4K-UHD/Movie Review: Caligula: The Ultimate Cut: Collector's Edition

 

Caligula is the controversial film about the rise and fall of the Roman Emperor, Caligula, who ruled from 37-41 A.D. The movie stars Malcolm McDowell, Helen Mirren, Teresa Ann Savoy, Peter O'Toole, Paolo Bonacelli, John Steiner, Anneka Di Lorenzo, and Lori Wagner. It was filmed in 1976 but not released until 1980 because of post-production and legal issues, mainly stemming from the final edit of the film, overseen by producer Bob Guccione, who was the owner of Penthouse magazine, that added explicit X-rated footage to the movie without the knowledge of the main cast members, the director (Tinto Brass) or the screenwriter (Gore Vidal). Both Brass and Vidal did not want to be credited on the movie (the credits say "Principal Photography by Tinto Brass" and "Adapted from the screenplay by Gore Vidal"). The movie itself is a bit weird, but all the stories about the making of the movie are even stranger. Basically, it was filmed in Italy, using British and Italian actors and Italian extras. Guccione thought that the film was not sexy enough and the Italian extras were not attractive enough, so he brought in several Penthouse models, including Di Lorenzo and Wagner, to use as extras. Then, after Principal Photography was finished, Guccione secretly recorded reshoots with the X-rated content using the Penthouse models and inserted it into the film using a new editor. Because of the explicit content, several versions of the movie have been cut over the years due largely to censorship standards in various markets.  In 2019, author and historian Thomas Negovan was hired to oversee the film's restoration and recut to match Vidal's original script as much as possible, using the recently discovered original slides and negatives. 

The 4K set is a four-disc set containing a UHD disc and three regular Blu-Ray discs. The UHD disc contains the restored version of the movie that uses all new footage for every scene and includes an animation sequence at the beginning of the film to set up the story. It also rearranges scenes from some other versions, beginning the movie with Caligula waking up from his nightmare. The version of the film on the UHD disc is just under three-and-a-half hours long, and the A/V quality is excellent. The only extra on the UHD disc is an audio commentary on the film by Arrow Films author Heather Drain. Disc 2, the first regular Blu-Ray, has a shorter version of the Ultimate Cut of the film (that runs just under three hours) and also includes a commentary track by Drain. Disc 3 contains the unrated, uncensored cut of the movie with the explicit content and some of the extras, including a webcast discussion between Negovan and Aaron Shapps about the Ultimate Cut of the movie and a webcast of Negovan discussing premiering the new cut of the film at Cannes. Disc 4 includes the pre-release cut of the film without the X-rated material, the Australian version of the movie, and the Italian version of the film, which is the shortest cut of the film at just over an hour and a half that can be played with or without English subtitles. The Australian and Italian versions of the movie tone down the nudity a lot, and the Italian version cuts many of the scenes, so it really streamlines the storyline. 

There are three different audio commentary tracks on the pre-release version of the movie, one including Malcolm McDowell, one including Helen Mirren, and one including the on-set writer Ernest Volkman. The rest of the bonus features are on the fourth disc and include two different Q&A sessions with Negovan and McDowell at the Fantastic Film Festival. Hearing the different views on the movie's original version is interesting. McDowell hated it (and Guccione) and seemed irritated with the Penthouse models, especially Di Lorenzo. On the other hand, Mirren did not seem to have much of an issue with the explicit content. Opinions on Guccioni's addition seem to range from Guccione destroyed the movie, to he was financing the film so he could do what he wanted with it. In the archival interviews featuring Guccione in the bonus content, he was clear that he wanted a blend of a mainstream movie and a pornographic film. The rest of the extras include behind-the-scenes material, an interview with Lori Wagner (who says the Penthouse models were promised speaking parts in the film and only found out that they would be extras once they got on set), and a couple of making-of featurettes that included interviews with the cast and crew when the film was made. If you get the set from Umbrella Entertainment, it also comes with two posters, 8 poster cards, two different books, and a commemorative reprint of the Caligula issue of Penthouse Magazine (just the portion discussing the movie, not the entire magazine). Everything fits into a hard outer case. 

As I said above, the movie is weird. Even if it were a standard movie that never included explicit content (and yes, that includes actual sex in which you can see everything), it would be a very adult film. Each version of the movie has nudity and shows much more nudity than many mainstream films do (including full-frontal male and female nudity). McDowell's performance was very over-the-top, but he was playing a character that essentially went crazy as he amassed more power. Mirren (who was still a relative unknown at the time) did a good job in her role as Caesonia, and Peter O'Toole was great in the limited amount of time he was in the film. The movie absolutely feels dated and would probably be made much differently today. If you love going through bonus content, this has a ton of fascinating material. It is not a movie that will appeal to everyone, and even the tamer versions of the film may offend many people, but if you are a film buff, the movie is worth watching, and this set is worth picking up.

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 14

On day 14, I did the 645 cardio workout. I did not do either of the Lift 4 recovery routines today, however. 

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 13

On day 13, I did the 645 cardio workout, immediately followed by Lift 4's stretching routine. I did not foam roll, however. Both went fine, and it did help to stretch after the cardio. I still have a long way to go to get my flexibility where I want it, but my main concern at this point is not backsliding.

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 12

On day 12, since it was the HIIT legs workout in Lift 4, I switched up the morning workout to do the Legs workout in Shaun 20. That one is all squats and lunges and does use a medium-weight dumbell for a couple of the exercises. The Legs workout in Lift 4 had some brutal exercises (triple bear and catchers jumps). I still mostly have to hold the bear position as I find even stepping hard in that one. 

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 11

Day 11 was shoulders (intervals) in Lift 4 and the Pure Cardio workout from Shaun 20. Both workouts went well but were challenging. The exercises in the HIIT intervals were hard but not as hard as the worst HIIT moves in the program. The Pure Cardio workout keeps getting easier the more times I do it.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Young Sheldon Season 2

 

The 22-episode second season of Young Sheldon (which also aired concurrently with BBT's final season) aired during the 2018/2019 TV season. It provided more character development for all the main characters, fleshed out storylines for all the characters (even if just for an episode or two), and brought the show solidly into the "dramedy" category with many touching and even sad moments. All the main cast members returned for season 2, and the show expanded the roles of some supporting characters such as Pastor Jeff (played by Matt Hobby) and Veronica Duncan (played by Isabel May). Wallace Shawn's role was greatly expanded (to almost a series regular) and the show added Ed Begley Jr. as a rival to Dr. Sturgis and Mckenna Grace as a recurring rival child genius to Sheldon. I will not go too into storylines, but we did see moments referenced on the BBT (like Sheldon trying to build a nuclear reactor to power the neighborhood), and in the season finale a very touching scene with the BBT characters as children.

The blu-ray set is a two-disc MOD set. It has no extras, just the episodes with English captions (which can be hit-and-miss on MOD sets). So, if you only get the physical discs when there are a lot of extras, then you will probably just want to stream this. Overall, the show continues to be very good, and definitely not a carbon copy of BBT. Ian Armitage continues to make the character of Sheldon his own while doing a great job at giving glimpses of Jim Parson's version of Sheldon, Annie Potts is hilarious, and Regan Revord steals every scene she is in. It is absolutely worth watching, especially if you liked the first season.

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 10

Day 10 was the off day in Lift 4, so I did the 645 cardio routine in the morning and the two Lift 4 recovery routines in the evening. I am going to make a concerted effort to do the recovery routines at least once a week, on the Wednesday off day, and will try to work them into the weekend off days if I get a chance. My flexibility has backslid quite a bit the past few months, so I absolutely want to work on that in this round. 

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 9

On Day 9, I did the Cardio Circuit workout from Shaun 20 and Back and Biceps (50/50) from Lift 4. The Cardio Circuit workout got a bit easier than last week, but it is still challenging, even heavily modified. As Shaun says during that workout, these workouts allow you to see how you can modify the exercises in the regular version of Insanity so you can do longer workouts without the impact or at a slower pace if you are not in good enough shape to do the unmodified moves. The Lift 4 workout went well. I am really trying to focus on form which sometimes means using a lower amount of weight. I will try to use my microplates to increase the weight by 2.5 lbs for at least some of the exercises in the various workouts next week.

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 8

Day 8 was the start of week 2 in this round of Lift 4. I did the Shaun 20 Pure Cardio workout in the morning and the Chest and Triceps (circuit) workout in the evening. The circuit workout was very challenging since there was little to no rest throughout the workout. I started with the same weight I used last week, but I had to drop the amount of weight I used for a couple of the exercises once I got to the third set.

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 7

Day 7 was another off day in Lift 4 so I did the 645 cardio workout in the evening. This time, I just did a low-impact version because I was a bit sore and not feeling great. But I got it done. 

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 6

On Day 6, I did the 645 cardio workout with higher-impact exercises. I did not do either of the Lift 4 recovery workouts. 

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Beetlejuice Beetlejuice - Limited Edition Steelbook

 

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is the 2024 horror-comedy sequel to the original 1988 movie. It was directed by Tim Burton and stars Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, and Catherine O'Hara, all reprising their roles as Beetlejuice, Lydia, and Delia from the original movie. It also stars Jenna Ortega, Justin Theroux, Willem Dafoe, and Monica Bellucci. Burn Gorman also reprises his supporting role from the original film, and Danny DeVito has a small cameo appearance at the beginning of the movie. Like the original film, this one is kind of weirdly offbeat, but it works. In it, we learn that Charles Deetz, played by Jeffrey Jones in the original movie, died, bringing the family back to the house for his funeral. Lydia has a paranormal talk show in which she interacts with ghosts in people's homes. Her daughter, Astrid (played by Ortega), is full of teenage angst and does not believe in her mother's ability to see ghosts. In the afterlife, we learn that Beetlejuice is still pining after Lydia, while his ex-wife (Bellucci), who was an occultist in life and who can suck out souls in death, is coming after him. Lydia starts seeing Beetlejuice in the real world, and events require her to call on him for help.

The 4k set is a two-disc set containing a UHD disc and a regular blu-ray disc. You can get the 4k set in a steelbook package with a glow-in-the-dark slipcover with Lydia on one side, Beetlejuice on the other, or in regular packaging. The A/V quality of the UHD disc is outstanding. Both the audio and video quality are top-notch and at or near reference quality. The extras are all included on the UHD disc. Those include a commentary track by Tim Burton, a making-of featurette that runs almost a half hour, and then about an hour of behind-the-scenes material split up into six shorter featurettes. The commentary track by Burton is okay, but it does have some long stretches in which he does not say anything, and the movie is playing. However, he provides information on the discussions he has had with Keaton over the years for a possible sequel, why he felt it was better to wait to make the sequel instead of doing it in the early or mid-1990s, and specifics of the production. He does not detail why Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, and Jeffrey Jones were not returned for the sequel. Jones' likeness was used, but he did not play or voice Charles Deetz in the movie. He was not brought back because of his legal issues, but I have not seen or heard any explanation for why Baldwin and Davis were not brought back (or if they were even offered parts). There was a line in the film explaining the absence of the Maitlands (Baldwin and Davis' characters from the original movie).

The movie is a fine sequel to the original. It mixes horror and comedy and, like the first movie, has an epic musical number. It does not have an overabundance of CGI, as Burton relied on practical effects where he could and used stop-motion animation for sequences where CGI is usually used. Therefore, the movie was able to have a similar look and feel to the original. It is definitely a quirky movie that will not appeal to everyone's tastes. There is a lot going on in the movie, with a few different storylines that are sometimes separate and sometimes intertwined. Bellucci's role seemed just shoehorned into the movie, did not tie to any of the main plotlines, and only intersected with the other parts of the story at the end. Ultimately, if you were a fan of the original film, this is definitely worth watching.

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 5

On Day 5, I did the cardio circuit workout from Shaun 20 in the morning and the Legs (50/50) workout from Lift 4 in the evening. The cardio circuit workout was a little easier than the first time I did it this week, but it was still challenging. The Lift 4 workout was more challenging in the HIIT part than the lift portion, mainly because my legs felt like jelly by the time I got to the second half of the workout. 

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 4

On Day 4, I did the Shaun 20 pure cardio workout and Lift 4 shoulders (intervals) in the evening. All the HIIT today ended up being low impact because the moves in the Lift 4 workouts are the ones that are some of the hardest for me to do, but I did do a couple of unmodified no-jump burpees. The Shaun 20 workout was slightly easier than the first time I did it this week but it was still challenging. 

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 3

Day 3 was the rest day in Lift 4, so I did the 645 cardio workout in the morning and then the two Lift 4 recovery routines in the evening. It seems like rotating the three workouts will work well because the Shaun 20 workouts are definitely more intense (even when doing them low-impact) and are a bit longer than the 645 cardio routine. It absolutely helped to do the stretching and foam rolling routines from Lift 4. Even though they are short, they do help loosen you up. 

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 2

On Day 2, I did the cardio circuit workout from Shaun 20 in the morning and then the Lift 4 back and biceps (circuit) workout in the evening. The Shoun 20 workout is similar to the cardio circuit from Insanity in that it has three rounds of four exercises, with a strength exercise that transitions you from block to block. Of course, the exercises are all low-impact, but the workout is still challenging. The Lift 4 workout was a challenge as well. I was really trying to focus on my lifting speed and form, trying not to do the reps as fast as I normally do. 

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Better Call Saul: The Complete Series

 

Better Call Saul is a drama that aired from 2015 to 2022. It is mostly a prequel series to Breaking Bad, the iconic crime drama that aired from 2008 to 2013, but it is set in several time periods, including two years after the end of Breaking Bad. It stars Bob Odenkirk, Rhea Seehorn, Michael Mando, Patrick Fabian, Tony Dalton, and Michael McKean. It also features several Breaking Bad alums, some in leading roles (or prominent recurring roles) such as Jonathan Banks, Giancarlo Esposito, Lavell Crawford, Tina Parker, and Mark Margolis, and some in more minor roles or cameos, including Laura Fraser, David Costabile, Raymond Cruz, Luis Moncada, Daniel Moncada, Steven Bauer, Betsy Brandt, Dean Norris, Aaron Paul, and Bryan Cranston. Some prominent guest and recurring cast members include Carol Burnett, Juan Carlos Cantu, Peter Diseth, Barry Corbin, Julie Pearl, Joe DeRosa, Rex Lin, and Mark Proksch. 

The series focuses on providing the backstory for Saul Goodman (Odenkirk), the smarmy "criminal" lawyer who helped Walter White build his drug empire in Breaking Bad. Most of the series is set in Albuquerque, New Mexico, between 2003 and 2007 (which is where the Breaking Bad timeline starts). We see that Saul is a struggling solo practitioner named Jimmy McGill, who is living on taking low-paying public defender cases and whatever other work he can find. He is living in the shadow of his brother, Chuck (McKean), who was a partner in a prominent law firm called Hamlin Hamlin McGill (HHM) but is now a shut-in because of a debilitating hypersensitivity to electromagnetism. When the series uses flashbacks (mostly to the 1990s), we see that before moving to New Mexico, Jimmy was a conman in Illinois who scammed Marks out of money. After being bailed out by his brother after being arrested, Jimmy moves to Albuquerque to work in the mail room at HHM, secretly goes to a correspondence law school at the fictional University of American Samoa, and then passes the New Mexico bar exam. While Jimmy is a good lawyer, he can never quite leave his conman past behind and is more than willing to cut corners, which is one of the keys to his transformation into Saul Goodman. The series also jumps to Saul's post-Breaking Bad life, where he lives in Omaha under an assumed name, "Gene," managing a Cinnabon (paying off on the line from Breaking Bad) and pining for his life as Saul.

The Blu-Ray set is a 19-disc set. Seasons one through five each have three discs, and season six has four. They are packaged in a large keep case that requires discs to be stacked on top of each other on tabs that either make it damn near impossible to get the discs out or allow the discs to fall off and float loose. The extras include at least one commentary track on every episode (some episodes have two commentary tracks). Most commentaries are led by one or both showrunners, Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould) and include cast and/or crew members. The commentaries spoil events from the series, so if you have not watched the series yet and care about spoilers, you should watch all the episodes first, then listen to the commentaries. Then, in each season, there are behind-the-scenes material, gag reels, and "training videos" that are led by cast members in character and use animation with Easter Eggs from the series and from Breaking Bad. They are the same discs released for the individual seasons, with the same extras, just repackaged in a single case. So, if you bought the seasons individually on Blu-Ray, this does not give you anything more. 

The series is a very good prequel that is different from but matches the quality of the parent series. Odenkirk is wonderful playing Jimmy and showing his devolution into Saul. The writers do a great job conveying that there were a series of events that, had things gone differently, Jimmy would have never become the criminal he ultimately would. They also reveal that there were several events that should have warned him against the life he would ultimately choose. The series also shows the evolution of Mike Ermantraut (played by Banks) from a guilt-ridden former dirty cop from Philadelphia to Gus Fring's fixer. It is not a family-friendly series. It includes swearing, drug use, some sexual content, and nudity. While it was initially conceived as a comedy (revealed in one of the commentary tracks), it is a fantastic drama with some humor (usually dark humor) mixed in. Ultimately, if you loved Breaking Bad, this is a must-watch. If you have never seen Breaking Bad, you can watch this series first, but you want to watch Breaking Bad before you watch the final three episodes of Better Call Saul. Otherwise, it will spoil much of what happens in Breaking Bad. Even if you have not watched Breaking Bad and are just looking for a good dramatic series, this is absolutely worth your time to watch. 

Product Review: Graphique 2025 Marilyn Monroe Wall Calendar

 

This is a 2025 full-sized wall calendar with a nice collection of photographs from throughout Marilyn Monroe's life. It includes a mix of black-and-white and color photographs. Some pictures are from her pre-movie fame modeling career, but most appear to have been taken after she became famous. Most photos are from staged photoshoots, but a couple are more candid shots, such as one taken when she exited a vehicle at an event. Chances are, if you are a fan of Marilyn, all the pictures included here are ones you have seen. Although, there are a few pictures that are not as widely circulated or popular as some others of her are. Ultimately, it is a good option if you are looking for a 2025 calendar featuring Marilyn. 

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 1

Today marked the first day of a new round of workouts. As I said in the last post, I decided to incorporate a couple of the Shaun 20 workouts into the mix to freshen things up. They are led by Shaun T and were filmed during the pandemic when he was filming his Dig Deeper program (which you can tell because he has way more tattoos than he did during the Insanity workouts, and he is super jacked). The workouts are 20-minute, non-impact versions of insanity workouts, making the moves from Insanity and Insanity Max 30, very modified, so there is no jumping. They are perfect for anyone who wants to try Insanity but is not in good enough shape to do the program unmodified or has done Insanity but is now out of shape and wants to work back to the unmodified version. 

So, in the morning, I did the pure cardio workout from Shaun 20, which has a warmup and then a series of one-minute long exercises, all of which appeared in Insanity (e.g., switch kicks, power jacks, etc.,) that you do without jumping, and then you do a short cooldown. Then, in the evening, I did Lift 4's week 1 chest and triceps 50/50 workout. 

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/Lift 4 Hybrid: Day 55

Day 55 was the last day of this round of the hybrid workout. I just did 645 cardio in the evening. I decided to switch things up for the next round. Lift 4 is still going to be my primary workout, but I am going to incorporate a couple of the Shaun 20 workouts, which are shorter (20 minutes) low-impact versions of Insanity that Shaun T created when he was filming his Dig Deeper program and I will still do 645 cardio once or twice a week.  

4K-UHD/Movie Review: Alien Romulus

 

Alien Romulus is a 2024 Sci-Fi/horror film co-written and directed by Fede Alvarez. It is (as of this writing) the newest entry in the Alien franchise of films, set in the year 2142 between the original 1979 movie Alien (set in 2122) and the 1986 movie Aliens (set in 2179). It stars Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Arche Renaux, Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn, and Aileen Wu. In it, a group of young colonists living and working on the planet LV-410 steals a hauler with the intent to raid an abandoned space station so they can steal the cryostasis equipment and get to a planet called Yvaga III, which is not controlled by the Weyland-Yutani corporation. Little do they know, the corporation had recovered a cocoon from the wreckage of the Nostromo that contained the xenomorph that killed the crew of the Nostromo, brought it aboard the station, and began reverse engineering the facehuggers. Of course, the station's crew were all killed, and there are Aliens in the "Romulus" module of the station, which the group inadvertently releases when they attempt to steal the cryostasis equipment. Then, it becomes a monster-chase movie similar to the other films in the franchise. 

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 version of the movie is excellent and is reference quality (or near reference quality) for both the audio and video. All the extras are included on the regular Blu-Ray disc. Those include about 11 minutes of deleted scenes, about 35 minutes of behind-the-scenes material, and a conversation between Fede Alvarez and Ridley Scott (who was an executive producer on the film). In total, there are just under an hour of extras. There is no director's commentary track on the film, which would have been nice given how big a fan Alvarez is of the franchise and how many easter eggs he put in the movie to tie it to Alien and Aliens. 

Ultimately, the movie is an excellent return to the franchise. It is well-written and acted. It focuses on the franchise's horror/monster movie roots but expands the storyline to give more detail into the Weyland corporation's plans for the creatures. As I said above, Alvarez is a huge fan of the franchise and included many easter eggs and callbacks to the prior movies, especially Alien, including a way to posthumously use Ian Holm's likeness for the Android Rook, which is an identical model to Ash from the original movie, whom the group encounters on the station. It also ties the film to the colony aspect introduced in Aliens, giving a perspective of what it was like for the kids living in those colonies. It also incorporates aspects from the prequel films Prometheus and Alien Covenant. Given the 30+ year gap between the events of Romulus and Aliens, this movie could have multiple sequels down the line. However, even as a standalone film in the franchise, it is absolutely worth watching. 

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Better Call Saul: Season 6

 

The sixth and final season of Better Call Saul aired during the spring and summer of 2002. The sixth season was delayed (airing two years after season 5 ended) because of the COVID-19 pandemic and Bob Odenkirk's on-set heart attack during the season. In it, the series finally catches up to the start of Breaking Bad, and we see Jimmy's full transformation into (and embrace of) Saul Goodman. The first nine episodes finish off the pre-Breaking Bad storyline. The final four episodes are mostly set in the "present" day in Nebraska (two years after the end of Breaking Bad) but also include events that occurred during Breaking Bad and El Camino, shown from Saul's (or another character's) perspective. Of course, this means we get more cameos from major Breaking Bad characters, including Betsy Brandt and, yes, Aaron Paul and Bryan Cranston. The main storylines in the first nine episodes are Kim and Jimmy's continued scam against Howard Hamlin and their attempts to take him down and the feud between Gus and the Salamancas (with the discovery that Lalo survived the attempted hit) coming to a head. As you would expect, those two storylines intersect in a major way. In the final three episodes, we see how Gene decides to "handle" the situation with the cab driver (now played by Pat Healy after the role was recast), recognizing him during Season 5 and the ultimate resolution of the series. The guest stars in that storyline included Carol Burnett, Jim O'Heir (best known for his role in Parks and Rec), and Kevin Sussman (best known for his supporting role in The Big Bang Theory). The series also brought back several cast members from the earlier seasons, including Julie Ann Emery, Jeremy Shamos, Lavell Crawford, Steven Bauer, Jessie Ennis, Ed Begley Jr., Dennis Boutsikaris, and Michael McKean. Other guest stars who appeared this season included Sandrine Holt and Reed Diamond.

The Blu-Ray set is a four-disc set. As in prior seasons, each episode has a commentary track (a couple of episodes have two commentary tracks), and some episodes have deleted scenes. There is about an hour of behind-the-scenes material, another set of training videos (this time, featuring the three film students Josh Fadem, Hayley Holmes, and Julian Bonfiglio, who Jimmy/Saul has used over the years to film his commercials and get video or pictures for his scams), and a gag reel. The season ends the show and the Breaking Bad universe well. The ending could have been much different had Bob Odenkirk been unable to continue filming after his heart attack. In the bonus features, Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould said the series would have ended with episode eight if Odenkirk had not been able to return. In one of the behind-the-scenes interviews Odenkirk said he hoped that the showrunners would have recast Saul and properly finish the story, but Gilligan and Gould said that would not have happened. Thankfully, Odenkirk recovered and eventually returned to finish shooting the show. I will not spoil the ending of the series for people who have not watched it, but we do see a resolution for the arcs of all the surviving characters. If you have watched the prior five seasons, it will not come as a surprise that not every major character survives, and a significant death in the season directly impacts Jimmy's final transformation into the Saul Goodman we were introduced to in Breaking Bad. Ultimately, the season is well-written and very well-acted, and the ending of the series is satisfying. It is absolutely worth the time to watch.

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/Lift 4 Hybrid: Day 54

On day 54, I did the full-body HIIT workout, which was the last regular workout of this round of Lift 4. For most of the day my left foot was in a lot of pain, but by the end of the day it had let up enough for me to do the workout, but I did not do the 645 cardio routine in the morning because I did not want to risk making whatever was going on with my foot worse.

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/Lift 4 Hybrid: Day 53

Day 53 was supposed to be the full-body HIIT workout from Lift 4, however, I was helping someone move, so I used that as my second workout and just did the 645 cardio workout. It ended up being a long day and I was quite tired by the end of it, but I got a ton of steps in and did a lot of lifting. 

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/Lift 4 Hybrid: Day 52

On day 52, I did the 645 cardio in the morning and the shoulders and arms workout in Lift 4. The shoulders and arms workout is a circuit workout, and it was still quite challenging, even though I have used the same amount of weight for quite a while now.