amount of weight I was using for a couple of the exercises in BC1, and I can tell my cardio fitness is very slowly improving.  

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/Chalean Extreme Day 21

On day 21, I did 645 cardio and the CE ab routine in the morning and then the Recharge yoga routine from CE in the evening. My flexibility was a little better this week than last, but I still have a ways to go. 

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/Chalean Extreme Day 20

 On Day 20, I just did the Burn it Off workout from CE. I did not feel like doing doubles today, so I skipped the 645 cardio workout. It went fine, no real difference from last week. 

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Titans Season 1

 

Titans is a superhero series that aired for four seasons from 2018 to 2023. The 11-episode first season aired during the fall and winter of 2018. The first season starred Brenton Thwaites, Teagan Croft, Anna Diop, Minka Kelly, Ryan Potter, Alan Ritchson, Curran Walters, Connor Leslie, and Rachel Nichols. It is one of the handful of live-action DC shows not on the CW or directly tied into the Arrowverse. However, it was brought into the Arroverse as a part of the Crisis on Infinite Earth's crossover event with one of the very quick cameos. It was adapted from the "Teen Titans" comic book series (which has also been animated). However, they skipped the teens part of that (mostly) to tell a much more adult story. This is definitely not family-friendly as the CW shows are. There is a lot of swearing, some partial nudity, and some sex scenes, although you never see anything more than butt shots or side-boob. I would say it is a very hard PG-13, but not quite an R if it were going to be on the movie ratings scale. They often drop the f-bomb, so it is harder than a regular PG-13 or 14-type show.

The first season is really all about character development. Brenton Thwaites plays Dick Grayson, who works as a detective in Detroit after leaving Bruce Wayne. He comes across Raven, played by Teagan Croft, who, unbeknownst to her, is part demon. Anna Diop plays Starfire, Minka Kelly plays Dawn/Dove, Ryan Potter plays Beast Boy, Alan Ritchson plays Hank Hall/Hawk (he also played Aquaman in Smallville), Curran Walters plays Jason Todd/New Robin, and Conor Leslie plays Donna Troy/Wonder Girl. Rachel Nichols (from GI Joe and Alias, among others) has a significant role in the season as well. The show also introduces the Doom Patrol characters and teases Krypto and Superboy.

The bulk of the first season is spent introducing the characters and providing backstories for everyone to set up how they got to where they are. That, along with advancing the "main" storylines about protecting Raven from people hunting for her and herself. Dick is trying to deal with his own past as Robin. I will not go too much into the story to keep from spoiling anything, but there are a lot of characters and story setups in this season packed into a handful of episodes.

The Blu-Ray set is a two-disc set. The show looks and sounds great in HD. The bonus material includes some deleted scenes and several short (around 10 minutes, give or take) making-of and character-based featurettes. A decent amount of material for a MOD blu-ray set, for sure. It is well-written and very well-acted. I cannot say how closely it sticks to the comics or cartoons since I have not read or watched either of those, but it was very well done for what it was trying to be. It is definitely not for everyone, but it is worth checking out if you are a fan of the genre.

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/Chalean Extreme Day 19

On day 19 I did 645 cardio in the morning and BC3 in the evening. I was again able to increase the amount of weight I used for some of the exercises, such as the squat and calf raise combination, but the amount of weight I used for the shoulder exercises remained the same.  

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/Chalean Extreme Day 18

Day 18 was 645 cardio in the morning and burn intervals in the evening. The interval workout was a little easier than last week, and I actually adjusted the amount of weight I used. Instead of using the same weight for the entire thing, I used very light weights for the shoulder and triceps exercises and heavier weights for the rows and squats. Then, I used an intermediate weight for the bicep curls. That worked well, so I will stick with that for the rest of the program. 

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Little Women (2019)

 

Little Women is a 2019 adaptation of the book(s) of the same name by Louisa Marie Alcott, written shortly after the American Civil War. It was a semi-autobiographical novel about her experiences growing up with her sisters and becoming a writer at a time when it was taboo for a woman to write anything but letters. There was, of course, a film adaptation done in 1994 starring Wynona Ryder, but this is a modern, alternative adaptation of the story with new actresses in the starring roles, including Saoirse Ronan (playing Jo, who was the character analog of Louisa), Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, Laura Dern (playing the matriarch of the family). The rest of the cast includes Meryl Steep, Timothee Chalamet, Louis Garrel, Bob Odenkirk, and Chris Cooper.

The movie was written and directed by Greta Gerwig. She decided to start the film with the women as adults and then use parts from the first novel, when they were girls growing up in New England, as flashbacks. For those unfamiliar with the story, this storytelling method can make the movie hard to follow since the book starts with the girls as children. That said, the film does not deserve one star like some Amazon reviewers have given it because the acting, the cinematography, and the overall story are all excellent.

For those who get the Blu-Ray, the movie looks and sounds great in high-definition. There are about an hour's worth of extras, give or take, including several behind-the-scenes featurettes and a feature on the Alcott house, which has been preserved and saved multiple times from being torn down. A decent amount of material for those who like going through the bonus features. While it would have been better to tell the story linearly, it is still a very good and extremely well-acted adaptation of the story. It is absolutely worth the time to watch.

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/Chalean Extreme Day 17

Day 17 was 645 cardio in the morning and BC2 from CE in the evening. In the BC2 workout I again was able to increase the amount of weight I used on some of the exercises, but not by a huge amount.  

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/Chalean Extreme Day 16

Day 16 was a rest day in CE, so I did 645 cardio in the morning and the stretching routine from Lift 4. Both went fine. My flexibility has not improved but has not regressed.