It's been a few weeks since I've updated everyone on my "In the Gym!" goals for 2019. I'm currently on week 5 of the Body Beast program, which is technically week 2 of Block 2: Bulk. There are three blocks in the program: Build, Bulk, and Beast. In Block 2, I'm doing Chest on Mondays, Legs on Tuesdays, Arms on Wednesdays, Cardio & Abs on Thursdays, Back on Fridays, and Shoulders on Saturdays. However, this week I had to switch my "rest day",which would be this Sunday, to Tuesday, as I was a bit under the weather that day. So, basically, I just moved days 2 - 6 forward a day.


Tonight, I'll be doing the "Arms" workout, which is a blend of progressive and single sets using either dumbbells or an EZ Curl Bar. The runtime for the workout is around 35 minutes and it's pretty easy to accomplish, though I'll mostly likely be a bit sore tomorrow.

During week 3, I did add 30-minutes of cycling on an exercise bike, but it was a little too much on my legs, so I had to take it off of the schedule. With all the squats and lunges I've been doing, I've been really sore. However, if I have some extra energy during week 6, I might attempt to some cycling again or some other form of cardio.

Pre-order: Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy

I believe I might have mentioned a time or two that I'm a fan of AMC's The Walking Dead. Even though the series hasn't been its best for the last few seasons, I still watch it for the zombie mayhem.

Despite my fondness for the series, I was never a fan of the spinoff Fear the Walking Dead until last year, when the TWD character Morgan (played by Lennie James) crossed over. After the mid-season finale, I purchased seasons one & two on DVD and season three on Blu-ray, so I could get caught up during the break. I had watched the first season when it had originally aired on AMC, but I quickly tuned out after the second episode of season two. After rewatching those three seasons, I can now understand the outcry from many fans about two specific deaths in season four! However, personally, I do believe it was for the best as it turned out to be a really good season.

Fear the Walking Dead: The Complete Fourth Season will be landing on Blu-ray (plus Digital) and DVD on March 5th. Along side Lennie James, the cast also includes Alycia Debnam-Carey, Kim Dickens, Frank Dillane, Colman Domingo, Danay Garcia, Garret Dillahunt, and Jenna Elfman.

In Season 4 of “Fear the Walking Dead,” we will see the world of Madison Clark (Dickens) and her family through new eyes — the eyes of Morgan Jones (James), who is joining the story from the world of “The Walking Dead.” The characters’ immediate pasts mix with an uncertain present of struggle and discovery as they meet new friends, foes, and threats. They fight for each other, against each other, and against a legion of the dead, and work to build an existence strong enough to resist the crushing pressure of lives coming apart. There will be darkness and light; terror and grace; and the heroic, mercenary, and craven, all crashing together toward a new reality for “Fear the Walking Dead.

Blu-ray and DVD Special Features include:

• Episode 401 Audio Commentary with Executive Producer Scott Gimple, Showrunners Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg
• Episode 405 Audio Commentary with Director Michael Satrazemis, Actors Jenna Elfman and Garret Dillahunt
• Episode 410 Audio Commentary with Director Michael Satrazemis and Actress Alycia Debnam-Carey
• Episode 416 Audio Commentary with Showrunners Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg

The “Fear the Walking Dead” Season 4 Blu-ray and DVD will be available for the suggested retail price of $44.99 and $39.98.

A little known fact about me is that my favorite movie is the 1978 slasher classic John Carpenter's Halloween, which I first watched when I was a seven-year-old. Thanks, Grandma!

Of course, I also like all the sequels (maybe not Resurrection) and I tolerate the Rob Zombie remakes. So, naturally, I was looking forward to watching Halloween (2018), which is the third film in the franchise with that title. Did I watch it in the theatres? Sadly, no, I didn't get a chance to the see it on the big screen. My town only has a one-screen theatre that is run by volunteers and they hardly ever carry rated R movies. Instead, I had to settle on reading the novelization by John Passarella. You can read my review for it here!

Directed by David Gorden Green, the 2018 film ignores the entire Halloween franchise except for the original 1978 film, which basically means that Laurie Strode (played once again by Jamie Lee Curtis) isn't the sister of the masked serial killer Michael Myers.

Confused yet?

3/4 of the film is more or less a rehash of the now-forgotten sequels, where Michael escapes a prison bus transfer, steals back his original mask, and returns to Haddonfield, Illinois to do some trick-or-treating with a butcher's knife. Sounds familiar, right?


On his path of destruction, Michael accidentally runs into Laurie's granddaughter Allyson Nelson (played by Andi Matichak), which leads to a weird situation with his current shrink, Dr. Ranbir Sartain. Seriously, what the hell were the writers thinking with this part? Since they're wanting to do sequels, why kill off the mad doctor?

The last 30-minutes is the so-called "final confrontation" between Laurie and Michael, as well as Allyson and her mother, Karen (played by Judy Greer). Why did the writers rename the daughter? They should have kept the name as Jamie Lloyd and brought back Danielle Harris from Halloween 4 & 5. (Yes, I'm well aware the actress who played Jamie also played a different part in the Rob Zombie films.)

Final Thoughts

AMAZON (DVD, Blu-ray)

For those of you who don't already know, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment released The Purge: Season One to DVD and Blu-ray earlier this month.

The Purge TV series is a spinoff of the popular Blumhouse produced film franchise. Created by James DeMonaco, the series aired on USA last year and starred Gabriel Chavarria, Hannah Emily Anderson, Jessica Garza, Lili Simmons, Amanda Warren, Colin Woodell, and Lee Tergesen.

The series is set in a world where the government lets crimes occur for a 12-hour period once a year, which is called "The "Purge." While many people board up their windows, lock their doors, and hide, others take advantage of the night and go on killing sprees.

I didn't get a chance to watch the The Purge: Season One when it aired on USA last year, but since the series is now available to own on DVD & Blu-ray, I will be reviewing it soon.

Amazon; Barnes & Noble

Being released tomorrow from Gallery Books (a division of Simon & Schuster) is the thriller The Silhouette Girl by V.C. Andrews ($14.99; 362 pages).

Wait a minute, please let me correct that. The novel is written by the ghostwriter Andrew Neiderman, the author who took over the task of writing under V.C. Andrews's name after her death in 1986.

The Silhouette Girl is told from two different point-of-views. One is told through the eyes of Pru Dunning and the other is told from the POV of Scarletta Barnaby. Pru is a twenty-something nurse who has a normal adult life, well, except for the little fact that she's possibly being stalked by a former patient, Douglas Thomas, and she keeps receiving weird phone messages from a woman named Scarletta.

Scarletta is a teenager who's mother had recently packed her bags and disappeared with an unknown boyfriend; leaving Scarletta's father devastated. While the girl tries to live like a normal teenager, a family dark secret attempts to destroy her life.

Like almost every other V.C. Andrews' title (well, the ghostwriter's), there's a wicked twist that intertwines the two character's lives.

Final Thoughts

Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @  Caffeinated Book Reviewer!

I pushed myself to finish reading Fire & Blood by George R.R. Martin, which was 700+ pages. You can find my review link for it down below in this post. Yesterday, I finished reading The Silhouette Girl by V.C. Andrews (a.k.a. - the ghostwriter). I'll be writing my review for it sometime today and it'll be posted tomorrow.

I have my bookmark placed inside the massive science fiction/horror novel The Passage and I'll be begin reading it today. Additionally, I've already been reading the anthology Flight or Fright: 17 Turbulent Tales. I guess you can say I'm going to be multitask-reading (Is that a word?) this week, as I'm also going to read the eBook The Curse of Misty Wayfair by Jamie Jo Wright.

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms
(4K Blu-ray Review)

Dog Diaries: A Middle School Story
(Winter Reads)

Fire & Blood
(Winter Reads)

Mind Games
(Winter Reads)

Robin Hood Origins
(DVD Review)

The Oath
(DVD Review)

In the Mail

Walmart; Target

Arriving on 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital form Disney Home Entertainment on January 29th is fantasy adventure The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (PG; 99 minutes).

Directed by Lasse Hallström and Joe Johnston, the film stars Keira Knightley, Mackenzie Foy, Eugenio Derbez, Matthew Macfadyen, Richard E. Grant, Misty Copeland, with Helen Mirren, and Morgan Freeman.

Based on the short story"The Nutcracker and the Mouse King"by E. T. A. Hoffmann and the play "The Nutcracker" by Marius Petipa, the film centers around Clara Stahlbaum receiving a locked handcrafted egg-shaped box as a Christmas gift from her late mother. (Actually, Clara's father gave it her, but her mother had gave him instructions to do so before she died.) Her mother also left behind a note, which stated the egg is all she would ever need.

While attending a Christmas Eve ball, Clara visits her godfather, Drosselmeyer, who happens to be an engineer. She learns Drosselmeyer had made the egg many years ago and had given it to her mother as a gift. After having a brief argument with her father, Clara finds a string with her name on it. She follows the string into the forest which takes her to a parallel world where she locates the egg's key. However, before she can grab the key, a mouse snatches it away.

Within minutes of losing the key, Clara meets Captain Philip Hoffman the Nutcracker, Sugar Plum Fairy of the Land of Sweets, Shivers of the Land of Snowflakes, and Hawthorne of the Land of Flowers, who are all at war with the Land of Amusements, otherwise known as "the Fourth Realm."

To recover the lost key that will unlock her mother's gift, Clara must battle an army of  life-size toy soldiers and somehow restore peace to the Realms.


Blu-ray Special Features are:

• On Pointe: Misty Copeland - Copeland shares the thrill of portraying one of her favorite characters in a whole new way.
• Unwrapping The Nutcracker and the Four Realms - Dive into the production design, sets, costumes and more that helped transform a beloved ballet into an adventurous movie.
• Deleted Scenes
• The Stahlbaums Arrive- As the Stahlbaums enter the Christmas Eve ball, the butler attempts to announce them to the assembled guests.
• Follow Your Ribbon- Drosselmeyer encourages a reluctant Clara to go find her gift.
• Deleted Scene: Clara Asks About Her Mother - Sugar Plum gives Clara a tour of her mother’s bedroom.
• Left, Left, Left, Left, Left - Wandering lost in the forest, palace guards Cavalier and Harlequin quarrel about which way to go.
• Out with the Old- Sugar Plum makes sweeping changes to the palace decor.
• Music Videos
• “Fall on Me” Performed by Andrea Bocelli Featuring Matteo Bocelli - Experience superstar tenor Andrea Bocelli and his son Matteo Bocelli performing their first duet together in this uplifting song.
• “The Nutcracker Suite” Performed by Lang Lang - Get swept up in a series of images from the movie, set to Tchaikovsky’s music and featuring world-renowned pianist Lang Lang.

Exclusive Digital Bonus Feature:

• Unwrapped: The Visuals Effects of The Nutcracker and the Four Realms - Get swept up in a series of images from the movie, set to Tchaikovsky’s music and featuring world-renowned pianist Lang Lang.