Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Justice League: Season 1

 

The animated Justice League series aired for two seasons on the cartoon network from 2001 to 2004. The 26-episode first season aired during the 2001/2002 TV season. The series is, in part, a follow-up series to the animated Batman and Superman series (it was done by the same showrunners as those shows) from the 1990s. Some of the actors, like Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill, reprise their roles, but others (like Tim Daily) do not. The season is basically a bunch of mini-movie stories broken into two and sometimes three episodes. Some of them are focused on one or two characters in the Justice League (Flash, Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman, Batman, Superman, Hawkgirl, and Green Lantern). Not every character appears in every episode, which makes the "big" team-up episodes feel even bigger. The three episodes that end the season have an Earth-X kind of feel, involving a scenario where the Nazis win WWII and the heroes have to find a way to undo it.

The Blu-Ray set is a four-disc set. All 26 of the first season episodes are included. There is no main menu, and the episodes start playing as soon as the disc loads. There is a disc menu that you can access if you want to. Thankfully, you have the option to start where you left off, so if you stop before you get through all the episodes on the disc you do not have to try and find your place again. The extras consist of commentary tracks on select episodes and then a few making-of featurettes with the showrunners explaining how the series came about.

Overall, I would say the series is not quite as good as either the original Batman and Superman animated series, but it is close. I do think it misses having some of the ancillary Batman and Superman characters missing, but given that there are so many main characters in the show it is hard to add other characters (other than villains) in. If you are a fan of the other animated series it is definitely worth checking out.

DVD/TV Series Review: Superman: The Complete Animated Series

 

This is the complete series of the Animated Superman series, which played on the Kids WB in the late 1990s. Specifically, it aired for three seasons from 1996 to 2000. It was in part a spin-off from Batman the Animated series, which was developed by the same showrunners. It also served to reintroduce the newer version (which is essentially season 3) of Batman the Animated series with a few episodes where Batman crossed over into Metropolis and one where Superman went to Gotham City. It also served as a prequel to the animated Justice League series. The series starred Tim Daly, Dana Delany, Clancy Brown, Michael Ironside, Mike Farell, Lisa Edelstein, Shelly Fabares, and Joely Fisher.

The DVD set is a three-volume set with the 54 episodes spread across six discs (two discs per season).  There are 7 discs in all that include the three volumes of the show, and then one disc with a feature on the Darkseid character and more trailers. Aside from the extras on the 7th disc, the other extras are spread throughout the first six discs. Those extras are primarily in the form of commentary tracks on select episodes with the showrunners, but there are a few more general making-of features, as well as trailers for some of the other animated series. The only drawback is the fact that each disc 2 in the three volumes are double-sided discs with episodes on each side. They are very easy to get scratched up (thankfully, none of mine were) because they can fall off the notches, keeping the discs in place.

The series is brighter (both in terms of story and animation style) than the animated Batman series. Although there are some episodes where the series went as dark or darker than the Batman series ever did. Those were mostly the episodes involving Darkseid. The showrunners made the choice to make Superman vulnerable to more than just Kryptonite. I think it turned some people off, but I do think made for some more interesting stories, especially when he was going against a villain who was not superpowered. The show is something that younger kids can watch and enjoy. There are also some more adult jokes that would go over the heads of most kids, so it is a series that adults can enjoy as well. If you are a fan of the Superman story, it is worth watching.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Point of No Return

 

Point of No Return is an action-thriller from 1993 directed by John Badham and starring Bridget Fonda, Gabriel Bryne, Dermot Mulroney, Anne Bancroft, Miguel Ferrer, and Harvey Keitel. This is one of a few different adaptations of the French film La Femme Nikita. The most notable, at least in the US, was the series that aired on The CW called Nikita and starred Maggie Q. There was also a TV series called La Femme Nikita, which aired on the USA network years ago. This is the only American film adaptation of that story. It stars Bridget Fonda as Maggie Hayward, a teenage delinquent who kills a security guard during a robbery and is sentenced to death. Her death is faked by a government agency, and she is given the choice to be trained as an assassin or killed. Needless to say, she chooses the former, and the remainder of the film deals with her training and then assimilation into "real" life as she tries to balance having a normal life with being called for assassination missions.

The Blu-Ray's A/V transfer is okay, but it definitely did not get a high-quality restoration. It definitely looks like it is a 1993 movie and not brought up to par with even the late 90s/early 2000s AV quality. There are no bonus features to speak of, just the theatrical trailer. Overall, it is a decent movie that you can totally have on in the background and get the story.  Even with a loaded cast, the film is definitely not as good as it could have been. The writing was okay to decent, but not stellar, and while I would not say that any of the actors seemed to be phoning their performances in, they have all done better work. It is not a movie that you need to pay rapt attention to in order to follow along. Fonda did a good job in the leading role, and I think, had she chosen to do so, she could have really used the role to propel herself into a more extensive career. I would not call it a must-see movie, but it is a good choice if you are looking for an action movie to kill a couple of hours.

Study Aid Review: The Engineering Circuit Analysis Tutor: Volume 4

 

This is the fourth volume of the circuit analysis tutor that Jason put out. It continues the material from the first semester of circuits (usually called Circuits I or just Circuits analysis). It covers the material that comes in the second half of the class after you get through circuit analysis techniques, in which resistors and sources are the only circuit elements. This set introduces circuits in which capacitors and inductors are included. It does not go into the details of the transient and steady-state, those topics are covered in later volumes. This covers the topics of voltage, current, and power in inductors and capacitors, and then inductors and capacitors in series and parallel, and how to draw an equivalent circuit by reducing the parallel and series combinations. Again, this just deals with circuits that have direct current sources and does not cover circuits with alternating current sources.

I find Jason's material very helpful, and my learning style meshes well with his teaching style. He does not cover 100% of the material on every single topic, but he does cover the main topics and the main points of each topic, which is great for exam prep. But it is definitely NOT a replacement for going to class. So, if you learn by seeing examples worked out, this is a good study aid.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Batman: The Animated Series: Deluxe Limited Edition

 

Batman: The Animated Series aired from 1992 to 1995. The series was created by Bruce Timm and starred Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, Bob Hastings, Loren Lester, Efrem Zimbalist, Melissa Gilbert, and Adrienne Barbeau (among others). Chances are, if you were anywhere from a pre-teen to a young adult in the early 1990s, you watched this series. It was put out as one of the Fox Kids shows a few years after the original Tim Burton Batman movie, which definitely (down to the score) played a large inspiration in the series. It had mostly a blend of the two original movies, the darker comics, and even a couple nods to the old tv series throughout its run. Kevin Conroy did a great job as the voice of Batman, and Mark Hamill was awesome as the Joker, which was the villain that appeared the most throughout the run. It also introduced the character of Harley Quinn (voiced by Barbeau), who has become more popular over the years both in live-action and in other animated series and video games.

The Deluxe Limited Edition box set is a 12-disc set. The set has all three "seasons" of the show, which spanned from 1992 to 1998 and aired on a couple different networks. The first season had 65 episodes, the second had 20, and the third had 24. The two movies Mask of the Phantasm and Sub-Zero are also included in the set. Most of the discs have extras (usually commentary tracks, but there are also some interviews with the actors and showrunners. There is also a separate bonus disc that has an hour-and-a-half-long making-of feature (broken into about 4 parts which you can play all at once) and a minute-and-a-half-long featurette on how they came up with Harley Quinn. The Mask of the Phantasm disc only has the trailer as an extra, but the Sub-Zero disc has every Mr. Freeze episode from the animated series, including Batman Beyond. The set also comes with miniature Funko POPs of Batman, Joker, and Harley Quinn.

The series looks about as good as a 25-year-old (as of this writing) cartoon can on blu-ray. It is a good transfer, but it is not going to look like a movie from the mid-2000s forward does on blu-ray. The packaging for the discs, at least in the collector's edition which is the one that came with the figurines, sucks. They are very tight slipcases, so you have to pull hard on the discs to get them out while holding the two sides of the slipcases apart. Luckily the blu-ray discs have an anti-scratch coating on them so they are protected, but they are impossible to get out without getting fingerprints on the media side, so have a soft cloth handy otherwise you may have playback trouble if you do not clean the fingerprints off. That is what knocks it down a star for me.

For fans the series is iconic. For a long time (between the Tim Burton movies and the Nolan Trilogy) it was the best version of Batman (at least that was not a comic book) that there was. It also spawned the Superman and Justice League animated series, as well as Batman Beyond which brought Kevin Conroy back as an older Bruce Wayne, as well as the video games which have come out over the years. The Killing Joke movie is the only thing missing that would have completed the set. Given, however, that The Killing Joke is rated R, there is really no way it can be included in a set that is otherwise suitable for kids. The issue with the packaging aside, it is a great series, and definitely worth a pickup.

Book Review: Star Wars: Solo: A Star Wars Story Expanded Edition

 

This is the novelization of Solo: A Star Wars Story. It was written by Mur Lafferty and published in 2018, following the movie's theatrical release. Solo is a story that got a pretty bad (in my opinion) rap, mainly because of all the chaos surrounding the movie's filming. The movie, which is much better than it got credit for, and the box office returns showed, suffered from the backlash over The Last Jedi and being released so soon after it. Had they stuck with the December release schedule, I think it would have done much better and not have been written off. So, if you avoided seeing the movie because of bad press, I would suggest reading the book because the quality of the story may surprise you.

The hardcover version of the book is about 300 pages long. It sticks pretty closely to what you see in the film (assuming you have seen the movie). It does have some additions that add to or expand what is in the movie, but they do not add anything all that substantive that radically changes the story shown in the movie. I do think the novel could have fleshed out a little more detail from the time jump between when Han gets off Cordelia and when he meets with the crew of smugglers. It did add some additional details from during that time period, but not a ton.

Overall, I think if you enjoyed the movie, you will enjoy the novel. If you hated the movie, there is not much about the novel that is likely to sway you off that point. I think it is a good story that flows well and makes for a fairly quick read.

Book Review: It: A Novel

 

It is a novel written by Stephen King that has been around for 30+ years (the book was first published in 1986) and has had two live-action adaptations made. First, a mini-series back in the 1990s, and more recently, a pair of movies in 2017 and 2019. The book tells the story of a small town in Maine called Derry, which suffers from a series of child murders every 27 years. The adults are aware but mostly oblivious to what is going on, and it is left to a group of kids (who call themselves the Losers Club) to try and stop the monster, which at times takes the form of a clown named Pennywise (but also takes other forms), first as kids and then again as adults.

I will not go into too much of the story because chances are anyone looking to get the book by now is at least aware of the basic idea. But, I will say that the novel is very different from the live-action adaptations, which makes it challenging to even hard read at times, even for people who have good reading comprehension skills and are fast readers. There are a ton of characters in the book that get major ink devoted to them, that are minor characters in the movies or left out altogether. And, instead of telling the stories of the group of protagonists as children and then as adults separately, the book jumps back and forth between 1958 and 1985 (which was the present day when the novel was written), many times even in the same chapter, so it made following the story difficult, especially when reading at night getting tired (i.e., if you are one who reads before bed to help yourself wind down and fall asleep). And the story shifts, being told from different points of view, again sometimes within the same chapter. Those things, along with the book's length (1153 pages) and the fact that the lengths of the chapter breaks are inconsistent, make it harder to read than some of King's other novels. There were definitely things from the book that could never have been done in live-action and/or were just unnecessary to add to the movies. One of the biggest was the very controversial act of having all the boys have sex with Beverly when they were kids. That got turned into their blood pact at the end of the first movie because it would have been illegal to film and at least skeevy to even infer in a movie version.

It is hard to say how anyone will feel about the novel as compared to either the mini-series or the movies. That, of course, is totally subjective. I am generally a person who enjoys novels more than I do the live-action adaptations of novels because invariably, things have to get cut out, especially for movie adaptations, and especially when the novels are done first. However, I liked both the mini-series and the movie versions of It more than the book (possibly because I saw both long before ever reading the book) and totally understand why the things that were cut out in live-action were removed. That said, if you are a fan of King and/or a fan of the story because of either the mini-series or the movies, this is definitely worth at least trying to read to see how it compares.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Supergirl

 

Supergirl is an action-adventure movie from 1984 starring Helen Slater, Faye Dunaway, Peter O'Toole, Mia Farrow, Hart Bochner, and Peter Cook. It is definitely a hot mess of a movie, made solely to capitalize on the success of the Christopher Reeve-led Superman movies, which, as time has pretty much revealed, were only a success because of what Richard Donner did with the first movie and the parts of the second movie that he filmed before being fired. But, when Donner was removed from the process entirely as he was in Superman III, the quality of the product went way down.

As people may or may not know, after making Superman III, the producers of the Superman franchise, Alexander and Ilya Salkind, decided that they did not want to make any more Superman movies and decided to bring Supergirl to the big screen. What followed was a pretty incoherent mess of a movie with plot holes a mile wide and a horrible script. It also proved that Superman IV probably would have been just as bad had the Salkinds stayed on to produce it.

Supergirl was definitely trying to Follow the Superman I formula of having a newcomer play Supergirl. The fresh out of high-school 19-year-old Helen Slater was chosen for the leading role, and like the original Superman film, more established actors were hired to play the supporting roles. In this movie, Faye Dunnaway was cast as the big bad, a witch named Selena, and Peter O'Toole was cast in an almost useless role of Zartar, the creator of Argo city, a place in "inner space" where a bunch of Kryptonians lived. Frankly, I am amazed either O'Toole or Dunnaway decided to do the movie, given that the script and the budget (especially the special effects budget) took a huge step back from Superman I and II and even Superman III. Christopher Reeve was supposed to appear as Superman/Clark Kent but backed out at the last minute, and they replaced him with a combination of a Superman poster and bringing in Marc McClure to make an extended cameo appearance as Jimmy Olsen to tie this movie into the Superman movies. McClure has gone on record saying that his role in the movie made no sense, and he has no idea why they even wanted him there if they would not have him mention Superman.

The story is really bad, and as I said above, the plot has a ton of holes. For example, it is never explained how Kara has any idea that her cousin is on Earth, is called Superman, and goes by Clark Kent to disguise his identity when she has been living in Argo City, which is located in another dimension. She leaves Argo City and comes to Earth to chase a sphere that is the power source for Argo City, which ends up in Selena's possession, giving her power over pretty much everything. For some reason, Kara disguises herself as a high school student named Linda Lee at an all-girls school in Midville, Illinois, and pretty much knows how to use all her powers and has a super-suit as she emerges from a lake as she crosses from "inner space" to our dimension. Selena, who has an orb that makes her all-powerful, uses it to make a landscaper (played by Hart Bochner, who would go on to play the slimy Nakatoma employee in Die Hard a few years later) fall in love with her (of course he falls in love with Kara instead).

The Blu-Ray has the international cut of the film that comes in at just over a couple of hours. This was longer than the US theatrical cut. I saw that years ago when I was a kid, but I do not remember how long that was and what was cut out of it. It definitely felt that two hours was way too long for this movie, though. The extras include a making-of featurette that lasts about 51 minutes and the theatrical trailer. Then, on a separate DVD, there is the director's cut of the movie that really only changes the opening a little and extends some of the scenes. But, it does not change the movie drastically. There is also a commentary track with the director and a project consultant. They definitely stick up for the movie and don't really get into the fact that it was a flop that was critically and commercially panned, and they pretty much just stick to talking about how the movie was made.

Overall, the movie is kind of in the category of so bad you have to watch it. I think the failure was that it was allowed to be campy and not have a serious script, unlike the Superman movies, which got more protected by DC Comics and Warner Brothers. Helen Slater was definitely the best part of the movie, especially given how young and inexperienced she was. But, she was not given a lot to work with. I think Peter Cook was horribly cast and did not fit in a Superhero movie at all, and Dunneway's character was just dumb. Again, I think she did what she could with it, but it was not much to work with, either. The budget for the movie must have been a lot less than for any of the Superman movies because the special effects were horrible. They were more like the Superman IV effects after the new producers cut the budget for that movie and went on the cheap with everything. So, it did not have anything close to the look or feel of the first three Superman movies. I know that the filmmakers wanted it to stand on its own, but given that it was in the same universe as Superman, it should have had much better continuity. I think the movie would have been much better without the campy script and had used the version of the story that Kara sent to Earth to protect Kal-El, but took longer to get here, like is the backstory for the Supergirl television series. Then make it a team-up movie with Superman, which Christopher Reeve probably would have stayed on the movie for.

While the Supergirl movie never did turn into a franchise, Slater was able to capitalize on the movie by playing Lara, Kal-El/Clark's Kryptonian mother on the show Smallville, and playing Kara's adoptive Earth mother on the Supergirl TV series. I think it is worth seeing if you are a fan of the Superman movies or Superman and Supergirl from the comics. That said, it is definitely not a must-see by any stretch of the imagination, and you would not miss much if you decide to skip it.

Study Aid Review: The Circuit Analysis Tutor: Volume 3

 

Volume 3 of Jason's circuit analysis tutor set includes the material that comes just about at the halfway point of a Circuits I class. Specifically, source transformations, Thevenin and Norton equivalent circuits (both with dependent and independent sources), maximum power transfer, and superposition. These concepts are built from and/or use the various techniques of simplifying circuits like Kirchhoff’s laws, node voltage, and mesh current, which is covered in the first two volumes. This covers about two weeks, give or take, worth of material that will be presented in class (depending on what your professor decides to focus on). In my class, this material was covered just after our second exam which was basically a mid-term exam. Like volumes 1 and 2, this set just covers DC circuits and does not include circuits with AC sources.

The set follows much the same format as Jason's other math and engineering lessons. He introduces a topic and then goes through several example problems, working them out step-by-step. I personally find his explanations very easy to follow and was able to comprehend them a lot better than I did reading the textbook. In fact, many times I found that the textbook made more sense after I had watched Jason's videos. So, if you learn best by watching example problems done, and do not mind watching what is essentially a simulated lecture, then this is a good study aid to use.

DVD/TV Series Review: Alf: Season 3

 

The 26-episode third season of Alf aired during the 1988/1989 TV season. The main cast members, including Paul Fusco, Max Wright, Andrea Elson, Benjy Gregory, and Anne Schedeen, returned this season. Schedeen's role was reduced during the season to accommodate her real-life pregnancy, which was written into the show. All the cast members playing the Tanner's neighbors, the Ochmoneks, also returned, including John LaMotta, Liz Sheridan, and Josh Blake.

The DVD set is a four-disc set.  The episodes have English captions, but there are no bonus features such as episode commentary tracks, behind-the-scenes material, or the like. The show continues to be a fun, family-friendly procedural sitcom. Aside from two two-part episodes, the storylines do not stretch throughout the season. A particular episode's storyline is resolved by the end of that episode. This season included two two-part episodes, which would see the series' biggest guest stars appear. There was a two-part episode in which Alf filled in for Johnny Carson as host of The Tonight Show (which were mainly clip-shows, showing highlights from throughout the series). Johnny did not appear, but Ed McMahon appeared in both episodes. In the second, David Ogden Stiers, who played Major Winchester on M*A*S*H, guest starred as a homeless person hanging out in the neighborhood and who, of course, discovers ALF. Overall, the show continued to be a fun sitcom. It was a very wholesome, feel-good show. All of the jokes were family-friendly, although the show did have the occasional more adult-oriented joke that would be a double-entendre that would go over most kid's heads. Whether you watched the show when it originally aired or not, it is a good comedy that holds up pretty well nearly 40 years after it first aired (as of this writing) and is still worth watching.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Ant Man and the Wasp

 

Ant-Man and the Wasp is one of the 2018 entries in the MCU slate of movies. It was directed by Peyton Reed. Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, and Michael Pena all reprise their roles from the first movie. Walton Goggins, Michelle Pfeiffer, Hannah John-Kamen, and Randall Park are all newly added cast members for this movie. The story is mostly a sequel to Ant-Man, focusing on rescuing Hank's wife (Pfeiffer) from the quantum realm. It is set in the aftermath of Captain America: Civil War with Scott being near the end of a two-year-long house arrest for his violation of the Sokovia accords. He has a dream about Hope's mother/Hank's wife the original wasp Janet Van Dyn, with Hope and Hank springing him from house arrest (in a pretty hilarious manner). I will not give too much away, but it basically becomes a game of keep-away with Hank's tech from the various people after it, including a shady tech dealer, played by Walton Goggins, and Ghost, played by Hannah John-Kamen. Scott also has to keep ahead of the FBI. The events of Infinity War are tied in during the mid-credits scene. I will not give away exactly what happens, but we do see the consequences of Thanos' snap play out, and it sets out where the characters are going into Avengers 4.

The 4K set is a two-disc set containing a UHD disc and a regular Blu-Ray disc. The movie looks and sounds great in the UHD format, especially if you have a large screen. The UHD disc just has the movie itself, and all of the bonus content is on the regular Blu-ray. There are about 22 minutes worth of behind-the-scenes and making-of features, a short gag reel, and a few deleted scenes. The bonus features probably amount to between 30 and 40 minutes in total. Ultimately, the movie is one of more than 20 in the overall MCU story arc. It is written so you do not have to have seen the others to follow most of it, but it will definitely help if you are up to date with the overall story arc that has played out throughout the other movies. The entire cast, from the stars to the supporting characters, are all great in their roles. Evangeline Lilly does a great job as the Wasp and really seemed to be having fun with her more expanded role. As long as you do not have superhero movie fatigue, this is definitely worth checking out.

Book Review: Star Wars: Tempest Runner

 

Tempest Runner, published in 2022 and written by Cavan Scott, is a book set during Phase I of the High Republic. It serves in part to tell the backstory of Lourna Dee, one of the leaders of the group of pirates known as the Nihil, who are the protagonists of Phases I and III of High Republic era novels. It is, like the Dooku book, written in a script format, so it reads a bit differently than a traditional novel. It is set in two time periods, the present, in which Lourna is a prisoner aboard a prison ship (but concealing her identity), and in the past, detailing how she joined the Nihil and ascended through their ranks.

This book probably suffers even more than some of the other High Republic books from not having recognizable characters in it. Lourna has not been in all of the High Republic novels to this point, and even in the ones she is in, she is not always the main character. And, the books have really only established a couple of the Jedi characters well enough for the readers to really get invested in them. Yoda got name-dropped occasionally but (at the time this book was written) had never appeared in any of the novels. This is really a book about Nihil infighting and backstabbing, so I am not sure a lot of people will get all that invested in it. That said, I do think it has a good plot and basically sets up Lourna to potentially be the "big bad" of the rest of the High Republic books and/or to possibly be the one to take down the real leader of the Nihil, Manchion Ro.

The book is pretty long at 568 pages, but because it is a script, some of the text on the pages is very short, and I find these types of books to be a quicker read than a regular novel. But how quickly you get through it really depends on how fast you read and how much time you can devote to reading. It took me 7 days to read for an hour or so at a time before bed to finish it. Chances are, if you collect all the canon novels, you will automatically pick this up. But, if you are one who only reads some of the novels, I'd say if you have enjoyed the High Republic-era books so far, you will probably like this. If you have not, then this is probably not going to change your mind.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Jurassic Word: Fallen Kingdom

 

Fallen Kingdom is the 2018 sequel to 2015's Jurassic World. It was written by Derek Connolly and Colin Trevorrow and directed by J.A. Boyona. The movie stars Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard, reprising their roles from Jurassic World, Rafe Spall, Justice Smith, Daniella Pineda, Toby Jones, and Ted Levine. B.D. Wong and Jeff Goldblum also reprise their roles from the original trilogy. 

This is the second in the new trilogy, which is, of course, the sequel trilogy to the original Jurassic Park trilogy. This movie starts out with what is ostensibly a rescue mission because a volcano on Isla Nuba is going to erupt and kill all the dinosaurs. Of course, there is a question (which is where Jeff Goldblum makes his cameo return) about whether the dinosaurs on Isla Nuba should be saved or whether they should be allowed to go extinct again. As you would expect by now, things go sideways, and chaos ensues.

The 4k set is a two-disc set with a UHD disc and a regular Blu-Ray disc. The AV quality of the UHD disc is outstanding, especially if you have a big screen. The visuals from Hawaii are awesome, and the dinosaurs look better than they have in any of the movies, thanks to the CGI advancements. The dinosaurs in the movie are a mix of puppets built as models and CGI creations, but it is hard to tell the difference between the practical models and the CGI dinosaurs. The UHD disc contains the movies and all of the extras, which is great. The extras include several relatively short (about 5 minutes or so) behind-the-scenes and making-of featurettes. All totaled, the extras add up to about an hour's worth of material.

Chances are, if you liked the first movie in the new group, you will like this one. If you thought they should have just left the franchise alone, then chances are you will still feel that way watching this one. All of the ethical questions from the previous movies, such as humans playing god, whether humans and dinosaurs can co-exist, etc, come back in this one. It is definitely an action movie, but it is also one that does try to make you think. In this one, more than in any of the other films (at least in my opinion) the dinosaurs are as much of, if not more, sympathetic characters as they are the scary monsters. If you are a fan of the franchise, this is worth watching.

 

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Jamón Jamón

 

Jamon Jamon is a movie from 1992 starring a young (about 23-year-old) Javier Bardem, an even younger (about 18-year-old) Penelope Cruz in her film debut, and Jordi Molla. The movie itself is bad. It is a very over-the-top soap opera (think every stereotype of the telenovela that has ever been shown on a US TV show lampooning Mexican or Spanish soap operas). It is part comedy, part drama, with a lot of WTF thrown in. Essentially, the story boils down to Cruz's character becoming pregnant by the son of a local underwear manufacturer (Molla) and then having an affair with Bardem's character, Raul. As I said, you do get to see a very young Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz in a movie that I would love to hear their honest thoughts on now.

The Blu-ray itself is very bare bones. It includes just the film, with the ability to play it with or without English subtitles. The movie itself is in Spanish. The video transfer and audio quality are okay for a low-budget foreign film from 1992. It is definitely not a great remastered transfer, but it is not the kind of movie that would ever get that.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: The Informers

 

The Informers is a 2008 movie starring Amber Heard, Winona Ryder, Kim Bassinger, Billy Bob Thornton, Mickey Rourke, Jon Foster, Brad Renfro, and Chris Isaak. I was kind of lukewarm to the movie, even though I liked a lot of the actors in it. Kim Basinger and Billy Bob Thornton play an estranged couple trying to make their marriage work. Their son (Foster) is a drug dealer who, along with his girlfriend (Heard), is sleeping around with his large circle of friends. The Mickie Rourke storyline just seemed unnecessary and shoehorned in without being tied to anything else going on in the movie. His only "tie" to the other characters is that his nephew (played by Brad Renfro in the last role before his death) worked in the building where Amber Heard's character lived. Also, the title refers to a band that is seen throughout the movie, but the movie has very little to do with any of the band members after about the first third of the movie. The band is just mainly there in the background.

The Blu-Ray's A/V quality is fine but not spectacular. I think the movie looks and sounds about as good as you'd expect a non-sci-fi, non-big-budget movie that is almost 10 years that did not get a high-quality HD transfer to look and sound. That said, there are some great shots of Hollywood that look very nice in HD. The only extras are a 15-minute behind-the-scenes feature, a commentary on the movie with the director and some of the cast members, and then some trailers. Overall, the movie is good but not great. It is a very dark movie that really boils down to being about excess and immorality, with a focus on the sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll culture of the 1980s. There is a storyline about AIDS, storylines about infidelity, kidnapping, etc., but it is kind of a jumbled story where the characters are all somewhat tied together but it is telling separate stories about them. Because of that, it can be hard to track everything happening in the movie and you really do have to pay attention to it in order to follow it. Many people will and do hate the movie, a lot will love it, and some will be in the middle. I do think it is worth checking out, but it is not a must-see by any means.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Fifty Shades Freed

 

Fifty Shades Freed is the 2018 conclusion to the trilogy of movies based on the novels by E.L. James, 2015's Fifty Shades of Grey, and 2017's Fifty Shades Darker. The movie again stars Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan in the main roles of Ana and Christian. Eric Johnson, Eloise Mumford, Rita Ora, Luke Grimes, Kim Bassinger, and Marcia Gay Harden have supporting roles. By now, pretty much anyone getting the movie knows what the series is and what it is not. This film definitely has more story to it than the other two movies (and is the best story of the three). Parts of the story are a bit silly, but it definitely introduces kind of a thriller/suspense aspect (mostly involving Ana's ex-boss, Hyde) that the other movies did not have. It also delves deeper into Ana and Christian's relationship now that they are married (which happens at the very beginning of the movie). While it is still not an awards contender in any category (except maybe cinematography), it makes for an enjoyable wrap-up to the franchise.

The 4K set is a two-disc set with a UHD disc and a regular Blu-Ray disc. The A/V quality of the UHD disc is great, as the movie looks and sounds wonderful in the ultra-high-definition format. Some of the visuals (especially when they are in the mountains) really pop in UHD. As was the case for the other movies, the UHD disc just has two versions of the movie (the theatrical and the unrated version). The unrated version does not add much to the storyline; it just adds a few minutes to the movie. The rest of the behind-the-scenes featurettes, deleted scenes, and music videos that make up the bonus material (about an hour's worth altogether) are on the regular blu-ray disc. Ultimately, if you liked or loved the other movies, you will probably feel the same about this one. If you hated the other ones, then this is not going to do anything for you. Certainly, many of the same issues that plagued the first two movies persist in this one, chief among them the lack of chemistry between Dornan and Johnson. And, of course, the movie still has a ton of sexual content and nudity, so it's not family-friendly or for the easily offended. If you come in with realistic expectations for it, that it is a decent but certainly not the greatest romance movie, with some drama and suspense, it is enjoyable.

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/MBF Day 10

On day 10, I did 645 cardio in the morning and the upper body burn workout in MBF in the evening. The MBF workout was hard, even using light weights. The combination of exercises was hard, as was the fact that there was no rest once the workout started.  So, even on the exercises that I would normally use a heavier weight on, like rows, I was using avery light weight and still struggling. 

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Ex Machina

 

Ex Machina is a 2014 thriller directed by Alex Garland and starring Alicia Vikander, Oscar Issac, and Domhnall Gleeson. It is a visually stunning movie that will also make you think. The basic premise is that a coder for an internet search engine (played by Domhnall Gleeson) wins a competition to hang out for a week with the reclusive CEO of the company (played by Oscar Isaac). In reality, he is there to test an artificially intelligent robot named Ava (played by Alicia Vikander).

The 4k set is a two-disc set containing a UHD disc and a regular Blu-Ray disc. The movie looks and sounds wonderful in the UHD format, and the cinematography and location shots from Norway really pop in 4k. That is especially true if you are watching on a large screen. The UHD disc has just the movie itself. All the other extras are on the regular blu-ray disc. Those include a 40-minute making-of featurette, a panel discussion from the 2015 SXSW festival, and then 8 shorter behind-the-scenes vignettes. A very good amount of material for a movie that clocks in just under two hours.

Overall, the movie is well-written and very well-acted. It does have a lower-budget independent movie feel to it despite there being a lot of CGI. It does have a bit of nudity (mainly toward the end of the movie) but it is not really gratuitous, as well as some violence, again toward the end of the movie. I would say it does earn the R rating, but it is not as hard an R rating as some other movies have, where there is a ton of sex and violence just to have sex and violence.  There are a lot of themes throughout the movie, including the role of computers and technology in our lives, whether computers could ever become sentient, and, if so, how humans would treat them. And, of course, if they do, how they would treat humans. It has a pretty nice twist ending that I will not give away, but it is not necessarily one that you would expect. It is a great movie that is definitely worth the time to watch.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Constantine: City of Demons

 

Constantine: City of Demons is an animated movie starring Matt Ryan, Damien O'Hare, Laura Bailey, Emily O'Brien, and Rachel Kimsey. The movie is part backstory and part stand-alone story separate from the live-action series that aired on NBC in 2014. It gives a backstory for Constantine and Chas, in which Constantine must save Chas' daughter from a demon. Matt Ryan reprises the role of Constantine again, but in this version, Chas is British instead of American, and none of the other characters from the series (that I can remember at any rate) make an appearance.

The 4k set is a two-disc set with a UHD disc and a regular Blu-Ray disc. The A/V quality is very good, especially for an animated show. There are no extras on the UHD disc, but on the regular blu-ray, there is a making-of feature and then a 20 min Wonder Con panel discussing the movie, the animated CW Seed series, and the future of the character in general.

Overall, I think it is a good story. It is a lot more violent than the series was (and it was pretty violent), and they definitely amp up the sex and swearing. Given that the character was brought into the Arrowverse, with appearances on Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow (the latter of which Ryan was added as a series regular), it is pretty easy to accept the character that what was in the series is different than what you get now. Had this come out shortly after the live-action series ended, I think it would feel more off. I would not call this a must-see, but if you are a fan of the character, it is worth checking out.

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/MBF Day 9

Day 9 was 645 cardio in the morning and the core circuit workout from MBF in the evening. Both workouts went pretty well. Most of the core circuit workout repeats the same workout from last Tuesday. The biggest changes are to the core blocks in which mountain climbers are swapped out for plank jacks and you do exercises like flutter kicks and side planks. All of the exercises in the four-minute AMRAP block are the same, however. I was able to get a little over five rounds done in the AMRAP block, which is a little better than last week.

Book Review: The Algebra of Wealth

 

The Algebra of Wealth, written by Scott Galloway and published in 2024, provides a strategy for saving money and investing smartly. The author does not recommend one investment type over another but presents the basics on the most common forms of investment (e.g., stocks, funds, bonds, real estate, etc.) and gives readers the pros and cons of each type based on factors such as income level, age, and the like.

The hardcover version of the book has just under 260 pages of substantive text, with a few pages of notes and an index following that. The author's advice is good but definitely tailored for a beginner. The younger you are, the more helpful the advice in the book is likely to be. But there is helpful information (such as using your time wisely) that will benefit people who are in their 40s and 50s who are closer to the end of their working lives than the beginning. Ultimately, the book does have some good advice and points. Some of the information may be too basic for some people, depending on your level of financial knowledge, but most readers will likely find helpful information even if they already know some of what the author discusses. 

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Alien Covenant

 

Alien Covenant is a 2017 horror movie directed by Ridley Scott. It stars Michael Fassbender, Billy Crudup, Katherine Waterston, and Danny McBride. Noomi Rapace, James Franco, and Guy Pearce all have minor roles. The movie is a sequel to Prometheus, set a decade after the events of that movie. We discover that Shaw (Rapace) and David (Fassbender) found a planet full of Engineers and crashed there. I will not give anything more away because to do so would spoil it, but essentially, the crew of the USS Covenant finds the planet, and what you would expect to occur does.

The 4k set is a two-disc set containing a UHD disc and a regular Blu-Ray disc. The movie looks and sounds great in 4k, as you would expect. On the 4k disc, you just have the movie with the option to play it with or without the commentary track by Ridley Scott. The extras are all on the regular blu-ray and include deleted scenes, some of which set up the movie, and some are extended scenes from the movie. There are also some shorter behind-the-scenes featurettes and an almost hour-long making-of feature titled "Master Class with Ridley Scott." Finally, there are some trailers and photography stills. So, this release includes a lot of good material for those who like a lot of extras.

This movie is definitely tied to the storyline from Prometheus, but it is not guaranteed that your feelings about Prometheus will carry over to this movie. For example, if you hated Prometheus because it was not a direct prequel to Alien, which many were expecting, this movie may be closer to what you would have liked that one to be. Just be aware that this is still not a direct sequel to the original movie, either. On the other hand, if you liked the direction that the story in Prometheus went, especially giving more backstory to the Engineers, this movie diverged from that quite a bit, so it may disappoint you. Since Ridley Scott has taken over the franchise again, so the movie has a very similar feel and tone to the others he has been involved with. He is reportedly working his way through a series of movies that will eventually lead to the direct prequel to Alien. So, looking at this as a piece of a much larger overall story, I think, gives it the context it would not have as a stand-alone movie. While the movie is not perfect, it is definitely worth watching.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Avengers Infinity War

 

Avengers: Infinity War is the first of the epic two-movie crescendo to tie up the initial run of MCU films. The movie was directed by Joe and Anthony Russo and brings back the entire slate of MCU characters and actors, including Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johannson, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Holland, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Benedict Cumberbatch, Anthony Mackie, Tom Hiddleston, Don Cheadle, Chris Pratt, Sebastian Stan, Zoe Saldana, Vin Diesel, Chadwick Boseman, Jeremy Renner, Bradley Cooper, and Karen Gilian. It also, finally, sees the arrival of Josh Brolin's Thanos after multiple teases in various movies or end-credit sequences.

This, as most are aware, is the movie that the entire MCU slate of movies has been building up to. As I said above, Thanos finally arrives, making good on his threat in the post-credits scene in Age of Ultron to do things himself. It starts where the end-credits scene in Thor: Ragnarok left off, with Thanos attacking the Asgardian ship. The movie then finds a way to weave in most, but not all, of the characters from the other movies in an attempt to keep the various infinity stones away from Thanos. The "main" Avengers lineup get the most screen time, while the amount of time the other characters are in the movie varies. I won't spoil anything for those who may not know how it turns out, but it has massive repercussions for the MCU storylines going forward.

The 4k set is a two-disc set. The UHD disc has just the movie itself, which looks and sounds great, as you would expect. The extras are on a regular blu-ray, with about 30 minutes of behind-the-scenes and making-of featurettes, a gag reel, deleted scenes, and a commentary track on the movie. It is definitely one of the best movies in the group 19 or so movies in the MCU that had been released up to that point. Even if you have a bit of superhero movie burnout, it is worth checking out to see all the stories finally tied together.

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/MBF Day 8

Day 8 was the start of week 2 of MBF, which was the lower body burn workout. The format is the same as last week, with two unbalanced blocks and two blocks in which the weight is evenly distributed. I did increase in weight from week 1, going from 12 lbs to 15 lbs for all of the weighted exercises. In the morning I did the 645 cardio routine. In that one, I did exercises that were moderately difficult for me. 

DVD/TV Series Review: Bull: Season 2

 

The 22-episode second season of Bull aired during the 2017/2018 TV season. All of the main cast members, including Michael Weatherly, Geneva Carr, Jamie Lee Kirchner, Freddy Rodriguez, Annabelle Attanasio, and Christopher Jackson, all return. The glaring omission in the cast is the character of JP Nunnelly, who was a character that was set up to be either a major recurring character or a series regular at the end of the first season. It was revealed that Eliza Dushku, who played Nunnelly in three episodes toward the end of the first season, left the show after alleging sexual harassment and mistreatment by Weatherly (who has subsequently claimed he was merely joking and apologized). Therefore, her character was written out of the show and never referenced in the second season.

The season starts off with a bit of a disjointed feel. This is due in large part because of a new addition to the showrunner team. The character of Bull was written as more of an egotistical jackass at the beginning of the season who would lay into the team for little or no reason. Thankfully, that did not last the entire season. There was more of a focus on the character's life outside TAC and the courtroom this season. Of course, that was still a large part of the show, but it was good to dig deeper into the characters' lives. 

The DVD extras include an 18-minute behind-the-scenes feature on the season, some deleted scenes, a gag reel, and the pilot episodes of the new shows Seal Team and The Good Fight. So, if you like bonus content, you get a decent amount. The show continues to be a good case-of-the-week procedural. Unlike season 1, this season ends on a major cliffhanger (actually a couple cliffhangers, one major and one more minor), which will set up a couple good storylines going into season 3. If you liked the first season, this one is worth watching.