The Blogboard Jungle

If your New Year’s resolution includes starting Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, Elite Sports Core gi might be what you need in 2024. When I started Brazilian Jiu-jitsu in 2005, there were only a few options out there. Atama, Howard Combat Kimonos, and Koral. Or, you could just use a Judo gi but the grips your opponent can get on you will have you being controlled a lot, which can diminish your goal to learn this fantastic martial art. Thankfully, the sport has grown so much since then and the options for training gear are now more plentiful and affordable. This is where Elite Sports comes in.  In August , Elite Sports sent me one of their gi’s to try out and review. They were cool about me telling them I would be honest about it and would need time to roll (train) in it and see how it washes, hangs, and handles heavy sessions of all the pushing, pulling, and grabbing a gi goes through. I’m happy to say, I was sold on the gi after wearing it and finally was able to give it an honest review: ...

Photo by Ravi Palwe on Unsplash I got to field test the Sony ZV-1 camera outside of just using it for streaming and let me tell you, this is a great camera for folks that want to get into video content. A few weeks ago I was back at my first event covering MMA since COVID-19 hit when I went to cover Bellator 282 for MyMMANews.com. After over 2 years of covering events remotely through ZOOM it was time to get back on the road. Not traveling left me with time to invest in equipment for covering events on the road.  Previously I used a Go PRO Hero 5 with a mic attachment, which worked well a while but had its limitations. Check out this interview with Valerie Loureda from 2019: During the two years of being stuck at home, I focused on what I could from there and decided since I was saving so much money from not going anywhere, I'd invest in better equipment. So, I got a stronger laptop to handle video content, and I picked up the Sony ZV-1. It was initially just to get a better...

Rated 'R' Rarely does Hollywood get it right when bringing a new franchise from another medium to the big screen. Deadpool (2016) was the perfect example of what happens when you let people that know and love a franchise have a full creative control. Ryan Reynolds had been trying to get this film made for a while and it looks like all the hard work is paying off with this film. It's hard to tell a story about a character that knows he is a character in a film. When the word came out about a Deadpool film it  was probably hard to imagine how one could be made about character that breaks the fourth wall as often as Deadpool does. Rest assured comic book fans, Reynolds does a great job bringing everything that people love about Deadpool to the big screen. The classification of an action/comedy has definitely changed with this movie. The action is superb and the comedy coming from "the merc with a mouth" is almost non-stop, even when the film makes an attempt...

From offcial Sheik movie site Documentaries hold a special place in film. They not only exist to educate the masses but they do so in such an entertaining way. They give you countless hours of conversation when you find someone that has seen the same one as you. No documentaries do this better than documentaries on pro-wrestling. Sheik at right on bodyguard duty. The Sheik   (2014) is the latest to add to the list of documentaries that will rewind any fan of pro-wrestling to the days when it was the talk of the lunch room when you were a kid. Some stuff is known because it was televised, some things you'll find out about the guy you loved to hate in the 80's.  Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri, best known as The Iron Sheik invites you into a personal look at his history as a freestyle wrestler, turned  bodyguard , turned  Olympic  wrestling coach, to the pro wrestling heel. Duane "The Rock" Johnson with The Shiek The influence this gentleman ha...

Photo: from November Man website The November Man (2014) is a spy film starring Pierce Brosnan as another geezer spy no one should mess with his family,wife, daughter, friend type of character. Stories like this are not new to action film fans but they are still nice to watch. Casting Brosnan as the lead might seem weird if you think films like these will always star Liam Neeson. But, he pulls it off, if you ever saw the two actors in Seraphim Falls you can see why they would go with Brosnan over Neeson. Either way he plays the role well and since the action is not too heavy he pulls off a worn down old spy really well. Photo: from November Man website Brosnan plays Peter Devereaux a retired special operative who is training a younger version of himself in the spy game. They get called away on their own respective missions only to realize they are played against each other. His young protegé takes out the mother of his child unknowingly, and that puts Devereaux on the p...

Photo: Netflix If you have not gotten into this show and have a  +Netflix  streaming account you should give it a try. Binge watching TV is the bread and butter of the streaming service and this show is the litmus test that verified we like doing it. The third season dragged a little but like always it closes leaving people wanting more. Spoilers ahead, so stop reading now if you yet to watch. Underwood is president, Stamper is still alive, and his favorite little string that attached him and Frank to the murder of Peter Russo has disappeared. The show focuses a lot on the relationship between Francis and Claire and how they are trying to keep the throne in the White-house they got so underhandedly. Being President not only ages those elected but brings them to the breaking point. This season foes a good job of showing that. For the first time we see Frank Underwood not get his way but he weeps when it happens. We all see after quite a few episodes how important Doug S...

Movie Poster Fans of Arrow should appreciate this film. It stars Caity Lotz who played Black Canary on the show but in this film she plays the title character in The Machine . The film takes place in a future where there is a cold war with China and scientists are working to make soldiers recyclable. A little slow to start the film takes its time to establish its main characters and build up to Lotz changing roles in the film. The story is pretty solid and builds up well to some decent action fans of her's from Arrow will appreciate. The effects in the film are very well done and it will make viewers wonder why they have not heard of the film if they are running into it now on +Netflix . Without ruining anything story related the action sequences in the film are fast paced, violent, and believable considering the story is sci-fi. This film is definitely worth viewing and re-watching if you felt it moved a long too slowly when you know what it all leads to. The Machine ...

from official Facebook page Ever since Stanley Kubrick's 2 001: A Space Oddessy movie fans and the genre of self aware artificial intelligence in science fiction is hard not to watch. Automata starring Antonio Banderas as an insurance adjuster for a giant corporation that makes robots brings an interesting skew in a commonly told story. Automata is combination of I, Robot meets District 9 in that it takes place in a fictional future earth with a class not being recognized for their work. Banderas doesn't let anyone down with his performances so his acting is great in this film. Also, it's nice when actors play roles different from what they are known for as his character, Jack is an expecting father looking for a better life. The film has some action sequences and gun play in it but Jack is more victim in this film and doesn't take part in it. The visuals by director Gabe Ibanez are well done and the effects of the robots are very believable with it's...

3 Days to Kill is a film about a top level government operative who finds out he has been diagnosed with a terminal illness. It stars Kevin Costner as the protagonist and it's about time he plays a role fitting for his age. The film has its moments in action and some laughs but over all it take a little long to get to the point. The title suggests his limited time to reconcile with his family, mainly the daughter he was not around for while playing top level assassin. The film takes place in France which is probably the only nod they give to Luc Besson who originally wrote the story. You can see Besson's influence in the film but you can also see why he would hand off the story to someone else to make. It really isn't his best work. 3 Days to Kill took me about three days to watch in pieces as it did not hold my interest for the running time. It's streaming on +Netflix right now if you have the time to kill, but so is a lot of other stuff.

Foxcatcher (2014) Sony Pictures  There is a book written by Jon Ronson called, The Psychopath Test . It covers how many big companies put people in power that are psychopathic according to the  Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders  ( DSM ). This film represents an example of the subject matter of that book. Mark Schultz and his brother David have taken the sport of wrestling to its pinnacle, The Olympic Games. They both have earned gold medals and continue to coach and compete in their beloved sport but there seems to be issues among the brothers about one living under the other's shadow. Enter Jon Eluthére du Pont, millionaire philanthropist and wrestling enthusiast and his new hobby, coaching athletes. The film covers a journey among the Schultz brothers and du Pont in an invisible struggle for power that becomes deadly. Wrestlers most likely will know the outcome of this true story and the performances of Channing Tatum and Mark ...

From Pushbullet blog . I don't normally do app reviews but, when I do it's because they're awesome.  I first downloaded Pushbullet simply for the screen mirroring feature.  It's nice to know when you really need to pick up your phone or if it can wait especially if you're working on something.  Since, they have added so much more I have to give credit where credit is due. With the browser extension you can respond to and send text messages.  That helps when you're working on something you really can't pull away from.  A pop-up comes up and lets you communicate that way without stopping to pick up your phone. Another nice feature is the actual "pushes".  You can push notes, links, image files and anything else you need to see later or on another device with the extension and app.  If you're looking at a site not displaying properly on your phone, simply push it to the browser associated with the profile.  The pushes go both ways and th...

Kindle Cover photo     Since I finished reading the first  book to prepare for the show on FX I got hooked to the story and continued reading through and just finished book two titled, The Fall .  The show has been good enough to keep my attention and made changes that don't bother so much as it can when a book is turned into another medium.  Regardless of the show, the book series is very intriguing and I'll be starting book three, The Night Eternal this weekend. It picks up where The Strain leaves off and the title, The Fall is fitting since life as people know it is falling apart by this point in the book.  We also get a few new characters whom I'll just name but not spoil anything major for anyone who hasn't read it yet.  The only one memorable and worth mentioning is Angel.  He's a washed up luchador formerly known as "El Angel de Plata" (The Silver Angel) which is fitting since silver hurts all those afflicted with the vampire sickn...

   There are a lot of posts here about why waiting out the "New Generation" consoles is a good idea, one of them is getting great games at really good prices .  While they may not be new releases anymore, they are still "new to me", which is fine when your schedule is too busy to keep up with all the new releases. Box art of DLC characters I don't know what it is about my relationship with Sony's Playstation and fighting games.  The last fighting game I played that I really enjoyed was Namco's Tekken 4 (and that began on the PS1) and the many Mortal Kombat games released for the Playstation 2.  Then, I got into the Xbox 360 and all the on line fun that was to be had there with shooters and co-op games, fighting games didn't interest me for a while.  They were coming out but I didn't bother with them, because I got into strategy, and open world games when I wasn't playing on line.  Most recently I have been playing Grand Theft Auto: V a...

     With streaming video so easily accessible I decided to cut down on clutter and stop buying movies.  It's definitely a guy thing to build your own video vault of your favorite movies so you don't have to worry about what to watch when there are people over.  Or, if like me you or someone else makes a reference to a great film you like to have it handy so they can see why it's so great if they don't get the reference. I haven't bought a movie in a long time, since 2009 if I had to think about it.  So, to see a film that makes you think it's so great you break that trend and not only get a copy, but get it on all formats of DVD, Blu-ray, and digital download is because it's pretty freaking awesome.  The Worlds End is not only an exciting, funny, film but among my friends and I it was a truly relate-able film.  It follows Gary King and his friends on one last trip down memory lane in their home town of Newton Haven, the trip consists of a pub ...

    I remember growing up looking forward to all the action movies coming out every summer, for a while during the era of Steven Seagal and Jean Claude Van Damm we had films like that coming our fairly regularly.  But, after Jackie Chan, a few Matrix films and some of Jet Li's stuff it seems that form of action is pretty scarce.  So a while back when I saw trailers for some films that seemed like they were fitting the bill I was pretty excited.  I have finally seen both of them, and Man of Tai Chi is definitely the better movie. This film is directed by and stars Keanu Reeves as the main villain who runs an underground fight club for the 1 percenters.  He plays Donaka Mark a private security company CEO who does the illegal fight club streams on the web to the rich as his black market income.  A lot of my friends don't like Reeves because they find him a little dry in most of his performances but for this film that actually works well for him as a...

     White House Down and Olympus Had Fallen came out not too far apart from each other and one wonders why the premise of the White House being invaded was such a popular concept at the time they where made.  If you've visited Washington D.C. you know you can't get much closer that photo op area, so to create the premise where EVERYONE sleeps on the job must've been a hard sell.  Either way, two movies of the same theme were made and one is actually worse than the other. Both movies, if you're going to sit through them have to be taken with a grain of salt in swallowing the story lines.  Channing Tatum in White House Down is pretty awful, after having been in so many films you would think he'd give up trying to act so Vanilla Ice-ish especially with the roles he's had lately but no, it sticks out like a sore thumb in his film.  You would have to look it up but it must've been made before Jamie Fox got his Oscar and in all honesty his perfo...

     Apparently there is a clubhouse where very good actors meet up and plan to star in movies together.  I'm not sure but based on the cast of Out of the Furnace , this club must consist of Christian Bale, Woody Harrelson, Casey Affleck , Forrest Whittaker, Willem Defoe, and Sam Sheppard.  Yes...They are all in this movie.  Beef. The film takes place in Braddock,  Pennsylvania which I hope is a fictional town because it seemed an awful lot like Detroit.  Old school American ethics seem to take place in the town where you either work at "the mill" or join the military.  Casey Affleck and Christian Bale play two close brothers that go through a lot throughout the course of the movie and they play their roles really well. Bale plays Russel Baze who goes the route of working in the local steel mill, while Affleck plays Rodney Baze Jr.  and has bigger plans for himself. He joins the military and while they really don't touch on...

This scene shot on NYC's high line.    Does anyone think Jude Law wanted to be some sort of doctor in a former life?  Or, at least in the pharmaceutical industry?  I say that because of his role in Contagion , he wasn't a doctor but he was a pill pusher in that one.  Anyway, I remember seeing the trailer for this and not really getting what it was about, plus it has Channing Tatum in it which is automatic "not for me", but I added this to my  +Netflix  queue because it was a thriller...and he get killed in it, or the character he plays dies so it's funny to me (my girlfriend likes him . So, there!). The premise of the movie is, why he gets killed.   Tatum plays Martin Taylor who we see released from prison at the beginning of this movie.  His wife, Emily Taylor played by Rooney Mara is dealing with depression over his recent stint in prison for insider trading and having to rebuild their lives upon his release has taken it's toll on her...

     I found this movie on  +Netflix  over Thanksgiving and I thought it was a pretty well made movie.  Although the film doesn't seem to have the best reviews and has an average rating of 3.2 on Rotten Tomatoes I still found it to be a good movie on a day I was digesting my turkey dinners (yes, I had more than one). Two old guys with an old grudge. Killing Season is the first movie that Robert De Niro and John Travolta have been in together and they both play veterans of a past war that have crossed swords while serving on opposing sides.  The war is over but Travolta's character, Emil Kovac is holding a grudge against De Niro's character Benjamin Ford who is retired military and has been scarred by what he has seen in the same war.  Kovac was left for dead by Ford during a raid on a prison camp in Bosnia and travolta has been spending about 18-20 years tracking Ford in order to exact his revenge.  Ford lead a reclusive life in the ...

      Ocean's Eleven ( the Clooney one) , meets The Prestige in a failed attempt to make tweens look at magic the same way the latter film did in the most unbelievably expensive heist film made with actors that are stuck between the A and B list.  With the exception of Morgan Freeman, Michael Cain, and Woody Harrelson this movie seemed like a rushed mess of a wannabe heist, X-men type of film. It's OK of you don't them... "The Eye" is supposed to be a secret society magicians club and only the cooled David Blaine level magicians get in!  You have to be invited to get in and you have to be hazed like in a frat to get in based on the films premise.  Only the hazing to the lucky magicians known as "The Four Horseman" is to put on an elaborate Vegas style magic show and become YouTube sensations by putting on ridiculously unbelievable magic acts that are so obviously done with special effects it's just corny.  There is a twist in the film, most of...