Sunday Reading: Batman and back exercises

Unfortunately, the much anticipated climax to the latest Batman trilogy was marred by the senseless killings of 12 innocent people and the wounding of countless others all at the hands of a deranged gunman in Aurora, Colorado. Our thoughts go out to the victims and their families.

Mike Furci’s latest fitness column focused on building your back, and we made sure to point out his four workout principles in our weekly fitness blog post. Fight the flab and start reading his columns!

Nate Kreichman started his new “Hidden Netflix Gems” series with a look back at “Trailer Park Boys,” the hilarious mockumentary “following the exploits of Julian (John Paul Tremblay), Ricky (Robb Wells), and Bubbles (Mike Smith), lifelong friends and serial criminals living in a Nova Scotia trailer park.” Check it out and you’ll be hooked.

Ezra Stead was on hand in New York City as legendary band War returned for a performance at the SummerStage. Ezra also checked out “Smart Girls at the Party” in his weekly web series review.

Will Harris checked out the new TBS series “Sullivan & Son” and wasn’t very impressed.

Paul Eide had a review this week of Dreadnought Shaving Products for those of view who view shaving as a hobby.

  

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Sunday Reading: Breaking Bad is back!

The best show on television, and one of the best dramas in TV history, is back tonight on AMC for its fifth and final season. We get eight episodes this summer, and then the final eight episodes in 2013. Yes, they’re dragging it out a bit, but we love the suspense.

We have a ton of stuff to help you get ready for the return of “Breaking Bad,” starting with Will’s column this week. He includes some hints in there on what you can expect from the first episode, so don’t read it or watch the trailer above if you don’t want a preview. Either way, you’ll want to go back and read up on Will’s Breaking Bad Blog, particularly the last entry about the creepy Lily of the Valley revelation. Walt has clearly gone over to the dark side here, but all the critics saying that viewers will now “loathe” his character are taking things a bit too far. Things are always complicated with Walt, and even as he does terrible things many of us root him as he transforms from pushover to badass. We’ve consistently ranked Breaking Bad at the top of our TV power rankings, and you can check out our Breaking Bad Fan Hub for more great stuff including interviews with the cast and our set visits.

In the sports world we enjoyed a great trip to LA this past week to attend the Gatorade High School Athlete of the Year awards where we had the chance to interview some excellent young athletes, including Johnathan Gray, who will be tearing it up for the Texas Longhorns starting this year.

We also had our first article from the Ford Go Further event, as we covered how Adrian Grenier is using his celebrity to follow one of his passions by creating SHFT. We also attended an HP event in New York where Flo Rida previewed his new CD.

We’ve also added some new regular content. Matt Byrd will have weekly app reviews every Sunday morning, and Ezra Stead will be writing a weekly web series review every Thursday morning. Also, check back next week as Nate Kreichman returns for a new Hidden Netflix Gems feature every Saturday. With these weekly feature and other planned content we’ll be giving you some great recommendations to entertain yourself with new media and social media.

  

Sunday Reading: Cool Cars and Savages

Oliver Stone’s new movie is a solid film, as Jason Zingale explains:

It’s been a while since Oliver Stone directed a movie that was actually worth caring about; you’d probably have to go as far back as “Nixon” to find the last instance, although I have a soft spot for “Any Given Sunday.” But while his latest effort doesn’t represent a complete return to form for the filmmaker, it’s pretty evocative of his celebrated work from the late ’80s and ’90s. Based on the Don Wilson bestselling novel of the same name, “Savages” is Stone’s best movie in years – not exactly the slam-bam action thriller that it’s being advertised as, but still a mostly enjoyable film anchored by a great cast.

In another summer dominated by superhero flicks, it’s always nice to have other options. That said, Jason liked “The Amazing Spider-Man,” and like everyone else, he’s looking forward to the new Batman flick among the July movie releases.

Meanwhile, our string of cool car reviews continues. Check out our first drive impressions of the new Hyundai Veloster Turbo that we drove through the winding canyon roads surrounding San Diego. This new Veloster has some balls and it’s a great value as well. We also reviewed the BMW 650i convertible, a super-luxury vehicle for those of you who appreciate the finer things.

Guest columnist John Lavallo gave us a great article and video about breaking up on Facebook. This one is hilarious.

Remember those old variety shows that used to be summer replacements when we were kids. OK, this may not apply to our younger readers, but Will Harris looks back on some of his favorites.

If you’re looking to get in shape, you should be reading Mike Furci regularly. This week he has another great Q&A with readers, one of which lost 52 pounds using Mike’s advice! Every Monday we update our Fitness blog which often looks back on Mike’s articles.

Bob Westal’s drink this week is the sweet Palmetto.

  

Sunday Reading: Aaron Sorkin, Woody in Rome and a great summer drink

Aaron Sorkin is back on TV, and you can catch “The Newsroom” premiere tonight on HBO. Will Harris was able to preview the first four episodes, and fans of Sorkin won’t be disappointed with this new series. Jeff Daniels is one of the best actors in the business and he has a great supporting cast to help him deliver Sorkin’s signature dialogue.

Meanwhile, if you haven’t been watching Louie C.K., you can check out the fabulous season 2 of “Louie” which is now out on DVD and Blu-ray.

Nothing impressed our movie critics much this week. “Brave” was a bit of a disappointment, while “Seeking a Friend for the End of the World” had a hard time living up to its romantic comedy billing. Meanwhile, Woody Allen moves from Paris to Rome with his latest effort, and the result isn’t all that bad. Woody has become a caricature of himself, but at least he’s picking great locations for his movies.

For our car review this week we had the 2012 BMW 335i Sedan. Yes – it proved to be a badass vehicle. We were in San Diego this week driving the new Hyundai Veloster Turbo so check back this week for our driving impressions.

Finally, try the simple Cliquet for the perfect summer drink.