Blu Ray/Movie Review: She's Out of My League

 

She's Out of My League is a pretty standard 2000s comedy. It is another one in which a goofy guy named Kirk, played by Jay Baruchel, who is a TSA agent in Pittsburg ends up with the cell phone of a gorgeous event planner named Molly (played by Alice Eve). In the process of returning the phone, she agrees to a date with him and hilarity ensues. It is a pretty standard romantic comedy, especially between a hot girl and average looking guy in which he summons the courage to ask her out, she agrees, things go well until they don't, then we get the will-they-or-won't-they end up together storyline to finish off the movie. I won't spoil anything, but if you have seen any rom-com from 2000 forward, you pretty much know how it will turn out.

For those who get the Blu-Ray, the movie looks and sounds good in HD. It did not get the best Blu-Ray transfer ever, but the shots of Pittsburg do look great, especially if you have a big screen, and unless you are a serious A/V wonk, you probably will not have any issues with it. The extras include a commentary track on the movie with the director, there is a pretty cheesy faux dating show with Nate Torrence's character Devon, a few deleted scenes, and a blooper reel. Nothing spectacular, but there if you like watching the extras.

Overall, the movie is good. It is pretty standard rom-com fare but does mix in some good dramatic moments with the comedy. There are a couple of raunchier comedic moments that seem to have to be included in the more adult rom-coms, but for the most part, the comedy is pretty tame. It has a very good supporting cast including Lindsay Sloane, who plays Kirk's crazy ex, Nate Torrence, T.J. Miller, Mike Vogel who work with Kirk at the airport, and Krysten Ritter as Molly's best friend Patty. There is, as you would expect a lot of swearing, and some sexual situations but nothing explicit and no nudity. If you are looking for something in the rom-com genre or just a comedy to have on in the background it is a good option.

Book/Study Aid Review: Schaum's Outline of Calculus, 5th ed.

 

Schaum's Outlines tend to range from being textbook-like (which this one is) to basically problems repositories. The textbook-like outlines will give an overview of each topic in the chapter sections, and then worked out examples, and then problems. So it is organized much like the textbooks are. The advantage that you get is that the explanatory material is not as long, more concise, and generally better than you get in the textbooks. And, all of the problems have answers, unlike the textbook in which you will only get an answer key for some of the problems.

This book covers all of the material in the first year of calculus, which in most schools is split between Calculus 1 and Calculus 2, and covers some of the material from Multivariable Calculus (usually called Calculus 3). Meaning it will cover derivatives and integrals and their applications, then it gets into partial derivatives and double and triple integrals. I had a great teacher for Calculus 1, a good teacher for Calculus 2, and an average teacher for Calculus 3, so I did not rely on this as much in Calc 1 as I did in the other classes. This definitely helped me figure out how to do the disk and washer methods of integration which neither my textbook nor my Calc 2 teacher (who just lectured from the textbook) explained well. It has over 1000 fully worked-out problems which are way more than any textbook will give you. So, if you are struggling in Calculus and are looking for resources to help you, this is a good one, depending on what your learning syle is.

DVD Review: Roger Dodger

 

Roger Dodger is a 2002 movie that is set in New York, involving a night out between Roger (played by Campbell Scott), a womanizing ad-executive who is not over the fling he had with his boss, Joyce (Isabella Rossellini), and his teenaged nephew, Nick (Jesse Eisenberg). Nick basically wants his uncle's help to hook up with someone and lose his virginity. Roger tried to give Nick lessons in the art of seduction, some of which has a lot to be desired. The highlight of the movie is probably the scenes at the singles bar with Roger, Nick, and two single women, Andrea (played by Elizabeth Berkley) and Sophie (played by Jennifer Beals) who also impart advice to Nick.

The movie comes down to being about sex and relationships. Roger is pretty much a sleazeball who hooks up with women but never seems to have a successful relationship with one. It is billed as a comedy-drama, but it is far more drama than comedy, although there are some humorous moments in it. The writing and acting are great, this was really Eisenberg's first major role (even though it is definitely an independent film and not even close to a blockbuster) and he did a great job playing a pretty conflicted character and Scott played a great womanizer who seemingly had everything he wanted in life but really did not.

For those who get the DVD, the extras are pretty extensive, especially for an independent film. There are multiple commentary tracks on the movie, several making-of features, a walking tour of NY with Jesse Eisenberg, deleted scenes, the trailer, and a "players guide". So, a lot there if you like going through the extras.

Overall, the movie is very good, but probably not for everyone. It has frank discussions about relationships and sex, but there is not much actual sex in it. It also deals with ethical issues like whether to take advantage of someone who is drunk. It definitely has the feel of an independent movie, but it is a very good one. It holds up well even after 20 years and is worth checking out.

Product Review: Reshow VCR Head Cleaner/VHS Head Cleaner

 

VCRs are mostly extinct, but if you are one of those who still have one, getting a head cleaner is important to keep the thing running (assuming you ever intend to watch movies on it) and keep it from chewing up your tapes. I have some tapes (like the original Star Wars movies and The Godfather Saga (the movies in chronological order) that I like to watch from time to time that will likely never be released on DVD and would be very hard (if not impossible) to replace on VHS. So, this works well to keep the thing in working condition.

Blu Ray/Movie Review: Gone With the Wind 70th Anniversary Edition

 

Gone With the Wind is a movie that causes a lot of division, especially with the rise of the infantile division we have had in the country for years. The truth is, it can both be a classic movie and have a problematic theme. But, it also has to be looked at through the lens of history. It is a movie that could be made the way it was in 1939 with the understanding that it would probably never be made the same way today. And that is not to say it shouldn't be made the same way today. It was set during the Civil War and told from the perspective of people in the south. Obviously, most people today would not agree with the perspective of the rich, slave-owning, southerners of that time, but it does not mean that how they were portrayed in the movie is not how they were. Also, the movie was a dramatic period piece, not a documentary. So, it was never going to show the evils of slavery in all their gory details. And, I do think to say that the movie glorified slavery does a couple of things. First, it ignores the fact that there were in fact slaves that had roles such as "Mammy", and it also diminishes Hattie McDonald's achievement in playing that role. The fact that she was a black woman living under the Jim Crow laws and facing the racism that she did and still won an academy award is frankly amazing. And. let's face it, even states that did not have Jim Crow laws were not (and are still not) devoid of racists by any means, so the fact that a black woman in the late 1930s/early 1940s would even be nominated for an academy award, much less win it, was quite something. All that said, no, the movie is never going to be banned, and anyone who thinks so is kidding themselves, if you want to find it, you will always be able to do so, and if you are such a weenie that a disclaimer at the beginning of a streaming version really triggers you, it has been released on DVD and Blu-Ray multiple times. The people who think the movie is somehow going to be banned, the people triggered by a disclaimer, and the people that think critical race theory is being taught anywhere but in some law schools is probably a circle on a Venn Diagram.

As for the movie itself, as I said above, it is a drama set in the south during (and after) the Civil War. It stars Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara, who is basically a rich brat, who at the beginning of the movie is trying to steal her cousin's boyfriend. Clarke Gable plays Rhett Butler, who was an attendee at a party thrown at the O'Hara estate who did not buy into the fact that the war was going to be a quick and easy thing, and also, ultimately ended up gaining Scarlett's affection, by basically standing up to her and not taking any of her crap, and marrying her. The movie is partly a romance drama, but mostly about the ravages of war, telling how Scarlett had to grow up and transform from the bratty Southern Belle who was handed everything on a silver platter, to having to deal with the realities of war. The first part of the movie (up to the intermission) deals with the war and ends with Atlanta burning. The second part deals with the aftermath of the war, and the characters trying to put their lives back together.

For those who get the movie on Blu-Ray, it looks and sounds great in the HD format. The HD transfer was very well done, and while it still has the Film-noir era look to it, the video transfer does look great. What kind of extras you get depends on the version of the movie you pick up. There is a multi-disc collectors edition that has about 19 hours' worth of bonus content. The version I have is the single-disc 70th Anniversary edition, and the only extra on it is a commentary track by Historian Rudy Behlmer.

Overall, the movie is a timeless classic. It has many great quotable lines, and it tells a good story, although definitely from the perspective of the losing side in the Civil War. Chances are if the movie was made today, more of the evils of slavery would be shown to give it more context and show exactly why the Civil War was being fought. And yes, the civil war was about slavery, pure and simple. If you read the articles of secession from any of the states that formed the Confederacy, that is plain as day, and to say otherwise is denying all reality. I do not think the movie glorified slavery as much as it glorified the south overall. But, again, taking the movie for what it is and considering the time it was made, it can both be a classic movie and a topic of debate at the same time. And, I think a healthy debate about what was good and what may have been problematic about the movies would not necessarily be a bad thing.