Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Power 90 Hybrid: Day 6

Day 6 was the optional rest day in Max 30 (which I took) and Sculpt 1-2 in Power 90. I again used the 12 lb weight for every exercise in the workout. Because there is almost no rest between sets, even the exercises where I could use heavier weights on (like Lawnmowers) still burn by the end of the 15 reps. 

DVD/Movie Review: Ammonite

 

Ammonite is a romantic drama from 2020 starring Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan. It was written and directed by Francis Lee and loosely based on the life of a British paleontologist named Mary Anning. The supporting cast includes Fiona Shaw, Gemma Jones, James McArdle, and Alec Secareanu. In the film, Mary (played by Winslet) runs a shop in Lyme Regis in Dorset, England with her mother. An archeologist named Roderick Murchison (McArdle) visits the shop with his wife Charlotte (Ronan) who has been sent to Lyme Regis to convalesce after losing a baby, with the sea air being prescribed for her depression. Roderick initially pays Mary to teach him about fossil collecting and leaves Charlotte in Mary's care (much to both of their chagrin) for six weeks while he visits mainland Europe. When Charlotte gets sick, Mary cares for her, and the two fall in love and begin a sexual relationship. 

The DVD is a single-disc release. The only bonus feature is a short making-of featurette featuring interviews with Winslet, Ronan, and Lee. The film is a well-written and acted romantic drama. It definitely has the feel of an independent movie with a slower plot. About two-thirds of the way into the movie, there is some sexual content, including a nude sex scene between Winslet and Ronan. So, it is not exactly family-friendly, but it is not full of gratuitous sex and nudity. Ultimately, if you like independent dramas and are not triggered by same-sex relationships, it is worth watching.    

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Power 90 Hybrid: Day 5

Day 5 was Friday Fight Round 1 in Max 30 and Sweat 1-2 and ab-ripper 100 in Power 90.

The Friday Fight workout is slightly different from the others in the first week of Max 30. You do the same kind of five-minute warmup, then ten exercises for a minute each before the first break. After the 30-second break, you do another nine exercises (again for one minute each), and then you get another 30-second break. Finally, you finish with four exercises. So, each exercise in the workout is performed for a longer duration and you get fewer breaks. In this one, I maxed out a little over 11 minutes into the workout. 

The Power 90 workout went fine, but I was still a bit tired from the morning workout, so I did not try to overdo it. The ab-ripper portion of the workout was again a little easier today. 

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Charmed (2018): Season 1

 

This is a reboot of the late 1990s TV series of the same name about three sisters who are powerful witches who fight evil (mainly in the form of various demons). This version stars Madeleine Mantock, Melonie Diaz, and Sarah Jeffrey as the titular "Charmed Ones" Macy, Mel, and Maggie, and Rupert Evans as their Whitelighter, Harry. The supporting cast includes Nick Hargrove, Ellen Tamaki, Ser'Darius Blain, Natalie Hall, Craig Parker, Valerie Cruz, Leah Pipes, and Virginia Williams. The 22-episode first season aired during the 2018/2019 TV season. The show's premise is similar to the original series, three sisters discover that they are witches whose powers have been activated after the death of a family member. In the original series, it was the grandmother's death, and in this series, it was the mother's death. This series includes characters such as Elders and Whitelighters and various demons. Where the original series was more of a blend of procedural and serial storylines, this series uses much more serial storytelling, with the primary storylines of each episode building on the next. There are some monster-of-the-week storylines, but not as many as the original series had, especially in its first couple of seasons. 

The blu-ray (and DVD) set is a five-disc set. It should be noted that the individual seasons were only released on DVD, but the complete series was released on Blu-Ray after the series ended. All the extras are included on the final disc. Those include a making-of featurette featuring interviews with the showrunners and cast and a short gag reel. The A/V quality of the Blu-Ray is outstanding. The show is actually much better than it got credit for being. It got backlash when it was announced for not including the original cast members. Alyssa Milano and Holly Marie Combs expressed their disappointment. However, the showrunners stated that they had already told that story and wanted to be its own show and be more inclusive, by having the sisters be multi-racial and include LGBT characters. Some people will also hate it because it is "woke," which to the extent that is really a thing, it absolutely is. Within the monster fighting storylines, the show does tackle real-world issues such as sexual assault, discrimination, and the like. So, if that bothers you, you should absolutely steer clear. 

Ultimately, the show is good, but like the original, it has its silly parts (it has a bit of a prime-time soap opera element to it) and the writers sometimes set things up without good follow up. The special effects are light years beyond what the original series had (even in the later seasons). Of course, that has a lot to do with CGI being much better than in 1998, and this show having a larger effects budget since the actors in the show were not big names. The writing is a bit inconsistent but the acting is very good. While I cannot say that everyone who loved the original series will like this one, if you were a fan of the original series (or just a fan of the fantasy genre in general) this is worth checking out.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Power 90 Hybrid: Day 4

Day 4 was Tabata Power (for the second time this week) in Max 30 and Sculpt 1-2 in Power 90.

Tabata Power was still tough, even modifying the moves, but it was a little easier than on Tuesday. I was able to make it a little bit farther into the workout before maxing out, but I still could not get through the entire triceps dip sequence without taking a break. I maxed out at a little over 24 minutes, about a minute before the modifier, who is in phenomenal shape, maxes out in that workout.

For the Sweat 1-2 workout, I decided to take a different approach, which I plan to use all through Power 90. Basically, I am going to use the same weight for all the exercises and do 15 reps of each exercise. When I can easily do 15 reps for everything, then I will bump the weight up. That should make it easier to get through all the exercises since the transitions in the workout are very quick, and you do not have much time to grab different weights before you have to start performing the next exercise. For this workout, I used 12 lb weights which were very light for the back exercises, but a little heavier for the shoulder flys and the back scratchers (which I think I am going to swap for Lift-4's one arm triceps extension). I will probably use the same weight for Saturday's workout and then bump it up to 15 lbs next week. 

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Power 90 Hybrid: Day 3

Day 3 was the Cardio Intervals workout in Max 30 and Sweat 1-2 in Power 90.

The intervals workout was definitely challenging. It has several blocks where you do three exercises back-to-back three times, and then you get a 30-second break every five minutes. Each block has an exercise that requires you to be in a plank (e.g., push-up punches, ski-abs, wide-pike ups, burpee lunges, etc.). I barely made it all 30 minutes without taking an unscheduled break (I wanted to take a break a couple of times during the burpee lunges in the final block). If I were not modifying, I would have likely maxed out around the six-minute mark. 

The evening workout was Sweat 1-2 again, and it was easier than on Monday. My flexibility in the initial stretch and yoga portion was a bit better and I did not get as winded in the cardio portion. And, ab-ripper 100 was easier than on Monday. So, overall, both workouts went well.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Power 90 Hybrid: Day 2

Day 2 consisted of two full-body workouts, one using all body weight (Tabata Power in Max 30) and one using mostly dumbbell weight (Sculpt 1-2 in Power 90). In the Max 30 workout, I made it just under 24 minutes (during the triceps dips sequence) before maxing out. Basically, in the Max 30 workout, you work chest, legs, core, and triceps, doing each exercise twice. You do each exercise for 20 seconds, actively rest for 10 seconds, then do the exercise again for 20 seconds, actively rest for 10 seconds, then go to the next exercise. Every five minutes, you get a 30 second break. 

In the sweat 1-2 workout, you do three blocks consisting of six exercises that you do 8 to 15 reps. If you have done P90x, you will recognize every exercise; the difference is that there is almost no rest between the exercises. Tony and the two cast members each use mostly the same weight for each exercise, so they are doing light weight for 15 reps. Tony and the female cast member use adjustable weights, which they may adjust between the exercises when the cut scene showing the form of the exercise plays. The male cast member uses a band, and it does not appear that he switches bands. Each workout went well, but the Max 30 workout was definitely harder.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Power 90 Hybrid: Day 1

This was the start of a new workout round and I went back to the original Power 90 workout, which was the precursor to P90x as my evening workout and Insanity Max 30 (following the modifier) as my morning workout. Day 1 was Cardio Challenge in Max 30, and Sweat 1-2 followed by Ab-Ripper 100 in Power 90. 

The idea behind the Max 30 workout is to write down the time you must take an unscheduled break the first time, and each week, have a later "max out" time in that workout. Today, I made it a little under 22-minutes into the workout (while following the low-impact modifier) before I had to break. The evening Power 90 workout was tougher than I expected. It has been ages since I have done yoga, so the few minutes of yoga at the beginning of the workout were tough. The cardio portion of the workout was not too bad because Tony and the two cast members were going slow, but there were a couple of spots where I had to pause for a second and get water. The ab-ripper workout has ten exercises and you do ten reps for each exercise. The exercises get progressively harder as you go through the workout, so the last few were very tough for me to get through all ten reps. 

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 54

Day 54 was the last full workout of Lift 4. So, in the morning, it was the cardio circuit workout from Shaun 20 and full-body HIIT in the evening. Both workouts went okay but were challenging. 

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 53

On day 53, I did the Pure Cardio routine from Shaun 20 and the Shoulders (circuit) routine from Lift 4. Shoulders was very hard, and, like last week, I started out with the higher weight for all the exercises but had to drop the amount of weight I used for some exercises by the third set. Also, by the time I got to the burnout round, I could not do full curls with 15lbs and had to drop that to 10 in order to do the curls for the full 30 seconds with proper form. 

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 52

Day 54 was the rest day for Lift 4, so I did the 645 cardio routine in the evening. Again, I slacked off and did not do either of the recovery workouts. 

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 51

On day 51, I did the Cardio Circuit workout from Shaun 20, and the legs (50/50) workout from Lift 4. Like the chest and back workout yesterday, the leg workout has the same exercises as last week, but in a different order. Also, like last week's version of the leg workout, you do each of the three exercises for 30 seconds in each set in the HIIT portion. It was challenging, but I was able to use the same amount of weight for this week's workout as I did last week for all the exercises.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Battlestar Galactica: The Remastered Collection

 

This is a box set containing the original Battlestar Galactica series that aired 24 episodes during the 1978/1979 TV season and the 10-episode spinoff series, Galactica 1980, which aired in the winter and spring of 1980. The original series starred Richard Hatch, Dirk Benedict, Lorne Greene, Maren Jensen, Laurette Spang, John Colicos, Herbert Jefferson, Tony Swartz, Noah Hathaway, and Terry Carter. Jane Seymour had a guest starring role in the first handful of episodes but left the series early in the season, and Ed Begley Jr. had a supporting role in the three-part pilot episode. If you watch the bonus features, you will find out all the male cast members were bumed when Seymour left because they all had the hots for her. Galactica 1980 had an almost entirely new cast, with only Greene and Jefferson reprising their characters from the original series (although Benedict did appear in what would be the series finale). The main cast members in the spinoff series were Kent McCord, Barry Van Dyke, Robyn Douglass, and Robbie Rist.

The plot of both series involves a war between humans from a different galaxy and a race of androids called Cylons. In the pilot episode, the Cylons lure the leaders of the 12 human colonies (planets) to a peace conference, under the guise of negotiating a truce. The Cylons attack the conference and the 12 colonies, virtually wiping out the humans except for the crew of the Galactica, a battleship (called a Battlestar), and several colonial ships with refugees from the various colonies. The remaining ships start on a quest to find a lost 13th colony, Earth (which is in a different galaxy), while trying to avoid Cylon attacks. The original series was canceled after the first season without the Galatica reaching Earth. In the spinoff series, set 30 years after the events of the original series, Galactica arrives at Earth, only to discover humans on Earth are not technologically advanced enough to fight the Cylons. The Galactica drops off two crew members, (McCord and Van Dyke's characters) to integrate with the humans of Earth and help them advance their technology and then leaves the solar system to lead the Cylons away from Earth.

The Blu-Ray set is an eight-disc set. The original series has six discs and Galactica 1980 has two. Only the original series has bonus features. Those include a commentary track on the three-part pilot episode, including Richard Hatch and Dirk Benedict. There are deleted scenes and outtakes for most episodes spread across the six discs, and then, on the final disc, a series retrospective that includes interviews with some of the surviving cast members and the series creator, and featurettes on restoring the series in HD. Galactica 1980 does not have any bonus features. The episodes can be played in a "play all" mode and you can pick up where you leave off if you stop in the middle of an episode. The A/V quality is good to excellent, but because computer-generated effects did not exist when the original series aired, you can definitely tell how fake the effects were when watching the series in HD, probably moreso than if you watched the episodes in standard-definition.

The original series is okay, but very dated and cheesy. Galactica 1980 is dated, cheesy, and mostly bad (although it has some okay moments). Neither series is as good as the 2004 reboot, not only because the special effects were not as advanced, but because Sci-Fi series at the time were not taken all that seriously, so the writing was not all that good and the look and feel of both series was very dated. Ultimately, while neither series is great, the original series is a Sci-Fi classic. If you are a fan of the 2004 reboot series, it is interesting to watch these series to see how the 2004 series changed and adapted the storylines and the various characters.     

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 50

Day 50 was the start of week 8 (the final week) in Lift 4. I did Shaun 20's Pure Cardio workout in the morning and then Lift 4's chest and back (circuit) workout in the evening.  I was able to maintain the same weight that I used in the chest and back workout last week. It is basically the same workout, but the exercise order is switched around. It was still a challenge because of having little to no rest between the exercises and only a few seconds of rest between the sets. 

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 49

On day 49, I again did a higher-impact cardio routine using the 645 cardio workout for timing. I think for the next workout(s), I am going to do Insanity Max 30 in the morning and then Power 90 in the evening. I intend to get myself to a point where I can do the full version of Insanity (probably modified) and P90x (unmodified) as a doubles routine. So, I will modify Max 30 and do Power 90 unmodified. Then, in 90 days, see where I am at. Since Max 30 is only a sixty-day program, I may switch to the full version of Insanity at the end of the 60 days and then pick up with P90x once I finish Power 90, but I will make that decision after I finish Max 30.

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 48

Day 48 was the 645 cardio routine. However, I did not do either of the recovery workouts from Lift 4. I just did higher-impact cardio moves using the 645 workout for timing. 

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 47

Day 47 was Cardio Circuit from Shaun 20 in the morning and Full-Body HIIT from Lift 4 in the evening. Both workouts went well, as I can tell that my stamina and range of motion are improving. Full-body HIIT was very tough. Even the cast members in the video had trouble with this one so even if you are in great shape it is very hard to get through without resting or modifying.

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 46

Day 46 was Pure Cardio from Shaun 20 in the morning and Lift 4's shoulders workout in the evening. During Weeks 7 and 8, the shoulder workout is another circuit workout, doing all of the shoulder exercises from the program basically without breaks.

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 45

Day 45 was the rest day in Lift 4, so I did the 645 cardio routine in the evening. I did not do either of the Lift 4 recovery routines. The one I have still been slacking during this round is doing the stretching and foam rolling. Once I figure out what workouts I am going to do next, I am going to try to incorporate more flexibility-based routines in.

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 44

On Day 44, I did the Cardio Circuit workout from Shaun 20 and the Legs (50/50) workout from Lift 4 in the evening. The big switch for this legs workout is that you do triple sets of lifting and then the HIIT portion is shorter, doing the three exercises for 30 seconds each, and not the 60, 45, 30 second split that you did in the 50/50 workouts for the first six weeks of the program. Again, it was a tough workout and it definitely shocks the body a bit, but I was able to keep using the increased weight throughout each block and set. 

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 43

Day 43 was the start of Week 7 in Lift 4, which is the first of the two shred weeks in which you switch up what body parts are being worked in the various workouts. In the morning, I did Pure Cardio, and in the evening, it was Chest and Back (circuit) in Lift 4. The circuit workout was very tough (since there was little to no rest until the end), although I was able to use the same amount of weight for all the exercises in each set of the workout.

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 42

Day 43 was kind of hectic for me, so I again just did the 645 cardio routine in the late afternoon/early evening without doing either of the Lift 4 recovery routines.  

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 41

Day 41 was just the 645 cardio routine. I did the workout in the evening and did not do either of the recovery routines from Lift 4.  

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: City of Angels

 

City of Angels is a 1998 romantic drama directed by Brad Silberling starring Nicholas Cage, Meg Ryan, Dennis Franz, Andre Braugher, and Colm Feore.  The film is based on, and partially a remake of, the German Film titled Wings of Desire. The movie's premise is that angels walk among us, mostly unseen, guiding and watching over humans. The angels can allow humans to see them when they desire, but humans mostly see the angels when they are sick or dying (in which case, an angel acts as a messenger to walk the humans toward the afterlife). The angels are immortal beings who can become human if they fall from a great height with the will to become human. Nicholas Cage plays an Angel named Seth, who allows Meg Ryan's character, a heart surgeon named Maggie Rice, to see him after she loses a patient on the operating table. He initially keeps his true identity a secret, but as the two fall in love, he contemplates "falling" to turn himself human to be with her.

The Blu-Ray is a single-disc release. The movie looks and sounds good in the HD format, although the film did not get an extensive restoration for the Blu-Ray release, and, as such, the A/V quality is not as good as what a newer movie released on Blu-Ray has. The bonus features include two different commentary tracks on the film, one by the director and one by the Screenwriter, Dana Stevens, and Producer Charles Roven. Both commentary tracks are a bit dry but provide insight into the movie's writing, casting, and production processes. The rest of the extras include deleted scenes (which can be played with or without commentary), a couple of different scene-specific commentaries, one by the director of photography and one by the production designer, a half-hour-long making-of featurette, a featurette on the visual effects, the trailers, and two music videos, one for the song If God Will Send His Angels by U2, and one for the song Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls. Unfortunately, Alanis Morisette's video for Uninvited was not included. Apparently, not all of the bonus content included in the original DVD release was transferred to the Blu-Ray release, which knocks the Blu-Ray release down a star for me. 

The movie is a good romantic drama. Cage and Ryan were at the pinnacle of their careers when the film was made, and both are excellent in their respective roles. The supporting cast does an outstanding job, and Dennis Franz absolutely steals a couple of the scenes he is in. It does feel a bit dated watching it now (2025 as of this writing), but the movie generally holds up well. It can be sappy in parts, and the ending may be predictable for some. Ultimately, however, it is a good movie that is worth watching.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Men in Black: International

 

Men in Black International is a 2019 Sci-Fi action film. It is partly a sequel to and partly a reboot of, the Men In Black movie franchise made famous by the original 1997 film starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones. It stars Tessa Thompson as Agent M, a young woman named Molly who first learned of Aliens and MIB as a young child, and then spent her entire life trying to get "recruited" into the organization. Chris Hemsworth plays Agent H, an MIB agent based in London, who is pretty much a "college bro" like character who ends up being Agent M's partner. The plot involves a possible mole within MIB working to assist an alien life form that can destroy the earth, and Agent M and H trying to stop it. They are joined by Kumail Nanjiani who plays the role of the alien sidekick. The rest of the cast includes Liam Neeson, Emma Thompson, Rebecca Ferguson, and Blaney. The movie is mostly a reboot, given that neither Smith nor Jones makes an appearance in the movie. There is a bit of continuity with Emma Thompson reprising her role as Agent O and cameos by Frank the Pug and the Worm guys. 

The 4K set is a two-disc set with a UHD disc and a regular Blu-ray. The movie looks and sounds great in the UHD format. The UHD disc just contains the movie, and the regular blu-ray includes the movie and all the extras. The bonus content includes previews, a gag reel (which is actually the first movie-related extra, which is usually not a good sign for how extensive the bonus material will be), deleted/alternate/extended scenes, and then a handful of behind-the-scenes and making-of featurettes.

Overall, the movie was decent but totally unnecessary. You absolutely do not have to know anything about the prior movies to follow what is going on in this one. I do not think there was any clamor for a reboot to extend the series. That said, the story was okay, if not predictable in parts, and the acting was very good. Hemsworth has no qualms about making fun of himself and did so in this movie much as he did as "Fat Thor" in Avengers Endgame. He and Tessa Thompson had great chemistry, and she definitely shows that she has what it takes to be a lead (or co-lead) character in a big movie. This is not as good as the original movie, or either of the two sequels with the original stars. That said, as its own thing, it told a fun story and had great special effects, as you would expect. While I will not say that the movie is a must-have or must-see if you are a fan of the franchise, it is worth checking out, even if you just choose to stream it.