DVD/TV Series Review: Modern Family Season 5

 

The fifth season of Modern Family aired during the 2014-2014 TV season and included 24 episodes. All of the series regulars were brought back this season, and the show continued its format as a procedural sitcom that has one or two longer arcs that span multiple episodes. In season five that was a Cam and Mitchell engagement-to-wedding story arc that ran throughout the season. As has been the case in prior seasons, there were on-location episodes. This season, they did one episode in Vegas and one in Australia. The final two episodes of the season focused on Cam and Mitchell's wedding and had somewhat predictable disasters that almost ruined the day. Of course, everything ended up being okay in the end. They did get a little over the top and repetitive with the storylines during the season about almost canceling and moving the wedding, but by the end, it was a funny and touching episode.

For those who actually get the discs, the quality is very subpar. First of all, after making the first 4 seasons available on blu-ray, the studio completely went the cheap route and made it only available on DVD, which many of the non-CGI heavy shows are doing. Although Modern Family is still popular enough that it should have still been available on blu-ray. Then, to add insult to injury, the DVD transfer is horrible. Unfortunately, FOX has focused far more on streaming their shows and made the physical media almost an afterthought. On top of all that, there are very few extras. There are scenes on disc 2, then a couple of behind-the-scenes features on the location episodes, a couple featurettes on the wedding episode, and a gag reel. Okay, for what is there, but not as much or as much quality as in the past. The show itself is still great and very funny. The writers do a good job of giving all the characters good storylines throughout the season, and giving the actors great material to work with. There are definitely some episodes, however, in which the kids were kind of relegated to the background, with the storylines for the adults being given precedence. The shitty DVD quality aside, the writing and acting on the show continue to be top-notch, and it is worth the time to watch.

DVD/Movie Review: The Rundown

 

The Rundown is a 2003 movie directed by Peter Berg and starring The Rock, Seann William Scott, Christopher Walken, and Rosario Dawson. The story involves the Rock's character, Beck, who is basically a bounty hunter for a rich loan shark (played by William Lucking). Beck is tasked with tracking down the boss' son (played by Scott in his most "un-Stifler like role yet) in Brazil as his final job, after which he will be paid enough to open a restaurant and pursue his real passion as a chef. Along the way he crosses paths with the head of a strip mining operation played wonderfully (albeit in an almost over-the-top "more cowbell" SNL parody of himself) Christopher Walken. Rosario Dawson plays a member of the local resistance, trying to get the mining company out of town.

This is the movie that, in my opinion, proved The Rock had some bona fide acting chops and acting range. That, of course, is not always a given for pro wrestlers turned actors (see Hulk Hogan and Jesse Ventura for the laughably bad end of the spectrum). This was just his third overall movie (after The Mummy Returns and The Scorpion King) and only his second in a leading role. It was a role that allowed him to be the action hero everyone thought he would be coming from the pro wrestling world, show off his sometimes underrated comedic side, and even allowed him to make fun of himself a little. It is certainly not an overly complicated plot, nor does it take much thought or energy to watch. That said, it is more than just a "shoot 'em up" kind of action movie, although there is plenty of that. If you are a fan of The Rock or just a fan of action movies, it is definitely worth checking out and makes for a good way to kill a couple hours.

The DVD bonus materials include two different commentary tracks on the movie. One includes The Rock and director Peter Berg, and the other is by a couple of producers. Then, there are about 45 minutes or so worth of behind-the-scenes, making-of features, and deleted scenes. It is definitely not a movie that will appeal to everyone. It would not ever win an Academy Award, but it is a good action movie that does not take itself too seriously. It is definitely worth a look.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Godzilla

 

This version of Godzilla from 2014 was directed by Gareth Edwards and starred Aaron Taylor Johnson, Elizabeth Olson, Bryan Cranston, and Ken Watanabe. I cannot say I am an aficionado of all the Godzilla films that have existed throughout history. What I liked about this version is that when it boiled down to it, the film was really about a battle of monsters, with humans being largely irrelevant to the monsters and just caught in the middle. The film does a great job doing a slow reveal of Godzilla and sets up the modern-day events with tie-ins to events in the 1950s and the 1990s, but once everything is revealed, it makes for a very fun action movie.

The A/V quality of the blu-ray is very good, especially if you have a big-screen TV or projector and even a low-end soundbar. The more extensive setup you have, the better the movie looks and sounds. As for extras, there are several featurettes ranging from about 5 minutes to 20 or so minutes. Some are kind of add-ons to the movie, and others are behind-the-scenes and making-of material. There is definitely quite a bit there for those who like to go through the bonus content. Overall, this is a fun summer action movie with a good story and very good acting. It is definitely worth checking out.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Homeland Season 3

 

+++WARNING This will contain spoilers from the prior seasons and some hints, but no major giveaways about season 3.+++

Season 3 of Homeland included 12 episodes that aired during the fall and winter of 2103. In this season Rupert Friend and F. Murray Abraham were promoted to series regulars, and Tracy Letts was brought on as a power-hungry senator named Andrew Lockhart. The third season is good but kind of disjointed. The plot lines seem to jump around until you get toward the end of the season where everything comes together. The first half of the season was really about the aftermath of the CIA bombing at the end of Season 2 that was pinned on Brody. An elaborate plan between Carrie and Saul was hatched to get the person responsible out in the open, but if you think about it too hard it was a plan hatched to catch someone they did not really know was involved with 100% certainly, relied on information they did not have when the plan was set in motion, or that the bait would be taken. So it takes a lot of suspension of disbelief to buy into the whole thing. If you can put that aside, however, the rest of the season is compelling and dramatic, much like the prior seasons were.

The other main point this season was the wrap-up of Brody's storyline. For much of the first part of the season, Brody was not even around or only appeared for most of 1 episode and a few minutes in a few others. Then his story converged on the other storyline. The one unfortunate part of ending that story is that the great story surrounding Dana's response to finding out her dad was a terrorist was also wrapped up, and it was pretty clear that his family will not have a large role in the show anymore. That said, it was definitely time to bring that story, as good as it was for the first season and a half to a close.

The blu-ray set is a three-disc set, with the episodes and extras spread across the three discs. As far as extras go, there is a behind-the-scenes feature on filming the final episodes, deleted scenes, commentary on the final episode, and a feature on Brody's story from the first part of the season. Not a ton, but okay for what is there. All in all, it is not as good as the prior seasons, but does an adequate job of resolving some storylines and moving the show forward.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Guardians of the Galaxy

 

Guardians of the Galaxy was one of the MCU movies released in 2014. It was directed by James Gunn and starred Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Vin Diesel, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillian, Bradley Cooper, Michael Rooker, and Lee Pace. This movie could have been very good or very bad, depending on whether it was done right. Fortunately, it was, and the result was a very fun and funny action movie.
The story involves the formation of Marvel's "B Team" of heroes, or as the Honest Trailer calls them, Space Avengers. It is set in the Marvel Universe, so while superheroes exist, none of the guardians have powers. The closest is Groot, who is a 7-foot-plus tall tree-looking thing. There is some cross-over with the other films as well. Thanos, who was last seen in the end credits to Avengers, plays another background bad guy in this one, and the collector who was in Thor 2 also makes an appearance.

The main plot involves an orb that is more powerful than most know. It is, in fact, another infinity stone that can destroy almost anything (or anyone) who touches it. Chris Pratt's character, Star-Lord/Peter Quill, is a thief hired to steal the orb. This sets off a huge galactic chase leading to the end battle with Ronan the Accuser, played by Lee Pace. Quill ends up becoming the leader of the group the group of misfit heroes. What makes these characters interesting is that even the good guys are not all good. And they all have very different motives. Drax is after Ronan on a mission of revenge, Gamora (Saldana) is an assassin for Thanos wanting to get away from him, and Rocket, Groot, and Quill are basically all bounty hunters who will do almost anything for money. But what separates them from everyone else is when they need to do the right thing to save each other and stop the bad guy, they do.

Like I said in the beginning, this was totally a movie that could have bombed. Considering 2 of the main characters were totally CGI, and one was an ex-wrestler who was never known to have what passes for good acting skills even in the world of pro wrestling, it could have gone bad quickly. Luckily they wrote Drax's lines totally deadpan and made his character so monotone and serious that Bautista really did not have to do much other than be big and scary. And the animators did so well with the CGI characters that, unlike how they would have looked back at the beginning of the CGI craze, they did not look fake or out of place at all. Bradley Cooper brought great life to a wisecracking smart-a** raccoon and the animators did such a great job giving Groot a personality, it ended up being Vin Diesel's best acting performance yet despite him only repeating the same line over and over.

The Blu-Ray's A/V quality is outstanding and the movie looks and sounds great, especially if you have a big screen and even a decent sound system. I did not watch the 3D version of the movie, but the regular version was flawless (at least to someone who is not an A/V wonk). As far as extras go, they pretty well mirror what was on Thor 2 and Captain America 2 releases. There are a couple behind-the-scenes and making-of features, deleted and extended scenes, a gag reel, and a short look at the making of Avengers 2.

The movie does have a Star Wars meets Marvel Universe feel to it—or, more appropriately, a Spaceballs meets Marvel Universe feel. It is as much a comedy as it is an action/adventure movie, and both aspects work very well. If you are a fan of the other Marvel movies and are in any way on the fence about this one, I definitely think it is worth checking out.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Captain America: The Winter Soldier

 

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is one of the 2014 entries in the MCU collection of movies. It stars Chris Evans, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Scarlett Johansson, Emily VanCamp, Samuel L. Jackson, and Robert Redford. It is both a follow-up to The original Avengers movie (the events of which are lightly touched on in this movie) and to the first Captain America movie, The First Avenger. It is, not surprisingly, more of a follow-up to the latter than the former. In the movie, Steve Rodgers (played by Evans) is still trying to adjust to living in this century after having "died" in the 1940s. It also continues the S.H.E.I.L.D/Hydra battle that started during the events of the first movie when it was assumed Hydra was defeated. To say much more would be to give away too much of the plot, but Hydra uses their own super soldier (The Winter Soldier) who ties back to the first movie as well. And, of course, for those who follow The Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D series, the fallout from the events of this movie is also continued there.

There are multiple physical media releases for the movie now. The single-disc blu-ray includes a few short featurettes, some deleted scenes, and a gag reel. There is also a commentary track for the film by directors Anthony and Joe Russo. It's not a ton of material, but it's fine for what there is. Of course, the movie looks and sounds great on blu-ray.

The movie is very well written and acted. Some of the familiar notables (Black Widow, Agent Hill, Nick Fury), all play roles in the movie. It also introduces the character of Falcon (Mackie) into the movie. Scarlett Johansson probably has the biggest supporting role in the movie as Black Widow, and she and Evans have pretty good chemistry playing the straight-laced Rodgers against the not-so-straight-laced Black Widow. There are 2 scenes after the movie, one mid-credits scene and one post-credits that will set up the inevitable Captain America 3. All in all, if you are a fan of the Marvel movies, this one is one of the better stand-alone movies and sets up some of the larger storylines. If you liked the first Captain America movie then you will probably like this one as well.

DVD/TV Series Review: The O.C. Season 4

 

+++Fair Warning this will contain the major season 3 spoiler and some hints, but nothing major from the final season. If you have not yet seen the third season (which is unlikely by now) avoid the first couple of paragraphs.+++

The fourth and final season of The OC was the shortest season (just 16 episodes) of the series and aired during the fall of 2006 into the winter of 2007. The season rebounded nicely from the messier season 3.  The first half of the season was all about Ryan (and Julie) coping with the death of Marissa, who was revealed to have died in the car accident at the end of the third season. Julie essentially recruits Ryan to go after Volchuck to exact revenge, which, of course, Ryan is all too willing to do, While Sandy, Seth, and Kirsten try to get him to stop pursuing Volchuck and come home. Once that part of the story ends, the focus is really on wrapping up the series and the lingering storylines. The various character relationships are tested again, but luckily not by unlikable characters as in past seasons. The focus is kept (as it should be) on the remaining core characters, with a few ancillary characters (including an appearance by Ryan's father) mixed in.

The DVD set is a five-disc set. The extras include commentary tracks on a couple episodes and a few featurettes on the 5th disc. The focus is on the evolution of Christmakah and the evolution of Summer as a character. There is not a ton of bonus material, but what is included is good. The final episode gives a nice glimpse back at the series as well as a flash into the future to see where the characters ultimately end up. While it is not really a show that requires everything to be tied up in a little bow at the end, I think the writers did a good job of wrapping up the series. While this season is still not as good as the first two seasons, it is still worth the time to watch.

DVD/TV Series Review: The O.C. Season 3

 

+++Fair warning, this will contain spoilers from season 2, but no major season 3 giveaways. Chances are, after all this time, anyone reading will know how season 2 ends, but just in case, skip the first couple of paragraphs.+++

Season 3 of The OC included 25 episodes that aired during the 2005-2006 TV season. The third season is much darker than the others. The season continues the fallout over Caleb's death, Kirsten going off to rehab for alcoholism, and Marissa's shooting of Trey. The cast shuffle continues this season with the departure of Tate Donovan (the show uses Jimmy's continued money woes to write the character off and introduces a bunch of ancillary characters to stir up relationship issues (mainly the Ryan/Marissa relationship). Personally, I think the best addition to the cast is Autumn Reeser, who plays Taylor Townsend. At first, she is kind of a villain for the younger characters and ends up being (almost) one of the group. She has great comedic chops and brings what little comedy there is during the season. Willa Holland also joins the show this year, taking over the role of Marissa's younger sister, Kaitlin.

The rest of the season is really about the characters spiraling off the rails. Sandy takes over the Newport Group and becomes more and more like Caleb than he or anyone else wants. Seth goes through a "troubled" phase, which is fairly tame considering but threatens his relationship with Summer. Marissa continues the tailspin she never really got out of, which leads Ryan to have to choose whether to try and protect her or let her go. Like in the other seasons, they jam-pack a lot of storylines into the season. Some play themselves out within a few weeks, and others linger throughout the season. I don't necessarily think trying to take the characters in a different direction (which they were clearly trying to do, at least to some extent) always worked very well this season. I think the show would have been better off putting a heavier focus on a few of the storylines and not trying to jam as much in. The season does end on a massive cliffhanger that will definitely have reverberations in season four.

The DVD set is a seven-disc set, and the extras include a few behind-the-scenes featurettes and a gag reel. While there are no episode commentary tracks, there is a feature with commentary/interviews about specific scenes.  The acting in the show was still very good despite some lackluster material to work with. Autumn Reeser pretty much stole every scene she was in, especially toward the end of the season. The recasting of Kaitlin Cooper with Willa Holland was okay, but they never really gave the character much to do besides being a trouble-making brat. There was not as much of the main cast interaction that made the first couple of seasons of the show really good, and the show did fall off some as a result. I am not in the camp of people who totally despise this season, but I did think it was more lackluster than the first two seasons. Even so, it is still worth the time to watch.

DVD/TV Series Review: The O.C. Season 2

 

+++Fair warning, this will contain some spoilers from season 1 and plot lines (but no major spoilers) from the second season.+++

The second season of The OC included 24 episodes that aired during the 2004-2005 TV season. This season was all about the relationships between the various characters and how they were strained after the events at the end of the first season played out. At the start of the season, Ryan is back in Chino with a pregnant Theresa, and Seth has run away, sailing off into the sunset. While those storylines were brought (somewhat) to a conclusion after the first episode of the season, the repercussions play out for the teenage characters and the adults all throughout the season. The basic stories around the teenager relationships were the will-they/wont-they get back together for Ryan-Marissa and Seth-Summer. A couple new characters get thrown into that mix, including Olivia Wilde joining the cast as a major recurring character for most of the season. The adult relationships are also strained throughout the season. Sandy and Kirsten are both tempted to stray and cheat on each other, and there is a Julie/Caleb/Jimmy triangle for part of the season.

Overall the second season has less jumping from storyline to storyline than season one did. There is still some of that, but it is clear what the focus of the season is. The show also benefited from paring down some of the cast. Although more recurring characters did appear throughout the season, you did not have as many episodes where someone would totally disappear or have nothing to do, as was the case in the first season. The show kept its blend of witty comedy, family drama, and trashy soap opera going this season. I thought the show really found its footing this season and even made fun of itself a little.

Toward the end of the season, they put a twist on the initial season one storyline when they brought back Ryan's brother Trey (recast and played by Logan Marshall-Green). Trey's storyline is kind of a doppelganger-like version of Ryan's story from season one and plays on the differences between the two characters. The season also dealt with issues like infidelity, alcoholism, same-sex relationships, rape, and drug use. The show did not dive into the deeper stories all the time, but when it did I think they were well done. Like in the first season, it is enjoyable enough to watch as an adult outside the "target" age group of those who were in high school or college when the show aired.

The DVD set is a seven-disc set. Most of the bonus content is on the final disc in the set. The bonus content includes gag reels from season 1 and season 2, a half-hour retrospective on the first season and the wild popularity the show had right out of the gate, and then a 12-minute feature on the style and fashions on the show. There are also commentary tracks on select episodes and a few deleted scenes spread throughout the other discs. All in all, enough to make the people who like going through the bonus material happy. If you are a fan of the first season, the show continues to evolve and get better in season 2, and is definitely worth the time to watch.

DVD/TV Series Review: The O.C. Season 1

 

The O.C. was the latest in a line of teen-centric nighttime soap operas that sprang up in the early-mid 2000s. The first season consisted of 27 episodes and aired during the 2003-2004 TV season. The show was created by Josh Schwartz and starred Ben McKenzie, Mischa Barton, Rachel Bilson, Adam Brody, Melina Clarke, Peter Gallagher, Kelly Rowan, Tate Donovan, and Chris Carmack. It was what I would describe as a mini "it-show" in that it was very popular out of the gate and had some mainstream exposure. It was not necessarily a show that you could not miss on a weekly basis, but it was talked about a lot. The easy comparisons are to shows like Beverly Hills 90210, Dawson's Creek, etc, and there are certainly similar elements from those shows and pretty much every other show in the genre that got incorporated into this one. But unlike some of those, the OC also made the stories with the adults interesting enough that you did not have to be in (or recently graduated from) high school at the time to appreciate and enjoy it.

The first season had a lot of episodes (27 in all) and as a result, the storylines were kind of all over the place. It had a very large ensemble cast (some of whom would eventually be weeded out), and there was a lot going on with all the characters. The main story revolved around Ryan Atwood (played by McKenzie), who was a good kid from Chino but who had a bad family situation and was starting to follow his brother into a life of crime. His public defender, Sandy Cohen (Gallagher), ends up taking him in (initially for the weekend), much to the chagrin of his wife (Rowan). The first part of the season really plays on Ryan adjusting to life in the rich, glitzy Newport Beach as he falls for the girl next door, Marissa (played by Barton), befriends the Cohen's teenage son Seth (played wonderfully by Adam Brody) and is always teetering on the edge of going back to juvie.

The adult stories center around the Cohen's, the next-door neighbors, the Coopers, and Kirsten Cohen's rich real estate mogul Caleb (played by Alan Dale). The standout from that story, in my opinion, was Julie Cooper, played by Melinda Clarke, who plays a great "bad guy" character. At the beginning of the series, she is almost an over-the-top caricature of the rich, snobby housewife who only cares about money, gossip, and how she looks. Clarke stole almost every scene she was in, especially when her character was basically the butt of a joke. Over the course of the season (and the series), she became more and more central to the story, and she was one of the best-developed characters on the show.

The first season almost suffered from doing too much too soon. They were jamming so many stories into the first season that the storylines seemed to jump all over the place. They honestly probably had enough material in the Ryan "crossing the tracks" story and developing that to get through the season without introducing Kirsten's sister, some of the other Chino characters, etc, until season 2. That said, the show did a good enough job of juggling it all, ending a couple of the storylines (even though it meant getting rid of a couple of the characters), and making things flow well enough that it did not get too hard to follow.

Overall, the show was very good and entertaining. It was, at times, somewhat formulaic, given the genre. The themes mirrored many other similar shows but threw in a Westside Story vibe and made it unique enough that it did not just seem like a carbon copy of other shows. The writing and acting were very good. The Ryan-Seth relationship (and all the things that stemmed from that, like the Seth-Summer-Anna love triangle) made the teen part of the show work, and Peter Gallagher, who was involved in almost all the storylines set around the adults, made everything else work. It definitely had the guilty pleasure soap opera elements to it. Lots of skin (especially early on) and the will they/won't they bounce with the Ryan-Marissa relationship, but it also focused on more serious subjects like physical abuse, drug and alcohol abuse, homosexuality, abortion, and the seemingly required adult-teenager sexual relationship.

The DVD set is a seven-disc set with the episodes and the extras spread throughout the discs. As far as extras go, there are a few making of and behind-the-scenes features on the last disc, as well as some deleted scenes. There are also commentary tracks on select episodes that usually include Schwartz and one or two cast members. There are definitely a lot of decent extras for those who like to watch the bonus material. The show is (and especially the first season) very good. It could appeal to people who were in high school in the early 2000s as well as people who were in their mid-20s and into their 30s and 40s. It is certainly not a show that will appeal to everyone. If you only watch documentaries and high-brow dramas, this is probably not going to be your cup of tea. But it is a show that blended comedy and drama and touched on enough serious subject matter that if you are a fan of coming-of-age shows and movies, then it is worth the time to watch.

DVD/Movie Review: Road Trip

 

Road Trip is a comedy from 2000 directed by Todd Phillips and starring Amy Smart, Breckin Meyer, Sean William Scott, DJ Qualls, Tom Green, Rachel Blanchard, and Paulo Costanzo. This was one of the movies that tried to capture what American Pie had, including casting Sean William Scott in a "Stifler lite" role. The premise is pretty basic. A guy going to college in NY (Meyer) is in a long-distance relationship with a girl in TX (Blanchard). He cheats on her with a girl at his school (Smart) and tapes it. The tape is accidentally sent to his girlfriend in Texas, so he and his friends drive to Texas to intercept the tape. Along the way, pretty much everything that could go wrong does.

For those who get the DVD, there are a few extras, but nothing special. The extras include about 10 minutes of deleted scenes, cast bios, trailers, and a behind-the-scenes feature with Tom Green. Nothing that would really make the DVD a must-have over just streaming it. Ultimately, the movie is okay, with a handful of really funny moments along with a lot of stupid moments (mostly involving Green). Like many of the comedies from the late 1990s forward, it has drug jokes, sex jokes, and gross-out humor. DJ Qualls plays the awkward nerdy kid to perfection and is really the highlight of the movie. It is not the greatest movie by any means, but it is a funny way to kill an hour and a half if you are into the genre.

DVD/Movie Review: The Ring 2

 

The Ring Two is the 2005 sequel to 2002's horror/thriller, The Ring. The movie is directed by Hideo Nakata and brings back Naomi Watts and David Dorfman from the original movie. Kelly Stables takes over the role of Samara, but they do use archived footage of Daveigh Chase, who played Samara in the first movie. The movie also includes Simon Baker, Sissy Spacek, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Elizabeth Perkins, Gary Cole, and Emily Van Camp. The movie is set about six months after the events of the first movie, in which Rachel (played by Naomi Watts) made a copy of the tape in order to keep her son Aiden alive. Rachel then relocates to Oregon with Aiden to start a new life. However, the tape is still out there, and through a murder at the beginning of the movie, Samara discovers their whereabouts and takes over Aiden's body. The rest of the movie revolves around Rachel trying to free Aiden from Samara's influence.

The DVD extras include a few behind-the-scenes featurettes, and the short film called Rings, which was meant to bridge the gap between the two movies. It shows the consequences of the tape's continued existence and how teenagers were forming rings to see how many of the 7 days they could hold out before making a copy for another person to watch. All in all, there is enough there that if you like to go through the extra materials you will be satisfied. The movie, as most horror/thriller movie sequels are, is not great. It does, however, bring the story to a stronger conclusion, given how the first movie was left somewhat open (although another movie has been made without Watt's involvement). The acting was about on par with the first movie, and Naomi Watts, as the movie's lead, was good at playing Rachel. The overall story was just weaker, there was far less of a puzzle to put together, and the 7-day time frame element (and thus, much of the suspense) from the first movie was missing from this one. While it is not as good as the first movie, it is still worth the time to watch if you enjoyed the first movie (or just generally like non-slasher horror movies or psychological thrillers). 

Book Review: Black List (Scot Harvath Series #11)

 

Black List, published in 2012, is the 11th book in Brad Thor's Scot Harvath series of action-thrillers. The book picks up immediately after the end of the prior novel, Full Black when Scot and Riley are attacked at the safe house overseas. Harvath learns that he and the members of The Carlton Group (the private intelligence and security agency Scot has been working for since he left his government job) were put on a kill list. There are a couple of plotlines in the book that mostly stay parallel until the end. One involves Harvath trying to get back to the US and then teaming with Nicholas to figure out the plot (and dodging assassins). The second involves Reed Carlton (aka, The Old Man) trying to figure out the plot (and also dodging assassins) in the Washington DC area believing that Scot has been killed along with the rest of the team. The book deeply ties into the revelation that the US government spies on American citizens and discusses some of the technology that is used to do so.

The hardcover version of the book is about 370 pages long. The style and tone are similar to those of the prior novels in the series, with a good blend of action, suspense, and drama. Although there are a few new characters in the book, many of the characters have appeared in the prior novels (including members of The Athena Project). The book tells a good story and allows for the subsequent books to go in a lot of different directions. So, if you are a fan of the prior novels, this one is worth the time to read.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: The Notebook (Limited Edition)

 

+++Fair warning, the review gives away some of the plot points in the movie, but nothing that is really kept secret throughout the movie, but none of the fine details.+++

The Notebook is a 2004 romance/drama directed by Nick Cassavetes and starring Ryan Gossling, Rachel McAdams, James Garner, Gena Rowlands, and James Marsden. It tells a love story in two time periods. In the present day and in flashbacks in the 1940s. The young version of the main characters, Noah and Allie, are played by Ryan Gosling and Rachel Mcadams. The older versions of the characters are played by James Garner and Gena Rowlands. In present-day, Allie has lost her memory to Alzheimer's, and Noah, who has moved into the same nursing home with her, reads her the story of their meeting and falling in love, which is told through the flashbacks. Most of the movie is set in the 1940s, but toward the end, the present-day scenes are more than just cutaways.

What makes the movie is the chemistry that Ryan Gosling and Rachel Mcadams had (or were able to fake as they reportedly could not stand each other) and the emotion that James Garner was able to bring to the older character. If neither of those works, the movie would not work nearly as well. Garner's scenes really packed more of an emotional punch because he had to go from pretending to barely know his wife to joy when she remembered him to sadness when she forgot him again. He was able to go through that range of emotions very well. The ending of the movie was a little contrived and sappy, but the overall story worked very well, and all the actors, even those whose characters were more ancillary, did a good job.

The Blu-Ray's A/V quality is great. There are many great landscape shots in the movie that come through very well in HD. As far as extras go, there is a director's commentary track on the film, about 30 minutes of deleted scenes, and about 20 minutes of making-of and behind-the-scenes features. If you get the box set, there is also a notebook with character bios and note card stationary. The stuff in the book is not really all that great, honestly, so if you just like the movie, getting the disc-only version will probably be fine. But if there are die-hard fans of the movie, then the gift set is out there. Ultimately, while the movie falls squarely within the label of a chick flick, it is not so utterly sappy that males cannot bear to watch it. Personally, I think the parts of the movie with Garner and Rowlands pack the biggest emotional punch and make up for the sappiness of some of the flashback scenes. It is definitely worth the time to watch.

DVD/Movie Review: The Ring

 

The Ring is a 2002 American adaptation of a Japanese horror film starring Naomi Watts, Aidan Keller, Davegh Chase, and Brian Cox.  It starts out with an almost urban legend kind of feel. We learn in the very beginning that there is a VHS tape out there that, if you watch it, you receive a phone call with a cryptic message "7 days", and exactly 7 days later, the viewer dies. The main character's (Rachel, played by Naomi Watts) niece dies at the beginning of the movie, and Rachel begins investigating her death. In the process, Rachel watches the tape, and the movie then becomes a race against time to save herself, her ex-husband, and her son.

The movie is much more a psychological thriller than a slasher. There is very little in the way of gore in the movie, it is all surprise and suspense. Most of the movie is trying to figure out the back story of the images that play out on the tape and piece together what happened. It is not really a movie that you can have on in the background and get what is going on. You do have to pay pretty close attention to what is going on after it gets going. So if you are not into those kinds of movies, you will probably not like this one. Of course, some purists think that the original Japanese movie is far better and that this one should not have even been made. If you have never seen the Japanese version of the movie and have no prior frame of reference, then that fact is probably not going to bother you.

I am not sure that the version of the DVD I have even exists anymore, so I am not sure that the extras on my version (which do not amount to much, just a short featurette that functions as almost a compilation of deleted scenes that fill in some of the gaps of the story) and trailers for other movies apply to what is out there now. Since you can stream it online, I am not sure if it is a must-own on DVD or Blu-ray, but if you like extras, you may want to do some investigating about what is out there on the various versions. As is the case with any movie, whether you like it or not is totally subjective. It is definitely a smarter horror movie, in the sense that you can even call it a horror movie. It is much better than the teen-based horror films that were coming out in the late 90s and early 2000s that were not Scream. If you like smart, suspenseful, and kind of creepy movies, this is definitely worth giving a shot.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: No Country for Old Men

 

No Country for Old Men is a 2007 crime-drama/crime-thriller directed by Joel and Ethan Cohen and starring Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, Tommy Lee Jones, and Kelly Macdonald.  Woody Harrison and Stephen Root have smaller, extended cameo roles. At the core, it is a chase movie. Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) stumbles upon the scene of a drug deal gone wrong while out hunting. He finds a case with two million dollars in cash in it (along with a lot of dead bodies) and takes the money, thinking he was in the right place at the right time. In a very stupid move, he goes back to bring water to one of the men left barely alive but ends up being spotted. That sets up the rest of the movie. He ends up being pursued by killer Anton Chigurh (played wonderfully by Javier Bardem), who is a killer with some sense of a code but will also kill anyone who gets in his way. The cornerstone of the movie is the local sheriff, Ed Bell (Tommy Lee Jones), who is trying to make sense of the entire thing and stop Chigurh, a killer he does not understand, and save Moss.

The movie leaves a lot of the filling in-the-blanks to the viewer. It is a very violent movie that has a lot of suspense and action. You do not, however, learn all the pieces of the puzzle and are left to guess at the fate of some of the characters. So, if you are a person who needs the entire movie to be wrapped up in a nice bow at the end and everything resolved, you will hate this movie. The point of the movie, to the extent there is one, was to show how crime had changed for Sheriff Bell and how he felt that he could not comprehend and keep up with the "new" criminal element.

What made the movie great to me was the acting and writing. The cast is truly an ensemble, with Tommy Lee Jones being the most well-known at the time. Everyone, from the main characters to those who basically just made cameo appearances, like Woody Harrelson and Stephen Root, did a great job. Even though the story was essentially being told from Sheriff Bell's point of view (at least in terms of the narrations throughout the film) it did not focus on one character above the rest. It was also unique in that none of the main characters ever really interacted. The closest was a shootout between Moss and Chigurh, where neither one got a real good look at the other.

The Blu-Ray's A/V quality is great. The movie's cinematography was excellent, and the shots really jumped out in the HD presentation. As far as extras on the single-disc edition go, there are about 40 minutes or so of making-of and behind-the-scenes features. The centerpiece is a 25-minute "Making of No Country for Old Men" featurette. Chances are, most people will have already seen the movie or at least heard about it. It is definitely not for everyone and has kind of an offbeat nature like the Cohen Brothers are known for. It seems most people either really like it, either because they were a fan of the book, the Cohen Brothers in general, or just saw the movie because they heard someone say it was good and ended up liking it. On the other hand, the people who hate it seem to be in the camp that it is too slow, they hate the way it ended, and/or they think there is not much point to it. I am not one who calls it the greatest movie of all time, but for a movie that is a blend of drama, suspense, and very dark comedy, it is worth checking out. Just know, however, that if you do, it does not end with everything being answered and does leave you to think and draw your own conclusions.

DVD/Movie Review: Reindeer Games

 

Reindeer Games is an action-thriller from 2000 starring Ben Affleck, Charlize Theron, James Frain, and Gary Sinise. The supporting cast includes Dennis Farina, Donal Logue, Danny Trejo, and Issac Hayes. The movie centers around Ben Affleck's character, Rudy, who has been in prison for 5 years for stealing cars. He gets out and hooks up with his cellmate's pen pal (played by Theron), passing himself off as his cellmate (played by Frain), who has died in a prison fight. From there, he is set up to participate in the robbery of a casino on Christmas Eve.

The original DVD release just includes the theatrical version of the movie. The only extras are a short making-of feature, a director's commentary track on the movie, and the theatrical trailer. There is a Blu-ray version that has a director's cut and may have more features, but this is not really a movie that I would say is a must-own on Blu-ray, unless you really love it.

There are some humorous moments and Gary Sinise plays a pretty good bad guy. Albeit somewhat over the top. Although that is the tone it seems the movie was going for. Even though the cast is loaded with talented actors (or at least those who are seen as talented these days) the writing was bad enough that really nobody was going to do any better job with the material. Ultimately, it is not the worst movie ever, but it is not an award-winner either. It is somewhat formulaic plot-wise, including the various twists throughout regarding where the loyalties of Charlize Theron's character lie. It is a decent action-thriller that is worth watching, but not necessarily worth watching multiple times.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)

 

This is the 2010 remake of A Nightmare On Elm Street, directed by Samuel Bayer and starring Jackie Earle Haley, Kyle Gallner, Katie Cassidy, Rooney Mara, Connie Britton, and Thomas Dekker. The movie is not a shot-for-shot remake of the original, nor is it another sequel. It is a retelling of the original story that pays homage to some of what we saw in the first film but does tell a different version of the story. There is more given to Freddy's back story than just the fact that he was a child murderer that was told in the original movie. His origin is much more fleshed out in this movie. Secondly, they have dropped the one-liners and jokes out of Freddy's persona (for the most part) and he is much more the sinister boogieman-like character he was in the first movie. While it is definitely weird not to hear Robert Englund's voice, the fact that they were making Freddy even darker in this movie than in most of the other sequels to the original movie allowed me to more easily accept Jackie Earle Haley in that role.

Pretty much all of the teenage characters (and even the parents) in this movie were different than their versions in the original movie. For example, this version of Nancy (played by Mara) was totally different than the version of the character played by Heather Langenkamp, and the role of her father (played by John Saxon in the original film) was omitted altogether. There are also some totally new characters added to this version who were not in the original movie. It takes a while to get used to the changes in the story and the characters, although, as I said, some of the shots from the original movie (like the glove coming up between Nancy's legs in the bathtub, the dragging across the ceiling, Freddy's shape materializing from the wall) are remade in this one.

The Blu-ray's A/V quality is great, and of course, it has much better effects than the original movies, although they did not go overboard with the CGI effects. As far as extras go, there are several behind-the-scenes and making-of featurettes, a couple of deleted scenes, and an alternate ending. There is also a commentary track and an in-movie mode where pop-ups will play throughout the movie at certain points. 

Like all remakes of classic movies, some are going to love this, and some will hate it. That is the nature of recreating a movie like Nightmare on Elm Street, which was one of the iconic 1980s horror movies that spawned 7 direct movies and a crossover with the Friday the 13th franchise, and more importantly, when recasting an iconic character like Freddy. If the whole idea of changing anything around from the original movies is like sacrilege to you, then don't even bother with this. If you can accept that there are changes to the story and the characters, then this, while not as good as the original movie, is still better than some of the cheesier sequels of the original movie and is worth the time to watch.

Blu-Ray/Movie Collection Review: A Nightmare on Elm Street Collection

 

This set contains the seven "main" Nightmare on Elm Street movies, including the 1984 original movie, 1985's Part 2 (Freddy's Revenge), 1987's Part 3 (Dream Warriors), 1988's Part 4 (The Dream Master), 1989's Part 5 (The Dream Child), 1991's Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare, and 1994's Wes Craven's New Nightmare. The original film was written and directed by Wes Craven and starred Robert Englund (in the iconic role of Freddy Kruger), Heather Langenkamp as Nancy Thomson, Johnny Depp (in his first movie role), and John Saxon. Craven would mostly bow out of the series until the final movie, New Nightmare, which he also wrote and directed (although he was a co-writer of the screenplay for Part III). Langenkamp would appear in three of the seven movies, and Englund appeared in all of them. This set does not contain the Freddy vs. Jason crossover movie with Friday the 13th, nor does it have the 2010 remake. All of the movies are centered around Freddy Kruger, who was a serial killer of children in life and who, after he was burned alive by the parents of the town he lived in, was able to return as a supernatural killer who could enter and kill in a person's dreams.

A Nightmare on Elm Street was one of the definitive horror movie franchises in the 1980s. It definitely suffered from what almost all of the series, like Halloween and Friday the 13th, did: It got too bloated and too goofy, to the point where there were more bad movies in the series than good ones. The one constant throughout, however, was the fact that Robert Englund made Freddy cool and funny and maximized his time on the screen. Not surprisingly, the three best movies were the ones in which Heather Langenkamp was involved either playing Nancy (in Parts I and  II) or herself (In a New Nightmare). Also not surprisingly the two best were the first and last movies in the series where Wes Craven was directly involved as the writer and director. In fact, the best movie of the series, in my opinion, was the final film, Wes Craven's New Nightmare, which blended the fictional characters with the lives of real-life actors. In fact in that movie Freddy probably had the least "personality" but was far scarier when he was onscreen.

This is a five-disc set (Parts 4 and 5 share a single disc, as does Freddy's Dead and A New Nightmare). The movies all look okay on Blu-ray. Given how old they are and the fact that most of the movies were made before CGI was really well developed, most of the movies do not look anywhere near as good as more recent movies do (and HD sometimes amplifies the fakeness of the effects). Some of the effects are pretty cheesy, and although I think they did about as good a job with the transfer absent a complete restoration as possible, there are limitations with movies this old. The original movie is on its own disc, then each subsequent disc has two movies. 

Each of the discs has bonus content for the movie or movies on that particular disc. The last disc is a DVD of bonus material that has between 3 and 4 hours of additional bonus content. It looks like most (but not all) of the bonus material was carried over from the various DVD releases that have been put out over time, as opposed to newly created for this release. The first movie has the most bonus content, and then it tails off somewhat after that. Most of the bonus material is behind-the-scenes features with the actors or filmmakers of the particular movies. Each movie has at least one commentary track and then there are some deleted and alternate scenes for some of the movies. The Bonus DVD also includes a couple episodes from the (really bad) Nightmare on Elm Street TV series. and some more behind the story kind of features.  All in all though, if you are a more casual fan of the series and do not need every single extra in existence and just mainly want the movies, then it is worth adding to your collection.

DVD/TV Series Review: Devious Maids: Season 1

 

Devious Maids was a dramedy that ran for four seasons from 2013 to 2016. The first season consisted of 13 episodes that aired during the summer and fall of 2013. The show starred Ana Ortiz, Dania Ramirez, Roselyn Sanchez, and Zoila Diaz, who all worked as maids for various families in Beverly Hills, as well as Rebecca Wisocky, Tom Irwin, Brianna Brown, Brett Cullen, Marina Klaveno, Grant Show, and Susan Lucci as the various rich booses of the maids.  

The show has a very similar feel to Desperate Housewives, which is not unexpected given that it has the same showrunners. Like that show, the women are the main characters. There are many twists and turns, and the show revolves around a main storyline (here, the murder of a maid who was much more than she seemed) with a bunch of ancillary stories around it. The other stories keep the main plot from dominating so much that its resolution results in the end of the series.

For those who get the DVDs, each disc has deleted scenes for the episodes on that particular disc. The final disc has a short making-of feature based on filming in Atlanta and a blooper reel. So, there are not a ton of extras, but what was included is good. It should be noted that while the show ran for four seasons, only season 1 was released on DVD, so if you are one who likes to keep a complete collection of physical media, this is the only season you can get on DVD (and none of the seasons or the complete series was released on Blu-Ray).

The show is a blend of comedy and drama. It plays up and makes fun of a lot of different stereotypes from the crazy and/or corrupt and/or lazy rich society, everyone wanting hot maids (and some pretty funny jokes about having to settle for unattractive ones). The show does a good job of developing the characters and making you care about what is going on with them. Susan Lucci steals every scene she is in, basically playing an exaggerated version (almost a caricature) of the soap opera character she played for years. If you are into evening soap operas, this is definitely worth taking a look at.

 

DVD/TV Series Review: ALF: Season 1

 

The first season of ALF consisted of 26 episodes that aired during the 1986-1987 TV season and starred Max Wright, Anne Schedeen, Andrea Elson, Benji Gregory, John LaMotta, Liz Sheridan, and Paul Fusco (who is the voice and puppeteer of ALF). The show's premise is that an alien life form (or ALF) from the planet Melmack crash-lands in the San Fernando Valley of California into the garage of the Tanner family. They end up taking ALF (real name Gordon Shumway) in as a member of the family, and hilarity ensues. 

The DVD set is a four-disc set, with the episodes spread substantially evenly across the discs. There are no bonus features, but the episodes have English captions. The show is a fairly standard procedural sitcom, with each episode (aside from the occasional two-part episodes) having a self-contained storyline. It is a family-friendly sitcom that both kids and adults can enjoy. Some of the jokes are definitely aimed at adults and will go over the heads of most kids, but for the most part, there is nothing that is inappropriate for kids in the show. Some of the jokes in the show are very topical to the mid to late 1980s, which definitely dates it. On the whole, however, it holds up pretty well nearly 40 years after it aired. It is definitely worth the time to watch, especially if you enjoyed it as a kid.

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/Lift 4 Day 21

For day 21, I did the two recovery workouts from Lift 4 in the morning and the 645 cardio workout with the harder moves in the evening. Each of them went well and I can tell my flexibility and range of motion have improved a bit more this week from prior weeks.

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/Lift 4 Day 20

For day 20, I just did the 645 cardio workout in the evening. I did not do the recovery workouts from 645 since I started incorporating them after the 645 workouts during the week. Since it is an off day from Lift 4 I mixed in higher intensity, higher-impact exercises, including one from P90x's plyometrics workout.  

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/Lift 4 Day 19

Day 19 was Legs in Lift 4, which this week went back to using weights. Again, using the microplates helped me increase the weight on the squats without biting off more than I could chew and losing my form. This week is also a 50/50 workout, so it had a HIIT component after the weights, which thankfully did not include triple bear. Therefore, for the 645 workout in the evening, I did low-impact, lower-intensity exercises. 

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Baywatch Hawaii: Season 1/Baywatch Season 10

 

Baywatch Hawaii is mostly a spin-off show from the original Baywatch series, which aired for nine seasons and partly a tenth season. The first season consisted of 22 episodes that aired during the 1999-2000 TV season. The cast was mostly new, but it did bring over Brooke Burns, Michael Bergen, Michael Newman, and, of course, David Hasselhoff from the parent series. Hoff still received top billing in the show and Newman was credited as a series regular, but both of them were really recurring characters that would appear here and there, but they were not in every episode. Hoff mainly acted as a producer on the series. He was featured in the first episode and then appeared in a few more before basically disappearing until the end of the season. Simone Mackinnon (who appeared in the Australian episodes in the parent series) was also brought on as a series regular. The new cast members include Brandy Ledford, Jason Brooks, Stacy Kamano, and Jason Momoa (in his first acting role).

The show continues the format of a procedural prime-time soap opera that worked for the parent series. There were a few story threads, especially in the last 1/3 of the season, that flowed from episode to episode, but most of the storylines were limited to a single episode. The basic plotline is that Mitch moves to Hawaii after the events that ended the original series, as he is basically going through a midlife crisis. He almost ends up botching a rescue (as a private citizen) and then works to set up a lifeguard training center to bring in and train lifeguards from all around the world in different techniques that they can bring back home.  

The blu-ray set is a four-disc set with the episodes spread evenly throughout the discs. The set is imported from Germany, so you need a Region 2 or Region-free blu-ray player in order to watch them. The menus are in German and the audio track on the episodes defaults to German. But you can switch to the English audio track from your player's settings. There are not any English captions, however. The discs include the remasted episodes and the non-remasted standard-definition versions of the episodes (which allows you to see the boost in A/V quality of the remasted episodes over the non-remastered episodes). All of the bonus content is on the fourth disc. That includes trailers for some of the episodes and the series itself, and a short (about 8 minutes long) making-of featurette that is mostly an interview with Hoff about moving the series to Hawaii and then includes interview snippets from a couple other cast members. 

Overall, the series is okay. It has a similar (but not the same) feel as the parent series in terms of style and tone. It is definitely a prime-time soap opera that can get a bit cheesy. Of course, the cast is ridiculously good-looking, and the show takes advantage of that fact, having the cast members wear as little as possible most of the time. The show does not get as many notable guest stars as the parent series got. This season, the only recognizable guest stars are Jeremy Jackson (reprising his role as Hobie for a single episode) and Pamela Bach (who was still married to Hoff at the time), playing yet another character (her third different character) between the two series. The show is enjoyable and worth watching as long as you don't expect it to be anything more than it is.