Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 29

Day 29 was Pure Cardio from Shaun 20 and Lift 4's Chest and Triceps (50/50) workout. This was the start of week 5 in Lift 4, which meant increasing the weight for the lifting exercises again. I increased the weight I used for each exercise by another 2.5 lbs, which was challenging but doable.  

DVD/TV Series Review: The Librarians Season 4

 

The ten-episode fourth and final season of The Librarians aired from the winter of 2017 to the spring of 2018. Although it was not intended to be, this ended up being the final season of The Librarians, which was spun off from the various made-for-TV movies that Noah Wyle made after he left ER. The fourth season essentially followed the prior seasons in that it set up the major storyline of the season in the first episode, then had story-of-the-week episodes as fillers while interweaving the larger story arc here and there. I will not go into the major story arc too much, just to say it involves a former guardian whose loyalties are questioned.

The show continued to give all the characters depth and balanced out the storylines for them well. We finally got a Jenkins-centric episode (which was directed by Lindy Booth), which John Larroquette knocked out of the park. Wyle also has a larger role this season since he was not splitting time between this show and the series Falling Skies as he was in the prior seasons. Rebecca Romijn, John Kim, Christian Kane, and Lindy Booth all do great jobs with their characters, and the series continued to be well-written and acted. This season's guest and recurring stars include Rachel Nichols, John Noble, Richard Kind, Steven Weber, and Gloria Reuben, among others.

The DVD set is a three-disc set. The extras this season include writer and director blogs for select episodes and commentary tracks on every episode (usually with the writer and director of the particular episode and sometimes with one or more members of the cast). A decent amount of material, but not as much as there had been in prior seasons. You do learn, if you listen to the commentary for the final episode, that they just found out before recording it that TNT had canceled the show. While the season was not written to be the final season, and the last episode was not written to be a series finale, the show, thankfully, did not end on a major cliffhanger this year, so you are not left wondering about a storyline or an event that will not have a payoff. You are, however, left to wonder where the show would have gone as a next step.

Overall, the show is well-written and acted. I did not feel like it was getting too stale, and I think it could have easily had another season. It would have been nice if the showrunners were given a season that they knew would be the last one to see exactly how they would have ended the show with a proper series finale. Dean Devlin had held out hope that the show would get picked up by another network, but so far, it does not seem like it will happen now that we are two years (as of this writing) removed from the cancelation, plus the complication COVID has on the shooting schedules for all the shows and movies that were in production when the pandemic shut everything down. And, given the show had more of a cult following than it ever had mass popularity, I do not think it will likely be picked up. But, if you are a fan of the show, it is definitely worth checking out the season, even knowing that you will not get a true series finale.

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 28

Day 28's workout was again the 645 cardio routine, modified with different exercises. For this workout, I worked in the jump knee switches from P90x's plyo routine and switch kicks from Insanity while still doing soccer runs and speed skaters from Lift 4.  And, on the pulse squats I did the full jumps and not just lifting onto my toes.

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 27

On Day 27, I did the 645 cardio routine. I did not do either of the Lift 4 recovery workouts, however. Since this was an off day from the second workout, I did a higher-impact version of the workout and incorporated switch kicks from Insanity into the routine. 

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Young Sheldon: Season 6

 

The 22-episode sixth season of Young Sheldon aired during the 2022/2023 TV season. The show continues to blend procedural and serial story arcs, although this season the focus was more on the serial arcs. Most of the season's serial storyline involves Mandy's (played by Emily Osment, who was promoted to a series regular) pregnancy and her relationship with Georgie and the family. We also meet Mandy's parents, played by Will Sasso and Rachel Bay Jones. George and Mary's relationship troubles come to a head when George's feelings for Brenda and Mary's feelings for Pastor Rob come to a head. Missy and Sheldon also have substantial story arcs this season, with Missy's involving teenage angst and Sheldon working on an invention while trying to position himself for grad school. Connie's storylines intertwine with Georgie and Mandy. She gives Mandy a job and a place to stay while running her illegal gambling operation. All of the series regulars return for the sixth season, as do many of the significant supporting and recurring cast, including McKenna Grace, Wallace Shawn, Ed Begley Jr., Rex Linn, Matt Hobby, Craig T. Nelson, Doc Farrow, Wendie Malick, Melissa Peterman, and Wyatt McClure. And, of course, Jim Parsons continues to narrate the series.

The Blu-Ray set is a two-disc set. There are no bonus features with the physical media release this season, but the episodes can be played with English captions. The lack of bonus content on the Blu-Ray release is disappointing, but since not all shows get a physical media release (especially a Blu-Ray release), it is better than nothing for those who prefer physical media.

The show continues to have an excellent blend of drama and humor. The writers do a great job continuing to develop all the characters, especially Georgie. Montana Jordan is wonderful in all his scenes this year and has really run with his expanded role beyond just being the "other kid" as he was in the first few seasons. Unlike the first few seasons, Sheldon is not the focus of every episode, which is ultimately good because it gives the other actors more to work with. Ian Armitage still does an excellent job with his version of Sheldon, which is still quite different from The Big Bang Theory version of the character. However, now that Armitage is getting older and his voice has changed, it is a bit weird because he sounds nothing like Jim Parsons which is only emphasized when you hear Parson's voice. Ultimately, if you liked seasons 1-5, this season is worth watching. 

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 26

On day 26, I did the full body workout from Shaun 20 in the morning and the Legs workout from Lift 4 in the evening, which is all HIIT this week. In the Shaun 20 workout, you do three circuits, each for two rounds. The first circuit is back and chest, alternating between one-arm rows and push-ups. The second circuit is shoulders, biceps, and triceps, doing shoulder presses, curls, and triceps presses. The third circuit is legs, doing sumo squats and lunges. So, you do need dumbbells for that workout, although because you are not doing reps but instead doing each exercise for 45 seconds, you will be using a lighter amount of weight. 

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 25

Day 25 was shoulders (intervals) from Lift 4 and Pure Cardio from the Shaun 20 workout. I did the cardio workout in the morning and the Lift 4 workout in the evening. I actually paid attention to the exercises in the Shaun 20 workout, and it is 17 total exercises once the warmup is over, but two of those are exercises that you do on one side and then the other (power knees and a step back into a knee lift), so you are actually doing 15 different exercises. I can definitely tell that my stamina is getting better, but it is nowhere near where I want it (basically where it was when I finished the original Insanity workout, which is when I was in the best shape I have ever been in, and where I am trying to get back to).

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 24

Day 24 was the rest day in Lift 4, so I did the 645 cardio routine followed by the Lift 4 stretch routine. I did not do foam rolling today, but I plan to on at least one of the weekend rest days. In the 645 cardio routine I continued to incorporate more of the exercises from Insanity into that one, so again, just using it for the timing of the intervals as opposed to following the actual workout.

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 23

Day 23 was the Cardio Circuit workout from Shaun 20 in the morning and the Back and Biceps (50/50) routine from Lift 4 in the evening. Both workouts went well, as I can tell that my overall stamina is improving in the cardio workouts, and I was able to use the increased amount of weight on all the lifting exercises.  

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Bohemian Rhapsody

 

Bohemian Rhapsody is a 2018 biopic of the popular 70s and 80s rock band Queen, focusing on the band's lead singer, Freddy Mercury. It was directed by Bryan Singer and stars Rami Malek, Ben Hardy, Gwilym Lee, Lucy Boynton, Joseph Mazzello, Aidan Gillen, Allen Leech, Tom Hollander, and Aaron McCusker. The movie starts and ends at the 1985 Live Aid concert. The film begins with Mercury (played by Malek) walking to the Live Aid stage, and then it flashes back to 1970 to show the band's formation and chronicles their rise to fame, breakup, and reunion. The show ends with a recreation of the Live Aid performance, which is regarded by many as the band's best performance. 

The 4K set is a two-disc set with a UHD disc and a regular Blu-Ray disc. The UHD disc contains the movie and one of the bonus features, the full recreation of the 21-minute live-aid performance (which was cut down for the film's theatrical release). The rest of the bonus features are on the regular Blu-Ray disc, which includes several featurettes (that each last approximately 20 minutes) with behind-the-scenes footage, interviews with the cast and crew as well as a couple of the surviving band members, including Brian May who was also a producer on the film, and three different trailers for the movie.  So, if you are a fan of bonus content, this has over an hour's worth of material. Interstingly, Singer is not featured in any of the bonus material. He had a notorious reputation for being a difficult director (pretty much being an asshole to people on set). After the allegations of sexual assault against him in 2017, Singer became persona non grata. He was replaced late in the movie's production but still received the directing credit. This was (at least for now) his final directing job.

The movie is well-written and very well-acted. Malek is fantastic as Mercury and almost perfectly nailed his look, voice, and mannerisms. Mercury was a flamboyant and weird dude, and Malek channeled that well. Malek seems a bit odd, so it was a good fit. The movie did not sugarcoat Mercury's problems with drugs, relationships, his issues dealing with his sexuality, and the promiscuous lifestyle that led to him contracting AIDS. The writers also did a great job showing the complicated dynamics between the band members. While Mercury wanted to constantly party, the others had families and were increasingly irritated at Mercury always being late for rehearsal and recording sessions. While the movie is just over two hours long, there was not enough time to focus on the lives of the other band members, so they are primarily seen in scenes together as a group, while we see much more of Mercury's personal life. Ultimately, it is an excellent movie and enjoyable whether you are a fan of Queen or even like their music all that much. Although several of the band's songs are played in the movie, so it does help if you like their music. It is absolutely worth watching.

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 22

Day 22 started week 4 in Lift 4, which meant chest and triceps (circuit). In the morning, I did the Shaun 20 version of Pure Cardio. Again, I can tell that Pure Cardio is becoming easier than a few weeks ago, so I am making progress there. In the Lift 4 workout, I used the same increased weight I used last week. That was absolutely challenging during the circuit workout, even though I had only increased the weight on the various exercises by a couple of pounds. That makes a world of difference when you are doing a workout with essentially no rest until the end. 

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 21

On day 21, I just did 645 cardio, or my version of it, since I really do not follow their workout and just use it for timing. I have started incorporating more exercises from Insanity into the routine, focusing on ones I do not have to modify. My ultimate goal is to get back to a point where I can do Insanity modified and then start doing it unmodified or with fewer modifications. I may always do some of the exercises as low-impact just to protect my back and knees now that I am getting older, but I will see how I feel when the time comes.

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

Day 20 was 645 cardio, followed by Lift 4's stretch. My work had its holiday party tonight, so I did the workout early in the afternoon. I did not overeat at the party, so even though it was basically a cheat meal, I did not overdo it. 

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Young Sheldon: Season 5

 

The 22-episode fifth season of Young Sheldon aired during the 2021/2022 TV season. The entire main cast returned, as did the major supporting and recurring cast members, including McKenna Grace, Reba McEntire, Ed Begley Jr., Wallace Shawn, Craig T. Nelson, Rex Linn, Matt Hobby, Wyatt McClure, Melissa Peterman, Wendie Malick, Doc Farrow, etc. Dan Bryd and Emily Osment join the cast in significant recurring roles.  Both are included as a part of major storylines toward the end of the season. This season's guest stars include Ming Na Wen, Penn and Teller, and Lance Reddick. The writers continue to use a combination of procedural and serial storytelling. The major serial arcs this season include the fallout from George and Brenda flirting with each other at the bar. We learn that George just had chest pains, not an actual heart attack. Throughout the season, his relationship with Mary becomes strained because of his guilt toward flirting with Brenda and Mary's relationship with a new youth pastor (played by Bryd). Other storylines include Sheldon going to college full-time and becoming a research assistant to Dr. Linkletter, Connie buying a laundromat with slot machines in the back room, Missy becoming a moody teenager, and a major storyline involving Georgie that will extend into season six. We also discover the reason for Sheldon's hatred of engineering, which includes a great voice cameo by Simon Helberg.

The Blu-Ray set is a two-disc set. The only extra is a behind-the-scenes featurette on the series' 100th episode that occurs this season. There are no deleted scenes, no gag reel, or commentary tracks, however. The show continues to be strong, with an excellent blend of humor and drama. The writers do a good job of developing the characters and continue to drop easter eggs that tie into the parent series, The Big Bang Theory. Jim Parsons continues to narrate the show, and his narrations (along with another voice appearance by Mayim Bialik) continue to provide details of Sheldon's life after The Big Bang Theory ended. The cast members all do a wonderful job in their roles, and the writers give all the actors great material to work with. While the show is centered around Sheldon, he is a secondary character in some episodes, allowing the storylines to focus on the other characters. So, if you liked the first four seasons, this is absolutely worth watching.

DVD/Movie Review: Daddio

 

Daddio is an independent film from 2023 directed by Christy Hall and starring Dakota Johnson (who is also a producer) and Sean Penn. The movie's premise is quite simple but works very well. Johnson's character, who is just called "Girlie," takes a cab driven by Penn's character, Clark, home from the airport. During the ride, the two strike up a conversation that includes topics ranging from the role of technology in our lives to relationships and power dynamics between men and women. Almost the entire movie is set in the cab, with the two characters talking between the divider.

The DVD release is very bare-bones. It just contains the movie, which runs about an hour and a half and can be played with or without English captions. There is no behind-the-scenes material, deleted scenes, or other bonus content. The movie is excellent and plays to both Johnson's and Penn's acting strengths. Johnson is much better when she is not trying to play a seductress (which absolutely does not suit her). Penn (regardless of what you think of his personal life and beliefs) does a great job in any role he takes on, especially dialogue-driven roles. The movie does have some sexual content, mainly in the form of explicit text messages between Girlie and the man she is seeing that occur during the cab ride. Those include naked pictures. However, there are no actual sex scenes or "live" nudity. Ultimately, it is a well-written and acted drama. If you are a fan of either actors and/or independent films as a whole, this is absolutely worth watching.

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 19

Day 19 was Pure Cardio from Shaun 20 and Legs (50/50) from Lift 4. Like all the workouts this week, I increased the amount of weight I was using for all the exercises by a couple of pounds, and I could feel the increase in weight.  

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 18

On day 18, I did the cardio circuit workout from Shaun 20 in the morning and the Lift 4 shoulders (intervals) workout in the evening. I again increased the amount of weight I was using for every shoulder exercise by a couple of pounds. I found it challenging to go up in weight even though I had been using the same amount of weight for quite some time. Although, as I have said before, my shoulders are not my strongest area. But, I got through it.

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 17

Day 17 was the rest day in Lift 4. So, I did the 645 cardio workout in the evening followed by the Lift 4 stretch routine. I did not do the foam rolling this evening, however. I started incorporating more exercises from Insanity (mostly modified as they are in Shaun 20) into the workout but still doing a couple of the exercises in the 645 cardio routine. 

DVD/TV Movie Review: The Client List

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Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Young Sheldon Season 3

 

The 21-episode third season of Young Sheldon aired during the 2019/2020 TV season. It is, of course, the spinoff series of The Big Bang Theory, telling essentially weekly stories of Sheldon as a 10-year-old growing up in Medford, Texas, in the late 1980s/early 1990s. It differs from the parent series in that it is not filmed in front of an audience and is supplemented by a laugh track. It has more drama blended into it than BBT, and more long-running themes are tied into the various weekly hijinks. So, it uses more of a blend of serial and procedural storylines, whereas BBT's storylines were mostly procedural for the bulk of its run. Plus, the show has a great 1980s soundtrack and is narrated by Jim Parsons as adult Sheldon, allowing the show to drop hints about what happened to the character post-BBT.

The show continues to be well written and acted, with all the various actors, Iain Armitage, Zoe Perry, Lance Barber, Montana Jordan, Raegan Revord, and Annie Potts, getting ample storylines devoted to their characters and knocking their performances out of the park. The show does a great job not just focusing on the character of Sheldon but also developing all of the characters and giving great material to all members of the very large ensemble cast. The big storyline for Sheldon in season three is whether (and where) he should attend college, as he does not find high school challenging. This causes a lot of friction between Sheldon and his parents. Another standout storyline is Missy trying to get on a little league baseball team. That storyline introduces Craig T. Nelson as a recurring character in the show, as Missy's coach, Georgie's boss, and a potential love interest for MeeMaw. I will not go too much into the various storylines to keep from spoiling anything, but the themes this season are very good, and the show is definitely not getting stale. Most of the recurring and supporting cast return this season, including Wallace Shawn, McKenna Grace, Rex Linn, and Ed Begley Jr. 

The Blu-Ray set is a two-disc set. While it is a MOD disc, it includes English captions, and the episodes can be played in a play-all mode that allows you to pick up where you stop, even in the middle of an episode. The extras are very bare-bones. It just includes a short behind-the-scenes feature of the show's setting in the 1980s. So, if you only get the physical discs when there are a lot of bonus features, then you may just want to stick to streaming this. Ultimately, the show continues to be strong and is absolutely worth watching.

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 16

Day 16 was the Cardio Circuit workout from Shaun 20 in the morning and the back and biceps (circuit) workout from Lift 4 in the evening. Like yesterday's workout, I increased the amount of weight I used for each exercise by about 2.5 lbs (using the microplates on my regular dumbells and the half-pound increments on the SelecTech dumbells). The circuit workout was tough, especially with the increased weight, but I was able to do all the sets in all the reps (although pausing a few times) at the higher weight. 

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 15

Day 15 was the start of week 3 in Lift 4, which meant the chest and triceps (50/50) workout. And in the morning, I did the Pure Cardio workout from Shaun 20. In the Lift 4 workout, I increased the amount of weight that I used for each exercise by 2.5 lbs using the microplates and SelectTech dumbells. I had been using the same amount of weight for several weeks, so my body definitely felt the increased amount, especially in the third set in each block. 

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 Guccione'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.