Workout Update: 645 Cardio/Chalean Extreme Day 58

Day 58 started week 1 of the Lean Phase in CE. Of course, I did 645 cardio in the morning and then LC1 in the evening. In the lean circuit workouts, you again do combination exercises, combining an upper-body exercise with a lower-body exercise. The difference between this phase and the burn phase is that you are often doing things off balance (for example, doing bicep curls and leg curls simultaneously), so you have to keep your core tight in every exercise. In LC1, the upper body exercises are bicep and tricep exercises, and then you are doing squats with calf raises, hamstring curls, and the like for the lower body exercises.  The goal in this phase is to max out between 10 and 12 reps, which (at least for me) meant dropping the amount of weight I was using for many exercises down. This is definitely not my favorite phase of the CE program in terms of the exercises, but I am glad to not have to listen to Skip in every single workout. 

DVD/TV Series Review: Blindspot Season 5

 

The 11-episode fifth and final season of Blindspot aired during the summer of 2020. It was brought back for the limited run to tie up the remaining storyline, namely to resolve the cliffhanger, allow the team to clear their names and take down Madeline, and secondarily to get the show to an even 100 episodes. The season initially picks up immediately before the drone strike on the safe house and the aftermath. I will not spoil the aftermath, but needless to say, the team does not come out unscathed. Then, what seems to be the requisite time jump occurs, and we find that the team has been scattered and comes back together when yet another tattoo clue draws them out. From then on, it is a cat-and-mouse game between the team and Madaline for the rest of the season.

All of the major characters/actors return, to some extent, for the season. Sullivan Stapleton, Jaimie Alexander, Rob Brown, Audrey Esparza, Ennis Esmer, and Ashley Johnson all do excellent jobs in their roles, especially the last two. I will not spoil how things play out, but some of the highlights of the season are learning Patterson's first name, more Bill Nye as Patterson's father, and cameos from most of the various characters who have appeared throughout the series run (mainly in the series finale) with the one notable exception being Marianne Jean-Baptiste. The series finale presents fans with two different endings without ever identifying which was the real ending, leaving things open to interpretation, which was a very novel way to end the series.

The DVD set is a three-disc set. It is a very bare-bones MOD DVD release. There are English captions but no extras at all, just the episodes. It would have been nice to get some behind-the-scenes material or commentary tracks like those included in the Blu-Ray releases for the first couple of seasons or to get a MOD Blu-Ray release to at least get the episodes in HD. Still, the reality is that the show was not popular enough to garner a Blu-Ray release now that physical media (especially for TV series) is going the way of the dodo bird. So, really, the only reason to get the DVD set is if you have purchased the prior seasons and want it to have a complete collection. Otherwise, you are much better off streaming it.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: John Wick Chapter 2

 

John Wick: Chapter 2 is the 2017 sequel to 2014's unexpected hit, John Wick. It stars Keanu Reeves as the titular John Wick. It includes, in supporting roles, Common, Laurence Fishburne, Ricardo Scamaricio, Ruby Rose, Lance Reddick, Peter Stormare, Franco Nero, John Leguizamo, Ian McShane, and Claudia Gerini. It is titled "Chapter 2" because it continues the story from the first movie. It starts with Wick getting his car back from the brother of the mobster he killed at the end of the first movie. Then it takes a turn that is reminiscent of the line in Godfather Part III, "just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in," when another member of the group tries to cash in a favor that Wick owes him. Of course, everything goes sideways (ending up with Wick's house burned down), and mayhem ensues.

The movie continues the over-the-top violence of the first movie, with lots of martial arts ("gun-fu," as Reeves calls it) and car chases. Laurence Fishburne has a great extended cameo in the movie, in scenes that make not-so-subtle winks and nods to the Matrix movies. Ruby Rose is the badass female character who has a great fight scene with Wick at the end of the film in a sequence that overall has a very Enter The Dragon feel to it. The movie ends in a way that sets up the next one, not quite a cliffhanger, but more like setting up what comes next and leaving the fate of some characters up in the air.

The 4K set is a two-disc set with a UHD disc and a regular Blu-Ray disc. The movie looks and sounds excellent in the UHD format. While there is not a ton of CGI, it does have some great visuals. There are a decent amount of bonus features, including about 45 minutes or so of behind-the-scenes and making-of featurettes, the trailer, and a commentary track by Reeves and the movie's director, Chad Stahelski. All the bonus features are on the UHD disc, so you do not have to switch to the regular blu-ray to watch them. Like the first movie, it does not try to be anything more than a violent, fun, and sometimes funny action movie. It does not take itself too seriously, but it does not try to be campy and stupid either (which movies like this can quickly become). Ultimately, if you like the first movie, then you will like this one. On the other hand, if you did not like the first one, there is likely nothing in this one that will appeal to you.

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/Chalean Extreme Day 56

On Day 56, I did 645 cardio in the morning, followed by the ab workout, and then the Recharge routine from CE in the evening. I was pretty tired that day so I would not say that I had the best workouts of my life, but I got them done. 

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/Chalean Extreme Day 55

On Day 55, I did the Burn it Off workout from CE in the afternoon and did the 645 cardio workout in the morning (but a low-impact version). Both of the workouts went well, although I am still skipping the burpees in the Burn it Off workout and swapping them with 1-2-3 Heismans from Insanity. 

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/Chalean Extreme Day 54

Day 54 was 645 cardio in the morning and PC3 from CE in the evening. I was able to increase the amount of weight for every exercise in the PC3 workout from last week. In week 1 of the Push Phase, in PC3, my weights ranged from 17.5 lbs to 30 lbs. This week, they ranged from 25 lbs to 32.5 lbs. So, my strength increased significantly for the exercises in this workout. 

Book Review: Star Wars: Master & Apprentice

 

Master and Apprentice is an adult canon novel by Claudia Gray, published in 2019. It is a very good story set before Episode I, telling of a mission involving Qui-Gon and a seventeen-year-old Obi-Wan. The Chancellor, who held the position before Vallorum, sends the two to act as the Republic's representatives in negotiations to open a hyperspace lane. The book is a bit of action and mystery, with some political maneuvering mixed in.

The main themes of the book are definitely Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan's rocky relationship which was hinted at a bit in The Phantom Menace, Qui-Gon's considering an invitation to join the Jedi Council, and at the very end of the book, a further indication that "The rule of two" was more a suggestion than a hard and fast rule.

Overall, the book presents a good ancillary story to the "Skywalker Saga", is a fairly easy read (it is just over 300 pages, but the chapters are kept relatively short), and it provides more character development that the movies could not give. Chances are most people considering getting this collect all the novels and will get this regardless of reviews. If however, you are one that gets some, but not all, of the novels, this one is definitely worth the time to read.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Babylon

 

Babylon is a 2022 movie about Hollywood in the 1920s starring Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Diego Calva, Jean Smart, Jovan Adepo, and Li Jun Li in the main roles. It also has a large ensemble supporting cast, including P.J. Byrne, Lukas Haas, Olivia Hamilton, Katherine Waterston, Tobey Maguire (who was also one of the producers), Flea, Eric Robert, Ethan Suplee, Samara Weaving, and Olivia Wille (among others). In it, Pitt plays Jack Conrad, the biggest silent-film star of the time, and Robbie plays Nellie LaRoy, an aspiring actress who gets her big break into silent films when she is seen dancing at a lavish party at the beginning of the film. Calva plays a gopher for the studio who eventually becomes a studio executive after Jack takes him under his wing. Li plays Lady Fay, a cabaret singer who also writes title cards for the silent movies, and Adepo plays a Jazz trumpeter named Sidney Palmer.

The 4K set is a two-disc set with a UHD disc and a regular Blu-Ray disc. The UHD disc just includes the movie, and the regular Blu-Ray disc has the movie and the bonus features. The movie's A/V quality is outstanding. It was shot on film to recreate the look of older Hollywood films, but it looks and sounds great in the UHD format. The extras include a half-hour-long making-of featurette featuring interviews with the cast and crew, about ten minutes of deleted and extended scenes, and a couple of shorter featurettes about the movie's costumes and score. All totaled, the bonus features run about 45 minutes. 

Ultimately, the movie is very good. It starts as a dark comedy and turns into a dark drama by the end. One of the movie's central themes is the transition from the silent movie era to the "talkies," and how adding sound to movies was challenging for the studios and the actors, and how the transition ended some careers and caused others to flourish. The other central theme is the excess of the Roaring 20s, especially in Hollywood. The storyline spans several decades, starting in the 20s and ending in 1952, but most of the movie is set in the late 1920s and early 1930s. It also deals with racism and homophobia. It is absolutely not a family-friendly film, as there is a lot of swearing, drug use, nudity, sex, and smoking throughout. The movie is very long, lasting just over three hours, but does not really drag. It is funny at times, sad at times, and downright weird at others. It is well-written and very well-acted and is absolutely worth watching.

4K-UHD/Movie Review: Avatar: The Way of Water (Three-Disc Edition)

 

Avatar: The Way of Water is the 2022 sequel to 2009's massive and groundbreaking hit, Avatar. It is again written and directed by James Cameron. In it, Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana reprise their roles as Jake Sully and Neytiri. The rest of the cast includes Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, Britain Dalton, Trinity Bliss, Bailey Bass, Jack Champion, Flip Geljo, Jamie Flatters, Scarlett Fernandez, and Edie Falco. Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Joel David Moore, Giovanni Ribisi, CCH Pounder, and Dileep Rao, who all appeared in the first movie, also appear in this one. It would give away too much to reveal exactly how their characters appeared. Still, it is not spoiling anything to say that some of the appearances are very short cameos (e.g., through video footage), and others are more substantial.

The movie is set sixteen years after the events of the first movie and sees the return of the "sky people," aka the Resources Development Administration (RDA), to Pandora. Their mission is to colonize Pandora but to do so, they realize they will have to take out Jake. We learn that Jake and Neytiri have a family. When their family is attacked, they flee the forest and take refuge with a Na'vi clan called the Metkayin, who live next to the ocean and have a symbiotic relationship with the sea-dwelling creatures. We also learn that the Metkayin have a different physiology and a completely different way of life than the forest-dwelling clans. Of course, they cannot stay hidden forever, and another epic battle with the sky people ensues.

There are a couple of different versions of the 4K sets. This one is a three-disc version with a UHD disc and two regular Blu-Ray discs. The UHD disc and the first regular Blu-Ray disc contain the movie, while the second regular Blu-Ray disc has all of the bonus features. The most extensive bonus feature is a series of making-of featurettes that can be played together or individually, totaling almost three hours. The behind-the-scenes material covers the new characters, the returning characters, the casting process, the advances made to the motion capture technology, the stunt work, and more. Then, there is a music video and some promotional spots for the movie. So, this set has well over three hours of bonus content. There is a four-disc set that includes a second bonus disc, and that one has over eight hours of bonus features. It sucks that there are two different 4K releases, but if you want all of the bonus content, you need to pay attention to what 4K set you are purchasing. They did a similar 4K release for the first Avatar movie, but the difference is that the upgraded set for the original movie also had the expanded edition of the movie, whereas, for the sequel, both sets just have the theatrical release (which is on its own over three hours long). 

Ultimately, this is a good sequel. It touches on many of the same themes as the original movie and expands the world of Pandora beyond what we saw in the first film. The acting and writing are very good, and the motion capture and CGI technology have advanced so much and look so good that it is almost hard to tell what is practical and what is computer-generated. The A/V quality is top-notch, and the video and sound are reference-quality. If you enjoyed the first movie, this is absolutely worth watching.

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/Chalean Extreme Day 53

On day 53, I did 645 cardio in the morning and the Burn Intervals workout from CE in the evening. Both workouts went well. Of course, I did a lower-impact version of the 645 workout since I was also doing HIIT exercises in the evening. I am looking forward to the Lean Circuit if for no other reason than it will mean Skip is only in one workout per week instead of four. 

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/Chalean Extreme Day 52

Day 52 was 645 cardio in the morning and the PC2 workout from CE in the evening. I was finally able to increase the amount of weight I was using for all of the exercises from what I did last week, event the shoulder exercises. I actually did make progress on the shoulder exercises this month, but it definitely did not feel like it for most of the Push Circuit.

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/Chalean Extreme Day 51

Day 51 was the off day in CE so I did the 645 cardio workout and the Lift 4 stretching routine in the evening. Both of them went fine, but I can definitely tell that I am not as flexible as I was when I was doing the foam rolling routines daily. So, I think when I do my next workout I am going to try to work that in more.  

Book Review: We're Not Leaving: 9/11 Responders Tell Their Stories of Courage, Sacrifice, and Renewal

 

We're Not Leaving is a book about the responders of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City, published in 2011 in conjunction with the tenth anniversary of the attacks. It is a collection of oral histories in which the author, Benjamin Luft, presents edited versions of the experiences of people who responded to the towers being hit by the planes and those who participated in the rescue and recovery/cleanup operation afterward. 

The softcover version of the book is just under 300 pages. Once you start, it is both hard to read and hard to put down. It is one of the most harrowing and emotional books about 9/11 that I have read. The emotion that the people being interviewed conveyed was palpable, and for many, it had not faded even after nearly a decade. The book is solely devoted to the responders in New York. It does not include interviews with responders at The Pentagon or in Shanksville, PA. Ultimately, it is a must-read book that conveys the horrors and the heroism of 9/11 and the days and months after as the city tried to recover from the attack and the devastation that resulted from it.  

Book Review: Ultimate Star Wars: The Definitive Guide to the Star Wars Universe

 

This is the most complete, up-to-date (at least for now) Star Wars encyclopedia out there. It is comprehensively updated with character, technology, and vehicle profiles for every character, weapon, or other piece of technology and vehicle that has appeared in a movie or one of the animated series like Clone Wars, Rebels, or Resistance. There are small hints that will tie into The Rise of Skywalker, but nothing that would be a major spoiler.

Every character gets at least a paragraph of text in the character section. The main and/or major characters get at least a page if not two, and the most important characters also have a timeline that outlines their lives up to the point we last see that character, whether because they died or their story will continue on. Some character bios are fleshed out with material from the novels (e.g., Quinlan Voss), so this touches on all aspects of the canon material (including the Battlefront II video game).

There is also some behind-the-scenes material that shows concept art, storyboards from the movies, and behind-the-scenes set photographs. Those appear at the end of each section of the book and have a couple pages of material.

Whether this falls into the " must-have " category is really subjective. It is a great "coffee table" reference book that most people will not sit down and read cover-to-cover. It will also very likely be updated as more movies and TV series are released. Even though the Skywalker Saga is ending with the next film, there will still be a ton of new material both on the Disney Plus platform and movies outside the Skywalker storyline released over the next decade. So this will be out of date at some point (as are any encyclopedias that have come before this one). Also, if you are just a casual Star Wars fan, you may find this overkill. But this is an excellent pickup for anyone who is a die-hard fan and has watched all the movies and TV series, read all the novels, etc.

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/Chalean Extreme Day 50

Day 50 started the final week of the Push Phase in CE. I did the 645 cardio workout in the morning and PC1 in the evening. I was again able to increase the amount of weight I used for a few of the exercises. I have been able to raise the amount of weight I used in the first week of the Push Phase by at least 2 lbs and was able to increase some by 5lbs over the course of the month.

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/Chalean Extreme Day 49

 Day 49 was the 645 cardio workout, followed immediately by the CE ab routine. Then in the evening I did the Recharge workout from CE. Nothing much to report from any of the workout routines. They were pretty much all the same as the last time I did them. 

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/Chalean Extreme Day 48

On Day 48, I did the Burn it Off routine from CE. I did not do the 645 cardio workout since I was a bit tired. I cannot say that this was the best workout ever, but I got it done.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Blindspot Season 4

 

The 22-episode fourth season of Blindspot aired during the 2018/2019 TV season. It does another shakeup of the show now that the threat of Sandstorm is (mostly) over. The season picks up shortly after the events of season three, with Remi back, Weller just out of the hospital, and Zapata missing. It is hard to not say too much and not give too much of the season away. As you can imagine, the team is ultimately back together by the end of the season, but I will not spoil how they get to that point. The season ends (again) on a massive cliffhanger that has the team (again) in danger, courtesy of the season's big bad, played by Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio.

The show has to, and again does a good job of, juggling the large ensemble cast, all while giving more expanded roles to Zapata (Audrey Esparza), Patterson (Ashley Johnson), and Rich DotCom (Ennis Esmer who has finally been promoted to series regular). Given that the show started with a big mystery to resolve, and has actually resolved it (which is usually the death knell for those kinds of shows) it has managed to remain compelling and interesting. The writing and acting are very good throughout the season, setting up what looks to be a strong final season.

The Blu-Ray set is a four-disc set. It is an MOD set, so it just includes the episodes. There are no extras of any kind. However, you get captions and a true play-all feature that allows you to pick up where you leave off, even if you stop in the middle of an episode. But, if you only get discs when there are a ton of extras, then you should stick with streaming this unless you have the prior seasons on disc and want it for a collection.

Book Review: Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge: A Crash of Fate

 

A Crash of Fate is a young-adult Star Wars canon novel published in 2019 and written by Zoraida Cordova. It is not part of the main storyline (not part of the Skywalker saga). Thus, it tells a story about characters who live tangentially in the Star Wars universe but are not the main characters or part of the main storylines of the movies, TV shows, or novels involving those characters. It is set on the planet of Batuu, which has been referenced in the Clone Wars and Rebels series, as well as multiple books. The main characters are two childhood friends, Izzy and Jules, who have a crush on each other as kids when Izzy's parents take her away without warning. Thirteen years later, between the events of The Force Awakens/The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker, she returns to Batuu as a smuggler to be unwittingly reunited with Jules who remained on Batuu as a farmer.

The story is, in part, a love story and in part an adventure involving The Black Spire, smugglers, and the First Order and Resistance acting in the background. It is basically a one-off story that does not really tie into the larger "Skywalker Saga" (i.e., the events of the movies). Even though it is a young-adult novel, it is enjoyable enough for adults too. The love story part of the book is not too sappy (for the most part), and it has some twists to it. The book is just over 300 pages, but it reads fairly quickly with a reasonable amount of characters to keep track of, and the chapters are fairly short (about 20 pages or less per chapter, with some only a couple of pages). So, depending on how fast you read, and how much time you have to do so, you can get through it fairly fast. While it is not a must-read novel, it is enjoyable and worth checking out for those who get some, but not all, of the novels.

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/Chalean Extreme Day 47

On Day 47, I did the 645 cardio routine and PC3 from CE. In PC3, I increased the amount of weight for all of the exercises except for two. I think I made the most progress in this workout from the first week than I did in the other two Push Circuit workouts this week. 

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/Chalean Extreme Day 46

On day 46, I did a low-impact version of the 645 cardio routine in the morning and CE's Burn Intervals routine in the evening. Both of the workouts went okay, but I am still modifying some of the exercises in the interval workout.

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/Chalean Extreme Day 45

On day 45, I did the 645 cardio routine in the morning and PC2 from CE in the evening. I was able to increase the weight for some of the exercises, including a couple of the shoulder exercises. However, for most of the shoulder exercises, I used the same amount of weight as I did last week. Overall, both workouts went well.

DVD/TV Series Review: ALF: The Complete Series (Deluxe Edition)

 

ALF: The Complete Seris is a DVD box set containing the live-action sitcom Alf, which aired for four seasons on NBC from 1986 to 1990, and the two animated Saturday morning cartoons that were spun off of the main series: Alf: The Animated Series and Alf Tales. The live-action series was created by Tom Patchett and Paul Fusco about an alien from the planet Melmac named Gordon Shumway (but always called ALF, short for alien life form), whose ship drifted in space for a year after his planet blew up and then crashed into the garage of a family in Los Angeles. Fusco created the character of ALF, voiced him in the series, and acted as the puppeteer. The series also starred Max Wright, Anne Schedeen, Andrea Elson, and Benji Gregory in the leading roles as the Tanner family members with whom ALF lives. John Lamatta and Liz Sheridan play the most prominent supporting characters in the series, Tanner's neighbors, Trevor and Raquel Ochmonek. The Animated Series aired from 1987 to 1989 and was a story-of-the-week cartoon about ALF's life on Melmac. Alf Tales aired from 1988 to 1990 and spoofed Fairy Tales such as Snow White, Hansel and Gretel, etc., often infusing them with pop-culture references such as movie references like The Godfather or 80s personalities like Sigfried and Roy and Johnny Carson. 

The DVD set is a 24-disc set. The final disc is a bonus disc that contains a series retrospective featuring interviews with Fusco and Patchett, the 1996 TV movie Project ALF, which resolved the cliffhanger that the parent series ended on, and a handful of episodes from the series with Patchett and Fusco (mostly in character as ALF) commentating on the episodes as bubbles with facts about the series or jokes pop up on the screen. Overall, this is a nice box set, especially for people who were kids in the 1980s watching the show when it aired. The live-action series is the best of everything included in this set. It was mainly wholesome and family-friendly, but occasionally, it would sneak a more adult joke in. The series had quite a few recognizable character actors from the 1980s who appeared, along with a couple of well-known guest stars like Ed McMahon and David Odgen Stiers. The only drawback is that the series ended on a massive cliffhanger. If you watch the bonus material, you will discover that NBC had not decided on the series' fate as the fourth season ended. The producers agreed with NBC that they would end the season on a cliffhanger, and if the series was not renewed for a fifth season, they would make a TV movie to wrap up the story. Unfortunately, NBC backed out of that agreement, so the ending went unresolved until 1996 when ABC agreed to do the TV movie Project ALF.

While it was a decent ending to the story, it did not include any of the cast members from the main series, so it was not a proper series finale. The two animated series were fine but were definitely geared 100% for kids, so they are not as enjoyable for adults. Ultimately, ALF was a fun show. If you lived through the 1980s, it will be a nostalgic blast from the past. One thing some may enjoy is that there are a couple of shots taken at donald t***p, proving that the orange genital wart was just as big a joke back then as he is now. Of course, Americans would be stupid enough to elect an idiot who was a punchline for 80s sitcoms and cartoons as President. The show is dated and a bit cheesy but holds up well and is worth the time to watch.

DVD/TV Movie Review: Project ALF

 

Project ALF is a 1996 TV movie starring Paul Fusco, William O'Leary, Miguel Ferrer, Jensen Daggett, Scott Michael Campbell, John Schuck, Liz Coke, and Martin Sheen. There are also some great cameo and extended cameo appearances by recognizable actors such as Ray Walston, Ed Begley Jr., and Charles Robinson. It serves as a finale to the series ALF, which ran from 1986 to 1990 but ended on a massive cliffhanger with ALF being caught by the Alien Task Force when he was on his way to rendezvous with the ship coming to pick him up. In the movie, the government is trying to decide what to do with ALF. A general (played by Sheen) secretly plans to kill ALF, and two Air Force scientists (played by Daggett and O'Leary) help ALF escape.

The DVD is very bare-bones, just including the movie itself. When the fourth season of ALF was coming to an end, NBC had not decided whether to renew the show for a fifth season. There was, however, a tacit agreement between the network and the producers that they would end the season on a cliffhanger, and if the show was not renewed, NBC would allow them to make a TV movie to resolve the cliffhanger. However, NBC canceled the show and backed out of the agreement to produce a movie, so it was not until ABC approached the producers years later that they could finally get a TV movie to wrap the storyline up. Thus, we get Project ALF. 

It is an okay wrap-up to the series, but because so many years had passed since the series's end, aside from Fusco (who voiced ALF and controlled the puppet), none of the other actors from the series appeared. The Tanner family was written out as having gone into the witness protection program and were living in Iceland. The movie has a slightly different feel than the TV show, but the character of ALF remains mostly the same, and thus, the brand of humor does, too. While it would have been nice if the actors from the TV show had been involved so that the series could get a proper finale, the movie, while a little cheesy, does wrap up on a good note. So, if you were a fan of the show, this is definitely worth the time to watch.   

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/Chalean Extreme Day 44

Day 44 was the off day in CE, so I just did a high-impact version of 645 cardio in the evening. Again, I could tell that the range of motion on the squat jumps (both the 645 version and the P90X version) is getting much better.