Book Review: Star Wars: The Eye of Darkness

 

The Eye of Darkness, written by George Mann and published in 2023, is one of the newer adult canon novels, and the first in Phase 3 of the High Republic era novels. Phase 1 of the High Republic novels was set about 230 years before the events of A New Hope. The Phase 2 novels jumped back about 150 years before that, to about 380 years before the events of A New Hope, and then Phase 3 picks up where Phase 1 ended. Specifically, the events of this book are set 1 year after the destruction of the space station Starlight Beacon. In it, the Nihil have walled off a part of the galaxy creating an impenetrable barrier that they call the Stormwall around a portion of the outer rim trapping the inhabitants of several planets (and several Jedi, including Avar Kriss) behind the barrier. Marchion Ro, the leader of the Nihil, has revealed the mysterious beast capable of killing Jedi called levelers to the Republic broadcasting the "trial" of a Jedi trapped in what the Nihil and the Republic call the Occlusion Zone for all to see.  Elzar Mann and Bell Zettifar are tasked by the Jedi Council with figuring out how to break through the Stormwall to get into the Occulison Zone, while Avar Kriss is working on a plan to get out.

The hardcover version of the book is just under 400 pages, but it reads more quickly (at least for me) than the Phase 1 and 2 novels did since the characters are well-established. This book also finally includes Yoda in this part of the timeline. One of my big complaints about the Phase I novels was that Yoda was mentioned, but never appeared. Now, however, since he did appear in a couple of Phase 2 novels, there is a bit of a continuity issue (which will hopefully be resolved eventually). Specifically, The Path of the Open Hand, the group that was the precursor to the Nihil, used the Levelers against the Jedi 150 years ago. Yoda was aware of Jedi being killed in the same way back then, even though he did not know what was causing it. In this novel, he appears to be totally clueless about the Levelers even though members of the Jedi were killed by them years ago and Yoda does not mention that fact. It seems unlikely that the Jedi would not have figured out what the Levelers were long ago and figured out how to protect themselves if they encountered them again. Even with that continuity issue, the story in this book entertaining with a good blend of action and suspense. If you have liked the High-Republic era novels up to this point, this one is definitely worth the time to read.  

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Beetlejuice

 

Beetlejuice is a 1988 comedy/horror movie directed by Tim Burton, starring Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Geena Davis, Alec Baldwin, Catherine O'Hara, and Jeffrey Jones. The movie's premise is that a family (Ryder, O'Hara, and Jones) moves into the home of a recently deceased couple, Adam and Barbara Maitland (Davis and Baldwin). Unbeknownst to them, the Maitland's spirits are still in the house and cannot leave. The Maitlands hire a "bio-exorcist" named Beetlejuice (Keaton) to scare the new homeowners away only to regret the decision as they befriend Ryder's character, Lydia (who is the only one who can see them).

The blu-ray set is very bare bones. It just contains the movies without any extras aside from a couple of cartoons and the theatrical trailers. Hopefully, since a sequel is set to be released in September of 2024, this will get a 4k release and have some bonus features included. Given that everyone involved in the movie is still alive it should not have been that hard to get at least some of them together to give some substance to the extras. The A/V transfer of the blu-ray is okay but could be better. Given the lack of bonus content, if you own the DVD, I would wait to upgrade until a 4k version is released (as it most assuredly will be). 

Ultimately, the movie is very good. The movie was made at what was arguably the height of Michael Keaton's acting career. During the same time frame, he did Clean and Sober, Beetlejuice, and the first two Batman movies. It is not really a scary horror movie. It is best described as a comedy with some jump-scare moments. Keaton is not in the movie as much as I remember when I saw it in the theater years ago, but he steals every scene he is in. Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin do a great job in their roles as the dead couple trying to spook the buyers out of their house, and Winona Ryder is very good as the awkward teen who can see the ghosts. It very much has the look and feel of Tim Burton's other movies. It was made before the modern-day special effects era, so some of the effects are cheesy and fake-looking, but they do not distract from or reduce the quality of the movie. It is absolutely worth the time to watch.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome

 

Blood and Chrome is a 2012 TV movie that is a prequel to the rebooted Battlestar Galactica series. This tells the story of a young Adama (played by Luke Pasqualino), and one of his first missions after being assigned as a pilot on Galactica during the First Cylon War. The story takes place after the events of the Caprica series and long before the Battlestar Series picks up. You get some insight into what Adama was like in his youth, but you only get a portion of his backstory. The movie portrays him as a hothead who is always looking for a fight and not the more measured leader he grew into. At this point, the Cylons are still just the chrome versions, although see the beginnings of the "skin job" versions at the very end.

The A/V quality of the blu-ray is very good and is on par with the blu-ray release of the series. The disc does have a couple of extras, but they are not extensive. The extras include deleted scenes and a short feature on the visual effects. It seems that people's feelings fall into a couple different categories when it comes to this story. Much like the Caprica series, people seem to either love the movie or really hate it. It seems like the people who hate it do so mostly because it does not include any other characters from the series. I liked the series but was not so devoted to seeing just those characters that any kind of spin-off would be awful. This movie is really just an extension of the new Battlestar universe. It is like a long flashback episode of the series that tells a single story involving Adama. It has a similar feel to the parent series and does have some twists and betrayals going on much like the series had. No, you are not going to get Edward James Olmos's version of Adama, but the point of the story is to show how that character changed from his youth. If you can get past that and just enjoy the story and the fact that you are getting a new Battlestar story, then this is worth the time to watch.

DVD/TV Series Review: ER Season 15 [Spoilers]

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilers from prior seasons and minor spoilers from the final season+++

ER's 15th and final 22-episode season aired during the 2008/1009 TV season. It marked the end of one of the longest-running, and best medical dramas ever. There was yet more cast turnover this year with Mekhi Phifer, Shane West, Maura Tierney, and Goran Visnjc leaving the show as series regulars. Some would appear here and there throughout the season, and some had a one-and-done appearance. Angela Basset was the big addition to the cast, joining as the new Chief of Emergency Medicine, Catherine Banfield. The show also had several recognizable guest stars throughout the season including Tony Hale, Chadwick Boseman, Carl Weathers, Ariel Winter, Wallace Shawn, Rooney Mara, Ernest Borgnine, and Judy Greer, among others.

I have always looked at ER as two different series. One that lasted through season 8 when Anthony Edwards decided to leave the show and the one that remained on the air until the end. Personally, I would have liked to have seen the show end after the 8th season, because had the shows that told the story of Dr Green's death been the series finale, the show would have gone out on a high point and would have never been accused of hanging on too long. This season really tries to bridge the two series, by bringing back many former cast members, including Edwards, Paul McCrane, Laura Innes, William H. Macy, Thandiwe Newton, George Clooney, Juliana Margulies, Alex Kingston, Sherrie Stringfield, and Eriq La Salle. The catalyst for bridging the early seasons to the later seasons was a storyline involving Dr. Carter that extends throughout most of the season (Wyle returns as something between a recurring character and a series regular). Edwards and McCrane are brought back in a flashback episode that found a creative way to include Basset's character. For those who were fans of the show from the beginning in 1994, the season provides a shot of nostalgia, while also wrapping up the storylines for the current main cast members like Scott Grimes, John Stamos, Linda Cardellini, and Parminder Nagra.

The DVD set is a six-disc set. It has a handful of special features including unaired scenes and a series retrospective with interviews with cast members and showrunners. Given the impact the series had, launching (or helping to launch) the careers of many stars (including Clooney, Margulies, Ewan McGregor, and Ving Rhames, to name just a few) as well as having many notable guest stars, it should have had a lot more special features looking back on the series. Even so, what was included is good. 

The season was very good, and one of the best in the season 9-15 era of the show. It was very nice to see the old cast members even though some just had cameo appearances. Many people complained about the episode in which Clooney and Margulies were brought back for having a totally unrealistic story. I think it was the best that could be done to give Clooney his "own" episode where he and Margulies could do more than just make a cameo appearance in the finale like Sherry Stringfield, Alex Kingston, and Laura Innes did. While the storyline was contrived and would not happen in real life it was really the only way, aside from having Carter go out to Seattle, to have a reason for someone from County to be interacting with Ross and Hathaway. Given that Clooney was really 1a and/or 1b along with Anthony Edwards and Margulies was a major star on the show in the early years, I think it was better to do what they did so the two could be in more than just one or two scenes. I also think the way the show ended, with Morris (of all people) taking over as the lead character, and having Carter passing the baton (so to speak) to Dr. Green's daughter who had become a prospective medical student, was the best way to end the series. It was perfect to have Noah Wyle be the last person we see on screen since the show started with his character as the wide-eyed medical student back in episode 1.

Workout Update: T25/Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Day 31

Day 31 was the Lift 4 recovery workouts and the Full Body Circuit workout in T25. I again skipped the chest exercises in the T25 workout since I was just a couple of days removed from doing the heavy chest workout in Lift 4. I was able to do more unmodified moves during this workout, but still have to swap in the modifications quite a bit.